Let’s turn once again to the book of Acts, Acts 5:17–42. Previously we saw the cautionary tale that was Ananias and Sapphira. In that passage of Scripture we saw punishment, purifying, and power. We saw God punish sinful hypocrisy in the church. That punishment was a warning meant to purify the church. And after that we saw an incredible outpouring of God’s power. Miracles continued in the early church. People got saved. The gospel was preached. Peter’s shadow was healing people. These were wonderful, powerful acts of God. And God’s favor was poured out on the church after the debacle of Ananias and Sapphira. 

And here’s the question I want to ask as we approach today’s passage: “Does an outpouring of God’s power mean that we are safeguarded against persecution and opposition?” Let me ask it this way: “Does God’s favor in the church or in our lives eliminate the possibility of pain and suffering?” Does it?

 I think that most American Christians would answer that question correctly by saying “No. No it doesn’t.” But often we live our lives in such a way where we unconsciously believe that if I’m obeying God and serving him faithfully, then life is going to be easy street. God is going to accommodate my faithfulness with ease and comfort and answered prayers and endless blessings.  

But then we get blindsided by a bout of depression. Or we get attacked at work because of our faith. Or we get marginalized by our family for our convictions. Or we start to experience conflict with our parents, our siblings, or our kids. And then we turn to the Lord and say, “What gives? Why are you letting this happen to me, Lord?” And we let hardships derail our faithfulness to God. 

 Why does that happen? Why are we like that in America? Well, I’ll tell you why… but you’re not going to like it. We are like that in America, because we are soft. And I’m including myself in that estimation. I’m an American, and I’m guilty as charged. We’re soft. We like our soft, cushy, comfortable, lifestyles, uncomplicated by suffering or human opposition. 

And that’s why we don’t evangelize. That’s why we don’t radically serve Christ in the face of opposition. That’s why we try to blend in with everyone else, even when blending in means compromise. And that’s why we surrender to the pressures of this world. 

 The title for the message today is “Never Surrender.” And my prayer today is that God would give us the kind of “never surrender” attitude that we see in the early church. When I see the boldness and the moxie of the apostles in the early church, the last thing I see is soft Christianity. The apostles and the early church had what Rich Mullins called “The reckless raging fury that they call the love of God.” Surrender was not an option for the early church. Soft was not an option for the early church. 

And so my goal in today’s message is to show you this great display of courage by Peter and the other apostles. And my hope is that this fires us up to be those same kinds of bold, courageous, moxie-filled disciples today.    

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Let’s start with this. Let’s start with the crisis. 

1) The Crisis (5:17–20)

Here’s what Luke says in verse 17. 

17 But the high priest rose up, 

That’s ominous. The high priest rose up! Remember this is on the heels of that great outpouring of God’s power earlier in Acts 5. People were getting saved. Ananias and Saphirra were struck dead. People were getting healed in droves. People were coming from the neighboring villages around Jerusalem to see the apostles. It was Spirit-filled pandemonium in Jerusalem. 

17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 

Luke doesn’t specify who among the apostles were arrested. But Peter was clearly one of them. Probably John was arrested too. And possibly it was all twelve of them including the new apostle Matthias. Welcome to the apostles, Matthias! Now you’re getting arrested.  

And remember now, the High Priest and these Sadducees were the ones who were jealous of Jesus. And because of that they put him to death. So they’ve got a problem with the tenth commandment. And they also have a violent streak in them. They don’t want anyone disturbing the peace and making trouble with the Romans. And they don’t want anyone circumventing existing power structures. If people are going to flock to Jerusalem, it should be for them, not for these upstart, wannabe teachers and Jesus-followers from Galilee. 

So what do they do? They throw the apostles into prison. But check this out in verse 19.   

19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, 

Don’t you love that? When God wants something done, nobody is going to stop him. Even the entire army of Satan is putty in his hands. So there’s no way that a silly little thing like prison is going to hinder the Lord. So God sends an angel to release the apostles.

