Well good morning Gospel City Church. I’m excited that you are here with us this morning. If you have your Bible, let me encourage you to find your way to Acts chapter 5, Acts chapter 5. My name is Tyler Holder. I’m our pastor of men’s and young adult discipleship, and I’m excited to be walking through a larger portion of Scripture this morning.
Now as you make your way to Acts chapter 5, I want to do something this morning that maybe I don’t usually do right at the top, but it’s just to spend some time walking through and reading Acts chapter 5 starting in verse 17. And we’re going to read all the way through to the end of the chapter. And here’s why: It’s important for us and for our souls to hear the Word of God. It’s important for us to allow God’s Word to come into our hearts, through our ears, into our minds, so that it can renew our spirits.
So I hope you found your way to Acts chapter 5. We’re Going to be in verse 17 through the end of the chapter. This is what the Word of God says.
It says, But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”
Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, (I love that by the way) wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!”
So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. (Acts 5:17-42)
Praise the Lord. Man, if you’ve been with us here at Gospel City over the past seven weeks, really if you’ve been here at Gospel City over the past two or three years, what you’ve heard us do as a church is walk verse by verse through first the book of Luke and now the book of Acts. And before we jump into our sermon this morning, I just want to hit pause and take a step back and let us have some kind of core Bible teaching, core Bible understanding, here in Acts before we jump into our text.
And I want to remind us of just a few things this morning. I want you to remind you that the book of Acts isn’t a standalone book. The book of Acts is really part two in this series. It began in Luke chapter 1. In Luke chapter 1 you’re introduced to this doctor who is writing and transcribing to a man named Theophilus a right account of the life of Jesus.
And if you remember seven weeks ago when we opened our Bibles for the very first time to the book of Luke, it begins with, “O most excellent Theophilus.” So Acts is a continuation of what Jesus is doing after His resurrection as He establishes, the church, as God is moving, as the Holy Spirit has come and as it has filled the life of first the twelve apostles and then the 120 in the upper room and then the 3,000 after the first sermon on Pentecost, and thousands and thousands and thousands until we’re here today at Gospel City Church.
Remember that the book of Acts over and over and over again shows us how God is moving, how He is working, how His presence is being felt, how the Holy Spirit is moving and acting on his behalf, how the ascended Jesus isn’t just a God that we worship in separation, but the ascended Jesus sitting at the right hand of God is one that gives us power and we can praise Him all the more.
You see, the book of Acts is an account of God establishing His church. And all throughout the book of Acts you see these ebbs and these flows. I think of Acts really in terms of a wave. You have these high crests and these low trials all throughout the book of Acts. In fact, when we look at the book of Acts, we’re going to see that all throughout the 28 chapters God doing amazing, spectacular things through the Holy Spirit. And then Satan, sin and the world trying to distract, tear down and pervert and destroy what God has done.
In fact, when we think of just the first eight chapters of the book of Acts, you see many of these high points. The first high point we see in the book of Acts is found in the first three chapters. It’s that of Pentecost. Do you remember what happened? Jesus ascends before them and the twelve, or really the eleven, apostles at this point are standing watching them. And they have to get shaken awake by an angel. Do y’all remember that? He’s just kind of standing there going, “You all are missing it man. He’s told you to wait and you’re just staring into the sky. Let’s do something about this.”
They go back into the upper room with 120. They choose Matthias, this cool cat who’s been with Jesus for a while. He kind of replaces Judas. And then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit falls and the church is established. And the first sermon is proclaimed by this apostle named Peter who days before was a coward who was denying Jesus. And yet somehow some way is radically transformed. And he opens his mouth to proclaim the gospel. Man, you couldn’t get much higher than this.
Three thousand people come to know the Lord and thena ll of a sudden they’re arrested in Acts chapter 4. They’re arrested because they’re proclaiming a resurrected Savior. And they’ve healed a man and the Sadducees, high priests and the ruling counsel, they see what’s happening and they say, “We want to stop it.” So Peter and John, after healing a lame man in Acts chapter 4, are arrested for proclaiming the good news of Jesus.
