Amen.
This passage this morning is going to be something that's very similar.
We recognize that Jesus, at his resurrection, he ascended to heaven,
and he gives us a command to go out into the battlefield, so to speak,
to proclaim the good news.
He empowers us and equips us with the Holy Spirit to do this.
And we see very quickly that opposition begins to rise.
Persecution is faced by the apostles.
And so certainly there might have been some in this early church
that feared for their lives, feared that they were ill-equipped,
but yet go forward with the power of the Holy Spirit
to continue to proclaim the gospel.
And what we see in this passage is that as a result,
these young Christians receive honor as well to be ambassadors of Christ,
that despite the schemes of the enemy,
they will not overcome the plans of the king.
And so let's turn then to our passage.
Acts chapter 5, starting in verse 17.
Then the high priest and all his associates,
who were members of the party of the Sadducees,
were filled with jealousy.
They arrested the apostles and put them in public jail.
But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail
and brought them out.
Go and stand in the temple courts, he said,
and tell the people all about this new life.
At daybreak, they entered the temple courts
as they had been told and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived,
they called together the Sanhedrin,
the full assembly of the elders of Israel,
and sent to the jail for the apostles.
But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there.
And so they went back and reported,
We have found the jail securely locked,
with the guards standing at the doors.
But when we opened them, we found no one inside.
On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard
and the chief priests were at a loss,
wondering what this might mean.
And then someone came and said,
Look, the men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts
teaching the people.
At that, the captain went with his officers
and brought the apostles.
They did not use force because they feared
that the people would stone them.
The apostles were brought in
and made to appear before the Sanhedrin
to be questioned by the high priest.
We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, he said.
Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teachings
and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.
Peter and the other apostles replied,
We must obey God rather than human beings.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead,
whom you killed by hanging on a cross.
God exalted him to his own right hand as prince and savior
that he might bring Israel to repentance
and forgive their sins.
We are witnesses of these things,
and so is the Holy Spirit,
whom God has given to those who obey him.
When they heard this, they were furious
and wanted to put them to death.
But a Pharisee named Gamaliel,
a teacher of the law,
who was honored by the people,
stood up in the Sanhedrin
and ordered that the men be put outside for a while.
And then he addressed the Sanhedrin.
Men of Israel,
consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.
Some time ago,
Thutis appeared,
claiming to be somebody,
and about 400 men rallied to him.
And he was killed,
and his followers were dispersed,
and it all came to nothing.
After him,
Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census
and led a band of people in revolt.
He too was killed,
and all his followers were scattered.
Therefore, in the present case,
I advise you,
leave these men alone.
Let them go.
For if their purpose or activity
is of human origin,
it will fail.
But if it is from God,
you will not be able to stop these men.
You will only find yourselves fighting against God.
His speech persuaded them.
They called the apostles in
and had them flogged.
And then they ordered them
not to speak in the name of Jesus
and let them go.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing
because they had been counted
worthy of suffering disgrace for the name.
And day after day,
in the temple courts,
and from house to house,
they never stopped teaching and proclaiming
the good news
that Jesus is the Messiah.
This is the word of God.
Will you pray with me again?
Amen.
Oh God,
in you is hidden
all treasure of wisdom and knowledge.
And so Lord,
we ask that you open our eyes
that we may see the wonders
of your word this morning.
That you may give us your grace
that we may clearly understand
and choose to follow after your wisdom.
We pray this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Well, as we begin
to dig into this text,
I think it may be good
to kind of establish a timeline
of where we have come so far
in this book of Acts.
Because we recognize
that all that's happened here
has really only happened
in just a matter of a few days or weeks.
So we have Jesus
who is crucified,
dead and buried for three days.
He rises from the dead.
At the beginning of Acts,
it says that he stayed
with his people for 40 days
before his ascension.
Ten days after the ascension
comes the day of Pentecost
where the apostles received
the gift of the Spirit.
And after this,
we don't have an exact timeline,
but we know that the apostles,
they remained in Jerusalem to preach.
And it was just then
a matter of days,
maybe just weeks,
that it says there's
over 5,000 male Christians.
So we think about that
as families, women, and children.
We may be talking somewhere
in the range of 10,000 new Christians
in the matter of a couple weeks
since the resurrection of Jesus.
And so you can imagine
the sense of jealousy
that these Jewish leaders
must experience.
How do we control these numbers?
How do we push down this movement?
And the answer they come up with
is persecution.
This is what we saw
a few weeks ago in chapter 4.
Peter and John are arrested
and they threaten them
not to go on preaching God's Word.
