Our Duty and Courage in Christ - Pastor Tom Loghry
Paul rebukes the high priest after being struck and declares he is on trial for the hope of the resurrection, prompting a dispute that forces the Roman commander to remove him. The Lord encourages Paul and promises he will testify in Rome. A plot to assassinate Paul is uncovered, leading Claudius Lysias to escort Paul by night with a large guard to Governor Felix, who finds no charge deserving death.
Transcript:
Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!"
Dear Father, as we come before your word this morning, we pray that you would use it to encourage us, to encourage us by the testimony of your faithful care for us, that you would use it to encourage us to be brave, to carry out the duty that you have handed to us, that we would fear you above all things. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. You may be seated.
Who do you fear? I can tell you there is one you should fear, but I don't know if he is the one you fear. Who do you fear? Maybe it's not a specific person, not any one specific face looming in your mind's imagination. Maybe it is bigger than that. You fear the crowd, facing social disapproval, or worse. You fear becoming the outcast, the butt of jokes, that person. The threat of a sort of death, losing your place, your belonging, your sense of identity.
Popularity and praise, acceptance, we crave it. God created us to be social creatures. It is not good for man to be alone. We fear the isolation. We fear death, but we should fear God more.
Standing for the truth has consequences. When Jesus hints to the disciple the mission that they're going to be taking up, he also tells them who they should fear, because tough times are going to confront them, things that would make anyone fearful. He says in Matthew ten, verses twenty-seven through twenty-eight, "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight. What is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
If we are more fearful of other human beings than we are of God, we will fold when it counts every single time. When the cards are down on the table, we must reckon whether we will listen to God or whether we will listen to man. Peter and John set before us their own example in Acts four. Maybe some of you will remember this from when we covered it previously.
When the Sanhedrin told them to stop preaching the gospel, they said to them in Acts four, verse nineteen through twenty, "Which is right in God's eyes? To listen to you or to Him? You be the judges. As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
We encounter a similar situation here in Acts twenty-three as Paul himself stands before the Sanhedrin, a body of up to seventy-one elders of the people. The Roman commander wants answers as to why Paul is causing so much unrest and so he brings Paul to them. So picking up with the last verse of chapter twenty-two, verse thirty, we begin reading, "The commander wanted to find out exactly why, why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them." And as was read before, "Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, 'My brothers, I've fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.' At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, 'God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.' Those who were standing near Paul said "How dare you insult God's high priest?" Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest. For it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'" Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead." When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the assembly was divided. The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things. There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"
So Paul is on trial here. He's on trial before a body that cannot kill him necessarily, just as they couldn't have killed Jesus themselves, but their report is going to be very influential in, in determining what the commander might do with Paul. And so standing before them, Paul makes his defense, and his defense is simply this: "My brothers, I've fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience."
What Paul is saying essentially is, "I'm standing before you in the position that you may judge me, but in fact, I know that before the, the one true judge, God, that I stand faultless. I'm, because I have done all that he called me to do." And we know what he was called to do, which caused some controversy, which is that he was sent to be an apostle to the Gentiles, to bring news to the world that salvation had come not only for the Jews, but for all people in Jesus Christ. Knowing that this is what God had called him to do, even as he faces a body, a group of men who he was raised to revere and respect, a body that he probably wished and desired would say, "Good job, Paul."
Despite all that, he rests assured because he knows he's approved by God, even if these men might reject him. It brings to mind both the words of Jesus and Paul's words elsewhere. Jesus in Luke 17:10 says that when the Master returns, when He returns, we should be able to say this: "so you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty.'" And Paul in Galatians 1:9-10 says in verse 10, "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I was still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." In 1 Thessalonians 2:3-4, in verse four he says, "We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts."
You see, if you follow Jesus, there's a very strong chance that you're not going to please people, that sometimes you're going to make them upset, that they're gonna disapprove of you, that they're gonna say that you're doing something that is wrong. But we have a higher duty. We have a higher call. And we have no need to congratulate ourselves in doing that because it is our duty. It is what we are expected to do. We are not going above and beyond. Jesus Christ is Lord, he is due our complete loyalty and fidelity.
