Acts 20:1

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of the Lord and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. He said, "Behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."

Then they cried with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord. They cast him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. They stoned Stephen as he was calling upon God, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." When he had said this, he died.

Saul was consenting unto his death. At that time, there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made a great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and hailing men and women, committing them to prison.

Father, as we look into your Word, we pray for your wisdom. We pray, God, that you would continue to give us insight. Lord, continue to teach us by your Spirit and transform us more and more into your image, that we would reflect your glory in a dark world. God, work in us, your church, in our day, to be witnesses unto you here in this area. Even in the face of difficulty and opposition, we pray that you would shine brightly through us. We ask in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen."

You can be seated. Amen. Last week, in our review of the Book of Acts, we considered the effect of power—God's power—in the birth of the church.

We saw in Acts chapter 1 the promise of power. Jesus, in verse 8, told His disciples, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth." Then, in Acts chapter 2, at the beginning of the chapter, we saw the provision of power as the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost upon the believers. One hundred twenty of them gathered there in a room in Jerusalem.

We also saw how Peter, in Acts chapter 2, preached with power. This was the same Peter who had denied the Lord, denying that he even knew the Lord three times on the night that Jesus was arrested and tried. At the end of chapter 2, we see the byproduct of power as the church was birthed, and it began to have influence in Jerusalem. As we finished last week in Acts chapter 6, we observed the partitioning of that power to further leaders within the church, and again, the influence of the church spread even further.

Now, one of the things that you can be certain of is that where the power of God is present, the opposition of the enemy is imminent. Where the power of God is present, the opposition of the enemy is near at hand. This is a certainty. Throughout the Scriptures, we see this to be the case. The early history of the church is the story of God working by His mighty power through ordinary men and women to do extraordinary exploits for the kingdom of God. The book of Acts reveals this in a marvelous way, showing God using people just like us to accomplish the task of the kingdom.

That is the desire of God; that is the aim of God in His church—to work through us to extend the glory of God to the uttermost parts. The book of Acts illustrates this beautifully. However, it also brings to light the hostile resistance of the enemy against the plans and purposes of God. The enemy is always seeking to steal, to kill, and to destroy. He seeks to ruin the work of God and comes against it. He always brings opposition against what God is doing.

Given this reality, I am grateful for the word of Christ in Matthew chapter 16. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 16. I referenced this briefly in our study last time. Matthew chapter 16 is that great passage of Scripture where Jesus, with His disciples, is in one of the northernmost reaches of the nation of Israel.

In an area called Caesarea Philippi, where pagan worship was abundant, Jesus was seated with His disciples overlooking this pantheon. He asked His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" The disciples provided their insights, saying that some thought He was Elijah, some believed He was a prophet, and others speculated that He might even be the Christ.

Then Jesus posed a more personal question: "Who do you say that I am?" In verse 16, Simon Peter answered that question. In Matthew 16:16, Simon Peter declared, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." What a phenomenal statement! "You are the Christ" means the anointed one, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah, the one promised all the way back in Genesis chapter 3. Jesus is the fulfillment of every prophecy of the Old Testament foretelling this coming one of God. Not only is He the Messiah, but He is also the very Son of God, possessing the very nature of God. We have seen this in the way He preaches and in the way He works. We can see that He is God.

If that statement were not true and Jesus were just a prophet, He would have stopped Peter. But He did not. Jesus answered in verse 17, saying to him, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but my Father which is in heaven." He continued, "And I say unto you that you are Peter, and upon this rock—not upon Peter, but upon the rock of the statement he just made—will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

In verse 18, we find two wonderful promises from the Lord. First, Jesus promised that He will build His church; He is the one who establishes it. Secondly, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. In these two promises, we are comforted by the fact that the establishment and defense of the church is not our task; it is the task of the Lord. Any time we take it upon ourselves to build or defend God's church, we are working outside of our pay grade.

That's not our task. In much the same way, it is not our task to bring conviction of sin upon people. That is the work of the Holy Spirit of God; He does that. Although we like to play the Holy Spirit, don't we?

As you look across the spectrum of the church today in the West, you see that there are people who are taking it upon themselves to build the church. That's why there are thousands of books on church growth, making it better, bigger, and more technologically savvy. People believe that if we don't do that, then we're not going to reach the people because they are so into media.

