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It is my joy to once again minister the word to you this morning, and we come now to Acts chapter four as we continue to make our way through this very timely historical account of the early church, timely in the sense that we continue to see so much practical information that God gives us, information that parallels that which occurred in the early church.

Before we look at the text this morning - and I'm taking a rather large portion of Scripture to exposit this morning, rather than a shorter one; we can do this a bit because of the nature of the text being a little bit more historical, so we're going to look at verses one through 30-one today - let me give you a few thoughts to get your mind working with me.  I've entitled my discourse to you this morning "Victory in Persecution."

As we look around the world today, we know that many Christians experience profound personal, physical persecution simply because of their faith in Christ. It's estimated that approximately 2 billion Christians are in the world today, making up about 33 percent of the world's population. And I found it interesting in some of the research that I was doing. They estimate that there's around 38,000 Christian denominations. Now, mind you, you need to put quotes around the word Christian. They are ostensibly Christian, but they are certainly not Bible-believing Christians as the Scriptures would communicate to us. 645 million are considered to be evangelical Christians, Bible-believing Christians in the world today. That's about 11% of the world's population, and I would agree with many that would argue that probably less than half of those are truly born again. There is an average of 171,000 Christians that are martyred for their faith every year, and many estimate that that is a very low figure because there are many people who die for the cause of Christ that are never accounted for, but even at 171,000, that's 470 people per day. Within one hour of this church service, 20 people who name the name of Christ will die for their faith. I know that's hard for us to wrap our minds around here in the United States, but I wanted you to have some feel for the truth of what's happening around the world. And of course, the vast majority are killed by Muslims. Historically, Islam has been the greatest threat to all religions, especially Judaism and Christianity. And of course, there are untold millions of cases of other kinds of persecution with Christians around the world. Many Christians we know are fleeing from Iraq even to this day. There are many stories of the black-hooded Muslim terrorist groups that will show up in the middle of the night and threaten to take their children, come in and require them to pay exorbitant taxes to live in their area or whatever. They will rape, they will torture, they will maim, they will murder. Their slogan is quote: "To be safe, be Muslim."

Now, certainly Christianity in the West experiences very little physical persecution. Certainly, in the United States, there's a couple of reasons for this. One, we've got laws to protect us, and we've got police forces and so on that can help protect us. But another reason why we experience little persecution here in the United States is most people who claim to be Christians really aren't, and they are Christians in name only, and they cannot be distinguished from the rest of the world around them. They are equally as worldly, equally as immoral. In fact, many people that call themselves Christians believe it is a virtue to be tolerant of all faiths, regardless of what anybody believes, because after all, we're all worshiping the same God. That type of thing, and of course, that type of mindless ecumenism renders churches that are ostensibly Christian as nothing more than religious country clubs, and therefore most quote "Christians" are no threat to our religious or political culture here in the United States. But please hear this: If you are a truly born again, Bible believing fundamentalist Christian, in other words, you believe as we would believe here in this church, then you are considered very offensive to this culture. You are considered to be, we are considered to be, the lunatic fringe. We are increasingly being compared to the fundamentalist Islam people, and so on.

And therefore, we are targeted by groups like the ACLU, the liberal news media, journalists, public education, most politicians, colleges, universities, militant homosexuals, certainly the Hollywood vulgarians, activist judges, and on and on it goes. And of course, we are especially a threat to fundamentalist Islam that is growing exponentially here, even in the United States, and is absolutely sweeping Europe. Now, the West is blind to the threat of Islam because they have no spiritual discernment whatsoever. Many secularists naively believe that Christianity and Islam is basically the same religion; they just have some different beliefs that they all worship the same God. Many of them would argue that both religions have mythical books that they believe in: one, the Bible; the other, the Quran. But both have many good things to offer, and both Christianity and Islam, and even Judaism, for that matter, all of those religions, those major religions, have been hijacked by some extremists.

