Opposition, Salvation And Persecution

Q: What does the Bible say about opposition to the gospel?

The Bible teaches that opposition to the gospel is expected, as seen in the experiences of Apostle Paul and the early church. The opposition to the gospel is a recurring theme throughout Scripture, particularly evident in the book of Acts as Apostle Paul journeys to preach. In Acts 18, Paul faces various reactions, including outright hostility and persecution, which reflect the natural response of sinful hearts to the truth of God's Word. Jesus himself warned in Luke 6:26, 'Woe is to you when all men speak well of you,' highlighting that those who live godly lives will face adversity. This opposition is not merely directed at the messenger but ultimately against God’s sovereignty and truth.

Q: How do we know that God's sovereignty is at work in salvation?

God's sovereignty in salvation is evident through the way He draws individuals to Himself, as reflected in Scripture. The sovereignty of God is a foundational doctrine in Reformed theology, emphasizing that God is actively involved in the salvation of sinners. In Acts 18, as Paul preaches in Corinth, we see the Holy Spirit at work as some believe and receive the message while others reject it. As stated in John 10:27, 'My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.' This showcases that those who come to faith do so not by their own will, but by God's initiative to reveal Himself. Scripture consistently affirms that God chooses whom He will save, emphasizing His authority and grace in calling His elect to salvation.

Q: Why is preaching the gospel important for Christians?

Preaching the gospel is central to the Christian faith as it is God's ordained means for bringing people to salvation. The significance of preaching the gospel cannot be overstated in the Christian faith. It is through the preaching of the Word that God brings conviction, conversion, and growth among His people. In Acts 18, we see the Apostle Paul dedicating himself to preaching, reasoning from the Scriptures to reveal the person and work of Christ. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16), meaning that it is the primary means by which God's chosen ones are called to Him. By preaching, believers not only fulfill the Great Commission but also participate in the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in drawing the lost to salvation.

Q: What role does persecution play in the life of a Christian?

Persecution serves as a means of refinement and testimony, demonstrating the authenticity of one’s faith. Persecution is an integral part of the Christian experience and serves several purposes. First, it refines and strengthens believers, helping them to grow in faith and dependency on God. In Acts 18, Paul’s experiences illustrate that persecution did not deter him from preaching; instead, it confirmed the truth of his message and strengthened the church. Second, it serves as a testimony to others of the power of the gospel, as believers respond to suffering with joy and steadfastness. Scripture assures us that all who live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12), planting hope and courage in believers facing trials, as they are participating in Christ's own sufferings.

