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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning everyone welcome back to free Grace Baptist Church and a special welcome to the visitors amongst us this morning we trust that you'll be blessed as We Worship the Lord together couple of announcements before we get started our evening service is as usual at 5:00 p.m but Pastor cam will be preaching this evening just so you know and there will be no Wednesday night bible study this week so if you show up here at the church you might be all on your own uh Pastor Butler has a very heavy load with uh auditing a course from the international reform Baptist Seminary Monday through Thursday this week so there'll be no Wednesday night night bible study then next week is the fellowship luncheon which we try to have regularly once a month um there will be an email coming out Wednesday for further information on that so prepare for a lunch and time of Fellowship next Sunday and then the baptismal service which we've announced a couple Sundays already uh is going to take place on the 3rd of November and we will also be welcoming into the membership of our church Derek sterenberg Samantha sterenberg and Philip Hall so for our call to worship this morning we're going to turn to Psalm 119 Psalm 119 and we'll begin reading at verse 161 1 161 through 168 this is the word of the Lord princes persecute Me Without a Cause but my heart stands in awe of your word I Rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure I hate and abore lying but I love your law seven times a day I praise you because because of your righteous judgments great peace have those who love your law and nothing causes them to stumble Lord I hope for your salvation and I do your Commandments my soul keeps your testimonies and I love them exceedingly I keep your precepts and your testimonies for all your ways are be all my ways are before you amen we're going to start by singing hymn number 213 in our Himel 213 glory be to God the father and please stand with Me Together As we [Music] sing glory to God father glory to God the glory be to God the [Music] Gody hallelu hallelu glory be to glor to us us and glory be to him us us toah hallelu praise the L that SL glor to the king of angels glory to the church glory to the the king of Nations and Earth your prises hallelu hallelu to the king of glor sing Glory bless praise Eternal of angels gloryin praise hallelu hallelu praise the [Music] might be seated let's turn to the Lord in prayer our gracious and merciful Heavenly Father we thank you for this day of worship we thank you that we can come into this house and turn our hearts toward Heaven turn our hearts toward you and hear the word preached we thank you that all over the face of the globe this day the gospel is going forth in a special way and we pray oh God that this would be the day of salvation for a great multitude of Sinners Lord we know that the gospel is preached not only in our group and in our the churches with which we have Fellowship not only in Reformed Baptist Churches or only in reformed churches at all we know that the gospel is preached in many different confessions and wherever the gospel is properly preached we pray oh God that your spirit would attend and that many people would hear that word and be drawn into the kingdom of God we thank you for the good work that you are doing thank you for the other churches here in chillak where this morning the gospel is being preached and we pray that you would bless those Ministers of the Gospel with an anointing from on high and Lord we pray that you would do the same for our sister churches those that we are in close connection and communion with here in British Columbia and across western Canada even in Ontario we pray Lord you'd bless the congregation out in dren this morning the work there in Armstrong and in Ser bless each of these congregations Lord as they seek to be a light and and a witness to you in this world Lord we thank you that all over the face of the Earth the gospel is being preached and we pray Lord especially for those places where it is difficult to be a Christian where it is difficult to let their light shine because of persecution Lord we pray you'd give your people boldness and give them courage even in the face of persecution and Lord for those that are in distress in Dire Straits perhaps in prison today for the sake of Christ we pray that your spirit of comfort would be there this day and encourage them thank you that you give your Saints strength for the time of need Lord we thank you that you have done a good work in our hearts and in this land we thank you that we have freedom here to preach freedom to come and gather freedom to hear the word preached we pray Lord that you would preserve this freedom and that we would use these freedoms wisely we pray for our magistrates that you would have mercy upon us and that you would restrain evil we know there are many um new leaders heading to Victoria from this local election in BC we pray oh God that you would put the Fe fear of God in their hearts we long for men that will lead from the fear of God and not from the fear of men Lord we pray that you would do a good work and that you would restrain evil in the highest places and allow us to lead Peaceable and godly lives Lord we thank you for the good that you are doing in our hearts and in this church we pray oh Lord that you would bless the the children in our congregation the young people young adults in particular I pray oh God that these who have heard the gospel many many many times in their youth would embrace it would know that faith that comes only from you and they would be born again and and be added to the church Lord we thank you for the work that you are doing we pray that you would continue that work today in our midst we ask this in Jesus name amen we're going to Now sing from our Salter Himel Psalm 28 Psalm 28 we'll only be singing stanas 528 and please stand with me again as we sing [Music] together he willar them down and never [Music] blessy is streng and my heart LIF Forks to sing his streng for for his your your and bless your lord and [Music] forever you may be seated we're going to turn to the eth chapter of Mark Gospel of Mark chapter 8 and we will complete the reading of this chapter we ended up last week uh at verse 21 so we will begin at verse 22 of Mark chapter 8 then he came to Betha and they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him so he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him he asked him if he saw anything and he looked up and said I see men like trees walking then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up and he was restored and saw everyone clearly then he sent him away to his house saying neither go into the town nor tell anyone in the town now Jesus and his disciples went out to the towns of cesaria Philippi and on the road he asked his disciples saying to them who do men say that I am so they answered John the Baptist but some say El elah and others one of the prophets he said to them but who do you say that I am Peter answered and said to him you are the Christ then he strictly warned them that they should tell no one about him and he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and after three days rise again he spoke this word openly then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke ree him but when he had turned around and looked at his disciples he rebuked Peter saying get behind me Satan for you are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men when he had called the people to himself with his disciples also he said to them whoever desires to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me