(silence) Studying today. Father God, we thank you for your grace. Lord, we thank you for your truth. I pray, Lord, that truly your spirit would help in preparing our hearts and the soil of our heart that we might be able to receive. God, I pray that ultimately our church would continue to be transformed by your truth into the closer image of your Son, and Lord, into further obedience.

Father, we also pray for Pastor Peter. God, would you continue to be with him, using him as a mouthpiece, as one who's going to speak the word clearly and powerfully and with great passion, and that the congregation at Lighthouse would be challenged. God, that they would continue to be transformed, and Lord, that all the more the church would glorify your name.

Let's say in Christ's name we pray, amen. Okay. If you look at the title of the sermon, it's a servant's perspective, and we're gonna be talking really about a frame of thinking, a way of seeing things. And I don't know if you've heard this one already, short little anecdote here, about a college girl.

She emailed her parents and said, "Mom and Dad, I've got news. "The apartment that I was living at, "it caught on fire about three months ago. "I didn't tell you just 'cause fire was my fault." But then thankfully, this young dashing boy who lives next to me came and saved me.

But I decided to live with him. So I'm emailing you to announce to you that on December 15th we're gonna get married. And then, congratulations are in order because you guys are gonna be grandparents. It just gets worse and worse. (laughs) But then she says, "The real reason why "I actually emailed you and contacted you now "is to tell you all this stuff, but what's more, "is it okay if we move in after we get married?" (laughs) And you can imagine what the parents were thinking as they read this email.

She writes off, "Love, April." But then on the very bottom, she like scrolls down more and then writes, "P.S., obviously none of this stuff is true. "There was no fire, there was no young dashing boy, "I'm not even dating. "I'm not pregnant, and of course I'm not getting married.

"But I got an F in bio, "and I'm just putting things in perspective. "Like how bad things could potentially be." (laughs) Thought that was hilarious, it's really good. (laughs) Well, the whole idea is there's perspective that we all have pertaining to certain matters. Sometimes, if we have a perspective that's too narrowly focused on one thing, then that one thing becomes all.

That one thing becomes dominating, right? But then sometimes if we have a perspective that's too broad and spread out, then nothing's truly important. Nothing really stands out. Well, the reason why I'm talking about perspective is because I'm reading through the Book of Acts, and today we're gonna walk through chapters one through five of Book of Acts.

And as I see the early church, and particularly the disciples, and from there even more particularly, Apostle Peter, I see a change in perspective. I see a change in the way that they view the world, the way that they view God, the way that they view the church, the way that they view themselves.

And they're constantly having a change of perspective. And I believe it's helpful for us to look into the lives of faithful men, not simply to observe what did they do, let me imitate, but what is the content of their faith? What were they thinking? What did they believe? And if you remember, the disciples prior to Jesus going to the cross, Jesus constantly was trying to guide and lead them, and telling them what his plans were.

But if you remember in the Gospels, majority of the time they just didn't get it. Even though Jesus said, "I want you to be fishers of men," they were just tagging along with him. And then Jesus talked about the kind of sacrifice it requires, the kind of walk they would have to go through, through the path of suffering in order to get there.

But the vast majority of them said, "Nah, can we just have your right hand, "the seat at your right hand? "Can we have the power with you when you come? "When's it gonna be the glory?" That's typically what they were thinking. But then if you look at their lives in the book of Acts, their perspective has completely changed.

That's what I wanna look at today. Namely, when you look at Apostle Peter, Apostle Peter was one who was out there. He was the one who was speaking first. He wanted to be a leader amongst his equals. But you know what's quite interesting is that subsequent to the Holy Spirit coming in in the book of Acts, you see him serving as a servant of all.

You see him even designate himself as a servant of God. And later when we read in the New Testament, in 2 Peter he says, "I am a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ." What perspective has changed? What insight did he gain? That's what we're going to look at today.

Turn your Bibles over to Acts chapter one. We're gonna be reading from verse four through nine and then various passages from chapters one through five. But in Acts chapter one, verses four through nine, this is what is happening as Jesus is guiding the disciples. Gathering together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised.

Which he said, "You heard from me." So this is what you heard even from before. "For John baptized with water, "but you will baptize with the Holy Spirit "not many days from now." So when they had come together, they were asking him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time "you are restoring the kingdom of Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs "which the Father has fixed by his own authority.

"But you will receive power "when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. "And you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem "and in all Judea and Samaria, "even to the remotest part of the earth." And so what you have, essentially, is Jesus giving them the same commandments that he was giving them from before.