We are being told that preaching is out of date and that we don't do that anymore. However, we are still doing it. Why? Because God told us to go and proclaim His word. The church was birthed in Acts chapter 2 at the proclaiming of God's word. It is the work that God does. He said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

If we are trying to be the ones defending the church, we should recognize that there have been people throughout history who have decided it is their job to defend the church. When man takes it upon himself to defend the church, he does a terrible job. You can read church history to see that this is the case.

Although it is the work of God to build and defend His church, we need to recognize that opposition against God's work—the work that God is doing in and through His church—is always going to come. This is implied in what Jesus says in this passage. There will be opposition. The gates of hell will not prevail against it, which implies that there will be opposition against the church. It is not going to prevail, but it is going to come against the church.

When we read that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, the concept is that the gates of hell mention the seat of power, organization, and planning—the place where strategy is held within the hellish ranks. The plans and devices of the enemy will not prevail against the church, but there will be opposition.

Consider the words of Jesus in John chapter 15. In John 15, verse 20, Jesus says to His disciples...

Remember the word that I said unto you: a servant is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you. Persecution is the lot of the people of God.

Consider the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, specifically in Matthew chapter 5. Turn back to the book of Matthew again. We're going to get our finger exercise here this morning. In Matthew chapter 5, verse 10, Jesus says to his disciples, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He continues, "Blessed are you when men shall revile and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets that were before you."

When people come against you, when they say things falsely because of your witness for Christ, rejoice. How many of you, in your natural self, find yourself rejoicing when people slander you? We don't like that. But Jesus says, "If they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you." Know that this is going to happen.

But blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake, because your reward is great in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets who were before you. Jesus was persecuted for righteousness' sake, as were John the Baptist, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, Joseph in the book of Genesis, and Noah, just to name a few.

If you look through the scriptures, there are many people who experienced persecution for the name of Christ and for the sake of God. Why? Well, Paul tells Timothy that anyone who desires to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Now, these are not the promises we put on bumper stickers or bookmarks. We don't necessarily like these kinds of things. To be honest with you, it would be a pretty righteous poster.

You will be persecuted. That would be awesome. That would be truer than some of the things you might pick up in some Christian bookstores. The Scriptures make it very, very clear. So, if you are experiencing reviling, people speaking falsely of you, or slandering you for the sake of Christ because of your witness for Him, well, you're in good company. You're in good company to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ.

Now, let me be very clear. Persecution is normal Christianity. Persecution is normal to Christianity. What we have experienced here in America in the form of religious liberty and freedom is abnormal to Christian history. But it's normal to us. Every single one of us who was born in this nation or lived most of our life here has experienced that kind of religious liberty. So, when we hear of people being persecuted in other places, when you get the magazine from Voice of the Martyrs and find that there are more people being persecuted and killed for their faith in Christ today than there were a thousand years ago or two thousand years ago, it's hard for us to comprehend that because we live in the seat of religious liberty.

Anytime anyone seems to imply in any way that we don't have religious liberty in the public space, we have this great outcry within our nation because we have freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But what is normal to us is abnormal to Christian history. We recognize that we're not experiencing the norm. It is very likely that there will come a day, perhaps in our lifetimes—some people think that it's right around the corner, while others believe it may be years down the road—when persecution will come to our shores against the church.

There are some ways in which we are spoken against falsely today. We hear these reports against the church in the media and in pop culture, with people saying things about Christians. We should recognize that these things will happen. Consider Acts chapter 4, if you will. Turn to Acts 4. Where the power of God is in His church, the persecution of His church will be present. In Acts chapter 4, Peter and John, in chapter 3...

They had gone up to the temple to pray during the afternoon time of prayer at the ninth hour. While they were entering the temple precincts, they came upon a man, a lame man who was born lame. He was at the gate called Beautiful, begging. When Peter and John came upon this man, Peter looked at him and said, "Look at me." The man fixed his eyes on Peter.

Peter continued, "Listen, silver and gold I do not have. But what I do have, I will give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise and walk." He took him by the hand, and this man, who had been lame from birth, stood to his feet and was healed. For the first time in his life, he entered the temple because, under the Levitical law, a lame person was not allowed to go in. The closest he had ever come was to the gates, and now he was walking, leaping, and praising God.

