Practices of the Church 2

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen. These are true and important words for us that God's Word has given us. He's always faithful. He's the same Savior. He's powerful. He's loving. He's trustworthy. He's dependable. He is that rock upon which you can build your life. Now, we have to hold that very sacred truth dearly and tightly. We cannot seek to change that truth that he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. At the same time, we have to acknowledge that an amazing change in Jesus Christ took place 2,000 years ago. We celebrate Christmas because one of the most remarkable changes in history took place. The Almighty God of glory came down and took upon humble human flesh. This is what the season is about, is recognizing that God Himself came down to save us. The Son of God was sent by the Father. He set aside His glory. He removed Himself from the angels that sung His praises, and He took upon flesh. So you could be surrounded by animals. to be under the stars He put in place, to be in the womb and independent upon the mother's breast that He created. This is an amazing change that took place. He set aside His glory and He took upon Himself humble humanity. Not only that, He humbled Himself to death, even the most shameful death, death on the cross. See, crucifixion was the way to not only make sure the person suffered and died, but to put them on public display by hanging them on a tree so all could see this person was shameful. It was the most shameful way to put someone to death. This is an amazing action by God that we get to celebrate at Christmas. He came down to be like us. to walk among us, to live that life we could not live, to die the death that we deserve. And one of the things we have to see as Christians is that this is the great act of love. Jesus Christ came to do these things for us, but he also came to model this for us. Something we're gonna see in our scripture today is a transvaluation. It's a big fancy word, I'm a big fancy boy, I like big fancy words. Transvaluation. It's a simple word, it means a change of value. God came so that we would change what we value. See, in our sin, we did not value God, we didn't honor God, we loved our sin. He came to change that. He came to change the way we think about himself, about us, about one another. What we're gonna see this morning is an incredible trans-valuation. Let's think about some of the things in which Christ taught us to change the way we value. One would be just simply greatness. Christ came to teach us that greatness is not in authority, but in service. Greatness is not found in authority, but in service. Greatness is not found in power and prestige and position, but greatness is pouring yourself out for others. Christ taught us to value honor. Not our name only, but that name that is above every name, Jesus Christ. The apostles in our story, as you just heard Sarah read, they have this change. We heard it. We must obey God, not man. A proper value on the fear of God overcomes how we overvalue the fear of man. More than that, this last verse, This is worthy of our meditation today. Then they left the presence of the council. Listen to this. Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. It's a change in value. They rejoice in being dishonored so that they might honor that name that is above every name. What we see here is these apostles, these disciples, they're living out the gospel of Jesus Christ. So let's get into this story and let's see what is taking place so that we might learn from them as they have learned from Christ. The first thing I want to do is I'm just going to walk through our story. We're going to set it up in different scenes. So verses 12 to 16, that's the first part we're going to look at. That's the setting. It's a setting. The church is growing with power. Verses 12 to 16. The church is growing with power. And really, what we have here, if you've been with us in Acts, Luke continues to give us little snippets of a summary statement. This is the state of the church. And he's always setting up the next story with these statements. So we have a summary statement, and it's setting up what's going to take place next. There are many signs and orders. They're regularly being done. We see the church, they prayed after the threat of the Sadducees and the priest. They prayed, God, would more signs and orders take place so that the name of Jesus Christ, who alone can save, so that we might make him more known. We see the prayer being answered. They were all together. This is the believers. All the believers were coming together in Solomon's portico. None of the rest of the people would join them. Now, we're not quite sure why the other people would not join them. It could be that they've heard about Ananias and Sapphira, and they're scared of coming near these believers. It may be that they've heard the Sadducees and the priests are wanting to threaten them. And so they're afraid of the social consequences of being affiliated. So only the believers are coming, and Solomon's portico, it could probably hold, some estimate, between 3,000 and 5,000 people. What it sounds like is that all the believers are gathered in one place, hearing and learning from the apostles to be united as one little church, and then they're going house to house. There's a strong ministry of presence within this church. Notice that they would not join them, that is the people who aren't believers, but they held them in high esteem. They recognized there was something different. There was something unique. There was something that God was doing among them, but they would not believe. Many believers were added, and look at verse 15. This is interesting. Many were added, making sure it's both men and women. This is a