Nicholas Vega
Sermon Transcription:
Good morning, Church! I hope that you have been blessed today so far. I hope you had a blessed weekend. Today, if there was a title, the title would be called "Beautiful Are The Feet" with a subtitle: "Praying for Boldness." Before we get into the main scripture today, I want to start off with a different scripture that I received during our worship time. If you could pull up Matthew 5:13-16, this is going to mean something a little later as we go through our sermon today. Matthew 5:13-16 says this: "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
So I don’t know about you guys, but for me, for a long time, there has been a sentiment—kind of a teaching, if you will—that comes from the enemy through our culture. It tells us how to live, how to love, and how to be tolerant of people. In today's day and age, the teaching is not to offend people—not to offend their feelings, their beliefs, or their opinions. There is a sentiment that says love looks like toleration. Love looks like you not offending people or what they believe in. But ultimately, it is the enemy that tries to keep those who know the truth—who believe in Christ away and keep them silent. It’s not the culture itself, because we don’t fight against flesh and blood. We fight against principalities and authorities in the heavenly realms. We have a bigger enemy than the flesh and blood we see.
Even though the enemy may use culture as a mouthpiece—through movies, TV shows, and recurring themes—we must recognize that the enemy is always trying to tame the Word of God and keep believers quiet. You know what this looks like. In your workplaces, there are HR disclaimers: "You can’t discriminate. You can’t talk about certain things." There’s this idea that if you talk about God, you’re offending people, and you’re not allowed to do that. Let me give you an example. A lot of you know my story, but I a lot of new people today. For those who don’t know me, my name is Nicholas—nice to meet you all! I should have introduced myself earlier. I’m from New York. I went to Bible school in Pennsylvania. I lived in Canada for a bit, then in Maine for a while. I’ve been a little all over the place.
During my journey, after an internship in Canada, I moved back to New York City and worked in a hospital—specifically in the psych ward—for a year. During that time, there was a woman who managed the psych ward in one of the New York City hospitals. She was retiring, and before she left, she had a plan. She wanted to bring a few believers onto the floor so that the floor would be covered—so they could be around and keeping tings straight. As believers, we know that sometimes spiritual things are behind mental illness. Being a believer we are able to bring those issues we know that we have a God who listens to our prayers and moves when we call on Him. So, her plan was to bring in a few believers into the psych ward. I knew a couple of people from my dad’s church who were working there with me. We were friends.
But then something happened that I was really drawn back. One of my friends pulled me aside and said, "I really need this job. Could we not act like we know each other? Could we not talk about God while we’re here?" That moment baffled me. I was thinking, We grew up on the same block. We go to the same church. What do you mean act like we don’t know each other? I couldn’t believe it. I thought, Are you not called to live in the light, too? And just like that, there are so many instances in our lives where the enemy tries to tame us and keep us quiet. Because he knows what can happen when somebody starts to hear the gospel for the first time. And good thing that I was so grateful, you know. And I'm going to confess—I used to live this way. This is the reason why I'm preaching, because I used to live this way. You know, I learned to be tamed in the way. I learned to respect people's opinions, respect their ideas and beliefs about my God, if you will. I learned to not necessarily respond to maybe somebody's complaint or so on and so forth with the actual truth about who God is in situations because I wanted to love them. But you and I know that that is not love. You and I know what the reality—our reality—and the state of humanity is today.
Today, people are going to hell. That is the reality. If people choose to reject God or to reject His way of salvation, which is Jesus Christ, people are unfortunately going to hell. But there are some—those who don't actually know Him, who don't know the way. They have believed the lies that you can come to God through different ways, that you can come to God through whatever way as long as you're genuine. And, you know, I was one of those people that was just like, "Okay, nice." And it was recently that God kind of convicted me of that. He convicted me with this story that we're going to get into here in Acts chapter 4. But He showed me that, "Yo, you're not supposed to do this anymore. You can't do this anymore. You can't be silent anymore or effortlessly be silent when it comes to God."
Because God is with me everywhere I go, you understand? It's like having your best friend here, and somebody's talking smack about your best friend—are you going to stay shut? Like, come on now. And that was how it was for me. And it was crazy because, as a matter of fact, let's just get into the Word real quick. So, Church, the Bible says that we are the salt of the earth. We are the light of the world. And the enemy tries to make that salt become dull. The enemy tries to make that lamp—the light—become dim. He tries to put that bucket over that candle so that it goes out. And today, God wants to keep that from happening. We, as believers, are to let that light shine, and let it shine through word and deed and our good works so that people can come to know Christ for themselves.
So let's go to Acts. Our main scripture is going to be Acts 4:23-31. But the context here is that the disciples—the apostles of Jesus—have recently experienced Jesus went up to heaven. He gave them the charge to go and make disciples of all the earth. He told them to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, that they may be endued with power to be a witness for Jesus Christ.