This caused quite a stir. Imagine all the people who would go through that gate day in and day out, seeing this man, and now witnessing him walking, leaping, and praising God. There were probably some cynics saying, "That guy wasn't lame ever. He was just faking it to make some money." But there he was, healed, walking, leaping, and praising God. The commotion attracted a crowd around Peter, James, and the man, who is not named in the scriptures.

As they gathered around, Peter said, "Well, you want to know how this guy was healed? Let me tell you. It wasn't by our power or strength that this man stands before you whole. It was by the name of Jesus Christ." Empowered by God, Peter preached the word.

Then we come to Acts chapter 4, verse 1. As they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead, and they were furious. "How dare you preach this thing we don't believe?"

We live in a culture today that is furious because we preach things they don't believe. Does that make what we preach untrue? Here is this lame man made whole, and Peter says, "He stands before you whole because Jesus raised from the dead and has power." They were not happy that they preached through Jesus.

The resurrection from the dead is a pivotal event. In verse 3, they laid hands on Peter and John and put them in hold. They imprisoned them until the next day, for it was near evening. The following day, Peter, John, and the man who had been healed stood before the council of priests, including the high priests and other religious leaders, the Sadducees present there.

Peter was equipped with boldness once again by the Spirit of God, and he began to preach before these individuals when they asked him, "So, how did this whole thing happen? What is this con job you're doing?" Peter preached the gospel with boldness and power. In Acts 4, verse 12, he declared, "Neither is there salvation in any other name, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."

The religious leaders did not necessarily like that. These were the same leaders who had condemned Jesus to die and crucified Him just a short time before. Peter boldly stated, "You crucified Him; He raised from the dead, and He is the only way of salvation." The religious leaders could not accept that unlearned, ignorant Galileans were preaching such things in Jerusalem.

Look at what they did. In verse 15, Acts 4:15, it says, "But when they had commanded them to go outside of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, 'What shall we do to these men? For indeed, a notable miracle has been done by them. It is manifest to everyone that dwells in Jerusalem. We cannot deny it.'” They recognized that something powerful had happened but felt the need to mitigate the problem.

In verse 17, they decided, "Lest it spread no further among the people, let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth no more in this man's name." They called Peter and John and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. They insisted, "Don't talk about this Jesus anymore. Just stop that. That's bad. We don't want to hear this. No more. Stop mentioning Jesus."

We don't see that in our culture today—nothing like that. What is it about the name of Jesus that infuriates people?

In Acts chapter 5, time has passed a bit, and God is powerfully moving in and among His church again.

People are being healed of illnesses and set free from demonic afflictions. Look at verse 17 of Acts chapter 5. Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him, who were of the sect of the Sadducees, were preaching in Jesus the resurrection from the dead and seeing mighty works done through the power of the raised Christ. The high priest and those with him were filled with indignation. I love that word, indignation. That's why I love the King James Version; it just doesn't say it like that in most other versions. Indignation. They were upset, not happy. They laid their hands on the apostles—not just Peter and John, but on all the apostles, the leaders of the church—and put them in a common prison.

Now, God, through a mighty act, opened the prison doors during the night and set these captive apostles free. He told them to go back into the temple and preach Christ. So, they went back into the temple and preached Christ. Look at verse 25. The next morning, when everybody gathered, they went to look for these men in the prison cell, but they were not there.

Then came one of them and told the others, saying, "Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people." The captain of the officers went and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned by the people. Now the religious leaders were fearing the people. When they brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, "Did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? Didn't we tell you to stop this whole thing? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching."

I love that. Why? Jesus said, "You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem." And now, the high priest says, "You've filled Jerusalem with this teaching, with this doctrine. Stop it!" You can almost see the priest getting ready to tear his clothes, saying, "Stop it! You can't do this. We straightly warned you not to preach in His name any longer. I am the high priest. Listen."

Right? That's what He's doing. You filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. You're trying to say that we killed Jesus. Well, you did, and you were pretty excited about it when you did it. So, what's going on here?

Well, Peter once again preaches, this time with the other apostles. Acts 5:29-32 tells us that. Then, in verse 33, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and they took counsel to what? Let's kill them. We warned them once; kill them. No. No strike two.