for whoever desires to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it for what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul or what will a man give in exchange for his soul for whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him the son of man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father with the Holy Angels amen there are many things in this portion that we could comment on but perhaps the most striking is this pronouncement by Jesus to Peter he rebukes him very sternly get behind me Satan for you're not mindful of the things of God but the things of men that's a perplexing statement especially considering that Jesus that Peter had just had this profession you are the Christ if we turn quickly to Matthew's gospel recording the same event gives us even a little more Fuller picture Simon Peter when Christ ask but who do you say that I am in Matthew 16:15 Simon Peter answered and said you are the Christ the son of the Living God Jesus answered and said to him blessed are you Simon barjona for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who's in heaven so Christ pronounces a beatitude a blessing upon Peter and then just a few verses later he turns to Peter and says Get Behind me Satan now Matthew fills in a little bit more Mark doesn't tell us what Peter said except that he rebuked Jesus in Matthew's gospel here Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him saying far be it from you Lord this was after Jesus said that he would be delivered up to the Elders of uh Chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised the third day Peter says far be it from you Lord this shall not happen to you but he turned and said to Peter get behind me Satan for for you are an offense to me for you are not mindful of the things of God but the things of men again very striking that Jesus would pronounce a benediction a blessing upon Peter and a few minutes later say get behind me Satan that reminds us a little bit of the account in Matthew chapter 4 where Jesus was driven out into the Wilderness he spent 40 days and 40 nights fasting and then he was tempted by the devil and he uses virtually the same words in in Matthew 4:10 Jesus said Direct to Satan away with you Satan or get behind me Satan for it is written you shall Worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve in that case Satan was tempting Christ with all the kingdoms of the world if he would just bow down in other words you can have the crown without the cross if you just bow down and in some ways what Peter's doing here unknowingly is the same thing Lord you don't have to go to the Cross don't do that you're the Messiah you're the Christ you can take the throne right and we could speculate I guess on whether Jesus was when he says Get Behind Me Satan was addressing Peter as Satan or addressing Satan who was using this opportunity to present a temptation but those are our speculations because the Bible doesn't actually tell us what that means when he says Get Behind Me Satan I think we could draw some very um very obvious conclusions from this portion of scripture and from the rest rest of the Bible that fit well with this especially from Matthew chapter 16 JC riyle makes very good comments on this portion of scripture in Matthew which parallels the one in Mark we just read in his expository thoughts on the gospels he says concerning this portion of scripture we learn in the first place from these verses that there may be much spiritual ignorance even in a true disciple of Christ we know that Peter was a true disciple of Christ he had just pronounced you are theist Christ he was speaking perhaps on behalf of all of the disciples and perhaps when he when he rebuked Christ he was also speaking on behalf of his the rest of the disciples who did not want to see Jesus go to the Cross either he was a a a bit impetuous but he's also a spokesperson for the rest of the disciples uh JC riyle goes on to say we cannot have a clearer proof of this that there might may be much spiritual ignorance in a true disciple of Christ than the conduct of the Apostle Peter In this passage he tries to dissuade our Lord from suffering on the cross far be it from you Lord he says this will not be done to you he did not see the full purpose of our Lord's coming into the world his eyes were blinded to the necessity of our Lord's death he actually did what he could to prevent that death taking place at all and yet we know that Peter was a converted man he really believed that Jesus was the Messiah his heart was right in the sight of God these things are meant to teach us that we must neither regard saved man as infallible because they are saved men nor yet suppose they have no Grace because their Grace is weak and small one brother may possess singular gifts and be a bright and Shining Light in the Church of Christ but let us not forget that he is a man and as a man liable to commit great mistakes another brother's knowledge may be scanty he may fail to judge rightly on many points of Doctrine he may he both in word and deed but has he faith and love towards Christ does he hold the head if so let us deal patient with him what he sees not now he may see Hereafter like Peter he may now be in the dark and yet like Peter enjoy one day the full light of the Gospel Peter didn't fully understand what was happening but look in the book of Acts chapter 2 he had much greater understanding of why Christ had to go to the cross in the second place let us learn from these doctrines that there is no doctrine of scripture so deeply important as the doctrine of Christ's atoning death we cannot have clearer proof of this than the language used Us by our Lord in rebuking Peter he addresses him by the Dreadful name of Satan as if he was an adversary and doing the devil's work in trying to prevent his death he says to him whom he had So lately called blessed get behind me Satan you are an offense to me he tells the man whose Noble confession he had just commended so highly for you are not setting your mind on the things of God but on the things of men stronger words than these never fell from our Lord's lips the error that Drew from so loving a savior such a Stern rebuke to such a true disciple must have been a mighty error indeed the truth is that our Lord would have us regard the crucifixion as the central truth of Christianity right views of his vicarious death and the benefits resulting from it lie at the very Foundation of Bible religion let us never forget this on matters of church government and the form of worship men may differ from us and yet reach heaven in safety on the matter of Christ's atoning death as the way of Peace Truth is only one if we are wrong here we are ruined forever error on many other points is only a skin disease error about Christ's death is a disease at the heart here let us take our stand let nothing move us from this ground the sum of all our hopes must be that Christ has died for us give up that Doctrine and we have no solid hope at all amen amen let's pray gracious Father in heaven we know in hindsight that CHR Christ had to go to the cross and had to be crucified if ever we are to be saved Peter still had a a blurry view of that necessity the Lord we we we cut him slack because we know that we are men as well we know that we say and do things that we should know better and one day hopefully we'll know better Lord we pray that you would continue to open our eyes continue to cause your word to shine light upon our hearts and continue to conform us to the image of your son we pray in Jesus name amen for our final hymn this morning we're going to turn to number 244 great hym of the faith A Mighty Fortress Is Our God and let's stand as we sing together Mighty [Music] for for still our an [Music] to power and with Earth is our own streng our would be [Music] [Applause] the CHR Jesus for of his name [Music] world we will not for God is true to trium through us the prin of dark we TR for [Music] him shall [Music] to the and through [Music] this moral the the kingdom is forever [Music] will you can turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of John Gospel according according to John we continue to work our way through the upper room discourse we're in John 16 we'll be looking at verses 1 to four but I want to begin reading in chapter 15 at Verse 18 as that's the larger context for what we find in verses 1 to4 in chapter 16 so beginning in John 15:18 if the world hates you you know that it hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the world would love its own yet because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they will also persecute you if they kept my word they will ALS uh they will keep yours also but all these things they will do to you for my name's sake because they do not know him who sent me if I had not come and spoken to them they would have no sin but now they have no excuse for their sin he who hates me hates my father also if I had not done among them The Works which no one else did they would have no sin but now they have seen and also hated both me and my father but this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law they hated me Without a Cause but when the helper comes whom I shall send you from the Father the spirit of truth who proceeds from the father he will testify of me and you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning these things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble they will put you out of the synagogues yes the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service and these things they will do to you because they have not known the father nor me but these things I have told you that when the time comes you may remember that I told you of them and these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you amen well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your written word we thank you it's given by inspiration of God and that it's profitable for Doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness and certainly God we need instruction to be prepared for whatever may come our way we know that you are sovereign you govern all your creatures and all their actions we know that in that providential order there is there is suffering there is persecution there is opposition to Christ and to his bride so grant us help and strength and grace and the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit to receive with Thanksgiving now your word and may you fit us for that combat that we face on a daily basis not in a physical way but certainly spiritually against the the principalities and the powers that that are behind the scenes with reference to the evil that we winess in our own present age do forgive us now for all of our sins cleanse us from all unrighteousness we pray for the Salvation of Sinners those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we pray that you would awaken them call them out of Darkness into Marvelous Light May you strengthen your Saints and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well as we have worked our way through this particular portion of scripture we remember that in verses 9-17 in chapter 15 The emphasis is is on love Christ's love for his church his people his church or his people's love for uh Christ and then their love for one another and then the direction turns in verses 18 and following to hatred and specifically the hatred of the world for Jesus and for his church Jesus gives us that familiar sort of parable in verse 20 of chapter 15 remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his Master if they persecuted me they will also persecute uh persecute you so that is an assurance that is a promise that's a reality that we face in this present evil age they hate the master they're going to hate the servant so we've seen that general statement concerning the world's opposition to Believers then Jesus moves into the testimony concerning himself by the spirit and by the apostles he does that in chapter 15 verses 26 to 27 and how that will be essential for the church going forward to navigate in this present evil age and then here in 16 1:4 he describes in detail the nature of the persecution that the church is going to face so the message this morning is the persecution of the Apostles and the church and I want to look at two things first the purpose of Jesus instruction we notice that in verse one these things I have spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble and then secondly the nature of the Apostles enemies in verses 2 to 4 and by Apostles I mean the apostles and then the church as well the church that they helped found so let's look first at the purpose of Jesus instruction notice in verse one these things I have spoken to you now probably everything that he had spoken to them in terms of his Earthly Ministry but primarily The Upper Room discourse primarily this Preparatory class this Seminary class prior to his Ascension on High when they would be tasked with going into the then Known World to make disciples and to plant churches but more specifically I think it refers to chapter 15 vers 18 and following this message concerning opposition this message concerning persecution this message that would bring Despair and would bring distress and could potentially bring uh trouble to the disciples so notice what he goes on to say these things I have spoken to you that this is the purpose as to why he spoke these things wasn't to cause them fear wasn't to cause them distress wasn't to cause them to say well you know what in case that these things are true we're going to just peace out now and and not follow you after all no he says that you should not be made to stumble so specifically with reference to the opposition that they're going to face Jesus doesn't want them to stumble he doesn't want them to be scandalized and that's precisely the word to stumble to go astray to cause to give up the Christian faith you go back to John 661 you see a similar usage in that context John 6 of course Jesus feeds the multitudes and then he starts to teach and he teaches them Doctrine they don't like that Doctrine so many of the professed disciples fell away they were offended they were scandalized they stumbled notice in 661 when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this he said to them does this offend you does this scandalize you does this cause you to stumble Paul uses a similar statement in 1 Corinthians chap 1 at verse 23 when he's talking about preaching Christ and him crucified he says to the Jews a stumbling block it is a scandal it is an offense to them but to the Greeks it's foolishness but to those who are being saved Christ is both wisdom and power of God so in essence what Jesus is indicating here in chapter 16 verse1 is that because the Jews are going to be scandalized by the message of the Cross don't you in turn be scandalized by their opposition this is the inevitable inevitable flow of things they reject me they reject the one who sent me as a result they are scandalized and as a result of that they're going to turn viciously against you and try to oppose and persecute you so he says to his disciples I don't want you to stumble I don't want you to be scandalized I don't want you to be fearful I don't want you to fret and I think that this is coupled with what Jesus instructs them in a parallel not the same exact but in a parallel tip passage in Matthew chap 10 when he dispatches the disciples