And here, in chapter 3, we have Peter and John going into the temple to pray because it was the time of prayer. On their way to the temple, there was a man who had been lame since birth. Everybody knew him. He looked at them and was asking them for an offering—asking for money, just like people on the street today. And it says that Peter and John looked at him and said, "Hey, I don't have money for you, but what I do have, I can give you. In the name of Jesus, rise up." And so he rose up, and he was healed in that moment.
In that moment, a crowd gathered around them in amazement. Peter and John were then able to start proclaiming the gospel and bringing forth the truth. Because of this, the religious leaders—the Pharisees, the scribes, the Sadducees—came, arrested Peter and John, and put them in jail along with the healed man. They were held in jail overnight, and in the morning, they were brought before a council—just like what happened with Jesus. But Peter and John took this opportunity again to preach the gospel to the Pharisees, the scribes, and all the religious leaders. Because of this, the religious leaders, unable to deny that a well-known lame man was now miraculously healed, had nothing to say. However, they threatened the believers, trying to silence them—commanding them to never again preach in the name of Jesus or proclaim His power.
Here we have Acts 4:23, and we're going to read all the way through. It says this: "And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voices to God with one accord and said:'Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: Why did the nations rage,And the people plot vain things?The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.For truly against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.
Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.'And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness."
Hallelujah! So, Church, just like back then, the people of God today consistently deal with the enemy trying to tame them and shut them up. Satan doesn’t want people coming to their salvation in Jesus. Oftentimes, we may find that it is the religious people in our lives who try to keep us shut. They try to bind us again with bondage cloaked as good works. They try to say that it’s Jesus plus the good works that you do. So, but we see that the disciples' response to people trying to shut them up was, "God, look on their threats. Look, take account of the fact that they are trying to do this, and, you know, grant Your servants—grant us—that we may speak with boldness and that with, you know, with the Holy Spirit, the power of the Holy Spirit, people may be healed, and there may be miraculous signs and wonders that people may turn to Christ." You know, the response wasn't to love people the way that the culture wants people to love. The response was, "No, let us be even more bold. Let us continue. God, make a way for us to continue to preach the good news to people." And I'm not talking about, you know, now going onto the street and necessarily preaching fire and brimstone to people.
That's not what I'm saying, right? Let's not take it to the extreme. But what I am saying, and what I have started to do when this happened to me, was to, you know, every morning start to pray, "God, fill me with boldness today. Fill me with courage today. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and fill me again with Your Holy Spirit that I may be a witness to Christ." And Church, I dare you to do this. You know, I dare you to do this. Come back next week and tell me what happened. Because, you know, this is already on the heart of God for us. You know, God wants people to be saved, and if He has a willing vessel, He's going to use that willing vessel. And, in fact, you know, God is involved with our everyday lives. You know, there was a time in my life where, because I felt that God was far from me, I didn't believe that He was with me. You know, there was a time that I felt that God was only with me when I was doing my devotions in the morning, you know, in the closet, if you will. But, you know, that is far from the truth.
The more that I've grown in Christ, the more that I've matured in Christ, you know, I start to see God's activity more and more in my life. And it's the same for each and every one of you. Even though, at this very point, you may not feel or see or think you see God's activity, you know, God's activity is always around each and every one of us, and He's always working. So, the opportunity to be a witness for Jesus is always around. You just have to get in line with what God is doing in that moment. And it may look like people in your job just start talking about God, and you’re starting to seek now, "Okay, God, how do I bring You into this conversation?" And then you may find, after they keep talking, that you have an opening. You find, "Oh, well, actually, God is like this," and now you have the platform to start sharing the good news with people about who God is to you and what He has shown Himself to be.
There was a time for me—there was an instance recently—where, you know, I was having a funky day at work. And for all of you that don't know, I'm a security guard here in Portland. My car had broken down, the key fob wasn’t working, and so on and so forth. It was a crazy morning trying to fix that. But I landed at a certain building that we do security for, and in a moment, I was walking down the street, and I felt to pray for somebody who I knew was going to be preaching in a conference. So I started to pray for them, and I started to pray, "God, bring the gospel forth. Open the people's eyes to see You," and so on and so forth. And as I looked up, I met eyes with another security guard that I knew.