Brothers, restore me still, my
soul, with grace in Thy hand. Follow me, my friend, let me
tell Thee that Thou That's good. That second verse
says, All now mysterious shall be bright at last. It made me think of another hymn,
All Things Work Out for Good. It says, Someday the path he
chose for me will all be understood. In heaven's clear light I'll
see all things worked out for good. That's good. Good hymn. Acts 18 now. Acts 18. That hymn, Jeanette, goes like
this. It says, Fear not, ye saints. Fresh courage take. The clouds
ye so much dread. are full of mercy and shall break
with blessings on your head." Jeanette and I have been searching
for a couple of days now for that hymn, and the word just
now came to me. That's how it goes. I still don't
know where it is, but that's good, isn't it? Fear not, ye
saints. Fresh courage take. The clouds
ye so much dread. are full of mercy, and shall break with blessings on
your head. All right, Acts chapter 18. I've
said before in studying through the book of Acts that I want
to go through it and see the historical of what the Lord is doing in
founding his church, how the Lord in his marvelous providence
founded his New Testament church and all of his wondrous works
in bringing the church together. We're going to see that tonight.
I don't want to miss that. I do want to go through so that
we can see that. But also, I want to bring some
spiritual applications for our edification and instruction.
Let's begin with verse 1. It says, After these things,
Paul departed from Athens. Now, much had happened. If you've
been following along with the narration of the Apostle Paul's
journeys, much has happened. And remember, the last thing
that happened was Paul preaching at Mars Hill. Sunday morning,
and the great stir that it caused at Mars Hill. A lot happened
there. Things happened. Things happened, as well as the
reactions he met with everywhere he went and preached. I just
thought we'd stop and look at that for a minute. After these
things, just stop and think about what we have considered or looked
at before. After these things, and all of
the persecution That's the title of this message tonight, Opposition,
Salvation and Persecution. Those are three reactions that
we'll find here in chapter 18 to the preaching of the gospel,
and this is what the Apostle encountered and all of the Apostles
encountered everywhere they went preaching the gospel. Opposition,
salvation, the Lord saved some, and they were persecuted for
preaching it. There is no doubt that the Apostle Paul preached
the gospel because he met with these reactions. And you have
to seriously question a man's ministry who doesn't get these
reactions. Our Lord said that, didn't he?
Woe is unto you if men speak well of you. They speak well
of you. It is very evident that the Apostle
spoke in bold and dogmatic terms, because there was always a mixed
reaction to his preaching. He left Athens and came to Corinth. Corinth ought to be fresh on
your mind, because we just finished studying 2 Corinthians. We've
studied 1 and 2 Corinthians. This was Paul's first visit to
Corinth, and as you may know, Corinth was a place where God
was going to do great things, a large church there at Corinth. Let me remind you, and we'll
see that, how the Lord did this great work merely through the
preaching But preaching is nothing mere,
is it? But through the preaching of
the gospel. That's all the Lord used to start this Church and
to carry it on and to finish it. Preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is
what the Lord uses, always has and always will. We don't need
to resort to other things. And once again, you'll notice
that Paul didn't come into this town with all of the religious
paraphernalia that you'll see today. He didn't have a gospel
quartet with him. You wonder how in the world there
could have been revival when he didn't have a gospel quartet
with him. He didn't have a famous Reformed athlete on the podium
with him. He didn't have one politician
with him. He didn't have anybody with him, for that matter. He
didn't send out promotionals. He didn't announce his coming
before he came. He didn't send out promotionals
announcing a great healing miracle crusade featuring the famous
Apostle Paul. He just quietly came into town
and began preaching. And the Lord did his work. And
that's the way it's still done. That's the way it's still done.
And this is the humble beginnings of the church at Corinth. Look
at verse 2 now. Paul came to Corinth and found
a certain Here is that word again. A certain Jew, a certain chosen
Jew, a certain elect Jew, a certain foreordained, predestinated Jew
named Aquila, born in Pontus, who was coming lately from Italy
because of persecution, with his wife Priscilla. Paul came
unto them. Now, this was soon to be a large
congregation. We saw that in studying through
