Contending for the Faith: The Struggle against False Teachers

Five years ago I gave a sermon on biblical justice that landed me in trouble. It was during a time of chaos in our society, at the height of the COVID pandemic and a summer of political riots. During that time I had observed the rise of an ideology called social justice that was beginning to infiltrate the church. 

Biblical justice is based on the scriptures and builds from there, but I saw that the social justice ideology was built on the oppressor vs. oppressed paradigm common in Marxist ideology. It was based on critical theory, a concept of criticizing and tearing down perceived oppressive structures in society. And I saw this ideology was infiltrating the church under the guise of justice ministry.

I became increasingly concerned, sensing God calling me to speak up in the struggle between biblical justice and social justice ideology.

On July 5th 2020 during the height of this societal chaos I gave a sermon on biblical justice that I titled "...And Justice for All." The sermon was live streamed. I spoke about the dangers of critical theory based ideologies. I spoke about the importance of unity in diversity among the body. And I encouraged the body of Christ to embrace biblical justice, which includes deep love and mercy.

Immediately after giving the message, the sermon had received over five thousand views and a mob had formed on social media with the goal of cancelling me. They lobbied leadership in The Salvation Army, and I was banned from preaching for a period of about one month. And for a moment it looked like I might be removed from leadership altogether. 

However, officers, soldiers, and leaders throughout The Salvation Army world spoke up on my behalf, and in the end, all the complaints were dropped and my preaching rights were restored. Leadership viewed the original text of the message and decided the message was not blameworthy after all.  

I remember when I was first writing the sermon this feeling came over me, I could almost sense what was coming next. I got on my knees in distress to pray. And I said, "Lord, would you like me to change this message in some way?" And I heard the Lord say to me: "Every word." 

It was a scary moment in my life as a new officer, just out of my first year, but God used it to mold and shape me, and I saw the army's approach to justice ministry begin to shift toward a more biblical approach. I knew that in some small way, God had used that sermon I gave that day to help guide the movement toward a more biblical path. But I was never treated the same in the movement after that day. I began to feel like an outsider. 

Yet it was worth it to see a real change in the struggle between biblical justice and social justice. Nevertheless, it is a continued struggle to this day in the body of Christ, such teachings are always attempting to infiltrate the church, teachings that divide people into disparate groups, sow distrust among believers, and encourage hatred and resentment instead of love. 

In the struggle against false teachings and false teachers, you may pay a price for the witness you bring, but if the Lord is calling you to speak up, speak up boldly. Despite the price you pay, remember our Lord paid an infinitely higher price when He died for you on the cross. 

Today we examine the book of Jude, in particular the last half of the letter. Jude was a brother to Jesus, his real name was Judas, but, we call him Jude, because that name Judas is more often associated with the disciple who betrayed Jesus.

Jude was probably one of the younger brothers of Jesus. He did not follow Jesus during his earthly ministry, but after the resurrection of Jesus, Jude became a leader in the early church.

Jude is writing this letter to a church that is struggling against false teachers. So Jude writes early in the letter, that he had hoped to write a letter about all the wonderful depths of salvation in Christ, but instead he has to write this letter challenging the church to “contend for the faith.”

And the Greek word for contend here is very strong. It implies to fight, as a combatant.

If we turn to the 1828 Webster’s dictionary, it says this about the word contend:

1. To strive, or to strive against; to struggle in opposition.

2. To strive; to use earnest efforts to obtain, or to defend and preserve.

3. To dispute earnestly; to strive in debate.

I like that word earnestly because it implies you have a good heart about it, you love the truth, you aren’t disputing because you want clicks or because you want to make some point, but because you love the truth. It’s honest disputing.

So that’s the challenge, to contend against false teachers. And these false teachers that Jude is dealing with are making a particular claim, that is very common in the modern church. Jude writes in verse 4:

“For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

They take the concept that we are under the grace of God, to be a license, to practice and live in sin. They say, if we’re under the grace of God, we can do whatever we want.

What is a license? It gives you permission to do something. If I have a fishing license, I am officially allowed to fish in the area. They treat the incredible gift of the cross of Jesus, as a license to sin.

I had a Christian who was disputing me with, because he and his wife felt I was a teaching a works gospel, and they made the statement, “a Christian can sin as much as they want.” That my friends, is a false teaching.

This has been a theological dispute in the history of the church, a heresy we now call today antinomianism. The phrase antinomian breaks down into two words in Latin, "anti" meaning against, and "law" meaning moral good. Martin Luther wrote extensively against antinomianism, so did John Wesley.

So that’s our first point for today, contend for the faith. Keep your guard against false teachers who want to make the claim that because we are under Christ, we can live and sin however we want. This is very common today, so many ministries teach a grace-heavy gospel, that removes the need for holiness and for purity, and rebukes good works as attempts to earn your salvation.

So Jude spends the first half of the letter dealing with these false teachers and pointing out that we can know them by their fruit. We will know them by what their lives produce. Their words may seem very wise or powerful or seem right to our emotions, but their fruit will prove who they really are.

Second point, you can know a false teacher or a false Christian by their fruit. Does their lifestyle match what they say? Now, no ones lifestyle perfectly matches Christ, but, you will be able to sense, by the Spirit’s guidance, whether they are walking in the way of Christ or in their own way.

But I want to focus in on the second half of the letter. Which gives instruction from Jude about how to live, despite the false teachings around us.

But let me just say one more thing, we live in a time in the body of Christ, when there are false teachings everywhere. I believe we live in the era that Jude is about to talk about, where we see false teachers everywhere, and false teachings damaging the faith of millions. We live in those times now.

I’ve done research on the churches here in Traverse city, I would say nearly half of them are gay pride churches, churches that are teaching against the leading the Holy Spirit, against Christ, that is wild. This is up north traverse city of all places. But it’s true in every city I’ve been in, from Escanaba to Chicago to Owosso to Gary, there is always a big gathering of churches that are apostate, against the faith, against Christ, because they teach against his word.

