I'd like to begin the message this morning by reading from God's Word in Acts chapter 5, verses 17 to 42, 17 to the end of the chapter. Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation. and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest came and they that were with him and called the council together and all the senate of the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and told, saying, the prison truly found we shut with all safety, and a keeper standing without before the doors. But when we had opened, we found no man within. Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then came one and told them, saying, behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name. And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. Then stood there one up in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, head in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space, and said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Theodos, boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves, who was slain, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered and brought to naught. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him. He also perished, and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone. For if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed. And when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name, and daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. This is God's word. The subject of my message this morning is serving God with courage in the face of opposition. serving God with courage in the face of opposition, looking at the disciples here and what they experienced as an example for us to serve God in our lives and in our time. First thing we must understand to understand this message is that there is opposition to serving God. Sometimes we speak about a threefold opposition of the flesh, the world, and the devil. of the sin nature, even in ourselves, is struggling against us in our attempt to serve God. Paul wrote, for I know that is in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find none. So he speaks about the struggle that even our own sinful nature, our own flesh, fights against us, warrants us. And Peter wrote to the brethren, he says, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. See, the fleshly lusts in our own flesh war against our soul as we seek to serve God in this life. And so we will find opposition even from our own flesh as we seek to serve the Lord, and so we must fight against it and overcome it by the power of God. We see that in the life of the disciples, that they were empowered so by the Spirit of God that they were able to overcome their own fears, their own hesitations, their own fear of man, their own lack of courage, their own weaknesses. They were able to overcome all of those things by the power of God's Spirit in their life as they walked by the Spirit and not in the flesh. And so they overcame through the power of God. We also war against the world. That is that we are taught to understand that this sinful world, that this fallen world is set in opposition to God and the service of him. So that we will find that in this world, if we serve God, we will run up against resistance, against opposition. We are not to understand the world as going to be something that is always going to encourage us on and help us in our service of God, as we sing in that hymn, Am I a Soldier of the Cross? It says, is this vile world a friend to grace to help us on to God? He asks rhetorically, recognizing that no, in this life, if we are to serve God, we will face opposition. we will have to struggle against the powers of this world. In John 15, 19, it says this, if ye were of the world, Jesus says this to his disciples, if ye were of the world. In other words, if ye were part of this world system, if ye had your origin in it, if you were aligned with it and allied with it and in agreement with it in all of your ways, if you were of the world, the world would love his own. You'd be loved by the world, you'd be accepted by the world, received by the world if your ways were of the world. But he says, but because you're not of the world. But I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. The disciples, they faced opposition because they went against the grain of the world. They went against the flow of the world. They didn't just get along with the direction and the path that the world was going, but they walked in a way that served God rather than man. And so at times, this brought them in opposition to the world itself. We also speak about the resistance of Satan, about the resistance of the devil, the flesh, the world, and the devil. We think about Satan. We can think about the spiritual powers and principalities of this world that are opposing the work of God. We must have an understanding that we are in a spiritual conflict, a spiritual warfare. And so it has been from the very beginning when Satan was right there in the garden seeking to overthrow and fight against the work of God. And so we are in a spiritual battle. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. It says, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. And so when we see the opposition that the disciples are facing, we must understand that it is not merely the acts of evil men, envious men, hateful men, that is behind the opposition to the work of the disciples of Jesus, but there is in fact a spiritual wickedness that is behind what is opposing them. Jesus himself, in his own words, he spoke of this very truth. When he was speaking of those that rejected him and opposed him and wanted to put him to death, he said of them, ye are of your father, the devil. He understood that the source of their hatred and their opposition, the source of the warfare in their hearts and in their actions against him came from their father, the devil. He said he was a murderer. from the beginning. And so we are in the midst of a spiritual conflict, and so we must recognize that in order to be triumphant, in order to battle in this warfare, we must have spiritual weapons, spiritual strength, spiritual guidance at our disposal in order to serve God in the face of opposition in this world. It isn't just a matter of being brave enough and strong enough or wise enough, it's a matter of