the Corinthians. It was soon to be a large congregation,
but it started with this man and his wife. That's how it started. This man and his wife, two relatively
unknown blue-collar workers. And that's how the Lord works,
isn't it? This is how the Lord moves. And these two, if you'll
notice, they weren't even natives of Corinth. They were from out
of town. Does that sound familiar? Lydia, remember her? Strangers,
literally strangers. So it's certain that these people
were of no esteem with anyone, except God, that is, chosen by
God. Paul later on, when he wrote
a letter to the Corinthians in thinking about some of these
people like Priscilla and Aquila, he wrote, he said, You see your
calling, brethren, not many wise men of the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things
they were, tentmakers, truck drivers, base things, weak things,
people that are Everybody turns thumbs down on him. Well, he
ain't nobody. Yeah, that's right. Ask him. He'll agree with you. But ask God. He won't. He'll say, He's mine. He's bought
with a price. That's what Paul wrote to them
later on in thinking about these precious people that the Lord
had chosen. You see, you're calling, brethren.
I believe Paul met with this fellow Quilla probably in town
or somewhere. Maybe in the synagogue, who knows.
But after this fellow Aquila heard that Paul was a tentmaker,
they got to talking, and I'm sure they did. I'm sure they
spoke to one another, and in the course of their conversation,
Paul asked him what he did for a living, and Aquila said, Well,
we're tentmakers. Well, I am, too. My daddy was a tentmaker, and
I worked with him growing up as a boy. And Quill said, well,
that's funny. We sure is lucky. We needed somebody
to help us to work. We needed a hired hand. Would
you like to come help us? We can't pay you much. We'll
give you room and board and five cents a week, or whatever they
made back then. They entertained a stranger,
didn't they? Oh, did they entertain a stranger.
salvation came to their house. Oh yeah, I'm not even pulling
out of this what's not there. That's in the background somewhere.
Surely that must have happened. And the Lord blessed them for
that reason and saved their house. Look at verse 3 now. And because
he was of the same craft, he abode with them and he brought
work with them by their occupation. They were tent makers. I also
wanted to bring this out. Paul was a pattern. Remember
he wrote to young Timothy, he said, I'm a pattern of salvation
to them that will believe. How that God saves the chief
of sinners. Remember that? And first Timothy, he said, for
this cause God saved me that I might be a pattern unto all
them that will believe. He wasn't looking for God. He
wasn't seeking God. He had the false God. He was
persecuting those that believed the truth. God chose him, God
stopped him, God saved him, God revealed the gospel to him. That's
how God saved. And that's the way Paul was,
and that's who the Lord saved. And that's how he saved you,
too. But Paul said he was a pattern. Well, he was a pattern in more
ways than one. And right in young Timothy, he imparted all his
wisdom as a faithful pastor. Paul was a pattern of a true
God-called, God-sent preacher in every way. A young man, an
older man, would do well to imitate, follow the leadership
of the Apostle Paul in his ministry. From Paul's calling, as I just
mentioned, to his message, whatever Paul's message was, that was
the gospel. Preach that and you'll be on
the truth. Paul's methods, everything he
did, the way he did it. his mannerisms right down to
his work ethic. And that's what I wanted to bring
out here just for a minute. And this is something my pastor
taught all of us young men in the preacher's class, and he
learned it from other men, and they learned it from wise men,
and they learned it from scriptures, from the Lord, from men like
Paul. God doesn't make the worst of
men preachers, the laziest of men preachers. That's what a
lot of fellows do when they have failures at everything else.
When they can't succeed at anything else, they say, I must be called
to the ministry. No, that's right. That's exactly
right. too lazy to do anything else,
so I must be called to the ministry. That's an easy life. God doesn't
call the worst of men, he calls the best of men. He doesn't call
the laziest, he calls the hardest working. He doesn't call failures,
he calls successes. He calls the hardest working,
he calls the diligent. Think about it. Moses. Moses was a shepherd for forty
years. Forty years. He was a good one. He was a good
one. David was a shepherd, too, wasn't
he, for several years. Saul lost his daddy's asses.
Remember that? Saul that was made king, and
men made him king. He was a failure, Joe, at keeping
some donkeys. Lost his daddy's asses. But David
was a faithful shepherd. He didn't lose a one. He fought