In our passage today,
this pattern repeats.
Yet, except the intensity
begins to grow.
Because not only are Peter
and John arrested,
but it says in our text
that many apostles are arrested.
At this time,
they're not only threatened
with physical harm,
they are actually beaten
and flogged
in front of the Jewish council.
And so I want us to consider today
this ministry of the apostles.
Thinking,
focusing really on three things.
I want us to focus on the calling,
the message,
and the result.
So let's think first
about the calling
of these apostles.
You know,
we see in the beginning
of this passage
that the apostles are rounded up,
they're arrested,
they're put in jail
for preaching the gospel.
They had been the ones
that had been previously
performing miracles
and now a miracle
is performed to them.
They are the benefactors
where this angel appears
to them in the middle of the night,
opens the prison doors,
leads them out,
instructs them to go back
and to continue preaching
in the temple.
And probably,
if you're like me,
we've read this passage
a number of times.
One thing that kind of stuck out
to me in my study, though,
is these distinct roles
between the angel
and the apostles.
The angel instructs
the apostles to preach,
but the angel
does not do any preaching.
And I wonder
if the apostles,
when this angel
comes upon them,
certainly a novel happening,
if they thought,
why don't you stay with us?
Why don't you come
to the temple
to preach this good news?
Because while their numbers
had grown,
they'd had no success
in being able to preach
to these Jewish leaders.
And so,
let's bring an angel with us.
Certainly,
this makes sense, right?
An angel is a better preacher
than us.
Think about all the times
where an angel appears
in the Bible.
People are frightened.
They're terrified.
They listen,
and they respond.
And so,
let's not just have this angel
involved in this jailbreak.
Let's bring him
into the temple
to preach, too.
Then everyone will recognize
that Jesus truly is
this resurrected Messiah.
But we recognize
this doesn't happen here, right?
Because this isn't
the angel's role.
And we see something
very important here.
Is that the agents
God uses
for spreading the gospel
are not angels,
but men.
You and I
alone
receive this calling
to share this gospel message.
This is what we heard
from all the way back
in the Old Testament,
the prophet Isaiah,
who says that God's
speaking to his people.
You are my witnesses
that I am God.
This is what Peter says
in our own passage
in verse 32.
He says,
we are witnesses
of these things
and so is the Holy Spirit
whom God has given us
that we may obey him.
And so what Peter,
he says in front
of this Jewish council
is almost identical
to what Jesus declares himself
after his resurrection.
He said,
it is written
that the Son of Man,
the Messiah,
will suffer and rise
from the dead
on the third day
and repentance
for the forgiveness of sin
will be preached
in his name
to all nations
beginning in Jerusalem.
He says,
you are witnesses
of these things.
And Luke records again
at the very beginning
of the book of Acts
these similar words
of Jesus
before his ascension.
But you will receive power
when the Holy Spirit
comes on you
and you will be my witnesses
in Jerusalem
and in all Judea
and Samaria
and to the ends
of the earth.
It is man alone
who is anointed
with the power
of the Holy Spirit
for the ministry
of Christ.
And so do we really
recognize this
to be an honor?
to recognize
that each one of us
as believers
anointed by the Holy Spirit
we are better
at proclaiming the gospel
than angels.
You may say,
well,
you've never seen me
try to proclaim the gospel.
I'm not very good.
I don't know what to say.
I fumble through my words.
I'm shy.
I'm scared.
But God says
to us in this passage
we see that Jesus is saying
this is okay.
I recognize
that you are imperfect.
I recognize
that you are flawed instruments.
But we recognize
that the weaker
the instrument
the greater
the honor
of the user.
And so think about it this way.
If you had this contest
to chop down
these two trees
that stood next to each other
and you had one man
who had this brand new
well polished
axe
that's
you know
a very sharp blade
and he had this other guy
with this old
rusted dull axe.
Who would you choose
you think would likely win?
Well the man with the sharp axe
right?
But who would
usually likely get
the most honor
if he were to win?
Well it's the man
with the dull axe
right?
Because he's
he's doing something
that creates
much greater effort.
It requires much
greater effort
in order to
win this contest
against
the sharp blade.
In a similar way
I had a friend
in the states
a number of years ago
who bought a house
and he had
this garden
and he'd to buy
some gardening equipment
for it
and one of the things
he needed to buy
was a lawn mower
but rather than buy
a petrol
or an electric one
he decided he was
going to buy
one of those
old fashioned
push mowers
because in his mind
he thought
well this will
I'll have a greater
sense of accomplishment
if I use this
old mower
than just using
a petrol one
and so I'll have
greatest satisfaction
in keeping my lawn
clean
my grass short.
