Acts 5:12-42
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Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here. We're continuing to walk through the book of Acts, and we are in Acts chapter 5 today. We're going to finish out the chapter with 12 through 42.
It's on page 1058 in the Black Bibles. If you want to grab one of those, you can follow along. That's where our text is going to be today. Since we're in the book of Acts, one of the things as I walk through this book, it reminds me of foreign missionaries and the stories of missionaries on the field. I like missionary biographies.
I think one of the reasons I appreciate reading about what missionaries do is because anyone that leaves their culture and the comforts of where they come from to give up their life to go somewhere else, I just honestly think that's the best of us when it comes to the church. I want to share a story about some missionaries named John and Betty Stam. So John and Betty Stam were missionaries to China in the 1930s. Now that was during the time when the communist revolution was starting to take over and communist rebels were taking over the country. They moved there.
They were young, in their 20s. They had a newborn, just a few months old. And they're at this village in China for not very long when those communist rebels showed up to their village and then took over and then captured them. They arrested them. They took all of their belongings and they paraded them in front of all the townspeople.
They sent a ransom note back to the mission in Shanghai, asking for $20,000 for their release. But they didn't wait to get a response back from this. The next day, they escorted John and Betty to a hillside where they beheaded them and then left them and their bodies behind. Now, once the chaos of these rebels had kind of moved on, there was a Chinese evangelist who went to go and recover their bodies. And when he found their bodies, he didn't find their baby.
So he traced back their steps and found their three-month-old in a basket, crying, still alive, with $10 for formula and some diapers. And their bodies were taken and buried in China. And their baby was taken and sent back to some family. And they were only on the field for a few months. And when you read stories like that of people who've sacrificed not just the comforts of their culture to move somewhere to take the gospel, but sacrificed their own lives, in a lot of ways it's heartbreaking.
To think of all the energy, all the excitement, the years of language training, of Bible training, the churches that loved them, supported them, cared for them, to hear just after not that long that their lives were taken. And when you hear about stories like this, since the church is a family and a greater family of God, it feels like a part of your family has passed. And when you read stories like this, it's painful. And it's pertinent because we're going to read a story in the book of Acts where the apostles are going to suffer for the advancement of the gospel. And as we read this, what I want to do is consider how we should feel when we read stories like this about people suffering for the sake of Christ.
Let me pray for us and then we'll walk through this together. Heavenly Father, I pray that you might open our eyes to see your word, that we might understand what it means to believe the gospel so deeply that we would leverage our lives in a way that may bring upon suffering and may you open our hearts to receive how we should respond. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to pick up in verse 12.
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles.
— Acts 5:12 (ESV)
So this is something that they were continuing to pray for. We saw in Acts chapter 4 when John and Peter were arrested and then they were released. The people of God were praying for more signs and wonders and their prayer is answered. And it says that,
And they were all together in Solomon's portico.
— Acts 5:12 (ESV)
So a lot of this is happening in what's called Solomon's portico. This is a courtyard, about five football fields long courtyard. It's a big courtyard at the temple. So they're ministering to the people at Solomon's portico. In verse 13 it says,
None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.
— Acts 5:13 (ESV)
Which is a statement that the people respect them, hold them in high esteem, but they're also a little bit terrified, a little bit scared of all the things that are being done through them. From what we read last week with Ananias and Sapphira to all of these mighty signs and wonders. In verse 14 it says,
And more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.
— Acts 5:14 (ESV)
So again, more people. We keep reading this. More and more people, more than ever, are placing their faith in Jesus. The Jews are converting to following Jesus Christ. Verse 15.
So that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
— Acts 5:15–16 (ESV)
These signs and wonders that is happening through the apostles feels very reminiscent of the ministry of Jesus. That when Jesus would go to a town and start performing healings, that people would bring all their sick, bring them on cots and mats. And we see the Spirit is so at work that people are just trying to get into the shadow of Peter. That's how powerfully the Lord is at work through his people. So while all of these mighty works are being done, the religious leadership is unhappy.
Verse 17,
But the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in public, in the public prison.
— Acts 5:17–18 (ESV)
So that's a repeated description we're going to get of the religious leadership. It's jealousy. There's a worldliness within them. They just see that the apostles, the Christians in Jerusalem are getting lots and lots of attention because of the great works that they're doing. And they're jealous.