And there’s a dash of irony in this scene, because Sadducees don’t believe in angels. They are part of the liberal wing of Judaism at this time. They didn’t believe in a lot of things that most Jews including the Pharisees believed. So with just a little hint of irony, God uses an angel, which the Sadducees don’t believe actually exist, to reverse the actions of the Sadducees. Isn’t that great?

Look at the end of verse 19.   

19 … an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought [the apostles] out, and said, 

Said what? “Just go home and lie low. Let the heat die down a bit.” Is that what he said? “Just be safe! The most important thing is your safety. The most important thing is your health and your happiness and your comfort.” Is that what he said? No! He said in verse 20.

20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

“You mean go back to that place where we were arrested.” Remember now, they’ve been arrested twice! “You mean God wants us to go right back into the lion’s den.” 

“Yeah, that’s right.” 

“Won’t we just get arrested again?” 

“Probably.” 

“Won’t they be even more angry next time and try to beat us or kill us.” 

“Yeah, there’s a good chance of that.” 

“Okay, then. Let’s do this.”

Look at verse 21.

21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak 

They didn’t even take a day off! As soon as the sun came up, they were back in the temple.

and began to teach. 

 You know I did a little fake dialogue between the angel and the apostles to elevate the tension of this scene right here. But the truth is they didn’t question the angel one bit. They just went back into the temple and started teaching again. It’s “hi-ho-hi-ho off to work I go” for these guys. You’ve got to love their courage. These guys aren’t going to be bullied into silence. 

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 Write this down as a second movement in this passage. First there’s the crisis. But then there’s… 

2) The Misdirection (5:21–26)

Luke says in verse 21.

21 And when [the apostles] heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. 

No hesitation. No equivocation. No delay. No fear of man. No timidity. They just go right back to teaching in the temple.  

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. 

So this is comical. The apostles are teaching in the temple. And when the high priest came, he still thinks they’re in prison. He calls the council together conceivably to prosecute the apostles. But they are completely unaware that the disciples got busted out of prison by an angel. 

This is even more comical than you realize if you understand the topography of the temple complex. The apostles are on one side of the temple preaching probably in Solomon’s Portico. That’s roughly 400 meters from where the Sanhedrin are gathered. So we have the Sanhedrin council gathering to prosecute the apostles. And unbeknownst to them, the apostles have escaped and are preaching just a short walk from them. This is pretty hilarious stuff right here. I’m not so sure that Luke didn’t write this with a wry smile on his face.

What happens next? Well, look at verse 22.

22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 

What? What happened? How could this be? 

24 Now when the captain of the temple 

Remember that the second in command at the temple behind the chief priest. 

and the chief priests [Annas and Caiaphas] heard these words, they were greatly perplexed 

 I bet they were! By the way the word “perplexed” here means “at a loss” or “confused.” It doesn’t mean “alarmed” or “afraid.” They should be afraid, but they aren’t. These religious leaders fear the wrong things. 

they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 

I’m sure they were asking themselves, “What’s happening? What’s going on here? How are we going to fix this?” These guys are bumbling along like the Keystone Cops. 

And as they were wondering, this happens in verse 25.

25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 

Conceivably the chief priests were walking through the temple perplexed, when they saw Peter and the other apostles teaching at Solomon’s Portico. 

26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 

Remember what I said about them being afraid of all the wrong things. They’re afraid of the people. Why aren’t they afraid of the God who just miraculously freed the apostles? Why aren’t they afraid of the God who just struck down Ananias and Sapphira? Why aren’t they afraid of the God who raised Jesus from the dead? Why aren’t they afraid of the God who is empowering these apostles all throughout Jerusalem to heal people like crazy? They fear the wrong things. 

But don’t laugh too hard at them. Why? Because we fear the wrong things too. Don’t we? “But what if they don’t like me.” “What if they reject me?” “What if my friends think I’m weird because I actually believe what the Bible says?” Who cares what they think! The apostles don’t care what anyone thinks. They only care what God thinks. They only fear God. Let God be true and everyman a liar.  

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 Write this down as a third movement in this passage. 