Now, one man, a wise Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel, says, "Whoa, time out." He gives them a brief history lesson. Listen, this kind of thing has happened before. We've had little groups of people rise up, claiming this guy's the Messiah, and it died out. This guy's the Messiah, and it died out. Listen, if this is not the work of God, it'll die. Don't push against it. If it is the work of God, there's nothing we can do to fight against it because we will find ourselves fighting against God.

Keep that in your minds for next week. If you fight against this, you'll be fighting against God. Gamaliel. Look at Acts 5:40. To him, they consented. They agreed. So when they called the apostles, they beat them. They commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go.

So, okay, Gamaliel, that's probably wisdom. You're older than most of us. We're good with that. Let's at least beat them up. All right, rough them up. Bring them in here, give them a little swift kick, and maybe they'll shut up. Don't preach in His name. They send them on the road.

We saw last week in Acts chapter 6 how the power of God within His church was further partitioned after this point among wise, spirit-filled men within the church to be set to the task of ministry in an area that was lacking, as described in the opening verses of Acts chapter 6. One of the men, the first one named in Acts chapter 6, is a guy by the name of Stephen. And Stephen...

We read in Acts 6, verse 8, that Stephen was full of faith and power, and he did great wonders and miracles among the people. Now let me ask you, do you think Stephen did wonderful works and miracles? Was it him? Who was it? It was the risen Lord. He was filled with power, and God, through him, was working mightily.

What do we know? When the power of God is working through His church, what will always be evident? Opposition. Persecution. The enemy will always come against that. So, the power of God, when it is focused through the church, always presents itself with persecution.

Stephen, empowered by God, preaches an epic sermon in Acts chapter 7. Read it later; it's powerful. When his audience heard it, verse 54 tells us that they were cut to the heart and gnashed at him with their teeth. In verse 57, we read that they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears. You can imagine these individuals literally plugging their ears, refusing to listen any longer. Although they were cut to the heart and convicted, they rejected the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. They rushed upon him as one group and cast him outside the city of Jerusalem. They stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

As they stoned Stephen, he was calling upon the Lord, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, lay not this to their charge." When he had said this, he fell asleep. Thus, Stephen becomes the first martyr of the church.

It's interesting because when Jesus told His disciples in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, "You shall be witnesses unto me," the Greek word used is "martyros," which is where we get the word martyr. He was killed for his faith and for his profession. Jesus said, "Listen, if they persecuted me, they'll persecute you. Rejoice, for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you. Great is your reward in heaven." Stephen stepped into that reality.

Into eternity to a great reward. We read in Acts chapter 8, verse 1, that Saul, the same Saul to whom they cast their clothes at his feet in verse 58 of chapter 7, was consenting to Stephen's death. He had some sort of power and authority in Jerusalem as a religious leader. Although he was young, he was one of the rising stars in Judaism. There he stood, not getting his hands dirty. The religious leaders were not going to get their hands dirty; he was just standing there as a Pharisee, watching and saying, "Yep, go right ahead, kill him."

He was affirming their actions, saying, "You sure? It's good? We have the legal authority to kill him?" He stood there as the one with authority, saying, "Yes, take his life." And so, they killed Stephen. Saul consented to his death, and at that time, there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem.

The persecution and opposition began against Peter and John when they went up to the temple to pray in Acts chapter 4. It continued against all the apostles in Acts chapter 5, and now it continued against Stephen. This opposition spread to the entire church. The whole church experienced opposition in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the region of Judea and Samaria.

Now, why is that important? Because Acts 1, verse 8 said, "You shall receive power to be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts." Here in Acts chapter 8, verse 1, about six years later, Acts 1, verse 8 is now being fulfilled. Notice how God is allowing persecution to fulfill His work. This is phenomenal and important. God allows this persecution because, up to this point, the gospel, the doctrine of Christ, was seated there in Jerusalem.

Remember what the chief priest said: "You have caused this to spread throughout all Jerusalem, your doctrine." But now, it was already in Jerusalem; it was time to go to Judea and Samaria. However, these individuals loved Jerusalem. Why leave? I'll tell you why they left: persecution. Persecution came against the church, and now they were all scattered to Judea and Samaria because they were empowered by God. Where the power of God is focused, persecution will arise.