relying upon in every area of our life, and especially when we're in the midst of a conflict, relying on the power and the spirit of God to be our strength, to be our comfort, to be our guide into truth, to establish us in the truth in order to war against spiritual enemies, It's a different kind of battle than just people coming with swords or with guns or tanks to try to kill our bodies. It's a battle over truth. It's a battle over doctrine. It's a battle over the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that is the battle that the disciples were engaged in. They were joyful warriors for Christ, going forth rejoicing even in the midst of their suffering, but steadfastly serving their God and not backing down in the face of the opposition. Well, I want to look at this passage and contrast the disciples of Jesus with the enemies of the disciples of Jesus. There is a powerful contrast as we compare them against each other. we see that the enemies of the disciples of Jesus, they feared men, they envied men, they hated men, and they fought against God. They feared men, envied men, hated men, and fought against God. You see that here in this passage, in Acts 5.26, when they go to arrest the disciples, it says, then went the captain with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. We see their operating principles of their life. They feared man. They were concerned about what man could do unto them. The implication of this verse is that they would have done much worse to the disciples. Hatred was in their heart, violence was in their heart, but because of their fear of man, they were driven by the fear of man. And so it says, they come, they brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. The only thing at this point that's holding them back from doing worse than they're all doing is their fear of man, their desire to walk in the fear of man. They also envied man. They envied man. They were driven by envy. This comes right at the very beginning of this passage I read, verse 17. Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation. Well, how do I get envy out of this? Well, first of all, this word indignation is a Greek word, zelos. And sometimes, even in the Bible, sometimes it is translated as envy, envy. But not only that, whether you consider it the indignation and the anger or interpret it directly as envy, from the context of the passage, if you consider why were they so indignant, you see that they are driven by hate and envy. What happened immediately before this? We have described to us the Apostles of Jesus Christ working all kinds of incredible miraculous works. The sick are being healed. People are coming to repentance. Verse 15, so much that they brought forth sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. Verse 15, believers were the more added to the Lord. Multitudes, both of men and women. We see that believers are being made. God is being glorified. Sick are being healed. And what is the response of the enemies of the disciples of Jesus Christ? They're indignant! Because someone else is getting the praise. Someone else is getting the credit. Just like their opposition to Jesus stemmed from the envy in their heart. So here, they're filled with the envy of man. They desire the praise of man. They fear man, and we also see their hatred of man. This passage ends by describing what they did to the disciples. It says, they agreed, verse 40, to him they agreed, they agreed with Gamaliel to not, to refrain from these men and leave them alone. And this is their way of leaving them alone. They agreed. And when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. That's their going easy on them. That's their letting them go, beating them. You know what that beating them meant? Under the law of Moses, that was the 39 lashes. They were brutally beaten. by these men, even though they had done nothing wrong, nothing against them. And so we see that they are filled with hatred. And their hatred, and their envy, and their fear of man. And through all that, they were fighting against God. They fought against God himself. The words of Gamaliel here that are recorded for us are so revealing. And they are prophetic in a way because they are foreshadowing what would take place in the going forth of the gospel, in the going forth of the disciples. Because here, Jesus is set up in comparison with various political and religious figures that had raised a great following at different times in the recent history of Israel. These men that had risen up and gathered disciples unto them, and taught them, and led them, and then they were killed. And the movement dissipated, went away, disappeared. And Gamaliel declares to them, he says, to leave it alone. He says, if it's not of God, it will come to nothing. But if it is of God. If it is of God, then you will be found to be fighting against God himself. If it is of God, you cannot oppose it. And we, looking back, understanding the history that would follow, we see the hand of God all throughout the growth of the church, the sending forth of the gospel, the power of God at work in these things. But these enemies of the disciples, they were fighting against God himself. In contrast to this, we see in the disciples that they loved God, that they obeyed God, that they loved men, and God fought for them. They loved God. That was their first driving motivation in what they did. You see that they are not overcome with the fear of man or with the desire to please man. It doesn't seem to matter to them primarily if men love what they're saying or hate what they're saying. Their first desire, their driving motivation is their love for God, their love for God. You know, when they were beaten, brutally beaten, whipped, 39 lashes, verse 41 it says, and they departed from the presence of the council. rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. That's the kind of love that they had for the name of their Lord, for their Lord. They were driven by the love of God. Even their own physical pain and suffering, even the shame that they endured, even their rejection by the leaders of the people, by the respectable rabbis and counsel and chief priests of their society, mattered nothing in comparison with their love for God. And after they had seen Jesus suffer, if they'd seen him mocked, scorned, tortured, and put to