Impact Thursday -

A little boy is afraid of the dark. One night his mother tells him to go out to the back porch and bring her the broom. The little boy turns to his mother and says, “Mama, I don’t want to go out there. It’s dark.” The mother smiles reassuringly at her son. “You don’t have to be afraid of the dark,” she explains. “Jesus is out there.

He’ll look after you and protect you.” The little boy looks at his mother real hard and asks, “Are you sure he’s out there?” “Yes, I ‘m sure. He is everywhere, and he is always ready to help you when you need him,” she says. The little boy thinks about that for a minute and then goes to the back door and cracks it a little. Peering out into the darkness, he calls, “Jesus? If you’re out there, would you please hand me the broom?”

Our culture is getting more and more hostile to true, biblical Christianity.

One of the fantastic things that you learn by studying the book of Acts is the early history of the Christian church. We see a people fiercely devoted to Jesus and the the gospel and we can trace what happens to these Christians living in a hostile culture. It is incredibly applicable to the church today and the culture that we live in.

Acts 5:17–42 (ESV)

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

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 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.

This is the Word of the Lord. Let’s pray and ask the Lord to help us understand it and apply it to our lives.

I. They were equipped as witnesses

Some people are terrible witnesses because they have not been equipped as witnesses because they don’t truly know Jesus.

What it means to truly be a Christian.

Repent and believe the gospel

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, empowering for service.

II. They were encouraged to be bold.

They had been arrested and put in prison.

The high priest and the party of the Sadducees were filled with jealousy

They were worried about keeping their influence and power.

The angel releases them and tells them to go stand in the temple (explain hp job) and speak to the people all the words of this Life. He’s telling them to go talk about Jesus.

Early Christians were called The Way or followers of The Way. They may have also been referred to as The Life. I love how that name shows that this isn’t just something you believe. It’s something that you stake everything on. You believe it and it changes how you live. When you really believe the gospel and are truly converted you will live differently. It might start small as just a bud but there will be change.

Desires, dreams, goals

So they do just that. They go at daybreak to the temple and started to teach.

III. They were fearlessly devoted to the message of Christ.

Their devotion was to Jesus and Jesus alone. They held that it was above their nationality and their ethnic religious group. They even held it above their own lives.

They were doing the things that Jesus did.

We must be devoted to the message of Christ. It is vital that we get the gospel right in your generation because you are living in a culture full of anti-religion or watered down religion.

I heard one of my favorite pastors tell this story:

There once was a delicious drink, with powerful, positive side effects. When it was introduced, everybody drank it and loved it. And they found that it was not only good but it was good for them too. When some business consultants ran across this this new drink, they saw its marvelous possibiliites and they said to the owner, “don’t you want people to drink this marvelous beverage. “ “Yes,” said the man. “Wouldn’t you like more people to be helped by it?” “Yes,” said the man. “Just leave it us,” they said. Within a few weeks bottles of the drink began appearing in vast numbers, not just there in the town where the man had invtened it but in the nearby city and cities all around that part of the country. A vast ad campaign had been added to the rumors that were already going around about the drink’s great taste and beneficial effect from the few that had bought the drink from the man who first introduced it. As the bottles were snapped up and drank, people were underwhelmed. It was a good drink but it wasn’t what it was cracked up to be or what their friends had told them about. It was a good drink, like many other drinks on their shelves at their stores. When the original owner heard about people’s responses, he wondered how this could be? His product had never failed. He hurried to the store where the shelves were stocked with every imaginable size of bottle of the drink. He opened one and started to drink. Then he understood. In order to sell the drink this quickly and on this large of a scale they had changed it into something they could produce more quickly and cheaply. It was no longer the drink that he had first sold to the people who loved it and were helped by it. But now, his opportunity to introduce the drink to the nation was lost. His problem was different than when he started. It wasn’t that no one knew about the drink. Now the problem was that everyone knew about the drink, or at least they thought they did. But what they didn’t know was that what they knew about was a fake.

Christianity is not just a good tasting drink with beneficial side effects.

IV. They were fearless for Jesus.

They feared God and not men. When we fear men more than God we are choosing to appease the desires of sinful man rather than the will of God as revealed in His Word.

Look at the fearlessness of the Apostles versus the fear of the religious leaders.

They feared losing power and influence. But the Apostles saw the power of God displayed.

We need to focus on these kinds of texts precisely because of the growing hostility to gospel ministry around the world.

D. A. Carson said that “more people have been martyred for following Christ in the last century than in all of the first nineteen hundred years of the church’s history.”

This hostility against Christianity is growing and we need to be prepared to live with the possibility of facing growing hatred for our faith. Many times it is expressed as intimidation, threats, and increased negativity toward anything Christian. I live near Chicago. There was an advice column in the Chicago Tribute called Ask Amy. Here is an example from this column.

DEAR AMY: I’m curious to know what you think of someone asking a semi-stranger, “What church do you go to?” or, even worse, “Do you go to church?” It seems as intrusive as asking “How much do you weigh?” or “How much money do you make?” or “Are your kids gay or straight?” Maybe churches today are trying to grow their memberships, but the way I was raised, someone’s personal relationship with God was PERSONAL. I know people like to categorize, but to me the question is rude. Am I just out of step?—Offended.