3) The Resolve (5:27–32)

 This is my favorite part of this narrative. If you thought the previous part was good, wait till you see what happens next. Look at verse 27.

27 And when they had brought them, they [the temple officers] set them [the apostles] before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, 

He won’t even speak the name of Jesus. It’s like bad karma or something to him.

yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 

 That’s a pretty interesting statement at the end there. In fairness to the high priest, that’s exactly what the disciples were doing. They were telling people, even the high priest himself, “You killed this man, Jesus Christ.” No bones about it. They were laying blame on the Sanhedrin for Jesus. 

But they were right to do that. Jesus had stood before them, in this same place, in front of the Sanhedrin a few months earlier, and they had orchestrated his death. They even said at one point to Pilate, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” (Matt 27:25). Peter didn’t say that first. They said that!

It’s possible that the high priest assumes that these disciples want vengeance for the death of Jesus. Maybe he was thinking, “They’re trying to get the people to riot and retaliate for the wrongful death of Jesus.” But that’s not Peter’s purpose. Peter’s purpose, even in his accusation, “You killed Jesus Christ” was never vengeance. He’s seeking instead repentance. And many have repented. But not these Jewish leaders. Peter’s still holding out hope that these religious leaders might get saved. 

 Now notice how the strategy of the high priest subtly changes in this interrogation. At first they tried to intimidate the disciples. “Stop preaching in that name!” And they threw them in prison… twice. But I think that they can see now that that tactic isn’t working. They keep preaching and the message keeps going out. So now he tries something different. Instead of bullying them into silence, he’s going to try to guilt them into silence. Here’s what I mean.

 That statement, at the end of verse 28 is telling, “you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Do you hear what he’s saying? “Everything was fine and great until you started telling people about Jesus. And now people think we’re guilty for murder! But we’re innocent.” In other words, “If you just would have kept your mouth shut, then everything would have been hunky-dory. But you’re blaming us for Jesus’s death.” This isn’t intimidation here. This is a good old-fashioned sob-story. This is the high priest trying to absolve himself of guilt. 

Now watch Peter’s answer to the high priest. Peter has been uninfluenced by their intimidation in the past. But now the high priest has changed tactics. How’s he going to respond to this statement: “You intend to bring this man’s blood upon us… but we didn’t do anything wrong!”

Look at verse 29, 

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 

Peter ignores the whole “we didn’t do anything wrong” statement, and he goes straight to the heart of the matter. “We must obey God.” The high priest told him, “We told you to stop talking about that ‘name’ … you know which ‘name’ I’m talking about.” And Peter replies, “We must obey God rather than men.” He’s resolved! 

They told Peter and John in Acts 4 to stop preaching in Jesus’s name. And Peter’s response then was the same as it is here. Peter just lays it down, “We must obey God rather than men.” That’s it. There’s no mystery here. “God outranks you, high priest. I must obey him.”

But Peter and the apostles have more to say. They’re resolved on another matter too. Look at verse 30. 

30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 

 The chief priest was like, “You intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Peter’s like, “You’re right, I am. You killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree. And this Jesus is the one that the God of our fathers, the God of the Israelites, raised from the dead.”

 Notice that word “tree” in verse 30. That’s the first time that Peter has used that terminology, although he’s spoken of the cross before. Like all good preachers, Peter is repeatedly sharing the gospel, but he’s doing it in a unique way. 

The word for “tree” here is the Greek word ξύλον. It’s clearly a reference to the cross. But the language of ξύλον reflects the LXX of Deuteronomy 21:23: “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” Peter is aware of that when he uses this language, and coincidently so are the Jewish leaders. He’s saying, in effect, you cursed him. You cursed this Jesus who God raised from the dead. But even that was part of God’s plan because as Galatians 3:13 tells us “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree [ξύλον].’”

Let’s keep reading in verse 31. Peter’s on a roll.

31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 

By the way, take a quick look at Acts 4:29. What did the disciples pray for in Acts 4:29? “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.” Was that prayer answered? Peter’s on fire here. He is unflinching and unintimidated in his proclamation of the gospel before some very powerful, very devious people. 