against lions and bears. He was a tough young cookie,
and he didn't lose one. He was faithful. That's God's
man. That's God's man. Faithful in
a few things. I'm not going to make anybody ruler over many.
It's been unfaithful or undiligent. What's the word? Indiligent at
a few things, right? Elijah was out plowing with twelve
yoke of oxen. There ain't a man in here that
could do that, I believe. I don't think so. It might take
a while anyway. Twenty-four oxen. Elijah, that's
what he was doing when the Lord called him. Andrew and Peter,
brothers in the fishing business. James and John were in the fishing
business. Luke was a successful physician,
and so forth. Paul was a tentmaker. So any
time you hear some fool, and I've run into them in the railroad
where I used to You could tell who were the preachers of the
bunch. They were the sorriest ones in the whole lot. Steve's
shaking his head. He knows them. The sorriest ones
of the bunch. They're not doing their jobs.
They're over there witnessing, doing things for the Lord. Ain't
got time to work. That's not true. That's not the
way it was. That's not the way it's supposed to be. Now, verse
4. So Paul, it says, he was a tentmaker and abode with these his other
tentmaker, and he worked hard. Verse 4, And he reasoned in the
synagogue every Sabbath, persuading the Jews and the Greeks. What
did he reason about? What did he preach? Look back
at chapter 17 again. Let me refresh your memory. Did you notice that Paul, just
about as soon as he got in town, he headed for the synagogue?
Well, remember this over in chapter 17, verse 2? It says, Paul came to Thessalonica, where
the synagogue was, and as his manner was, he went in unto them,
three Sabbath days, and reasoned with them. What was his reasoning? Well, the philosophy of the day,
modern thought and politics and socially. No, he reasoned out
of the scriptures. He opened and alleged who Christ
was, the person and the work In other words, the gospel. He
opened the scriptures and reasoned or preached from the scriptures
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Same man now, over in
Corinth, same message, same reaction. Some believed, some didn't. Some
were saved, some left to themselves. Some, it was a savor of life,
they couldn't get enough of it, they rejoiced in it. I want to
hear that again. Get out of here. What's the difference? Who made the difference? Scripture says the wind blows
where it lists to. That's the Holy Spirit. Our Lord
said, My sheep. Now, they're going to hear my
voice. You can count on it. So what's a man to do? Preach
his voice. Nothing else. Preach the word.
He said, they'll hear it. My sheep. I'll draw them and
they'll hear it. They that are of God, Christ
said, they that are of God, heareth God's word. They that are not,
they won't hear it, no matter how much you preach to them.
And you've experienced that, haven't you? Talking to some
people. It's up to the Holy Spirit. All right, read on, verses 5
and 6, and when Silas and Timothy, remember Paul was waiting on
them to come to Athens, they never showed up, and he was a
little anxious. He was by himself, and he was
in great danger, and John, he's a man. Paul's a man. This is the reason the Lord,
in his good wisdom, sent him out by twos and had Each of them
had companions most of the time. Even Paul, when he was in prison,
was with Silas and Timothy. But now, he seemed to be alone,
I think, unless Silas was around there somewhere. No. Silas came
to him, didn't he? All right, well, he was waiting
on them to come from Athens. Paul went to Athens. He was waiting
on them to come to Athens from Thessalonica, and they never
showed up, and he started getting anxious. And so finally he left
town. Now, by this time, when he left
town and went to Corinth, he was real anxious for these men
to come. He missed them. He didn't know
where they were or what held them. They may have been killed,
for all he knew. Look at it now. It says they
finally came, down in verse 5 and 6, when Silas and Timothy were
come from Macedonia. Paul was pressed in the Spirit.
Oh, it revived him. It revived him, and he was encouraged
again. He was pressed in the Spirit,
or burdened in the Spirit. I think all this came about as
these fellas, Paul and Timothy and Silas, came, and as believers
Incidentally, where do you think they stayed? They stayed with
Purcell and Aquila. Those people were given the hospitality,
weren't they? Think of the people they entertained
in their house. Lord bless their house. Saved
them. save them and their house. Well, at any rate, as believers
are prone to do, they sit around at night and they'd be talking
about what the Lord had done, and Silas and Timothy talking
about what happened to them, what the Lord had done through
the preaching of the gospel, and Paul was talking, too. And Paul began to be stirred
