The Continued Preaching of the Gospel (5:12-42)

Welcome and Announcements

Don’t forget on Wednesday, November 23rd in lieu of Bible Study & Prayer, we’ll have our annual pre-thanksgiving love feast in the activity room. This will be an opportunity for fellowship with one another, which will include a moment to give thanks to the Lord for His substitutionary atonement for our sins by partaking in the Lord’s Supper together. We’d love to have you all join us.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the Lord through your giving. To help you give, we have three ways to do so, (1) cash and checks can be given at the offering box. Checks should be written to Grace & Peace; debit, credit, and ACH transfers can be done either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or (3) by visiting us online at www.giving.gapb.church. Of course, everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Ps 66:8-15)

Our Call to Worship is Psalm 66:8-15, which continues the psalm of thanksgiving that we’ve been working our way through over the past few weeks. Remember last week’s section and how David reflected on some of the things that God did for the nation of Israel? He continues that reflection in vv. 8-15 in a way that I think we can relate. This section of the psalm ends with David vowing to praise the Lord and worship Him with burnt offerings. Please stand and read with me Psalm 66:8-15—I’ll read the even-numbered verses; please join me in reading the odd-numbered verses:

Psalm 66:8–15 ESV

8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, 9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. 10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. 11 You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; 12 you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. 13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, 14 that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

Congregational Singing

And Can it Be? (180)

Beautiful Savior (193)

Scripture Reading (Gen 8)

Our Scripture Reading this morning is Genesis 8, which continues the historic flood narrative. At this point, we see the flood waters subside and we see the Lord establishing a covenant with Noah that from then on, “while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Natalie can you read Genesis 8 for us?

Genesis 8 ESV

1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. 6 At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made 7 and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. 13 In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. 14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried out. 15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh—birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth—that they may swarm on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by families from the ark. 20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

Preaching of God’s Word (Acts 5:12-42)

Introduction

Turn your Bible to Acts 5:12-42.

I don’t have much in way of introduction. Because the passage is longer, I want us to just jump straight into the text.

Again, we’re in Acts 5:12-42 starting in v. 12.

Acts 5:12–42 ESV

12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 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. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 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.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 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. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 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. 37 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. 38 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; 39 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, 40 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. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

As we study this passage, we’re going to break it into three parts: (1) Many Signs and Wonders (12-16), which essentially lays the foundation for the text, (2) The Apostles’ Arrest (17-26), which shows us the apostles’ arrest and their miraculous escape, and (3) The Council (27-42), which closes this section of the text by showing us the trial itself. I know that it is a longer amount of text, but I hope you can see that the text works as one unit to teach us something in particular. This is a call for obedience, to teach and proclaim the Gospel despite what man says, despite imprisonment, and regardless of danger. This sermon will convict us for not proclaiming the Gospel as often as we can, it will encourage us to seek to do so, and it will exhort us to do so regardless of what other people think.

Prayer for Illumination

Many Signs and Wonders (12-16)

Our text starts by telling us that the people were gathered together in Solomon’s Portico, which, if you remember from two weeks ago, was a section of the temple mount where people would gather for teaching (originally used by Jewish rabbi’s, but was also used by the first-century church.

And there’s a little detail that’s worth pointing out concerning what Luke calls signs and wonders being performed regularly by the hands of the apostles. So, let me remind you just briefly of the purpose of signs and wonders before we continue in the text.

Remember, throughout the Bible, signs and wonders were utilized for a very specific purpose and throughout Scripture, it’s abundantly clear that the point of a miraculous event occuring wasn’t for the people to fixate on the miracle.

Or in other words, though our modern-day tendency is to read about the miraculous moments that happened in Scripture and to wish that they would occur today, the point isn’t for us to seek out miracles.

The point, every time a miraculous moment was mentioned in Scripture, was that the miracle validated the message that was given.

In this case, the fact that the apostles were performing miracles confirmed that what they were preaching and teaching was actually from God; and it doesn’t take much to determine what they were preaching and teaching because we’ve already seen it repeated multiple times through the book of Acts.

The apostles were teaching the people about Jesus—they were proclaiming the Gospel.

To validate the message that the apostles were teaching the people, God performed miraculous events through them.

What exactly the miraculous events were, we’re not too sure, but if we look at vv. 15-16, we can make an educated guess based on who the people brought to the apostles for miracles:

We see in v. 15, that the people “carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.”

