Preach

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a privilege to share the Word of God with the saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church. Our exists by grace for glory in love.

Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s like riding a bike”? It’s used to describe the idea that you won’t forget how to do something you were once taught to do. Now it’s been a while since I’ve personally got on a bicycle but I’m pretty confident that I could do it. Might have to have a bike rally one day after church just to try it out. But while that saying may not be true in every case, some of us may have well have forgotten how to ride a bike, it didn’t just come out of nowhere. It’s generally true. A modern proverb.

But as we prepare to get into our text this morning, I want those of us who do know to ride, or at least believe we still could, to think about what it was like before getting on the bike. Or, maybe if you never learned to ride a bike before this will be something you still identify with even now.

When you really think about it and begin to break it down, the idea of riding a bike seems pretty daunting. It can feel overwhelming with concerns about balance, coordination, and falling. Obviously physics can explain it, but its pretty crazy to think that the skinny two-wheeled thing can hold me up and go down the road without tipping over. Then even if you can get up on the bike and go down the road, you have to be concerned about the potential for traffic, road hazards, tire inflation, any variety of challenge may be found once on the bike. When we look at it close enough and evaluate all the variables closely, riding a bike is quite the feat. And yet, at the same time, it is so simple that many five-year olds can do it.

To some degree, this concept applies to both the early church we have been studying in the book of Acts and the church today. There are real dangers involved, certainly more directly for the first-century church in Jerusalem than ourselves. In the first century, believers in the church would have to be on the lookout for persecution as they stood out as radicals from the majority. In our direct setting, we worry less about immediate persecution but as our country seems to be trending towards a secular future, we worry about what might be waiting for us around the corner. For the learning bicyclist, the thought of jumping on and going for the ride can be intimidating. With bikes, people are worried about balance and coordination. When joining the church, people are worried about their abilities to fit in the group, if they can live up to the standards of righteousness and accountability within the church.

Yet at the same time, coming to faith in Christ, joining His church, and participating in the life of His church is so simple that even a child can do it.

Last week I spent a portion of the sermon discussing the concept of “counting the cost” of following Jesus and participating in the life of the church. Today, I hope to expand on that concept.

There are risks associated with everything in life. It can be scary to do something new. If you go at it unprepared the results can be devastating. But with the proper equipment, assured confidence, and the helping hand of a loving guide, you can get on the bike and ride with joy, being prepared to handle the bumps in the road as you go.

With that in mind, if you have not already, open your Bibles to Acts chapter 5.

This will be out final week in our short stop through this chapter. Today we will be covering verses 17-42. I recognize that this is a sizeable selection of Scripture. It isn’t often that we attempt to cover 26 verses in a single sermon. However, we must remember that the book of Acts is a Historical Narrative. These verse flow together as a contiguous account of a specific event in the life of the early church. It is my aim, this morning, to highlight the God given ability for believers to remain faithful and active in the life of the church, serving God by grace for His glory, in love. We will walk through this account chronologically, looking at the theological implications, and making application as we go. So buckle in, we have a lot to get through, but it is good and for the glory of God! Begin with me in verse 17. Acts 5:17-18

Acts 5:17–18 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.

To provide greater context, we must remember the summary portion we looked at last week. We looked at the great things the Lord was accomplishing through the hands of the apostles. People were being healed and most of all, the gospel was being spread, the church was growing for the glory of God.

Then we get to our text today and to continue the analogy from the introduction, if participation in the church is likened to riding a bike, then they are certainly hitting a major bump in the road. The high priest, along with the Sadducees, are not happy with what they are seeing with the this fledgling, growing church. It is important to note who the Sadducees were. You may have heard of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were two sects within Judaism, and Jesus Himself had dealings with them both. Each of these groups held some measure of political power. They both claimed to respect Moses and the Law, though members in each group missed the boat on seeing who Jesus is. However, in a some what similar to denominations in the Christian faith today, the groups had differing theological perspective. Since our text focusses on the Sadducees, we need to know that their doctrinal distinctions included a denial of any afterlife, they were anti-supernaturalists. That means they said there were no angelic or demonic spirits, no resurrection.