gospel for men and women. Verse 15, so that many were being carried out. The more believers there are that this gospel saves, the more they're going out and seeking to bring healing. As the gospel grows, so does the activity. The setting here goes, 12 to 16, God is at work. These disciples are faithful. They're fearing God. They're not fearing man. And we see a God who is pouring out his blessing, and great things are happening. The church is growing. Now, verse 17 introduces our tension. The disciples are imprisoned for proclaiming The gospel. And the tension is introduced in a very clear way. Verse 17, but the high priest rose up. Enter the antagonist. But the high priest. There's a contrast. Everything is going well for the believers. They're doing great miracles. People are coming to believe in Jesus Christ. But the high priest, he rose up. And notice Luke gives us a motivation. He's filled with jealousy. He's filled with jealousy. He sees that these apostles, they're drawing crowds. People are talking about Jesus Christ in the temple. The priest is supposed to be the most important person in the temple. His territory is being threatened here. There's a jealousy that they are becoming more persuasive than he is. So he uses his power to put them in prison, verse 18. Now the third scene we see here, verses 19 to 20, or 21, the disciples, they're free to proclaim Christ. So we have a setting, the disciples are growing, many signs and wonders, the priests come in, they arrest them, and then we see at night, an angel of the Lord comes, opens the prison door, brings them out, and says, go and stand in the temple. Speak to the people all the words of this life. When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now, this is fairly bold. They were just arrested for preaching in the temple. They're in jail for preaching in the temple. The angel comes, sets them free, go back to the temple and start preaching again. And it is fitting that they would go and preach in the temple because the temple is where people came to meet God. And so those who know God, those who know Jesus Christ and can proclaim the words of life, they should be there so that those who want to come and know God, they can actually hear about how they can know God and Jesus Christ. It's fitting because this is where they came to meet then and it's also fitting that God is bringing about a real point of clarity for the people of Israel He's putting his finger on the sin of the priests who have been leading the people astray and their selfishness He's putting a finger that's going to bring about a great tension as we're gonna see here in a moment He says the the angels Go and speak to the people all the words of this life. The apostles have the words of life. They know Jesus Christ who's risen from the dead. They know who he is and what the people must hear and that they must believe in Jesus Christ who's risen so that they might have life. Next scene, verses 21 to 26. The tension rises. The disciples are caught proclaiming Christ. Now, this scene is almost comedic, right? There's a certain kind of funny aspect of this in that the priests, they all gather the next day and they go and they send their officers, go and find those criminals. So they go into the prison. Well, the cell's empty. The door's locked and the guard's outside. And so they're wondering, where are these guys? And then somebody comes and says, look, Those men you put in prison, they're standing at the temple and teaching and preaching. The priests are wandering around trying to find these criminals, and God's put them right back to where they were to begin with, doing the same thing they were doing when they were arrested. Look at verse 24. They're perplexed. What could this come to? There's a certain comedy here that the priests, they don't know what they're doing. God is at work and they're not catching up. Now the tension rises significantly in verse 27. Here we see the height of tension in the story. They're doing great works, the high priest arrests them, the angel frees them, they go back to the temple and they're preaching and now they're brought back into the council. Verse 27, and when they had brought them, they set them before the council and the high priest questioned them. Now notice, that actually isn't the form of a question, is it? We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. The priests, they have two concerns. You've continued to teach, We were trying to stop this. We told you to stop. We threatened you. You haven't stopped. You filled Jerusalem with this teaching. And then secondly, you've declared us guilty for the blood of this man that you've said is raised from the dead and God has exalted. You try to put this man's blood upon us. And of course, his blood is upon us. Notice what Peter says. He answers. Now we need to remember, let's just step back for a moment. Peter, just months ago, denied Jesus to a little girl. Peter, who, in his own human nature, is terrified of man. He's been brought before these priests once, he proclaimed boldly, he is brought before them again, This is how he answers. He gets right to the point. We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior. To give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins, And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him. Let's walk through this bold, clear declaration of who Jesus Christ is. This is the center turning point of the story here. The priests, or the Sadducees in the council, they're upset. They've imprisoned them. They've now brought them back into counsel after the angel freed them, and they're threatening. And here, Peter puts his finger right on the problem. First, he says, we must obey God rather than man. What's he implying there? What you're saying is not of God. You, the