Saul made havoc of the church, entering into every house and dragging men and women, committing them to prison. Now turn over to Acts chapter 12. Again, this is sometime later. About that time, Herod the king, in verse 1, stretched forth his hands to vex certain members of the church and came against them. He killed James, the brother of John, with a sword.

James and John, remember, were the sons of thunder, sons of Zebedee, two fishermen. Jesus came to them while they were fishing with their father, cleaning their nets, and said, "Follow me." They followed Him, leaving everything behind. They were probably quite young when they heeded that call. Now, some years later, they had seen the risen Lord ascend into heaven. They had been empowered from on high and had been preaching powerfully the gospel of Christ, the doctrine of Christ throughout the region of Jerusalem.

Now the king of that region, Herod, set himself against the church. He decided that they needed to deal with this whole situation. He didn't like what was happening within the church because the church was preaching truth, and he was a liar, an adulterer, and a fool. The things the church was saying were not politically correct. So, he set himself to vex the church and disrupt it. He had James, the brother of John, killed.

In verse 3, we see that because Herod saw that it pleased the Jews what he had done, they were happy that James was killed. This killing Christians thing was polling really well. So, what should they do? Well, they decided to take out that key figure, Peter. He proceeded even further to take Peter also. These events occurred during the days of unleavened bread, which is the time of the Passover. When he had apprehended Peter, he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him, intending that after the Passover, after that time...

To bring him forth to the people, he says, "All right, so here's what we're going to do. You guys go get Peter. We know where he's at. Bring him in. Put him in prison. When we're done, we'll bring him before the people, and we'll really please the Jews with this one. We're going to get rid of this Peter guy. The same guy who preached on the day of Pentecost, the same guy who stood up to the chief priest during Acts chapter 4 and Acts chapter 5, the ringleader. Take him out. Get him. This will really bode well for us."

As you read through the remainder of chapter 12, you find that in the middle of the night, Peter is sleeping in prison. He has a ton of Roman soldiers keeping guard over him because they are concerned that someone might try to take him out of the prison. There he is, sleeping, when an angel comes and wakes him up. "Hey, wake up. Let's go." Peter wakes up, feeling drowsy. The doors of the prison open, and he walks right out.

Meanwhile, the church is praying, interceding, and fasting for Peter in Acts chapter 12. He comes to the house and knocks on the door. A young girl comes out, opens the door, and sees that it is Peter. She is so amazed that it is him that she closes the door and goes back in, saying, "Peter's at the door." They respond, "Oh, come on. You're crazy. It's not Peter. It's just Peter's angel. He's not here. He's in prison. You know he's in prison." So he stands outside. Finally, they come out and realize, "Whoa, it's Peter!" He has been miraculously released from prison.

The next section of the passage tells us that Herod, on one of the days, stands up to proclaim himself so great down in Caesarea by the sea. Judgment comes upon him, and he dies. The Scriptures say he was eaten with worms. It's a pretty gnarly judgment of God upon him.

We see the power of God at work. "You shall receive power. You're going to be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth." Where power is focused from God, persecution will arise. In Acts chapter 4, Peter and John are brought before the council and are sternly warned, "Don't speak about Jesus." Then, in chapter 5, the apostles are told again, "Don't speak about Jesus. We really mean this." They are beaten a little bit to show how serious they are, but that didn't work.

In Acts chapter 7, Stephen is brought before a group of these leaders in Jerusalem. He is stoned and killed. They cast their clothes at the feet of a man named Saul, who begins to make havoc against the church. In Acts chapter 8, he effectively causes God's work to be fulfilled through his persecution. The church spreads into Judea and Samaria. It's like pouring water on a fire of oil; it just goes everywhere. Don't do that. And so the church continues to grow.

begins to be scattered. Ultimately, James is killed in Acts chapter 12, and Peter is taken and put in prison. They want to kill him as well in Acts chapter 12. As you continue through the book of Acts, you see the same persecution arise against God and the work of God through His church at every age.

You can pick up Fox's Book of Martyrs and read through Christian history about these different individuals, how they were martyred, and how they were put to death. Some of them were stoned, some had their heads cut off, and some were crucified. Peter ultimately met his death being crucified upside down. The apostle John was also targeted; they tried to kill him by putting him into a frying pan and boiling him in oil, but it didn't work. Instead, they banished him to the island of Patmos, where he received the vision we call the Apocalypse, the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Some were burned at the stake, while others were thrown to wild beasts to be devoured and killed.

