Sermon Tone Analysis

PHONES

BIBLES

PATIENCE (government, etc.)

Every year, the Christian human rights watch group Open Doors lists the top 50 countries in the world where it is most dangerous to be a Christian.

For the last three decades, North Korea has held the top spot.

It more dangerous to be a Christian in North Korea than anywhere else in the world.

But things have changed.

No longer is North Korea the most dangerous place to be a Christian.

Now Afghanistan is the number one country in the world where it is most dangerous to be a Christian.

Open Doors is quick to point out in their report that this is not because things in North Korea have improved.

They haven’t.

In fact, persecution has increased there from last year.

So it’s not an indication of improvement in North Korea.

It’s an indication of how terrible things are in Afghanistan under the iron fist of the Taliban.

But it’s not just in Afghanistan or North Korea where persecution is on the rise.

According to the new report from Open Doors, persecution has increased across the globe.

Persecution on the rise

In 2021, 1,000 more Christians were killed for being Christians than the previous year.

In 2021, 1,000 more Christians were arrested or detained for being Christians than the previous year.

In 2021, 600 more churches were closed or attacked than in 2020.

In fact, 360 million Christians, one in seven Christians worldwide, live in countries with dangerously high levels of Christian persecution.

If you live somewhere in Asia, it’s 2 in five.

PAUSE

Let all of this remind us, church, that persecution is not a thing of the past.

Persecution is not something our world is gradually leaving behind; it is increasing.

Persecution is not just a vestige of an intolerant past; it is happening in the present.

The book of Acts reminds us, frequently, of this truth.

The early church was constantly coming up against the authority of the government, whether in Jerusalem or in Rome.

But it is not a hopeless picture we’re given.

And that’s what we see today in Acts 5:17-42.

Today’s roadmap:

Persecution is norm, not exception

God is present and active within the persecuted church

Persecution strengthens the church

Persecution will not hinder the church

#1: Persecution of the church is the norm, not the exception

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

So look with me then at verses 12-16:

And at this point, in verse 17, we read: “Now the high priest rose up…and filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.”

So what angered the high priest?

They had already been arrested once in chapter 4. They had already been warned to stop preaching and teaching Jesus once, in chapter 4. They had already been released with a threat that if they do it again, they could expect the full force of the law.

And what do they do in those last verses of chapter 4? They do it again.

And again and again.

They won’t be deterred.

So they’re arrested again.

But this time rather than being released by the guards, the Lord himself shows up.

Look carefully with me at verses 19-20 “During the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ‘Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life’” (Acts 5:19-20).

The Lord himself enters their cell.

The Lord himself escorts them out.

The Lord himself commissions them.

And the commission he gives them is a deliberate defiance of the Jewish leaders and guards who had arrested them.

Note this: Jesus is not afraid of His enemies.

Jesus does not cower before them.

True, Jesus loves His enemies.

True, Jesus prayed for his enemies and instructs us to do the same.

Jesus does forgive His enemies and He expects us to do the same.

Jesus will forgive the worst of His enemies if they would but come to Him in faith.

But fear His enemies — no, He won’t do that.

In fact, Jesus gave us this command about whom we should fear:

But the thing here I really want you to see is that there is no indication whatsoever in these first five verses that the persecution they experience is anything other than what they expect.

They aren’t shocked by being arrested.

They don’t act like it’s a strange thing for the servants of God to be mocked and harmed by the enemies of God.

We consider that a strange thing today; they did not.

But really that shouldn’t surprise us.

Why should that not surprise us?

Why should it not surprise us when Christians are harassed, and their pastors detained, their churches attacked or destroyed?

Why persecution does not shock us:

Jesus promised persecution (John 15:20-21)

Jesus blessed persecution (Matt.

5:10-12)

That’s why the apostles aren’t shocked by being arrested.

Persecution is the norm, not the exception.

And this means two things for us:

If persecution is the norm, we focus on loving our enemies, not getting back at them

You’ll notice that the apostles don’t stand up and demand their rights.

They don’t stage a protest on the steps of the temple.

They will stand up for the rights of others, but their rights they will gladly lay down in the service of Christ and for the sake of His gospel.

Protests and riots don’t change anyone’s heart; lawsuits don’t convince anyone of the goodness and beauty of Jesus.

But loving our enemies, praying for those who persecute us, really seeking to do them good, that is what changes hearts, because that is God’s way of changing hearts.

And when Christians do that, you can be sure He is at work through them.

It’s his kindness that leads us to repentance, Paul reminds us in Romans; it’s not his wrath.

Some of you, I’m willing to bet, really don’t like much of what I’m saying right now.

Some of you — your blood is starting to boil hearing me talk about loving our enemies and turning our cheek.

You need to understand that I’m not saying that Christians have to submit to violence.

What I am saying is that we are called to respond to violence in a way that is like Jesus responded to violence.

Peter sliced off the ear of one of the guards who arrested Jesus.

Jesus didn’t cheer Peter or say “Well done.”

He rebuked Peter: “No more of this.”

It’s the state’s job to retaliate when we are attacked by another country.

When they do that, they’re fulfilling their God-given duty to protect us and other nations.

But it’s the Christian’s calling to respond to individual violence differently.

“It is the price of being a Christian that one must be prepared to obey God rather than men -- and bear the cost of doing so.” [I.

Howard Marshall, TCNT, p126]

If persecution is the norm, then we focus on loving our enemies, not getting back at them.

The other thing this means is that if persecution is the norm, we must prepare for it.

If persecution is the norm, we must prepare for it

I read a story last week about a high school gymnastics coach who took his team to four second place finishes between 1987 and 1995 and one first place finish in 1996.

He was elected into the gymnastics coaches Hall of Fame.

It’s interesting to read about how he did this.

In short, he taught his team to play under extreme pressure.

He did this by making practices extremely high pressure.