Well, good morning, church family. This morning my message is entitled, “What You Going to Do?” which is, of course, a reference to one of the great shows of all time, Cops. It was an educational show. You learned great lines like, “This is not my car,” or when they’re searching your pockets, “These are not my pants.” You really learned that the criminal community is great at sharing with one another. I’m sure their moms would be proud.

Well, I was thinking about Cops, and I was thinking about this question: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done in the sight of the law? When you think about the American legal system, what’s the worst crime you’ve ever committed, the worst thing you’ve done in the sight of the law?

I’ll tell you for me. One time I was driving out of the Crossroads neighborhood in Riverbank, coming around close to Target and approaching that little roundabout. I see a police officer standing in the roundabout. I thought, “That’s unusual. I’ve never seen a police officer standing in a roundabout. What’s he doing? Something must be going on in the neighborhood.”

So I slow down. He waves me over. I pull over and roll down the window. “Officer, what’s going on?”

He said, “You were going 35 in a 25.”

Okay.

So I was in the wrong, and yes, I got a speeding ticket from an officer on foot.

Here was an instance where I did something wrong, had a consequence, and faced something from a legal perspective.

But I want you to imagine now that you’re in a situation where you hadn’t done anything wrong, where you were completely innocent, where you were sharing about Jesus, and now the police are questioning you about your faith.

Imagine being in that kind of situation because that’s the context of our passage today.

In just a moment we’re going to be in Acts chapter 5. If you need a Bible, I’d encourage you after our service to stop by our prayer room and you can get one. But go ahead and turn to Acts chapter 5.

As you’re turning there, I want to tell you about one of my friends. One of my friends grew up in a communist country. He did not have the freedom that we have to worship. He was also really brainwashed from an atheistic perspective and taught in school that there is no God. He was taught that everything came about by means of evolution.

At some point he decided to flee his country in pursuit of freedom. He was not religious, but he was looking for freedom. He found himself in a refugee camp in another country, and while he was there he decided it would be a good idea to learn English.

There were some people teaching English, so he sat under their teaching and started learning to speak. He thought it was kind of weird because as they were teaching English, every now and then they’d be singing songs. He didn’t know what that was about, but he started learning the songs, and some of the words and themes in the songs were helping him with the English language.

He came across this one word and said, “I don’t understand what this word means.”

He asked them, “What’s this word?”

They said, “Well, that’s creation.”

“What’s creation?”

He had never heard the concept of creation. He didn’t know there were people who believed in a Creator. It was a completely foreign idea to him.

Little did he know that those people teaching English were missionaries. They were there not only to teach English but to share the love of Jesus Christ.

That man became a Christian.

He then realized that in spite of trying to find freedom in another country, the more important thing was freedom in Christ.

So he said, “I’m going to go back to my country with this message.”

He goes back to his country and begins sharing the gospel message.

One day he gets home, walks into his apartment, and finds soldiers in his house armed with guns, there to question him about his faith.

If you were in that situation, the question would be: What are you going to do?

What are you going to do?

We see in our passage that the disciples found themselves in a very similar situation.

Acts chapter 5, starting in verse 27, says that when they had brought them, they set them before the council. The high priest questioned them and reminded them that they had been strictly ordered not to teach in the name of Jesus. Yet they had filled Jerusalem with their teaching.

Peter and the apostles answered:

“We must obey God rather than human beings!” — NIV

They explain that the God of their ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after He had been killed and hung on a cross. God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior so that He might bring repentance and forgiveness of sins. They declare that they are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God gives to those who obey Him.

It’s this incredible moment as the disciples are under arrest and they’re sharing the importance of obeying God over men.

But how did they get here?

Let’s back up a little bit and look at the context.

Verse 14 says more than ever believers were added to the Lord—multitudes of both men and women.

The church was in a place of growth.

We learned from Pastor Joel last week how the church went from eleven disciples. They had lost Judas. They replaced him with Matthias, and there were now twelve. Pretty soon they grew to 120. Then in one day 3,000 people were added to their number, and not long after that there were 5,000.

