10. First Persecution of the Infant Church

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Hymns: RHC Front Cover Pressing On! 435 The Banner of the Cross 441 Faith is the Victory

Acts 4:1-22

1 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, 2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. 4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. 5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. 14 And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16 Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them ismanifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. 17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. 18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all menglorified God for that which was done. 22 For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.

First Persecution of the Infant Church

OUTLINE

  • When the Rising Storm of Persecution shall come like a flood
  • The Spirit of the LORD Shall Lift Up a Standard Against the Persecutors.

INTRODUCTION

Blessed are the persecuted. Acts chapter 4 verses 1 to 22. The prophet Isaiah said 700 years before the coming of Jesus Christ, predicting the strong storms of persecution that would come against the people of God. He said that the Spirit of God will be there to provide a counterforce. 

Isaiah 59:19 (KJV) When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. 

We shall see from our text this first persecution of the Christian Church. We are now at Acts chapter 4 and the Church still in its infant state, 120 disciples that God
has called Christ has trained who were in the upper room when Jesus ascended to heaven. 

And Jesus said to them to wait, to wait for the promise of the Father. And when the Holy Spirit would come, the Spirit of God would fill them with His power
that they may be witnesses. Jesus says, for me, from Jerusalem and to Samaria and to all Judea and to the other most parts of the earth. And indeed, Pentecost,
at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came mightily upon the gathering
of Jews and apostate Jews in Jerusalem. There was a mighty shaking, a
mighty movement of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit came so clearly that when the apostles spoke, the people were able to hear the words of the gospel in their
own language. It was a time where we saw powerful movement of the Holy Spirit to convict hearts, men and women cry for their sins. They understood how they are
sinners, how they need to be reconciled with God. God had prepared the hearts of men and women so that these men and women were given the truth. and they were gloriously saved. 

Our Lord has prepared the disciples during the three and a half years of his earthly ministry. You see, while Jesus was on earth, he spent time, he prepared them send them off to preach the gospel. But before he did that, he told them that when they serve and when they are out there with the gospel, persecution would come. And at that time, to the disciples. It seemed so theoretical. Those times when you first learn about the truth of God’s Word, God teaches you what to do in the various scenarios of life. You are given wisdom from God, but you haven’t experienced those situations before. And so for the disciples, they learn them. Jesus taught them, they knew what was to come. 

In His first sermon on the mount, Jesus spoke of the blessed Christian life and
he tells us how it would culminate in persecution. Jesus said to them in Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” 

Those eight statements that Jesus made Jesus says, if you have a poverty of spirit, you belong to the kingdom of God. And then in the next, you know, in the table of four and four, you would see a picture. The poor in spirit will learn how to be merciful to others. The first and the fifth. And he tells us also how they that mourn, how they shall be comforted, the second beatitude. And he tells us that those who mourn for their sins, why God would give to them purity of heart. And the third, meekness. how God would transform their heart and cost them. And he says that when you put on the meekness of spirit in your heart, then God will make you peacemakers, the third and the seventh beatitude. And then he also says that God will grant you to hunger and thirst after righteousness. God will put his hunger upon you to give to you a hunger for his word and a hunger to live out his word in your life and then you see the eighth beatitude. When you live out the word of God When you have a hunger for the Word of God and the Word of God saturates your heart, then persecution would come. But the Lord tells them, He pronounces the blessing, but He also tells them that there will be great reward for the persecuted. 

The Lord wants us to see and understand and know that when you serve the Lord, when you put on the Christian demeanour in your life, in the fullness
of it, you would face persecution. And so do not be surprised. 

And in Matthew chapter 10, after Jesus sent them out, you recall in our message, dangers facing ambassadors. We said that Jesus told the disciples
how they would be sent off as sheep in the midst of wolves. You recall? And he tells us that day, he highlighted to them the vulnerabilities of sheep. in a predator-filled world when the gospel is given. And we are seeing the warnings of our Lord coming through in the lives of the people. The sheep, the wolves are vicious. Jesus described them. how they would tear their prey, how they are terrifying predators. 