They're envious. So they round them up. Another round of arrests. Because they told Peter and John in Acts chapter 4, Shut up. Stop.
Quit preaching about Christ. And they haven't. So they arrest them. And they put them in prison. And then overnight, they get a visitor.
Verse 19,
But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.
— Acts 5:19–20 (ESV)
So in the middle of the night, an angel comes. And an angel has two things that he's there to do. Prison break and a commission. Supernaturally, breaks them out of prison. And then commissions them and says, go to the temple, speak to the people all the words of this life.
To declare the gospel again. Keep preaching the message of the life that is Jesus Christ. And they immediately followed their marching orders. Verse 21,
And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
— Acts 5:21 (ESV)
So while they're teaching at the temple, it says,
Now, when the high priests came and those who were with them, they called together the council and all the senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought.
— Acts 5:21 (ESV)
So while they're at daybreak, just in there, just teaching, the Sadducees, the Senate, the Council. This is all the same language for the Sanhedrin. This is what we've talked about the last few weeks in the book of Acts. This is the ruling religious body that rules the people as kind of a political force in Jerusalem. They gather them up and say alright, what are we going to do.
And it's meant to read a little bit comically and ironically because they still think they have them in prison. Unbeknownst to them they're out there proclaiming the gospel. Verse 22:
But when the officers came, they did not find them in prison. So they returned and reported, We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors. But when we opened them, we found no one inside.
— Acts 5:22–23 (ESV)
So they're sitting there having a little chat. What are they going to do next? And then all of a sudden someone comes in and says, By the way, they're not in prison. They're like 200 yards outside. They're like right over there.
They're just teaching. And they're shocked. How has this happened? They go and they try to figure out, do a quick investigation. Turns out, prison's still locked.
The guard's still standing. No one's in there. No reasonable explanation for what happened. There's no poster on the wall with the tunnel behind it. And Shawshank their way out of this.
They're just gone. So they're sitting there bewildered. 24.
Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.
— Acts 5:24 (ESV)
Which I just, as you read, you can see just so clearly that their hearts are hardened. Like they just don't have a concept for taking a step back and going, you know, maybe, supernaturally, people have been jumping into their shadows and people are getting healed. And now they're just they just vanished in the middle of the night. That maybe I don't know the Lord's at work. There's just there's not a concept of them.
They can't see it. Says 25
And someone came and told them look these men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.
— Acts 5:25 (ESV)
And it's like now it's clicked. They're just out there preaching the gospel and I don't understand what's happening, but they know that they hate them and they've got to do something. So 26 says,
Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
— Acts 5:26 (ESV)
Which just shows how political they are in nature. They know they can't just round them up by force. That's what they want to do, but they can't. Because the people hold them in high esteem. That's what we read earlier.
People love them. And if they push too hard on this publicly, it's going to go poorly for them. They could get stoned by the people. So they kind of quietly and gently round them up and bring them in. Verse 27.
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, We strictly charge you not to teach in this name. Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
— Acts 5:27–28 (ESV)
So they say, we told you to stop. We told you, shut up. But you just keep teaching in his name, which I just appreciate how that reads, as they're not even saying the name of Jesus at this point. You just keep teaching in his name. And they won't stop.
So if you see at this point, they give this, I think, wonderful description. Here, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, which if you're following the redemptive movement, it's Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth. Jerusalem, check, they've filled it with the gospel. And also just I appreciate the poetic description of how that reads because I would love to have someone accuse our church. Oh that you've just filled Columbia you filled Cayce with this teaching.
It's like man what a description what a picture of faithful evangelism that you could be accused of filling the city with the teaching. That's what they've done they filled the city with this teaching of the gospel, and also that they are being accused of the ones that put Jesus to death. So they make these accusations, and then Peter and the apostles respond in verse 29.
But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things. And so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.
— Acts 5:29–32 (ESV)
So they say, we already told you this. We must obey God. We're not going to listen to you. That's not how this works. And then they give a defense, which is the gospel.
The God the Father sent Jesus Christ, the Son, to be hanged on a tree. This is that whom you crucified language. And now he has been lifted up and he's ascended to the right hand of God the Father. And he rules as leader and savior. And he gives repentance and forgiveness of sins.