Now, such thinking is so ludicrous it begs language. Nevertheless, that is the thinking in our, especially in our country today. I needn't tell you that the difference between Islam and Christianity is like the difference between night and and day, between darkness and light, between heaven and hell. You see this stunning type of bias in our American culture and our political and social psyche, whereby more and more people are favoring Islam, certainly over Judaism and fundamentalist Christianity. For example, you see this relentless attempt by Arab Islamic countries to destroy us and to destroy Israel, and yet it's always the Christians, it's always the Jews, it's always the policies of the United States, so to speak, that is the problem. The Palestinians are the ones that are right, and the Israelis are wrong, and all of this type of thing. So you see the sentiment growing, and therefore, the implications of this staggering kind of bias, this what I would call Jimmy Carterish lunacy, that would somehow argue that these people who are terrorists are really the innocent victims of others. The only way you can explain this is through satanic deception, and ultimately, these people will destroy our civilization unless God intervenes. We know biblically, prophetically, that he will, especially on behalf of Israel, as prophecy clearly states. But not so the United States.

And so, friends, all of this to say, my point with all of this introduction is to tell you that persecution against genuine Christians is mounting in the United States and in Europe, and it's going to continue to gain momentum until the Lord comes and snatches us away. There will be no peace until the Prince of Peace brings the peace, and the Bible predicts that things are going to get worse and worse, not better and better. And only a fool could look around at the world seen today and argue any differently. The wrath of divine abandonment that we read about, for example, in Romans one, is clearly evident in the moral and religious spiritual freefall of our culture. We are tumbling down into a godless abyss, and therefore we need to be prepared for increasing persecution. I believe if the Lord tarries my grandchildren, perhaps even my children, but certainly my grandchildren, are going to experience vicious forms of persecution in this country, if they take their stand for Christ, and I pray that they will.

In our text before us this morning, we have a fascinating account of persecution in the early church, and from it we glean many insights into how God would have us respond. And I believe that this will greatly prepare us for what is ultimately coming our way. These truths will prove to be utterly indispensable for our children and certainly our grandchildren, and we must know them. I would also add that for those that are listening in - those that are a part of our church service via the internet and the podcasts and so on - I know that many of you are suffering right now. You're living in countries where persecution is beyond our imagination. I know a number of you have written in and told me of having your children and your wives and your husbands and others martyred in the name of Christ, and so certainly what you will hear today will be of great benefit as we see what God has for us in an understanding of how to deal with persecution, how to have victory in persecution.

I might also add before we look at the text that persecution is inevitable for everyone who truly loves Christ and desires to serve Him. It's going to come in various ways. Paul tells us in Second Timothy 3:12, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Very simple. And you might say that if you do not desire to live godly in Christ Jesus, the world will accept you as one of its own, and you're not going to experience persecution. And sadly, that is far more the rule than the exception, even here in our country. But if you really are Christ-like -if you really want to serve the Lord, if you desire to live separate from the world, if you are committed to warning people of the wrath of God that abides upon them, that will condemn them eternally, lest they repent, if you are committed to telling people that they cannot save themselves, that the only way they can be saved is through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and by his grace - if that is your heart, if that is your life, then indeed the world will hate you with a seething hatred. You must remember that we are aliens in this world; we are citizens of another kingdom, right? The world system is the kingdom of darkness. In fact, Scripture tells us, for example, in Second Corinthians 4:4 that Satan is the "god of this world," and that, "he has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they may not see the glorious gospel, the glorious light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. First John 5:19 says, "The whole world lies in the power of the evil one." And you must understand that the world still hates Christ equally as much as they hated him when they hung him on the cross. So naturally, they're going to hate us, those that follow Christ. Jesus reminded his disciples of this in John 15, beginning in verse 18. He said,

"'If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

"'If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

"'Remember the word that I said to you, "A slave is not greater than his master."'"

And finally the Lord said, "'If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.'"

Now, by way of context, remember that the Jews of the first century were motivated by religious zeal, and therefore, with that religious zeal - that was very warped because of many things that they believed - they absolutely hated Christians. They hated the Lord Jesus Christ. A great example of that was Paul. Before he was converted, he was one who went around and murdered Christians all in the name of God, and many Orthodox Jews even to this day hate Christians, as do Hindus and Muslims, and so on, and many other religious groups. And again, Jesus warned of this in John 16:2. He said, "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God." Great example of that is the Islamic jihad that you hear about today.

So, as we look at this text before us in Acts four, I believe that it would be helpful to divide it into just two very simple divisions. First, we will see the provocation of persecution, and secondly, we will see the counteraction to persecution. In other words, the Christ-like response that should come from every Christian who is being persecuted. And I will give you six very essential principles that I believe will help us all navigate in and through the treacherous waters of persecution when we come to that point.