priest of Israel, are outside of God's will in what you're asking us to do. It's amazing. I hadn't seen this until I was preaching through Acts, but the fear of God is a theme that's been throughout the early chapters of Acts. We've already seen the Sadducees and the priests threaten Peter and John, and they chose to fear God and not fear man. And then we saw in Ananias and Zephira a clear example of how deadly a fear of man is over against the fear of God. And here we see them clearly saying, we must obey God rather than man. Worship. Worship is what is motivating them here. A reverence and awe. A longing to make much of Jesus Christ. They are worshiping in their proclamation. Notice what he says next, verse 30. The God of our fathers. This isn't new. Caiaphas. This has to do with the same God who promised Abraham in Genesis 12. The same God who put David on the throne. The same God who gave us Solomon. The same God who gave us Isaiah. The God of our fathers. The God who has been making promises throughout history. He raised Jesus from the dead. Now again, the Sadducees are there. They don't believe in the resurrection. He's putting his finger exactly on the point. This is a historical faith. God raised him from the dead. You killed him by hanging him on a tree. Really, the ESV translation is too weak here. The word needs to be murder. Murder is an unjust killing. Jesus Christ died as an innocent, righteous man who had never sinned. They murdered him. You murdered the one God raised by hanging him on a tree. Again, the death on a tree is the most shameful way for a man to die. It's exposing his suffering and pain for all to see. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior. The one that you put to a shameful death, Christ, God has exalted Him. In His death, death is dead. And now He's alive as the victor. We can't miss this language here. He's the leader and Savior. You realize the priests, they thought they were the leaders of Israel. He's declaring, you've been replaced. You no longer lead Israel in worship, priest. The real worship leader, he's replacing you. This is one of the reasons the message is so offensive, is that the priests thought they had the right to go into God's presence because of who they were. They thought they could go into with their merit. They had not yet realized that a great high priest was promised, a great high priest that would provide the great and perfect sacrifice. They don't realize they've been replaced. Let me just pause here for a moment, church, and ask you, who is your worship leader? We use this phrase in our church services. Some people think the pastor preaching is your worship leader. Some people think the person leading the music is your worship leader. No, we're facilitating worship. The only person who can possibly lead your worship is Jesus Christ, because He gets to take you into the very presence of God with His perfect sacrifice, with His blood that was poured out to cover your sin, to wash you away, and now that you get to come and worship God in His name. He is the leader and the Savior of those who desire to worship God. He's at the right hand of God. How can I go into the presence without shame, without condemnation? We continue to look to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. I said earlier, Jesus Christ came to change what we value. We value sin too much. We love sin. As sinners, that's what we do. Christ came to fix that. He came to change that. And that happens through forgiveness and repentance. Sin has to be taken away, the guilt, and it has to be turned away from. That's repentance. We need to look at our sin, and we need to pray, God, would you please turn me from this sin, and would you take away the guilt? That's what seeking Christ looks like. Finally, they declare, and we are witnesses of these things. The apostles are speaking here that in order to be an apostle you had to witness these things and not only us but the Holy Spirit whom God has given to all who obey. We see the boldness and the clarity of what Peter has declared. He's preaching here. That this is a powerful proclamation. You don't believe in the resurrection, God raised him whom you killed. He now is the true leader that you're supposed to submit to. Now, these priests, they've heard this message before. They've seen and heard of the miracles. They've tried to capture them. They've tried to threaten them. Nothing's working. And so at some point, you'd think, logically, they should start recalculating. They should start rethinking this. Maybe this is true. Maybe we should repent and believe. Notice what actually is the highest point of tension, and that's verse 33. When they heard this, they were enraged. And they wanted to kill them. Those who were called by God and given his word and were supposed to know the will of God and to lead the people in the will of God, when they actually heard of the one true Savior, Jesus Christ, their responses, rage, anger, Jesus tells us that when you're angry, you're murdering. They hate God. Those who are supposed to lead God's people into God's will, they actually hate God and His message. It's because it's treading on their territory. They cannot see the truth because of their sin. Now if you look to this resolution, It's actually odd in the sense that a Pharisee in the council is the one who corrects the priests in the Sadducees. Those folks did not normally get along, and so here we see Gamaliel giving some wisdom. And the principle here is not, if it always works, it must be of God. The principle here is just wait and see. If this is what God is doing, you're not gonna be able to oppose it. God is powerful. What he desires to do, he does. Perfectly. Wait and see. Now, at one level we can look at Gamaliel and we can say, wow, praise God that he kept