He wasn’t from our company, but he was working for the same building. And instantly, I knew I had to go talk to him. And, for sure enough, you know, I did a U-turn, if you will, because I didn't want to go talk to him. You know, I was just like, "Yo, God, what do You mean? I was just praying for somebody else to do the job, and now You're having me go talk to somebody? Like, this is a little weird, you know? And, you know, it took me some time to get in line with what God wanted to do in that moment. And sure enough, I, you know, begrudgingly was like, "All right, fine, I'll go." And, you know, I went to go look for this dude. At this particular site, there are four floors down of garage, so I went looking for him all the way down. And during the time I was looking for him, I was just like, "Yo, God, I don’t know what to say to this guy. You want me to talk to him, but what am I going to say? How is this going to play out?" And I was feeling all these different feelings—I was feeling fear, intimidation, like, "Yo, what am I supposed to say?" And sure enough, I didn’t find him, so I thought I was off the hook.
I started coming back up, and sure enough, I came outside, and then God tells me, "Go to the front desk." And I was like, "Yo, You gotta be kidding me." So I walked up the stairs, and sure enough, he was right behind the desk. And I was like, "Copy." So I was there, and, you know, I started chit-chatting with him, talking about the job, security, and so on and so forth. And sure enough, in my mind, I knew what I had to say, but he had no idea. Eventually, after the chit-chat died down, I was just like, "Hey bro, don’t take this the wrong way. I know you may think this is weird—this is fine—you know, I’m a believer. I believe in Christ, I’m a Christian." And he was like, "Oh yeah, cool, that’s awesome. Me too." And I was just like, "Copy. So, you know, I just want to remind you, Jesus loves you." And he was like, "Yo, I needed that today. I needed to hear those words today. Thank you so much." And, you know, these are the moments that we all will have. If you're a believer in Jesus, God will tell you to speak to somebody about the good news. And it's in those moments that we have to again choose to be courageous, choose to be bold, to speak the good news to people.
As a side note, you know, another thing that I believe the enemy may use to keep us quiet is the fact that, you know, a lot of times, people say, "Oh, I'm an extrovert," or "I'm an introvert."
For me, Church, I may not look like an introvert, but I am. My base level is introvertness, if you will. This has been practice. The only reason why I'm up here is because it's been practice that I can speak to y'all. But in my neutral state, I like to stay by myself. And, you know, sometimes that can be used as a justification as to why, "You know, this is more for them. This is not for me." But I just want to say, Church, that is also a lie. Because, you know, no matter if you're an extrovert or introvert or, you know, you can do both things, like, you don't need any of that. You know, we have the Holy Spirit. God has given us everything that we need for life and Godliness.
So it's not—we don’t ever depend upon our own strength for these kinds of things. You know, it's like, if you're looking for God as a believer, you will find Him. You know, that is a promise.
And God is also a gentleman.
I encourage you guys to come to the teaching this Friday. We're going to be talking about the Holy Spirit, but as a preview—God is a gentleman, you know, and the Holy Spirit always makes the initiation as to what God wants to do with your life today. So you don't even have to worry about, "Am I missing God's will?" or so on and so forth. If you're willing, if you're open, then God is going to come and be like, "Hey, come with me, let's go talk to this person. Hey, do this, call this person, you know, see how they're doing." Or you may see somebody or hear somebody talk about how they have some sort of illness or they're dealing with anxiety or fear, and that is your moment where you're like, "Okay, God, is there something you want to do right now?" If so, that is a moment that you take that boldness, and you go talk to that person. You go, "Hey, can I pray for you today? I believe in Jesus. I believe in healing today. Do you mind? Do you want me to pray for you?" And if they say yes, go ahead—you go and do your thing. If they say no, "Okay, do you mind if I pray for you by myself?" Hey, you do your thing, and you do your thing, you know?
So Church, no matter how you feel, you and I are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. That is already a promise—you don't have to make it so. It's already done, right? You and I can do this. God has, again, given us—it is already God's will that you be a part of His activity every single day. So you don't have to worry about, "God, are you going to answer this prayer?" God has already given us the Holy Spirit for our help every single day. You know, God's mercies are new every morning. We have been given everything that we need to be bold and courageous in our society today. We have been given everything that we need for people to hear the good news. So Church, I just want to encourage you guys—pray for boldness, pray for courage, pray and don't let society or the enemy, through society, keep you shut. That is what he wants to do. That is his plan for today. You don't have to do the enemy's plan today. You can always do what God wants you to do today because God also has a plan for you today. In these times, in these moments, the enemy will try to make you feel like you need safety. in these moments a spirit of intimidation may come and try to keep you from talking, try to keep you from doing good. The enemy will try to keep you safe or make you feel safe, and we have to choose to walk beyond that feeling of safeness and trust in the Lord—that He will guide you, He will keep you in these moments.
That is when we start walking upon faith and walking according to the truth. Again, we don't know what our stepping out in faith would mean to somebody else. You know what I'm saying?