And notice too, Peter doesn’t speak of vengeance here. Peter didn’t say, “Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father right now reigning down wrath and vengeance on his enemies! He’s at command control right now, just waiting for the codes to launch missiles in your direction.” No. Peter says, “Jesus, in his post-resurrection state, at the right hand of the Father, is offering forgiveness of sins through repentance.” That’s the gospel. Peter’s preaching saving faith to the very people responsible for Jesus’s death. 

Peter is saying here, “Yes, you did kill the Son of God. Stop denying it. But the good news is that he’s offering you forgiveness not retaliation.” 

Let me say something right here. Let me pause this story and say something applicationally. If you think you’ve done some horrible things in your life… if you think you’ve committed some unforgiveable sin… Listen, God offered forgiveness to the very people who condemned his Son and sentenced him to be crucified. We’re all guilty of that sin in some way or another. It was my sin that sent Jesus to the cross. We’re all responsible for crucifying the Son of God. You think your sins are worse than that? God is willing to forgive you, even right now. Repentance and faith, that’s what God requires of you. Repentance and faith bring about the forgiveness of your sins.

And look at verse 32.

32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

Peter has shared this same gospel multiple times in Acts. He did it in Acts 2. He did it in Acts 3. He did it in Acts 4. He just can’t stop. He can’t hold it in. 

And there are times when Peter preaches and the people respond so wonderfully. And Hallelujah, people get saved! There are times in Acts when the gospel is shared, and the gospel-sharer becomes the aroma of life to those who are being saved. God shows up and wonderful things happen. And people sins are forgiven. And it smells great! 

And then there are these other times… like here in Acts 5:33… There are other times when the gospel-sharer becomes not the “aroma of life,” but the “aroma of death.” When the people just don’t get it. 

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So, look at verse 33. This is tragic.

33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 

Is this an “aroma of life” moment or an “aroma of death” moment? What do you think? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:15–17, “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”

Peter has become the aroma of death to these who are perishing. “Why even say anything, Peter? What a waste of time!” Listen, hear me on this. “If you are not willing to be the aroma of death to those who are perishing, you can never be the aroma of life to those who are being saved.” We don’t know who’s going to get saved when we share the gospel. We don’t know, and we have no power over that. We are witnesses. That’s what we do. And we leave the results to God.

So they wanted to kill Peter and the other apostles. Why? Because they shared the gospel with them. And truth be told, they probably would have killed Peter and the other apostles, just like they killed Jesus a few  months before. But God had a different plan for them. Into this crisis, steps this man, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel.

 Write this down as a fourth movement in this passage. 

4) The Voice of Reason (5:33–40)

Before we get to Gamaliel, let me just say this. Sometimes God’s messengers get killed. The apostles here could very easily have been killed. We’ll see in a few weeks a man named Stephen who gets killed. Sometimes God’s witnesses get killed, and then sometimes they get rescued. Sometimes the angel opens up the prison doors and sets the captives free. That happens repeatedly in the book of Acts. Other times God leaves his saints in prison, like Paul for instance, who wrote many of his epistles in stinking, filthy prisons. Why didn’t God rescue him? Well that’s God’s prerogative. 

Why doesn’t God always save us from suffering in this world? Well he never promised to do that. Not in this world. In fact he promised us the opposite, namely that we would suffer.

Several years ago, there was a pastor from Idaho who was arrested in Iran. He had been imprisoned there for a while. And many people petitioned, even famous Christian musicians, to get the UN involved to rescue him. I’ve got no problem with that. I signed that petition. And praise God, that pastor was released in 2016 by the Iranian government. 

But listen, hear me on this. There are pastors every day in other parts of the world that are held captive and don’t get released. Christians get attacked and killed every day in this world. All of that is God’s prerogative. And we are called to trust that God’s greater purposes are at work even when tragedy befalls his people. And just like that’s true for Christians and Pastors in other parts of the world with their tragic and painful circumstances, it’s true for you and me with the less painful circumstances we go through.