up. And I believe maybe, don't you
know that Aquila and Priscilla began to say things like this
to Paul, I wish, oh, this gospel you're preaching is so needed
in our area. Oh, I wish we had a church here
to attend. We've looked all over for some
troops and can't find any. Oh, these people need this gospel
you're preaching. would that the Lord would raise
up a church in this area." And Paul was pressed. You see that,
Barbara? He got pressed, and he got a
burden for these people at Carthage. So he went out, maybe that night,
and testified to whoever would hear him preach, that is, to
the Jews, that Jesus is the Christ. Same message, same man, same
message, and same reaction. And when they opposed themselves,
you see that? They opposed themselves. And that's what anybody does
who rejects the gospel, don't they? They oppose themselves. They judge themselves unworthy
of eternal life, the scriptures say. They become their own worst
enemies. One of the brothers and I were
talking God doesn't have to elect men to hell. That's where they're
headed. That's where men are headed by
nature. Christ said he didn't come to condemn the world, but
that the world might be saved. Why didn't he come to condemn
it? Why didn't he pass judgment upon it? They were already judged.
They were already condemned. They were condemned already.
That's what John 3 says. They don't bother to read on
in verse 17. They just read verse 16. But
they're condemned already. Condemned already. And men judge
themselves unworthy of eternal life. I said before, go ahead
and, if you want, offer this gospel to men. Offer. Say, do you want this? You'll
find out real quickly. Man will exercise his free will. And he'll reject it, thumbs down.
The only way he'll receive it The only way he'll bow to it
and believe it and love it is if that wind blows, if the Holy
Spirit powerfully moves on him and bows his knee and breaks
his heart and gives him eyes to see the true God and eyes
to see himself and eyes to see Christ as his only hope of salvation. Well, men opposed themselves,
he said. They opposed themselves, and
it says they blasphemed, too. See that? Anything more or less than the
gospel is blasphemy. And I guarantee you, they said
the same things that you hear today about Paul's preaching. God's not that holy or sovereign
and all that. Well, he's left it up to us.
God's not like that. He's love. All sorts of blasphemous
things against the truth begin to belittle and ridicule his
message. Dead sin. The man's not dead. He's got
a choice. Right in the face of Scripture. Right in the face. Well, if you're sincere, you'll
get to heaven, instead of just one way. And that's blasphemy. So Paul, and I don't know what
he did, he said he shook his ringlet. That's some kind of
symbolic gesture. The Lord said it, didn't he?
Shake the dust off your feet or your clothing. And I don't
know what he did, but he did it. He said he shook his ringlet.
And he said, your blood be on your own head. Men go to hell,
it's their own fault. Right? Not God's fault. If they go to heaven, it's God's
fault. It's God's. God gets the credit
for it. Right? If they go to hell, it's
all their fault. All their fault. So, he went
on. He departed. Verse 7. He left
the synagogue, and he was walking out of that place, and entered
into a certain man's house. There's another certain man,
too. Now, when Paul stormed out of that place, he said, All right,
I'm going to the Gentiles. And he stormed out of the place,
and, Nancy, I fully believe that he was heading out of town. And
Justice, it says, Justice was one that worshiped God, whose
house joined hard to the synagogue. Evidently, Justice was in on
these preaching services, and the Lord began to, like that
little crippled fellow, decide, touch his heart. Paul thought
everybody rejected it, thumbs down. And Paul said, I'm leaving. But this justice fellow, he heard,
and he grabbed Paul and was leaving, and he was storming out of there.
Paul said, wait a minute, just a moment, wait a minute, bring
it on. I'm leaving. Nobody around here believes this
gospel. I do. Before you leave, come stay with
me. The Lord blessed him. He entertained this man he didn't
know. He was a stranger. He loved his gospel. He entertained
him, and the Lord saved his whole house. Christmas read on. His house
joined hard to the synagogue, and verse 8. The thing I want you to note
through all this is that here and there God was gathering his
sheep. Paul preached in this great synagogue in this huge
metropolitan city to a vast throng of people, and many were called
by this gospel. But most rejected it. But a few
were chosen. This is the way the Lord saves.
A few here and there. Y'all can't be right. Look at
all these people that are rejecting what you preach. Can all these
people be wrong? Yes, you better believe it. They