Jesus showed to them the picture of terror. Jesus showed to them the ferocity of the enemy. Jesus showed to them how they have a beastly cruelty without pity. And these wolves, remember we said Jesus tells us, describes the men of this world. How they are so viciously wicked. How they are filled with that propensity to sin. And Jesus paints a picture of the helplessness of the sheep. among wicked men. And Jesus is saying to them that you would face hostilities. And our Lord
Jesus himself faced great hostilities. How his ministries, how his ministry was simply a ministry to do good. and yet he faced so much persecution. He is the only saviour and yet the people rejected Him. How they betrayed, they misjudged,
they unjustly tortured him and finally they crucified him. 

Matthew 10:16-19 (KJV) Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

And we have no illusion that the ministry is a bed of roses. you realize that there is a reality that the Lord wants us to see concerning the ministry and Jesus tells us of human nature how it is more wicked and corrupt than we think the power of evil
how it is greater than we suppose and realized that not everybody, Jesus said to
them, will see good in what they will be doing. And persecution came. 

And so Jesus says, beware of these man. They would come to you and they
will deliver you to be scourged. They will deliver you to prisons and you may lose your very life for the sake of the gospel. And the disciples at that time
have not understood anything concerning what persecution is. But here in our text, for the first time, they would face dire persecution. And you remember,
during the time of Jesus’ passion, the disciples squinted, how they withdrew themselves, how they were so afraid when they were being confronted by the enemy. 

Each one of them betrayed, or what we say, strained from their duty. To be a witness, to stand for the Lord, to stand with the Lord during that critical moment. And they failed the Lord. You remember Peter? The Lord highlighted how he failed the Lord three times. But Jesus, after His resurrection, came specifically to him. to renew his faith, to renew his strength in the service of the Lord. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Lovest thou me? Peter saw the resurrected Christ He understood who he was serving. He knew that Jesus Christ is the living and true God. In Him is everlasting life. Without Him, no life. And that’s why in our text today, you would see Peter rising up and speaking and be willing to stand for Christ. So these two thoughts that we have, when the rising storm of persecution shall come like a flood, the Spirit of Lord shall lift
up a standard against the persecutors. 

So with this background, we would like us to see that the raging storm, the rising storm of persecution that would come upon the infant church, how the storm would be so great, how the storm would come, would be so tremendous that the disciples would feel the full force of it. And yet, the Lord tells us that we know there is a way out. 

  • When the Rising Storm of Persecution shall come like a flood

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Jesus or the Word of God predicted the storms of persecution that would come. The enemy would be powerful, but the Spirit of God will be even more powerful. 

So we have to realize that God is with us. Jesus says all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. All authority is given unto you through Christ when you are His ambassador, when you do the work for Him. We went through the Beatitudes and I would just like us to see how When we grow in our Christian walk, when we grow in our Christian faith, you’ll find that finally, well, persecution would come. And our Lord Jesus says that you are to endure. Are you going through times of
stormy weather? 

Well, the Lord tells you, be comforted, be comforted. His coming is nigh, and your
reward is sure. 

1 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,

He tells us that He sends us out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So He tells us to beware of men for they will deliver you up to the councils. This was what the disciples faced. They faced the full force of the Sanhedrin. Remember the Sanhedrin is the group that persecuted Christ. And here in our text we want us to see, in verse 1, who were the opposers. The priests the captain of the temple, the Sadducees. You remember the whole incident came because Peter and John wanted to worship God and they went into the temple and when they came into the temple, what did
God do? 

God caused the man to be standing in the gate beautiful or sitting in the gate Beautiful and how Peter by, in the name of Jesus Christ, caused this man to rise and walk again. And there was a great commotion and stir in that area. So much so that this what we call captain of the temple, this what we call the policeman of
the temple, the security officers, they all came out. Who else? The priest in the temple. They all were stirred. Who else? The Sadducees. Who are the Sadducees? The Sadducees are the people who do not believe in the resurrection. And what was Peter preaching? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why was he preaching about the
resurrection? Because there is power in the resurrection. When Christ rose again from the dead, He conquered sin and death. And Peter is declaring that power
and that’s why the Sadducees were not happy because they were, remember they were the teachers in Israel, renowned teachers and they thought that there is no resurrection. 