So what’s happening?

The church is growing.

The church is blowing up.

It’s because the message of Jesus Christ is going out to people who desperately need it.

But that caused conflict.

That caused a problem because the religious leaders—the Pharisees, Sadducees, all these people—are losing influence, and they’re seeing that the Christian community is gaining influence.

Look at their response in verse 17.

The high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy.

They were jealous of what was happening.

They were losing power.

They were losing traction.

“How can this movement be exploding and growing like this?”

They’re jealous, and that leads them to take action.

Verse 18 says they arrested the apostles and put them in public prison.

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

“Go, stand in the temple courts… and tell the people all about this new life.” — NIV

So the disciples have been arrested for sharing Jesus.

Then God lets them out so they can go share Jesus.

Then they’re arrested again for sharing Jesus.

Do you see a pattern?

They’re sharing Jesus because that’s what Jesus has called them to do.

Again they’re brought before the council. They are told outright, “You cannot share about Jesus. You cannot share the gospel.”

Yet the leaders tell them, “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.”

They’re saying, “You’re teaching this message that we’re guilty.”

Well, isn’t that the message for all of us?

The gospel starts in a place of understanding that we are guilty, that we have sinned against God, and we need His help.

Peter and the apostles answer:

“We must obey God rather than human beings!” — NIV

They’re saying, “You’re telling us we can’t share Jesus? Well, we’re not going to listen to you.”

Why?

Because they had heard from Jesus Himself: Go make disciples.

They understood that their mission was from God—to go share the good news, to share about the life in Jesus Christ that we have.

So they continued to do it.

We’re going to see as we look at this passage three things that are important for us and were important for them as well.

The first is this: God calls us to obey.

When you place yourself in a relationship with Jesus, you’re placing yourself under His authority.

You’re saying, “Jesus is Lord. I am not. I’m submitting myself to Him and to His leadership.”

Why obey God?

Why do things His way?

Very simply, because God’s way is better.

His way is the best way.

I want to point out something important here.

This truth is not just about God versus government.

It’s much bigger than that.

It’s any voice, any person, any system, any organization—anything that opposes God and is trying to get you to follow it.

It’s in those situations that we have to be obedient to God.

Not listening to man.

Not man’s ideas.

Not man’s systems.

Not the culture around us.

But what does God say?

What does His Word say?

I’ve met a lot of Christians who are clear on where the lines are between church and state, but they have no idea where the lines are between the influences of the world and their own soul.

We need to be clear that the world and its ways are in opposition to God.

God is calling us to be obedient to Him, obedient to His Word, His ways, and His laws.

Again, why obey God?

Because His ways are better.

I see a couple specific ways that’s true.

One is that God’s purpose is better.

There’s a purpose behind being obedient to Him.

Ephesians 1:4 says:

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” — NIV

If you obey God, it’s for a good purpose.

God has a good thing He wants to accomplish in your life.

We need to be faithful in following Him and walking in His ways.

I want to be holy.

I want to be blameless.

I want to be more like Jesus.

Well, if that’s God’s purpose for my life, don’t you think I should do what He says?

How many times have you had something in your life, a piece of machinery or something you get, and you’re not sure exactly how to make it work correctly, and you’ve got to look at the instruction manual?

You look at the instructions because the person who designed it, the person who made it, has given you instructions on how to use it.

If you use it for its intended purpose in the right way, it just goes better.

That’s true of our lives.

God has something in store.

He has a purpose behind giving us His instruction.

He’s got something for us in our life.

Psalm 119:80 says:

“May I wholeheartedly follow your decrees, that I may not be put to shame.” — NIV

If you follow God’s laws and God’s statutes, if you walk in the ways of the Lord, you’re not going to be put to shame before Him.

Now, that doesn’t mean the world isn’t going to hate you.

The world might say all kinds of things about you.