Now, while our Lord Jesus Christ was our supreme example of all of the attributes that we will see necessary to really have victory in persecution, we all know that it's going to be very difficult. Our flesh tends to get in the way, and so once again, we pray that by the power of the Spirit of God, we will understand the principles and then live consistently with them when persecution comes. So first, let's look at the provocation of persecution, beginning in verses one through three of Acts four,

"And as they were speaking to the people, (referring to Peter and John), the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came upon them,

"being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead."

Well, why were they perturbed? Why were they upset? Because they were hearing the truth about their sin and the Savior. Dear friends, once again, it's important for you to understand that whenever you present the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, people are going to be infuriated. Consequently, whenever you see masses of people lining up to become Christians, you can rest assured that the narrow gate gospel has been replaced by a wide gate substitute that will lead to destruction, as we've talked about before; so the apostles were highly offensive to the Jews of that day, especially the Jewish leaders. In fact, what they were saying there in the temple would be tantamount to us going up to a... let's say we went into to some mosque in Iran, and we began to tell them that Muhammad was a false prophet inspired by Satan, and Allah is a false god that doesn't even exist, and all of you people are utterly deceived. Now you can imagine what kind of a response you would get. Well, that was very similar to the type of response that the people were giving Peter and John. You see, think about it now. The Jews had just crucified this blasphemer Jesus. They had just gotten rid of him, and now these uneducated Galileans are preaching that he was the Messiah, and that we've murdered our Messiah, and that he was resurrected from the dead.

Now, again, it's important for you to understand a bit of context. The leaders here in this scene, and certainly the leaders of the temple at this time, were the Sadducees. These were the elite aristocracy of Judaism, and they were in bed with Rome, politically speaking. They were powerful landowners, and like all false religions, they hated Christians not simply because of what they believed, but because of what might happen if people began to embrace Christianity; what might happen with respect to their political status and all of the things that they owned. They literally feared in those days the rise of Christianity and all this talk about a Messiah and a revived Davidic kingdom. They were afraid of that. Why? Because if Rome got wind of all of this, all of a sudden their political standing with Rome could be placed in jeopardy, and they might therefore even lose some of their position and their land and all of this type of thing. In fact, we can read in John 11 the same type of attitude when they were trying to deal with Jesus. Remember, after he had raised Lazarus from the dead, beginning in verse 47, it said, "Therefore the chief priests," and they were the Sadducees there,

"...the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, 'What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs.

"'If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.'"

Oh, we can't have that. We've got to do something with this guy. And then it went on to say that a certain one of them, "Caiaphas, who was high priest that year," and by the way, he was a Sadducee,

"Caiaphas said to them, 'You know nothing at all,

"'nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish.'"

So he came up with a very clever yet wicked way of rationalizing what they needed to do with Jesus. I might also add that these Sadducees did not believe in the sovereignty of God. They did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. They did not believe in future rewards and punishments, and so on and so forth. So, what Peter and John were preaching was indeed offensive to them. And friends, the provocation of persecution will always be the truth of a person's sin and the Savior. And so they were arrested. They were thrown into jail overnight. But it's interesting. Even Satan and his religious goons could not thwart the purposes of God.

Notice verse four, "But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand." So now - the Jerusalem church here -you've got about 5000 truly born-again believers, and like a brush fire, the fires of saving grace begin to sweep over the land. Now, put yourself in the sandals of Peter and John. Okay, you're facing all of this hostility, what would you say? What would you do? The authorities are coming down on you. How would you react?

Well, here's where we come to the second section of my discourse to you this morning, as we look at the counteraction to persecution. What is the Christ-like response? The godly way to react to unjust persecution, and I'm going to give you six principles that I believe will help maximize a God-given, God-ordained opportunity to glorify him - an opportunity even in persecution that he brings our way.

Number one: we must be non-resistant to authority. Again, notice in verse three, he said, "...they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day." Now, notice there's no indication of resistance, no defiance, no confrontation, no kicking and yelling and screaming and pulling out a sword. None of that. They humbly submitted to their incarceration, knowing that God was in it.

And then, beginning in verse five,

"And it came about on the next day that their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem;

“and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of high priestly descent.

"And when they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, 'By what power or in what name have you done this?'"

