Extend the Forgiveness You Have Experienced (Acts 5:12-42)
Acts (EMPOWERED TO WITNESS) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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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.
THE WORD OF THE LORD
THANKS BE TO GOD
INTRO:
Maybe some of you have seen the movie “Unbroken,” or read the book, but it is the story of the life of Louie Zamperini. And Louie lived a life that is hard to imagine.
At age 19 he competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which caused him to come home a celebrity.
Just a few years later, he joined the United States Army Air Force as a B-24 Bombardier in the Pacific. In 1943, his plane experienced engine failure and he crashed in the pacific ocean. And for the next 47 days he survived on a life raft, fighting off hungry sharks, and brutal weather to remain alive.
At the end of the 47 days he was rescued, but things got worse, if you can imagine, because he was rescued by the Japanese military, who took him into custody as a prisoner of war.
Louie spent the next 2 years of his life as a POW, where he was tortured and beaten regularly, especially after they found out he was a celebrity in the United States.
But none treated him with more brutality than a Japanese prison guard named Mutsuhiro Watanabe, known simply as “The Bird.”
Day in and day out, Louie, alongside his fellow soldiers, endured the torture and beatings doled out by their captors, until the war ended.
When Louie came back home, he was a celebrity all over again, but for different reasons.
Even with the fame, Louie could not escape the horrors he had witnessed, so he turned to drinking heavily to dull his nightmares.
It was not until his wife threatened to leave him, that he understood the problems his drinking had caused.
To prove that he was serious about restoring his marriage, his wife made him come with her to see a young evangelist, named Billy Graham.
It was at this event that Louie heard the gospel for the first time, and the message that night focused on forgiveness. And how Jesus bore the costs of our sins so that we could experience true forgiveness, and also extend that forgiveness to others who have wronged us.
Louie gave his life to Jesus that night, and the nightmares that he had been experiencing since his return, finally went away when he was able to forgive the ones who caused those nightmares.
It was through this that Louie realized, The grace of Christ allows us to experience true forgiveness, and empowers us to live boldly and freely as we extend forgiveness to those who often don’t deserve it.
The apostle Paul tells us this in his letter to the Ephesians.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
And in today’s text, we get to see the apostles extending the same forgiveness they have experienced through the grace and the gospel of Jesus Christ.
CHUNK#1
Remember last week we saw the church face opposition from the inside when Ananias and Sapphira openly blasphemed against God in His church.
We discussed that He is holy and set apart and He calls His church to be as well. And so He acted swiftly and firmly when the sanctity of His church was threatened.
This week we see the church facing opposition from the outside. And we should be aware that Satan will use both to create distrust and disunity.
But the invitation for us is always the same. Remember what Jesus did and remember who you are as a result. Remember the gospel.
When we are centered on the gospel Satan’s desires of disruption and disunity will never be successful.
And after Ananias and Sapphira met their end we are told in
None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,
None dared join them, and more than ever believers were added.
How does that make sense?
Scholars say that this is because at this moment, only committed believers dared join the church.
This is the difference between cultural Christianity and committed Christianity.
(LET ME GO ON A QUICK RANT)
In our area of the world, it’s somewhat comfortable to be a Christian.
We call ourselves Christians here for many other reasons than belief in the gospel.
Our parents were Christian and we think that it’s inherited.
Or our friends are doing it, or people that we look up to.
And as a result we think that others should call themselves Christians for reasons besides belief in the gospel.
Work harder. Do better. Act decent. These are all behavioral changes not heart changes.
We cannot become Christians just because our culture demands it.
This is the whole idea behind christendom or even right now Christian nationalism. It’s the idea that this country was founded on Christian principles, and if we would just put more laws in place that would allow us to go back to acting more Christian everything would be fine.
That is not the gospel. That is moralism or legalism.
The gospel is about inward transformation that proves itself in outward action.
It is not outward action determined by the law.
The law is not bad, but it cannot save us.
Jesus taught us this in His ministry. He told the religious leaders, that they didn’t love the God they were doing these things for. He told them, Your heart is far from Him. Repent and turn back.
Jared Wilson says, “The behavior that honors God comes from a heart that truly honors God.”