So you may be sitting there thinking what do I need to worry about false teachers? Brothers and sisters, they are all around us. And on tv, and social media, and YouTube.

So Jude addresses this, verses 17-19: "17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”

Notice that phrase, “in the last times.” Jesus spoke repeatedly about a period of time at the end of human history, known as the end times. He spoke about difficult times that would come on the Earth. And part of that story of the end times was, scoffers who would mock the idea of Jesus’ return.

There were signs of this even in the time of Jude. Jesus predicted that after he was crucified and resurrected, vicious wolves would sneak in among the flock and lead many astray.

Third point, be on guard in your thinking. Watch out for soothing, clever statements made by leaders. There are all sorts of clever arguments intended to sway you away from faith in Christ, or to get you to accept false doctrines. Their arguments will appeal to your emotions, and manipulate your emotions. They make statements like: "If God was really good, why would he send someone hell? If God loves everyone then why shouldn’t we accept all lifestyles? We just need to listen and learn from other peoples experiences. We can’t convert anyone that would be wrong, they need to stay in the religion they were raised in. There are many ways to God, not just one."

All of these statements can be so appealing to our emotions. But we can't let our emotions rule us. Not everything that sounds good, is good. Here’s my challenge to you, the best way to be on guard in your thinking is to let God’s word stand in authority above your emotions. Then we can’t be led astray, because we’ll say, well, what does God’s word say? There's a check and balance against our feelings.

Let God’s word stand in authority above your emotions, and you won’t be led astray.

So we understand we’ve got to contend, keep watch, keep our emotions in check, and resist and overcome false teachers.

Notice verse 19, they follow mere human instincts, they do not have the Spirit. That is one way to identify a false teacher, do you sense the Spirit working through their ministry? Certain speakers I've watched over the years in church, they would come up and speak and I would sense the Spirit moving through them. But numerous times a speaker would come forward, and my wife and I would say afterward, where was the Holy Spirit? We would listen and become troubled, grieved, even upset as they spoke because we sensed a different spirit, but not the Holy Spirit.

Next, Jude is going to explain to us how to live, despite all the frightful things we see happening around us.

Verses 20-21: "20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."

This is the key scripture for our message today. Build yourselves up in your most holy faith. But I thought it was God who was building us? That is true. We are saved by grace through faith, this is not of ourselves, it is a gift of God. Yet the word of God also says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So many people get annoyed with me in my preaching because I mention those pesky scriptures that no one likes to talk about, the ones that mention hell, and judgment and the fear of the Lord, falling away, and the call to holiness. Is it because I enjoy being controversial? Not at all.

But, it’s like we have this long list of our favorite scriptures, John 3:16, Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11. And then we have this other list of scriptures, the challenging ones, that few preachers will talk about, because these scriptures make us feel uncomfortable. But if I only teach from the list of feel good scriptures, I am a false teacher, because by excluding the difficult passages, I’ve carved an idol out of God, making him all love and no justice. Now the converse is true as well, if I only preach on the tough verses, I’ve also made an idol, of all justice and no love, that is a false teaching as well.

We must teach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), as one who must give an account, in accordance with James 3:1.

Point four, build yourselves up in the most holy faith. I’m on a journey, and I know you are too, to build yourselves up in your faith journey. We are people always seeking to grow, always seeking to learn new things, looking for opportunities to build our faith, and to go on into maturity.

And if you’re wondering, how do we as Christians overcome all these lies and falsehoods and false teachers and evil agendas around us in the world, the answer is to build ourselves up. We often think we must fight harder. But Jesus said, overcome evil with good.

One Christian who really seriously seeks to build themselves up in the faith, and become all God has called them to be, is greater than 450 false teachers (just ask Elijah). They can overcome all of it, and change an entire city. Because Christ is glowing within them.

Next it says, “And praying the Holy Spirit.”

Point five, pray in the Spirit. What does that mean? Pentecostals talk about that a lot, praying in the Spirit. Praying in the Spirit is when we allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us. It’s not necessarily praying in tongues, but it can be. But more so, it’s allowing the Spirit to guide your prayers. Sometimes I do this when I pray, I’ll say Holy Spirit please pray through me before I start.

I can tell when I’m praying in Justin, because it’s not too powerful, but when you start praying in the Spirit, you feel the Spirit surging through your being, and you get passionate, excited, and focused. Your prayers become powerful when you pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep that in your back pocket. Ask the Spirit to guide your prayers before you start.

Verse 21, "keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."

What do you mean keep yourself in God’s love? Isn’t God the one who keeps us? God certainly does keep us, and we’re told in his word there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Nothing outside ourselves, nothing demonic that can separate us. But, we can choose to separate ourselves.

It’s all outlined in John chapter 15, Jesus said, "If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love." It’s the concept of abiding, remain close to Jesus, which keeps us in God’s love. But God’s love is also keeping us. It implies two entities interlocked together, God and you holding onto each other.  

Point six, keep yourself in God’s love as you wait. We are all waiting for something as Christians. We are waiting for the Lord Jesus to return, and bring us to eternal life. We are all waiting for that one day when Jesus will part the sky and take us home. In the meantime, abide in Christ, as Christ abides in you, keeping yourself in God's love as you wait. 

But in the meantime, as we wait, we receive instructions on how we should live. Verses 22-23: "22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."

If someone is having doubts in their faith walk, don’t judge them, be merciful to them. Encourage them. Listen to them. Pray for them.

For others, snatch them from the fire. Many countless souls out there today, in this city, are perilously close to the eternal hellfire of damnation. And they need someone like you and me, to come and snatch them from the fires and show them to the feet of Jesus.

To still others, show mercy, mixed with fear. So a balance of mercy, along with deep concern for the sins they are in, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. That’s the concept of love the sinner, hate the sin. Some say it’s not scriptural, show them Jude 23.