So with that understanding, it should be clear to see why they were frustrated with the Apostle Peter and this growing church. Miraculous healing flies right in the face of their worldview! Preaching a RESURRECTED CHRIST would be a direct challenge to their belief system. On top of all of that, the Sadducees were highly political. Sadducees tended to be wealthy and to hold more powerful positions. The chief priests and high priest were Sadducees, and they held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin. They didn’t like that this new Christian movement was challenging the power balance they had clung to tightly for so long. Notice it says in verse 17, they were filled with jealousy. They wanted to be center of attention. They wanted the crowds to be centered around them not these “off-the-walls” apostles. So using their political power and influence, they had them arrested.

What can we learn from this? Is there any modern application? We’ve discussed throughout this series that we serve in a different era with a different gifting to than the church of Jerusalem, so then do we face the same challenge? The short answer for our direct context is no. We have been giving the ability to gather in this place. As an organization we own the property and can meet how we’d like freely without the immediate threat of being arrested. We can even participate in public life. We take our Sunday evenings in the Summer to the park. There we freely and openly sing hymns, have devotions, and seek to tell others about Jesus. While not everyone may be receptive of our efforts, even in a public place like that, we do not live in a place where we are immediately worried about being arrested for faithful worship and public displays of worship or fellowship. This is generally true for all the churches and believers in a similar context to us. However, the same cannot be said for believers all over the world even in the year 2024. According to the Open Doors Organization as of January of this year, 13 Christians are not jailed for practicing their faith each DAY, but they are killed! That means that during our Sunday School hour and this very service one or two Christians gave up their lives rather than denouncing the One True God of creation. They would rather die as Christ died, than deny their resurrected Savior. We should be in consistent pray for the faithful believers around the world, praying for bold, sustaining prayer, and that they may be afforded the opportunity to serve the Lord without the threat of violence that they currently endure.

At this moment, for our church, we don’t have that same pressing reality. We don’t worry about our church building being raided or being herded into camps and prisons for claiming faith in Christ. However, and I say this with great caution because I do not want to be an alarmist or conspiracy theorist, but I cannot guarantee that is not around the corner for even Christians. Don’t hear me incorrectly. I’m not saying that it’s happening tomorrow or even in our life times, but all throughout history there has been an exchange of powers in society and as that happens different ideals are either elevated or there is an attempt to snuff them out.

To put this back into the riding a bike analogy, as you’re riding down the road, you don’t know what might be around that corner in the city block. There may be a great big pothole, or it may be smooth sailing. In the Old Testament, Samson’s parents asked the angel of the Lord what they should do with their son and what his future would be. The Angel told them how they were to raise Samson, but He left the question of the future unanswered. It’s not for us to know or even to worry about what may happen tomorrow. It is for us to live here in the moment for the glory of God, trusting Him to guide us through the speed bumps and potholes ahead, and picking us up when we fall, tending to our bruises and scratches with care.

For the apostles in our narrative this morning, they were met with immediate persecution. For our brothers and sisters around the world, that happens today. For the remainder of our time, as we walk through the rest of the text, I want us to think about how we may react in a situation of persecution. It is my hope that as we see the response of the early church it would give us confidence to serve faithfully whether the positions of authority around us would be against us or not.

Let’s read what happens next:

Acts 5:19–21a (ESV)

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.” 21a And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

In this book of miracles, we see another one take place. The Lord opens the doors of the prison and tells them to go back to where they had just been arrested and go back to doing what they were arrested for. What may be the biggest miracle and evidence of the empowering influence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Apostles is that they actually did it!

So what do we learn here? Well first, we need to remember that God has a particular purpose for the particular miracles recorded in this book. Our takeaway ought not to be that if we are ever imprisoned for our faith that God we certainly bust open the doors and set us free. We have to remember that according to tradition, all but one of these apostles died a martyr's death, at the hands of persecution. The plan of God doesn’t always guarantee deliverance from earthly affliction.