It's that we've witnessed these things as has the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. Testifies to these, to those who obey, those who obey the call to believe and repent in the name of Jesus Christ. So they give this proclamation straight to them, and this infuriates them. It says in verse 33,
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
— Acts 5:33 (ESV)
They're enraged, and if you think about why, there's a few reasons that come to mind. The first is that they just declared something that they adamantly opposed and hate, that Jesus is God. This language here of Jesus being lifted up at the right hand of God the Father, leader and Savior offering repentance, this is the language of God. This is when Jesus was on trial the night that he was betrayed, and they're questioning him, and then he uses Daniel 7, son of man, descending on the clouds language. The reason they tear their clothes when they hear that is because Jesus claimed to be God.
And the same thing is happening here. They're furious. Also, they're being accused yet again of being the ones that put Jesus on the cross. And also, there's a subtlety, and the Spirit of God is on our side. It's with us.
By definition, it's not with you. So they hear this, and they are ready to kill every apostle in front of them until somebody speaks up. Verse 34,
But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
— Acts 5:34 (ESV)
So while the Sadducees are the majority political influence on the Sanhedrin, The Pharisees, another political religious group of men, they still have some sway. They're still there. Think of it as like the Senate has Republicans and Democrats and they shift power over time. That's how the Sadducees and the Pharisees kind of shifted on the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin, they're in majority power right now, but the Pharisees still have a say.
But there's one Pharisee in particular that when he speaks, everyone listens. His name is Gamaliel. Now, this is the grandson of a very famous rabbi named Hillel. So that's one of the most famous, and he also was famous in his own right. When you look at not just here in the book of Acts, but when you also study Jewish history, Jewish texts outside of the Bible, you see the Gamaliel is actually one of the most revered rabbis in their history.
So when he speaks, everyone listens. So he speaks up, everyone listens and says, how about we put them outside for a moment? Let's have a little chat. He's going to bring the temperature down for a moment, and he's going to give a very reasonable explanation of how they should think about this. So pick up in verse 35.
It says,
And he said to them, men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days, Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about 400, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.
— Acts 5:35–37 (ESV)
So what Gamaliel just did was he referenced multiple failed messianic rebellions. So when you study first century Judaism and the history, throughout the whole first century, there were lots of people, or a few different people, lots of groups of people that tried to overthrow the Romans. So there was Theudas, there was Judas, there was other people that rose up as a rebellion because they thought the Messiah was going to bring a political movement that was going to kick out the Romans and establish a earthly reign. So there was someone who would rise up, create a movement. They get some followers and then it would fail and they'd end up on crosses and it would die out.
So he references a few of these movements that have happened. And then in verse 38 he says:
So in the present case, I tell you keep away from these men and let them alone. For this plan or this undertaking is of man it will fail. But if it is of God you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God.
— Acts 5:38–39 (ESV)
So he gives this very reasonable argument. He's saying, yeah, there's a lot of people who've risen up and they've failed. But if they rise up and it just dwindles out, we're good. But if they keep going, if this movement continues and sustains and grows. Well you might be found to be opposing God.
So he gets them to take a massive step back and say just how about we just let this play out a little bit and see where it goes. So they listen because they don't kill them. So they took his advice.
And when they had called in the apostles they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.
— Acts 5:40 (ESV)
So they listened to an extent, but they don't let them go without punishment. It says they beat them. Now, that's better than being killed, but this actually is not a light beating. This is a flogging. So the Greek word for beat, the original word in this text is dero.
It's just this idea of not just beating, but striking and whipping. They were struck. They were whipped. I mean, this is Paul in his ministry at one point gets the Jewish punishment of 40 lashes minus one, which is the 39 lashes, the idea if you keep lashing them, they're going to die. So it might be somewhere in that vein of punishment where they are being severely whipped.
And if you've ever seen like a whip, like a horse whip, I mean, it's the crack of a whip is terrifying. I grew up around horses, and we had a horse whip, and you don't use it on the horse. You're supposed to kind of use it behind the horse to kind of train the horse. If you're in the center of the ring, you crack behind it so it learns how to ride. That's how that works.