always have been. That's what they said outside
the ark, didn't they? You can't do right and all of us wrong,
know what? We'll just wait and see. We'll
just wait and see. When the rain starts coming,
we'll see what saves and what doesn't, whether it be the ark
or your religion. Right? They said it's a lot,
didn't they? Where you going, Lot? You're leaving this place. God's
going to destroy it. Ah, we've heard that before. Think you're
right and everybody else is wrong? Yeah. Think God's true and every
man's a liar. And this is the way it is. Many
are called, but few are chosen if you believe this gospel. Don't
ever quit thanking God, and don't ever take it for granted. Blessed
art thou. What's your daddy's name, Henry?
What was your daddy's name? Blessed art thou, Henry Barjohn. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you, but my Father which is in heaven." Now, boy, don't ever take this
gospel for granted because you are highly favored among men
and women. Mary, thou art highly favored. Where's your family, Mary? Why
you? She said, right here. That's
what she said, right here. Who makes thee to differ? You'll
know one day. You'll know one day. Verse 7,
how much you owe. And so they departed, and a certain
man named Justice, one that worshiped God, and anybody that truly seeketh
the Lord, they'll find him, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.
All right, now, next it says a man named Crispus, the chief
ruler of the synagogue. He believed on the Lord with
all his house. Now, can I just conjecture here a little bit,
use a little holy, sanctified imagination. It'll work. Maybe this Christmas fellow heard
Paul preaching the gospel. I'm sure he did. He was a ruler
of the synagogue. He was in on it. But it says
that Justice's house was right beside the synagogue. And Justice and Paul stayed up
until three or four in the morning that night talking about the
gospel. And Christmas, I wish they'd shut up. I can't get any
sleep. You think that happened? Sure
it did. This Justice fellow couldn't
get enough. Couldn't get enough of hearing
it. And they talked till the wee hours of the morning. They
didn't have strings on their windows and doors wide open. Far eastern living, you know.
And Christmas got up in the middle of the night. What are they talking
about now? You know, they lived, the rulers
and goblins. And he listened. I never heard that before. He
got his scrolls out. Boy, I thought I'd seen that.
You never know, do you? And the Lord saved this man,
too. And he believed. And with all
his house, the Lord saved all his house. And many of the Corinthians,
hear him, believed and were baptized. The Lord spoke to Paul. You know, Paul wanted to leave
this town, but evidently all these few people, Quill and Priscilla,
Paul don't leave. Please. They constrained him. Does that sound familiar? They
constrained him. Terry with us a little while.
Our hearts burned within us while you opened unto us the scripture
about the Christ. Stay just a little while. Stay
in our house. Preach just a few more nights.
There's some other people that might. And they were, Justice
and then now Crispus. And Paul wanted to leave, but
they tried to talk him into staying, but somebody else was going to
talk to him. Look at verse 9. Then spake the
Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid. Now
this tells me that Paul was fearful for his life. He's just a man. He was alone, except for these
few new believers, converts, meeting in a house. Vicki, they
could have come and hauled him. They did before, didn't they?
Hauled him out, stoned him to death. He was afraid. He's just
a man. I take courage from the fact
that, I take some comfort from the fact that even the Apostle
Paul was afraid. Well, get your courage, Paul.
I am with thee, and no man shall sit on thee to hurt thee, for
I have much people in this city." I like that, don't you? Fear
not, be not afraid. You know, the Lord had to say
this so often to his disciples. You know, he said this the whole
time that his disciples were with him. It seemed like every
time he turned around he'd say, Why aren't thou so fearful and unbelieving? Be not afraid. It is I." Huh? Isn't it? Well, Paul was one
born out of due time, wasn't he? When the Lord comes to him,
Jeanette, and says, Ned, comes to Paul like he did the rest
of his disciples who was fearful just like they were, and says,
Be not afraid. It's me. I'm with you. I'll never
leave you. I'll forsake you. And he says
this to all his disciples. I need to hear this, don't you?
I need it right now. I'll be saying this to you right
now. Fear not, be not afraid. Why? Why does he have to say
this stuff? He knows our frames. He knows our frame. He knows
we're just flesh and he's spirit. Joe, he knows that we're flesh
and we can't see him. He knows that by, he knows that