Where the power of God is evident in His church, persecution will arise. This has been the case for 2,000 years of Christian history and is still true in many places throughout the world. We live under the shelter of religious liberty in America, but persecution always begins verbally before it escalates, as we see in the passage here in the book of Acts.

We are living in a time where we are beginning to see the verbal assault against the church in America and against Christians. "You foolish science deniers." Did any of you see the video I posted on Facebook a few weeks ago from Bill Nye, the Science Guy? He had a lot to say about the Christian teaching of creation and how idiotic it is. He claims that we are holding back progress because we believe in a God who created the earth. They believe that there was nothing, and then there was a boom of nothing, and something came out of nothing from nowhere.

If you nail down the ringleader of them all, Dawkins, he finally admits at the end of that great video that Ben Stein put out that, well, maybe the earth...

Was it seeded by aliens? That's the best you can do, but we're holding them back from progress. So then, how should the church react? How should the church respond to such persecution from the enemy?

Now, what I'm about to say is in no way meant to politicize a sermon. It's meant purely as an illustration. Please understand that. Whether you're on the right or the left, whatever. This last week, we have seen further escalation of violence in the Middle East. It's just the same story, same song, different tune, right? It continues. It seems like the never-ending story.

On the 11th anniversary of September 11th, the terrorist attacks of 2001, just this last Tuesday, we saw riots at U.S. embassies in Libya and in Egypt. The apparent fuel of these riots is a YouTube video that depicts Muhammad in a negative light. That's what has caused all this incendiary violence in the Middle East—a YouTube video.

Now, pardon me if I seem a little condescending, but I just think, really? Really? I think these people were violent before YouTube. Last time I checked, YouTube was not quite as big on September 11th, 2001.

As these things were starting to boil over in Egypt, our embassy in Cairo, as a gambit, released a statement to those who were starting to boil over with their anger and animosity. They could tell this was not good for us. We have this little walled compound here, but it doesn't look good for us, so we need to do something. They threw out a statement that basically said, "Listen, we're sorry. We didn't mean to upset you. You can't hold us accountable for the idiot people in America who say things that they shouldn't say. We're sorry."

That's basically what they were saying. Well, the play didn't work. The attack was on.

By day's end, there were four Americans dead in Libya, and the American flag had been removed from the compound there. At the embassy in Cairo, a black flag had been raised in its place with the inscription, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet." A couple of days later, the Secretary of State of the United States released a statement. This is not meant to politicize; it's just an illustration. The United States deplores any intentional effort to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. Our commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation.

But let me be clear: there is never any justification for violent acts of this kind. Essentially, what the Secretary of State, on behalf of the administration, conveyed in our foreign policy stance was that we are really sorry that we have people in America who say things about Islam. They shouldn't say those things. Even though they have free speech, they shouldn't say that kind of stuff. It's bad. We don't think that's right. But it's also not right that you did what you did either.

That may be one way to deal with opposition. When the enemy comes in, the bully—Satan is a bully. He has no ultimate power against God; he is not the equal opposite of God. He comes in to intimidate, and he is pretty effective at intimidation. A Christian might say, "God, I want you to enable me with your power to be bold to preach your word. I want you to enable me with your power to be bold to just be a Christian in my workplace."

The second you do it, when God empowers you, you can be certain that the enemy is going to come against you with opposition. You step out in the power of God, and the enemy comes against you with opposition. Whatever it may look like, it may be physical opposition or just verbal opposition. Whatever it is, he will come against you.

What he wants you to do is what our foreign policy advisors did this last week: "I'm sorry. I won't do that again. I'm sorry. I won't do it." He wants you to close your mouth and keep quiet. Why? Because Jesus said, "Go and preach the gospel to all creatures" (Luke 24). Jesus also said, "Go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to observe everything that I command of you" (Matthew 28). Wait in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high, but then you're going.

To be empowered to be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. And then, when you're empowered, go. We say yes. Oh, wait. Whoa, whoa. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend. I didn't. I'm sorry. We have to be so much nicer.