And they had great influence, this group of people, the Sadducees had great influence with the Roman authorities and that’s why they were able to sit in those high places. But they do not believe in what the scripture teaches concerning the resurrection. And that’s why when Peter preached about the resurrection life, they stood up. It encroached upon their turf. 

2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Verse 2 says, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. You remember what we said earlier about the preaching of Jesus or the preaching of Peter? It was Bible centered. He led the people to see the truth concerning who the Messiah is. And then he preached about this Christ, this Jesus of Nazareth, how He is the only Saviour of the world. A simple message, no frills. And how that message was so effectual. We see here, verse 3 says, that they laid hands on them. and put them in hold for one day. So they incarcerated them, put them in custody for one night. Why? Because verse 4 says, many of them which heard the word believed. And what happened? Luke writes here to tell us that the number of men was now 5,000. Remember not so long ago, just several months back, the church was just 120 and then Pentecost came, 2,000 were saved or 3,000 were saved and now another 2,000. So there was a great stirring well among the hundred perhaps more than 100,000 people in Jerusalem. 3,000, 5,000 is a small number.

3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. 4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. 5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,

But to have 3,000 or 2,000 converted just like that, it caused a great stir. And this man, these persecutors once again were being aroused. And it came to pass, on the morrow, verse 5 says, there are rulers, elders, and scribes. So, wow,
they had lots of enemies, right? The enemies seemed to be rising
up one by one, group after group, from the priests to the temple
police, to the Sadducees, and now you see, who else? The rulers of the temple. They were also against them. Who else? The elders, who are they? Well, they were the mature, those who are more matured in the faith amongst the people. They are
also rising against them. And then the scribes, the copyists, of the scripture.

6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

And here verse 6 says, Annas, the high priest. Who is Annas? Well, Annas is the reigning high priest at that time. Together with Caiaphas. Who is Caiaphas? Caiaphas was also the high priest, but he was the previous high priest. The Romans put Annas
over Caiaphas, but the people have always regarded Caiaphas as the high priest for
political reasons. 

And then there is John. There is Alexander, this man. This man, John, was part of the Sanhedrin. Alexander. And as many as were of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together in Jerusalem. And so you see, Jesus said to them that when power comes upon you, when the Holy Spirit come upon you, you are to preach the gospel. What were Peter and John doing? Remember when we started Acts chapter 3? They were just doing their usual, going to the temple to worship God. Then a gospel opportunity came to them. And so they made full use of that opportunity to preach Christ. 

And God’s power, Christ’s power was with them. Then what happened? Well, then he had the opportunity to testify to the people. He shared when the man, when they saw this man rising up and, you know, praising God, shouting for joy for his deliverance. No, you have, if you have, I mean we all have seen when God converts a soul, when the Spirit of God comes upon that soul, How excited that person is because of the new found faith. Sins forgiven, no more rebuke in the heart. The old things are passed away. The things that they used to do, don’t do anymore. And there is a change and that’s why the people saw the change in this
man. 

This man that is more than 40 years old who has been always carried around but now able to walk and so the persecution came when they laid hands on them
and Jesus had warned them that this persecution would arise
and this is the beginning. 

And we want us to see that interaction with the forces of evil. This is real life commentary. Because if you are doing the work of the gospel, then you would be also facing that kind of a persecution. Expect it. 

Be prepared for it. Remember Jesus said to the disciples, watch with me and pray. Watch with me and pray. Now is the time for action. And Peter had learned his lesson.

7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel.

Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God came upon him. and he testified. Now when the Spirit of God comes upon you and you can see that Peter was not afraid. This time he did not excuse himself but he was so bold and he was there standing up against them, speaking to them, face to face with the enemy. It takes some courage. Remember that these are men with power, authority. If you understand what authority is, you know that you don’t mess around with authority
because They have the power to put you down and to put you out. And their master has been put out. 