He wanted them to be disciples, carriers of the gospel, and he's reiterating to them what he is desiring them to fulfill. And he's telling them, not just simply what to do, but the plan by which they are going to do it, the region of where they're going to do it, and by the power to which they're going to do this.

He's got this meticulously planned out. So I come to our first point of the sermon, which is, as we take a look at Apostle Peter, we can see the servant's purpose. The servant's purpose. And what I'm saying is this. Perhaps what has changed previous to when Jesus was walking with the disciples on earth, to here and now in the book of Acts, how Apostle Peter starts to function, is he has a greater understanding of God's purpose.

There's a sense in which each and every single one of you, if I were to ask you, what is God's purpose, to some degree you would be able to answer. But then there is a point to be made, which is, do we have a conviction? Do we understand in grand scale, this is what God is doing now?

This is his plan, this is how he works. Are we able to understand that by our understanding of scripture, by us investigating, hearing sermons, and going in our own devotions? Are we able to see not so much, hey, let me hear an encouraging word from me today. What does God want me to do about my job, my girlfriend, or whatever it may be?

But simply the question of what is God doing in his ultimate purpose and plan? Is that something we have a conviction about? That's an important question to ask. Because I believe Apostle Peter starts to gain insight and starts to connect the dots of all that he's experienced before and then now, and he's able to see this is the purpose of God.

Let me make this case with you. For example, if you look in chapter two, chapter two, verse 17. Okay? Essentially, what's happening is, as I'm gonna tell you the story as you are turning your Bibles to that passage, chapter two, 17. Essentially, as Jesus commanded them, they waited. The Holy Spirit fell, and there was miraculous things happening.

People were speaking in tongues. They were being filled with the Spirit. There was bold preaching. And a lot of other people's observing were thinking, you guys are like early drunkards. This is not even halfway through the day, and you guys are drunk. Apostle Peter takes that opportunity to preach, to preach about Christ, Christ who was crucified, Christ who is the Lord, okay?

And then, here he is in verse 17, talking about this. So, I'm jumping in to where Apostle Peter is preaching. And in verse 17, he says this. And it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour forth my Spirit on all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.

Even on my boss life, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. Okay. Now, as you look at this passage, one thing that I notice is, Apostle Peter is preaching, and man, take a look at chapter two. There's a whole bunch of references to the Old Testament.

Why are you referencing the Old Testament so much, Apostle Peter? There could be a sense in which maybe it's because his audience was primarily Jewish. But I would like to make the case, he's making this sermon so packed with the previous promises of old, because he sees the plan of God.

He sees the working of God. And if you notice that short verse I read to you in verse 17 and 18, in that passage, you see him saying, "This is what God says he was going to do. "God wanted to pour his Spirit out. "God wanted to fill the people.

"God wanted to reach out, not just to the Jews, "but to the Gentiles. "He wanted to reach out, not just to the rich, "but to the poor. "This was the plan of the Lord." Are you guys amazed and convicted about that sort of plan of God? Do you have that kind of understanding?

This is what God has been doing from ages before. He is doing this today, and he's gonna fulfill it into the future. Apostle Peter has a grip and grasp on what God is doing. Let me make this case a little further. In verse 22 and following, this is what he says, 22 and following, men of Israel, listen to these words.

"Jesus, the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God "with miracles, wonders, and signs, "which God performed through him in your midst." This was God's doing. "Just as you yourselves know, "this man delivered over to the predetermined plan "and foreknowledge of God. "You nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men "and put him to death.

"But God raised him up again, "putting an end to the agony of death, "since it is impossible for him to be held in its power." So what I'm saying is, as I read through the book of Acts, I saw not only was it just historical accounts, a story of how the early church came to rise, how the people were being saved, and 3,000, 5,000 people were coming to the church.

It was an account of the working of God, and Apostle Peter recognized it. He recognized it. And so you will see, if you continue to read the book, that Apostle Peter is going to constantly reference, this is what God's been doing, this is what he was doing before. And that language is chock full in here.

Now why am I talking about this? I'm talking about a servant's heart, his perspective, and so forth, and the kind of attitude that he has. It's because I bet every single one of us here has at one point or another asked a question, what is God's purpose for me?

What does God want me to do? What is my role, lot in life, that God has laid out for me? I mean, he's the one who we plan our ways, but God truly sets our path, right? So what is that for me? Great question. Great question. You should ask that.