for the most part we walk by sight and not by faith like we
ought to. But he doesn't expect too much
of us. He knows our frame. He knows we're dust. Dust can't
do much, right? Little children, you don't expect
too much of your little infants, do you? Neither does the Heavenly
Father. And how much higher is he above
us than we are above our children? He knows our frame. He knows
we're flesh. And through his Word, he continually
exhorts and comforts his weak little ones. Fear not, I'm here.
The Good Shepherd's near. Speak, verse 10, I'm with you,
no man shall hurt thee, I'm with you, I'll never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. Fear not, weak believer, the
Lord is with thee, thy best and heavenly friend." Is that what
we're saying in that song? Be still, my soul. No man shall
sit on thee to hurt thee. Listen to this hymn. Let the future hold no fear.
God guards his work. he begun. Mortals are immortal
here, until their work is done. So, fear not, ye Saints, fresh
courage take. Those clouds you so much dread,
or people, are filled with mercy, and shall break with blessings
on your head. So speak, hold not your peace,
tell what great things the Lord has done for you. Verse 11. So
Paul continued there a year and six months, eighteen months,
teaching the word of God among them. And as I said before, wherever
the gospel is clearly proclaimed, there is opposition to it. There
always is. Satan's grand design is to hinder
the gospel, to keep men, to blind men's minds to seeing the glory
of God in the face of Christ. He knows what's God's power in
the gospel. He knows. And he's seen it. He's seen it down through Millenniums
change his followers into sons of God. He's seen his power,
hasn't he? So Henry, it stands to reason
that's why he's doing his work, isn't it? Trying to keep people
from hearing the gospel. He knows what's the power. He's
no dummy. And that's his grand design. And that's what he does
to us, too. He's going to try to keep us
from hearing it. If it's to keep us from the church house from
hearing it, literally, or while we're in it, to distract our
minds from hearing it. That's his grand design. We're
not wrestling against flesh and blood. We're not wrestling against
the weariness of the flesh, but against principalities and powers
and spiritual rulers of the darkness in high places. I'm telling you
the truth. Satan's at work right now. All right, verse 12, and we'll
finish this out. So they all, it says, with one
accord got against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat. Now,
they really weren't against Paul. They were against, like God said,
it's not you they hate, Moses, it's me. Right? Scripture says,
The kings of the earth and rulers have taken counsel together and
set themselves against the Lord and his anointing. They can't
get to God, so they get to his people. Right? It's God they
hate, and they just take it out on you. And all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Very briefly, what
does it mean to live godly in Christ Jesus? Godliness is being
about the things of God in Christ Jesus. What is that? Things of
God in Christ Jesus. That's the gospel. And all those
that live and eat and breathe and talk and love the gospel
of God's glory in the face of Christ, they're going to suffer
persecution. Nobody's going to harm you if you be followers
of that which is good. Isn't that what Peter said? Huh? If
you're good and moral and upright and a good citizen, they're not
going to harm you for that. Huh? No. Because all that are godly,
all that stand for their God and the truth, the glory of their
God, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, The godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution. You see that? That's what that's
talking about. These moral people out in the
community, the religious, they're not suffering persecution. Are
they? No, they're not. Well, that's
the promise. So Paul was brought before the
court. Paul was about to open his mouth.
Paul was about to give his defense, and I guarantee you he was going
to preach the gospel. And he was going to make somebody mad.
Somebody in that court was going to rip his high priesthood, they
were going to rip their robe, and somebody else was going to
storm on him, and they were going to haul him out of there just
like before, and stone him like it ought. Paul about to open
his mouth, and this ruler, this wicked ruler, Galileo, said,
Hold it now, hold it. You there, just keep your mouth
shut. That's the mercy of God right
here. The Lord subtly is saying, leave those alone, don't say
anything, and I'm going to cast your pearl before this swine,
and keep Paul out of trouble. Why? He promised Paul, nobody's
going to hurt you. You remember that? He just told him, Paul, nobody's
going to hurt you. If Paul opened his mouth, they'd