on a Ministry or a missionary Endeavor in the nation of Israel he tells them specifically not to fear men do not fear them Matthew 10 verse 26 we see this all throughout the Old Testament as well we're going through the book of numbers and our Wednesday evening services or Wednesday evening Bible study and right before the reconnaissance uh reconnaissance mission to go and spy out the land we have that admonition by God through Moses be of good courage when Joshua goes into the promised land when he leads the children of Israel on The Conquest God tells Joshua to be of good courage Joshua in turn tells the children of Israel to be of good courage and we see that fear paralyzes Christian Advance we see that fear causes persons to stumble and I think those things are mixed and mingled in our very passage look at John 14 specifically in verse one let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me and then in 1427 peace I leave with you my peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you let not your heart be troubled neither Let It Be Afraid Jesus the master knows exactly what is facing these disciples Jesus knows exactly what they're going to face when they go into the Roman Empire when they go into synagogues when they preach Christ and him crucified Jesus knows because it happened to himself in his Earthly Ministry that not everybody's going to say wow Messiah is here the one the prophets spoke of is here the one that Moses wrote of is here that was not Christ's experience and so Jesus knowing that wants to calm the fears and alleviate the fears of his disciples such that they would be the courageous men that were Jonathan and CA uh Joshua and Caleb in that old Covenant setting that the church desperately needed in the first century they didn't need Nancy boy nambi pambi preachers that would shrink back from the first hint of any persecution they would need the Apostle Peter standing up on that day of Pentecost to say this is that which the prophet Joel spoke these men are not drunk as you suppose they would need the Apostle Paul to go into hostile circumstances to go into enemy territory in the Jewish synagogues and to preach Jesus Christ as the Messiah they didn't need the sorts of men that are represented by the the 10 faithless spies and that recon mission that said there's Giants in the land we we can't go into the land we we're afraid of those Giants and after all it's not a good land at all it's a land that destroys its inhabitants Caleb says let's go at once God's promise it's there for the taking let's go do this and so Jesus equips his disciples for that foundational role of church building the presence of fear mingled with this Scandal or offense demonstrates a lack of Kingdom priority we're to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then these things will be added to us the presence of fear mingled with this offense indicates bad theology after Jesus says in Matthew 10:26 do not fear them he says in Matthew Matthew 10:28 but rather fear Him who has the the the power to kill both body and soul in Hell other words don't fear man but rather fear God the fear of God displaces the fear of man the fear of man crowds out the fear of God the presence of fear mingled with this offense destroys Kingdom Advance again one whiff of opposition and the church turns tail and says well well we can't do this' it is so evident when we're going through the Wilderness with the children of Israel in that section numbers 11 to uh uh 14 the faithlessness that's on display often times it's imitated by the professing church today well there's Giants in the land the government said this we have to be paralyzed and restricted from doing what God has commanded us to do Jesus knows what these men are going to face and he sends them out with this encouragement I tell you what's going to happen I tell you they're going to persecute you I tell you they're going to be scandalized and in turn they're going to spit their venom all over you but you need to stand fast you need to persevere you need to man up and you need to be a Caleb and a Joshua in a faithless and Godless generation as well the presence of fear mingled with this offense ultimately characterizes those in the Lake of Fire Revelation 21 who's in the Lake of Fire oh murderers yeah idolators yeah Liars yeah sexually immoral yeah but so are cowards and the cowards there they're not the ones that are afraid of bears and lions Brethren there might be some judiciousness in a right fear of a bear but it's the fear of standing for Jesus each of the letters to the churches in Asia Minor minor all seven of them there is that ref Rin but to him who overcomes and then Jesus makes a promise to them what does it mean to overcome it means to stand fast in your Christian profession no matter what the world no matter what the devil no matter what your peer group says that's what it means to overcome and if you recant if you relent if you repent if you say oh no the world is filled with with giants it's better just to submit to them and capitulate to them you're the coward that will end up in the Lake of Fire so Jesus in his grace in his kindness in his Mercy is highlighting the the the reality that there is this coming persecution but he's also highlighting over and over again the presence of the Triune god with his people Jesus promises in 1418 I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you he promises in 15:26 but when the helper comes whom I shall send you from the Father the spirit of Truth who proceeds from the father he will testify of me again that's what underscores the faithlessness of the spies in Numbers Chapter 13 they go to Recon the land they say that the land is filled with Giants and wants to destroy us but the very opening verses encourage the reader to consider that God's promised this land he promised it to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob he has stated it over and over again to Moses and the children of Israel but as soon as there's a bit of a danger as soon as there's a bit of a challenge as soon as there's bit of a hardship or an obstacle oh no we can't do that Brethren the church needs to to man up the church needs to be faithful the church needs to stand fast in the midst of whatever this Godless world throws at us and Jesus wants it that way this is what Jesus wants for you do you love that when the god haters use that against you well Jesus wants open borders Jesus wants theft Jesus wants covetousness Jesus wants deprivation wonderful when the leftists use our virtue against us or our Doctrine against us but Brethren I can say on the authority of jesus' words that he does want this for you he wants you to not be distressed he wants you to not be scandalized he wants you to not be offended because there's actually somebody out there that's offended by your message Brethren let them be offended that's perfectly acceptable with our God that brings us then to the nature of the Apostles enemies in verses 2 to 4 three things here first the actions of the world second the Theology of the world and then thirdly the preparation again of the disciples note the actions of the world according to verses according to verse two they interestingly Jesus is speaking of the world specifically unbelieving Israel unbelieving Jews remember he starts this section in John 15:1 I am the True Vine and my father is the vine dresser everything that was true of old Covenant Israel was basically forfeit by them because of their unfaithfulness Jesus is the true Israel of God and all the promises of God are yay and amen in him and so Jesus now says in verse two they will put you out of the synagogues yes the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service now