And we see in v. 16, “The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirit, and they were all healed.”

The two primary miraculous events being performed by God through the apostles were physical healings and exorcisms—that’s what it means for unclean spirits to be removed from them.

But again, the miraculous healings and exorcisms weren’t the point, but rather, they served as affirmation concerning the message being preached to the people by the apostles.

It is of note, that the majority of the people in the area were frightened by the miracles that were being performed. V. 13, tells us that “none of the rest dared join them.”

I think we could understand the fear to some extent—if something like this were happening this morning in Philipsburg, many of us would sort of wait back to see what the result of all this was.

Though arguably, some of us might run up to see what exactly was happening—almost like the tendency that most people have to look over when you’re passing a car accident.

In the case of the apostles performing these great miracles, it caused the people to be curious, to look at the apostles with respect, but to also stand far enough off that those that didn’t believe didn’t join them.

It is also of note, that there were many people who believed as a result of the proclamation of the Gospel confirmed by the miraculous events.

Acts 5:14 “14 And increasingly believers in the Lord, large numbers of men and women, were being added to their number,”

So, we see the apostles preaching and teaching the Gospel, we see miracles being performed to confirm the Gospel, and we see many, many, many people repenting and believing; all of which are amazing things to occur, but the text doesn’t end here, it continues with those with authority doing something. Look at vv. 17-26 again:

The Apostles’ Arrest (17-26)

Acts 5:17–26 ESV

17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 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. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Of course, the High Priest and those that worked with him would have a negative reaction to all that the apostles were doing—they had already commanded for the apostles not to proclaim Jesus, but the apostles refused to obey man rather than God.

In vv. 17-18, we see just how the high priest and his people (who are notably the Sadducees in this case) respond and it’s just how we would expect.

They were filled with jealousy and instead of hearing the words preached by the apostles and seeing the miraculous events occuring, they determined in their jealousy to do something against the apostles.

Remember, that this is the same group of people that were in power, who had all the authority when Jesus was crucified, so the fact that they had the authority to have the apostles arrested really isn’t much of a surprise.

And that’s precisely what they decide to do—they arrest the apostles and place them in prison.

What’s unique in this situation is what happens while they’re in prison, we see it in vv. 19-20, “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.’”

Luke really doesn’t give us the details of the jailbreak. We just see that an angel of the Lord came and simply opened the doors and brought them out.

The lack of detail concerning miraculous events like this really ought not surprise us—many of the biblical authors only provide small amounts of details when it comes to miracles and again, it’s intentional.

The miracle itself is not the point, so the details of it are slim.

The point here, is that the angel of the Lord released them from prison and he did it for a specific reason that we see in v. 20, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”

This is the first time in Acts that Luke describes the Gospel message as the “words of life,” which I think, if you’re familiar with Jesus’ life, you catch where this is coming from.

Peter says that Jesus has the words of eternal life in John 6:60-71.

Jesus calls himself “the way, and the truth, and the life” in John 14:6.

It makes sense then, that the angel of the Lord would call the Gospel the very words of life because through it, one finds Jesus, who grants life and life everlasting.

And the angel of the Lord tells them to go into the temple and speak to everyone these words—proclaim the Gospel to all who will hear it.

So, they do. They obey what they were told to do by the angel of the Lord, which is really just a reiteration of the Great Commission given by Jesus to go and make disciples of every nation. The first part of v. 21 says that “they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.”

Which is precisely what they were arrested for doing, and it is precisely what the high priest and Sadduccees commanded them not to do, and yet, they went and they taught and proclaimed the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Of course, the high priest comes and calls together the council, or the Sanhedrin, to try the apostles for their supposed crimes, but when the officers go to the prison to get the apostles, the apostles clearly aren’t there.

In v. 23 we see that the officers “found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when [they] opened them [they] found no one inside.”

Now, of course, since we’re reading the account after-the-fact, we already know that the angel of the Lord released these men with the command to go and teach the truth in the temple.

But the officers didn’t, so they return to the captain of the temple and the chief priests explaining that the apostles weren’t in the prison.

And we see all the people respond by being “greatly perplexed” and “wondering what this would come to” when someone comes and tells them that “the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”

The apostles didn’t waste any time when it came to obeying what the angel (and really what Jesus) had told them to do—they were exactly where they were supposed to be.

