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Amen. Let's look back at verse number 9. The Bible says, Wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. So in the second epistle of Timothy, we have the apostle Paul writing unto Timothy, and he's actually writing this epistle because he's in prison. And that's what it means here in verse number 9, where it says that he's even unto bonds. He's saying, Wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds. And the Bible is saying many times Paul is being persecuted. He's being thrown into prison because he's preaching the word of God. And he's constantly in prison, he's constantly being persecuted. There's all these bad things happening unto the apostle Paul. What he makes note of to Timothy is the fact that, whether or not Paul's in prison or not, the word of God itself is not bound with Paul. It's not wrapped up in Paul. If Paul's in prison, the word of God can still go forth. The word of God can still reach people. It's not like the word of God rests upon Paul himself. And at this time, the apostle Paul is probably the most influential, the most significant person that we could really point to. If we could point a person who's doing the most work for the Lord at this time, it would be the apostle Paul. And everything rises and falls on leadership. But the reality is, oftentimes, God will allow the apostle Paul to be taken off the scene so that the word of God can actually increase. And in fact, the word of God is not limited to just one individual. And we need to understand that even if the leader, something happened to the leader, that does not mean that the word of God cannot increase. And we're gonna see throughout the Bible that God uses a lot of different circumstances to cause his word to go forth. Go, if you would, to verse number eight. Let's read that again. It says, remember that Jesus Christ, in the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel. So why is he being persecuted? He says, because of the gospel. Where did I suffer trouble? Why was he suffering trouble? For preaching the gospel. Notice the apostle Paul is not thrown into prison for just being a bad person. He's not being thrown into prison because he ripped somebody off, he stole money because he's a murderer. He's being put in a prison for preaching the gospel, for just making known the mystery of the gospel. That's why they're throwing him in prison. Look at verse 10, it says, therefore I endure all things for the elect sakes that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Now go, if you would, to Acts, chapter number nine. Let's flip to Acts. The state of Paul is always changing. Paul's doing all kinds of different things. Sometimes things are going well for Paul. Sometimes things are going very poorly for Paul. But we notice that no matter what's going on with Paul, the word of God just keeps increasing. The word of God just keeps going to all different areas of the world. And it's not just wrapped up with the apostle Paul. Look at Acts, chapter number nine, verse 22. The Bible says, but Saul increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ. And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him. But their laying await was known of Saul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night and led him down by the wall. And a basket. So interestingly enough, the apostle Paul had to escape death by just being let down from a basket from like a high window. So you see, he's going somewhere else. The apostle Paul's gone. He's fleeing, right? He's fleeing in the night. So what's going to happen with the rest of us? You know what? You're still supposed to go out and preach the gospel. And the reality is, I'm preaching this sermon out of season. We don't currently have this problem. We don't have this issue. But when you study your Bible, it's very likely that these type of things could happen. These type of situations could take place. And often people would get very discouraged. They would say, how are y'all serving the Lord? I mean, your leader was thrown in prison, right? Just imagine today, if a Baptist pastor was thrown in jail, how everybody would be like, that church is bad then, right? But what if he's being thrown in jail for preaching the gospel? What if he's being thrown in jail for preaching the word of God? We ought not look at that as a negative thing, but actually as an opportunity for the word of God to increase. For other people to step up and say, you know what? Now it's my time to fill the gap and allow the word of God to increase. And that's what the apostle Paul's trying to tell Timothy. Hey, even if I'm in bonds, the word of God's not bound, brother. Pick up your Bible and go out and preach the gospel. You still have the same power. It's not wrapped up in one person. And oftentimes, you see a football team, their quarterback gets hurt, they bring in the replacement, and they just fail, right? Cuz it's all wrapped up in the one person. And the apostle Paul's trying to let him know, look, Christianity doesn't rise and fall with Paul. You know what, it rises and falls with the word of God. And it rises and falls with you deciding that you're gonna go out and let the word of God increase. Look at Acts chapter 17, let's flip to another section. We see that Paul, he's constantly in jail. He's constantly fleeing persecution. There's all these different circumstances that are happening to the apostle Paul. And so if you're really serving God, when you study the book of Acts, it seems like there's gonna be states of uncertainty. There's gonna be times when you're getting heavy persecution, or things are changing, and you don't know what's really going on, and there's this level of uncertainty. But when we stand back and we study our Bibles, if we look at those levels of uncertainty, we see that God always meant them for good. God always used them for good, and in the long run, what happened is the word of God increased from that type of persecution. Look at Acts chapter 17, verse 13. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also and stirred up the people. And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea. But Silas and Timotheus abode there still. So because of the persecution of him preaching the word of God, they immediately have to send him away. Oftentimes, it seems wise that if someone's literally trying to kill you, let's just flee the situation for a little bit. Let's go to another town, let's go somewhere else, let's let it cool down. But does the apostle Paul want Silas and Timothy to just sit there and stare at each other and wait for Paul to return? No. He's saying, look guys, even though I have to flee, even though I could be in bonds, even though I might be persecuted, even though all manner of evil might happen to me, you still have the Bible. You still have the Holy Ghost. You still have the power to go out and let the word of God increase. And even if I'm in bonds, the word of God is not bound. And oftentimes, whenever this great leader is in bondage or persecuted, God's gonna let that be used to spread the word of God itself. Go if you go to Acts chapter number six, Acts chapter number six. Bad things will happen, but even when bad things happen, the Bible says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. It's pretty hard when you're in the moment. If you get picked up and thrown in jail for preaching the gospel, it's pretty hard in that moment to think, how is this gonna be good? How is this a good thing that's happening? Maybe a pastor had their, you know, evangelist thrown, a pastor's thrown into jail, an evangelist thrown in jail. People are being persecuted. You're being harassed. You have protesters. You have all these things, and in the flesh you think, how is that positive? But then God ends up using it in a very positive way. Now, it's most specifically mentioned that it's not about one person in this passage we see in Acts chapter number six, verse one. And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples under them and said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you, seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Phocurus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. And the word of God increased. Notice that phrase, and the word of God increased. And the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly. And a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. So what was the result of ordaining more men to the work? The word of God increased. The Bible emphasizes that it's not about one person. It's not about just the one apostle, the twelve apostles. You know what? We want to get more people doing more work, and then what happens? The word of God increases. The word of God increases when you do more. You say, hey, how come the word of God's not increasing? Well, because we don't have enough people helping. Because we don't have enough people doing the work. We need more people doing the work, then the word of God will increase. And in fact, that should be the goal of the church, is not to elevate one person, but to get every single person to do the work of the Lord. That we're all striving to glorify God, and we're all serving God together. It's not about one individual. It's not about having your superstar, having your Goliath, having your apostle Paul. It's about getting everybody to work together. Why? So that the word of God can increase. The numbers of disciples can multiply greatly, is what the Bible says. And obviously, this is a good story, right? You have, hey, the church is getting full. We have all these extra people. We need to get even more people hired. Then you hire more people, then even more people are coming. This is like good, right? And we see Stephen, he's a great guy. I mean, the Bible talks about him being full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. I mean, this is great. But then what happens? Well, before we get there, I'm going to read for you. It says in Numbers chapter 11, and there ran a young man and told Moses and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men answered and said, My Lord Moses forbid them. And Moses said unto them, Envious thou for my sake? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them. You know, when Moses was coming out of the wilderness, he was just the de facto leader. I mean, he is the leader. There's not another leader. He's the guy that's talking to God face to face, has a man, talks to his friends, what the Bible says. And Moses is the one in charge, not of his own will, but because God put him there. But Moses wants to share the burden. Moses is not one of these people that's just like, I want just all the attention and all the glory and to do all the work. And when Joshua comes up, he's like, hey, these other guys are preaching. And he's like, great. Why are you enduring on my behalf? I wish everybody was a preacher. I wish everybody loved the word of God. Why? Because then we would just ran into the promised land. I mean, you think if every single person was on Moses' program, they would have struggled the way they did. No, they would have been sprinting into the promised land. They would have inherited it in a few weeks. Why? Because the Lord's the one that drove them out anyways. They just need to have faith in the Lord. They limited God and his ability to help them get in the promised land. Because their lack of faith, because they weren't all preachers, because they weren't all on God's side. And we see Moses, he likes the idea of having more people. Why? Because bad things are going to happen. And it's nice when you just have a plethora of other people to plug and play. It's nice when someone goes down that you're just like, OK, we'll just put him in. I will put him in. That's why it's important to have a kingdom of priests. The Bible says that the children of Israel are supposed to be kingdom of priests. When you just rely on one person, all the devil has to do is just knock that one down, and the whole thing crumbles. But you know when everybody's doing the work of the Lord, when everybody is preaching the word of God, when everybody is responsible for the work of the Lord, it's a lot harder to knock that tower down. When it's not just elevating one person and one man, we need to all do the work of the Lord. And you say, why is that important? Well, we just read a story, and we're still here in Acts chapter number six, OK? We just read a story where everything was going good, right? We have these new guys coming in. We're gaining more people. We just got Stephen appointed. And Stephen's a great preacher. Stephen is an amazing preacher. Stephen is a wonderful guy. And we just add him, it's very positive. But skip to chapter number seven, look at verse 56. He starts preaching this great sermon. It was his first anti-Zionist sermon. I don't know if it went very well. Let's see how it went, all right? Verse 56, and he said, behold, I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. So you see, man, it's great. Hey, we just got all these new people. We got Stephen in here, stoned to death. That seems pretty negative. I mean, can you imagine, we have a new guy come to our church, he's super great preacher, he's on fire for God, we're all excited. Then we go out soul winning, and the cop just tasers him to death. It's like, that seems pretty deflating, right? That seems pretty negative. You know what, that could happen. And the question is, why