Man, can you imagine that? You come to church next week and Pastor Trent and all the other pastors on staff are just kind of thrown in jail for a bit, right? That would kind of deflate you for a little bit, right? But then they’re released. And when they’re released- it’s amazing- they come straight back up to this gospel boldness. They find the church gathered around praying, seeking the Lord on their behalf.
Again, the Holy Spirit moves. The place where they’re praying is shaken. They’re filled with gospel boldness. And what they are arrested for, they immediately leave and start proclaiming again. Gospel boldness empowers the life of the church, empowers the life of believers, these twelve apostles, and they go right back out and do the same exact thing that they were just arrested for.
But if you remember, the second trial, or I’m sorry, after gospel boldness you remember last week Ananias and Sapphira. Man, God is moving in the church. People are giving. They are bonding together. They are unified. And then boom, Acts 5 happens. Satan fills the heart of Ananias. He lies not just to the church, but to the Holy Spirit. And his wife Sapphira really goes with him in it.
And man, can you imagine not just going from the church being established, your leaders being arrested, prayers for boldness, and then the first funeral? Like that’s a really weird week. Right? Man, but what is Satan doing? He’s trying to distort, distract and tear down what God is building. Not to be dismayed, after Ananias and Sapphira are just killed by God in a really bad way, because you can only really be killed in one way. You die, right?
There’s this huge uptick at the end of our text from last week. Do you remember? In response to what God has done, the holiness with which He is and really the stakes at which the church is playing, man there are massive healings. There is massive growth because they realize that the God to whom they serve deserves your best. And at the end of our text last week, what we read in verses 15 and 16 of Acts chapter 5 is that from the surrounding country people were flocking to Jerusalem to see this band of disciples, these twelve apostles that are healing. And there’s massive growth. The gospel is being proclaimed.
But not to be outdone by a group of unlearned fishermen, we see this massive trial. Not only do the Sadducees and the high priests from our text today, not only are they filled with jealousy, but they don’t just arrest Peter and John. They arrest all twelve. And really just put yourself in Matthias’ shoes there for a minute, right? Like you’ve been on the sidelines for three and a half years following Jesus. You finally get called up to the majors and then you see the church born, the Holy Spirit come, Peter and John arrested and you’re like, “Man, I’m so glad that’s not me.”
And then all of a sudden it’s like, “Oh it is me. Here we are. Great.” Right? You see this second trial and the trial men, they are desiring to squash, to put out, to destroy what God is building.
At the end of our text that we just read, we see this high point. The high point comes when the twelve apostles are counted worthy to suffer shame, a beating, for the name of Jesus. They rejoice. And do you catch what they did? In this high point as they’ve been counted worthy to suffer shame for Jesus, they leave rejoicing, preaching and teaching from house to house and in the temple every day. And you can’t stop what God is doing, and God won’t stop building HIs church.
But again, Satan is going to try to distort. Sin is going to try to destroy. The world is going to try to come against. And then what we’ll see in Acts chapter 6 is this huge trial where, man, the church from inside is overlooking the care for widows. They’re overlooking and there could easily be a schism. There could easily be a split.
But I love what we’ll see next week in Acts chapter 6. The apostles, they gather together, they acknowledge what’s happening, and they say, “You know what? We’ve done wrong.” And then all of a sudden this huge uptick. They establish this office of deacon where within the church as thousands of people are coming to know the Lord they’re realizing we need to care for those that God has given us.
But again, not to be dismayed as we look at Acts chapter 8 and on and on we see persecution come against the church. Every high point that God has, Satan, sin and the world try to destroy it. And every single time God responds with something greater.
We’ll arrest Peter and John. we’ll put them away. They can’t stop. We will charge them not to speak anymore in His name. Doesn’t matter. Gospel boldness fills you.
That’s fine. We’ll arrest all twelve. This is it, man. We’re going to do it. An angel who you don’t even believe in, Sadducees, will free them.
Man, we’ll bring the church down from within, whether it be Ananias or Sapphira or whether it be overlooking the widows. And yet the church responds filled with the Holy Spirit because God can’t stop and He won’t stop building His church. And over and over and over again, every assault that’s brought, we see this crimson thread all throughout the crests and the trials of the book of Acts. The crimson thread is that God in iIs sovereignty, in HIs plan, won’t stop building His church.
