When The Enemy Attacks

Bradley

Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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This morning we are picking back up in our study of the book of Acts.

If your new to our church this morning, it would be good for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called Expository Preaching. What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then studying them from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to understand what it means in our lives today.

With that said, we are currently doing that through the NT book of Acts. A book that written for two primary reasons:

First, to tell the story of how the church started and the circumstances that surrounded it.

And second, to give us a template for how Jesus intends the church to function in order to accomplish the mission of taking the gospel to the entire world.

So, if you haven’t been with us, I would encourage you to go online to mcf.life, where you can listen to all of the messages leading up to today.

You may recall from our study last week, Luke gave us some insight into what happens in a church that is All IN.

And when I say All IN, I’m talking about a church that is fully devoted to the mission of the gospel.

A church that is fully commited to the truth of God’s Word.

A church that has fully embraced their faith in Jesus.

A church full of people who are committed to live out their faith not just on Sunday, but every day and in every facet of their lives.

And if you recall, if a church embraces that kind of an All IN mentality, a process of cleansing and growth will take place in that church.

A process that will involve some leaving the church who are not All IN.

A process that will lead to more and more people coming to faith in Jesus.

A process that will cause the favor of God to fall upon the church. A favor that will extend not only to those who attend, but those who associate and are in proximity to that church.

And I don’t know about you, but I want to be that kind of church. In fact, as your pastor, I’m committed to being that kind of church.

However, becoming a church like that comes with its challenges. Challenges that shouldn’t surprise us. But challenges if we’re not prepared for, could catch us off guard. Challenges that come by way of persecution.

You may recall back in chapter 4, we saw the first glimpses of these challenges, as a Jewish religious group known as the Sadducees came against the early church. You may recall Luke said they were “greatly annoyed” or “ticked off” with the church’s teaching. Luke puts it like this:

Acts 4:1–2 ESV

1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Acts 4:

So, who are these Sadducees and why are they so ticked about the teaching of the church?

Well, as we learned, they were ticked off for two reasons:

First, the church was teaching that not only was Jesus the promised Messiah and deliverer of Israel, but that he was the risen Messiah and savior of mankind. And for the Sadducees, both ideas posed a problem.

#1, they didn’t see Jesus as the promised deliverer of Israel. Not even something they were willing to consider.

And #2, in their religious system there was no life after death. In other words, according to the Sadducees, when you’re dead you’re dead. Not a lot of hope there.

But what the church was teaching was that there was life after death through faith in Jesus.

So, for the Sadducees, this was a double whammy on their belief system.

Second, the Sadducees were politically motivated and had an agreement with Rome. And the agreement was, if they could keep the Jewish people in line, then Rome would line their pockets and give them all of the power and influence they desired.

That being the case, with the church growing in numbers and an excitement growing towards a promised deliverer, the last thing the Sadducees need is an uprising of the people. If that were to happen, Rome would get involved and the Sadducees would lose their power and position. And the last thing they want is to lose their power and control.

So, in order to put a stop to the problem, they ordered the disciples to cease and desist in their teaching.

But as we learned, the disciples weren’t about to stop teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus. If anything, the threats of the Sadducees only emboldened the disciples to teach and preach more. And as a result, more and more people were coming to faith in Jesus. Luke writes in chapter 5:

Acts 5:14 ESV

14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Acts

So, having been warned once, the disciples are about to face a second round of further threats and persecution. And as we’re going to see in the book of Acts, with each incident of persecution, the severity of the threats and punishment increase.

And again, this shouldn’t surprise us, because Jesus promised this would happen. Jesus simply puts it like this in Luke 21:

Luke 21:17 ESV

17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.

So, a good question might be, “What does round 2 of persecution look like, and how does it apply to us and our faith in Jesus?”

Those are the two questions we’re going to answer this morning.

And to get us started, I want to begin by building some framework for the next couple of weeks as we walk through this next instance of persecution. Because in a way, this next round of persecution demonstrates for us the mentality we need to have in order to deal with and overcome the persecution an All IN church will face.

And so to do that, I want to begin by referencing a film series that I believe most of us are probably familiar with.

Question - How many of you are familiar with the film series “Rocky” starring Sylvester Stallone?

I’m sure most of us are probably familiar with the film series, because after all there have been 8 movies in the series, the first in 1976 and the most recent one in 2018.

In fact, there have been so many movies in the series that people often joke that 20 years from now we will still have Rocky movies being made.