The reality is
this only worked
for a number of weeks
before we realized
this was a horrible idea.
This requires
way too much effort
on my part
and he went
and bought himself
a petrol lawn mower
but we see here
something very different
in that God
in choosing to use us
as his instruments
has no regrets
in the fact that he calls us
to be his witnesses
because notice this
it is by man
that death
enters into this world
and it is by this God man
that resurrection
comes into this world
and it is also
by man
that this glorious gospel
will be proclaimed.
And so you can probably
imagine
maybe the look
on Satan's face
when he sees these
apostles
these young Christians
these are who you've chosen
to defeat me
in the same way
that maybe Goliath
would have looked at David.
You think
your way
your plan
will succeed
with these individuals
but yet we see
that the power
of God
is glorified
in the insignificance
of his agents
by whom
he will achieve
everlasting victory.
And so know this
that it pleases God
to use you.
It pleases God
to use you
in his mission
in the same way
that it pleases a father
to teach his children
new skills.
Thinking back
my house
in the States
had these big
hickory trees
in the back garden
that in the fall
it would just
in autumn
it would just
dump these
leaves and nuts
all over the garden
and it would take
weeks upon weeks
to blow
and rake
and haul them
to the street.
But one of the
pleasure that it was
for me
when I did this
is when my children
would come outside
and try to help
and they were
small at the time
so not very effective
in raking
or gathering leaves.
In fact
their time outside
with me
slowed down
the progress
of my work.
But it was a blessing
to me
because I
see them develop
this skill
and we were able
to spend
time together.
And so
Charles Spurgeon
he puts it this way
he says
the Lord Jesus
takes great pleasure
in the attempts
of his servants
to seek
and save souls
for they are
learning to be
shepherds
like himself.
And so
we don't need
to be afraid
of our inadequacies
we don't need
to be ashamed
of our poor
track record.
God desires
to use you
and me
for the advancement
of his gospel.
And so
this is the calling
that these apostles
receive.
Notice then
where they are
called to go.
It says in verse 20
to go stand
in the temple courts
tell the people
all about this new life.
We need to understand
that the temple
this was the center
of national
and religious life
for the Jewish people.
It's where they worshipped
it's where they met people
it's where they shared news
it's where teaching
was done.
And so you may think
well the apostles
after the broken eye jail
they've been arrested
a few times now
they may want
to not go
right into
the center
of the temple
to preach
this good news.
Maybe like some
back streets
maybe some
private homes
and be a little
more cautious
about how they
advance the gospel
but the angel
is very clear here
he wants the gospel
to be made known
in the most conspicuous
way possible.
Go where you're
going to have
the greatest impact
where the most
people are going
to hear you.
And so I think
a question for us
is what's the equivalent
of the temple
in our day and age.
Certainly we want
to preach the gospel
in churches
but we know
that the church
is no longer
the center
of Scottish society
so where can we
expect to go?
We cannot expect
everyone in this city
to come through
these doors
that they may hear
the gospel.
It is us
who must take
the gospel
to our city.
And so what does
this look like?
We take the gospel
to our schools
and to our universities.
We share the love
of Christ
with our classmates.
We provide
a hopeful alternative
to the secularism
of academia.
We take the gospel
to our sports teams
and to our clubs.
We share the love
of Jesus
in word and in deed
with those who share
our common interests.
We take the gospel
into the political arena.
We defend
a Christian worldview
from those who seek
to destroy it.
Quite literally
we take the gospel
to the pubs
and to the cafes.
There's no,
I mean,
are they not
what's closest to us
of what the temple was?
Thinking of one
of these test questions
that I had
from the Life in the UK test,
there was tons of questions
about pubs
that I had to study.
What time they open?
How old can you be there?
How late are they served?
Even thinking about culture,
one of the questions
was this,
what is a traditional part
of British culture
that is often used
as a place
for socializing
and entertainment?
The pub.
Where do people go
to worship the idols
of sports and pleasure?
Where do they go
when they're sad
and depressed?
Where do they go
to meet friends
and share news?
Quite honestly,
in my time here
in the UK,
the best place
that I have found
to engage strangers
in conversation
has been the pub.
So I dare say,
if Jesus lived today,
he may spend more time
in the pub
than either you
or I do.
You may say,
yeah, I mean,
this is what Jesus says, right?
He says that the Son of Man
came eating and drinking
and they said,
he's a glutton,
he's a drunkard,
he's a friend
of tax collectors
and sinners.