Brethren they were situated at this time in the Roman Empire and at this particular time the Roman Empire wasn't heaven on Earth but it wasn't the worst place in the world either initially in terms of Christianity the Roman Empire didn't mess with Christianity they saw it as a subset of Judaism pretty much left it alone they they tolerated the Jews they tolerated their religion they didn't actively promote persecution against them I don't think they were happy with them but but they left them for the most part unmolested by the time Nero takes the throne or becomes the emperor there in in in the Roman Empire first five or six years of Nero great fantastic he he did good stuff reduced taxes wanted to give more power to the Senate there there was a lot of good there but he turns into an absolute wretch so so the initial opposition to the church comes from the unbelieving Jews it's the religion that resisted and rejected the Lord Jesus and again Brethren I'm not trying to be mean or trying to be unkind or it it's what Jesus says notice in 15:21 15:21 but all these things they will do to you for my name's sake because they do not know him who sent me remember when we covered that we essentially said that the unbelieving Jews held the Yahweh Yahweh was their god well Yahweh promised to send his Messiah and he promised this through from Genesis to Malachi the Old Testament is a thoroughly messian Messianic document it's all about the coming of Jesus everything in the the Old Testament is about Jesus you mean it's not about me and my fight against the Giants no no it isn't you mean it isn't me and you know my plight and the difficulties in this present age in Psalm 80 nope no it isn't you can learn from it there's corollaries there's benefit there's application but Jesus is the sumon substance of the Old Testament so what does Jesus say if they reject the one sent by Yahweh they're rejecting Yahweh again Brethren I I can't evade the simple teaching of the text there notice what he says in verse 23 he who hates me hates my father also not loves him a little less not has a different approach just an inal debate on how we Define God no he hates the father that that that that is clear so back to verse two they will put you out of the synagogues he is talking about what they will uh uh experience in the book of Acts but prior to this look at John chapter 9 John chapter 9 specifically at verses 22 and then 35 to 38 verse 22 it's that man that was born blind that Jesus heals and of course that upsets the religious leaders simple test if you're upset about blind men being made well you've got problems I don't know how better to say it if you're upset because Jesus heals people in a synagogue on the Sabbath day and you're the leader of the synagogue and you go on to lambas the people six days you shall labor come on those days to be healed you've got big problems Brethren I if you watch somebody who has a withered hand stretch it forth and it becomes whole and you're upset at the one who does that again you got some big problems notice in 9:22 his parents said these things because they feared the Jews for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that he was Christ he would be put out of the synagogue therefore his parents said he is of age ask him drop down to verse 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out and when he had found him he said to him do you believe in the Son of God he answered and said who is he Lord that I may believe in him and Jesus said to him you have both seen him and it is he who is talking with you then he said Lord I believe and he worshiped him' now the book of Acts is conspicuous with the sort of demonstration of This Promise by our Lord to his Apostles they're going to put you out of the synagogue it's an amazing thing Christians think we have an intramural debate with reference to unbelieving Jews Jews see it as a fight to the to the death they they put you out of the synagogue they don't say well you take that portion of the synagogue and you teach your trinitarianism no they don't play those games Christians do and as well they kill you and while they're killing you they're doing in their mind service to god notice in Acts 4 acts 4 verse one now as they spoke to the people this the priest the captain of the temple and the Sadducees Came Upon them being greatly Disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead I've never quite understood this assault on Free Speech if if something is so absurd if something is so ludicrous let's say for instance you believe there really are leprechauns and you're looking out your window someday and you see that that rainbow out there and you get into your car and you go look for that leprechaun at the bottom of that rainbow to find a pot of gold who around you thinks that you're on on the ball nobody but who around you wants to dispossess you from your house from your job from your livelihood from your life if Christianity is so absurd if the concept of the Son of God assuming our humanity and living for us and and dying for us and being raised again for us is is is leprechaun is then why the rage why the enmity why the the desire to decimate the movement free speech is only free in so far as you color within the lines remember acts 17 what caused the Ruckus In thessalonica they preach another king even Jesus see this was ultimately what alerted and AR uh arose the the eye of the the the Roman Caesars it was a it was a polytheistic Society you can worship whatever God you want but the supreme god was Caesar guess what they called Caesar they called him Lord and Savior so here comes these Christians and you know they they got their gods but they call this Jesus Lord and Savior that becomes a threat to the Civil Authority that becomes a threat to the powers that be that becomes a threat to the to the self-proclaimed Lord and Savior well if they go after Jesus as Lord and Savior guess who they'll no longer come after as Lord and Savior we can't have that we got to crush these miserable Christians for their sin against the Roman state so so you see how this kind of stuff works you you Christians can have whatever Gods you want you Christians can can do whatever you want but when you preach this Jesus as king of kings and Lord of lords when you preach this Jesus as Supreme as comprehensively Sovereign as the one having all authority in heaven and on Earth then you butt heads with false religion and you bought heads with the Civil state so Brethren when you look at chapter 4 and you see this deprivation of their freedom for simply speaking the truth as it is in Jesus this is what's driving it they they they Brook no competition notice in verse three they laid hands on them and put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening however many of those who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to be about 5,000 I I always love those howevers I love Luke's progress reports in the book of Acts yes the Jews tried to stomp out progress yes the Roman state intervened to try to help stomp stom out the progress nevertheless or however the word of God progressed it proceeded and many more believed so the presence of opposition the presence of persecution the presence of obstacle and hardship those aren't obstacles and hardships for a sovereign God we may not like to navigate them we may not embrace them we may not welcome them but they're not obstacles for our Sovereign God now it occurs to me that if we go through every passage in Acts we'll be here till 4 and that's probably not the best idea but in chapter five you see the same sort of thing they butt heads with the unbelieving Jews chapter six we'll come back to that a bit later chapter 6 is the case of Steven