But sometimes we don't realize there is a preliminary question that needs to be asked first. Simply, what is God's plan, period? You see my point? Because a servant's heart could get inundated with what's my role, what can I do? But the fact of the matter is he needs to first ask, master, what are you trying to accomplish here?

What are you doing? Let me observe. What is God planning, executing, promising? And let me serve that. You see the difference in heart? You see, a slave in a household, he can want responsibility. But that wanting of responsibility does not make him a humble servant. Why? Because he could be asking questions like, when are you gonna give me authority over the other slaves?

When are you gonna give me the key to the house? He wants responsibility, right? But is that the heart of the servant? No, it's not. The heart of the servant understands first and foremost the purposes of God, and he has a conviction, this is what my master is doing.

And then he has a buy-in, he has an adopting of that purpose into his own life, and that's called conviction. I believe that's what we need more than anything in our day. A clear purpose to which we can attach ourselves to. And it's gotta be greater than, what is my lot for me at school?

Next five years, what am I gonna accomplish? As I'm thinking about that, I'm brought to a thought. I've wrestled with the thought of leadership a lot in my life, because I don't know if, some people say, oh, I think you have good leadership traits, some people say, yeah, you don't have certain things, and I appreciate that 'cause they're being truthful.

There are things that I just am not naturally good at. I can't handle multiple thoughts at once. I can't do certain things like, I'm not a vision setter, you know what I mean? I'm not one who's creative and all that kind of stuff. Recently I drew something on a big board for a Reformation night, and some people were like, oh, you're so artistic, but in my mind, I'm not.

You know why? 'Cause I copied that thing. I'm not creative in the sense that I don't originate stuff, you know? Like, I'm not gonna embarrass you. I think there are people, I'm just gonna point that way, he's really creative because he's expressing stuff that's in his mind and in his heart in an original way.

He's not looking on Google Docs and being like, or Google and being like, image of whatever, and just copying it down. That's not an artist. That's a copy, like a copy or an imitator. You see what I'm saying? Now, the reason why I'm talking about this because that translates into sometimes, for me, into leadership.

Because your secular environment will tell you leadership means you do have to be an innovator. You have to be creative, and you have to be a visionary. You have to give the congregation or in a business context, the business, next step, next vision, new project, or whatever it may be.

But if you were to ask me, like, what's your vision for the next five years? Like, duh, same thing we've been doing, man. Like, we're preaching, you know, we're like ministering and discipling, and that's a problem, right? Because then I start to question, like, am I gonna ever be a good leader?

But here's the thing. There is wisdom and value to all of that. I think we should be creative. I think we should be visionary. But the fact of the Christian faith is, many Christian leaders have made a muck of the situation because they've had their own visions, their own ambitions, new, innovative things that stand in contrast to an age-old faith.

Apostle Peter didn't need new, innovative stuff. He needed to recognize what God has been doing for ages. We have a God who's made promises ages ago, and he's being faithful today. We have a God who has given faith that is a faith that is from an age-old time. You see what I'm saying?

For me, I realize being a visionary doesn't necessarily mean being this creative guy who paints this brand-new, innovative thing for all of us to follow. You just need to clearly have a conviction of what is God doing. And if you have a servant's heart, then you buy into that.

God, I'm not about my own ambitions. I'm not about what I need to do, my responsibility, my role. I want people to recognize me as a servant of God. No. If I have a true servant's heart, I see the purposes of God, and I lean into it. Does that make sense?

And so, you know, I ask you this question. Have you asked, "Lord, what's your plan for me?" There is a way in which you need to answer previous questions. Do I understand how the Lord is working? What are his main objectives? What is his main purpose? That question needs to be asked.

Because do you remember in Romans chapter nine, Apostle Paul asked this question. What if, what if God chose to show his wrath, and then he had objects of wrath? What if? What if God chose to show his long-suffering patience? What if God chose to reveal certain things in our day and in our life, but we're still sitting here, like, "I know, I know, but what's your plan for me?" Do you see the discrepancy?

And so, my challenge to you is, if you've been wrestling with that, like I have in the past many times, there are greater purposes of God, greater than me, greater than you, greater than this church. And remember, that this is what Apostle Peter struggled with a lot with Jesus Christ, that when Jesus Christ said, "I'm going to die," Apostle Peter would be the first one to be like, "Nah, not if you're with me.