So now the interrogation process begins. Imagine being surrounded by all of these high-powered religious and political figures; but notice still, no hint of resistance, no hint of defiance. You don't hear Peter saying, "You're going to hear from my lawyer. I'm going to sue you guys for everything you're worth." You don't hear any of that. No promises of retaliation, because ultimately, they know that God is in it. God has even ordained this to happen for their good and his glory. So they say, end of verse seven, "'By what power, or in what name,'" literally, what authority have you performed this miracle?

In verse eight, then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them - now this would bring me to my second principle: we not only need to be non-resistant to authority, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. Folks, this is absolutely crucial. The term "filled" here, in the original language, is a term that is a verb that is placed in the passive voice, which ultimately means that it is the Holy Spirit that is acting upon a person. The person is not in the active voice, where the person is conjuring up something to happen on his own. In other words, the Spirit of God is the one doing the filling. Peter did not suddenly go into some religious ritual or some machination to get himself filled. He didn't all of a sudden start speaking in some ecstatic gibberish, as you will hear today, that is often considered to be the test of one that is truly filled with the Spirit. There's no weeping, there's no wailing, there's no intercessory prayer in some unknown spiritual language. None of that. Rather, Peter was Spirit-filled because he had completely surrendered his life to the Spirit of God by living consistently with what God had commanded him to do in his Word. And folks, all of us can be Spirit-filled by that means. For example, in Ephesians 5:18 Paul says, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." In the Greek, it literally says, "Be being kept filled." In other words, be intoxicated not with wine, but with the Spirit of God. Be under the influence of the Holy Spirit; and the result of that we see later on in verses 19 and 20 of Ephesians five, "...speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for all things..." I might add, even persecution, "...always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God." You see, the result of genuine Spirit-filling, in other words, the result of surrendering your life to the Spirit of God as he has revealed himself in his Word will be an unassailable joy, come what may. In fact, we read in Galatians five that when we walk in the Spirit, or literally pursue the Spirit, when you walk by the Spirit, the text says you "...will not carry out the desire of your flesh." And then later on in verse 16 you begin to read of the fruit of the Spirit. What will manifest in your life - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. All of these things will come about.

Now, remember as well another example of this, remember when Paul was chained to the praetorium guard in in Philippi, actually in Rome, and he was chained to this guard, and he wrote to the Philippians, and remember Philippians 4:4, he said, "Rejoice in the Lord always" - I love that, always, doesn't matter what's happening - "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice. Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men, the Lord is near." In other words, I want you to patiently submit to injustice and maltreatment without malice. And what a testimony because here he was chained to a guard; he was under arrest. Why do you do that? He said, "Because the Lord is near." In other words, because you are united to Christ in faith, nothing can happen to you apart from His sweet providence, apart from His glorious purposes for you and for himself, and then next Paul said that text that we all know so well, "Therefore, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving." That word just keeps popping up, doesn't it? "With thanksgiving." Yeah, go ahead and pray, but, "...with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." And then what's going to happen? "The peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." My, what a promise! One we can all experience in a time of trial when we are Spirit-filled. In fact, Jesus had earlier encouraged his disciples with an amazing promise. It's found in Luke 12, beginning in verse 11. You don't need to turn there; I'll give it to you. But it's a promise that no doubt resonated within the hearts and the minds of Peter and John on that day there in the temple, and at that time, the Lord said, "'When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities...'" and of course that's exactly what was happening now in Acts four, when that happens, He says, "...do not become anxious about how or what you should speak in your defense or what you should say." In other words, don't worry about, you know, before it happens, don't worry, "oh my, what am I going to say?" He goes on to say, what? "For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." What an incredible promise! Oh the benefit of being Spirit-filled.

So, in the face of persecution, we need to be non-resistant to authority, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But thirdly, we need to be forthright in response. Notice, beginning in verse eight, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people,

"'if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well,

"'let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead - by this name this man stands here before you in good health.'"