they get into a theological debate they get into a dispute about the identity of Jesus and what happens they can't best him they can't win him they can't silence him so what's the next best step turn him over to Sanhedrin so that we can execute him again Brethren if it's so absurd and so outlandish and is so demeaning the way that believing in a leprechaun is so that you drive your car and look for the end of the rainbow and the leprechaun there with his pot if it's that odd Just Let It Go seems to be Gil's advice he's like you know this is of god you can't stop it if it's not of God it will fizzle out bad religions typically fizzle out remember the Haley Bop comment remember the various attempts by certain religiosity a religious people you don't hear a lot about that anymore why because it's wrong and it's self-defeating when you look at the book of Acts you see instances of this all over acts uh uh 13 the preaching of Paul in the synagogue at pidan Antioch notice in Chapter 13 specifically at verse 44 on the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God but when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy and contradicting and blaspheming they opposed the things spoken by Paul PA and then notice in verse 49 and the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region but the Jews stirred up that uh The Devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region notice in 14:1 now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the Brethren therefore they stayed there a long time speaking boldly in the Lord who was bearing witness to the word of his grace granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands but the multitude of the city was divided part cided with the Jews and part with the apostles and when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them they became aware of it and fled to lisra and Derby cities of lonia and to the surrounding region and they were preaching the gospel there notice in 14:19 then Jews from Antioch and Iconia a brethren the city in Antioch was 80 mil from Iconium Iconium was 18 mil from lisra we don't want to drive uh 80 miles right it's a long way 80 miles forget it but you have air conditioning but you have heat but you have you know Rich upholstry when I was a kid it was rich Corinthian leather and whatever the good cars were were at that time you've got all these all these but it's 80 miles why do we do that cuz whatever is at the end of that 80 miles isn't worth our time what was on the end of this 80 miles was worth their time Paul was an enemy and Paul must be silenced Paul Must Be Stopped notice they Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there and having persuaded the multitudes they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing him to be dead however when the disciples gathered around him he rose up and went into the City and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby and notice what his text was when he next preached verse 22 we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God I guarantee you no none of us here are said what do you mean Paul he had been stoned and assumed to have been dead I don't think you're running Mar just after that I got to think there's some sort of an effect upon the body when you've been stoned you've got welts all over you you possibly are limping to wherever the pulpit is nobody said what do you mean we we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God it's kind of like Paul says in Galatians chapter 6 from now on let no one trouble me for I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus what does that mean well the Sinclair Ferguson I think helpfully points out imagine going to the to the to the church picnic and the Apostle Paul is there and he takes out his outer garment to jump in the lake with the kids you see Galatians 6:17 all over his back let no one trouble me why for I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus the the Roman whip the Jewish Rod the fact of being a disciple of Jesus Christ in a hostile world again brethren we could multiply instances in the book of Acts that's not preacher talk we see it always in the book of Acts but then after Jesus says they will put you out of the synagogues he then says they will kill you to be yes the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service so not only is it the fact that they will murder Believers but the reason why they will murder Believers Jesus is very good that way he supplies information well why would they kill us well he tells us why are they going to do this he tells us but note the fact that they will murder Believers I already mentioned Stephen Stephen bested them in theological debate he did is that clear Acts chapter 6 so let's drum up some charges so we can get rid of him he's a blasphemer he's spoke against Moses in this holy place which incidentally is one of the charges they issued against Jesus before him and jermiah before him so when it comes to Steven they turn him over to the Sanhedrin and what does Steven do he bests them as well they couldn't handle it that they they went nuts literally they went nuts they cover their ears they Nash at him with their teeth and they drive him out of the city and they Stone him to death you ever thought about that they went to pilate to get Jesus killed why because we don't have authority to execute criminal offenders that all went out the window by the time we get to stepen when it comes time for Steph drive him out of the city what's the significance there you're not supposed to shed that Godless blood in our holy city Stephen was martyred the Apostle Paul there was an attempt on his life there was lots of hardships in his life but Paul occupies a unique place in Redemptive history he was on both sides of John 162 he had been the persecutor and had become the persecuted so at one time Saul of Tarsus was looked on very favorably by his religious fellows I mean Sol TUS studied under galile stock of Benjamin or Tribe of Benjamin circumcised The Eighth Day concerning the law he was a was a Pharisee everything about Saul was impeccable until until he drove his car to the end of the rainbow to find that leprechaun and the pot of gold again if it's that absurd if it is that crazy if it is that much of a of a bit of fiction then why bother could it be that in the heart of hearts men know could it be that that sense of deity is such that when you look around at the created order you know there's a God and you know that there is a judgment to come and then if you come under special Revelation I I just got to think at some point somewhere has there been an unbelieving Jew that said wait a minute Isaiah 53 really does sound like Jesus is isn't that what happened with Philip and the Ethiopian unic the unic says I I don't know who he's talking about here I just don't know so it says from that text Philip preached Jesus to him now the answer is obviously because there are Jews that are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ but with reference to our text Paul the Apostle assumes that position he is both the persecutor and the persecuted and again lots of texts here but I don't want to go till four the reason though is why they will murder Believers notice in verse two again they will put you out of the synagogues yes the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service so we see here that his murder of Christians is religiously motivated verse three will explain the theological of that or the theological motivation so there's a religious motivation the idea being that if I can rid the world of this man who is uh antagonizing My Religion this man who is trying to upgrade my religion this man who's offering another religious Viewpoint