But what’s interesting is as much flack as the series has caught over the years, it keeps coming back as a new Rocky movie emerges despite the critics and jokes.

And in a way, that represents what the film series is really all about. Because at its core, the Rocky is about the underdog.

You all know what an underdog is, right? Somebody who appears to be a nobody. Somebody who didn’t have all the opportunities. Somebody that nobody expects to win.

But what Rocky does is show that the underdog can succeed. In fact, Rocky does what nobody thought was possible as he takes hit after hit after hit, but he keeps getting back up, until eventually he wins.

In fact, I love one of the quotes that Rocky gives from the 2006 movie Rocky Balboa. In the scene Rocky is trying to motivate his son who has lost his way. And so Rocky gives him some advice. Listen to what he says to his son:

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place, and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that! ” Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone).

Rocky understood some fundamental principles of life.

He understood life is hard and life hits hard.

He understood if you want to win, you can’t give up when life knocks you down.

He understood if you want to succeed, you have to get back up, and stop pointing fingers and blaming others when things don’t go the way you hoped they would.

Now, you might be thinking, “Pastor, that’s all great advice. But where are you going with this? What does this have to do with being All IN and persecution?”

Here’s where I’m going. To be honest, I think the church could learn a lot from Rocky’s statement. Because unfortunately I think the modern church often forgets what it takes to win.

And as a result, instead of fighting to win, we fight to be comfortable. So we avoid standing up for the truth. And then when the Christian life does get hard, we play the victim card.

We act surprised when living for Jesus isn’t sunshine and rainbows. And instead of getting back when we get knocked down, we allow the world to intimidate us and keep us down.

Because after all, I don’t want to offend someone. I don’t want to get myself in hot water. I don’t want to put myself in a position where I may have to take some heat for Jesus.

And as a result, we give up when life gets hard or sacrifices have to be made. And then instead of taking ownership of the problem, we resort to blaming others or pointing fingers when life doesn’t deal us the hand we hoped for.

And I think for some reason we’ve bought into the idea that the church is an underdog that doesn’t stand a chance of overcoming the world. So instead of getting back up, we stay down.

But that’s not the kind of church Jesus has called us to be. He didn’t call us to be the underdog church. Jesus said this about his church:

Matthew 16:18 ESV

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The fact is, Jesus called us to be a church that understands hard days are going to come.

A church that understands the enemy is going to hit us hard and may even knock us down.

A church that understand no matter what, we have to get back up and keep moving forward.

A church that understands playing the blame game with the culture isn’t going to win the fight.

Because that’s what a lot of Christians do. Instead of fighting to win, we cower down and point fingers as we blame the liberals, Hollywood, and our culture for the state we are in.

But what if we changed our tactic. What if instead of playing the victim, we fought to win. What if we adopted a Rocky mentality. What if stopped complaining about how hard it is and started fighting to win. What if no matter how hard the enemy comes at us, no matter how hard he hits us, instead of staying down, we just kept getting back up.

And instead of blaming and pointing fingers at the culture, we started pointing people to Jesus. Do you think that would make a difference? I do. In fact, that’s how an All IN Church wins.

The question then is, “How do we do that? How do we adopt that kind of a mentality?”

That’s going to be our focus for the next couple of weeks. Because as we come back to chapter 5 today, and as the church faces a second round of persecution, Luke is going to show us how the church handles hard hits. How the church responds when they’re knocked to the ground. How the church gets back up and keeps moving forward.

So, with that as our basis, this morning I have three goals.

First, we’re going to read through the passage so we can get some context for what is happening.

Second, we’re going to go back through the passage and discover how to develop and adopt a winning mentality

Finally, we’re going to end by looking at how to implement this winning mentality in our own lives.

So, to get us started, let’s jump back into chapter 5 as round 2 of persecution begins. Beginning in verse 17 Luke writes:

Acts 5:17–26 ESV

17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Acts 5:17–26 ESV

So, to get us started, we’re going to pick back up in chapter 5 as round 2 begins. Beginning in verse 17 Luke writes:

Luke begins by highlighting the group that is currently persecuting the church. And it shouldn’t surprise us that once again it’s the Sadducees. Luke writes, “But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees)...” (ESV)

Acts 5:17

So, what does their persecution entail? Luke tells us:

“…and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.” (ESV)

Luke says as the Sadducees engages the apostles, they are filled with jealousy, leading them to arrest and put the apostles in public prison.