death, their heart-driving desire, the thing that could bring them delight was that they might suffer like He did. That they might bear suffering and shame for His name. That's the love that they had for God, and they obeyed. They obeyed God. Remember the angel sent by God comes to them and says, go out and speak? Well, what does it tell us in verse 42? After all this, daily in the temple and in every house, they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. They cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Why? In obedience to what God had told them to do. They had already said to those that opposed them, we have to obey God rather than man. We have to obey God rather than man. Obedience to God was the most important thing in their life. Sometimes when you obey God, sometimes men will praise you. Sometimes men will be pleased with you when you obey God. Sometimes when you obey God, men will hate you. They'll despise you. They'll criticize you. But that should not be our driving motivation. That should not matter to us. What should matter to us is that we obey God, that we please God. These disciples, they obeyed God. And in their obedience to God, And their love of God, they also loved men. They loved men. Their love of men is shown in their willingness and desire to declare the truth, to declare the truth. Love is not telling people what they want to hear. Love is not telling people what makes them necessarily feel good to hear. It doesn't mean that sometimes Loving words won't make people feel good, but ultimately, love is telling people the truth from a motivation of love, from a desire of love, and that's how the disciples were. They loved men, and so they spoke the truth to them. When the angel appears to them, verse 19, the angel of the Lord, by night, opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. All the words of this life. They were sent to declare the words of life. They had in their message the forgiveness of sins, the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were sent to give the words of life, and so they were not holding back from speaking to the people, even at a great danger and cost to themselves. So we are also called to love through the truth. Speak the truth. It says, speak the truth in love. Speak the truth in love. And that's what they did. Go, stand, and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. They had the words of life, the message of life. And they did not hesitate or hold back from speaking it, even when it brought suffering on them. And then I said, lastly, that God fought for them. So the enemies of the disciples, they are characterized as fighting against God himself. Saul of Tarsus, at one time in his life, he was an enemy of Jesus. He was fighting against Jesus. He was persecuting Jesus himself when he persecuted his people because God so identifies with his people. He is so right there with you when you are serving him that an attack on you as his disciple is an attack on him. He takes it personally. He appears to Saul in the roads of Damascus and he says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Why are you persecuting me? So they were fighting against God, but God was fighting for his disciples. God was fighting. They were thrown into prison, and you know what? Prison could not hold them when the power of God wanted them to be free. It says that God sent the angel. It says, but the angel, verse 19, but the angel of the Lord by night opened to the people, opened the prison doors and brought them forth. brought them forth, he delivered them. He delivered them because he had a purpose for them. Sometimes God will for a season leave them in prison. Maybe they'll be in prison a day. Maybe they'll be in prison five minutes. Maybe it'll be a matter of years. But just like the Apostle Paul who was in and out of prison at different times, who was in bonds, and he knew he was chained up or he was behind bars, or he was down in a dungeon somewhere, and he said, he's in chains, but he said, the word of God is not bound. The word of God was not bound. So it didn't matter if he was in the depth of a prison with Silas, he was singing hymns, he was praising God, he was rejoicing, because he knew that his soul was free in Christ. And God was fighting for him. And when God was ready to bring him out of that prison, he would send an earthquake. He would shake that place and deliver him, or send an angel, like he did here for Peter and the others. So God was fighting for his disciples. And he fights for you. When you're walking in the way and serving him, he fights for you. And to have him on our side, it doesn't matter what the world is doing to oppose us. I also want to point out, as we look at the disciples, we see that they were steadfast in the specifics, in the specifics, in the details of their message, in the particulars. What do I mean? What do I mean? Well, many times the conflict comes down to the details. It comes down to the details. And I'm not talking about what Jesus calls straining at a gnat. Jesus said of the Pharisees that they would strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. And what he meant, I think, in essence, was that they would put so much focus on these little itty bitty details and ignore the important massive things. So they were so concerned about the tithing law, for example, which is God's law to give 10% of our increase, that if they grew mint leaves, they would make sure to slice up that mint and measure out and make sure that to the 10th of a gram that they had 10% of their mint in order to tithe. OK, he doesn't say that they shouldn't have done this. But they would do that and at the same time completely ignore righteousness and mercy. And they would oppress the widow. And so he describes them as straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. That's not what I'm talking about when I say being steadfast and faithful in the details. What I do mean is that if you look at the disciples, you see that they were persecuted for the specifics of their message. They were persecuted for the specifics of their message, the details. Jesus and his crucifixion and his resurrection. They would not have been persecuted if they were just going around saying, love God, worship God. That would have been true. That would have been a good message to say. But they wouldn't have been persecuted for saying, love God. They wouldn't have been persecuted for saying, be a good person, do good to your fellow man. That wasn't what brought them under persecution. They were persecuted for the specifics of their message. Jesus, his crucifixion and his resurrection. Look at verse 30. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on the tree. Their message was Very specific. It was not a vague message of believe in God and be a good person. It was a specific message. It was about a specific man named Jesus who lived, who was a real person, who they had known of, who they had been involved in the life of. He said that he was crucified, that he was hanged on a tree, that he was raised from the dead by the Father. Their message included a message of grace, repentance, forgiveness of sins. Verse 31, him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. They preached about the Holy Spirit and obedience toward God. They say we are his witnesses of these things. Verse 32, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. And it says in verse 33, when they heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. You see, the persecution and the opposition that the disciples encountered was because of the details of their message. They were not willing to give up or to compromise the specifics of the Christian faith in order to get along with those around them. They weren't willing to water it down. And so it is for God's people throughout the ages. The church then in the first century and now today is not opposed and persecuted for a non-specific message. We're not persecuted or opposed because we're religious, because we believe in God. were not persecuted for those things. They were opposed for exclusive claims. Things like the Lord alone is God, and therefore the gods of the nations are idols. The early church, they lived in the midst of the pluralistic Roman Empire. There were all kinds of gods that people worshiped. And it was a very tolerant society. They all tolerated each other's gods, the worship of each other's gods. They all got along with each other. The Christians weren't persecuted because they came along proclaiming some new god or to worship some new god. They were persecuted because they said the Lord alone is God and there is none else. They were persecuted because they said Jesus is the Christ. the Son of the Living God. They were persecuted because they said, Jesus alone is Lord. Not Caesar, not Zeus. Jesus is the Lord. That's what brought them persecution. Not for a nonspecific message. They were persecuted because they said that Jesus alone is the Savior and the way to God. Verse 12 of Acts chapter 4. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. They preached Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, as the Lord, as the Christ. They preached one true God, and that is what brought about their persecution and their opposition. They didn't preach a vague message of being a good person, though they certainly were preaching for people to be a good person, but it was not a vague, watered-down message. They taught, practiced, and upheld in their churches a high standard of sexual, moral, and ethical purity in accordance with the word of God. They spoke out against specific sins. They called them by name, fornication, covetousness, adultery, extortion, drunkenness. And they preached against those sins, calling people to repentance and righteousness. That is the kind of thing that brought about the opposition to their message. They were persecuted and fought against for the particulars. And yet those particulars and those details were not based upon their own personal biases, axes that they wanted to grind. They were based upon the word of God that had been taught to them. They were based upon the teaching of their savior, Jesus Christ, and the authority of the scriptures. And with that message, they went forth, preaching God's word, teaching God's word, suffering persecution, facing opposition, not backing down, having courage in the face of it, And God sustained, upheld, led, and provided for their every need. And he caused the message to bear fruit, to flourish in the world. And it seemed like, as you look at the book of Acts, and as you read the history of the church, it seemed like the more fiery the opposition was, the more Christians were put to death for their faith, The more the church thrived and grew, and the message spread, and more people came to the faith, and multitudes were added unto them, it says, both of men and women, and the church grew and expanded, and the name of God was glorified. Let me summarize as I prepare to close these words. We see that in this world, if there You are to serve God. If you serve God in this world, you will face opposition. You will face opposition. You will face it from the flesh, from the world, and from the devil, from spiritual wickedness in high places. You will face opposition. Only by the power of God. Only by walking in the Spirit, only by the Spirit of God dwelling in you will you overcome, will you be victorious. You don't have enough strength, you don't have enough wisdom, you don't have enough courage of your own to overcome, but you will only overcome by the power of God. Be courageous in your service to God, even in the face of opposition. Love God. and desire to please Him more than you desire to please man, more than you desire the praise of man. Don't envy man, don't envy what he has, but walk in love toward your fellow man that is motivated and inspired by the love that you have for God. That way it will be a sanctified and purified love. Don't have a worldly kind of love that just wants to to please man and wants to be liked by man, but have the kind of love that comes from God that desires to speak the truth in love. Knowing that it's not words that are always going to make people happy or feel good about themselves that truly are going to be the words that bring about life, that bring about true spiritual reformation and growth But it's going to be words that are spoken by the power and the truth of God that have that power. And remember, in all of this, in all of this, that if God is for us, who can be against us? If God is for you, then it doesn't matter what opposition of man may occur. If God is for you, no one, no one can stand against you.