And when the captain and the officers found them, they brought them to the council, “not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.”

The last section of Scripture then tells us what the council determined to do about the apostles. It shows us the council’s meeting with the apostles and it shows us how the apostles respond to the council. Let’s look at the remaining verses again:

The Council (27-42)

Acts 5:27–42 ESV

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 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.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 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. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 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. 37 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. 38 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; 39 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, 40 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. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

The council comes together against the apostles and they immediately refer back to their command or charge for them not to proclaim and teach in Jesus’ name.

This goes back to Acts 4. The charge again, is that they ought not proclaim anything in Jesus name, but remember the response of the apostles to this charge, that it would be better for them to obey God rather than man.

The high priest questions them in v. 28 by referring to this, “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.”

Or worded differently, the apostles did exactly what Jesus had told them to, so much so, that all Jerusalem had been filled with the teaching of the Gospel.

The phrase that they “intend to bring this man’s blood upon [them]” refers to the idea that they thought the apostles were trying to place the guilt of Jesus’ death on the high priest and council.

Peter and the apostles respond to the high priest be reiterating what they said in Acts 4. We see this in vv. 29-32, “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.”

Or in other words, the apostles respond by proclaiming the Gospel—they point out the sins of the high priests and the council, they explain what Jesus has done for the forgiveness of sins, and they call them all to repent.

Remember when the apostles and disciples prayed for boldness so they could continue to proclaim the Gospel? This is what that boldness looks like—if they were going to crumble in confidence, it would be the moment when they were sitting before a judge and jury, and yet, they remained bold and confident in the truth—so much so, that they proclaim the truth even while on trial.

Now, I’m certain that the hope of Peter and the apostles is that when the Gospel was again presented to the council, that the council would repent, believe, and obey Jesus. If they weren’t hoping for this, I sort of doubt that they would proclaim the Gospel, yet again.

But rather than repent and believe, the council becomes enraged. V. 33 tells us that they “heard [the Gospel], they were enraged and wanted to kill them.”

And again, remember, that this group has the power and authority to do just that. They wouldn’t be able to take their life, but just like they did to Jesus, they could bring the apostles to the Roman government and have them take the lives of the apostles.

Despite hearing the Gospel clearly given again, they, in their jealousy, chose to double-down in their sin.

Unlike when they chose to crucify Jesus, someone within the council spoke up and forced the group to slow down and think this all through. In vv. 34-39, we see this objection to the council.

A man by the name of Gamaliel, who was a Pharisee, stands and speaks. He has the apostles placed outside the room and he explains that the council needs to be careful about what they do to the apostles.

And he gives his reasoning by pointing out a man named Theudas who claimed to be someone important, and started gathering a large amount of people who joined him, but when Theudas was killed, the movement was abandoned.

Gamaliel’s thinking isn’t because he necessarily believes the apostles, but it’s rather pragmatic. I say that because we never really get the impression from Scripture that Gamaliel ever believes in Jesus—rather, the only other time we ever see Gamaliel’s name mentioned is when Paul speaks of his Jewish training to be a Pharisee. Paul says in Acts 22:3 that “3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.”

Paul brings this up to show them that his training to be a Pharisee was under someone well-respected as a Jewish Rabbi.

That’s confirmed in Acts 5 when Gamaliel stands and all the people listen to him because he was “a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people.”

Gamaliel stops the Sanhedrin from taking the lives of the apostles, but he doesn’t do it because he believes in what the apostles are teaching.

He does it because if the apostles are wrong, then eventually it won’t matter; but if the apostles are right, then they could be found opposing God.

The truth that Gamaliel is pointing out is simple—if what the apostles are doing is truly of God, then nothing the Sanhedrin can do will stop it from happening, but if what the apostles are doing is of man, then the Sanhedrin just needs to wait for the movement to fizzle out.

Because Gamaliel was well-respected and honored; and probably because the high priests and the rest of the Sanhedrin saw the wisdom in what Gamaliel was suggesting, the Sanhedrin in v. 40, call the apostles in, “they beat them and charged them [again] not to speak in the name of Jesus, and [then they] let [the apostles] go.”

Vv. 41-42 then show us how the apostles responded to the council and the trial and really the beating that they experienced, “then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name [of Jesus]. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

The way that the apostles respond to being arrested, tried, and beaten contrasts how most of us would respond to the same situation.

