This message was delivered at Hillcrest Baptist Church on the evening of July 28, 2013. This message deals with persecution, and a Christian’s duty when man’s law contradicts God’s law. This post contains an audio recording of my sermon, plus the sermon notes. The sermon notes are not a full transcript of the sermon.
SERMON AUDIO:
AUDIO DOWNLOAD LINK:
SERMON NOTES:
Acts 5:17-32
We ought to obey God rather than men! (Acts 5:29)
The time is coming when we, as Christians, will have to decide who we will obey.
There is coming a time when our loyalty WILL be tested.
Society / government already tries to place limits on what parts of the Bible we can preach and teach from.
For example, hate crimes laws are designed to discourage preaching Biblically against homosexuality.
Society labels such preaching as bigoted and hateful.
What are Christians to do?
Romans chapter 13 clearly defines our obligation to be subject to the government, but the Bible also teaches that those obligations have limits.
When the law of the land contradicts God’s law, then we are to obey God (period).
The government has no actual authority to limit the parts of the Bible which we can use, and when they try, they are violating God’s law.
We (Christians) should all follow the examples of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego, Peter, John, Paul and many others as they chose to obey God over man.
This is just the beginning, the door has been opened and there WILL be more restrictions placed on Christians.
These things are a sign of the times, they have to happen.
It just means that time is drawing shorter.
Why should we obey?
Acts 5:30-32
God has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us to obey Him, therefore we should obey, no matter what.
Even in persecution there is reason to be thankful.
Positive Aspects of persecution:
- It keeps us focused – When everything is rolling along just fine, we tend to forget about God, or at least become apathetic. We lose our focus, our faith level drops.
- When things go south, we Christians tend to unite together and focus a common goal. It energizes us.
Some “Christians” will not have the stomach for the fight. They will drop by the wayside.
At the risk of sounding insensitive, this is good for the church. It gets the lazy and unfaithful out of the way of the of the Bold and Faithful servants.
Persecution ultimately strengthens the church. We shouldn’t fear it.
Luke 12:4-5
We are to suffer Joyfully, and offer a sacrifice of Praise: rejoice or rejoicing occurs 287 times
Colossians 1:11
James 1:2
Philippians 4:4
Hebrews 13:15
The sacrifice of praise must be offered continually to qualify as a true sacrifice.
James 3:10
Colossians 4:6
Consider the example of Paul and Silas:
Acts 16:22-25
They weren’t complaining or sulking, They were singing hymns!
The choice as to who you will serve, is yours.
Joshua 24:15
How will you handle the coming trials?
In Defense: The Blog 
Posted on July 28, 2013
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