In fact, this morning as we look at our text, that it is our one singular point and that’s what we’re going to focus in on and see all throughout Acts 5:17-42. We will see that God won’t stop establishing His church. No matter what happens in the highest of highs or the lowest of lows, God is committed to seeing His church established, His gospel proclaimed, His creation redeemed through Jesus’ life, His death, His burial, His resurrection and His ascension.
So as we study the book of Acts, please church, don’t get so myopic in your view. Don’t just look at the few verses before, but take a step back and realize that what you’re reading is a beautiful story of God’s unfolding plan to redeem the world through the church. Have eyes to see how God is moving, how He’s shaping and how He is acting in the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
So this morning as we look at our text, we’ll realize God is establishing His church through the faithfulness of His disciples believing and sharing the gospel in the midst of an unbelieving world. And we’re going to make three observations that will help us see how God is moving and shaping and establishing His church.
The first observation that we’ll see in our text is simply this. Religion can’t stop hating Jesus. Did you notice in verses 17 and 18 what is happening? The curtain rises on our text today and we see some familiar characters. As the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. (Acts 5:17-18)
What’s happening is the Sanhedrin, this ruling counsel, is seeing how God is moving, and is seeing how people are responding. And I love because it’s reflecting back on the immediate two verses before in Acts 5:15-16. It says, they carried the sick into the streets. They laid them on cots and mats. Peter came by so that at least his shadow might fall on some. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
The Sadducees, the high priests, the Sanhedrin, they are jealous because God is redeeming people. They are jealous because they see what’s happening in Jerusalem and the surrounding towns and they are cut to the quick. They are literally greedy. That word there in verse 17 for jealous means that they are greedy for something that isn’t theirs. And for the Sadducees who have built their power, who have built their fame, who have built their influence on the backs of subjugating people to a law that they can’t obey, they see the redemption of Jesus as a threat.
Did you know the same is true today that when we try our best to subject ourselves to a rule of law that we can’t obey, we become jealous? We become angry when we see the freedom that Jesus offers. The same is true today as it was of the Sanhedrin, the Sadducees and the high priests. And the crazy thing is that some of us willingly walk into it.
The crazy thing is that some of us even here today at Gospel City Church have come from a background where you felt like you had to boey, you’ve had to do something in order to gain God’s favor. And what is happening here in Acts chapter 5 is that the gospel is being proclaimed, people are being freed from their shame and their sin and their guilt by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and the religious establishment hates every moment of it. Because what the gospel offers you is far different than what religion ever could.
The Sanhedrin filled with jealousy because of this message and the miracles and the method of the apostles. They were considered a threat to them, so what did they do? They do what religion does when it’s confronted with something that gives life. They respond in anger. They respond with power. They level up. They double down on a bad investment.
And what they do is they arrest the twelve apostles. But I want you to see a progression here. Because remember, the book of Acts isn’t a standalone book. The book of Acts is a continuation from the book of Luke. And this is actually the third arrest, the third trial, that we’re going to see in this progression.
In fact, the first we see in Luke/Acts is found in Luke 22 and it’s the arrest and trial of Jesus. Do you remember? Standing before this very counsel they ask him, “Are you the Son of God?” They put Him on trial because they see what’s happening. They feel threatened by the movement that is Jesus. And then they put Him to death. And then when the resurrection happens they don’t know what to do, so this movement that Jesus has started, this movement that the Holy Spirit is in, they want to squash it. They want to do everything they can to put it away.
So remember the second trial we see is in Acts chapter 4. That’s with Peter and John. it begins with Jesus; it progresses into the leaders. If we can stop the leaders from proclaiming the name of Jesus, then we can stop this whole move. And we’ve already seen in Acts chapter 4 that that won’t stop what God is doing.
So here in Acts chapter 5 is the third trial in the Luke/Acts continuum. The third trial is they double down on their bet again. They up their ante again. They arrest all twelve apostles thinking, “If we can get rid of them all, then we can stop this.” And I love it because you can’t stop it. You just can’t. You can’t stop it by arresting the leaders of a movement. You can’t stop it because it’s not something that’s dependent on man. It’s something that God has begun.