So you don't use it on the horse. You might try to use it on your brother. We had enough sense to, like, not actually hit each other because it would be game over if that actually happened because it would create a massive welt. But my brother, he was older, so he was the one mostly had it in his hand. You do it close enough to strike fear, and boy, oh boy, you hear that thing, that crack of that whip.
It's terrifying. The terrifying sound, that's a terrifying experience to be whipped and beaten, and that's what happens to the apostles. They're whipped. They're beaten. In verse 41, we'll finish it out.
It says,
Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Christ is Jesus.
— Acts 5:41–42 (ESV)
So they're beaten, tortured, and they rejoice. They rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer. It's almost like it's like. Oh we finally we're in now. I feel like real followers of Jesus.
Like we're on the team now. We've got a jersey. Like we we're really doing it. And they rejoice and they don't shut up. They keep preaching Christ.
It says from the temple where they gathered to the homes in which they scattered and they kept declaring that Jesus is the Christ. And it's because they understood the urgency of Jesus Christ's commission. They understood what was at stake and they weren't going to stop. They're going to keep declaring that Jesus is the Christ because they understood that they were ambassadors. They were ambassadors.
They were to represent Christ on earth. That's the language of 2 Corinthians 5 that says
We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
— 2 Corinthians 5:20 (ESV)
They understood that they were the ones to declare to those who were lost who Jesus is. And I was reading a book once that described the church, the big C global church, as a collection of embassies all across the world. So every local church is an embassy knowing that we are not of this world. We belong to the kingdom of God. And that we're here as foreigners, as sojourners and strangers, declaring Jesus Christ to the lost.
I've always appreciated that description. But one of the things about embassies and the ambassadors that work in those embassies is that at times they are loved, but at times they are very much hated, depending on where they are in the world and what's going on. That we've had American embassies across the world and over our history that have been attacked. In 1998 the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were both simultaneously bombed. Hundreds of people died because that was a terrorist attack by Al Qaeda.
In 2012 our embassy in Benghazi, Libya was attacked. That when you're an embassy you represent the leader the values and the beliefs of where you come from. And at times America is loved abroad, but at times we're deeply hated. And when these kind of attacks happen, Americans are just confused. Like, why do they hate us so much?
And it's very simple. It's because of what we represent, the beliefs, the values, our president, our leader. And the church is a collection of embassies that represent Jesus Christ, our King, and the gospel and the beliefs and the values of God. And at times, we'll be salt and light, just as the apostles were beloved by the people and simultaneously they were hated by the religious leadership. That's going to happen.
That if we represent Christ, at times we're going to be hated. And guess what? That's exactly what Jesus told us. That's what He told them over and over again. Then in John, this will be on the screen, chapter 15 and verse 18, it says, this is Jesus Christ telling the disciples,
If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.
— John 15:18 (ESV)
And in verse 20, it says,
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
— John 15:20 (ESV)
And that's true for us. But the world is in opposition towards Christ. So it's going to happen. He makes that case in Matthew 10, in Mark 24, in Mark 13, in Luke 21. He makes this case over and over again.
That because you belong to me, they're going to hate you. They're going to oppose you. In Luke chapter 6, he gives some further description of how we should think about this. In verse 22, he tells us,
Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in heaven. For so their fathers did to the prophets.
— Luke 6:22–23 (ESV)
He says, this is going to happen. And blessed when it happens. Blessed are you when it happens. That you should rejoice. That's a command.
That's not a suggestion. You should rejoice when this happens. You should leap for joy when this happens. When's the last time that you leapt for joy? Was it when your team scored a touchdown?
Just leap for joy. Rejoice when you suffer this type of dishonor. Now here's why this is so important. Because how many times we read this how many times we're reminded of this. We sometimes get surprised when it actually happens. But we've been told and retold and retold over and over again by our Savior.
And the apostles, they knew this. They knew this. And that's why it says that rejoicing, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for his name. And you can almost see it. They were just brutally beaten.
Limping. Out from the beating with shirts that are stained with blood. And then all of a sudden one of them smiles. And then another one smiles. And now they're smiling and now they're singing.
And they're rejoicing and they're praising God. Because they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for his name. It's a wonderful picture of what Jesus is teaching his people to do. To rejoice. Now we can ask the question:
Why are they rejoicing? Is it simply because of obedience, because Jesus told them to? Or they understand something in a way that they understand logically how this works in light of eternity. And I think it's probably a little bit of both. I was trying to explain this to my son the other day.