This leads us to the first step in developing a winning mentality for Jesus. Because if you want to have a winning mentality, you have to accept the fact, that:

1. When you stand for Biblical truth, the enemy is going to try and knock you down.

Couple things I want you to notice about this statement and the actions of the Sadducees.

Acts 5:17–18 ESV

17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

Act 5:

Luke says as the persecuting group known as the Sadducees engages the apostles, they are filled with jealousy, leading them to arrest and put the apostles in public prison.

So, what’s going on here? Couple things I want you to notice about this statement and the actions of the Sadducees.

First, the phrase “filled with jealousy”. Obviously this is meant to be a graphic and intense phrase that tells us two things.

First, it depicts the internal state of the Sadducees, and second the motivating factor for their attack. And the motivating factor is what? It’s jealousy.

So, a good question would be, “What are they jealous of?”

In a nutshell, they are extremely bothered by the fact that the apostles are undercutting their authority and influence with the people.

In other words, instead of them, the church is quickly becoming the hope for the people of Israel. It’s who the people are looking to for spiritual answers. It’s who they are looking to for direction and for spiritual leadership.

And as a result, the Sadducees are losing ground. They are losing their ability to control and influence the people. And if that happens, they stand to lose everything that is important to them.

And maybe what bothers them the most, is that they aren’t losing this ground to equals. They aren’t losing ground to another popular religious party, such as the Pharisees. They aren’t losing ground to somebody of reputable reputation. No. The fact is, they are losing ground to a bunch of nobody’s. Ex-fishermen who followed a crucified teacher. Ex-fishermen who had no education.

And as a result, they were filled with jealousy.

To be honest, and not to get to political, but it’s the same kind of emotion we’ve seen play out among the opponents of President Trump since the election of 2016. Because from the beginning Trump was the underdog. The one who didn’t stand a chance. After all, he didn’t have a political background. He’d never been elected to any office. He’s not a politician.

But that didn’t hold Trump down. And now, here he is, President of the United States with all of this influence. Influence that he has stolen from those who oppose him. And for his opponents, Trump is a person who has no business having that kind of power and control. And as a result, they are filled with jealousy.

Same thing here. The church has been viewed as the underdog. After all, their leader is dead. Or so they think. None of them have an education. None of them are religious leaders. They’re just stupid fishermen who have no business leading anybody. But here they are. Gaining popularity. Growing in numbers. And stealing the influence and power of the Sadducees. And the Sadducees are filled with Jealousy.

So, how do they respond? They respond by hitting the apostles hard. Luke writes:

“…and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.” (ESV)

What Luke wants us to see, is in order to beat these nobody’s down, they decide to make a public spectacle out of them. Because the idea isn’t that they were put in a public jail. The idea is that they were jailed “publicly”.

Think of it like this, if it were today, the Sadducees would have raised a social media mob. They would have publicly crucified them on Facebook, Twitter, and any other media outlet that would allow it. Because in the minds of the Sadducees, the best way to stop the church’s influence is make a public mockery of them. To show the people just how pathetic and powerless this group is. And by doing so, intimidate them into submission.

So, why do we need to understand this? We need to understand this because what was true then is still true today.

The fact is, when a church decides to be All IN. When a church and those who attend decide to take a strong stand for the truth, the world isn’t just going to sit by and let it happen. Because the truth exposes the lie. The truth opens people eyes and sets people free. And in the end it robs the world and those who oppose the truth of their power and influence. And it makes them jealous.

Second, to the world, the church is full of naive and simple minded people. People who are given to ridiculous myths and a dead leader.

And so the best way to deal with these Christians is to publically humiliate them.

It’s what we see today as Christians who stand up for the truth are often publically derided for their stance. Publicly taken to court. Publicly attacked on social media as they are referred to as stupid, naive, racist, homophobic, and uneducated.

And the hope of those who attack is that these pathetic Christians will be intimidated into submission. So the strategy is, hit them hard and then warn them not to get back up.

But instead of reporting the facts, the media

It’s happening more and more in our culture. So, if you’re going to be a Christian that’s All IN, or you’re going to attend a church that is, you need to have the mindset that this is going to happen. This is part of the Christian journey. The world is going to hit hard and knock you down.

But if we want to win people for Jesus, we can’t stay down. So, how do we get back up? This leads us to the second step:

2. When the enemy knocks you down, remember, you’re not alone.

Luke writes:

Acts 5:19 ESV

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

“But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out...” (ESV)

One of my favorite characters in the older Rocky movies is Rocky’s trainer, Mickey. Mickey is always in Rocky’s corner. Mickey believes in Rocky. Mickey’s the one who helps Rocky get back up.