would God allow such a negative thing to happen, right? Obviously, this isn't a good thing. We're not reading here, this is exciting. I mean, he preached a great anti-Zionist sermon. He probably had more to go. He probably had more great sermons against the Jews, you know, how they killed the Lord Jesus. But they didn't really like his sermon, it was pretty hard core. Well, look at chapter number eight now, and let's read verse number one. It says, and Saul was consenting unto his death, and at that time there was great persecution against the church, which is at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his bureau, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women committed them to prison. Therefore, they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them. So what happened as a result of Stephen's death? All these superstars that were all lined up in this church got scattered, and the word of God spread. So for the work of God, for the cause of Christ, Stephen's death is actually going to be used for the word of God to increase. So we look at it in the flesh, and we say, oh man, that was horrifying, because it was. It would be horrible to see Stephen stoned to death. What a horrible thing for preaching a great sermon, for preaching truth. But at the end of the day, it's going to be used for the work of the Lord to be furthered. But you know what? We could have something negative happen to us, and people would look at it and say, oh, I guess God's not blessing them. God's not going to use them. The God's not in it. And I mean, look, if someone at our church got pulled out and stoned to death, a lot of people would be like, your church is bad. There's some bad things happening. But what if the guy got stoned to death for preaching a righteous sermon, for preaching what the Bible said? Are we going to let the emotions of that situation dictate whether we come back? Say, well, I can't be a part of that church. It's a cult. I can't be a part of that church. Do you hear what they preach? They preach against people. They don't like the Jews. They don't like the people that killed Jesus Christ. That's weird. That's weird doctrine. And we see from the negative experience, they could have been discouraged to not come back, couldn't they? But they did. And it's interesting, when Stephen was stoned, there's a lot of things he could say. In fact, I find it amazing that he said what he did. It's similar to what the Lord Jesus Christ said on the cross. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they've done. But we see he says, lay not this sin to their charge. So he's praying for these people persecuting him. But there was a person sitting there, wasn't there? The apostle Paul, standing there. And Stephen is praying for this man, that he doesn't even know what he's going to do. Stephen was stoned to death. How many times was the apostle Paul stoned? And he survived, through the power of the Holy Ghost, through God's might, that he was rocked asleep and somehow got up and walked away. But we see when a man sees another man die for his faith, that could have a great impact in his life. And we see the impact that he had on the apostle Paul is major in his life. You think that's a coincidence that the Bible just says, oh, yeah, let me just mention that Saul just happened to see Stephen die. Stephen stoned to death, and Stephen literally praying for those that are persecuting him. Stephen's saying, hey, Lord, why don't you just not lay this on their charge right now? He could have said, Lord, blot them out of your book, right? Like Moses. I mean, he could have said any number of things. But what does he say? Hey, you know what? Lay not their sin to this charge. Lay not this sin to his charge. Go to chapter 11, Acts chapter number 11. So we see even out of great tragedy, even out of great martyrdom, the word of God could still increase through that event. So we ought not interpret events based on our own fleshly mind. We ought to interpret events, what does the Bible say? And say, hey, something negative happened, but why isn't something negative happening? Is it happening because people are preaching the word of God? Are we being persecuted for righteousness' sake? Are we doing that which is biblical? Then you know what? Maybe God's going to use that for the word of God to increase. And maybe he's going to use me specifically. I can be the Timothy to say, you know what? Maybe I need to step in place. Maybe I need to step up and let the word of God increase through me. Maybe I need to be the person that's ready in the wings to step up when there's a void in leadership. Look at Acts chapter 11, verse 19. Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phineas and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the Lord. So even in chapter 11, I mean, Stephen dies in chapter 7. We're still reading. And chapter number 11 saying, look, because of Stephen's death specifically, these people are traveling to all these areas. The word of God's getting spread to far areas. And lots of people are getting saved. Now what's the price on all those people's souls? You know what? And if you'd asked Stephen, hey, do you want to die tomorrow? He probably said, no. But he said, guess what? Thousands and thousands of souls are going to be run to Christ because of your death. And the greatest Christian that we see in the New Testament is going to rise through your death. I'm sure he would have been like, yeah, lay not this sin to their charge. Right? And we see even through a negative event, the word of God can be traveled through. Go to Matthew chapter number 14. Matthew chapter number 14. And we see through martyrdom, the word of God actually increases. You say, why are you preaching this? There's going to be a time and a day in the future where many, many Christians are killed for the cause of Christ. And we ought to already be prepared. We ought to be ready. We ought to say, you know what? If that happens, it's not going to discourage me. It's going to increase my faith. It's going to tell me I need to step up. I need to be ready and waiting in the flanks for the word of God to increase through me. And I can take their faith, and I can make it where it's not in vain. I mean, what if all these people from the persecution of Stephen just said, I'm done. I quit. I don't want to do that. I'm fat programmed. I don't want to show up to the church of Jerusalem anymore. Then the word of God would not increase. Stephen's death would have been vain, wouldn't it? Because these people said, you know what? Because of his sacrifice, I'm going to step up and utilize his sacrifice for the glory of God. And you know what? There's been a lot of people that have sacrificed so much