The world might tell lies about you.

The world might try to damage your reputation.

But none of that matters because God sees the truth.

I want to be blameless before Him.

It doesn’t matter how I appear in the eyes of the world.

If the world is telling lies about me, I want to appear blameless before Him.

A great example of this is in Genesis.

We read about a young man named Joseph.

Joseph gets betrayed by his brothers.

He’s sold into slavery.

He’s lied about.

He’s falsely accused.

He ends up in prison.

He’s forgotten in prison.

I’m sure from the perspective of people around him, he didn’t look like the good guy.

But he was a man of integrity.

The Lord saw what was true.

The Lord raised him up and brought him out of that.

Ultimately he’s able to look at the very people who betrayed him one day and say:

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.” — NIV

It’s God’s eyes that matter.

How do I appear before Him?

Am I being faithful to Him?

God’s purpose for my life is endlessly better than anyone else’s purpose for me.

There are governments and systems and organizations that want you to comply with their way of doing things, and they have some other purpose in mind, whether it’s just compliance to control you or manipulation for things that are evil.

But if you follow God and walk in His ways, He’s got a purpose that’s better, a purpose that’s greater for your life.

We should also obey because God’s design is better.

You were designed by God.

You were made by Him, and God has made you for a purpose.

Psalm 119 says:

“Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.” — NIV

The psalmist sees a clear connection between the fact that God made me and therefore I want to follow Him.

I want to walk in His ways.

He made me, so I’m going to follow the path that He has also made for me.

God made you.

He designed you.

He has a great purpose for your life.

Our culture teaches that you weren’t designed.

Our culture teaches, just like this friend of mine who grew up in a communist country, that he was the product of evolution.

This last week, a friend showed me a video of a man doing an interview with artificial intelligence. He asked the artificial intelligence what the chances were that life could evolve from nothing according to what scientists say.

The illustration it gave was that if you took all the atoms in the universe, put them together, blindfolded yourself, reached into a bucket of all the atoms, and found the exact one you were looking for on the first try, those would be the odds.

In other words, impossible.

The point being made was that life is a miracle.

Creation is a miracle.

God has made us, and God has made us for a purpose.

Our culture says you’re an accident.

Culture says you’re a random chance.

So do what you want.

Live your life how you want.

Let me ask you: Are you tired of everything coming up short?

Are you tired of searching and trying to find something and nothing satisfies?

A number of years ago, I was in the Dominican Republic and met a young boy named Junior.

Junior was about 17 years old.

He grew up in Haiti, came across the border into the Dominican Republic, and he was searching for meaning and purpose.

Nothing in the life he was living could satisfy until he met Jesus Christ.

Jesus changed his life.

I remember the excitement in him.

He described this burning in his chest when he talked about God.

He was so excited.

Junior could not read and he could not write.

So he couldn’t go home, open his Bible, read it, and learn about God.

What did he do?

Every night of the week, he tried to find a different church that had a Bible study, meeting, gathering—something happening where he could go and just listen.

He wanted to hear God’s Word.

He wanted to learn about Jesus and know what He’s like.

He could only do that by listening.

He sought every opportunity to learn and grow in his relationship with Jesus because it was the first thing that satisfied.

God offers us something much greater than our world, much greater than our culture.

Psalm 119 says that those who go astray from God’s statutes follow what ultimately comes to nothing.

When we do things our own way, it’s all in vain.

When we pursue our own desires and try to make up our own systems and laws, all of that comes to nothing.

There’s something far better that God has for us.

Not only is God’s design better, but God’s morality is better.

You want to be a good moral person?

You want to live a good life?

God’s system is the only one that’s going to help you do that.

Psalm 119:9 says:

“How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.” — NIV

It’s God’s Word that’s going to guide us and help us live a moral life.

The world is actively teaching that what is wrong is right and what is right is wrong.

That’s what our culture teaches.

We’re not going to find a lifestyle or system from this world that leads us to a moral life.