Being a Christian is less about what we do and more about who we are.
What we do is a direct result of we are.
So we can’t force people to become Christian because our culture demands it.
Cultural Christianity creates nominal Christians. Christians in name only. Not committed Christians who have been changed from the inside out by the gospel. (RANT OVER)
But in the time of the apostles and in other parts of the world today, it is not comfortable to be a Christian. It actually requires great consideration, and great cost. They knew the cost of discipleship. Once we count the cost of discipleship and still see that Jesus is better, we cannot help but be committed.
And after the death of Ananias and Sapphira, these people saw how serious God took the church, and they did not dare join unless they were fully committed.
I pray for the day we treat God’s church with such reverence in the west.
CHUNK #2
And this causes the outside opposition.
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.
So, the church is growing in commitment, in number and influence, and this fills the authorities with jealousy, to the point that they are thrown back in prison for the second time. But see what happens next.
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.”
This is a spot of great humor in the Bible. The Sadducees were those who did not believe in the resurrection or in angels. And here we see an angel breaking them out of jail so that they could continue preaching the resurrection. Don’t ever think the Bible’s not funny. The Lord is playing a pretty intentional joke on these Sadducees.
So they get them back in front of the Sanhedrin, which is a council of Sadduccees and Pharisees that met on these matters each morning, and they begin to question them again.
Peter uses this as yet another opportunity to preach the gospel.
This is the fourth time in 5 chapters that he has preached in front of a crowd, and the second time that he has done so as an inmate.
Peter uses every opportunity to make much of the name of Jesus. This is not a heart that hates those in opposition to him, but a heart that wants them to know the same forgiveness and freedom that he has known in Jesus.
And this time after they heard it…notice their response.
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
Peter’s bold proclamation angers them. The truth has moved them from discomfort to hatred. Remember these are the religious leaders. The ones who have claimed to know God the best, because they had been involved in religion the longest.
They have a reputation to uphold.
Hear me now, God will test and dismantle our traditions, especially if they avoid His Word. That is pretty much the entire ministry of Jesus.
So sometimes the more we “know”, the more we can attempt to box God in and miss the incredible things He is doing.
And that’s what is happening with these brothers in the Sanhedrin.
They know more than these apostles. They have been studying for years. They have earned their job, and they are proud of it. They are prideful because of their positions.
And James 4:6 says
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
And when we were in the book of Jonah, we talked about our identities being layered. We can know God, but some things in our lives can actually be closer to our heart than our identity in Him.
If your position, or your job, sits closer to your heart than your relationship to God, even if you are a pastor in a church, like these brothers, you will trust in your position more than His power.
We must take the time to dethrone the worthless kings of our heart, so that Yahweh, the true king can reign. And that begins with me and the leadership.
Because, as the leaders go so goes the church.
When we prayerfully take the time to excavate, and own our prideful tendencies, God grows us in humility and continually gives us His grace.
He opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.
But not all are acting out of their emotion. Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was held in honor by the Sanhedrin, speaks with great wisdom and clarity into this emotional group.
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,
He reminds them of times in the past where rebellious leaders perished on their own, and says that if the same is true of Peter and these Christians we will not have to worry, but if they are from God, we better get out of their way. We do not want to be in opposition to God, fore that is the work of Satan.
The International Mission Board, which sends missionaries into places where the gospel is not welcome, always tells missionaries to look for and find a “person of peace.”
These are individuals who are open to the gospel message and are receptive to sharing it with others, often within their own circles.
That is what Gamaliel is. He is a person of peace, and a conduit for the gospel to grow inside of a hostile environment.
Father we need more Gamliels. More brothers and sisters that provide wisdom and clarity into an increasingly emotional and reactive world.
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.
What an example of grace!
Peter and these apostles are not preaching out of pride. But out of great humility. The gospel continually humbles them. And God gives grace to the humble.
Think about this,
We are not typically happy after being unjustly arrested and beaten.
But by the grace of God, the apostles are reminding us that we can rejoice even in our hardest moments, and use them to glorify His name.
We have examples of this in America. Just look back at the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s.
Martin Luther King Kr. led many peaceful protests, that got him beaten and thrown in jail, all because he desired that blacks and whites would be united in their maker as image bearers. He spoke of the grace of God that allowed him to holdfast despite great opposition.