So when the twelve apostles are released and they go out proclaiming, preaching and teaching Jesus from house to house and in the temple, they don’t know what to do. And in Acts chapter 7 it’s the fourth trial. It’s the trial of a man named Stephen.
And what they’re progressing towards, what they’re desiring to do is to slowly build the case that what is happening in Jerusalem is not of God. They’re slowly building the case. They’re slowly convincing people just like the Sith did for the Jedi in order 66. You know what I mean? I’m really glad you picked that up. I was really worried that wouldn’t hit and you’d be like, “What’s he talking about? Sith and Jedi?” Just google it, ok? My son is really into it.
So they’re building the case over and over and over again that what God is doing is not for the people’s best good. In Acts chapter 8 we finally reach the verdict don’t we? In Acts 8:1 we see perfection break out and the whole church scatters except for the twelve apostles.
Do you see the progression? We start with Jesus. We put Him on trial. You can’t stop it. We move to Peter and John, the most vocal of leaders, the ones that are healing and proclaiming the gospel. We put them on trial and we threaten them, and you can’t stop it. You move to all twelve apostles and you threaten to hand out a verdict of death. You beat them, you shame them. You can’t stop it.
It progresses to Stephen, a man filled with the Holy Spirit. And we kill him. And the irony is is that Acts 8:1 is the fulfillment of Acts 1:8, to carry the gospel into Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Were it not for Acts 8:1, the gospel wouldn’t have been proclaimed to Samaria, wouldn’t have been proclaimed to Judea. In that meant it would have taken them longer, and yet we see God moving, establishing His church through it all. We see that religion can’t stop hating Jesus.
Notice as we progress to the second part of verse 21, When the high priest came and those who were with them, they called togher the counsel and the senate and the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came they did not find them in the prison so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” (Acts 5:21-22)
How would you like to be that guy, right? Man, I promise I didn’t fall asleep. And the key is right here, yeah, right here on my belt. Like we’re good. And nobody is inside. And when the captain in the temple and the chief priests heard these words they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.
That word perplexed, by the way, is a word that most men understand. It’s the same type of word that we use when our wife gives us a list to go to the grocery store. And you’re like, “Tahini…and you don’t even know. I know. You’re like, ‘What is tahini?’ I think it’s to make food.” Right? And you look at it and you’re like, “What is going to come about with this? I’m not sure what this is.”
It’s the same exact face that the Sanhedrin and the high priests are making. They’re going, “What is happening? What happened to these twelve? Where are they? We put them in the public prison. Everybody knows where they are.”
And I love it. I love it because then there’s this random person that runs in. Someone came and told them, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” The Sanhedrin gathers in the temple. The Sanhedrin gathers right where the twelve apostles are proclaiming the message of life. And yet they don’t have eyes or ears to see what God is doing.
See, they would rather put Jesus and the apostles on trial and try to destroy what God is doing than to acknowledge that God is actually moving. They would rather keep the status quo, keep people subjected to a law that they know won’t bring life than see the move that God has started.
And here’s the reality, Gospel City. We do the exact same thing today. When faced with the beauty of the gospel, how do you respond? Do you respond with pride and doubling down on a bad investment? Do you respond like the Sanhedrin does with pride and jealousy? Or do you respond like the thousands we’ve already seen in the book of Acts in humility and repentance?
And what the Sanhedrin is fighting against is a message that brings life. That’s what they’re fighting against. So this morning as we look at God and how He won’t stop establishing His church, realize that the offer to be a part of what God is doing hasn’t stopped. That the offer to be a part of what God is doing in establishing His church is still extended to you today. That the message of the gospel of the beauty of Jesus, of His perfect life, of His sacrificial death, of HIs resurrection and ascension is still offered to you today.
Because here’s reality. All of you, myself included, are born in the seat of the Sanhedrin with pride, with sin marring us, separating us from a holy God. And because of that separation, one of two things will happen for you. When you hear the beauty of the gospel, man, you can’t build your way back to God. You can’t establish anything good enough for God to count you as worthy. You can’t do it on your own. That it’s only through the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God’s Son, as your sacrifice. That’s how you become a child of God by repenting and placing your faith in Him alone.