"I've got a sword." And Jesus is saying, "Get behind me. "Peter, get behind me." Jesus submitted to a greater plan of God. Here's Apostle Peter going against it. But I think after all the crucifixion and the resurrection and the Holy Spirit and all the things that Jesus is saying is coming to fruition, Apostle Peter now has greater sight to see.

The purposes of God come to pass, and that's the final word. I don't have my own purposes. I buy into the purposes of the Lord. And if you turn with me to chapter three, chapter three, verse 19 through 22, Apostle Peter has different opportunities to preach. What essentially happens is there is this paralytic.

He's been disabled since birth, but now he's almost 40 years old. Can you imagine? 40 years old, begging all his life. He's at the temple gates. Apostle Peter and John heal this man, and the people go nuts. Oh my gosh, we have a miracle working on here, you know?

And now you know what you know is that you've got these masses of people coming and clinging on their cloak and walking in their shadow, and people are being healed left and right, and miraculous things are happening. But then Apostle Peter again takes this opportunity to preach boldly, and look at what he says, verse 19 through 22.

Masses of people are coming. You would think he would say great, but he says no, therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that tides of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus. If you're a good student of the Bible, you notice you have purpose clauses.

So that, in order that, that this may happen. And you gotta see his rationale. And he says that God may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his prophets, from when?

Ancient times. Moses said the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren, and to him you shall give heed to everything he says to you. For me, what I see is Apostle Peter getting convicted about the purposes of God. Let me highlight for you from just that short little phrase exactly what I've been saying.

He sees the purposes of God, saying God wants to see the forgiveness of sins. Do you have a conviction of that? Have you ever said I've bought into this vision, and I wanna see people forgiven? That would bring me so much joy, to see people forgiven. God wants to see the kingdom come in Christ.

God wants to see the wrath of God, his own wrath, be avoided by the children of men. God wants to see blessings realized in the life of men. He wants to see obedience to the Son, the Lord of all. These are some purposes that we can attach ourselves to.

And so my question to you is, if you need a readjusting, take this to heart. My challenge to you is see Apostle Peter and his convictions. And what's gonna happen is that as you do this, you will have greater clarity about your own life. You will start to realize, where do I fit?

You need a bigger picture. If you start from you, your perspective is like this. It's like this. So that's the first point that we realize is we have to see the purposes of God and have conviction over it. So we saw the servant's purpose. Next, we see the servant's persistence.

The servant's persistence. Apostle Peter sees the purposes of God, he's bought into it, and when he knows for certain that this is the will of God, you can't stop him. You can't stop him. You see, the story unfolds in the book of Acts. You would think, okay, the apostles are preaching with confidence and boldness, and then it says that 3,000 people come to faith.

Can you imagine 3,000 people coming to faith? If you've ever been to a high school graduation, that's typically like 3,000 people. When you have a big auditorium with all the high schoolers in there, 3,000 people. Can you imagine that many people coming to faith after one sermon? For those of you guys who are logistical and administrative, that would be like a nightmare, right?

Oh my God, what do we do? What do we do about discipleship? What do we do about even bathrooms? What do we do about this and that? But it was just amazing stuff happening, and God was providing, God was raising up leaders, God was using the ministry of the apostles and the teaching, and people were being devoted.

There was fellowship, and things were going great. So you would think that after all this preaching, that the life of the pastor, the apostles, would be great too. In our day, I mean, if you have a church of 3,000 people, you're probably being shuttled around, you're being invited to guest speak, you're being invited to do reviews, and all this kind of awesome stuff.

But the book of Acts reminds us, when there is significant growth, when there is advancement of the gospel in the kingdom, typically it's not all peachy. But rather, there is intense persecution. And that's exactly what happens. There is intense persecution such that it's quite profound, and we need to take a look.

Chapter four, verse six through seven. So, Apostle Peter preaches, and there's all these people coming to faith, and then there's people who are being healed, and the gospel is going out, and the next thing you know, in verse, well, let me just start if I read from verse six, forgive the context, but many of those who had heard the message believed.

And the number of men came to be about 5,000. On the next day, their rulers and elders, scribes, were gathered together in Jerusalem. And Annas and the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high priestly descent. When they placed them in the center, they began to inquire, by what power or what name have you done this?

Okay? So, what we have here is what I like to call organized crime. These high priests aren't supposed to be together like this, but Annas, who is like, you can think, grandfather high priest, and then his sons, Caiaphas and so forth, are high priests, is that lineage. He still has reigns, he can't let go.