And so with that in mind, Paul is able to stand before this body and say, "I have a clear conscience even as you disapprove of me."
Now, this is a call that all of us should take into account for our own lives, that we should consider that as we've been called to be faithful unto God above all things, that we would not be swayed by the disapproval of others when we know that, when their way is going against the ways of God. Now, I've heard it said before, bi-vocational ministry is a, is a great thing and, and it can be a great thing for pastors that work both out in the marketplace and work in the church.
Sometimes I've heard it said that one of the benefits of doing that is then you, you're not held captive by a congregation if they want you to do something that doesn't align with God's Word. And that's always bothered me a little bit, and it's bothered me because it should not matter. It should not matter. Even if a pastor fears that a church may decide, "We wanna get rid of you. You're done here. You're gonna lose your job. You're gonna lose the place that you live," it should not matter. And I can tell you that does not matter to me. It's not about the money, and Paul has said that multiple times in his ministry, that it's not about the money, it's not about the approval of, of others.
Which again, we can imagine Paul desiring here. It's about God's approval, and can I stand with a clear conscience before him?
So that's what Paul has to say for himself. Hopefully we can say that of ourselves. Now, for saying that, the high priest, in hearing Paul, says, tells one of his underlings, "Go hit him in the mouth. Go strike him in the mouth."
Now imagine, I, you know, the concept of these high priests and these religious figures are, is very foreign. But imagine if I told someone to do that to you. Imagine how inappropriate that would be. It would be completely out of the character for one who is supposed to be a pastor. It is completely out of the character of one who is supposed to be a high priest, the high priest of God.
And so this is why Paul's very upset when he, I mean, anyone would be upset if you got hit in the mouth. But this is a great injustice in a court that is supposed to be about upholding God's justice, God's righteousness. And so in response, Paul curses him. He says, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck."
This particular form of condemning him, calling him a whitewashed wall, recalls Jesus' own condemnation of the Pharisees as being whitewashed tombs. Pretty on the outside, dead on the inside. You use whitewash to give a good appearance, but it's crumbling, it's falling apart. It's just, just all a show. And that's what this guy is. He's all show. He's got all, he, he likely has the garb of a high priest. He has all the pretense of a high priest. But he's not a man of God on the inside. Now, when Paul says this, the others in the Sanhedrin are highly offended by what he says. They say, "How dare you insult God's high priest?"
Now just think about how, how rich this is. They're, they're upset about Paul condemning him for striking him in the mouth. But they haven't said a word about the fact that this guy is acting completely out of turn by telling Paul, saying that Paul should be hit in the mouth, and that actually happening. They don't really care about true righteousness. And so Paul's response here is, is very interesting. And commentators differ on it. Some think maybe in some way or another Paul genuinely did not know that Ananias was the high priest. He'd been away for a while, could be supposed. But he was very familiar. And like I said, it's likely that Ananias was probably wearing some garb that may have indicated that he was the high priest. And so I, my own interpretation here goes with those commentators who say that Paul, in his response, makes a sarcastic point.
Which is to say, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest. For it is written do not speak evil about the ruler of your people." Now what is he saying there? He's saying essentially in that sort of tone that this guy looks nothing like a high priest of God. He's unrecognizable because of his conduct.
And so after giving that response, Paul realizes things are, things are a little iffy here . They're a little dicey here. And he has a very, he has some wise insight because he notices how the body of the Sanhedrin is broken up between Pharisees and Sadducees. And he exploits the differences between these parties to his own benefit. So in verse six he says, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection." Now as, as explained in verse eight, and I love this. It's like, so often in the Bible you don't, you don't have explanations about some of the backgrounds on these things.