When you hear that message, what does your heart respond with? Repentance and humility or pride and jealousy? So this morning, the offer before you is the same offer that Peter is going to offer the Sandhedrin here in Acts chapter 5. It’s an offer to repent, to be a part of what God is establishing, to be a part of the church that He is building. Where are you today?
What we see in acts chapter 5 first is that religion can’t stop hating Jesus. The second thing we see is that believers can’t stop, or that believers can’t stop believing and sharing the gospel. Notice what happens in our text.
Verse 19. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came and those who were with them, they called together the counsel and the senate of the people of Israel. They sent to prison to have them brought. (Acts 5:19-21)
Skip down to verse 27; 26 rather. And the captain with the officers went and brought them. They found them finally, but not by force for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. And when they had brought them, they set them before the counsel and the high priests questioned them and said, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” (Acts 5:26-28)
Peter’s response is beautiful. He says, We must obey God rather than man. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed. God has exalted him at his right hand as leader and Savior to give repentance and forgiveness for sins. (Acts 5:29-31)
Here’s what I love. I love that God is moving in miraculous ways. I love that the disciples that we see here in Acts chapter 5, their response to being freed isn’t your response or my response. Yo, if I’m in prison and somebody opens the door and goes, “Hey, you’re good, man,” see ya. Man, I am out of there. Like I’m not a fast runner, but I’m a really slow runner that can run for a long time. So I’m not stopping, right? I hear the angel and my temptation would be, hey, that’s real nice. I’m going to go the other way, right?
That’s not what they do though. Man, because disciples know. They understand that the message they have is exactly what the angel calls it. A message of the words of life.
And at daybreak when they enter the temple, I can just see it. Man, they’re walking up a hill, there’s fog rolling in. Do you all see it? Right? And as it separates there comes in the flying V that Emilio Estevez made so popular, and they’re just walking into the temple court, right? They’re like, “We got this.” Maybe they don’t have a swagger. They probably didn’t have a swagger. They were probably way more humble than I am. Right?
But I can just see them coming into the temple courts and everybody that had seen them arrested are looking at them and realizing these are the same men that we saw put in prison last night. How in the world are they here this morning? And as they open their mouths to proclaim the words of life, something amazing happens.
Here in our text we see the captain of the temple guard coming in and I love what happens. They have been so haughty, so proud, when they arrested them the night before. And now they are fearful of the crowd because the crowd is responding in faith. They don’t take them by force. They take them on their own will, which is a great example for us. By the way, when faced with persecution, you don’t double down and power up; you respond in humility.
And notice what happens when the high priest questions him. It says, we strictly charged you not to teach in this name. Notice that they can’t even bring themselves to say the name of Jesus. Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. (Acts 5:28)
What’s missing from their charge is how they escaped from prison. Do you see that? Like nowhere do they say, “And you broke out of our jail.” No, no, no, because they can’t account for that. They don’t know how that happened. And the Sadducees and the high priests, they don’t believe in miracles, so already in their minds they’ve decided that that can’t be the case.
And Peter’s response is full of grace. It’s full of truth. We must obey God rather than man. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at the right hand as leader and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. (Acts 5:29-32)
Realize this, that Peter’s response to being unjustly tried isn’t to condemn. It isn’t to yell and scream. Peter’s response is to offer them repentance, to offer them a chance to respond in faith. He’s declaring to the Sanhedrin that this Jesus whom you killed is leader and Savior to give repentance to the leaders of Israel.
Do you know who are the leaders of Israel? The Sanhedrin- those that he’s talking to. He’s presenting them with the gospel. He’s sharing the message that he has believed that has so radically impacted and changed his life so much so that part of the charge against the twelve is that they have filled Jerusalem with this teaching.
Oh Gospel City, I would be so elated to walk into a Martin’s or a Meijer and have them say, “You fill this place with Jesus’ teaching.” Yep! Darn tootin. You’d better believe that. C’mon, right? Absolutely! Oh church, would we believe the message that has changed our lives. Would we fill this place with that teaching. Would we fill this place with that good news.
