Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision
Go, Stand, and Tell Part 2 11/02/08
Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging our Vision
Sermon Title: ‘Go, Stand, Tell’ pt.2
Sermon Text: Acts 5:12-42
I. Acts
5:12-16 The Powerful Presence of God
II. Acts 5:17-24 The Powerful Call of God
Introduction:
ILL: As a third-century man was anticipating death, he penned these last words to a friend: “It’s a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They have overcome the world. These people are the Christians—and I am one of them.” (Moody Bible Institute’s, Today In The Word, June, 1988, p. 18)
Background: Last week we read about the powerful presence of God displayed through the Apostles by miracles of healing. The people even thought that Peter’s shadow could heal the sick. We learned that we must be aware of the shadow we cast on others: Does it bring healing or hurting.
We also read of the powerful call of God displayed in the Apostles’ obedience. The angel released the Apostles from prison and told them to ‘Go, Stand, and Tell the full message of this new life.’
The disciples obeyed God….immediately, completely and boldly. Then, they were brought back to the Sanhedrin by the Temple guards…and were eventually beaten because they would not disobey God’s call on their life. And we will find they left rejoicing.
Transition: Open your Bibles to Acts 5:25 (pg. 834 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you.) For it’s there we’ll continue to see that we enlarge our vision of God when we Go, Stand, and Tell.
III. Acts 5:25-32 The Powerful Message of God
Read: Acts 5:25-32
There are a number of points to take note of in this text.
First: When the Temple guards brought the Apostles back into the court room, notice the Sanhedrin failed to mention their miraculous escape. People outside the church, refuse to acknowledge the supernatural. They want nothing to do with it.
To acknowledge a supernatural event, requires then the acknowledgement of a supernatural being…someone greater then themselves, someone to whom they would be accountable.
Fail to acknowledge the miracle and you fail to acknowledge the God of the miracle. And you are accountable to no one. That’s what the Sanhedrin did…and that’s what many do today as well.
Second: The Sanhedrin ordered Peter and John not to speak or teach about Jesus. They believed if they avoided hearing about Jesus, it would lessen the guilt of rejecting Him. Again, the same is true today. People don’t want to hear about Jesus because they like living in their sin. Jesus threatens the presumed safety of their ignorance.
Third: When it comes to Jesus and sin, people have selective memories. They remember only what they want to. Just like these religious leaders who conveniently forgot what they said to Pontus Pilate when Jesus was on trial. Let me refresh our memory.
Read: Matthew 27:24-26 ‘When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.’
These very same religious leaders were not only part of that crowd but were responsible for encouraging the crowd to tell Pilate to kill Jesus. And now they want nothing to do with taking responsibility for their actions.
Fourth: Christian…when faced with the choice to obey God rather than man, we must obey God. And know, that choice, comes every day. We must learn form the Apostles in our text…be found faithful and obedient.
Fifth: Remember the powerful message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
· God raised Jesus from the dead. He promised He would and God keeps His promises.
· God exalted Jesus and made Him our Savior when He died in our place, paying the penalty for our sin.
· Jesus offers the opportunity for repentance and forgiveness when we confess our sin and accept His provision for the penalty of our sin…Jesus’ own death on the cross.
Transition: Not exactly what the members of the Sanhedrin wanted to hear and now they were furious for making them feel guilty…by the way, they were. So they should have felt guilty. They wanted to kill them the spot. The gravity of the Apostles situation was just kicked up a notch.
IV. Acts 5:33-40 The Powerful Purpose of God
Read: Acts 5:33-40
The Sanhedrin didn’t want the powerful message of the good news of Jesus Christ to leave the courtroom. They didn’t want to admit that they were wrong about Jesus. So they were going to kill the Apostles to stop their message from spreading.
But God intervened in a very unexpected way. He spoke though the unbeliever, Gamaliel, a powerful and well respected member of the Sanhedrin. By the way, Gamaliel was also the mentor of Saul of Tarsus, later to be called the Apostle Paul.
Gamaliel said this movement will fail if it isn’t from God. But if it is, then you can’t stop it. Because God is bigger than we are. And no one can thwart His purposes. It seems Gamaliel knew his OT.
Read: Job 42:2 ‘I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.’
Read: Isaiah 14:27 ‘For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?’
Read: Isaiah 46:9-10 ‘Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’
· How do we know we can get through life’s most difficult problems?
· How do we know that when God calls us, He will provide what we need to do what He has called us to do?
Because God is sovereign and His plans are unstoppable. He has a calling and purpose for you and nothing, absolutely nothing can stop that.
From what we can tell from history and the Bible, Gamaliel never made a commitment to Jesus Christ. Instead, he died waiting to see if the Christian movement was really of God.
Friends, the call of the Gospel is to respond to God’s invitation …today. Scripture says:
Read: 2 Cor. 6:2 ‘For God says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.’
If God is speaking to you,
· Place your trust in Jesus…right now.
· Tell him you are sorry for your sin
· Ask for his forgiveness
· Accept Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for your sin
· Choose to live for him.
Transition: But understand, doing that doesn’t mean life will be easy for you.
V. Acts 5:41-42 The Powerful Name of God
Read: Acts 5:41-42
The Apostles were in big trouble. Death, probably by crucifixion or stoning was immanent. But God and His plan were greater than the Sanhedrin and their plan.
The Sanhedrin decided to listen to Gamaliel and the Apostles were not put back in prison, or killed… but they were flogged. The tradition was 40 lashes minus 1. A painful, bloody whipping, with cords that had pieces of bone in them. This was not unlike Jesus received before he was crucified.
Can I tell you something perhaps you won’t want to hear? I believe the time comes in the life of every Christian, that the Holy Spirit will desire to form in your heart, the same love for Jesus, as he has for you. And His love was not without pain and suffering. The Apostles knew that kind of love for Jesus. Do you?
I believe that’s why the Apostles could… ‘rejoice because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.’ The joy they experienced was not superficial happiness. It was a deep rooted contentment in being identified with Jesus.
And it was because of this deep rooted joy in Jesus, that the Apostles were able to continue to Go, Stand and Tell….boldly, without hesitation and without holding back. They were totally sold out for Jesus. I pray that is your desire as well.
Conclusion
The work as witnesses to this new life in Christ, is great. But the fields are white unto harvest.
· Recognize the place where God’s providence has placed you
· and give yourself
· to Going, Standing and Telling the whole gospel of this new life in Jesus Christ to the lost world
· beginning in your own homes, schools, offices and neighborhoods.
And for the places you can’t go, support our own kingdom builders like Barb and Mark Robinson and Becky Mills who Go, Stand and Tell in places we can only dream of. Yet where there’s a very real need for the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Go, Stand
and Tell.