My point is this,
we need to always
be looking for opportunities
to inject the gospel
into our culture.
Each of us
has different connections
and different backgrounds,
different skills,
different interests,
may we use them
as magnetic points
in which we can connect
with the culture around us.
May the gospel
so infuse our lives
that it overflows
into our activities
and our relationship
that others can't help
but see the Jesus
work in our lives.
And so that brings us
to our second point.
We are called to go.
What is the message
that we take?
Look in verse 20 again.
Go stand in the temples,
in the temple courts,
and tell the people
all about this new life.
I don't think that the ESV
is probably the greatest
translation of this line.
Literally it says
in the Greek
to speak to the people
all the words
of this life.
And that Greek word
for life is capitalized.
So we're not talking
just about any words
of life,
we're talking about
the words of the life.
and it should remind us then
of the beginning
of the gospel of John
which says,
in the beginning
was the word
and the word was with God
and the word was God.
In him was life
and that life
was the light
of all men.
Jesus says this himself
in John 11, 25,
I am the resurrection
and the life.
The one who believes
in me will live
even though they die.
And whoever lives
by believing in me
will never die.
The words of life
that we share then
is the good news
of Jesus.
And this is exactly
what we see Peter do
in front of the Jewish leaders.
He says in verse 28,
we must obey God
rather than human beings.
The God of our ancestors
raised Jesus from the dead
who you killed
by hanging on the cross.
God exalted him
to his own right hand
as prince and savior
that he might bring Israel
to repentance
and forgiveness of sins.
This is the good news
that we share.
That the son of man
made himself nothing.
That he was obedient
to death on the cross
but the grave
could not contain him.
And now we have
a ruler,
a savior who rules
and reigns
and we then
are witnesses
of this marvelous transformation.
From death to life.
From weakness to power.
From shame to honor.
A cursed man on a tree.
Now a saving prince.
At the right hand of God.
And so we recognize
that this savior
he gives,
he comes bearing gifts
of repentance
and forgiveness.
Again the NIV
it says bring,
he brings us to repentance.
In the Greek
it actually says
he gives repentance.
So he's not giving
the opportunity
to repent.
He is actually
giving repentance
as a gift.
It is a gift
of God
when you repent.
repent.
And that literally
means to change
your mind.
God.
And so I think
this is important
because we're talking
about sharing
this good news
but you may not
be one who has
actually received
this good news.
And so it's important
to know
that you do not
need to change
your mind
in order to be
accepted by God.
You don't need
to clean up
your act
in order that God
will be pleased
with you.
No,
God gives you
what you need
in order to be saved.
He gives you
repentance
and forgiveness.
He quite literally
changes your mind
and places you
on the path
of life
turning you away
from the path
of destruction.
Because a dead man
can't make himself
alive.
He must be given
these words
of life.
And we see
that this offer
of life
is given
to the very men
who nailed Jesus
to that cross.
And so that
same message,
that same offer
of repentance
and forgiveness
is extended
to you as well.
And so I urge you
to receive
this gift,
to turn
from your evil ways
to believe
in the saving work
of Jesus,
to receive
the gift
of the Holy Spirit
that your sins
may be cleansed
and you may walk
in obedience
to God.
This gift
of salvation
is grace.
It is grace
from beginning
to end.
And so for those
of us who have
received this gift,
do we go
through our day
with this sense
of urgency
that when we look
around all those
around us,
our classmates,
our co-workers,
those we pass
on the street,
that those
that don't know
Christ are dead
in their sins
and deserving
of eternal punishment.
that's really
a sobering reality.
And I think
oftentimes
we may try
to ignore it
or it makes
it difficult
for us
to share
this truth.
But notice
what the angel
says in his commands.
He says,
speak to the people
all the words
of this life.
And so that
includes making
known the bad news
so that people
will be attracted
to the good news.
Without the reality
of death,
there is no need
for Jesus' life.
And so we don't
preach a gospel
of improvement.
We don't preach
a gospel of trying harder.
We preach a gospel
of resurrection.
We preach
that Jesus came
to save hopeless
and helpless sinners
like you and me.
And that brings us
to our final point then.
What's the result
when we are faithfully
proclaimed this message?
Well,
if we've never read
this passage before
and we hear about
this angel coming
and releasing
the apostles from prison
and he tells them
to go preach
in the temple,
we may think
something big
is going to happen here.
This angel knows
more than what we do here.
So likely something
is going to change.
These religious leaders
are going to,
their eyes are going
to be open.