Instead, what we ought to note and apply here is the instruction of God and the Internalization of instruction for the disciples. God’s instruction, was to Go! Go back to the place where the people are. And when you get there tell them all about the words of this life. This is a reiteration of the imperative of the Great Commission! Go back to the people and tell them about eternal life that is only found in Jesus Christ! It’s not found in religious performance, it’s not found in political power, it’s not found in naturalist study. It’s found by grace through faith in Christ according to word for the glory of God! They received instruction to, despite the difficult situation they had just been in, hold fast to gospel and share it freely.

It is my aim to present the gospel every single time we gather. I’ve said before that if I ever sound like a broken record, I hope its because I’m stuck on repeat of the gospel. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to pay for sins, reconciling an unholy creature to the Holy God. I want people to receive that message through faith in Christ. That message was the message of the early church and it must be the message of our church today. One pastor said this, “"We are not to preach sociology, but salvation; not economics, but evangelism; not reform, but redemption; not culture, but conversion; not progress, but pardon; not a social order, but a new birth; not revolution, but regeneration; not renovation, but revival; not resuscitation, but resurrection; not a new organization, but a new creation; not democracy, but the Gospel; not civilization, but Christ; we are ambassadors, not diplomats."”

I agree with that wholeheartedly! I would think that many, most, all of us would as well! But if we’re being honest this morning, we’re very often more likely to say the gospel is the main thing, than to actually live and preach it out! We get more worked up about the economy than the soul of the economist, the culture, the movements of the day. All of those things matter to some degree, but they pale in comparison to pressing need to share the gospel and the hope that we ought to live with when we have it!

Look at what the apostles did in the beginning of verse 21. It’s so simple that we might overlook it. Daybreak comes, they go to the temple, and they begin to share the message that had been entrusted to them. God gave them a command and they did it! They did it knowing that they had just been imprisoned for it! God has given us today the same mission, we have it in a place with the freedom to do it, and we say, nah I’ll get to it next week, or better yet, I’ll let some else do it. I’ll have the pastor share the gospel with them. I’ll let that church across the street take care of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I welcome your invitation to go and share the gospel with a friend or family member, but don’t get it twisted, you’ve been given this mission! If you’ve seen the glory of the gospel, you’ve been given the duty of sharing that glory!

And don’t forget that even if the pastor doesn’t go with you, you aren’t sharing alone! I mentioned a moment ago that the apostles obedience is evidence of the empowering influence of the Holy Spirit. By all earthly standards, going back in that place where they were just arrested would’ve been terrifying! But they did so with confidence because they had supernatural peace, a fruit of the Spirit, the same spirit that indwells all believers! The apostles desire to honor God was greater than their fear of man and they had peace from God to go forward into uncertain areas and share. Church, we can do the same by the power of the same God.

Returning to our narrative, the God-given boldness of the apostles was not well received by the culturally powerful Sadducees. Paraphrasing the next part of our text, the leaders found the prison was empty, then found that the apostles had gone back to preaching. They were distraught and perplexed by the events, and wanted to shut it down. With political tactfulness, they called the apostles into the council, without using force, fearing a revolt from those gathered in the temple. In their meeting with the apostles they gave them the strict command to quit all of their preaching. They claimed the apostles were blaming them for the “man” Jesus’ death. Let’s zoom in on the apostles’ response.

Acts 5:29–32 ESV

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.”

Remember, the Sadducees deny supernaturalist realities. They didn’t believe any form of resurrection was possible. They sought to spit at the apostles’ message by calling Jesus, just a man. Now the Apostles, led by Peter, staring the face of persecution directly in the eyes respond by doubling down on the glorious, supernatural truth. They had witnessed the great miracles of God. They know that Jesus was more than a man. They know that He was raised from the dead and in light of that reality they must share the message of repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins which Christ gives freely to all who believe in Him.