Essentially, it’s saying as we wait for Jesus to come back, be at work in his field, as ambassadors to the community on His behalf.

So lastly, verses 24-25, “24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

Jude has just told us to build ourselves up in the most holy faith, but then he also reminds us, God is able to keep us from stumbling, and to present us before the throne of God the Father without fault.

It’s all very synergistic. God’s presence and help and power, connected with our prayers, obedience, faithfulness, and practice of purity. 

The entire Trinity is involved in preparing us for judgment day. 

Jesus makes us clean by dying on the cross for us, and covering us with his blood. Jesus goes with us on the journey, walking with us, and advocating for us to the Father. He also keeps us holy on the road.

The Holy Spirit sanctifies us, encourages us, convicts us, and helps us to hear God’s voice. He builds us in purity of heart.

God the Father, molds us, shapes us, loves on us, builds us, and protects us along the way.

All for the purpose of one day presenting us before the throne of God, faultless, and with great joy.

Point seven, trust that God our Savior will be do His part to present you faultless before God our Father’s throne.

Jude concludes by declaring, all glory to God, God the Father is our savior, through Jesus Christ, glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to God. Forever. Amen.

Review of Main Points:
1. Contend for the faith

2. You can know a false teacher by their fruit

3. Be on guard in your thinking

4. Build yourselves up in the most holy faith

5. Pray in the Spirit

6. Keep yourself in God’s love as you wait

7. Trust that God our Savior will be do His part to present you faultless before God our Father’s throne

In conclusion today, let’s wrap it all together. God is painting a beautiful canvass on our hearts. He’s molding and shaping us into people of incredible glory, from one degree of glory to the next. He’s creating something amazing. And it’s messy on the way, there are setbacks, and trauma and pain and tears and grief, but also victories, hope, healing and renewal.

As we engage in this journey, and we build ourselves up step by step with God, we must guard against false teachers that would smear their own designs all over the beautiful canvass God is painting. Their false teachings would ruining and sideline us on our spiritual journeys. The false teacher is great at getting us to stop on the road, and pitch a tent in a place where we were meant to keep going deeper and higher toward God. Keep your guard against their clever schemes and high sounding speech. Contend for the faith, speak up boldly, but also remember, we overcome false teachers by doing good, not by lashing out with anger. 

Apply your heart to building yourself up in the most holy faith. In so doing, you will grow and grow, praying in the Spirit, helping others who are in danger, and waiting patiently for the return of the Lord Jesus. On that day he will present you, God willing, faultless and with great joy before the throne of the Father.

As Jude writes, "Glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to God!" Amen.

The Forbidden Sermon: ...And Justice for All

This is a copy of a sermon I gave on July 5th 2020, at the Flint Citadel Salvation Army. I was targeted for cancellation by activists in The Salvation Army world, and was temporarily banned from preaching by leadership for a period of one month. Once leadership reviewed the text of the sermon, they restored my speaking rights and dropped all complaints. This incident took place five years ago, but now I feel free to share this faithful message, given that I've moved from leadership in The Salvation Army to leadership in The Church of the Nazarene, by the deliberate leading of the Lord. I don't share this message to provoke controversy, but to simply and openly share the word the Lord gave me. For more details on the story behind these events, read this sermon.

A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.

"But I don't ask for justice,” the mother explained. "I plead for mercy.

"But your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied.

"Sir,” the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.”

"Well, then,” the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's son.

-Luis Palau, Experiencing God's Forgiveness. Multnomah Press, 1984

In a world where so many cry out for justice, that justice be done, that yearn for the right, it’s wise to remember, that for others we cry out for justice, but for ourselves, when we’ve done a wrong, how desperately we desire mercy.

Yet we all have within us the desire for justice. And we serve a God who loves justice. In Isaiah chapter 30 verse 18 we hear these words from the Lord: “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

Psalm 37:27-29 ESV “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.”

We live in a world where there is a great deal of injustice. There are many countries in the world where you can be arrested if you simply criticize the government, or have an unpopular opinion. Even in the United States, there are areas of society where we still struggle with injustice. Particularly in recent times we’ve seen the issues of racism and police violence take the center stage. Later we saw violent riots, and subsequently statues and monuments being torn down.

So we as the church, as a light to the world, now wrestle with this concept of justice and injustice in the world. We want to care for and be a shield to those who are hurting and oppressed. We want to carry the torch of justice and rally for those who’s rights are violated.

These are good and holy desires. God has given us each an internal conscience that desires justice, liberty, and equality. So let’s just jump right into it: How can we live out justice in a biblical manner? What does God say about justice? And what does the world say about justice? So let’s consider worldly justice, God’s view of justice, and then how we apply ourselves to living out biblical justice in a broken world.

The world around us has some interesting ways of responding to injustice. We’ve seen in recent times many run to social media, to share their outrage and their sense of injustice. We’ve seen a growing “cancel culture.” We see a sort of angry mob on social media attempting to cancel people with whom they disagree. Anyone with dissenting viewpoints must be cancelled and shut out of society. You’ll see activists dig into the past of public figures in our society, trying to find some speech or offhand comment they made that could indicate they are evil, or wrong, or racist, or bigoted. Then that person is summarily cancelled.

There is no mercy, only justice for these people. There is no mercy for the statues of the past, only justice, they find something from that person’s past that they disagree with, and then declare they must be torn down. This is cancel culture. And we as Christians should take no part in cancel culture. Our sense of biblical justice includes the concept of mercy and forgiveness. The worldly view of justice says if you made one mistake in the past, made one comment that indicates you are immoral, then you are cancelled forever. (Talk about the apostle Paul)

But a Christian sense of justice says yes, we’ve all sinned, we’ve all done terrible things, if any of our sins were hung out for the world to see, which of us here could stand? If someone brought out a copy of our internet browsing history, which of us could stand? We’ve all fallen short, we’ve all sinned, and thankfully we serve a loving God, a God of justice, but in which whose concept of justice includes the powerful cleansing reality of mercy.