Okay? So, he gathered these people, and you notice how it says, the scribes and the elders and the rulers, and they all joined together. This is organized crime. People who wouldn't even normally get together, were getting together. It'd be like, in our day, Republicans, all conservative and stuff, and then, you know, the liberals, or maybe Democrats or whatnot, joining together and saying, we've got a problem, let's knock this out.

So, for the time being, joint effort. That's what you have. And the persecution is quite intense, because it's not simply that, they're just interrogating them. You know that these people are going to arrest, they're going to beat, they're going to shame publicly. This is quite intense persecution. But how does Apostle Peter react to this?

Verse 11 and 12. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else. There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved. Amen. That's awesome.

And if you don't catch what he's saying, he's looking at religious leaders who believe they literally are the way to God. High priests are what? Intermediaries between man and God. So, if you don't see what's profound about what he's saying, that's so bold. In front of the face of the religious leaders and scribes, there is salvation in no one else.

You all don't even know God. Only in the name of Christ. Wow. That is such confidence, that was such boldness amongst the apostles. But the point that I'm making here is the fact that Apostle Peter is persistent. Because in the face of this persecution, take a look at this in verse 19.

So, the Pharisees, the scribes, the high priests, they're going to command him now, knock it off. You keep doing this, we're gonna hurt you, that kind of stuff. But take a look at this in verse 19. Amen. Amen. Brothers and sisters, Christ has given us a grand purpose. You are all, every single one of you, although you are not in full vocation, a pastor, a missionary, or a Christian educator, whatever it may be, you have been called to be a witness.

Every single one of us. We have been called to take a testimony and give it boldly. And I pray that every single person in our church would have this conviction. To be steadfast. To, in the face of persecution, to persist and say, I can't stop. And I pray for myself that as a pastor, I pray that this would be my heart.

There is sometimes fear in me, you guys. Let me confess this to you. When I was at, you know, when I worked regular jobs and I'm like, okay, like I wanna share the gospel, I took him out to lunch, I wanna say something, but I don't know what to say 'cause it'd get awkward.

There's fear. There's fear over my boss, the situation. In your classrooms, there's fear. Can I remind you, there's fear here. Why? Because these guys are murderers. And as chairman, these are names written in the gospels because these are the ones who murdered Jesus Christ. So essentially, Apostle Peter is looking at these guys knowing these guys can kill me.

It's as though they have a gun. But in the face of that, they're bold. I can't stop preaching. We can't stop. Why? They're committed to obeying their master. They saw the master's purpose, they know where they fit, they are committed, they bought into the program, they can't stop preaching the good news.

And that's something for us to learn. If you take a look, chapter four, verse 27, 28, this continues. Chapter four, verse 27 through 30, I'm gonna read a little bit more longer here, okay. So, they were persecuted, the apostles are released, they go back to their brothers and sisters to reconvene and to regroup and to gain strength.

And then this is what Apostle Peter said. For truly in this city they were gathered together against your holy servants, Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel. You notice he's connecting what's happening with them to what's happening with Jesus, okay.

Verse 28, to do whatever your hand and your purpose destined to occur, there's our thought again. This is what God has been doing. This is what you've purposed, let it be. And then he continues, verse 29. And now, Lord, take note of their threats and grant to that your bondservants may speak your word with confidence while you extend your hand to heal and the signs and wonders take place in the name of your holy servant, Jesus, and when they prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. That's so amazing to see that, what it means to be filled with the Spirit in this context, in light of the persecution, the injustice, the ridicule, the questioning, that their response was greater boldness.

They prayed, God, we knew this was gonna happen. We knew the expectation, let's go. And when they were filled with this Holy Spirit, they preached with even greater confidence. But you know what? The story continues even further. Chapter five, the church has great fruit. There's people sacrificing and the church gets together and they're harmonious.

But also, the apostles deal with sin in the church. Ananias and Sapphira, being all prideful and using it in an opportunity to elevate themselves. They deal with all this stuff. But in the end, they're still healing, they're still preaching, they're still being bold, and now even more and more people come to the Lord.

Take a look at chapter five, verse 17. What happens is, the people who are in power become even more jealous. Now they become violent, now they become incredibly, their animosity just grows more and more. And so verse 17 says, but the high priest rose up along with the associates, that is a sect of the Sadducees.

You know the Sadducees, they were like politically completely on the far end. They didn't believe in parts of the Old Testament, they didn't believe in the resurrection, they were so far from the religious leaders. But here they are in their jealousy, getting together to fight the apostles. Verse 18, they laid hands on the apostles, put them into jail.