Now, there is not one hint of being seeker sensitive here. There's no, "Guys, boy, I'm sorry, we've got some problems here; we need a dialog here. We really want to find some common ground." You don't see any of that. But what you do see is a very kind, forthright, truthful response. And beloved, may I say to you very clearly: Don't worry about being politically and religiously correct. All of that's just euphemisms for compromise. That's all that is. Speak the truth. Be forthright. Be kind but be forthright; be candid, be frank, be upfront. I like to think of it this way: I want to leave absolutely no room for anyone to be confused about what I am telling them with respect to their sin in the Savior. I want to make sure that people know specifically why they either, A: believe or, B: reject what I'm saying. You know, as a pastor, whenever people disagree with me on the fundamentals of the faith - and I certainly have that happen from time to time, especially in circles outside the church, or when people criticize me for some position I hold - frankly, it's kind of like water off a duck's back, you know. It'd be kind of like you going out to my horses and looking at one of them and saying, "You know, I don't like the way you chew your food." And when people tell me things like that, I probably give them the same look my horse would give you if you said that to them. But the point with all of this is, beloved, the world's disdain and scathing denunciations of the truths that we preach should be considered eternally inconsequential to you. It is God who is being offended, not you. We're here to speak the truth.

So Peter goes on with his direct and confronted message, notice in verse 11, he says, "He is THE STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAM THE CHIEF CORNER stone." In other words, though you are the spiritual leaders who should be the builders of this spiritual temple, you rejected the very cornerstone, Jesus of Nazareth. Unbelievable! And it's interesting, isn't it, here, Peter kind of reverses the charges and puts them on trial, and rightfully accuses them of the supreme blasphemy.

Then he goes on to utter one of the most profoundly offensive statements known to man in Acts four and verse 12, "'And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.'" Beloved, here the narrowness of the gate of salvation and the exclusivity of the gospel of Jesus Christ is stated in terms that cannot be misunderstood. No one can be saved apart from repentant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in him alone. Now, I have absolutely lost count of the times that I have been attacked, when I've even hinted of such a statement, but Jesus is the only way, not one of many. "Do you mean to tell me?" People will say, "Do you mean to tell me that all the millions of the people in the world who do not believe?.... (audio is not complete; transcription not available).

So completely being completely outfoxed, they let them go, notice in verse 21,

"When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which they might punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;

"for the man was more than 40 years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed."

My, what a scene! How I would have loved to have seen that. Then notice what they did next, and this leads us to our fifth essential principle-one that we should manifest when suffering persecution - number five: be united in praise with other believers. Verse 23, "And when they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them." Now stop and think about it friends, persecution has a profound effect on true believers, does it not? It's amazing how persecution galvanizes us together with a bond of solidarity and fellowship, like nothing else can do. It's fascinating. We see historically that whenever the church is persecuted, what happens? It grows. It's an amazing thing.

But notice how they are united together in praise. Notice what they did, verse 24, "And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "It is Thou, O Lord, It is Thou who didst make the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them." "O Lord," they say, "despotēs," we get our word despot from that. It means sovereign master, O sovereign master, O you who holds absolute power over all things; it is you who did make the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. So, in other words, friends, their praise literally stems from their confidence in the absolute sovereignty of God, the Creator. You know, we would have little to rejoice about if God were not absolutely in control of his universe. I remember not too long ago, a man who was attending the church came to me, and he said, "Pastor, I noticed that you preach much on the sovereignty of God." And some of the things that he went on to say, indicated he was a bit puzzled and concerned about that, if not even perturbed about that. And my response to him was, "Well, of course I do, and for good reason. First of all, because God's sovereignty can be found on virtually every page of Scripture, and you'd have to be blind not to see it; and secondly, without it, there would be no hope." How thankful I am! I am not serving a God who is kind of nervous about what might happen next, a God who is kind of reacting to things and hopefully trying to figure things out as he goes. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is one who ordains all things for our good and his glory. There's so many texts that speak to this. Ephesians 1:11, "He works all things after the counsel of His will."

So they come together and they're praising God for the way, literally, that he has orchestrated their persecution for his glorious purposes. And I want to remind you, Peter knows because the Lord has already told him that when his days are ready to come to an end, he is going to be crucified. Now, how would you like to serve the Lord, knowing that that was going to be your earthly reward? The only way you could possibly do that is if somehow you were Spirit-filled, and therefore you were absolutely, utterly confident in the clear teaching of God's revelation to man that God is sovereign and you can relax in all that He brings your way, whatever it is. So they praise God for the way he's orchestrated even their persecution.

Notice the corporate praise continues in verse 25 He says, "who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our Father David, Thy servant, didst say," and here he quotes Psalm two, beginning in verse one, "'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS?'" Here, of course, is a specific indictment against the Romans and the Jews who murdered Jesus, but also a general indictment against nations and individuals of all ages.