If something like this were to happen to us, how many of us would rejoice, which means to praise Jesus and give thanks?

If something like this were to happen to us and we were beaten and told not to proclaim Jesus, how many of us would immediately go back to the temple and continue teaching and preaching that Jesus is Messiah?

If something like this were to happen to us and we suffered just like the apostles did, how many of us would just go home and give up?

The apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name and then they continued to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In our remaining few minutes, I do want us to look at some specific application. Now, anytime we’re looking at a large chunk of Scripture like this (particularly when it’s narrative in form), it takes a little more effort to draw out our application, but I think you’ll be able to see how we apply a passage like this with just a little explanation.

Application

Our text this morning starts by showing us the apostles doing many signs and wonders and by explaining that multitudes of both men and women became believers. The Bible says that “more than ever [before] believers were added to the Lord.”

Now, we can get caught up in the miraculous events, but as I’ve repeatedly reminded us, the miracles in Scripture aren’t the point of the passage, but rather they serve as affirmation for the message being spoken—in this case, the miraculous healing and the signs and wonders affirmed the Gospel of Jesus.

Or in other words, the point isn’t that the apostles performed miraculous events, but rather that they were proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That’s important because it shows us that they not only heard Jesus’ command for them to make disciples in Matthew 28, but that they actively chose to obey what we know as the Great Commission.

And it’s the apostles’ obedience to the great commission really gives us our application for this text.

The apostles obeyed the Great Commission and in vv. 12-16, we see God blessing their obedience—note that the blessing wasn’t that they were able to perform miraculous healings and exorcisms, the blessing is that many people heard the Gospel, and they believed.

This is the goal of the Great Commission, for people to recognize their sins, be called to repentance, and for them to actually repent and believe.

The point of the Great Commission is for you, as a disciple of Jesus Christ to go and make more disciples.

Disciple-making starts with simple proclamation of the truth of the Gospel—for you to help people recognize their sins, see God’s call to repentance, and for you to encourage them to repent and believe.

Anything less than this doesn’t fulfill the Great Commission.

The apostles devoted their lives to this and so should you, since you’ve been given the same commission that they were given by Jesus.

God blesses obedience to the Great Commission by drawing people to Himself.

And the beauty of it is that you get to be part of this by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus—thus, you need to obey the Great Commission if you want to see people believe in Jesus.

Now, don’t misunderstand and think that people won’t believe in Jesus if you personally don’t proclaim the Gospel because God draws His people regardless of whether you’re obedient or not.

Understand this as in your obedience to Jesus in proclaiming the Gospel is utilized by God when you do it to further the Kingdom of God.

God saves whomever He wants to save regardless of if you obey His commission or not. The difference is, if you obey His Great Commission, you get to play a part in someone knowing Jesus; and if you don’t obey the Great Commission, you have to recognize that you are very literally disobeying a command from Jesus—you are sinning.

Our first application is really simple, you need to obey Jesus and the Great Commission by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the power of God to save men from sin.

Now, here’s the thing, the apostles obeyed the Great Commission and they experienced great opposition against it, we see this in vv. 17-32.

And the reality is that we ought to expect opposition to the truth of God’s Word.

Jesus tells us that if the world hates us it’s because it hated Him first—we really ought not be surprised when we proclaim the Gospel and people revile us and reject us.

Truthfully, the simple fact that man loves darkness rather than light reminds us that us proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ will be something that unbelievers would rebuff—anything that confronts them for their darkness will cause them to act with opposition.

You ought to expect opposition to the proclamation of the Gospel—expect them to oppose you because they oppose the truth.

Now, don’t use that as an excuse to not proclaim the Gospel and don’t use this as a reason not to evangelize unbelievers.

To do this would mean that you’re falling back into the idea of disobeying the Great Commission and really disobeying Jesus Christ.

So, obviously, the application isn’t to back down when people oppose you—in fact, the application is simple, when you proclaim the Gospel, when you teach the truth, you need to expect opposition while you proclaim the Gospel.

What that means is two-fold—don’t be offended when people reject Jesus—they aren’t rejecting you, they’re rejecting Him.

It also means that you need to be prepared for their opposition—as in, know the Gospel well enough to defend it, know what you believe well enough to stand firm on it, and know the Bible well enough to show people what it says.