Increasingly within the church we’ve seen a new “woke” paradigm beginning to take hold. We are told we need to read certain books, and study certain concepts, like critical race theory, like intersectionality, and systemic inequality. The number one best seller in the nation right now actually, is a rather extreme and disturbing book called “White Fragility” by Robin Diangelo. In this book we see that all people are portrayed as racist, and all interactions between different races are grounded in racism, and also, if you disagree with any of the ideas in White Fragility, this is actually an indication that you are simply protecting your power structure and are racist. Which means, its unfalsifiable. No matter what, you are wrong.

We also see the NY Times pushing this agenda called the 1619 project that attempts to paint the history of the United States as a fundamentally racist history on every level.

It’s quite concerning to see these political and social ideas invading the church, and being pushed in various church movements. You may have your own viewpoints on these things outside the church. That’s fine. But we want to be very careful, about what ideology we’re embracing inside the church, when fighting for justice in the world. Because if we embrace worldly ideologies, that divide us up into groups, and promote hatred, distrust and division, we may find that all our efforts in the end have made these problems worse, and not better, in our society.

So, if that’s the worlds view of justice, what is God’s view of justice? Time and again in the scriptures we see the concept of unity. Romans 12:4-5 “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

So instead of considering people as groups, who are aggrieved and victimized, and viewing the world through the lenses of critical theory, of oppressor and oppressed, we see that God would have us view ourselves through the lenses of unity.

But not uniformity. In the biblical definition of unity, we see a unity that is diverse. We find unity in diversity. We as the body of Christ are an example of this. We’re all very different, one plays beautiful music to the glory of God, another preaches to the glory of God, another cares for children, another evangelizes on the streets, and still another serves the elderly in their homes, and another is a missionary who goes to foreign nations to preach the gospel.

So we see that humanity in the same way can be viewed as a unity in diversity. We have people whose ancestors hail from different parts of the world. We have people who have all sorts of different skin colors, and different features. Yet we are one humanity, united as a human race. So we ought to focus on unity, instead of carving each other up into group, and power structures.

3rdly So how do we live out biblical justice in the world?

First of all we must realize that any biblical view of justice must include mercy. I am not here to stand in judgment of people who look differently than me. I’m not here to stand in judgment and condemn those who I disagree with. I must humble myself because as a Christian, God says you are to show mercy, and you let God deal with vengeance. God said, “I will repay.” There is so much hate in our world, so much division, the last thing we want to do as Christians is add to it. We are to show mercy, to the oppressed person, and even to the oppressor. Because the truth is we’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And we all deserve strict justice, a gavel slam and off to the hot place. But instead God through Christ Jesus gives us what we do not deserve, that is mercy. Extensive mercy.

And if our brothers and sisters are feeling that they are oppressed, or mistreated in our society we should take that seriously and investigate that. But not by tearing down the system around us. Nowhere in the word of God do I see a call to tear down the world. Instead we are to be salt and light to the world, using our influence as Christians to make the world a better place. So we should do that.

How do we live out biblical justice? We ought to reject the hateful, divisive, cancel culture of the world that divides us up, and pits us against each other. And we ought to embrace a biblical view of justice that includes loving mercy, and more importantly, a staunch desire for unity in diversity. A lot of people don’t want unity, they don’t want people to come together, it’s more politically advantageous if we’re constantly fighting each other. But God calls us to holy unity, a unity in diversity.

Galatians 3:27-29 says, “27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ like a garment. 28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.”

Some of you , your ancestors, came to this nation, the United States, as immigrants. Some of your ancestors were the original colonists who founded the nation. Others have ancestors who were enslaved and taken here by force. Others have ancestors who had to endure racism, and segregation. Others fled European nations hoping for religious freedom. Others simply came here looking for a better life. And at some point we became part of the body of Christ, in this nation, and began a new life.

Some of you were liars, some of you were cheaters, some of you were sexually immoral, some of you were alcoholics, or drug addicts. Some of you worshipped false gods. Some of you came from rigid systems of legalism. Others came from lives of selfishness and self worship. But today, you are no longer any of those things, they do not define you any longer, you are born again in Christ Jesus. And there are no more divisions among us.

The heart cries for justice in the brokenness of the world. Let your heart continue to cry for justice. But do so humbly, with a justice that includes great love and mercy. And focus on God’s design for justice, not the designs of the world. God’s way of unity in diversity is right. I want to wish you a happy July 4th independence day. 

Walking by the Leading of the Holy Spirit: A New Way of Thinking for Every Believer

One of the events in history that has really enamored me throughout my life and ministry is the American revolution, everything that took place from 1775-1783. The events of those years, the colonists hiding their weapons, the British searching for their storehouses, the standoff at Lexington and Concord. The desperate nature of their situation always fascinated me, the colonials fighting one of the largest militaries in the world, and the single largest navy in the world.

The battle at bunker hill, which they lost, the amazing siege of Boston where General Washington had no artillery, so General Knox went and stole a bunch of cannons from a British fort, and brought them to Washington.

The defeat at New York, the chaos, the lost battles, all of it was so desperate, looked so bleak, and yet, the great turning point was when Washington crossed the Delaware river on Christmas day to score a key victory.

So much of it was clearly acts of God in human history. Washington himself believed that, he kept speaking of divine providence. All those events eventually led to victory over the British, and a new nation was born.

Freedom and liberty came about through those events for untold millions. And it took God's favor. It's always inspired me, that desperate battle for liberty. That victory bought for us a freedom from tyranny that endures to this day.

But today we speak of another kind of freedom, a freedom that Christ bought for us with his own blood.