for us to be here right now. So many people have sacrificed for you to have a King James Bible in your hand today, for this church to exist. And we ought not look at that sacrifice and say, ah, who cares? We'll just take it in vain. No, we ought to say, we're going to use that opportunity that's been given unto us to give glory and honor to God and let the word of God increase through us and not just take it for granted. Oh, who cares? You know, our church and whatever, it's not as cool as I want it to be. We'll turn the thermostat down if you need it, right? But the preaching is still going to come out as hot as the Bible is, all right? Look at Matthew 14, verse 3. For Herod had laid hold on John and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. You know, John the Baptist was a martyr. He died for the cause of Christ, didn't he? He's the greatest prophet of them that are born among women, is what the Bible says. And John the Baptist, he had the greatest attitude while he was alive. What did he say? He must increase, but I must increase, didn't. And you know what? Through John the Baptist's death, now there's no competition. Now it's all just Jesus Christ, right? It's all Jesus Christ's ministry being emphasized, and John the Baptist has no problem. He rejoices at the voice of the bridegroom. He rejoices the fact that the word of God is going to be spread. He rejoices the fact that through his death, many people hear of his faith and decide, you know what? Let's hear about that person he was preaching, the person that's coming after me, the Lord Jesus Christ. His death was not in vain. Through his death, the word of God increased. Go to John chapter 12, John chapter 12. Let's talk about the greatest martyrdom, the greatest martyrdom that let the word of God increase, because we see through martyrdom, we have the greatest gift, the gift of eternal life. Look at John chapter 12, verse 31. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out, and if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. Did you ever realize that the reason why the word of God spread is because Jesus Christ died? It's the cross. It's the cross's message that went out into all the world. God used death to bring the word of God to every mankind, to all nations, to all people. And then we see, hey, a Christian dies for the cause of Christ. Great, that sounds like he's being Christ-like. And you know what? Let's let the word of God increase through that. Let's let the word of God be thundered forth. We ought not be terrified or afraid of a Christian being killed for the cause of Christ. We ought to say that's a great opportunity for the word of God to increase. And we ought to be ready that if that ever happens, to embrace it, and to encourage it, and to use it for the cause of Christ. Not say, well, I'm out of church now. I don't like that. I'm scared. I don't want to get involved in something like that. Look, we see through God's sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, his son into this earth, is what causes the whole word of God to be spread. That's how you have the gospel. Go to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah 53, the Bible says in Romans 10, but they have not obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. Romans 10 says that the gospel went to everyone. The gospel went to the entire world. And it has that quote. It says, Lord, who hath believed our report? You say, what was it that they were preaching? Well, let's see it Isaiah 53, verse 1. Who hath believed our report? You say, hey, where did that come from? It comes from here. And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comingness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. So what was the message that was supposed to thunder forth? Jesus Christ was beaten and bruised for you. He died for you. A message of death and sacrifice for you. Just like Stephen, sacrificing his life, what? For the cause of Christ, for the word of God to increase. And if we see someone sacrificing their life for Christ, we ought not get discouraged. We ought to take that opportunity to let the word of God increase, and to glorify God through their sacrifice. The Bible says, go to Hebrews chapter 11. Let's look at another verse. You say, yeah, but couldn't you do more if you were alive? I mean, couldn't Stephen have done more if he was alive? Couldn't Christ do more if he was alive? Couldn't all these people do more if they were alive? Well, God's ordained it that through certain deaths they're going to actually continue preaching the word of God through their death. Look at Hebrews 11, verse 4. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtaineth witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead, yet speaketh. You know, the Bible says even though Abel died, he's still speaking unto us today. His sacrifice is still speaking to us today. His faith is still being spoken unto us today. And just like Stephen, they're still talking about Stephen. Did you hear about what Stephen did? It just drives Paul to say, you know what? I'm going to be a living sacrifice. You know what? Stephen was a sacrifice for real. He really died, but I'm going to be a living sacrifice. You just keep stoning me. I'm going to keep standing up, and I'm going to keep preaching the gospel, even unto bonds. But guess what? The word of God's not bound, Timothy. And you know what? Even though I'm sold out, you need to get sold out. You need to say, I don't care if the apostle Paul, what happens to him, I'm going to keep charging, too. I'm going to keep pressing towards the mark. I'm not going to waste the opportunities that have been given unto me. So you say, what do we think of martyrdom? Well, go to Revelation chapter number two. Is martyrdom biblical? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ did it. I mean, the Lord Jesus Christ laid down his life. We see Stephen laid down his life. We see many other prophets and apostles are killed through their ministry of preaching the word of God. But let's get some direct words from Jesus Christ. Look at Revelation chapter two, verse 10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison. They may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation 10 days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Jesus Christ commanded Christians to be faithful unto death. That's a tall order. That's a hard thing to do. But why? Because being faithful through death is going to actually cause the word of God to increase. And through your death, you can still speak through the living sacrifice of others, through the fact that they see your faith and they say, you know what, that's going to inspire me to continue doing the work of the Lord. I'm going to actually do more for God because I see what you did. I'm going to see the sacrifice you made. We're looking at this church. People are going to be killed, and God's saying, you know what, I'm going to give you a crown of life. And on earth, I'm going to use your sacrifice to let the word of God increase. So what should we think of martyrdom? Be faithful unto death. We should be excited. We should say, you know what, what's a better way to die? I mean, when you're in eternity, right? Well, I died of a cough. How did you die? Oh, yeah, I got my head chopped off for preaching the gospel. Wouldn't that be a little bit cooler? I mean, think about it, all of eternity. I died in a drunk driving accident, and I killed another family. I got stoned to death by preaching an anti-Zionist sermon. That sounds way better when you think about it. And at first, in the flesh, you're kind of like, ah, I don't want to die for Christ. But really, in eternity, you're going to be excited that you did. You're going to be glad that you did. You're going to be like, do you see my crown? Obviously, we're not bragging and boasting. I'm just saying, obviously, in a perspective, if you could talk to yourself, you would say, look, I'm glad I laid down my life for the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm glad I was his servant. Why? So he got more glory, more honor, so that we could see his word being spread. And ultimately, what? More souls are in heaven because of it. More people are being pulled out of the fire because of the sacrifice that was made. Why do we want Christ's death on the cross to be in vain? Think about it. Stephen, the apostle Stephen, if he had already quit, his death's in vain, right? But if we quit preaching the gospel, Christ's death is in vain. People won't be saved. We have to go out and preach the gospel so that the death of the cross is not in vain. That's the whole point of Christianity. And then someone actually does it, and you're like, whoa, freak out. Someone dies for the cause of Christ. That's what Christ did for us. He literally laid down his life, and we go out and preach it. So why, if someone actually did that today, would we want to freak out? We wouldn't. We want to be prepared for it and say, that's a great example of faith. We ought to be willing to make that kind of sacrifice. Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. The Bible says, as is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You know, the Bible says, hey, if you kill us, you can't hurt us. It's only going to make us increase. The word of God's going to increase through our death. There is no way to stop us. There is no way for the gates of hell to prevail against us when we're founded on the rock, when we're going through his example, even through martyrdom. But you know, it's not just through martyrdom that Christians have to face. Obviously, martyrdom is a hard thing to go through. But oftentimes, martyrdom is not even the worst. A lifetime of persecution, in many cases, could be worse than just dying. In the book of Jeremiah, the Bible says it was better for those that would just die by the sword than to die of famine, than to die of a lot of other things. Look, I'd rather just get a bullet in the head than starve to death. That sounds terrible. That sounds horrible. And we see, even in this life, some people, they might not just get martyred. They might just live a life full of persecution, full of tribulation, full of suffering. Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 2. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. In the sight of God and our Father, knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word and much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were in samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God is spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. So what is he saying? He's commending the church of Thessalonica and saying, because you guys are being so heavily persecuted because there's so many people attacking you and there's so much affliction and you're being faithful, all the other churches are having greater faith because they hear about all the things you're suffering and it's like, we're not suffering that much. We ought to be like the church of Thessalonica. Those guys are strong. Those guys are hard. I mean, they have one Tyler Baker come in, they can keep it going. They have an Adam Fannin there, they can keep it going. I mean, whatever they're going through, they're just strong, they're steadfast in the faith, and because of their faith, it encourages other people to be steadfast. It encourages other people to continue in the word of the Lord no matter what affliction that they're going through, they can keep on going. And notice it says in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad, saying every single person that hears about you is encouraged, and everyone knows. I mean, everybody's heard about the Thessalinicans. Everybody knows that these guys are some great Christians. Why? They're in samples to those that believe. And when you have great faith, you encourage others to have great faith. And then iron sharpens iron and we can continue allowing the word of God to increase. That's why it's so important. But we see, why is it that they're getting so commended? Because of the affliction, because of the persecution. Look, nobody's gonna commend the church that everything's great. We never suffer, we never struggle, everything's candy canes and roses and butterflies and unicorns and it's just so special and wonderful. It's like, okay, in this other church, they're constantly having to fight and battle and drama. All you guys just have so much drama and so many problems and so many people coming in and trying to pervert your church and you're trying to fight the work of the Lord and doing all these things, it's like, yeah, those guys are great. Those guys are a great example. They can go through all kinds of conflict and adversity and they're gonna be tried by fire and they're gonna come out gold. You know, at the church that doesn't have any problems, you don't realize how many problems are there. You don't realize how much sickness and disgusting filth is going on there until you get a little bit of fire on it and you see all the dross being purged away and all the imperfections that you're purging out and you're like, wow, it just starts to shrink and shrink and shrink and you're like, there's a lot less gold there than I thought. But you see, the church that's constantly being tried and it's constantly struggling and fighting, it's just rock solid gold just all the way and you're just slowly adding and having quality over quantity. Go over to Romans