that is absolutely contrary to my own if I can just shut him up if I can just rid the world of him if I can just extinguish him or or exterminate him then then then I win and and my God is pleased sirel of Alexandria said their audacity will sink to such a level of wickedness that they will consider your death to be God pleasing worship not a historian or the son of a historian but I would bet that much of the heinous crimes we see throughout history were religiously motivated it's the question of ultimacy it's the question of authority it's the question of who has a right to to dictate how we're supposed to live and interestingly look at the text again yes the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God's service Edward clink made a very very interesting observation on the text he says for both Jesus and the Jews death and service are involved though with very different intentions while the Jews think that their service to God involves taking life from others Jesus knows that his service to God the Father requires that he gives his life for others it's so big difference Brethren there is a death that is pleasing to God and that death is the Son of God who for us men and for our Salvation came down from heaven so notice the Theology of the world in verse three he got their religious motivation they're going to put you out of the synagogues they're gonna they're going to kill you and while they kill you they're going to think that this is an act of worship in the service of their God but the theology behind this sort of sort of brings to Bear the stuff that Jesus has been speaking of concerning the Trinity notice in verse three and these things they will do to you because they have not known the father nor me the things they do are religiously motivated but the things they do are theolog logically driven again this is not an intramural debate this is not just a different way of looking at the same God this isn't just appreciating that you know we're we're of the abrahamic religion so everything's great and everything's cool that's not it Jesus speaks concerning the emphases that he has given say for instance in verses 21 23 and 26 in chapter 15 you reject the son you reject the father who sent the son you hate the son you hate the father who sent the son if you hate the father and you hate the son then you're going to hate and reject the Holy Spirit the the spirit that proceeds from the father that that Jesus sends so Jesus says that that behind their religious motivations is just really bad theology it's really horrible theology their doctrine of God is off their doctrine of God is wrong their doctrine of God is such that they cannot conceive the glory of John 1:1 and John 1114 in their minds it is absurd in their minds it is looking for a leprechaun at the bottom of the rainbow it is in their minds a challenge to their ultimate Authority their false god remember remember Jesus says if you were of your father Abraham you wouldn't want to kill me Abraham rejoiced to see my day he he saw it and he was he was glad so the idea here is very simple again sirel says there is therefore no question that if any choose to make a bitter attack against those who bring the Divine message they will be completely ignorant of the Holy and consubstantial Trinity this is what they'll do exclude you from the synagogues and kill you while they're killing you they will think they're doing service to God that's religious motivation they are driven though by terrible theology they are driven by a view that Jesus was not sent by the father that the father did not send Jesus that the spirit doesn't proceed from the father and the son other words they deny the Trinity they deny the glory of the living and true God who exists eternally as Father Son and Holy Spirit this is why sometimes we say you know theology does matter when it comes to worshiping God we really ought to know the god that we're worshiping right it's easy to go astray well I'm in service of God really you're killing people but what God tells you to to do that again I know old Covenant Theocratic Israel acting on the promise of God to give them the land but guess what this ain't old Covenant Theocratic Israel or where God has told us to go out and physically eliminate our opponents that is simply unacceptable and it is unacceptable for others to do that to us as well we don't always think about oh that that's not right of course it's not right and then that brings us finally to to verse four again he wants to prepare them verse four but these things I have told you that when the time comes you may remember that I told you of them this is reiterated or reiteration of chapter 15 vers 18 to 20 verse 20 remember the word that I said to you this is repeated by the apostles Acts 20 Paul to the Ephesian Elders remember I didn't cease to warn you as well 2 Peter 3: 1 and 2 Jude 17 remember the words spoken by our Lord and the Holy Apostles why should we remember well you're commanded to which should settle it but I'll give you some incentives remembrance is necessary for Preparation we got to remember so that we're prepared right I didn't play high school football but I bet if I did we would have watched films on other teams how they played football because knowing your opponent is half the battle well when we understand that not everybody we evangelize is going to welcome us with open arms and say well of course I want to be a Christian of course I want to follow Jesus of course I want to go to your church when we know the nature of the opponent we're better equipped and better prepared to meet that opponent I would suggest as well the remembrance is necessary for encouragement encouragement why should we be encouraged well Peter tells us we're to be encouraged Peter as well reminds us this is 1 Peter chap 4 about 12 to 19 that suffering is aord in to the will of God so nothing that happens is outside of God's governance of all his creatures and all their actions so so that means we can be encouraged even in the midst of it as well the remembrance is necessary for perseverance we have hope in the power of the Gospel we have hope in the power of the spirit we believe in the advancement of Christ's Kingdom on Earth we believe that there will be men women boys girls every tribe every t every people every nation We Believe with Revelation 7 there's a great multitude that no man can number but we also believe in total depravity we also believe in the existence of wickedness in this present evil age we also believe in the reality that there are difficult seasons in the lives of God's people and it requires perseverance well guess what Jesus has given us some things to remember to help that perseverance along and then I would suggest finally here I I said that this was almost it it's almost it the the remembrance is necessary for pity for pity this is sad they're going to exclude you from synagogues they're going to kill you and and think they're doing service to to God that that should evoke from the disciple of Christ a degree of pity compassion and and earnestness to want to see them repent and and Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ it it was this way with Stephen when step was being stoned to death Brethren the the the scene there I I mean if you had to imagine something this this mob this this vicious attack this this driving him out of the city and and and and Saul of Tarsus is standing there Saul of Tarsus is the one holding their coats why do you think they took off their coats well it's probably sweaty work throwing rocks at somebody to kill them plus it gets in the way right you're going to go out and throw a ball around with your kid you'd take your jacket off if you wore a robe you'd