They arrested them. They had a APB out on them, they caught them, brought them in, and then they started to really put a heavy hand on them. But then, the way that they respond to me again shows and reveals what I believe to be a true servant's heart. Verse 28, in verse 28, this is what it says.

I'll start from 27 actually. When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, we gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in his name, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

Oh my goodness, how hypocritical. I would have just lost it. What? You know? Because if you remember, these guys were the ones who were egging for Christ's crucifixion, and when Pontius Pilate said, I don't see any fall in the sky, washed his hands and said, you know what, I am clear of this man's blood.

Do you know what they said? Let his blood be on us, on us and our children. We want him dead, that's what they said, and here he is, like, look at what you're doing, you're putting the blood on us. Oh my goodness. But then, look at the response, verse 29.

But Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to the right hand as a prince and a savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Here he is again, taking this opportunity. He's not defending himself. He is persistent in doing the will of God. That's the servant's heart. I must obey God, I can do no other. I can't stop. What a heart. What dedication. What commitment. Why do I say that? Because when I'm afraid, I hide.

I run, I dodge. When I'm hurt, my defenses go automatically up. I want to defend myself, and I'm willing sometimes to accuse other people. But look at the boldness and the confidence of him not being arrogant, but him being humble, and so having this kind of dedication. I believe this really does come with a perception, a perspective of God as sovereign, authoritative master over all, even the master of these wicked men.

Do you know that in the Bible, in Proverbs chapter 28, verse one, it says that the righteous of God are as bold as lions? Proverbs 28, verse one. The righteous of God are as bold as lions. I want you to think about that for a moment. Does that seem arrogant for us to be like bold as lions?

To us have our like manes all fluffed and walk around like kings? But the fact of the matter is the scripture analogously describes those who are in God as bold as lions. You know, lions have no natural predator. That's why when you go to the zoo, they're just like lazy bums lying everywhere.

Other animals, you come over to their cage, they run, they hide, you know, because they're all afraid. Lions, they kind of look at you, and they just slump, and then they just like sleep. And you want them to do something, but they won't. Why? They're afraid of nobody. They have no predators.

Do you realize that the scriptures challenges us to have that kind of heart that's not an arrogant one? It's a humble boldness that comes from the servant's heart, seeing his master's sovereignty. Do you remember in Romans chapter eight? We have to turn there and look at this passage. Do you remember in Romans chapter eight, verse 31 and forward?

Verse 31 and forward. If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against the elect? It is God who justifies.

Who is to condemn? These priests? These scribes? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Nothing. What is such a huge danger for the Christian who has God? Nothing. So we have courage. We have boldness. We have confidence. I can preach. I can minister. I can go. I can be hurt. But I'm not in danger. This is the heart of Apostle Peter and the other disciples getting persecuted.

We must, we have a sovereign God. And so what we see so far is that the Apostle Peter had the servant's heart to see the purpose of God. We also see that he has a servant's heart to say, if I see the purpose of this sovereign God, I obey.

I must obey. I can't stop. Right? But lastly, he has this perspective of the servant's privilege. Of the servant's privilege. And this is the most profound one of all. This is actually the reason why I'm preaching from the book of Acts 3 this morning, because as I study this passage, it was so convicting, humbling, challenging, I just had to stop.

And I've been dwelling on this for weeks. To have a servant's heart like Apostle Peter, to see what he's going through as a privilege. Take a look at Acts chapter five, verse 40 through 42. Acts chapter five, verse 40 through 42. And as you go there, I'm gonna give you the background.

The background is this. The priests, the high priests, the scribes, the Sadducees, all this council of the wise men of Israel, gathering together against the apostles of God. They don't know what to do. Okay, we just threatened these guys. We put them in jail, and they just looked at us and said, we can't stop.

We're not gonna obey you. Ah, these rebellious insubordinates. What do we do? One guy says, kill 'em. Let's just kill 'em. But then there's a rabbi, his name is Gamaliel, okay? His name might be familiar. Apostle Paul studied under this one guy. He was known to be one of the greatest rabbis, not of their generation, but of all generations.

He was such a profound thinker. He was such a profound writer and scribe that they even gave him a special name. It wasn't just, hey, rabbi, it was rabban, okay? So if you guys are into the comics and stuff, it's like Super Saiyan, you know? (audience laughs) So the whole idea is this guy is above, head above the rest of the rabbis.