He was asking me about. Sometimes he gets deep in thought. He talks a lot. But when he gets deep in thought and he gets quiet. I'm like, oh boy, I don't know what's going to come out of his mouth next.
And on Friday, we were out working on a hunting stand and he just was like, why do people suffer? He said, ooh, theodicy, let's go. We're just going to have to talk about the problem of evil. Just jumping right in. And I had a broom in my hand and I just said, well, buddy, I said, you know, there's a lot of... It's a tough question.
One of the ways we have to approach this is we have to understand our time and place in history. That our suffering feels like a lot, but it's brief in comparison to eternity. I had a broom in my hand, and as I said, the very end of this broom, like this little tiny, little centimeter kind of space, that's our entire life, that we get to live this entire life right here in this moment. And yet, sometimes it's filled with suffering. But buddy, you see how long this keeps going, how long eternity?
The broom doesn't stop. Just imagine, but it keeps going and going and going and going. And I said, so yes, when people die and when things happen and it's hard, it is hard. But there's a reward that's coming that is greater. I think the apostles, they just so deeply understood this.
They were obedient to Jesus Christ to rejoice, but they understood that the moment was just so brief in comparison to the glory that awaited them. This is just downloaded so deeply into their soul that they were rejoicing, that they got to suffer dishonor in this brief moment in time for the sake of the gospel moving forward. Now I want to read the final words that we have publicly from John Stam, the missionary who him and his wife Betty died in China being martyred for the gospel. This is part of the ransom that was sent back to their mission. He said, My wife, baby, and I are today in the hands of the communists in the city of Tsingteh.
Their demand is $20,000 for our release. All our possessions and stores are in their hands. But we praise God for peace in our hearts and a meal tonight. God grant you wisdom in what you do, and us fortitude, courage, and peace of heart. He is able and a wonderful friend in such a time.
May God be glorified by life or by death. And he sent that and then him and his wife were marched to a hillside and someone took a sword and they beheaded his wife and they beheaded him. And the moment that their head hit the ground they entered into the reward that awaited them. And they saw their savior. And for the last hundred years and the next hundred billion more they will only ever experience the glory and the wonder and the majesty and the infinite love and wisdom and the delight of Christ forever. And when you understand that, you can, with some of your final words, say, may God be glorified in life or by death.
It is with that posture of the heart can we, with the apostles, be rejoicing, counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. Now, the communists are not about to sack Columbia. It's not about to happen. Don't care what political hyperventilating figure you listen to that says they're coming. They're not.
It's just not likely to happen, you guys. I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. We actually get to practice our faith pretty freely. So how do we think about that? How do we think about embodying this?
How do we think about living this out? Because we're going to keep reading this. We're going to keep walking the book of Acts. We're going to see it over and over again. Suffering, death, martyrdom?
How do we think about this in light of our current context? How do we honor the tradition of the brothers and sisters who've gone before us who count themselves worthy to suffer dishonor for his name? We can start by preparing our souls to suffer well even for the mildest of threats and discomforts that we receive now. So here's how it works. If if you're faithful to share the gospel in your workplace.
And you get rounded up before the gulag that is the HR department. And they bring you in and they threaten you. And they tell you if you keep sharing Jesus you're going to be fired. That we should prepare our hearts to in that moment rejoice. We should rejoice.
Here's why it's important, because I think our first instinct is to complain. I think as Americans, our first instinct is, yeah, of course, where we are in this country at this point, we're just, of course, this is what would happen. And I need to go find a Christian law firm to take this to the Supreme Court so that we can practice our faith freely. And listen, I'm not opposed to using the laws of the land for such a... I mean, Paul does this.
Paul, when he's rounded up at times, he says, By the way, I'm a Roman citizen. Beat me now. See how that goes for you. And he uses the law of the land at the time to be spared a beating. So I think at times we can, but I don't think Paul's first instinct was, Get my lawyer.
I think his first instinct was,
To live is Christ, to die is gain.