In verse eight, Luke actually just gives us, you know, what is the difference between these two groups. The differences between the Pharisees and Sadducees is this, is that the Pharisees believe in the resurrection, and the Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection. Now a little tool to keep, to help you remember that is the Pharisees, I mean the Sadducees do not believe in resurrection. That's why they're sad, you see. Get it? Get it? Get it? Yeah. It'll help you remember. They don't believe in resurrection. They don't believe, they don't believe in resurrection. In fact, they didn't believe in any sort of afterlife. You die, that's it. They also didn't believe any spirits or angels. Now usually the Sadducees made up sort of the priestly class, and they were in good with the Roman authorities. So in the big scheme of things, the Pharisees are actually the ones that are closest to the teaching of the Christian faith, even while many of them rejected Christ. But we've also heard about how there was Pharisees that became Christians, and it makes sense 'cause it's a little closer, because if you're a Sadducee, you can't even admit resurrection as a thing.
And all of Paul's message is built upon the resurrection, the resurrection of Christ and what it brings. Now, just so you understand why Paul and the Pharisees had good grounds for believing in, in the resurrection, we see in the prophets how it is foretold that there is going to be a resurrection. In Isaiah 26:19 it says, "But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise-- let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy-- your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead." And in Daniel 12, verses two through three: "Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." So that's anticipating the final resurrection when all the dead will be raised, and some will go into eternal life, and others will go into destruction. The thing about Jesus is, is that we have a bit of the end in the middle. This is how, when it says, when we say that Jesus is the first fruits, this is what we mean. He's the first one who is resurrected of all the dead that are going to be resurrected. And so he comes into the middle of the, of, of history to signal God's salvation and what he is doing in bringing all people to himself.
So when Paul says that he's on trial for the hope of the resurrection of the dead, he's being truthful, because the, this hope of the resurrection of the dead is of a piece with this invitation to the Gentiles, that they might be brought into the people of God. We can see how, how this all hangs together in Ephesians 2, and this is where it's important to kind of look at a larger passage of text to see all the different pieces and, and how it's all hanging together.
We see at the beginning of the chapter, in verses six and seven, it says, "And God raised us up with Christ." Paul is making a, an allusion here to Christ's resurrection. "And seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus," talking about Jesus' ascension, "in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus."
And then later in the passage, in verse 11, he, then he starts talking about the Gentiles. Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision-- remember that at that time you were separated from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. The only way that they can be brought near by the blood of Christ is if Christ is raised from the dead. If the, if Christ is not raised from the dead, there's no, there's no justification, there's no sacrifice for our sins. He is raised from the dead, he ascends to the right hand of the Father, and he intercedes on our behalf as our high priest.
So when he says this, when he says, "This is why I'm on trial here," it starts a real fight. There's a huge uproar, and the Pharisees start arguing vigorously. They, they, it's kind of a humorous scene to imagine how originally they were kind of against him, and now they're like, "Wait a minute." And they're like, they, they say, "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said, "And what if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?"
So they're not necessarily saying they believe Paul, but they're willing to admit that maybe he had some sort of experience on the road to Damascus. They're not ready to buy into Jesus, but they're definitely not willing to grant to the Sadducees that there is no resurrection, and that there is no spirits and no angels and none of that.
And so he, he starts a, just a, a huge fight here. And in fact, Paul might have done too good of a job of dividing them on this. Continuing on in verse 10, it says, The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." So things are so bad, the Roman commander, you can imagine his exasperation. He's, he's like, "I thought I was gonna get answers here." Instead he has to bring Paul back out of this mob and bring him back to the barracks to make sure that he doesn't get killed.
And in verse 11, we see that it says that the Lord stood near Paul. Now, it's interesting to think about what was that? Was that just a, a sense that Paul had, or was that an actual appearance of Christ to Paul? It says that the Lord stood near Paul to offer him encouragement. He tells him, you can imagine, again, we think, I think sometimes we forget about the humanity of guys like the Apostle Paul, of how discouraged he might have been from an experience like this. Like, yeah, he wasn't killed, but once again, these leading rulers of the, the, of his people, his countrymen, were rejecting him, and here he is imprisoned by Romans.