I want to make a few points of application here. First notice the source of confidence and direction of the apostles. “We must obey God rather than men.” This is in essence saying that we will be obedient to the call of God NO MATTER THE CONSEQUENCES MAN CAN THROW AT US. Church, with the 24/7 news cycle that constantly vies for our attention and is fueled by stirring our sense with fear, I can completely understand why folks are worried about tomorrow. When voices are constantly telling you that you and your way of life are under attack, it is natural for fear and doubt to creep in. When there’s an attempt to assassinate a former president, the current president drops out of the next race, interest rates are unpredictable, the housing market bubble might bust, the olympics are making statements, etc etc, I get why their would be unrest! As I’ve said, I’m not saying those things don’t matter at all. What I am saying is that God’s mission, our God-given mission matters more! And there is not one political, societal, economical, or any other change that could be made in this world, that can prevent you from loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself. In our country, we’re given one day a year to go out and vote. But we’re given everyday by the grace of God to live for His glory in love of Him and others. Your ultimate concern every single day ought to be, “How can I glorify God today?” not “What new problem is gonna get in my way?” Remember, church, you must obey God, not men. Even if the most diabolic laws are enacted, that is something the leaders of the country will be held accountable for glory. You responsibility is to steward your life for the glory of God.

The second application from this section is the directness with which the Apostles spoke. The Sadducees didn’t want to be held accountable for the death of Christ. Yet the apostles did not mince words to be more appeasing to their persecutors. When they spoke of Jesus they said, “whom you killed by hanging on a tree.” This wasn’t an attempt at character assassination. It was a recounting of the facts. The High Priest and the Sanhedrin coordinated Christ’s death. When we talk to people about the gospel we too can speak plainly and clearly about the truth. The Sadducees were offended by their offense. People are offended to hear that their own sin is an offense to God. That doesn’t make it any less true. That doesn’t mean that we are judging them. The truth is that all of us are sinners whose sin makes us incompatible with the Holy God. We do people no favors by telling them they’re good folks who could just use a little dash of Jesus as the cherry on top. The truth is were all wretches in need of the sanctifying grace of God! Speak that clearly!

The final application from this text is the extension of grace by the Apostles. In verse 31, they tell the group that Jesus was raised to prove He is the Christ, the Leader, the Savior, and in doing so He gives repentance to the Lord of Israel and forgiveness of sin. Notice, the message includes all of Israel. That includes the very folks that are persecuting the apostles. They too can receive forgiveness by grace through faith in Christ. We must remember this too as we deal in a lost world. We preach the message of repentance and belief. While, we were not witnesses to the resurrection of Christ in the same way as the apostles, the grace of God has been revealed to all who believe and we stand as witnesses to the world of the Light that the darkness cannot overcome. Remember that Pharisee named Saul who persecuted the church and endorsed the murder of the good Christian Stephen, he would come to understand the grace of God and be used to lead the church in a great way. In the face of persecution, hold tight to truth and share the grace of God!

We can only control what God has given us to control, our own lives. We can’t even control the response to the message of the gospel when we share it.

In our text this morning, the Sadducees did not respond well. I can only hope for their sake that a seed was planted that at another time blossomed into real, life-changing faith. But in that moment we see in the next section that they were enraged and sought to kill the apostles. One wise man piped up and shared this truth that quelled their anger for the moment.

Acts 5:38–39 ESV

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,

I can be certain that any of those in the room that day that never came to faith in Christ have found that they did indeed oppose God with their efforts.

They ended up letting the apostles go, though not before beating them and telling them once more to be silent about Christ. How would the apostles respond?

Acts 5:42 ESV

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 Christ is Jesus. Jesus is the Christ. He is the Savior.

Colossians 1:15–23 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.

Coming to faith and living it out in the life of the church really is as simple as riding a bike. It’s seeing who Jesus is, following Him, and sharing Him with others. Let’s not let the worries, speed bumps, and potential challenges around the corner take away from the joy of riding out this life for His glory. Let’s have our lives marked by love of the Lord and others. Let’s tell others about Jesus. And if you want to know more about Him, make that known in our Hymn of Response today.

Let’s pray.