It’s only through God and His Word that we can live a moral life.

It’s only God’s system that actually delivers on what it promises.

A lot of these passages are coming from Psalm 119.

It’s a great passage to spend some time in this week, reading about the beauty of God’s Word.

It’ll foster in you a desire to be in God’s Word.

Psalm 119:11 says:

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” — NIV

You want to know the key to overcoming sin through the power of Jesus Christ?

It’s meditating on His Word.

Reading it.

Knowing it.

Hiding it in your heart.

Memorizing it.

So that when you’re in a given situation and you’re not sure, “What should I do?” God brings it to your mind.

You remember what He said and know what to do.

God’s Word is going to be the thing that guides you to making the right decision.

God’s law is better.

His laws are better than the laws of man.

Psalm 119 says:

“Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD.” — NIV

How do you live a blameless life?

Walk in the law of the Lord.

To be blessed, to be blameless—it comes through following God’s plan and God’s design.

Psalm 119:165 says:

“Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” — NIV

Don’t you want peace and stability in your life?

That’s going to come through being obedient to God.

Now, we live in a country that has laws.

Sometimes you accidentally drive 35 in a 25.

We have laws.

Does that mean we blow them all off?

No.

God has put authority in place.

That’s all part of God’s sovereign domain and plan, and so we have to submit to those laws, those rules, those places.

However, anytime those laws conflict with Scripture, that’s when we find ourselves in a position where we have to choose:

Am I going to be obedient to God, or am I going to be obedient to what my government is telling me to do?

Those are real-life situations that we have faced in our lifetime.

Not too long ago, most of us were part of a church, whether it was here or somewhere else, during COVID-19.

We saw churches across our country having to deal with daily changes in what was being communicated by government and having to look at God’s Word and discern:

“What do we do?”

“Do they have the authority to do this?”

“Is this in conflict with what God has said?”

“How do we make these decisions?”

That was not an easy time period.

I have great compassion for all the pastors and elders of churches in our community and how they navigated that.

Some churches closed entirely.

Some churches stayed open and violated every law.

There was everything in between.

Those were not easy circumstances to navigate.

That was very difficult.

I had the privilege of being at our school during that time and watching our church leadership, our elders, and our pastors navigate it with great prayer and seeking the Scriptures.

I was so thankful for their leadership and guidance because it allowed us to do a lot of great ministry.

But let me tell you, any place where there was a strikingly clear conflict between what the government was saying and what God was saying, we chose to go with God.

That has to be our operating plan for all of us in life.

But again, not just in the area of government.

That’s not the only place to be obedient.

It does you no good to say, “Well, I’m going to defy the government so I can be obedient to God, but in all the other areas of my life I’m going to walk in sin.”

That doesn’t do us any good.

If you want to be obedient to God, it’s got to be in every area of your life.

That means all of us need to be taking inventory and looking and saying:

“What are the areas of my life where I’m being disobedient?”

“How can I bring those to the Lord, find forgiveness in Him, and then walk in obedience?”

That’s what God’s desire is for us.

So let’s say you’re trying to follow God.

You’re being obedient to His Word.

What would you do if you ended up in a situation where the government came to you and said:

“You can no longer share Jesus.”

“You can no longer gather as a church.”

“You can no longer worship.”

What are you going to do?

Peter and the apostles drew a line in the sand.

“I have to obey God, not man.”

It’s better to obey God than man.

God calls us to obedience.

The second thing is that God calls us to witness.

Not only were they being obedient to God, but they were obedient specifically in the area of sharing Jesus.

God calls us to share our faith.

Look again at verse 30.

They proclaim that the God of their ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after He had been killed, that God exalted Him as Prince and Savior to bring repentance and forgiveness, and that they are witnesses of these things.

It’s really beautiful.

As soon as they say, “We’re not going to listen to the government. We’re going to listen to God. We’re going to be obedient to Him,” what do they do?

Remember, they were arrested because they were sharing Jesus.