And he says, hey, if this is something of men, it's just gonna pass. Remember those peevish people, Thaddeus and the rebellion, the 400 people rebelled? What happened to that? Nothing, give it time, it'll just fizzle. So with this too, take a look. This is what he says in verse 38 through 39.

So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow him. Or else you may even be found fighting against God.

You can see why people are thinking, whoa, this guy is wise, right? But the thing about it is, if you take a closer look at what's going on, Gamaliel's counsel is not wise. It's not godly. It's not in favor of the disciples. It is simply pragmatic. These guys have a big clout right now.

Basically, 3,000 people came to faith, 5,000 people came to faith, there's more being added daily. They have a huge following. You go against them, you go against 10,000. So give it some time, let it blow off. Is that godly? No. Apostle Peter is making a claim, Jesus Christ is the stone, he is the salvation, he is essentially God.

And you Pharisees need to submit. That's basically what he's saying. And for Gamaliel to say, eh, we'll just give it time, that is not godly. Not godly at all. And what's not godly is what happens next. So, verse 40, they took his advice, and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released him.

And then released him. But then this next part is the killer, is the part that I want you guys to highlight, underline, star, bracket, everything, okay? Look at what this says. So they went on their way from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for his name.

And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on preaching, and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Amen. You see their persistence, you see their submission to the purposes of God, but one of the things that's highlighted in this passage is you see their perspective on life.

They view all that they experienced as a privilege. Would you have thought it like that? I mean, essentially, he's been preaching, he's been going out of his way, these apostles still are, essentially, like, they don't have possessions of their own, they didn't take along the wife and et cetera.

They've given and sacrificed everything. So now, to have poured out everything, only to conclude in, we just got spanked by the politicians. We just got beat up and flogged by the religious leaders. What happened? That's what I would have said. I would have been very disappointed. Aw, I was hoping this would turn out well, you know?

I thought we had a big church growing. Very disappointed. Obviously, more than disappointed, I would have been bitter in my heart, like, what, what's going on, you know? After giving my heart, after preaching, after doing all this, this is what I get? If you've ever had thoughts like that, after giving of myself and devoting and giving, no one's reciprocating, no one's helping, and this is what I get?

You'd be embittered. You'd be embittered, perhaps, at all the people who are hurting you, and worst and foremost, you'd probably be bitter at God. God, what gives? Am I not serving your purpose? Am I not doing what you asked me to do? And this is what I get? But that wasn't the heart of the apostles at all, wasn't it?

It was, thanks, God, for giving me this opportunity. Thank you. Who thinks like that? Does that not strike you as strange? Almost not human? Am I the only one sitting here thinking, I don't know if I can do that? Who really thinks like that? And then as I thought and thought and meditated on it, I realized we do think like that.

In different scenarios, different life circumstances, we all think like that to some degree. I can give an example, perhaps, of a young man. He has this beautiful girl he's chasing. He's trying to woo her. He's being super nice and courteous, chivalrous, opens the door, pulls out the seat, and he'd be willing if he keeps going down that path, holds her purse.

I got to hold her purse. It's like, that's friend zone, man. But in his mind, it's like, I got to give her a ride. I got to. But in his friend's eyes, it's like, you got used. But in his mind, it's not a sacrifice, is it? You know, there was a time when I was in seminary.

My seminary was on the Grace Community Church campus. We were at masters, they share campuses. And John MacArthur walks around a lot, and sometimes he asks seminary students to help him with stuff. And MacArthur's just a man. He's just a dude, you know? And now he's an aging man.

But the fact of the matter is, in certain circles, he's seen as like, wow. He's got a halo going around him. And I remember when one of my buddies, he was asked, like, can you give me a ride? John MacArthur, we were walking by, he said, can you give me a ride?

I need to go right now to the speaking engagement. You get to just come to the engagement and listen. So they booked it, they hit traffic together, and then they went to the venue, they came back, and the next day when we had class, this guy was just like, you know, he's just like crazy.

He's like, I got to be in traffic with MacArthur. And the rest of us are sitting here thinking like, you dweeb. But then in the back of my mind, it's like, so cool, you know? Why, why is that? The person you honor, you adore, you serve, it's not a sacrifice.

Anything, just anything feels good to do for you. Why do grandparents just want to feed the baby? Like, they want an opportunity just to feed the baby, why? Feeding babies not fun. Food is everywhere, it's like they don't need it, you know, takes an hour, it's frustrating, it kills me, okay?