chapter number one. You know, it says in 1 Thessalonians chapter two that they had suffered like things of your own countrymen. So they had a lot of local persecution. You know, and it makes sense. Think about it. A whole family grows up Catholic and one of them gets saved. You think the rest of those family members are gonna give them a hard time or not? They turn from idols. I mean, they had the Mary statue and they had, you know, all the other patron saints and they're doing all the weird junk and then all of a sudden they're like, that's devils. You know, this is literally sacrificing the devil. I'm gonna have none of it. Their family's gonna be like, why aren't you kissing the toe of Mary anymore? Why aren't you kissing the toe of this saint? Why aren't you doing all this weird stuff? And they have so much persecution and affliction, aren't they? Just like the Thessalonikans. They were given to idolatry. They had all these pagan practices. Now all of a sudden they realize it's all just dumb idols, just all dumb rocks. And so they're gonna be heavily persecuted by their own countrymen. And that's how it is today. You know, most of your heavy persecution is gonna come from your friends and your family and the people that are close to you. Your workplace, your brother, your sister, your cousin, your dad. It's just the reality. And we ought not discount that. If we were to talk to every single person in this room, I guarantee I'd find you, you know, yeah, my brother, my cousin, my uncle, my coworker, my friend, you know, all kinds of people that give you all kinds of grief about you serving the Lord, wanting to do godly things, trying to be a righteous person. And if you don't ever have that, my question is how godly are you? No, I'm just kidding. Romans chapter one, verse seven, the Bible says, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Again, we see another church whose reputation is preceding them, who the whole world can see their faith. What is faith? Faith is trusting in God's promises. So obviously, they're being tried in some way, and they're having faith in what God said that's contrary to the flesh, contrary to something that they can see, and they're struggling, but because they're so faithful, because they're following God's word and they're trusting in God's word, they have a great reputation. And that's the kind of church that I wanna have, is one where we have great faith, where we can be a great ensemble, where people can look at our church and say, these guys are ready for any adversity. They're gonna let the word of God increase no matter what happens, no matter who's thrown in prison, no matter what kind of martyr's happening, no matter what kind of persecution's happening, they're always gonna abound in the work of the Lord. Go to 2 Timothy chapter number three. You know, Jesus said in Matthew 10, but when they persecute you in this city, quit and go home. Oh wait, no, flee into another. He says, hey, that's not, that's not strange. That's gonna obviously happen. So when you get persecuted, just go to the next one, and then just go to the next one, and then just go to the next one, and preach to everyone. Preach the gospel to every creature is what the Bible says. But we shouldn't think it's strange when we're persecuted. You know, it says in 2 Timothy chapter three verse 10, but thou is fully known by doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. What persecutions I endured. I like that statement. Cause he's like, like it triggers him. He starts thinking about all the things that happened. And if you read through Acts, that few sections of chapters, it's intense. I mean, he's just constantly stoned, and they're following him around, heavily persecuting him, and he's constantly being under threat of death, and all these things. I mean, if someone's constantly trying to kill you, that's a lot of stress. You think that your project due on Monday morning stress, how about somebody wanting to physically kill you? That's way more stress, okay? And we see the apostle Paul's going through all kinds of constant stress, happening to watch every single one of his steps that he takes. And I like that statement. What persecutions I endured. I mean, he's like, if you only knew, but out of them all, the Lord delivered you. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. If you live godly, if you follow Christ's commandments, if you go out and preach the gospel, if you go to the right church, if you support the man of God, you will be persecuted. It's gonna happen. Get over it. Just realize it's gonna happen. Embrace it. You say, why embrace it? Well, the Bible tells you to embrace it, and to rejoice and be exceeding glad. Go to 2 Timothy 4. I'll read for you Matthew 5. You say, so what should I think of martyrdom? Be faithful unto death. What should I think of persecution? Well, Jesus said, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. You know, I'd love it if the spirit of our church, if someone died for Christ, for the cause of Christ, we'd be excited. If someone was persecuted for the cause of Christ, we would be exceeding glad. Why, because that's what the Bible tells us to do. Not because it's my opinion, that's Christ's opinion. That's what Christ is saying. But if people are already nervous and don't want it to happen, guess what? It's gonna happen. Yea, and all that will of God be in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The only way we will not suffer persecution is if we become Joel Osteen. We won't suffer, we'll suffer chastisement. We'll suffer punishment, which I would way rather have persecution than punishment, than chastisement of God. I would rather be persecuted for righteousness sake than us getting liberal and weak and watered down. Look, if we stop soul winning and we don't preach any of the unpopular doctrines, we'll just blend in with the other thousand Baptist churches here. We'll be exactly like them. You say, what's different between you and a lot of these other churches? Well, we have aggressive evangelism and we preach the whole Bible. And you know what, that's gonna cause us to be persecuted. That's gonna cause us to stand out. You know what, we gotta get excited when someone stands out for those reasons. We better be excited when someone preaches an anti-Zionist sermon and they get stoned to death. When someone preaches the gospel and they're being arrested and thrown in jail for preaching the gospel. But the greatest is the fact that many times when we think something really bad's gonna happen, it turns out that God's gonna deliver you anyways. And then the bad thing that you're fearing doesn't even happen. Look, we're not all gonna die a martyr. You say, I don't want to. Well, there's a good chance you won't. Even if you're faithful unto God. Because many times the apostle Paul is delivered. Stephen wasn't, but that was what God's will was for Stephen. And we see the apostle Paul, he wasn't a martyr because it wasn't God's will. He had plenty of opportunities to be a martyr. He literally was stoned to death, but he somehow survived it multiple times. Why? Because God wanted to continue using him. Look at 2nd Timothy chapter four verse 14. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works. Of whom be thou we're also. For he had greatly withstood our words. And my first answer, no man stood with me. But all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Does that sound familiar? Sounds a lot like Stephen, doesn't it? Every man forsook him. And you know what he said? Hey, I pray God that it would not be laid to their charge. Who set that example, Stephen? Stephen set that example, didn't he? Let's keep reading, verse 17. Now withstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. To whom be glory forever and ever, amen. So the Apostle Paul was delivered. He was constantly delivered, why? So that the preaching could be fully known. So that all the Gentiles might hear through the faith of the Apostle Paul which was on the shoulders of Stephen, which was on the shoulders of Jesus Christ and all the prophets before them. Go to Daniel chapter number three, Daniel chapter number three. The Bible says in second Peter chapter two, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under the day of judgment to be punished. You say, well, how, you know, how do I understand if I'm gonna be the Apostle Paul or if I'm gonna be the Apostle Stephen? I don't, Stephen wasn't an apostle, but he was, you know, he was a disciple, okay, of the Christ. He's probably a deacon. He was obviously an evangelist. He was a preacher of God's work. But how do I know if I'm gonna be the Stephen or I'm gonna be the Paul of the story? Well, when I study the Bible, let me tell you the answer, you don't. But you know what, we can still have the same attitude no matter what the outcome is gonna be. Look at Daniel chapter three verse 16. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. These three men were tried unto death. He said, Worship my false gods? They said no. We're not even careful to answer you. We're ready to say no right now. You know what, God can deliver us out of this. And even if he doesn't, we're never gonna bow down to these false gods. And you know what, they weren't thrown in that fire. I don't believe that they knew they were gonna be rescued. But they had the faith and they knew that God could and they knew if God will, he would. They knew if God wants them to be a living sacrifice, they'll walk out, and if he wants them to be a martyr, they'll die a martyr. But you know what, either way, the word of God's gonna increase. And let's keep reading. Look at verse 20, let's skip down. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to cast them in the burning, firing furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats. Sounds like the Apostle Paul, right? He's bound, even unto bonds, right? They're hosing in their hats and their other garments and were cast in the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was urgent and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning, fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was a stoneed and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, did not we cast three men bound in the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, true, O king. And he answered and said, lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they have no earth. And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. What a powerful verse. What a powerful picture of the fact that, you know what, death has no power over us. Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? You know what, when you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you will not be hurt the second death is what the Bible says. And this is the picture of the fact that even if the devil throws you in himself, Jesus Christ is gonna deliver you. And they didn't have anything singed on them. Not a hair on their face, not an article of clothing, not even just a little stray thread. Nothing, why? Because Jesus Christ took their punishment. Another picture of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered in hell for us. He took our place in hell that he did not deserve, that we deserve. And through his sacrifice, we oughta go out and preach his sacrifice so that the word of God can abound. So that sacrifice is not in vain, right? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, hey, we went through the fiery furnace and survived, but we're not gonna tell anybody about it. That'd be a joke, right, that'd have been in vain. It's in the Bible, so we get to hear all about it, right? So that's great, it didn't happen. Let's keep reading, let's see what happens through this great sacrifice. Says in verse 27, then the princes, governors, and captains, and kings, counselors, being gathered together, saw these men. Upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was any hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him and have changed the king's word and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own god. Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made of dung hill, because there is no other god that can deliver after this sword. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Now, in the midst of their struggle, they're being brought before the king of Babylon, and they're basically looking death down the barrel. In a sense, they see the fiery furnace, they know, hey, we're gonna be thrown in here. They didn't know they were gonna come out surviving. They didn't know that they were gonna be promoted. They didn't know the word of God was gonna increase and abound. But if you follow God's commandments, if you're faithful unto death, whether he delivers you or not, the word of God is gonna increase. And we can always pray and ask God and say, please deliver me. I want to be delivered. You can desire to be delivered. I do desire it. I don't desire to depart from my wife to depart from my children. But you know what? I wanna be faithful unto whatever this book says, period, because I know that it'll cause the word of God to increase. And in fact, many cases, you will be delivered. Many cases, God does want to deliver you. And if he doesn't, it was his will anyways. But notice that the word of God goes to every people, nation, and language. You think in hindsight they were second-guessing their decision? Oh, that didn't really work out. Oh, that was amazing. The