Fit To Get Beat

It’s really starting to get hard for those apostles now! Sounds kind of like an intro for Dukes of Hazard.

read Acts 5:12-42 and PRAY

Nothing can stop The Church from being a witness to Jesus, so be a witness to Jesus.

The Sadducees

When God is at work, there will be people who don’t like it.

v17; They arrest the apostles.

v26; They take them in again and…

v33; they are filled at being called out on their sin and…

v40; they beat them and threatened them.

All because they were jealous of the followers Jesus was gaining and they were losing the power they held in the culture and their pride was hurt.

So many of us in our pride convince ourselves that we have power and we get made we something shows us and other people that we really don’t.

The only wise thing they say is in verse 39…

And it’s true because God’s people as a whole, The Church, will not be stopped from being witnesses. The apostles are our example of that here.

The Apostles

God’s people are to be bold and unrelenting witnesses to Jesus.

You ever do something even though you know it’ll probably get you in trouble or get you hurt?

vv12-16; They were showing love and compassion to those in need and sharing the Gospel.

vv19-20; They continued to be witnesses even under persecution.

v29; They will honor God before the Sanhedrin.

We are commanded to honor human authorities…

1 Peter 2:13 ESV

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,

But only after we honor God.

vv30-32; They present the Gospel when given the opportunity.

vv41-42; They rejoice in being united to Christ in suffering and continue to be witnesses to Jesus.

1 Peter 4:13 ESV

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

There will likely be times where we will face great opposition for being obedient to God’s Word, for standing up for truth, for sharing the truth with others. It can be scary and there is no guarantee in Scripture that we will be kept safe.

Those who say that God will keep us safe and healthy and wealthy are misunderstanding Scripture, this story is proof enough of that…

But we must stand boldly in the face of that and be a witness to the truth for the glory of God and the love of our neighbors.

In those scary times when the world is yelling at us to be quiet and making threats against us, we must remember…

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He has all authority and He is with us. We are in his hands. So is the whole world, and that’s evident in this story.

God

He is all powerful and his purposes will come to pass.

Think about how bold you could be if you were playing a game and you knew that your team was going to win.

vv12-16; He’s healing people.

v19; He’s orchestrating secret angelic jail breaks.

v39; Even his enemy affirms his power.

Isaiah 46:9–10 ESV

remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

And so we can trust that his plan is true as the apostles explained in verses 30-31...

Jesus died for our sins on the cross and God raised Him from the grave.

Thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice, God’s people can repent of their sin and receive forgiveness for them from God!

We who have put our faith in this Jesus must go and be his witnesses in the assurance that we are eternally secure with Him.

If you have not put your faith in Him…