We often see in scripture an idea called freedom, or liberty in Christ. And today we’re going to talk about what that means to have freedom in Christ. We’re going to look at what the exercise of that freedom looks like, we’re going to look at the limits of that freedom, and how that freedom leads us into a mindset called living in the Spirit.

We find ourselves today in the letter to the Galatians, the fifth chapter. Paul writes this letter to the church of Galatia, it was originally sent from Paul in Ad. 48, so about 2000 years ago.

The issue was, the church was originally made up of two main groups, Jews who had converted to Christianity. And gentiles (non-Jews) who had converted to Christianity from pagan religions. And, one of the problems that cropped up in the church in Galatia, among other churches at that time, was that some of the Jewish Christians began to insist that believers should have to follow certain ceremonial laws from the Old Testament.

The one in particular, that was being taught by false teachers in Galatia, was that gentile Christians had to be circumcised.

Paul is writing the letter to the Galatian church to deal with this heresy, of requiring gentile Christians to be circumcised according to the law of Moses.

Our scripture today in Galatians 5:1 begins like this, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

It is for liberty, for the concept of liberty, that Christ set us free. The Greek word here, eleutheria (el-yoo-ther-ee'-ah), implies the concept of a slave being released. But it is more than freedom from sin, but also liberty to make free choices, because in fact Christ loves and desires liberty as an end in itself.

I’ve found that to be true about who God is, he loves liberty. He doesn’t force us to do anything and doesn’t want to control our actions. He gives freedom. Now he does desire that we would freely choose the right. But he doesn’t force us. Of course, there are consequences to our actions.

It is Satan and his demonic forces that prefer tyranny and control. If you notice, in the book of Revelation, Satan’s end game, his final plan, is the mark of the beast, which once the person takes it, it forces them to be under the control of the anti-Christ. Satan’s end game is total control, to turn people into cattle.

God’s end game is liberty, but also consequence. If we use our liberty to live in blatant sin, there will be consequences. But, if we use our liberty for love, there will be reward.

Once we are free, we are reminded to stand firm, the Greek word can mean, to remain stationary. Do not let yourself be slowly taken it by yokes of slavery. A yoke is a harness that an animal would wear when it’s being directed.

There are two yokes that we need to avoid. The first is the yoke of slavery to old testament ceremonial laws and regulations. The second, is the yoke of slavery to sin.

Paul is writing to a church, where false teachers are trying to put them back under the yoke of the law of Moses, when Paul knows that Christ has set the people free from sin, yes, but also from adherence to the old testament law.

It continues, verses 2-4, “2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

Paul uses the strongest language to call out these false teachings. Imagine if we started saying that we have to obey the old testament law, no mixed fabrics, no pork, no shell fish. Those are old testament ceremonial laws. They do not apply to us today. Same thing with circumcision.

Interestingly enough, circumcision is still done, medically, because it actually is more healthy, but, no Christian would say a new believer must be circumcised.

But Paul says, those who are attempting to be justified through the law, they’ve fallen away. They are alienated from Christ. The Greek word here ekpiptō implies losing something, dropping away, being driven off from one’s course.

That’s how serious it is, that we don’t try to live according to the old testament law of Moses in order to be justified before God. We know our justification comes through Jesus Christ, and what he did on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the law completely. We must trust that Jesus’s victory for us is sufficient.

Paul continues, verses 5-6: "5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

Here Paul gives us a hint of our true lifestyle as a believer. He says, “through the Spirit…” We as believers do not live by the Old testament law. We don’t live by rules and regulations. We live by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

That relationship with the Spirit is lived through faith, trust. Faith then naturally expresses itself through acts of love. If it doesn’t, something has gone wrong.

Next, verses 7-9: "7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

The Christian life is comparable to running a race. Pursuing a goal. And it’s a beautiful thing to watch a Christian who really sees their life that way. They are pursuing Christ. They are chasing after Him.

But it is amazing how much damage false teachers can do. They come around with crafty arguments, very clever statements, to try to draw you away from wholehearted devotion to Christ.

There are so many dangerous false teachings out there today. The teaching that claims any sort of call to holiness is legalism. I’ve heard that garbage for years from lukewarm Christians. It is very common unfortunately for this very book of the Bible, Galatians, to be used by some to make the argument that any attempts toward holiness before the Lord are like vain attempts at adhering to the law of Moses. Yet scripture says repeatedly, live the most holy life in response to what Christ has done for you. 

The book of Galatians must never be misused as an antinomian cry to reject the New Testament commands of God because we aren't under the ceremonial law. It is toxic to a believer who can sense within that they are called to live a pure live in Christ, which is repeatedly commanded throughout the New Testament. Watch out for lukewarm Christians who will draw you away from wholehearted devotion to Christ.

As Paul says, a little yeast leavens the whole batch. False teachings have a way of disturbing our entire walk with Christ. One simple lie can mess up our entire concept of Christ and lead us astray.

Next, verses 10-12: “10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”

Notice here that Paul says if we were to go back to the law, it would mean the offense of the cross would be abolished. But Paul is confident that the cross is not abolished, he is confident that true believers will in fact take no other view, but the truth. Paul reminds them that judgment awaits the false teachers, he even goes as far as to say, that he wishes these false teachers would go all the way and emasculate themselves.

Yes, that’s in the Bible. Paul so wishes to protect the believers in Galatia, that he views the false teachers as a vicious and dangerous threat.

Next, verse 13: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

Here we’re getting closer to the heart of what it means to have freedom in Christ. The freedom Christ gives is like the freedom a slave would receive when being set free. We were once all slaves to sin. We did not have the power in our flesh to not sin. But when we allowed Christ to reign in our hearts, we received the Holy Spirit, and by the Spirit of Christ, we are able to be free.

That freedom means we can be free from sins in our lives. We’re free from having to strictly adhere to the old testament law of Moses. Jesus has fulfilled it all for us.