It was the same for the disciples. They had a trainer as well. Somebody in their corner. Because Luke says while it appeared the enemy had knocked the disciples out, the disciples weren’t down for the count.

Because as they were sitting there in that prison, Luke says an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, said get up, and brought them out.

And this is what so many Christians so often forget about the God we serve.

We forget He never leaves us.

We forget how powerful He is.

We forget that everything is in His control.

We forget that if we are living our life for Him, that no matter what happens or what circumstance we face, He has our back. He is there to pick us back up when the enemy knocks us down.

One of my favorite stories that illustrates this is found in the OT book of 2 Kings.

The story centers around a prophet in Israel named Elisha. And in the story the enemy of Israel, the King of Syria, is getting irritated because every-time he tries to attack Israel, it’s like the Israelites already now what his plan is. So the King of Syria says to his servant:

“Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” 12 And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.” (ESV)

Basically the king says, “Who is tipping off the Israelites? How do they always know we are coming? How do they know our plans? Do we have a mole or something?”

And the servant says, “No King! We don’t have a mole. The problem is Elisha the prophet. Somehow he knows what you speak in your bedroom.”

So, a good question would be, “How does the prophet Elisha know what the King of Syria speaks in his bedroom?” Did Elisha plant a bug in the kings bedroom?

Well, something like that. Because the implication is that Elisha knows what the king says in his bedroom because God is supernaturally revealing it to Elisha. God’s the bug.

So, how does the King of Syria respond to this? Let’s find out:

“And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.” (ESV)

The writer says, in order to take care of the Elisha problem, the King of Syria says, “Let’s take Elisha out. Let’s knock him down.”

And so they find out where Elisha is, they send a massive army to that city, and they surround it.

And apparently, as you might imagine, it freaks the people of that city out. In fact, listen to how Elisha’s servant responds to what he sees happening.

“When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (ESV)

Apparently Elisha’s servant is the first to notice the enemy army. So he goes to Elisha and tells him that an army has come to get him. And he says, “Elisha, what are we going to do?! We are surrounded!”

And this is where the story gets good. And where you and I need to pay close attention. Because as Elisha walks out and observes the enemy army, listen to what he says to his servant:

He says, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (ESV)

In a moment when it seems like the enemy is going to win. When it seems like Elisha is about to get knocked down for the count. Elisha makes this amazing statement. He basically says, “Don’t be afraid, because our army is bigger than their army.”

Now, at this point you know his servant has to be thinking, “What is he talking about? We don’t have an army. Elisha are you nuts? Elisha, you must be losing it.”

And it’s at that point that Elisha helps his servant out. Listen to how Elisha responds to his servants confusion:

Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (ESV)

In this servants moment of panic and fear, Elisha prays that God would open his physical eyes to see what he can’t see spiritually. And what he can’t see spiritually is surrounding the Syrian army is another army. A much bigger army. An army composed not of men, but of the Angels of the Lord.

And if we were to go onto read the rest of the story, we’d read how God’s army struck that human army with blindness and delivered Elisha from their grasp.

Pretty amazing story, right? And guess what, what was true for Elisha is true for any Christian who stands for the truth. Because not matter who or what comes against you. No matter how hard they hit you. What you have to remember is, “I’m not alone. God is with me. And HIs army is bigger than their army.”

Because like Peter and John, when it seems like the enemy has you where he wants you, that’s when God steps in helps you get back up.

And like the enemy army that came against Elisha, it leaves our enemies blind, disoriented, and confused. I love how Luke describes what happens next when the Sadduccees call for Peter and John to be brought out of the jail:

“Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, ‘We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” (ESV)

Can you imagine what must have been going through their minds. “What do you mean their gone? How did they get out? Were the doors not locked? Were there not guards watching them?”

Their release is a means to an end. To continue to preach the gospel.

And the servants reply, “Yes, the doors were locked. Yes, there were guards. But when we opened the doors to the cell, there was no one inside.”

And again, what was true for Peter and John is true for any believer who stands for Jesus. Because the truth is, even if the enemy knocks you down. Even if it appears the enemy may be winning, “The army with you is bigger than the army with them.”

And to be honest, that’s what made the early church so dangerous. They were dangerous because they understood God was with them. As a result, they didn’t fear persecution. They didn’t even fear death. Why? Because they knew, even if they threaten or even kill us, they can’t win.