They're going to recognize
who the one true
Lord and Savior is.
But what we see
is quite opposite,
right?
When they hear
the gospel proclaimed,
their hearts only grow harder
in the desire
to kill the apostles.
So you may be left asking,
well,
why didn't it work?
Did the power
of the gospel fail?
Did Peter not speak
the right words?
Did he not have enough
power and conviction
in how he spoke?
The message didn't seem
to have its intended effect.
But then we arrive
at the very end
of our passage
in verse 41 and 42.
And we see that
the apostles
left the Sanhedrin
rejoicing because
they had been counted
worthy of suffering
disgrace for the name.
Day after day
in the temple courts
and from house to house,
they never stopped
teaching and proclaiming
the good news
that Jesus is the Messiah.
We see that
the immediate result
of gospel proclamation
was not the conversion
of sinners,
but the persecution
of saints.
And this is what led them
to boldness
in their faith.
So we may think,
well, this is,
we always want to find
points of application
in a sermon, right?
But we don't face
persecution like this.
Our lives,
our physical health
is not at risk.
I mean, at the very worst,
what do we experience?
Awkwardness?
An abrupt end
to a conversation?
Not persecution.
And I think that
we need to ask the question,
well, why not?
Because if we look
over the arc
of the history
of the church,
it's been marked
by bloodshed
and persecution.
I mean, Christ said
that the Christian life
is hard,
that you need to be,
expect to be mocked
and despised.
And so why do we
in our day and age
face this relative peace?
I wonder if it's,
we experience
so little conflict
between the church
and societies
because oftentimes
there's so little difference
between the two.
Is the church,
are we simply content
to teach
and proclaim morality?
Or do we
willingly proclaim
the offense
of the cross?
As Christians,
are we just so often
just wanting to fit in?
Or are we willing
to stand out
and be distinct
for our faith?
And I know
in this culture,
we can be very
conflict-averse.
We don't want
to rock the boat.
We want to go along
to get along.
But what if we
realize the blessing
and the benefit
that came through
persecution?
This is what Jesus
said on the Sermon
on the Mount
in Matthew 5.
He said,
Blessed are you
when people insult you
and persecute you
and falsely say
all kinds of evil
against you
because of me.
Rejoice and be glad
because great
is your reward
in heaven.
For in the same way
they persecuted
the prophets
who were before you.
And so we see
there's great blessing
and benefit
that comes from
persecution.
We see this
as we continue on
in the book of Acts.
How is there benefit
in persecution?
It leads believers
to pray and to praise.
We recognize that
we are not
on our own
in this task.
We have the power
of the Holy Spirit,
the presence
of Christ's Spirit
himself who is with us.
So maybe long
for it in prayer.
We see that it
helps believers
recognize the
sovereignty of God.
Conversion isn't
dependent on our efforts.
It is God
who draws people
to himself.
And so as we
share this good news
we don't need to be
worried about the results
because God will save
who he wills.
We see also
that persecution
allows believers
to stand in solidarity
with Christ's sufferings.
Because this is what
Jesus said.
He said if they
persecuted me
they're also going
to persecute you.
He calls us
to take up our cross
and follow after him.
I think
ultimately what we see here
is that persecution
leads to the growth
of the church.
Tertullian who was
a second century
church father
who lived when
persecution
toward Christians
may have been
at its height
when believers
were beaten
and whipped
and sawed
in half
and thrown
into fire
and fed to lions
is he who said
the blood of martyrs
is the seed
of the church.
and so
do we truly
want to see
the church grow?
What if we were
to pray
for persecution?
That we may
have the courage
to step out
of our comfortable
little Christian
bubbles
and joyfully
and eagerly
share the good news
of Jesus
even in the midst
of opposition.
because just like
that black prince
who received
honor through
victory
in a battle
that seemed
to be lost
may we respond
with the same
level of courage
and commitment
that we can say
and respond
just as these
apostles did
that we may
receive honor
that it may be
an honor
to be dishonored
and a grace
to be disgraced.
A bit of irony
in the story
in this passage
that we read
today
is that
truth
that we see
actually comes
from this
Pharisee
Gamaliel.
He opposed
this Christian
movement
but it's
interesting
what he urges
the Jewish
leaders
he says
leave these
men alone
let them go
for if their
purpose or activity
is of human
origin
it will fail
but if it's
from God
you will not
be able
to stop
these men
and to that
we can say
a hearty
amen
because we
fight from
a position
of victory
the battle
has already
been won
and so
may God
receive
his glory
may we
share in
his honor
as we seek
to advance
his kingdom
do you