So does that mean we can essentially do whatever we want? Absolutely not. We’re instantly told, do not use your freedom as an excuse to indulge the flesh. Rather, we have a freedom yes, but the goal should be, to exercise that freedom to serve one another humbly in love.

It’s kind of like how the United States was setup. It was setup as John Adams wrote, for a moral and religious people. We have a lot of freedoms in our society. And the reason for that is, because each citizen should be a law unto themselves. From within they guard themselves from taking actions that would harm the society. That is American freedom. We govern ourselves. Unfortunately, as people in our society lose touch with that fact, and run wild, our society increasingly has to create new laws to prevent destructive behavior.

Next, verses 14-15: “14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.”

Through the Spirit, who lives within us, we are able to fulfill not the old testament law of Moses, but the law of Christ, which is to love your neighbor as yourself. Yet we also get a warning, but if you begin to quarrel and backbite each other, you will destroy each other.

We are no longer under the law of Moses. But one could say that we are under a new law, a new yoke, but this yoke is easy and light, as Jesus said. We are under the royal law, the law of love, which puts us under the two great commands of Jesus, to love God, and love our neighbors. By the Spirit, we are able to fulfill this yoke.

Next, verses 16-18: “16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

So we’ve discovered that freedom in Christ, is about personal freedom in your life from regulations and more so, freedom from slavery to sin in the flesh. It’s about full reliance on Christ and what he did on the cross.

It’s about accessing God through faith. This faith expresses itself in love.

We are now in a new pattern of thinking. We no longer look nervously at the endless commands of the Torah, we look to the Spirit within, with the help of the New Testament, and to the command “to love” from Jesus.

We want to see it all in the context of walking by the Spirit vs. walking by the flesh. The Spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh, the flesh what is contrary to the Spirit. They are in conflict. This is the battle within us. So we are in fact not to do whatever we want, that would be a misuse of our freedom in Christ.

But if you are truly led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

I’ve heard it so often described in Christian theology as faith vs. Works, faith vs. Works, or that’s a work, you’re working for your own salvation, blah blah blah. But that is not the key divide in the Christian life. It’s something we should be aware of, that we live by faith, and that faith expresses itself in works. But no, the main divide as we live the Christian life is learning to live by the Spirit’s leading, and to crucify the works of the flesh.

And we as Wesleyans do not believe that one must always keep on sinning endlessly. We believe, that through the Spirit, we can do just what it says, crucify the sins of the flesh. And live free. Does that mean that we’re suddenly perfect? Of course not. But, we believe, we can fundamentally live from a place of freedom, not slavery.

What are the works of the flesh?

They are as follows: 19-21: “19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Notice, the end of verse 21, Paul is talking to believers here, I don’t know why that’s hard for some people to figure out, but it says, if you live like this, you will not inherit the kingdom of God.

When you practice these sins of the flesh, you are in fact putting your salvation on the line. It says it right there. If you live like this, make a practice of willful sinning, you won’t inherit eternal life.

So be wise and repent quickly, if these sort of practices are occurring in your life. God will help us.

Next, we get a picture of the Spirit life: “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

The Spirit is always developing these characteristics within the heart of a believer. And we can trust that God will bring them to completion. We also know that our cooperation is necessary with the Spirit, for these characteristics to develop.

Lastly, verses 25-26: "25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

The battle between the flesh and the Spirit rages intensely in the life of a new believer. And over the years, as those battles are won, the battles die down a bit. But, God is often addressing something new in our lives, depending on what stage we’re in, in our spiritual journey.

So, we want to keep in step with the Spirit. That word “in step” in the Greek pictures “proceeding in a row as the marching of a soldier” in an orderly fashion. The Spirit is our leader. He guides us, and shows us things he wants us to focus in on. So, as you pray, and study the word, and listen for the Spirit, the Spirit will guide you on a journey, from one area of your life to the next, teaching you, training you, convicting you, guiding you, and you’ll be brought to different things in your life. The Spirit will encourage you, crucify this issue, set it aside, repent of it, build up this area, heal in this area, and it’ll be a beautiful journey as you engage on it.

We get one last warning, to not become conceited, provoking or envying each other. That’s always a danger as we grow in Christ, and we see the Spirit doing all these things, we start to think well I'm good now, I don’t have anything else to work on, but, that can be pride, and we want to stay humble, and open to the voice of the Spirit in our lives.

In conclusion, Christ came to give us freedom. That freedom is beautiful. It’s an open space for us to live free from slaveries of the mind or heart. But it’s a freedom that calls us to purity. It’s a freedom that calls us away from rules and regulations of the law. It’s a faith relationship with Jesus Christ, expressing itself in love. And that faith relationship leads us toward the Holy Spirit and the leading of the Spirit in our lives.

We obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit, in accordance with Jesus’ commands to love God and love our neighbors. We utilize life in the Spirit, to put to death the misdeeds of our flesh. And so we learn to walk in step with the Spirit, following His lead, remaining humble, as we journey toward heaven together.

Think back to the American revolution, which we talked about at the beginning. It seemed like a long shot at the time. It seemed in fact, virtually impossible. Sometimes as a believer in Christ, we look at all the wreckage in our lives, the sins, the depression, the anxiety, the difficulties, the distractions, and we throw up our hands and assume there must be no way to find a place of victory over these issues. But we must not allow ourselves to be tempted to think that way. The Holy Spirit is with us, just as divine providence was with the continentals during the American revolution. We can believe that God will again and again grant us victories where defeat seemed certain. 

We can live by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Dare to believe this simple truth today, and watch where that belief begins to take you. Dare to believe it. 

Suffering for the spread of the Gospel

When you look through the pages of history of the church, which is something I love to do, you find so many amazing stories of faith. These stories are so very inspiring, from people like Richard Wurmbrand who suffered under communism in Romania, to Corrie Ten Boom who went through terrible suffering in the Nazi concentration camps, to people like John Wesley who faced such severe opposition, he was kicked out of so many churches or William Booth who had a vision of the lost drowning in the seas and the platform of safety, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer or so many others. They were people who trusted in their God, and their God did amazing things through them. When we read their stories, it inspires us to trust more fully in our God. But, what we must always remember is that part of each of their stories, indeed central to each of their stories, is pain and difficulty.