take the top part of the robe off so you've got some Mobility this is a mob engaged in mob violence no regard for Roman law at all it's it Stephen you're done it's over you're out gone what does Stephen pray Lord do not charge them with this sin and just so we know Saul of Tarsus who is standing there guarding the cloaks according to chapter 8 verses 1 to3 persecutes the church filled with rage and Venom you can read what he says in other portions of his Epistles Galatians 1 at verse 13 then again I think at verse 23 you see him allude to it often times in the book of Acts when he's standing before the civil magistrate when he's standing before Jewish audiences I I thought these were enemies I thought I should go out and decimate them I thought I should go out and Destroy them I thought that I should go out out of zeal for my religious ancestral Traditions to go out and silence the people of this G this Jesus Christ so so you get Steven's prayer Lord do not charge them with this sin you get a further snapshot of how sinful Saul of Tarsus is in Acts chapter 8 and then what happens in Acts chapter n Saul has a road to Damascus experience Jesus heard Jesus answered the prayer of Steven Jesus does not charge Saul of Tarsus with that sin Jesus not only forgives him of that sin but then Jesus gives him a righteousness by which Jes uh Saul can now enter into the presence of God one man has rightly said the entirety of Paul's theology is only the explanation of his own experience he was a man driven by Zeal for his God he thought that works up to an including the persecution and extinction of the Church of Jesus Christ was that work until that road to Damascus what things were gained to me these are loss what things were a blessing to me these are a liability I count everything lost for the Excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord so for Paul he was the object of Stephen's pity and so Stephen prays based on that pity Lord do not charge them with this sin yes be ready yes be prepared yes be encouraged yes be persevering but Brethren be pity uh uh full of pity and full of compassion and understanding that the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Lord is powerful to save to the uttermost everyone who draws nigh to God through faith in Jesus in fact you can turn there we'll end the sermon with that emphasis this morning 1 Timothy 1 1 Timothy chapter 1 while you're turning there I don't want to end without the last part of verse four kind of fastidious about not skipping out portions of scripture when Jesus says and these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you because he protected them John 17:12 he mentions that in his high Priestly prayer to his father I I didn't mention this initially to you because I protected you he also didn't mention this to them initially because he ran interference for them in other words the unbelieving Jews hated Jesus he was their the target of their enmity he was the subject of their hostility so you know the the the disciples certainly were byproduct but they weren't the focal point of the enmity in that first century situation but let's end with 1 Timothy chapter 1 beginning in verse 12 and I thank Christ Jesus our lord who has enabled me because he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry although I was formerly a blasphemer a persecutor and an insolent man but I obtained Mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief Brethren I don't think we're supposed to interpret the latter part of verse 13 as if this ignorance was not sinful that this ignorance was just halfhazard this this ignorance you know it's just an accident no it was ignorance of theology it was ignorance of the doctrine of God it was ignorance of the nature of the Redeemer it was an ignorance of the one sent by the one who sent him it was an ignorance of what God teach teaches clearly in scripture con concerning the the true and living God who exists eternally as Father Son and Holy Spirit so he says but I obtained Mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief and the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus now for the Christian I want us to be reminded by verse 15 and encouraged for the non-Christian I want you to hear this and I want you to consider how wonderful Jesus is to save needy Sinners this is is a faithful saying it's worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners of whom I am chief that's the purpose for the coming of the son of man into this world yes he founds a new religion yes he's a wonderful ethical teacher yes he does all these Good Deeds while he moves about in his Earthly Ministry the primary focus the prim AR emphasis the overarching theme of the life the death and the resurrection of Jesus is to save sinners from their sins and then Paul says of whom I am chief didn't it just think about his ignorance well he was just ignorant he says I was the chief of Sinners my theological ignorance my my lack of understanding in the doctrine of God led me to the point where I was excluding from synagogues I was nodding approvingly when when holy Steven was stoned to death I got papers signed by the priests in in Jerusalem to to to go to Syria and to lay hands on men and women and to extradite them to take them back to Jerusalem so that they could St trial and be punished accordingly he says I'm the chief of Sinners I find this very encouraging he says this under inspiration of the holy spirit so if you're a unbeliever here today you can never never say well I'm too sinful to be saved I'm too wretched to be saved I'm too gone to be saved if God saved the chief of Sinners There's Hope for you there is hope for you fact Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost is addressing Jerusalem's Sinners the Sinners that killed Jesus therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ what happened then they were cut to the heart they cry out what what must we do and what does Peter say well there's no hope for you you're too far gone you're too bad you're too evil you're too polluted no repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins so the Apostle says that this is the purpose is this is the reason and these are the subjects of his redeeming work he goes on however for this reason I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life and then he ends this subsection the only way a man can when he's conquered by The Sovereign Grace of God now to the king Eternal Immortal invisible to God who alone is watch be honor and Glory forever and ever amen you come to Jesus to understand the glory the magnificence the power and the mercy and goodness of God so don't wait don't T don't stay don't say well you know some other time Christ Jesus came into the world to save Sinners come to him and he will save you by his grace and for his glory well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for the teaching of our Lord Jesus and the way that he prepares the apostles in the upper room in the church in that first century context and the church since I pray that you'd help us to receive these things to be encouraged by them to understand the nature of the opposition that does exist May there be a Pity and a compassion in our hearts such that we are moved to Proclaim Christ and him crucified to a lost and dying world we pray that you would be glorified now and we ask in jesus' name amen well let's stand and we'll sing the uh 572 in praise to our Triune God 572 [Music] glor to the holy ghost is now and shall [Music] am oh Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is Mercy and with him is abundant Redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities amen we please be seated for a brief time of meditation e e e e