Sermon Tone Analysis

I want you to think about how often through out the week you give the gospel.

How many times is there an opportunity for a gospel presentation and you pass it up.

Why do you pass by giving the gospel?

What is the reason or reasons you have decided to turn away from being God's chosen instrument in that time and hour to bring about a gospel presentation.

Do you turn back because you feel you don't know what to say, do you turn away because you don't have the time, maybe you are afraid of losing a friend or even losing a job?

These are all excuses that are conjured up in our minds to keep us from sharing our faith.

There are times we also back off and say well if I live the gospel or I just pray for the person then that should be enough.

This morning we are going to see that living the gospel means you stand firm in proclaiming the gospel.

We will see three reasons this morning for standing firm in the gospel.

Three Reasons for Standing Firm in the Gospel

We will see this in Acts 5:17-26;

The apostles weren't hiding their teaching, they not only were in public view they were in the temple, where the temple official and the high priest would go.

They didn't shrink from the religious leaders in fear of them but through the power of the Holy Spirit they would teach with boldness the hope of the resurrection.

There is a battle that ensues, and on the outside it seems as though the warring parties are the apostles and the religious leaders of the day but it is quite clear the fight is between God and the religious leaders.

It is a battle between the power of God and the power of man.

The religious leaders give lip service to following and obeying the word of God but in reality they are threatened by God's own Son Jesus Christ.

They are threatened by the prospect of grace and mercy because they rule the people with fear and tyranny.

There are two factions of religious leaders of the day, the first are the pharisees, who are considered the liberals of the day.

They believed in the Pentateuch and its authoritative power over life and practice.

They also believed and saw the rest of the Hebrew Scripture as authoritative as well.

They viewed it not only as history but as the outworking of what God has done with the nation of Israel.

Then their are the Sadducees who view the first five books as authoritative and hence law.

Their view of the rest of Scripture is in a sense as a commentary on the first five books and doesn't necessarily hold authority but elaborates on characteristics of God and God's work through the nation of Israel.

So their view is since resurrection isn't mentioned in the first five books then there is no resurrection.

This put them at odds with the apostles in a big way because the apostles are preaching and teaching on the hope of the resurrection.

The high priest of the day is from the Sadducean sect so the Sadducees are the ones at the top of the pecking order within the religious leaders.

The are also not happy about the message the apostles are preaching and they want to put a stop to it.

So Luke tells us they "laid hands on them and put the in jail."

Thinking this would stop the message and thinking this would stop the heralds and thinking this would strike fear into the people also.

They are sorely mistaken because they are not fighting against these men but they are pitting their own authority against the authority of God.

A word about jealousy or zeal, the Sadduccees had a zeal or a burning passion against the teachings of the Apostles, however, the apostles keeping with the same idea of zeal or passion and I would even say jealously for God's truth and what is holy.

God Commands Us

Here we have it, this is the real fight the real battle and God doesn't sit on the side lines waiting and watching and hoping His message will go forth.

He isn't afraid His message will be hindered because He has no reason to fear His message being hindered.

God sends an angel, a messenger to assist the apostles.

This is authoritative encouragement for the apostles.

The angel opens the gates and the angel leads them outside.

This is God's way of preserving His Church.

The angel also provides a message from God to the apostles in verse 20, "Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life.'

Listen, three verbs here, the first is "Go," this is an imperative, it is a command.

This angel is acting on behalf of God and this is a direct command from God through the angel.

The prison is not where they are to be they are to Go and it is followed up by the word stand.

Giving the idea of authority and the idea of how a messenger or a herald would provide an edict, it would be standing.

Also think about this the angel is telling them to go back to the same place they just were and stand in the open and speak or the word is better translated continue "speaking to the people the whole message of this Life."

They aren't told to go into hiding or to run away and preach somewhere else.

No they are told to go right back into the open court of the temple and don't change your message but continue to give the same message and continue to point to the hope of the resurrection.

This is God's command to them and this is a command which reiterates the great commission.

Go into all the world and make disciples, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

What a powerful message in the midst of persecution.

Don't stop giving the gospel message, don't stop telling people the whole message of the gospel.

This is our command as much as it was theirs and how often are we afraid of people?

How often are we afraid of taking a moment God opens up to us to share the gospel and turn away from it.

Why?

Because we are worried they won't believe the message or fight with us or not like us anymore.

Boohoo, these men were jailed for the gospel message and these men face a beating and even death because of the message and they are freed from the prison by God to continue out in the open to speak, herald, proclaim the gospel.

What do they do, they act on the authority of their Lord and Master and they trust and obey, because they know there is no other way.

Look at the beginning half of verse 21, "Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach."

They go back , and not only this they are there at daybreak, this is in the morning, the temple is opened and the days business has begun.

Do you know what is ironic about this.

They were arrested and put in jail to await trial, do you know where the court is where they would have been taken to stand trial?

In the temple.

This is ironic.

Here we have once again the authority of God superseding the authority of man.

This is God's temple and God is in control and it is His house.

This is were the message of the gospel has been central and it continues to be the central point of God's work.

Still the religious leaders think they are the ones in control of all the temple proceedings but they are wrong and God shows them how wrong they are.

Do not be ashamed of the gospel.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only gospel that brings about salvation, it is only the name of Jesus Christ that has the power to save and there is no life in anyone other then Him.

There is no life in anything other then Him.

This is the gospel we are commanded to proclaim and we must proclaim it.

No slide

God Confounds Opponents

At the same time the apostles are entering the temple to give 'the whole message of this Life,' the whole Council comes together to tri these same men for their proclamation of the gospel.

They obviously didn't run into one another because the council had the officers bring them in from the prison where they had placed them the night before.

When the guards arrived at their cell they found the cell empty but the door locked.

The news of what had happened as Luke writes here, "perplexed" them.

The were in confusion as to what this would mean.

The knew something was up, they know there was something going on with these men and they were wondering as to what God was doing because it was obvious God was doing something.

The problem is they didn't know what to expect.

Would they see a revolt, or would these men just disappear.

It brought about a confusion that was not a good one and that didn't lead them to God but kept them thinking, how is this going to play out for them.

When you think you are the ultimate authority and you are in complete control and God exerts His power, authority and control over the situation you wonder how it will play out for you.

The reason why is because your reality isn't God's reality, especially when the God's work is in direct opposition to what you believe.

The Sadducees didn't believe in miracles and the supernatural, and this event was obviously supernatural and could be considered a miracle.

So now they don't know what is in store for them.

When we think we are in charge we miss out on God's work.

We become confused instead of allowing our faith to grow.

Don't be the authority in your life, don't miss out on God's work.

These men here are persecutors of God and His work and they are fighting against God and losing.

When you are an authority over your own life you are going up against God and you will lose.

God Comforts Hearts

Here is a contrast, we find in this passage what motivates these two different groups.

The apostles are motivated by the healthy fear of the Lord.

Knowing His Holiness and Power and promise and they serve God.

The religious leaders of the day are only motivated by how others perceive them.

They are so worried the people they are supposed to serve and to lead and guide will see them as the heretics they are and stone them to death.

This shows the Israelite community has lost respect for them and their power and their ability to lead.

They are not afraid of these religious leaders as they once were and the people are moving away from following their empty rules to aliening themselves with God through the power and majesty and work of Jesus Christ.

There is no way these religious leaders were ignorant of how those men got out.

They like most people today wanted to ignore the truth and didn't want to acknowledge they had any guilt in putting Jesus on the Cross.