have drug him out of there by his heel, on his heel, by This fellow said, he spoke up
and said, now hold it right there, you. He said, you just hush up,
man, let me say something. Now if it were a matter, verse
14, of wrong or wicked lunacy, what's this fellow done? Has
he committed this crime or that crime? No, no, he preaches a
sovereign God. No, this old heretic, this old
ungodly fellow, he didn't care about religion for nothing. He
said, I don't want to hear this stuff. If it be a question of
words, doctrines, predestination, intellection, I don't care about
any of that. Names, Moses, Jesus, I don't care about that stuff,
he said. If you're law of your law, Ken
Commandments, you look to it. You do it. I'm not going to judge
you. Get out of here. Y'all get out of here. That's what happened. Get on out of here." Well, why
didn't they grab Paul by the neck? Because the Lord said,
"'Nobody's going to hurt you.'" Now, I like that. I like that. The Lord didn't let them hurt
Paul. He'd hurt enough for a while. That reminded me, Paul wrote
to the Corinthians again. Listen, 1 Corinthians 10, 13. Some of you know that. You've
got it marked well in your Bible. There is no temptation, no trial,
taking you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able,
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that
you may be able to bear it." Paul wrote that later on in a
letter to Corinthians. Paul says, I know what I'm talking
about. You remember when I was with you? They could have drugged
me out of it, but they didn't. What did they do? Well, he said,
No temptation taking you is such as common to man. And he must
have been writing this to old, what's his name, Sosthenes. Because
they grabbed this fellow named Sosthenes. They had to get somebody. Somebody. All that will live
godly are going to suffer persecution. They had to grab somebody. So
they grabbed this one fellow. And they beat him. They beat him. Did you notice
it said he was a ruler of the synagogue? Why is that? It said Crispus was a ruler of
the synagogue. Well, because Crispus quit. He
shifted his membership. He wasn't a part of this anymore.
He quit. Now, Sassanides was about ready
to quit, too. He was going to quit, too. Sassanides. He was Crispus' replacement. And Galileo, whatever his name
was, cared for none of those things. But the point I wanted
to make in that last line was that we need not fear anything
or anybody. And I need to hear this, that
we need to take courage in the face of an ungodly, gospel-hating,
Christ-hating world. Have compassion on them. Have
compassion. Some make a difference. But we
need to take courage and speak. Speak. Hold not your peace. The Lord is with you. Tell what
great things the Lord has done for your soul. And many other
things there to be seen in that, aren't there? Be careful to entertain
strangers, and so forth. All right, stand with me. Thank you for your blessed word.
All things that are written are written for our learning, for
our profit. We ask that you would embolden
us through this, through the trials and temptations and persecution
and opposition that your disciples met with in the early days, and
you kept them safely. They were immortal until he was
done with them. Let us take courage. Let us not
be ashamed of our Lord. Let us be courageous and be zealous for the truth,
for the glory of our great God in our generation, who needs
this gospel just as much as that one did. So, Lord, give us strength
and courage. Bless this assembly. Bring in
more people. If you have more sheep out there,
bring them in to hear this gospel. May they hear your voice. And
those that are here, Lord, keep them by your power. These tender,
precious sheep of yours, keep them by your power, by your gospel. Keep them coming to hear this
gospel and enable me in some way, by your power, through some
message to encourage them, to comfort them, to console them,
to help them, edify them. Until we meet again this coming
Sunday, be with your people here and everywhere. May we go in
the strength of this meet that we are taking up tonight. In Christ's blessed name, we
have met together for his glory and honor and his name. Amen.

Opposition, Salvation And Persecution

What does the Bible say about opposition to the gospel?

How do we know that God's sovereignty is at work in salvation?

Why is preaching the gospel important for Christians?

What role does persecution play in the life of a Christian?

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Opposition, Salvation And Persecution

What does the Bible say about opposition to the gospel?

How do we know that God's sovereignty is at work in salvation?

Why is preaching the gospel important for Christians?

What role does persecution play in the life of a Christian?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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