Have you believed it? Do you share it? Let me ask you church real quick, family chat. What are you filling your home with? What are you filling your mind with? What are you filling your workplaces with? What are you filling your school with? Is it the message of the gospel? Because if we believe it, then by golly we’d better be sharing it.
And here’s why. Not just as God commanded us to do it, but your life should be different because of it. And if the gospel is enough to redeem you from hell, it’s enough for you to tell your neighbor about it. And it’s enough for you to tell your children about it. And it’s enough for you to tell your co-worker and that stranger at Meijer about it. The greatest charge they bring against the apostles is preaching in the name of Jesus and filling Jerusalem with that teaching. Oh, would the same be true for us.
Disciples, they don’t stop believing and sharing the gospel, and the third and final observation we see in our text is simply this, that God won’t stop establishing His church. See, what happens here in the text is this guy comes onto the scene. It’s a hard name, so we’ll just call him “Doctor G.” His name is Gamaliel. He’s a Pharisee in the midst of a bunch of Sadducees and the Sanhedrin. He has some power; he’s known in the area as being someone who is just and righteous. And he stands and he rises in the Sanhedrin and he puts the twelve apostles out and he addresses them.
And here’s “Doctor G”’s message in a nutshell. Leave these men alone, because if what they’re doing is from man it will surely fail. Don’t you remember Theudas? I’m so glad there wasn’t a Theudas on stage this morning. That would have been really weird. Like man, that’s a great name. If your son is named Theudas, I still love him. Don’t you remember Judas? Man, what they did was of man and it surely failed.
Far be it from you, Sanhedrin, far be it from you, Sadducees, far be it from you, high priests, to be found working against God if it’s from Him. And “Doctor G” prevails upon the Sanhedrin. They bring the twelve apostles back and they charge them again, the same charge that they gave them in Acts chapter 4. Stop preaching in the name of Jesus. It’s not acceptable. It’s not what we want this town to be known for. It’s not what we want this city to be filled with. Your foolish message isn’t what we want to hear, so you stop it.
They gather the twelve and then they beat them. By the way, that beating isn’t just like a sock in the face. It’s the forty lashes minus one, a leather whip to your chest and to your back, a hard beating. What the Sanhedrin and the high priests are just desiring to do are shame the apostles, to shame them for the foolish message that they think they’re preaching, and I love it. I love it.
The apostles pick themselves up and walk out the door rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name. And they continued to teach and preach from house to house, and daily in the temple. Man, God won’t stop establishing His church. This movement that we’re a part of has been going for over 2,000 years and it won’t stop. And you’re invited to be a part of it.
So when you think about the crests and the trials in the book of Acts, realize that this graph is very much an indicator of your life with the Lord too. That man, there are high points where we rejoice, where we proclaim God’s faithfulness, man, where we see man, sickness being healed or we see families being restored. When I’ve actually been obedient to what God has said and I open my mouth and I proclaim the gospel and lives are changed and my life is changed and transformed, we love these high points right?
But here’s what I know: I know that there are countless numbers of you who haven’t lived in a high point in a long time. Where you’re kind of down in a trial and you’re struggling to see God’s sovereignty and faithfulness. I see it every week when we read the connection register. I see hearts of families breaking because of sickness or miscarriage or the sins of a parent or a child. I see so much hurt and pain and I know that it’s difficult to live in a trial.
But let me ask you, in the midst of this hard season, can we respond with rejoicing, knowing that God is still sovereign, He still cares for you, He’s still present in your hurt and anguish? He’s still present in the pain that you experience. He’s still present in the hardest of nights. Man, how easy would it have been for the twelve apostles to get beaten and count that as a low point? And yet they respond because they see God’s faithfulness in it all.
So church, here’s the invitation. If you’re at a high point, praise Jesus. Rejoice in God’s sovereignty in that. Rejoice that you are seeing God move in crazy awesome amazing ways. But chances are there are plenty of us in this room that are at a trial, that are at a low point. And it’s hard to see God’s faithfulness in the midst of it.
Oh, that we would respond today rejoicing regardless of what is happening around us, that we would unite our hearts together rejoicing in praise to the sovereignty and the glory of the gospel message that we have believed and that we share. Oh church, would we leave here this morning proclaiming the beauty of Jesus.