wonderful works of God. Every single person hears about our God through our great faith. And we see, why do people hear of our great faith? Not because everything's going good for them. Lifestyle evangelism, right? Oh, I'm just, everything's great and wonderful and fantastic and everything, just roses everywhere. The prosperity preachers, right? Have you seen me? I got another Corvette and I got another airplane and I got a bigger mansion. Please tell me what God you serve. Please let me believe on Jesus Christ now, right? Isn't that what lifestyle evangelism teaches? But then you being thrown in jail and stoned to death and thrown in the fiery furnace, that's how God actually lets his word of God increase, doesn't he? Through real trials and persecutions and struggles and fights and drama. Yeah. Through those type of things is how the word of God increases. Through the cross. The cross of Jesus Christ is how the whole world gets the gospel. Go if you would to Psalms 51. Only two more places I wanna look at this evening. The Bible says in Acts 12, and when Herod would have brought him forth the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with chains and the keepers before the door kept the prison. You know, Peter was bound. But you know what? Through the fervent prayer of many Christians, he was delivered. And the Bible says in Isaiah 54, no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. The Bible says in Matthew chapter 16 verse 18, and I say also unto thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So we ought not look at that type of situation and say, oh, our church is going downhill. We ought to think I can't get, I'm excited because our church is gonna increase now. The word of God's gonna increase through this great sacrifice and faith and the persecution and the martyrdom and all these things. Why? That's how God is gonna spread the gospel again one last time. Look at Psalms 51 verse 14. What should I think of deliverance? Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. When we get delivered, it should cause us to rejoice and sing unto God and to declare and to publish his faithfulness. But go to Matthew 24, the last place I wanna have you turn. So God is gonna use martyrdom for his word to increase. God is gonna use persecution for his word to increase. God is gonna use deliverance for his word to increase. You know what? I like the persecution deliverance plan more than the martyrdom one. But you know what? I'm gonna rejoice in all of it. I'm gonna say, whether God delivers or not, I'm not gonna bow the knee to Baal. I'm not gonna worship your gods, O King Nebuchadnezzar. I'm not careful to answer thee in this matter. And when I see another Christian having great faith, I'm not gonna think, oh, that's discouraging. I'm gonna think, I don't want that to go to waste. I don't want that to go to vain. I wanna use that persecution and suffering for the glory of God. And that is how God is gonna get the gospel one last time to the world. Look at Matthew 24, verse eight. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. So what were two of the things we looked at, being killed and persecuted? What does God say is going to happen in the future? We're gonna be persecuted and we're gonna be killed. Why are you preaching this sermon, Pastor Shelley? Because it's going to happen, whether you like it or not. But the reality is we should look at it with joy. We should look at it with excitement, being like, I don't wanna be the lukewarm church in a time of great persecution and martyrdom. I wanna be the Thessalonicans. I wanna be the one where they're looking at it. Y'all are great in sample. You guys are so awesome. You have great faith. You really love the Lord. You're ready to lay down your life. You're ready to be killed as sheep to the slaughter. You're ready to go out, why? So the word of God can increase, not for our own glory, not for our own, you know, oh, we're so wonderful and special. No, so that the word of God can increase so that other people can take our faith and great works can be done for them. Look, Stephen doesn't get as much glory as Apostle Paul, but it's clear through his sacrifice, he greatly influenced the Apostle Paul to do his works. And you know what? Even if our church doesn't get all the glory, wouldn't it be great if we influenced someone else to do great works for God? Through our sacrifice, someone else has the faith and the courage to do great works for God. Let's keep reading. It says in verse 10, and then shall many be offended and shall betray one another and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, isn't that true? And shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. So what have we studied? We've studied that through martyrdom, the word of God's gonna increase. We've studied through persecution, the word of God's gonna increase. But you know what? Some people are gonna be delivered. Why don't you just pray that you're the one that's delivered? You know, the people that I think are ready to do the most work, God's gonna probably want to use them to be the ones that get delivered, the ones that make it unto the end. And it's gonna be a great witness and testimony. Why? Because the gospel will go to all the world. That's what Jesus said. That came out of his mouth. He said the whole world's gonna get the gospel again. The question is, are you gonna be a part of it? Are you gonna go to the lukewarm Baptist church? Are you gonna go to the Thessalonica church? Are you gonna be the one that was martyred? Are you gonna be one that was persecuted? Are you gonna be one that delivered? You get to decide. It's not Calvinist here. You weren't ordained to be martyred just without your own will. You get to decide if you're martyred. And hopefully it's for righteousness' sake, right? I would hate to be killed for some ungodly reason. We could be excited to be killed for a godly reason. We could be excited to go out with a bang, to have great triumph through the Lord Jesus Christ who will deliver us. And even if Paul's in bonds, you know what our attitude should be? The word of God is not bound. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your word. Thank you so much for the ensembles that we see through other great men of faith, through other great churches. I pray that would inspire and provoke us under good works. It would inspire and provoke us to look at the trials and tribulations and persecutions before us and rather embrace them and be excited and be encouraged when they happen not to shy away, not to be discouraged, not to allow them to cause us to quit, but rather to embrace thy word and to love thy word and lean more upon you. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.