Not only do they say they’re going to listen to God, but they go and share the gospel again right there.

Immediately.

They’re sharing the gospel with their accusers.

They share that God raised Jesus.

Why did God raise Jesus?

Because they had killed Him.

They share that we are all guilty.

We are all guilty and in need of a Savior.

Why did Jesus die and rise again?

To give repentance and forgiveness.

The whole gospel message is wrapped up right there.

If the religious leaders were listening and taking it in, they would have realized:

“Yeah, I’m guilty.”

“I’ve sinned against God.”

“But Jesus died for me.”

“God raised Him back to life.”

“Jesus offers me forgiveness.”

“All I need to do is repent and follow Him.”

There’s the gospel message right there.

They share it.

Then they say, “We are witnesses of these things.”

They were witnesses.

They saw Jesus alive.

They saw Jesus die.

They saw Him alive again.

They were eyewitnesses.

But they also say something important:

“And so is the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit is a witness to these things.

Here’s where it gets amazing.

The Holy Spirit was there when it happened.

Romans 8:11 says:

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you…” — NIV

Think about that.

The Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, the Holy Spirit who was there and through whose power Jesus came back to life, now dwells in you.

He was a witness, and He’s inside of you.

If you have a relationship with Him, He’s in you.

That means not only was the Spirit there when it happened, but the Spirit is here now.

The Spirit is here.

Jesus described the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives in John 15:26:

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.” — NIV

The Holy Spirit, because He was there and because He lives in you, actually builds confidence in you.

He builds your faith that this happened, and He helps you share about Jesus because His role is to point to Jesus.

So we have an incredible resource in the Holy Spirit who was there and is now here in us.

But in some way, I also want you to consider that you were there.

You and I are witnesses to what happened to Jesus.

How is that?

Paul says in Galatians:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” — NIV

Does that mean Paul was literally up there on one of the crosses?

No.

What is he saying?

“I have been crucified with Christ.”

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

“The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

In some sense, we were there.

Why?

Because our sin was crucified.

Our old life was crucified with Christ.

When Jesus went to the cross, He bore our sins.

Everything you’ve ever done.

Everything you ever will do.

Every sin paid for by Jesus with His body and His blood shed for us on that cross.

When you came in, you should have received or grabbed from one of the bowls the elements for communion. If you didn’t grab those, you can still grab them right now. They’re by each door in the back.

We’re going to take a look at these symbols as we remember Him together because these are physical reminders of what Jesus has done for us.

At the beginning of this message, I asked you to think about the worst thing you’ve ever done in the sight of the law, our country’s law.

But take it up a level.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done in the sight of God?

How have you violated His law?

The beautiful thing is that Jesus died for that.

Jesus paid for that.

He offers us forgiveness.

As we remember His body and His blood, we remember that He paid the price for us, that He went in our place to the cross.

Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread and gave thanks and said:

“This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” — NIV

This represents His body sacrificed for us.

Let’s take this and eat in remembrance of Him.

In the same way, He took the cup.

This represents the new covenant in His blood.

This represents His blood that was shed for us on the cross.

The blood that ran down His brow.

The blood that ran from His hands and feet.

The stripes on His back.

Shed for us.

Jesus died to pay for our sin so that we could have forgiveness and new life in Him.

Let’s take this in remembrance of Him.

Jesus, we thank You for these reminders, these symbols, Your body and Your blood given for us so that we could have new life in You.

Lord, would that motivate us to walk not only in freedom but to walk in obedience, to follow after You because the freedom we have was purchased through Your blood and came at a great price.

Thank You for what You’ve done for us, Jesus.

We pray this in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Not only were we there because our sin was on His shoulders, but now you are here.

We’re here.

The Holy Spirit is living in us.

So we have a responsibility here to be witnesses, to share about Jesus.

Not just to share what Jesus did 2,000 years ago, but to share what Jesus has been doing in your life—the transformation He has brought about in you.

We all have a story of what Jesus has done in our lives, and we have an obligation to tell that story.