In fact, if they kill them, they’re doing them a favor, because according to Paul, to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord. You see, death for the early Christian wasn’t something they feared. For the early Christian, death was a one way ticket to be with Jesus. And who doesn’t want that.

And it’s hard to keep somebody down who has that kind of mentality.

So, how did they live with that kind of mentality? Why weren’t they afraid? Why weren’t they freaking out? Because they knew the army with them was bigger than the army with them.

Because the army with us is bigger than the army with them.

The Apostle John puts it like this:

Acts 5:

1 John 4:4 ESV

4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

And it’s that understanding and mentality that it takes to get back up when you get knocked down. Knowing that regardless of what happens, our God is bigger than anything the enemy can throw at us. That regardless of what the enemy does too us, he can’t beat God’s army. And in the end, God’s people win.

And for you and I, that should be an encouragement. That should be a motivator. That should get us back up on our feet. And for Peter and John it did. Which leads us to the final step in adopting this winning mentality.

3. Since we’re not alone, we can stand back up with courage.

Acts 5:20–21 ESV

20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

After being freed by the angel, listen to what the angel tells the disciples to do:

Acts 5:

“‘Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.’ And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.” (ESV)

What I want you to notice is after being freed from the jail, the angel gives the disciples some specific direction.

First, he tells them to go back to the temple. In other words, go back to the place you were arrested at.

Second, he tells them to not only go back there, but to go back to doing what got them arrested to begin with. In the angels words, “Continue to speak the words of life.”

In other words, keep preaching the gospel. Keep telling people about Jesus. Keep telling them the truth.

Now, I want you to think about that. How many people do you know would do that? I mean if you had been wrongly imprisoned, and an angel busted you out of jail, would you go back to the place you were arrested and keep doing what got you arrested to begin with?

I’m not sure to many of us would. But that’s what Peter and John did. So, how did they have the courage to do that?

Here’s how. They had the courage because they knew God had their back. After all, God sent an angel to deliver them. As a result, they have nothing to fear? Their army is bigger than the Sadducees army. They’ve got angels watching over them.

And again, this is where so many Christians and churches falter. We falter as we face a little bit of persecution, we catch a little bit of heat for our faith, and it’s enough to scare us, intimidate us, or make us hesitant, and so instead of continuing the fight, we shut down.

Let me give you a couple of examples of what I’m talking about:

I see this happening with the abortion issue. It’s like churches and Christians are afraid to say anything about it. Because heaven forbid we offend somebody for taking a babies life. Heaven forbid we step on somebody’s toes.

All the while we have a governor of one of our states advocating for the death of a baby after birth, and for the most part, churches and Christians stand silent. Nobody really says anything about it.

Why? Probably because we’ve watched others get crucified for speaking out against it. Probably because we fear the backlash we might get on social media. Probably because we’re afraid we might offend somebody if we say something to the wrong person.

And that’s exactly what the enemy wants you to do. He wants you to be afraid of standing up for truth. He doesn’t want you to take your stand against evil.

He wants you to consider all the other people who faced backlash for standing for truth, and he wants you to be afraid it could happen to you.

The same is true for the homosexual issue. Unfortunately we’ve watched countless businesses and individuals face severe persecution for their stance against homosexual marriage and the like. People who have lost their businesses. People who have been sued. People who have been smeared on social media.

“And someone came and told them, ‘Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.’” (ESV)

And so when somebody asks us, “What do you think of gay marriage?” And in that moment we freeze. We think back to what others have faced. We begin to worry about what might happen if we take the stand they took and speak the truth.

So, instead of speaking and standing for the truth, out of fear we stand down. We allow fear to overcome the truth.

But Peter and John didn’t stand down. They did what the angel told them to do. They went back to where they were arrested and they kept speaking truth, even though they knew it would lead to more persecution. How do we know? Luke tells us this:

“And someone came and told them, ‘Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.’” (ESV)

We know they went back because somebody saw them, and then went and told the authorities, “Hey, those guys you arrested. They’re back in the temple preaching the same message again.”

How did they do it? How did they overcome their fear? What gave them the ability to keep standing on truth? They remembered, “Our army is bigger than their army”.

That’s what it takes to have an All IN winning mentality.

You have to be prepared to get hit hard. It comes with the territory.

You have to remember when the enemy knocks you down that you’re not alone. That the army with you is bigger than the army with them.

And when you recognize that, that’s where you’ll find the courage to get back up. That’s where you’ll find the courage to stand back up for the truth and keep moving forward. That’s where you become a Rocky.

So, at this point, a good question might be, “How does this apply to us?”