Verse 26, "'THE KINGS OF THE EARTH GOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.'" Now stop and think, of course, they were now witnesses of this very prophecy out of Psalm two, they're witnesses of this, and all of us continue to see the same kind of mutiny against a holy and a sovereign God in the leaders of the world and in the peoples of the world.

And in verse 27, the praise continues,

 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

"'to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur.'"

"Proorizō" - predestined - it means to mark out a boundary before; to decide or to determine something beforehand; and so what he's saying here is that all that happened to Jesus was already predetermined; was already ordained by God. God determined beforehand all the things that happened to Jesus, and now these dear first-century saints that have gathered together realize that they are witnesses to this amazing display of sovereign grace that was prophesied even in the Old Testament. Oh, child of God, would that our church come together more often and unite ourselves in praise because of the staggering outworkings of God's sovereign grace down through history, as well as in our lives personally. I mean, think of all of the ways God, in his sweet providence, has orchestrated your life and my life to bring us to where we are today. And sadly, such a request typically falls on deaf ears until we are faced with persecution. Friends, when you lose a loved one to martyrdom, and I've talked with a number of people who have, when you find yourself living daily in fear for your life or the life of the lives of your family, when you find yourselves in a dark dungeon, or when you find hooded goons surrounding you ready to take your head off, it's at that point that your only hope and your only thought will be on a holy, sovereign God who is ultimately in charge. And if you don't have that, you have no hope. At that moment, you will think of little else. I have been in living rooms and have been under shade trees and on front porches and in many places with those who have suffered greatly for Christ. And I assure you that the great tap roots of their faith, that strengthens the mighty trunk of their hope, is the sovereignty of God. Without it, we serve a God that's just, frankly, not much more than we are, kind of reacting to everything, hoping that it's all going to work out. But we know that, "All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

So we see that they were non-resistant to authority; they were filled with the Holy Spirit, forthright in response, obedient to God over man, united in praise with other believers, and finally, sixthly, they were committed to corporate prayer. Verse 29, "'And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Thy bond-servants may speak Thy word with all confidence.'" Notice that they didn't say, "Deliver us so that we won't ever get thrown into jail, protect us from these people that would do harm to our family." And I'm not to say that those aren't legitimate requests, but first and foremost, in their minds, is the glory of God, not the protection of themselves and their family. It's the glory of God, so God help us as your bond servants. Give us the power to speak your word with all confidence.

Verse 30, "...while Thou dost extend Thy hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Thy holy servant Jesus.'" By the power of your indwelling Spirit, they’re praying, give us greater boldness to speak the truth, to speak your word with all confidence. Beloved, I ask you, is that a common prayer that you pray when you come together at the table before your children? Fathers, do you do you lead your family in prayer, and many times pray that prayer in earnestness, so that your children hear it, and they understand its great importance? I hope so.

And notice how quickly the Lord answered their prayer, verse 31, "And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to..." and here's the result of the Spirit's filling, "...speak the word of God with boldness." Oh, the joy of prayer meetings! My, how I love our prayer meetings here on Wednesday night. I wish more of you could come, especially when we come together and we pray, "Oh, Spirit of God, give us the boldness to speak Your Word with confidence." A prayer we should all regularly pray. How different the response of the early church to opposition than what we see today. Again, no sense of "Well, you know, we need to really be careful here, we need to dialog, we need to find common ground, we need to be seeker sensitive, we need to negotiate, we need to compromise." No, let's just speak the truth. Don't be ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it's what? It's the power of God unto salvation. So I would challenge you, beloved, whenever you clearly present the gospel, know full well that it will provoke, inevitably, it will provoke hostility, and frankly, if it doesn't, there's probably something wrong with your message. So don't be surprised, but rather be non-resistant to authority, be filled with the Holy Spirit, be forthright in response, be obedient to God over man, be united in praise with other believers, and then be committed to corporate prayer with other believers and watch what God will do in and through you to accomplish His glorious purposes, even in the midst of some great crucible of grace.

Let's pray together,

Father, thank you for this sterling example of how we as believers should react in the midst of persecution, and Lord, thank you for the power of the gospel of Christ - a power that has changed each of us in ways that we cannot even fully understand. Lord, may we all be bold for Christ. May we may we all be soldiers of the cross. Help us not to compromise, but to speak the truth with great confidence, that you might be glorified and that sinners might be saved. I ask all of this in Jesus' name and for His sake, Amen.