You might imagine that he's asking, "God, where are you in all of this?" And we know that Paul was a man of great faith, but even Paul needs to be encouraged. And so Jesus gives him encouragement here. He says, "Take courage; as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." Paul has a mission. He has a purpose. He's to go to Rome, and then beyond that, he's planning to go elsewhere in the Mediterranean, even to Spain with the gospel. The Lord is telling him, "I'm with you. You're gonna get there. You're gonna accomplish the purpose that I have for you." It brings to mind the encouragement that Paul received in Corinth.
Remember in Corinth, there was some division between him and the Jews there. He had to leave the synagogue, and then some of the Jews from the synagogue, even the leader of the synagogue joined the church. And the Lord came to him in, in Corinth and, and told him in Acts 18 verse 9, "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack you and harm you, because I have many people in this city."
This encouragement from God reminds us of God's faithful presence with His people throughout all generations. It might bring back to mind for some of you who are well acquainted with the Old Testament, God's promise to the people of Israel and to Joshua. We, we hear this again and again in the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 and 2 Chronicles.
But in particular, the first instance we, we see here is in Deuteronomy 31:6, where Moses tells the people, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you." That is where we draw our courage from. We stand resolute because we know where our duty comes from.
It's not from man. It's from God. We stand resolute because our aim is to please Him only. We're not aiming to please man We know that we answer it to him. But we take courage, we're able to move forward because we know that God is with us. Now insofar as we are walking in accordance with his purpose, as we are walking in obedience to him, we know that he will not abandon us.
Now, it doesn't mean it's gonna be easy. You know, Paul's life hasn't been easy up to this point, and it's still gonna be difficult moving forward. And we can understand the same for ourselves. God has given each one of you an individual call that is incorporated into the general call that we have as a church, as in, and as Christians, to testify to the truth of the gospel, to lead one another in following Jesus, to lead our families in following Christ.
It's not always easy. In the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, come to mind very often, "We are hard pressed on every side, perplexed, persecuted." Sometimes we feel struck down. But Paul says this, balancing out those experiences. He says, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed."
Yes, we go through hardship. But because Christ is with us, we know that we are not destroyed. And we can say that even if it ends up in, if, if it ends up killing us, we know that we're not destroyed. Why? Because of the hope of resurrection. We see all the more God's provision and protection over Paul as we read this chapter to its end.
Continuing in verse 12: The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than 40 men were involved in this plot. They went to the chief priests and the elders and said, "We've taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here." But when the son of Paul's sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him." So he took him to the commander. The centurion said, "Paul, the prisoner sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you." The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, "What is it you want to tell me?" He said, "Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. Don't give in to them, because more than 40 of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request." The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: "Don't tell anyone that you have reported this to me." Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, "Get ready a detachment of 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. Provide horses for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix." He wrote a letter as follows: "Claudius Lysias, to His Excellency, Governor Felix: greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him." So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brought him as far as Antipatris. The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning he, that he was from Cilicia, he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers get here." Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod's palace.
Paul's opponents in Jerusalem are so keen on opposing him that they're willing to kill him to shut him up. 40 men take a perverse oath. It's an oath before, they make this oath before God. They say, "We will not eat or drink. We are going to fast until we kill Paul." Again, just, just like how the high priest struck Paul, had Paul struck across the face, we see how God's ways are being twisted here.
It's a false sort of zeal for God. And what's worse here is that it's not only, you have these 40 men that make this, this oath, is they go to the, they go to the high priest, the elders, and they get the, the Sanhedrin in on it, that they should invite Paul to come back so that he can give a more accurate account, get some more accurate information, so they can kill him on the way there. Now, providentially, and I say providentially because, I mean, we don't know how this happened, but it just so happened that Paul's nephew was in earshot.