the priest kind of at bay from murdering them. But I want to challenge you, especially if you're not a believer this morning, I want to challenge you to think about Gamaliel. Because it looks like he's in somewhat of a convenient place. Because what he's doing is he's sitting here and he's hearing about Jesus Christ and he's saying, we need to be careful not to condemn this too quickly. But you know what he's not doing? He's not hearing the message and saying, I believe Jesus Christ is the one name who can save. Camellia's kind of trying to pretend that he's in a neutral place. Friends, this is a dangerous place to be. Someone who's always hearing and observing Jesus, but never believing. Someone who's interested, but not saying, I want to bow down because this is the one way I can be saved. This is the only Savior. He finds Jesus interesting. He finds Jesus to be a possible Savior. He finds Jesus to maybe be of God, and so he suspends judgment. That's a dangerous place to be. If you hear the message this morning, Jesus Christ came down to die for sinners, and he rose again, and you know you're a sinner and need salvation, do not resist anymore. Believe. Believe. You're sitting in a dangerous place. Let's look at the following action. Halfway through 39, that last sentence. So they took his advice. This is how they respond. They took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them. And they charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. They've already threatened them, they've already arrested them, and now they've beaten them. And this is probably the 39 lashes. That is the most severe punishment the temple could give. With 39 lashes, they beat them and said, do not speak in the name of Jesus. They let them go. This beating sometimes could threaten your life. It took the flesh right off your back. People die from this beating. But this beating is more than just the threat of life. This beating is shameful. The life of Jerusalem was around the temple. And everyone knew that this is the most severe punishment you could receive from the priest in the temple. To be beaten by the priest was a sign of shame. It was like a scarlet letter. So Peter, being beaten, he would be seen as someone shameful in that society. His parents would suffer shame because he was beaten in that society. His children would be picked on by their kids. Hey, your dad got beat in the temple. It was a cultural shaming that they suffered. It wasn't just the physical suffering. It was a dishonoring of who they were as men. Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing. They should have went and hid. They should have taken this shunning as what it was meant to be, and then gone and hid. But instead, they rejoiced. They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. Brothers and sisters, this is a change in value that can turn the world upside down as these disciples did. They're not afraid of man. They're not afraid of the fear of man. They don't have this longing for this reputation to be great. They long to make the one name, Jesus Christ, made known. They rejoice in dishonor. What can make them stop and think this way? It's because they see that the name that is above every name is worthy. What can man do to me? What can man do to me? They value Christ in his name more than their own. And every day, verse 42, every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Christ. It's Jesus. The threat didn't work, the imprisonment didn't work, the beating doesn't work. They are committed to the message. Let's look at three application points from the story. First, the church proclaims Christ. The church proclaims Christ. This is now the fourth message that Peter has given. And they're all amazingly similar. Christ was murdered by man, raised up by God. It was all done according to the plan of God. It is for the forgiveness of sins. The message is very clear and it's very simple. It's all about who Christ is and what he's done. The church must be committed to this message. These are the most sacred words that have to form who we are. As Chris prayed, We need to be thinking about the gospel because it must transform how we think of ourselves and we must be talking about it so it helps transform one another. There's so many other things out there that are trying to change the way you think about yourself. We need to be focused on the gospel that really defines who we are and transforms who we are. The gospel must be believed. If you're not a Christian this morning, it is by faith that you can inherit eternal life. It is by placing your faith not in your works, by placing your faith not in how good you are or that you're better than somebody else, it's by placing your faith in the simple truth that Jesus Christ came to die for your sins so that you would not. He rose again so that you can have eternal life. Do not harden your heart if you hear that gospel today. Believe. We must proclaim the gospel, Christian. We need to see something as well. What keeps us, I believe, from valuing the Savior and proclaiming Him faithfully is our value of sin too much. We value sin too much. Christ came to save us from our sin, Christ came to turn us from our sin, but if we really think about what keeps us from being faithful, it's we still value sin too much. What keeps us from being faithful and walking with Christ and trusting Christ and proclaiming Christ, it's simple, a value of sin. Whether that be our own reputation, whether it be a sinful vice, whatever that is, that's what keeps us from delighting and worshiping that one holy God. If you want to know what's keeping you from experiencing assurance and joy in Christ, The first place you look is how are you valuing sin? The second application is that we not only proclaim Christ, we proclaim Christ with