But grandparents, I just want to come over and feed your baby. I just want your kid to sit on my lap. I just want your kid to just be by my side on hot days, it's like I don't want my kids anywhere near me, it's like, go home, sit on me, you know?

But grandparents, they don't think twice. (audience laughing) I don't do that all the time, okay? Just sometimes when it's really hot. But discomfort, suffering, it's all worth it when you love that person, right? The fact of the matter is, Apostle Peter looks at God and says, "Thank you, you thought of me to give me this opportunity." And can I make this more profound?

It's because flogging is not a small deal. In the Mishnah, which is kind of like a commentary to the Bible of the Jewish religion, they write of flogging, that the individual who is being flogged would be tied their hands to a post, basically like this, so that they'd be stretched.

And what's more, they would have a pillar, a rock or a stone, pressed up against their chest so that they could not lean forward and dodge the whipping. And the story of it, as I read to it, I didn't realize it was that bad. In my mind, I just thought of the movies.

(imitates whip cracking) And then next thing you know, they go down 40 times. A lot of times, they wouldn't go all 40 because people would die. In the Mishnah, it writes of the whipping. I'm not gonna go into every detail because it's too gruesome, but the whipping was not just on the back.

It was everywhere. They would turn the guy around when the back was too bloody and bare. It blows my mind for a disciple of Christ to be like, thank you for giving me this opportunity to serve you. It strikes at my heart. Because perhaps the opportunities I want are glamorous.

Because perhaps the opportunities I want are X, Y, and Z. But for them, anything, God, anything you ask me to do, I'd be happy to do it. Why? Because they have a servant's heart. And that's what I'm getting at with this sermon. As I read through the Acts of the Apostles, as I read through what God has been doing, I saw in them a servant's heart, a willingness to experience anything.

And even shame for Christ, they desired it because they saw it as an honor to do something for my Lord. Because they bought into his purpose. Because they're dedicated to obey. Do we consider it our privilege? Brothers and sisters, are there any of us in here who perhaps have been serving, and perhaps we've said, this is not worth it.

It's too much. This is not worth it for me to stress over so much. It's not worth it for me to invest this much time. This is not worth it for me to do this. Nobody's recognizing me. There's no appreciation. If I try, nobody's reciprocating. If I try, nobody's acknowledging.

It's just not worth it. The challenge here today is, to such a degree, the Apostles saw it, and they said, this is so worth it. All of it, the shame, the ridicule, the questioning, the imprisonment, jail, flogging. So worth it. Why? Because they had a heart of servanthood towards their loving master.

To their loving master. They thought, God thought of us worthy enough to bear this shame. Wow. That's a perspective. That's very challenging. There's a passage in 1 Peter 4.13 that reads like this, "Dear friends, "do not be surprised at the painful trial "that you are suffering, as though something strange "were happening to you." Peter writes this.

"But rejoice that you participate "in the sufferings of Christ." He writes this. "So that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, "you are blessed, for the spirit of glory "and of God rests on you. "If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer, "a thief, or any kind of criminal, "or even as a meddler.

"However, if you suffer as a Christian, "do not be ashamed. "Praise God that you bear his name." Apostle Peter, Apostle Paul, all these servants of God has a servant's heart. And it's such a challenging thing because they don't flippantly say, "It's a blessing to have the name of God on you." They show we bear the marks of Christ.

It's a challenge to us today that we should just be thankful that God is using us. But we should also have a hard attitude. Lord, I don't have an agenda of my own. But to your glory, to your purpose, to your cause, I offer up myself. I surrender it all.

And if you would have me be used for whatever purpose, I'm not higher than anything that you have. But rather, God, it would be my good joy to serve you in any way that pleases you. Let's take a moment to pray. Father God, we again wanna thank you so much.

You are the sovereign God. I believe Apostle Peter can trust you. I believe Apostle Peter can have this perspective because you are the sovereign God who was the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And so thank you, Lord, that you are the sovereign one who promises that God, if we serve, nothing is in vain.

Who promises if we invest into church, if we invest into people, nothing is in vain. Why? Because your promises come to pass. Your purpose is sure. Everything will happen according and exactly as you say. God, I pray that each and every single one of us would have such trust in our master, that God, we would be humble servants.

God, buying into your vision, your plan, never questioning, God, committing to your way and being faithful, and also simply having the humble heart, Lord, to see it as a privilege to serve your great glory. Father, we thank you again. We lift you up on high. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen.

(bike wheels rolling)