But Peter, he was a prepared man now. Bible says that he spoke to the enemy face to face. Jesus says in verse 17 of Matthew 10, But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils. This is what they are facing now. They are being delivered up to the council This man standing before them are the rulers of
Israel. And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. For when they delivered you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak. For it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” And we want us to see the supernatural aspect of this work, that we are not going in our own strength. And that’s why you see here the Holy Scripture records for us in verse 8. that Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost. 

And Peter said to this man, ye rulers of the people, elders of Israel, if we this day be
examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he is made whole Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.” 

So he had an opportunity to testify of the Christ. You know that opportunity came after much work was done in the heart of this man, Peter. God had to put in him something special. 

He must have that strong backbone which you did not see until now. But this
is a different Peter. God has filled him And so he declared the Christ. Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. And this is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the
corner. He was quoting from the Psalms, alluding to the Christ that would come, how He would be rejected. And verse 12, he says, neither is there salvation in any other For there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” The word name means authority. There is no other authority, there is no other power given among men to save sinful men from their sins except the name of Jesus Christ. And the Lord wants us to know, wants us to realize the name of Jesus Christ, to exalt His name, the name above all names. This is the only Savior of the world. 

And you will realize that in these days that we live, to proclaim that only Jesus saves, would more and more become taboo, not allowed. You cannot be so selfish to say that only your God is safe. But Peter knew in his heart, remember he had learned his lesson through period of God working in his heart to reveal the Christ to him. Only when God reveals to you the truth and the truth becomes so real to you and you have experienced the power of Christ, the power of God in your life, then you
would know You have the strength, the backbone to stand up, to speak. 

Hebrews 13:6 (KJV) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Not easy to practice that. I will not fear. Because you see the tactics of the enemies, what they are doing there, all the things that they will do or all the things that they have done was to strike fear in the hearts of the disciples. What did they do? They laid hands on them, chained them up, manhandled them. You lose your freedom. And so Peter had the opportunity to set his peace, to testify of the law. And you realize that in our Christian walk, we all would go through that phase, as you go through the phases of spiritual maturity, as you spend time with God to grow in the things of God. Your heart will become more pure. You will learn how to show mercy to others. You will learn how to be a peacemaker. And then you will find that persecution would come. Verse 13, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they were not trained in any rabbinic school. 

They were out of the radar of the priests, of the Sadducees, of the religious leaders, they all don’t know him. Jesus is not the authority. And so they were puzzled too. When Peter and John testified, they said they marvelled and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. Indeed, when we have spent time with God, you find that you learn through wisdom. 

The wisdom of God surpasses all the wisdom of this world. And as we were saying, you know, the renowned universities, they all began with the purpose of training men and women in the knowledge of the truth. They wanted men to know the living and true God. That is true knowledge. That is true education. To know God and to know men. And how that knowledge spread? Because of the knowledge of the Bible. They had the knowledge of the sciences. And that’s how these universities grew to become very powerful because of the truth of God’s Word. The Bible tells them the world is round, not flat. When we have the wisdom of God’s Word, that’s when the equation of life just comes together and you receive blessing divine strength power with God and the Lord wants us to and this was what happened with Peter and John and the disciples they were with the living and true God true wisdom came to them they knew what are the what are the things They ought to pursue in life the true purpose of life, the true meaning of life. 

9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

And so, Peter and John, when they stand and speak before them, what were they telling them? They were giving them the message of life. Wholesome knowledge. Then what else? So they knew that they cannot fight against. When the Christian testify, when you give your testimony, it is what God had done in your life. You know it is true because God has touched your heart and that has taken place and when you testify for the Lord, it is an irrefutable testimony. The Lord wants you to simply
do that. Testify for Him and that’s what Peter and John was doing. And when they had commanded, and what else? Verse 15 says, and when they had commanded them to go aside of the council, they conferred among themselves. So they said, time out. 

15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16 Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.

We got no ammunition against these two men. What can we say against them? This man was standing. What did he do to them? Well, help him to walk again. Anything wrong with that? Nothing wrong. They could not find fault. And that’s how it is, you see, when we give men and women the Word of God. You cannot find fault with God’s truth. There is no lacking There is no loophole. It’s perfect. 