So what’s God going to do here with these apostles? Let’s find out. Look at verse 34.       

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. 

Now this guy, Gamaliel (or Gamaliel the Elder as he was known), was the most respected Jew of his day. He was a Pharisee. He actually trained Paul when he was younger (see Acts 22:3). And even though he was a Pharisee, he was extremely respected by the Sadducees. 

Just to give you an idea of how well-respected he was, when he died, a Rabbinic saying from the Mishnah circulated in Israel, which went like this, “When Rabban Gamaliel the elder died, the glory of the law ceased and purity and abstinence died.” That’s pretty high praise! That’s how revered this man was in Jewish circles. So when he starts to speak, you can be sure that everyone leaned in to listen to him.       

35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

Now we’re not really sure who this Theudas was. Obviously he was a revolutionary around this time. Actually, there were lots of guys like this who rose up and started a revolt against the occupying Romans. But then they got crushed by the Roman army. And so the people would get all riled up about this new “messiah” who would rise up, but it would quickly come to nothing.

Look at verse 37. 

 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. 

We know a little more about this Judas the Galilean. This is not Judas Iscariot. This is a different Judas. Judas or Judah was a common name in first century Israel. 

Judas the Galilean led the tax revolt of AD 6, shortly after Jesus was born. The Romans retaliated by destroying the city of Sepphoris. Judas became an example to other revolutionaries or “zealots” as they were later called. Judas’s sons were “zealots,” and they were killed in a later war as well. 

Gamaliel says in verse 37, 

He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 

They come and they go. They come and they go. That’s what Gamaliel is insinuating. He’s basically saying, “Just like Theudas, and just like Judas the Galilean, this Jesus, who we crucified, his followers will disperse as well.” “So take a chill-pill, Sadducees. Just relax. This’ll all be over before you know it.”

Actually he goes on to say something a little more astute than that. Look at verse 38.

38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” 

Literally he says, “You might find yourself as God-fighters.” That’s not good. You don’t want to find yourself in that position. But of course, even though they don’t know it, they’re already God-fighters. They put God the Son to death! 

Look at the end of verse 39.

So they took his advice, 40 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.

How many think the apostles are really going to keep silent after this? “We mean it now! Stop speaking in that name! Don’t let us catch you again!” They just don’t get it. They don’t understand how deeply held their faith in Jesus is. He’s the most important thing in their life. He’s everything to them. They cannot “not” tell people about Jesus!

This Gamaliel character is kind of hard to figure out. Should I like him or not? He’s kind of enigmatic. He’s a complex character full of both good and bad.  There’s wisdom in what he says, but he’s also apathetic towards the gospel.

Here’s what John MacArthur says about him (I’m inclined to agree with this): “Gamaliel was a pragmatist – a poor substitute for being a good biblical scholar. Such lethargy on his part is not commendable in light of what he knew of the Scripture and what he knew of the work of Jesus and the power of the apostles in his name… apparently Gamaliel had no problem with the whipping, again revealing his indifference.” 

So there’s Gamaliel for you. Smart, intelligent, well-spoken, and revered. He’s the voice of reason in this narrative that probably saved the apostles’ lives. Yet he’s also passive, indifferent, lethargic, and pragmatic. Don’t imitate that guy. Don’t be like that.

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If you want to imitate something in this passage, imitate this. Look at verse 41. Imitate these guys.

 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 

42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Write this down as a fifth movement in this passage. 

5) The Joy of the Lord (5:41–42)

What did these guys do after getting beaten and threatened? How did they respond? They didn’t pout. They didn’t sulk. They didn’t drift off into despondency. They rejoiced. They counted themselves worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus. They rejoiced, and also they got back to work as witnesses. 

Look again at verse 42.

42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

They are back teaching and preaching! These apostles are like a Jack-in-the-box. The religious leaders keep trying to suppress them. But they just keep popping up in the temple telling people about Jesus. 