Your faith is personal but it’s not private.

If you live out your faith publically, be ready for responses like this.

We minister publically. Jesus was not crucified in private.

Jesus was publically crucified. All could see it.

Gospel ministry will anger some and also has the power to bless others. It lifts those people up while doing it.

Fearlessly and publically following Jesus doesn’t mean being a jerk about your faith. If people are offended by the gospel, that’s find. If they are offended because you are a jerk about how you share it that’s not okay.

1 Peter 3:15–16 ESV

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

V. They were joyful for being deemed worthy to suffer for Christ.

They were scourged. Beaten.

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 5

The lashing consisted of striking the victim’s bare skin with a tripled strip of calf’s hide. The victim received two blows to the back, then one to the chest. Thus each cycle had to be divisible by three, which explains the maximum limit of 39—one less than the 40 prescribed in Deut. 25:3.

They had boldly resumed their ministry even with having been threatened by the Sanhedrin

Their suffering actually resulted in the church growing. The ministry of the gospel grows under suffering and persecution.

Paul in Philippians

Suffering for the name of Jesus is a characteristic theme in the book of Acts. Suffering for the name of Jesus connects us with believers across geographic areas and eras in time.

It’s part of your calling as a Christian.

Philippians 1:29 ESV

29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

It’s tied to experiencing Christ’s resurrection power.

Philippians 3:10–11 (ESV)

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Peter had heard Jesus teach about the reality of facing persecution for those who belonged to the Father. D.A. Carson said this about this passage:

Exalting Jesus in Acts Gospel Ministry Energizes the Minister(s) (Acts 5:41–42)

It is almost as if the apostles were, dare I say it, relieved. They had been given astonishing authority but instead of strutting around talking about their power, they were a little worried that they had not suffered yet.… Now they’ve been good and flogged, and they smile because they’ve been counted worthy to suffer for the name. (“Rejoice to Suffer for the Name”)

The effects of us living and ministering fearlessly for Christ.

1. The poor in spirit were lifted up. People were healed. This was so that people would believe in Jesus. The point is not the miracles themselves. These were people who already knew they were imperfect. This is the word of life, the message of hope, the only thing that will save. It’s the gospel.

2. The gospel will enrage the prideful. It might be an intellectual pride where the believe that there’s not an intellectual way where the gospel makes sense to them. They ‘re too aloof to believe. There is also a social pride. They are afraid of the alienation that comes from believing. They are scared of what they would lose to believe. They may be too concerned with damaging their family relationships or if they are in another religion altogether they may fear it bringing shame or dishonor on themselves or their family. The group persecuting the apostles in this passage probably had some combination of these forms of pride and fear and it caused them to be angered or enraged. (Will Smith slap?)

Remember that they were also jealous. They wanted to keep their position, their role, their power, and influence. Their fear and jealousy was acted out in ways that showed their ungodly hearts. (Good tree/bad tree verses)

The truth of the gospel will expose us for who we really are.

Matthew 7:17–20 ESV

17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

The world opposes those who do good. Mercy minded ministries get attacked… pregnancy resource centers. The world hates their message and their motivation to minister. Those who are hostile to the faith will even act against those doing good. The world is so deceived they may not even see they hypocrisy in what they are doing.

3. When we minster the gospel we are energized for the gospel.

They rejoice.

They don’t stop. They continue in their fearless and dogged devotion to their King Jesus.

Story about telling Moriah Friday about me not having the right to go against my King and that I must believe His Word and His ways and that I have been purchased with the blood of Christ on the cross.

Key point: Jesus empowers us to live fearlessly in the face of the distaste of the world.

The result in our life is joy. You will never regret the suffering you do for the name of Jesus. This culture wants you to capitulate to their whims. They want you to be just as wishy washy about gender, sexuality, and pagan worldviews as they are. If you stand for Christ, you will face the distaste, anger, and maybe even violence of the world. You will be called a biggot, even when you act out of a heart of love. And the only way to overcome is by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion and call to response:

**Musicians come forward**

Revelation 12:11–12 ESV

11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

In this passage the overcomers of the rage of the evil one did so by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.

Preach the gospel to yourself. Preach the gospel when the accusations come. Jesus already took our place on the cross.

Here’s what I want to ask you. Will you imagine your life as having a spiritual checkbook? I realize most of you will never write an actual check in your life. But imagine you have a checkbook of your life. And you can write out a check for some amount of your life, your time, your talent, and your treasure. Are you willing to sign your name on the check and leave the amount blank and give it to God?

Are you willing to let God fill in the amount? Would you today say, I’m available God. Use me.

Invitation:

At this time the band is going to play a song and this is your time to do business with God. I’m going to ask the Family Leaders to go back to the back of the room. IF you need someone to pray with you, go to one of them. If you need to know about how you can know Jesus and follow Him, go see one of them during this song. IF you have unconfessed sin and you need someone to walk through the process of repentance with you, I want you to go back and talk to one of our family leaders.

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