Perfect knowledge. Nothing you can debunk it. And so they had to step aside, call a time out, verse 16, saying, What shall we do to this man? For indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem.

17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.

And we cannot deny it. You see, when you present the truth, when you serve God with a pure heart, not easy to stop. And so, let’s look at the devices of the enemy. Verse 17, but that it spread no further among the people. Let us straightly, what? Threaten them. What did they do? Threaten them. Put fear in their heart. That’s what the world would do. And you realize that during those times, you would have to be very courageous. Jesus says that you will be placed as sheep. Among wolves, Jesus speaks to us of our vulnerabilities. But he also tells them that he will give you a word to say. Well, what Jesus told them indeed came, took place. 

  • The Spirit of the LORD Shall Lift Up a Standard Against the Persecutors.

And so we want us to see that second thought, how the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against the persecutors. How God would cause them to have the wisdom to defend the faith, to be a witness for God. Verse 18. and they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. Verse 17 says that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And you see how Peter and
John resisted that threat. Not easy. During the early days of prayer meeting, we were studying the life of Nehemiah. 

And Nehemiah was tasked by God to build the walls of Jerusalem. Remember? And the enemy came to him, sent threats to him, sent letters to the king to stop
him. Did he barge? He did not barge. Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. Not easy to come to that stage of spiritual courage, spiritual maturity. That tenacity, the strength in the heart to hold your ground when you’re being threatened, when you’re being challenged. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go. You see how God
is so marvelous and gracious. They stood up against them. They stood firm. Imagine if they had just capitulated and said, OK, yeah, no, the name of Jesus is not that powerful.
19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done. 22 For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed.

Yeah, we will stop. We will stop. No, they did not. At that time, they stood firm. And so verse 21 says, when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people. For all men glorify
God for that which was done. So God was with them. God protected them through the favour of the people and by the testimony of this man who was raised. 

Next week we shall be looking at how the church was supporting Peter and John in prayer. How the church was on their knees seeking God to help Peter and John. You realize that when the gospel is being preached, there will be a resistance. This resistance will be strong and it will threaten you. And you would, if you count the
cost, you know that you are going to suffer loss. And if you count the cost, you know that that loss is going to be great. But the Lord tells us that He is with you. Jesus assured His disciples when He gave them the Great Commission, all power,
all authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. No power will prevail against you as you go in the purity of heart to preach the gospel. God’s power will prevail with you. Souls will be saved. Disciples will be made, men and women will be baptized, they will be brought into the kingdom of God, they will be brought into the local church and you are to nurture them in the faith but you also
know that there will be a resistance that will come against you and the people of God have to be united together in united prayer against the enemy. We are living in the last days, the days before the Lord’s coming again. And we know that society is turning. In America, the law was changed to allow same-sex marriage. This is not a small thing. This is going to be a big thing for our generation. And the whole family structure would be debunked within one generation. And the attack will come through the education system. The attack will come to the church. And in America, this is already taking place. 

And this resistance against the truth will be great but the Lord will help us and we must as Hebrews 13 verse 6 says let’s turn there and we will conclude Hebrews 13 verse 6 Hebrews 13 verse 6 Shall we read together? If you are there, Hebrews 13 verse 6. So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what men shall do unto me. Hebrews 13 verse 6. Let us pray. Father in Heaven, we want to thank Thee for Thy Word. We want to thank Thee for Thy
mercy in opening our spiritual eyes, in showing us the power of the Gospel, how it is able to save souls, and how Peter and John is given that power that Christ had. with the healing of this man. 

Indeed the establishment was shocked to the core. If these disciples can do this, what about the rest of them? What power will be unleashed? We see that God has a plan for the salvation of men and women and that your power
will tarry with your people who are prepared to serve thee. 

Lord, may Thou be gracious to prepare the hearts of Thy people to be Thy ambassador. We have been given the Great Commission, and may we indeed fulfillit to the honour and glory of Thy name. This I pray with thanksgiving in Jesus’ name. Amen.