By the way, this was no run-of-the-mill beating that they endured. The Greek word in verse 40 for “beat” indicates a “flogging.” It was probably the standard “forty lashes minus one” treatment that would have ripped skin off their backs…. They probably had difficulty walking and talking after this scourging by the Sanhedrin. And yet there they are, rejoicing and praising God.  And getting back to work with the thing that just got them arrested.   

Let me just say this. If these apostles could stand up to the very men who put Jesus to death and rejoice in their affliction and severe pain, then we can do the same in our less painful and strenuous circumstances today. Agreed? 

If they can evangelize in that context, then we can evangelize in our context. If they can have joy when their backs are cracked and bleeding, then we can too when our hearts are broken, or our friends reject us, or our family members think we’re crazy. 

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Let me give you three applications, and then we’re done. Here’s the first.

1) Don’t let anyone bully you into silence 

We are Christ Jesus’s witnesses. We cannot be silent.

You might say, “Yeah Tony, but you don’t understand how difficult it is to share my faith at work.” “You don’t know how my family is about religion.” “You don’t know how far gone my kids are.” Listen to me, hear me on this, don’t be soft. Don’t let people bully you into a place of silence. Can any of your family or friends or coworkers be any worse than these first century Sadducees? I doubt it. They put an innocent man, Jesus, to death for healing people and teaching the truth. Jesus’s disciples weren’t silent, and we can’t be either about the gospel. 

“You don’t understand, Tony. People will hate me and ostracize me if I tell them I’m a Christian.” Yeah, well tell that to these men who risked, bled, and died so that the gospel might eventually reach you. 

Listen, I don’t mean to be insensitive. Christianity is not a gravy-train. It’s not easy. And it was never meant to be. Friendship with Christ means enmity with the world (see Jas 4:4–8). That’s the way it’s got to be. So don’t be soft. Surrender is not an option. Don’t let people bully you into silence.

Yes, be shrewd. Yes, be discerning about when to talk and when not to talk. Jesus talked about the importance of picking your spots and not casting pearls before swine. But don’t let shrewdness become an excuse for silence. Be bold and be courageous in your sharing of the gospel. 

Secondly,

2) Don’t let anyone feign innocence  

With not a little irony, the chief priest told Peter and the other apostles, “You intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Uh, yeah! Because this man’s blood is upon you. Peter said, “You killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree! Of course his blood is upon you.”

Now people in our day won’t say, “You intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” They won’t cop to putting Jesus on the cross. They won’t understand that if you say it. But they will say something like this, “I’m a mostly good person.” “God will accept me because my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds.” Or they will say, “I’m innocent of anything really bad. It’s not like I’ve murdered anyone.”

And we, as witnesses for Christ, have to step into the void of that ignorance and feigned innocence and say, “No, friend. You are a sinner separated from a holy God. And Christ Jesus was the innocent sufferer. He died to pay the penalty for your sins.” Don’t let anyone feign innocence.

And thirdly,

3) Don’t let anyone steal your joy

In his Acts commentary, Eckhard Schnabel says, “Christians can have joy in the midst of suffering not because they enjoy suffering. Believers in Jesus are not masochists—pain or humiliation is always the result of sin and thus evil and can therefore never be the cause of pleasure. Christians have joy in the midst of suffering because they suffer for the name of Jesus. Christians who suffer for the sake of Jesus share in God’s mission to save the world through his son Jesus Christ, which is cause for rejoicing. And they have been promised ‘reward[s]’ in heaven (Luke 6:22–23) if and when they suffer in faithful discipleship.”

So don’t let anyone steal your joy. They might destroy this body. So what! They might insult you and denigrate you and try to tear down your self-esteem. Let ‘em try. They can kill the body, but they can’t kill the soul. 

And someday we’ll go to a place where the events of this life will seem like a drop in the ocean. The events of this world and the suffering we endured will be like a speck of dust lying on the surface of the moon. Someday we’ll be in eternity with the Lord. And I wanted to take some other people with me to that place. So don’t be soft. Keep preaching what you believe. And let’s ask God to use us to bring about the work of salvation. Amen?