Colossians 4:5–6 says:

“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” — NIV

We’re called to share the gospel, to be ready to speak to anyone about what we believe and why we believe it, and to share about what Jesus has done for us.

A number of years ago, I was driving for Uber on the side, which was a lot of fun.

When I would drive, I would have my Bible sitting up on the dashboard.

The best thing would be if somebody sat in the front seat and didn’t just put in their AirPods but wanted to talk.

One of the first rides I gave, the guy was looking at my Bible.

It was going to be about a 20- or 25-minute ride, so we had some time.

He goes, “Have you read all that?”

I said, “Yeah, I have.”

He said, “Have you read any of the other books, like the Quran or the Book of Mormon, any of those other religious books?”

I said, “No. I just read this one, and this is enough.”

He goes, “Well, how do you know that it’s true?”

I said, “I know it’s true because I know that Jesus is alive.”

He’s like, “What do you mean?”

I said, “Jesus was a Jewish rabbi. What we call the Old Testament, a big bulk of this Bible, is what Jesus believed and taught. The New Testament is all written about Jesus.

“So if Jesus is who He says He is, then the whole thing is true.

“And I know Jesus is who He says He is because they killed Him, and He came back to life.”

He kept going, “Wow. Wow. This is important stuff. I’ve never thought about this before.”

Then he said, “Well, how do you know Jesus is alive?”

I was able to share with him some of the evidence.

There’s all kinds of great evidence pointing to the fact that Jesus is alive.

He said, “Wow, you’ve given me a lot to really think about.”

I left him with what we call in evangelism a rock in his shoe.

If you’ve ever walked around with a rock in your shoe, you know it just bugs you.

Eventually you’ve got to stop and take your shoe off.

The goal in evangelism is to leave a rock in their shoe.

Give them something to be thinking about that they can’t shake, so that they would turn and investigate:

“Who is this Jesus?”

“How do I know this is true?”

“Is this true?”

I had great confidence leaving that man, dropping him off, knowing God was going to be working in his life, drawing him to Himself.

That’s the goal as we witness and share.

God calls us to be obedient.

God calls us to witness.

Lastly, God calls us to persevere.

How did this story end?

After the disciples had been arrested multiple times, they had been sharing Jesus.

What was their fate?

Immediately after this, they’re beaten.

They’re beaten.

They could have walked away depressed, upset, and defeated.

But what happens when they’re persecuted?

And we all will be persecuted one way or another.

Look at their response in verse 41.

They leave the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

Every day in the temple and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah.

They’re beaten, and they walk away rejoicing.

Rejoicing that they’re counted worthy to suffer for Jesus.

Did they stop?

No.

They immediately go back to teaching about Jesus in the temple and in every house.

They cannot stop.

They’ve drawn a line in the sand.

“The government can’t stop us. No one can. We’re going to keep telling people about Jesus.”

Obedience to Christ will result in some level of conflict because the world opposes Him.

We’re all going to face it in one way or another.

So what will you do when you face persecution?

I’ve been in ministry now for about 17 years.

In that time, I’ve had many instances when I’m sitting across from someone who is living their life in opposition to God, and they’re going to direct all of their opposition toward me.

The same is true for all of us.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re in ministry or not.

If you stand for Jesus, people who oppose Jesus are going to oppose you.

But it’s not really you.

It’s Him.

They stand in opposition to Jesus.

If you have Jesus living inside of you, they’re going to see that and oppose you.

How are you going to handle it?

Are you going to be ready when people lie?

When people accuse?

When people insult?

When people make fun of you?

When they mock you?

How will you respond?

Will you rejoice that you were counted worthy?

All of us are going to face it.

Jesus promised it in John 15.

He says that if we belonged to the world, the world would love us as its own, but because we do not belong to the world and He chose us out of the world, the world hates us.

He reminds us:

“A servant is not greater than his master.”

If they persecuted Him, they will also persecute us.

