We Must Obey God

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to church. It’s a blessing to be here today. I hope you all managed to dodge the recent storms we’ve had this week.

We are returning to our series on the book of Acts this morning. The saga continues as the priestly council takes action against the apostles, who continued to preach the gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Let’s continue this morning in Acts 5, starting with verse 17...

Acts 5:17–32 CSB

17 Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.” 21 Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full council of the Israelites—and sent orders to the jail to have them brought. 22 But when the servants got there, they did not find them in the jail; so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing in front of the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 As the captain of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, wondering what would come of this. 25 Someone came and reported to them, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the commander went with the servants and brought them in without force, because they were afraid the people might stone them. 27 After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked, 28 “Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” 29 Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

[pray]

I. Hated & Persecuted

The apostles never had any intention of sitting meekly at the command of the religious authorities. I remind you that the last time they were warned not to preach the name of Jesus, the apostles continued performing miracles, drawing the support and attention of the people.

Acts 5:17–18 CSB

17 Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

The high priest and his council is acting out of a strong sense of jealousy...

Jealousy

We all know about jealousy—it is one of our core human emotions.

1 Corinthians 3:3 CSB

3 because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?

Paul warned believers about jealousy and equated jealousy with sexual impurity and promiscuity as well as carousing and drunkenness. These are things my mom used to call “cattin’” as in, “Don’t you boys go out cattin’ around town.” She was talking about giving in to our base instinct. She also reminded us most often to “Remember who you are and who you represent.” which was her way of reminding us to be good and act like regenerate and saved believers in Christ.

Paul told the Galatian church...

Galatians 5:19–21 CSB

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The words “jealous” and “envious” are closely related and refer to wanting something that someone else has.

The Sadducee priests in our text were envious of the popularity that Jesus had and this jealousy was driving their actions.

This passage we just read from Galatians 5 details the fruit of the flesh, but we know that the Holy Spirit encourages us to act out the fruit of our salvation...

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

Jealousy runs contrary to this Fruit of the Spirit. We see it rise up in us when we are not satisfied with what God has given us.

Hebrews 13:5 CSB

5 Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.

This is really difficult. The spirit of jealousy is strong in the Valley. We can see it active in the lives of many around us and it rears its ugly head in the church just like it does elsewhere.

Our way to fight this jealousy and the bitter root that it plants in us is to allow the Spirit within us to control us rather than our fleshly desires. Romans 12 tells us how to do this...

Romans 12:2 CSB

2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

We renew our mind by studying our Bible, praying privately and corporately, and spending time with mature believers. Only then can we learn how to “discern what is the good, pleasing and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:2).

So the priests had the apostles arrested again and put them in jail. But the Lord had another plan for them...

II. Released to Proclaim

They were released from the jail by the angelic messengers who told them to go back out and proclaim the Good News...

Acts 5:19–21 CSB

19 But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.” 21 Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full council of the Israelites—and sent orders to the jail to have them brought.

There was some confusion when the servants “found the jail securely locked, with guards standing in front of the doors, but … found no one inside” (Acts 5:23).

When it was discovered that they were out teaching in the temple, they gathered the apostles up gently, because they were afraid to provoke a riot (Acts 5:22-27). They began questioning them again…

Acts 5:28 CSB

28 “Didn’t we strictly order you not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

The message that the apostles were preaching was having an impact on Jerusalem. They were blamed for filling “Jerusalem with [their] teaching” about Jesus.

I love Peter’s response...

Acts 5:29–32 CSB

29 Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

III. Called to Obedience?

Simply put Peter told them “We must obey God!”

Acts 5:29 CSB

29 Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than people.

What is obedience?

We all know what obedience is and what it looks like. We grew up learning to obey our parents, to obey our teachers, to obey the law, and as believers we learn to obey God.

Godly obedience can be defined this way...

Lexham Theological Wordbook Theological Overview

Obedience is a responsive action. It assumes that God has already acted on our behalf, and that our fitting reply is to follow his will; very often, he then promises further blessing.

I answered a question in a Facebook group for pastors recently. The question was from a young man asking for pastors to share how they became a pastor.

I told him that many older, experienced pastors will tell them “If you CAN do anything else, go do that.” The reason experienced pastors give this advice is that many young men are drawn to be a pastor because they are drawn to getting attention from others and hoping for accolades. However, the reality of being a pastor can be quite different.

The thing about a calling from God is something that will compel and move those who are truly called to go through the trials and overcome the hurdles to ministry. They will get affirmation from God in many forms and—in truth, they will not be able to do something else if God is calling them to be a pastor.

I resisted becoming a pastor for over 30 years and then I struggled for a period of 10 years before I became the pastor of a church.

I had no choice but to obey God in response to his calling on my life.

Obedience

Obedience to God is an essential part of the life of the believer.

Matthew 16:24 CSB

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

Obedience is the act of denying self to do the will of another. It can also be defined as the “dutiful or submissive compliance to the commands of one in authority” [https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-obedience.html].

It is dutiful because it is our obligation as a follower of Christ to obey God.

It is submissive, because we yield our own will by submitting to the will of God.

The commands we follow are outlined in Scripture as the instruction that Christ gave us.

Jesus told us...

John 14:15 CSB

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands.

Obedience is also the result of the love we have for Christ...

John 14:23 CSB

23 Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Obedience is about more than simply following rules. It was the Pharisees in Jesus time that relentlessly pursued the rules of the law, making all those rules their God above God himself.

The Law of Moses, that which the Pharisees followed, no longer rules us, rather we obey the law of Christ, which is a law of love

John 13:34 CSB

34 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another.

Jesus detailed this command to love as he gave us his Great Commandments...

Matthew 22:36–40 CSB

36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Why should we obey?

Obedience to God proves our love for Him

1 John 5:2–3 CSB

2 This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. 3 For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,

Obedience to God demonstrates our faithfulness to Him

1 John 2:3–6 CSB

3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands. 4 The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him: 6 The one who says he remains in him should walk just as he walked.

Obedience to God gives Him glory

1 Peter 2:12 CSB

12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.

Obedience to God opens avenues of blessings

John 13:17 CSB

17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Conclusion

James 1:22–25 CSB

22 But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. 25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

Don’t just show up on Sunday to hear an inspirational message. Don’t just read your Bible to hear a good word for the day.

Do what the word says and experience the blessing that obedience works into your life.