power. What's amazing in these passages is that power is evident to all. It can't be denied. There's signs, there's wonders, they're being rescued. They won't stop. These apostles, these disciples, they will not stop. The power we see is from the Holy Spirit. We look back at this in chapter one and two. Wait until that power from on high comes. It is a divinely given power. It doesn't come from within. It's given to us to indwell us. The power is in the proclamation of the name of God who alone can save. There's a convinced, we must be convinced, He alone saves. And then we must see again that power is fueled by a fear of God. There's a reverence. Proclaiming Christ is part of worship. Proclaiming Christ comes from a heart that says, I need to make sure I am worshiping Christ by proclaiming him. Fear of God is obviously important for this early church. From chapter four to five until here, it keeps coming up. The fear of man is deadly to the church. The fear of God is necessary for the church. Church, we must learn to worship him more faithfully so we proclaim him with power. And third, where I want to spend more time, finally, the church proclaims Christ with perseverance. The church proclaims Christ with perseverance. Now, let's look at two things in this one passage that need to be held together. Verse 13 says that people held them in high esteem. Verse 33 shows us that the priests were enraged and wanted to kill them. Those are two different responses to the people of Jesus Christ. Some people held them in high esteem. Some people wanted to murder them. And then they beat them. As we think about these two descriptions, it helps us to not be overly simplistic about suffering in this society. The church was living in such a way that some people saw them and esteemed them. And this makes perfect sense. If the people of God are living out God's wisdom, the world is going to see it and see something unique and special and esteem it. They're gonna see a well-ordered life. They're gonna see someone that has a wisdom from above that their life is built upon the rock. They don't get tossed to and fro by every possible change. They're living out the principles. They're trusting God. There's a calm confidence for a faithful Christian that others look at and they say, where does that come from? That's a way in which you can see they would be esteemed. They're loving one another. They're caring for one another. There's something that everyone can look at in the church. If they're obeying Christ's word and they can say, this is right, this is good. We can also see that everyone in the world embraces some form of Jesus' teaching. Everybody likes something Jesus said. Judge not. Love your neighbor. These are the favorite things people like to quote Jesus on, but in order to be a disciple, that means you actually obey everything Jesus says. Problems arise when we start teaching everything Jesus said. The world will be offended by the declaration that they are sinners, that they are sick and need healing, and that only Christ can do it, and it's not their own work, they have to believe in him. The culture of this world has always rejected Jesus. So two basic principles I think we can gather from this passage are these. Faithful Christians will be esteemed for their beliefs and actions. The world will see their wisdom. And secondly, the faithful Christians will be rejected and slandered for their beliefs and actions. The world will hate the gospel. It's offensive. So the way the Christians live with wisdom, the world's going to esteem it. But when the church proclaims a gospel that is offensive because it says you have to believe in Jesus Christ for your sins, they reject it. They slander it. Let's look more at this rejoicing in suffering because this is a radical change in value. How can you rejoice in suffering dishonor? They've prayed for boldness in Acts 4, verse 30. They've prayed for more signs so that more people will come to know Christ. God has fulfilled that. And then they suffer for it. They count it joy to be dishonored for the name that is worthy of all honor. This has to challenge us today. We love our personal honor. We love our personal comfort. These two desires will run contrary to a call to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Not always, but if our ultimate love is for our honor and our comfort, we will end up rejecting Christ. Because they will run contrary to living out this faithful discipleship. Are we willing to lose privileges and positions in this world for the sake of the inheritance that we've been given in heaven? As I think about suffering and rejoicing, I want to step back and I want to give us a few categories because it's important to place the particular kind of suffering in its right place. Let's step back and think about suffering. There's three kinds of suffering I want to talk about. There's a suffering for sin, and this is just bearing the consequences for our own sinful actions. That's one category. The second category is this, the suffering for refinement. This is God's designed order to bring about our purification. We live in a fallen world, suffering happens, and God is sovereign over that suffering to bring about our own change in character. And then third, there's a suffering for proclaiming the name of Christ, and it is unique. Let's think about these three categories in more detail. First, suffering the consequences for our sin. It's helpful to remember there's a great danger in sin. When we choose sin, it will have its consequences. Our words and deeds have consequences. We can seek God's grace to repent, and we can seek God's grace to endure those consequences, but we have to recognize when we choose to sin, we are going to have consequences. And one of the ways that the Christian can proclaim