We admire people like Daniel, from the Bible, because he really did endure a night in the Lion’s den. We admire Elijah because he dared to believe that God would send fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice in front of the false prophets of Baal. We admire Stephen because he spoke so boldly in front of a mob, that then picked up stones and killed him moments after he finished speaking.

I think we all intellectually understand that part of the Christian life involves suffering. But, it’s different when we’re in the suffering. We wonder, what is going on? Where did this come from? Why is this happening?

And for many of us those questions have led us to prayer, and more prayer, and deep prayer and honest crying out. And the result has often been, that as we pray and seek God honestly, something begins to carry us through the suffering. And we bear it, with grace. A grace we didn’t expect, and couldn’t conjure on our own.

Today, I believe we’re going to learn about the grace available in suffering in particular, for the spreading of the gospel. 

I think that when we simply accept that it is going to be painful, and embrace that, we will find that fear loses it’s power over us when it comes to sharing our faith with others.

Our scripture today says, in 1st Peter 3:13-14 “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.”

There are different kinds of suffering in life.

First, there’s the suffering because we made a bad decision. I’ve done this with me and my wife. We cook something, and we start to eat it, and realize, oh wait, this meat tastes funny. My wife stops eating, I don’t. I made it, I’m eating it. It smells good, and I’m hungry. Even though it tastes weird, I keep eating. And then the next day I’m sick. Basic suffering for being stupid.

Second, suffering because people are stupid. Chelsey and I were leaving Walmart about 2 weeks ago. And there was a ton of traffic, and the intersection ahead of me was jammed, but, it trapped the guy behind me in a spot where someone couldn’t get past him. So as he went by me later he did some unique hand signs with his fingers. I became upset, and it caused some suffering for me, albeit small. 

Third, suffering for Jesus. This is when you suffer because you’re a Christian. This is when you do something like risk a relationship to speak up about something in your friend’s life. You share the gospel with someone and they mock you. You go out and witness to people for hours and you get home emotionally exhausted. It's small, but it's still a gift of suffering for Jesus. 

Our suffering is often small in comparison to the greats throughout human history who even gave their lives for their testimony about Jesus. But hey, start small, if you can get out there with your faith, and share the message of truth, and you suffer as a result in some way, you should be excited.

Because to share in the sufferings of Jesus is a noble and beautiful thing. It’s something richly rewarded in heaven. Rejoice if you are mocked like Jesus was mocked. There is in fact a special crown in heaven for those who endure persecution for their faith, it’s called the crown of life.

Second portion of verse 14: “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”

Do you struggle with fear in your life? I know I do. I think many people do. They secretly battle a lot of fear.

I know I’ve struggled with some fear in my life.

Fear can be so paralyzing. If we allow it to get out of control, it can control us, and keep us from sharing our faith openly.

Are you afraid to share your faith with others? Or are you pretty bold and open about Jesus?

For me it all depends on the day. Some days I feel quite bold, other days I just want to hide away and be by myself.

The Lord has encounters written for us, across this city. People you are meant to slow down and minister to. Every single one of you are called to it. 

How do you know when though? When does God want me to act? You will sense a nudging from the Lord.

And he will call you forward to serve someone, in some way. This is really what we’re going to focus in on.

Are you open to God’s openings? We won’t be able to engage in every encounter God has for us. We’re human. We make mistakes. We miss things. We get busy. And the Lord has told me, "Justin I will always forgive if you miss an encounter with someone."

But I don’t want to miss any more encounters.

Watch for these encounters in your life. They are treasure. They are stories you will tell and retell. They are opportunities.

And if every one of you began to see your life that way, and you were watching for nudgings from God, we’d come back here in a week, and 15 of you would have stories where you encountered someone and you blessed them in some way.

And as the weeks go by, hundreds of encounters would happen, and each of those encounters would slowly bring this city closer and closer to Jesus Christ.

Three tips for these encounters:

The first thing to remember, is to slow down and watch for opportunities. We get going so fast as Americans, we miss opportunities. Slow down in your life and watch for "God moments." 

The second, is to see this world as a mission field that you are called to.

Third, understand small things are actually big things. If you can strike up a conversation with someone, whether it’s the waitress at the restaurant, or someone in line at the grocery store, or someone walking on the beach, God can do a lot with those openings.

Fourth, be bold. Recite this scripture over your life, "The righteous are as bold as a lion." Pray for boldness, God will help you. 

One encounter at a time. It can be with family, it can be with friends, it can be with neighbors, it can even be with strangers.

How many of you are willing to put your relationships on the line for Jesus? How many of you are willing to invite your friends and family to church even though you might appear to be one of “those religious people?” How many of you are willing to walk up to a stranger and give them the gospel?

We need something in all this that we can only get from Jesus himself. We need holy boldness. The scriptures say the righteous are as bold as a lion.

I wonder if, when Peter wrote this, he wasn’t thinking about the incident in Acts 4, where Peter and John were arrested by the religious leaders and told to stop speaking about Jesus.

And after being released, Peter and John met with the church and they prayed for boldness, they prayed to God saying, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” -Acts 4:29

Next, it says: "15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord."

Sanctify the Lord God in your heart. Regard God as holy. Reverence Him. Look to Jesus. Look at Jesus.

He is your God. Worship Him. Trust Him. Reverence Him. Submit to Him. Yield to Him. Surrender yourself entirely to Him.

He will give you everything you need. He will help you. He will carry you. Look at Jesus. Ignore the fear, and look at Jesus.

I think it’s asking yourself the question, “Is Jesus Christ really my God?” Is he really in charge of my life? Or do I live for myself?