That person, for me, said that he really needed me to encourage him that day—that Jesus loved him. You don't know—somebody's been being attacked by the enemy, dealing with anxiety and fear for years. The moment you come up, ask to pray for them, and they get set free—God can use you. And Church, don't mind the vessel. The enemy will try to remind you of your past. He will try to remind you of your failures. He'll try to remind you of any shame, guilt, or condemnation. He'll try to bring those things up, but again, it is not based upon our strength that we walk in boldness. It's not based upon our ability to be used by God. All we have to do is trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. All we gotta do is trust in the finished work of the Cross. Because of the Cross, because of the finished work of Christ, we have been given the righteousness of God. We have been given the Holy Spirit. And God will help because God doesn't lie, and He doesn't break His promises. So Church, my encouragement for you today is this: Choose to be bold. Choose to be courageous. Choose to seek and follow the Spirit in these moments. Let God use you. Let God use your earthly vessel.
We are all broken in a way—in the sense that we're not perfect. But that doesn’t matter to the Lord. God has implanted in us the good news. God has given us the righteousness of Christ. He’s given us Himself, and it is Himself that He’s asking us to give to others. We don't need anything but trust in the Cross to be able to do that. So, whenever—Hallelujah—if you ever feel unworthy or something to that effect, reject those things. Reject those thoughts. Reject those feelings. Put your trust in the finished work of Jesus. The Holy Spirit seeks to use you because Jesus made it possible. Again, it's not based on you—it’s based on Jesus Christ. It ain't about your strength or the lack thereof. It ain't about how much you know or do not know. It ain't about whether or not you went to Bible school. God uses the earthen vessels. God uses the humble. God uses the weak to lead the strong—that is straight-up scripture.
So, if ever you have condemning thoughts—hey, you throw that to the enemy. Time to go kick rocks. And Church, I just want to say—people need truth today. People need the truth. People need to hear the good news. People need the gospel for their lives—whether or not they are saved. People need to hear the truth because there are a lot of lies going around. There’s a lot of untruths in all places. So don’t be surprised if you’re talking to somebody who claims to be a Christian, who claims to believe in God, and God’s giving you a word for them. Don’t be surprised if somebody who doesn’t know anything about God—God is giving you a word for them. Just—you know—all we got to do is follow the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit lead, and go where He is asking us to go, and do what He’s asking us to do. Let God use you for His glory in this trying generation. Hallelujah! Be blessed, Church.
Before we wrap up for today, there are a few things the Lord put on my heart to add to what Nick was sharing with us today, and it comes down to this: what you have inside of you is for other people. It’s not just for you. And what do I mean by that? I mean your testimony—the hope that you have inside of you because Jesus has saved you. Your words of encouragement—that’s not just for you to keep for yourself. It’s for you to share with others, that it might benefit them and increase their faith, that it might tell them that it is a good idea to trust in your Jesus. Paul says it perfectly in First Timothy about the purpose of your salvation, if you will. Paul, speaking, says: "Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Jesus Christ. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason, I obtained mercy, that in me first, Christ Jesus might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."
So what is Paul saying here? He’s saying, "I am the biggest sinner of all. I was the biggest sinner of all. But through Christ’s love and grace, He rescued me from a life of sin, from a life of death, that I may now receive this gift of salvation and that I might show all people that there is a reason to believe in Jesus."
He doesn’t say just my church friends or just the people that I’m not intimidated by. No! Paul says that through me, all people—that I might show all people—that it’s a good idea to trust in God. The people that might intimidate you, the people that might bring up a little bit of fear of man in you—those are the people that Christ is calling us to be the hands and feet for. Those are the people that we are called to be the mouthpiece for in this time. And if you call yourself a Christian today, it’s not enough to just accept the forgiveness and go on and live your life and stay silent about Christ and what He did for you. Leonard Ravenhill once said: "Don’t just go to the Cross—get on it." Don’t just accept the gift of salvation—die to yourself, take up the cross, and follow Jesus into what He has called you to do. And what He is calling us to do in this time today is to be His hands and feet, to be His mouthpiece here on Earth. You are called to be that. You are called to be His mouthpiece here on Earth. And I want to leave you with this scripture before we wrap up this morning.
Jesus, in Mark 13:11, says: "But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand or premeditate what you might speak; but whatever is given to you in that hour, speak that, for it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit." Do you see the promise in this verse? He is promising that He will give you the words to say. He will give you the encouragement to speak to the person He is drawing you to. When that fear of man—when that intimidation—is coming up, the Lord says that He will use the Holy Spirit inside of you to give you the words to say for the person that needs it. And God knows that in this generation, we need to spread the hope. We need to spread the love of Jesus. We have all that we need in Christ, Church. So let’s go out. Let’s go be His mouthpiece. Our life is meant to have a ripple effect of salvation onto the Earth. So if you need boldness today, if you desire to be that mouthpiece for Christ, if you know that this is what Christ is calling you to do today, to be today in this world.