You need to expect opposition while you proclaim the Gospel.

And really, our last application for this morning ties into that idea. The apostles obeyed the great commission and despite opposition, they continued to proclaim the Gospel anyway. (33-42) Our final application is that you need to keep proclaiming the Gospel even when you face direct opposition to the proclamation of the Gospel.

I recognize that is a rather hard thing to do, but I hope you can see that it is the right thing to do.

It is our tendency when faced with opposition and hardship in general to recoil, to return to our shells and just wait it out—what that typically looks like is for us to find ourselves in an argument with an unbeliever (or even someone who claims to believe, but doesn’t actually understand the Gospel) and for us to just shut the conversation down and never bring it up again.

There are certain times when it is alright to agree to disagree and just not discuss the issue again—for instance, with issues of politics, we can agree to disagree and just not discuss politics together; or for some areas of systematic theology in which Scripture isn’t clear—it’s alright to agree to disagree and just not argue about it. You’ve heard me say that there are some battles that aren’t worth fighting and there are some hills that aren’t worth dying on—use your discernment.

When it comes to the Gospel itself, it is never alright to not proclaim the Gospel. Of course, you do it in love and you do it with wisdom—meaning, you don’t always need to turn every conversation into a conversation in which you’re trying to evangelize; and really, if the other person doesn’t want to hear it, don’t force it on them.

But you always ought to be ready and willing to proclaim the Gospel in any given situation with love and wisdom.

People will disregard you, they will disdain you, they will disagree with you, and they will argue with you about it.

That’s not an excuse to never proclaim the Gospel to them about it—that’s just a reminder that they still need to hear the Gospel proclaimed effectively and you as a disciple of Jesus have been commissioned to do just that.

Even when people completely oppose your proclamation of the Gospel, continue to proclaim the Gospel anyway.

Put simply, what we learn from Acts 5:12-42 is that (1) you’ve been given a commission to make disciples—part of that commission is proclaiming the Gospel, but (2) people will oppose the proclamation of the Gospel—some will viciously oppose the proclamation of the Gospel. So, (3) you should continue to proclaim the Gospel anyway—with love and with wisdom.

Obedience to God in the proclamation of the Gospel is far more important than obedience to man. So, fear God; and don’t succumb to your fear of man.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

Come, Behold the Wondrous Mystery (184)

The Lord’s Supper

At this time, we’re going to partake in the Lord’s Supper together. Let me just explain a few details before we pass out the elements:

This is the Lord’s Supper and at Grace & Peace we practice an open communion, which simply means that regardless of your membership status here—whether you are a church member or you aren’t, you are more than welcome to partake with us just as long as you have genuinely repented from your sins and have believed in Jesus Christ. Of course, parents, you are free to determine whether your children ought to partake, but let me encourage you to stray on the side of caution if you’re uncertain.

The Lord’s Supper is meant to be a somber reflection or memorial of the death of Jesus Christ to atone for your sins. As such, there is a warning that Paul gives to those who partake in the Lord’s Supper.

He states in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 that anyone who takes part in the Lord’s Supper needs to first consider their own hearts. He warns that if you are to partake in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, you’ll be guilty concerning the body and blood of Jesus Christ. He states that some who have taken the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner have gotten physically ill and some have even died.

We understand partaking in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner to mean that you either partake in the Lord’s Supper despite knowing that you’re in unrepentant sin or you take it flippantly.

So I would encourage you to seriously consider your heart—repent of any sin that you may be holding onto, and take the Lord’s Supper seriously.

We’ll have two people passing out the elements and I can assure you that neither one of them are watching to see if you partake—this is truly between you and God.

As we pass out the plates, you’ll notice that every cup is really two cups that are stacked on-top of one other. You will need to take both cups, as the bottom cup holds the bread and the top cup holds the juice.

When you receive the elements, please hold onto them and wait for everyone else to receive their elements so that we can partake in the Lord’s Supper together.

At this time, we’re going to take a about a minute to quietly pray, to reflect, and to repent if necessary—we’ll then pray corporately before the elements are passed out.

Deane, can you pray for the Lord’s Supper?

“On the night [that our Lord Jesus] was betrayed [He] took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

“In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”

“For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

Congregational Singing

I’d Rather Have Jesus (379)