I want you to look quickly, as we close, at the response of God working through His church in the Book of Acts to the persecution that we've considered. The enemy brings opposition in Acts chapter 4 against Peter and John. They are brought before the religious leaders in Jerusalem. These two unlearned and ignorant men stand before the intimidation board, all the guys with all the letters behind their names. They say, "Listen, you guys are a bunch of idiots from Galilee. Who do you think you are coming down here to Jerusalem and preaching these things?"

Well, you're right. We're not very smart, but we've seen the risen Lord. We've been empowered by the Spirit of God, the one who created all things seen and unseen. So we're going to keep preaching. They were told, "Don't speak in His name any longer. Stop this."

Their response, found in Acts 4:19, is empowered by God. Peter and John answered and said unto them, "We're really sorry. We'll shut up. We didn't know we stepped on anybody's toes." No. Verse 19 continues, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard."

In Acts 4:23, we read, "And being let go, they went to their own company. They reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them." When they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and prayed, "Lord, you are God. You have made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is therein, who by the mouth of your servant David has said, 'Why did the heathen rage? Why did the world rage? And the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.'"

"For of a truth against your holy child, Jesus, whom you have anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatsoever your hand and your counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings. They killed Christ."

Lord, behold their threatenings and grant unto us, Your servants, that with all boldness we may speak Your word by stretching forth Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done in Your name, in the name of the holy child, Jesus.

And when they had prayed, note this: verse 31, when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together. They were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. Neither said any of them that the things which they possessed were his own, but they had all things in common. With great power, the apostles gave witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

Then again, in Acts chapter 5, the apostles were brought before the council once more. They were strictly warned not to speak or preach in the name of Jesus. They were beaten. Their response, as recorded in Acts 5:28, was, "Did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in the name of Jesus? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with all your doctrine, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men."

In verse 41, when they departed from the presence of the council, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

In Acts 8, Saul came with persecution against the church. He was consenting to the death of Stephen, as noted in Acts 8:1. At the same time, a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Verse 4 states that they were all scattered abroad, and they hid, trying not to say anything that might incite violence against them. Right? No. They were scattered abroad, and they went everywhere preaching the word of God.

As we set out to extend the glory of God to our community, we can be certain that we will encounter opposition. It may just be verbal opposition, but it could at some point roll over into actual physical opposition against the church. However, when the empowered church of God engages with the mission that they were commissioned to do, they will be met with challenges.

With persecution, they can be certain that great is their reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets that were before them. Rejoice and be exceeding glad that you are counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

Lord, behold their threatenings. Grant unto Your servants that with boldness we may speak Your word, stretching forth Your hand to heal, and with many signs and wonders that would be done in the name of Your Son, Jesus. When they prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They spoke the word of God with boldness.

Father, let us stand. We pray now as Your church, standing here in this place. We pray that You would fill us with Your Spirit, fill us afresh with Your power and boldness to speak clearly and boldly Your word in this North County, San Diego County, Southern California, and our nation to the uttermost parts of the earth. Lord, enable us to speak boldly Your truth, to not back down, and to not be intimidated by the enemy who would seek to steal, kill, and destroy, but to proclaim boldly and clearly You, the risen Lord.

If today, as you stand here, that prayer is your prayer, if you are asking God to empower you and give you boldness in your neighborhood and workplace, I invite you to step out from where you are and come down here to the front. If that is you, we are going to pray that God would pour out His Spirit afresh and anew upon us.

Come out where you are. Fill the aisles if you have to. Fill this area down here in front if you are coming down. Father, You see these hearts, You see these individuals, and You see our desire. Lord, we need Your power. Step out from where you are. Lord, empower us, Your church. We cannot function apart from Your grace and Your power. Fill us.

Lord, enable us to be witnesses of You here in this place that You have set us for such a time as this. Help us to be witnesses unto You in Escondido, San Marcos, Fallbrook, Bonzel, and Rancho Bernardo, all throughout San Diego County. This community, this county, needs a clear witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Though the enemy, working through pop culture and media, would love to steal, kill, and destroy, and to intimidate us from speaking because we may be labeled as something we’re not, we ask that You would empower us to speak boldly Your truth. Help us to live lives of integrity and honesty, filled with Your Spirit. May our lives evidence the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, and self-control.

God, You turned the world upside down through 12 ordinary men and 120 disciples gathered in a room as You empowered them with Your Holy Spirit. We pray that You would empower us as well. We need Your power, Lord. We need Your grace. Work in us, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.