“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times.” -MLK Jr.
And throughout Scripture we get this same view of God’s grace.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
It is this grace that empowers us to live boldly and freely.
It is this grace that allows us to extend forgiveness to those who don’t deserve it.
It is this grace that frees us from hating those who oppose us, allowing us instead, to mourn the sin that longs to keep us and them from the forgiveness of God, in Christ Jesus.
Martin Luther King speaks into this as well, saying,
“I have decided to stick with love…hate is too great a burden to bear.”
You might say that this lifestyle of grace and forgiveness cost him his life. But his cause lived on.
The same is true of Christ. We can look at His life and say, He could have lived so much longer, but His cause remains.
It continues to move on through the Holy Spirit and His people.
We are forgiven in Christ, so we forgive.
How can we rejoice for being persecuted and reviled?
Turn our eyes to Jesus.
Peter reminds us of this in His letter to the church
For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
It is only by the grace of God that we can walk in the truth of the gospel. Jesus is better than whatever else we seek. In Him, there is freedom from hate, freedom from judgment, freedom from sin, and freedom to endure unjust punishment.
Tim Keller, a brilliant pastor and theologian said,
“When you forgive somebody, you’re not saying, “All my anger is gone.” What you’re saying when you forgive is “I’m now going to treat you the way God treated me. I remember your sins no more.”
This is how Peter and the apostles can be thrown in jail and consider it a privilege and a joy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ Jesus.
Each time they beat us, it is another chance to preach the gospel.
Each time they imprison us, it is another chance to preach the gospel.
Each time they grow in hatred for us, it is another chance for us to extend forgiveness to them.
Jesus says that God forgives us for our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Who are you unable to forgive brothers and sisters?
Who is Satan using in your life that is keeping you from forgiveness and causing you to oppose the gospel?
Remember the forgiveness you experienced in Christ, and extend it to them whether they deserve it or not.
Pray that Jesus would change your heart and their’s through His gospel of grace.
CONCLUSION:
Louie Zamperini went back to Japan in 1952 to speak to the camp guards that were responsible for running the POW camps with such hate in their hearts. He asked specifically to see “The Bird.” He was unable, but some time later he wrote this letter.
“To Mutsuhiro Watanabe,
As a result of my prisoner of war experience under your unwarranted and unreasonable punishment, my post-war life became a nightmare. It was not so much due to the pain and suffering as it was the tension of stress and humiliation that caused me to hate with a vengeance. Under your discipline, my rights, not only as a prisoner of war but also as a human being, were stripped from me. It was a struggle to maintain enough dignity and hope to live until the war's end.
The post-war nightmares caused my life to crumble, but thanks to a confrontation with God through the evangelist Billy Graham, I committed my life to Christ.
Love has replaced the hate I had for you.
Christ said, “Forgive your enemies and pray for them.”
As you probably know, I returned to Japan in 1952 and was graciously allowed to address all the Japanese war criminals at Sugamo Prison… I asked then about you, and was told that you probably had committed Hara Kiri, which I was sad to hear.
At that moment, like the others, I forgave you and now would hope that you would also become a Christian.”
Signed, Louis Zamperini
When you forgive your enemies and pray for them. Your life becomes a living picture of the gospel.
It is only by the grace of Christ that we are empowered to live boldly and freely, but we must be willing to extend the same forgiveness we have experienced through our trust of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
BOW YOUR HEADS AND CLOSE YOUR EYES IF YOU WOULD.
JUST WANT TO DO SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT THIS MORNING.
IF YOU ARE HOLDING ON TO SOMETHING TODAY, WHETHER THAT IS UNFORGIVENESS OR ANY OTHER WEIGHT THAT THE ENEMY IS ATTEMPTING TO USE AGAINST YOU, WOULD YOU RAISE YOUR HAND?
AND IF IT IS OK FOR ONE OF OUR LEADERS TO COME PRAY OVER YOU, WOULD YOU KEEP YOUR HAND RAISED?
(PRAY AND PREPARE FOR COMMUNION)
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
You are sent from here by His grace, to give the forgiveness you have received in Christ.
Go in Peace.