A friend of mine was on a mission trip.

He was in a country with a lot of sand and a lot of heat, and the predominant religion there was Islam.

You can imagine what possible country that could be.

He finds himself being pulled aside and put into a room.

A gun is pointed at him.

A soldier asks him:

“Are you a Christian?”

If you found yourself in that situation, what would you do?

How would you respond?

The soldier gave him two options.

“I can either arrest you and lock you up, or we can put a tattoo of a cross right here on your arm to show that you’re a Christian so that every hand you shake in my country, they’ll see that and know who you are and treat you accordingly.”

My friend has shown me that tattoo.

He made a choice in that moment to stand for Jesus, to align himself with the cross of Christ, and to be willing to face whatever persecution would come because he was marked as a believer.

Are you ready for that?

Are you ready to stand for Jesus?

How do we do that?

It’s by fixing our eyes on the end of the story.

It’s recognizing that in the end, God will prevail.

God is going to win.

As the disciples had been arrested and the religious leaders were looking at them and discussing what they should do, one of them offered some words of wisdom.

Remember, these are kind of the bad guys in the story, but even one of them still says something true.

He says in verse 38 that if this plan or undertaking is of human origin, it will fail.

But if it is from God, they will not be able to stop these men.

They might even find themselves fighting against God.

The religious leader sees the explosive growth of Christianity and says, “You better be careful because if this is from God, you’re not going to be able to stop it.”

That is the truth of the story.

That is the truth of Scripture:

God and His plan are unstoppable.

That’s why I want to align my life to His plan.

Because God’s going to win.

Jesus is going to prevail.

He’s going to win.

That victory has already begun.

Jesus has already defeated sin.

Jesus has defeated the enemy.

That victory has begun.

Scripture also tells us about a moment that’s still coming when Christ will destroy every rule, authority, and power opposed to God.

Every rule.

Every authority.

Every power.

Every world system and government that opposes God.

Jesus wins.

God prevails.

His plan is unstoppable.

First Corinthians 15:26 says:

“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” — NIV

Jesus wins over death itself.

There will be no more death.

No more sickness.

No more pain.

God wins in the end.

That’s how we persevere.

It’s by fixing our hope on what’s to come.

Jesus is inviting us into something greater.

There’s no stopping Him.

So let’s side with Him.

Let’s be obedient to His Word.

Let’s share His message.

Let’s persevere when it’s hard.

That man I told you about at the beginning, who had gone back to his country with the gospel and found soldiers in his house—fast forward about 20 years.

Today he’s a pastor in his country, operating in the underground church against the rule and authority of his government, putting his life at risk every single day.

A couple of years ago, I got to go and be there with him and do a conference for his church.

I lived with him in his house for two weeks and experienced what he experiences.

There was one day I was leaving his house and walking to the church.

I turned the corner, and there were about a hundred soldiers, all there with their rifles, wearing very familiar uniforms that you and I would probably identify as enemy uniforms.

I had a choice.

Do I walk through that group of soldiers to get to this church, or do I walk away?

I made the choice to walk through, and nothing happened.

But I can tell you a lot went through my head in that moment.

If you were in a situation like any of the people I’ve talked about this morning, if you found yourself in a situation like that here in this country, the question would be:

What are you going to do?

What are you going to do when they come for you?

Let’s pray.

Father, we thank You.

We thank You, Lord, because what we experience here is vastly different from what a lot of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing in different parts of the world right now.

We thank You for what we have, the freedom that we do have.

But Lord, we don’t want to be ignorant to the fact that persecution can and will come, and that it takes on a lot of different forms.

Some of us are going to face conflict at work, conflict in families, conflict with friends.

We’re going to collide with our culture, our government, and the systems around us.

Lord, would You help all of us to draw a line in the sand—to be faithful to You, to be obedient to Your Word, to share the message of Jesus Christ, and to persevere to the end?

We pray that through the power of Your Holy Spirit, You enable us to do that.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.