That’s the first portion, look to Jesus. Second portion, be prepared.

It says, verse 15: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”

Explain the gospel: Jesus is the Son of God. He came and lived a perfect life. He taught the truth. He died a sacrificial death to cover over all my sins with his blood. He rose from the grave. He is a living savior. He will change your life. Make him the Lord of your life. Jesus will save you from your sins.

If you’re not comfortable giving a gospel presentation like that, go to your testimony. We all have a testimony. Write down the main events of your story, if you haven’t ever done that. And in the future, I’m going to be challenging many of you here, to come forward at a service in the future, and give a 5 minute testimony of how God changed your life.

A simple testimony.

It’s simple. Tell the story. For me, after my parents divorced, I got into drinking and drugs, got into trouble, and became increasingly depressed, until I was suicidal. My grandpa who had recently become a Christian, invited me over, and gave me my first Bible. He shared about the love of Jesus, and how Jesus had died for me. I asked him hard questions. He didn’t have all the answers. I rebelled more. But slowly began reading the Bible, and I connected with the story of Jacob’s ladder. I watched the gospel of John movie over and over, until I finally realized, wait a minute, I need Jesus. And at rock bottom, I got on my knees, and I cried out and said Jesus please help me. His presence came upon me. And he led me on a journey into recovery, healing, and ministry. He saved me, he can do the same for you.

My story is wild, but your story is just as important ,it doesn’t have to be wild, it can be, “I was longing for something more, and a friend invited me to church, and I found out about how much Jesus loves me.” That’s just as powerful and probably more relatable to most people.

Do you have your testimony memorized, in your back pocket? If not, write it down, rehearse it, and then you’ll be ready.

Do all this with gentleness and respect.

If someone is rude to us, we can still be gentle and respectful. Also, if someone is resistant, I try to take a step back, and just listen. And kind of let them talk themselves out. Honestly, once they feel heard and respected, they are more willing to listen. So, even if they are snarky, if you can stop yourself from getting upset, and just listen with kindness, it may actually help win them over.

Next, verse 16: “...keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

Keeping a clear conscience is very important. If on the one hand I have this great testimony and I’m sharing the word with people, but at the same time there’s things in my life that speak a contrary word, it’s going to undercut what I say.

So it’s wise to deal with our sins, and clear them out. Repent of them. Ask Jesus for help to be free. We have the Holy Spirit, so we can expect to find healing and victory over anything that might upset our Christian witness.

At the same time don’t bully yourself, or abuse yourself with shame, accept that where you’re at is where you’re at, and God is doing something beautiful. And understand many sins are stuck because healing is needed, not because you’re a bad person. Invite God to do a healing journey in your life.

Next, verse 17: “For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

Peter reminds us again here, that is good to suffer for doing God’s will. But I think it’s wise, he mentions the concept of God’s will. I write a Christian blog, I have for about 12 years. Many times I would challenge young people on my blog to take up their places of ministry in the body of Christ, start websites, start podcasts, become ministry leaders, start businesses, and so on. But, I regret this for one reason: I never properly instructed them to do so only if it’s God’s will.

That’s something we all should learn as Christians. Often times we jump into something because we personally want it. But that isn’t how we should operate. We should always check with God, and ask Him, is this your will?

Next, Peter points us to the example of Christ, verse 18: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”

What Christ did, his crucifixion, effectuated for you, a complete process, of bringing you from total disconnection from God, to connected. His death accomplished this.

Jesus paved a literal trail of blood to bring you from abandoned to adopted by God. A trail of blood brought you home. Is it so much for us to pave a trail to bring the lost to the feet of Jesus? There is no blood involved in that. Only some sweat and some tears. Jesus gave so much more! 

When we minister to someone, we are helping bring them to Jesus, who will then bring them to God, if they allow Jesus to do so. Our task is to be the ambassador, who brings them to Jesus. If they choose to say yes or no, is none of our concern. We’ve been faithful to show them Jesus.

Next, verses 19-21: "19 After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— 20 to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God."

There is a lot there, but suffice to say, we’re getting a picture of baptism. That when we are saved by Jesus, one of the benefits we receive is the washing away of all our sins. This gives us a clear conscience.

Lastly, verse 22, Peter concludes his gospel presentation, which began with bringing us to God, through baptism, and now to the resurrection.

It says, “It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.”

Jesus did not stay dead, he could not be our savior if he did. He is alive. He is in heaven, with all authority under Him.

As you engage in the task of spreading the gospel in this community, sharing your testimony, and bringing people to this church, know that Jesus Christ will be with you always.

All authority belongs to Him. By the power of His name, you shall be victorious.

Keep taking everything to that seat of authority. Bathe everything in prayer. If you ever give someone a tract, or share your story with them, or invite them to church, always pray for them after the encounter, when your at home or in your car.

One more thing: Expect the supernatural. Peter and John prayed for a man who couldn’t walk, and suddenly he was leaping and praising God, and this incident sparked everything else in Acts 4. One of the main ways our message goes out is through the demonstration of the power of Christ in healing and miracles. So expect for Jesus to use you and your prayers to bring healing and even miraculous events.

This is going to be a message that I harp on week in and week out, as we grow together as a family, your job is to spread the gospel, to evangelize your city. Have that mindset. Ask Jesus for help and boldness, and you shall succeed.

Think back to the legends we discussed at the beginning of the message. Wurmbrand, Ten Boom, Booth, Daniel, Stephen they suffered for Jesus, because they stop talking about Jesus. None of them did exceedingly complicated things, they simply obeyed the Bible and spoke up boldly. And we regard them as the greats. But they were just average people like you and me. In the great halls of faith, here we come to our hall, the hall of faith for our city, our nation, our time on Earth. By some simple actions by you, in obedience to the word, you become part of the hall of faith, of those who spoke up for Jesus. Pray about it. Make a plan. Then go out and do it.