Christ faithfully is to say, here, I have chosen this sin, and I repent of it, and I believe in Jesus Christ to forgive me, and now I recognize this sin, and I need to make sure the church hears, this is a dangerous sin, it captured me, and now I have these consequences. It helps us see Christ as a savior of sinners. Sin is dangerous. Sin needs to be warned against. And we can look and we say Christ is great. There are consequences, but that doesn't mean we're still guilty before God. So there's a suffering in the consequence of sin. That's just us having to reap what we sow. Second, and this is what is more common for many, a suffering for refinement. We have to remember we live in Genesis 3. We live in a fallen world. There's pain in childbearing. There's sweat with work. There's disease. There's psychological and physical problems. There's difficulties in this world. Suffering is going to happen if you live in this world that is now tainted by our sin and the curse. The good news for the Christian is this. There's no such thing as meaningless suffering. That's the good news for you today. Everybody suffers in this world, but if you're a Christian, there is no such thing as meaningless suffering. Because God's intent for you, under every suffering, is to form your character through it. To give you the grace to endure, to give you the grace to realize he's good, to trust him. There's no such thing as meaningless suffering. We can look at this with a son. That was the greatest suffering. We see here God used it for our good. He always uses all things for our good. We love him. So there's a suffering for the consequence of our sin. There's a suffering to just simply make us more Christ-like. And then third, there's a suffering for proclaiming the name of Christ. This is a unique honor that God gives. We see here they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. It was an honor to be counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus Christ. They proclaimed him with boldness and they've been beaten for it. They've been put to public shame for oppressing the powerful message of God to save sinners. Some will reject that message and they will slander the messenger. The gospel's offensive at its core. We have to acknowledge that. It's offensive in order to bring about salvation. And those who proclaim it must be prepared to know that they will be slandered if the person does not believe. They might lose friends. You might lose business. You might lose family. And that is to be counted as joy if you get to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ with the hope that they might be saved. The disciples have been considered worthy. They've been faithful. They suffered in this world. Their trust will be exalted. You see, they're following their Savior. Jesus Christ came to suffer. And because he was faithful in that suffering, Philippians 2 tells us, he was exalted. If we follow Christ, we know we'll suffer. And if we faithfully suffer, if we endure, we know that we'll also be exalted. Not in this world, not in this earth, but in heaven with Christ. This is why they can rejoice in suffering dishonor. They have a fear of God. They have a worship and a reverence and a trust that God is good. They've stood before God and they've felt shame like they've never felt before in front of any other human being. And they've heard Jesus Christ say, Father, this one is with me. There is no condemnation. We just sing of that and he is mighty. They have stood before God and they've suffered the greatest shame and the greatest condemnation, and then they heard, you're set free. And so now when they look at the priests, they see Almighty God above them. The priests are puppets in the hand of God. The priest can't do anything to them that God would not allow. The priest cannot do anything to them that would only destroy them, because God has given them life. You see, the fear of God, it sets you free. The fear of man, it enslaves you. The fear of God that these men have, it sets them free to enjoy God, to delight in God, to be faithful to God. Here, 1 Peter chapter 3. But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 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, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good If that should be God's will, then for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. See, Peter, who endured suffering and who taught the church to endure suffering, he recognized all of life is under the sovereign, loving hand of Almighty God. Convinced that Christ came to suffer, convinced that Christ came to bring life. The kind of suffering they're enduring is light in light of that. They recognize the name of Christ was worthy of the dishonor. So they think about this passage. What do we value? And really we're asking the question, what do we value the most? Do we value to make the name of Christ greater? Do we want to value our name in a way that's going to hedge it? We're going to protect it. What do we value? Is it sin and pride? Do we value Christ, that name that has saved us, that name that is worthy of all praise? Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for how you have sent your son to not only model humility, but to save us by his death on the cross in that humility. We thank you for these apostles that give us a model for standing before judgment, for taking beating, for taking shame, and valuing the name of Christ so much that they're rejoicing it. that they could still make much of Christ in the midst of their shame, in the midst of their pain. Father, may we be faithful. May we follow you, may we trust you, may we proclaim you, and may we know what this kind of rejoicing is like so that we can delight in you and worship you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.