To be honest, it applies in a number of ways because the enemy attacks in a multitude of ways.

So, to maybe help you identify where you are being attacked, and to bring the application to your life, I want to close with a question, a reminder, and an action step.

The first concerns the marriages of our church.

The fact is, the enemy is hard at work to destroy marriages at MCF. He knows if he can knock couples down and knock couples out, then he can do a lot of damage to what God wants to not only in their lives, but in the life of our church.

And unfortunately, in the midst of the attack, a lot of couples are giving up way too easy. Too many couples who have lost their fight. Too many couples who are ready to throw in the towel.

And please hear me, I’m not saying every marriage is reconcilable. It takes two for a marriage to work. And in some cases, one of those two is being a bone head.

The message of “This Life” probably refers to eternal life.

The apostles return to the temple mount is an offensive move that God has directed them to take.

4. When you stand for Biblical truth, be cordial and respectful.

“Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.” (ESV)

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy , always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason fort he hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect...” (ESV)

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

If we will stand for the truth, nothing will be able to stop us, even if they kill us.

But what I am saying is, some of you are throwing in the towel way too early.

And what I want to remind some of you who are in that place this morning is, your army is bigger than their army.

Even when we have been threatened, we have to continue to speak the truth.

In other words, your Jesus is bigger than the enemy. Jesus has the ability to deliver your marriage. And whether you realize it or not, Jesus is in your marriage corner, and he wants to help your marriage get back on its feet.

When we stand for truth, we take the advantage out of the enemies hands. At that point God is the one in control.

The Question: As you stand for the truth, how is the enemy trying to discourage and take you out?

But for that to happen, you have to listen to his instructions. You have to put your hope in him and believe that He has the ability to do what you can’t do. To believe He has the power to deliver your marriage from the enemy.

For example:

The Apostles returned with the guards because they knew they were in God’s hands.

Maybe for some, it’s your marriage. As you stand for truth, maybe you feel the enemy is hard at work to knock your marriage out.

My plea to you this morning is, don’t throw in the towel. You’re not alone. Jesus stands in your corner. He has the power and ability to save your marriage.

Maybe its your kids. As you stand for truth, maybe you feel the enemy is working hard to take your kids out.

Maybe for some its finances. As you stand for truth, maybe you feel the enemy is trying to take you out financially.

Maybe for some its cultural discouragement. As you stand for truth, maybe you feel the enemy is winning as you watch our culture crumble.

Maybe for some its emotional. As you stand for truth, you feel the enemy of depression breathing down your neck. Trying to knock you down and keep you down.

Maybe for some its substance abuse. As you stand for truth, you feel the enemy trying to pull you down into substance dependency.

Or maybe for some, it’s the lure of sin. As you try and stand for truth, the enemy is holding a carrot in front of you. Something he knows you struggle with. So he’s hitting you hard with temptation.

Listen, I don’t know what your facing, but I know this. if you’re living for Jesus, the enemy is hitting you hard somewhere.

Where’s he hitting you? That’s the question.

Now, here’s the reminder.

Reminder: No matter what the enemy is hitting you with. No matter how hard he hits you. Not matter how hopeless it seems. Here’s what you need to remember:

Those who are with you are more than those who are with them.” (ESV)

What you have to remember is you’re not alone. You have a Mickey in your corner. And yeah, the enemies punch might have knocked you down, but Jesus stands ready to help you get back up. Because “Greater is he who is within you than he who is in the world.”

Some of you need that reminder this morning. Some of you have forgotten you have the God of the universe in your corner. The God of angel armies surrounds you and stands ready to deliver you. To deliver your marriage. To deliver your kids. To deliver you financially. To deliver your form depression. To deliver you from substance abuse. To deliver your from hopelessness. The God of angel armies stands ready.

This leads then to the action step. And it’s a step you have to take. And the step is called trust. The step is believing that since your army is bigger than their army, that standing back up is more than possible. That you don’t have to stay down. That if you’ll put your trust in God, not only will he deliver you now, he will deliver you in the days to come.

You see, that’s how we keep going. We keep going based on the experience of past deliverances.

That’s what Peter and John did. God had already delivered them once and they believed he would do it again. So, instead of giving up, they got back up, and they trusted that God would be true to His Word.

The question is, do you believe that about your life? Do you believe God not only has the ability to deliver you, but that if you put your trust in Him, He would.

My challenge for you this morning is to take that step of trust. To not let the enemy win. But instead, to hold your hand up to Jesus, and allow Him help you get back up.