— Philippians 1:21 (ESV)
Oh to fill up the suffering that is lacking. Bring it on. Like I just I think I think we have to have a posture that's ready to rejoice when we suffer and to be glad when it happens. That we should listen to Jesus Christ and receive his words when he says
Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
— Luke 6:22 (ESV)
We should own that. And you might take the risk and you might share Christ with your friends or your neighbors or your co-workers. And they might look at you like you're a freak. You might enter into the break room and you see them together and it's just clear like when you walked in it got weird. And they've been talking about you.
Quietly reviling you, excluding you. And when that happens, you should just rejoice. You should rejoice that you get to suffer dishonor for his name. Rejoice that you get to be excluded. When you tell your unbelieving friends, like, hey, I actually can't do that.
I love you all. I just can't be a part of that. And they're like, what's up with you? Oh, I forgot. I'm not like, Miss Holier than thou.
What a wuss. It's like you're being reviled. It's like rejoice. Rejoice. When you don't get invited to the cool kids table anymore.
Rejoice. That in a very small way, we get to suffer dishonor. Rejoice. Make it our first instinct that in the smallest of ways, in the tradition of our brothers and sisters in Christ, who've been flogged and beheaded and burned at the stake and exiled, and most of all, the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who was mocked, tortured, and crucified. Rejoice.
Walk away praying, thank you, Jesus, that I get to suffer in such a small way. And those five people, those five women, those five guys, they just, it's going to be weird going forward. And I don't think they're going to like me all that much. I did see that sixth person, though, and I saw the wheels turning. God, give me another shot at them.
Lord, give me another shot at them. Eternity is at stake, and hell is real, and I'm in, and if I suffer dishonor, praise you. Y'all, you don't have to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus Christ. You get to. You get to.
We get to suffer dishonor for the sake of Christ. But you only get to if you're obedient to actually share the gospel. You only get to do this if you look at people who, as the scriptures teach, are currently walking as enemies of the cross of Christ, standing opposed to God, sprinting into an eternity of judgment. You only get to do that if you stand in the way of them. And you tell them that, listen, I'm not perfect.
I'm a sinner. And so is everyone and so are you. But Jesus Christ dies for sinners. In fact, he was crucified for our sin. And he rose from the grave to capture your heart that you might not chase after the things of this world.
But you might be born again and set apart on a path to following him. Seeing that sin doesn't satisfy, but Jesus Christ is better and he does. And I want to tell you that if you trust in Jesus Christ and you surrender to him, you will experience joy now into eternity. Will you come? Will you follow Jesus Christ?
You won't get to suffer dishonor if you don't stand in the way of those whom you love and tell them about Jesus Christ. You get to. That we get to suffer dishonor for his name. And there's no better joy in this life. May we be obedient to share in the sufferings and the dishonor of sharing Jesus Christ and being excluded and reviled and mocked, ostracized, fired, shamed, because we were obedient to declare the good news of Jesus Christ.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would open our hearts to understand in a season that we're planting a church, in a season where two churches will be in two places as ambassadors and embassies here on earth representing the kingdom of your eternal throne. May we be obedient. Lord, may we share in your sufferings in such a small but wonderful way. May we share the gospel.
May we rejoice when we're rejected. And may that result in the people that we love and know finally tasting and seeing that you are good. Entering the baptism waters and declaring that you are Lord. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
We're going to take communion, which is the Lord's Supper. On the night that Jesus Christ was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body that was broken for you. And then he took the cup, which is the cup of the new covenant. He said, this is my blood that was shed for you.
That as often as you eat and drink this, you proclaim my death until I return. That's the meal that we take. It's a meal of remembrance. Remembering what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, but also remembering that he is coming back. So this meal is a meal of tension between two points in history, and we stand in the middle right now.
So as we come to the table, those of us that belong to Christ, we get to be reminded that we don't deserve this at all. But we get Jesus because of his great love for us. That all the times that we've been cowards and we failed to share the gospel. All the times that we've sinned. All the times we've cared about the approval of others.
All the times all the shortcomings. We get to joyfully come to the table knowing that all of that was paid for. So if you're a Christian, you belong to Jesus Christ, and you follow him. In a moment you get to come to the table.
You get to take the bread and the juice and be reminded of the good news of the gospel. There's gluten-free in that back corner over there. Prepare your heart to take the Lord's Supper. Come when you're ready.