This is a little interesting vignette, just to think about, yeah, Paul was a guy that had, had family, and apparently his nephew was living in the city. Maybe his sister lived in the city. We don't know how old he was, we expect he was a young man. Could have been a boy. Maybe he was a bit older. Any case, he hears what's being plotted against his uncle. And so he goes to Paul and tells him, and Paul tells the centurion, who then tells the commander what's going on by bringing this nephew to him. And the commander, Claudius Lysias, tells Paul's nephew, don't tell anyone about this. Don't tell anyone because you can't trust anyone. He's afraid that if anyone else hears about it, then they'll just change their plans.
And Claudius Lysias has a plan of his own. I mean, get this. Just imagine this image. This man Paul, a follower of Christ, the one who is crucified by the Romans, now goes forth from Jerusalem as though he's a Roman commander himself. He is set on horseback and he is accompanied by 470 soldiers. A good part of the Roman contingent there. 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, 200 spearmen. And I just see some of God's humor in this, of how these powers which would try to oppose him, he just takes them and he works them unto his purpose so that Paul is perfectly protected, even though he's under arrest. He's perfectly protected so that he's delivered in the cover of night, 9 o'clock at night, to Caesarea.
Now, in his letter to Governor Felix, Claudius Lysias explains to him that I don't see anything against this guy. It just seems like it's a religious matter. In any case, though, Paul is held prisoner there until some of the Sanhedrin can show up to have another trial. But again, there's just an irony here of the protection that Paul is under here, of God using the Romans, of him being protected in, and of all places, in Herod's palace. We see the hand of God at work. So Felix holds him until his accusers show and another trial awaits us.
In the year 1521, at the Diet of Worms, the father of the Protestant Reformation found himself on trial. Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk who defied the Roman Catholic Church by protesting its manipulative practice of selling indulgences to supposedly free souls from purgatory, and by protesting its message that one had to earn salvation rather than receiving it as a gift in Christ, this Martin Luther found himself in a tough spot. The Roman Catholic authorities were calling him to recant, that is, to deny his teachings, to say, "I, I was all wrong about all those things." The Roman Catholic Church that he loved, the authorities he was raised to respect, were now coming down on him, and his life was very much at stake.
And yet, at that trial he responded, "My conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. Amen."
Duty to God, fear of God above all else. It is the way of Paul. It is the way of Martin. It is the way of the Christian. After leaving Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments, Moses tells the people of God this, and it applies no less to us today. Deuteronomy 10, verses 10 through, chapter 10, verses 12 through 13 and 20. "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I'm giving you today for your own good? Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name."
In the face of every fear, the fear of the Lord will lead us in the way that we should go. Hold fast to him. Hold fast to him. As Solomon tells us in Proverbs 29:25, "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe."
Now, that doesn't mean the way is easy. Paul is kept safe in prison of all places, but he can take courage in all things because the Lord is with him. And as we walk in the fear of the Lord, we can trust that he is with us. That is why we stand firm. That is why we speak up when we must and as we've been called by the Lord.
We are called to fearlessly embrace the cross because no amount of shame or rejection, not even death itself, can separate us from the love of God. In the end, all of these terrible things will fade away when we stand before the Lord, the awesome presence of the Lord. And what will He say? What will He say?
Have we been faithful to our charge? Will we hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant"? And will we say, "We are unworthy servants. We have only done our duty"? It is all that matters in the end. It is all that matters.
See that this is so. Do not falter now. Persevere to the end in obedience to the Lord and to His calling. Let us pray.
Dear Father, we see here in this passage your wonderful power, your faithfulness to your children, of how you were working through even these hardships to accomplish your purpose, the mission that you had for Paul.
And Father, we pray that you would make us like Paul, each one of us here, that we would fear you as much as he feared you, that we would feel the full gravity and seriousness, the duty that we have before you.
Not so that we would be burdened, Lord, but so that we'd be liberated. Father, we pray that you would liberate us from the fear of men.
Father, help us to fear only you.
And give us courage, Father, with the knowledge that Jesus Christ is with us, that He's with us to the end of the ages and that we are kept perfectly safe as we trust in you. Father, we ask that you would be glorified in us as we serve you, as we carry out this duty. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday as we worship God and hear the preaching of his word. It's our joy to welcome you into our community
Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)