Go, Stand, And Speak, Pt. 1 Series

Go, Stand, and Speak, pt. 1 Acts 5:12-20

The early church is having a huge impact on Jerusalem with thousands being saved and healed.

Lives are being forever changed!

The church is unified and God is being magnified.

The gospel is spreading like wildfire, the church is growing by leaps and bounds and everyone is happy about it… [Pause] Well, almost everyone is happy.

The religious leaders aren’t happy at all.

They opposed Jesus and His ministry and they were the major players in causing His death.

They resented as well as denied His resurrection and now they feel like they are losing their power over the people, in Jerusalem.

They are jealous because these unlearned Apostles are able to do something they can’t. These men have the ability to reach people in ways the religious leaders could only dream of.

These religious leaders have become envious, and indignant!

Look at verse 17 at the word “indignation”

The word, indignation, means envious, contentious rivalry or jealousy.

These religious leaders were filled with hate towards the disciples and these new believers.

Jump down to verse 28 for a second, where these leaders say; “you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine”

They were not complimenting the dedication of these disciples.

This statement was meant to be nothing more than a complaint…

Don’t forget that these same men accused Jesus of being a friend of sinners!

I want you to know that the best compliment we could receive, as a church is the same complaint the disciples received from the religious leaders.

What I want for EBC is for people to say, “No matter what, that EBC bunch will stand firmly on the Word of God! They may not be the biggest church around but they are not afraid to let the truth be known!”

Let me ask you something. How can EBC, a small congregation off the beaten path, fill Florence County with God’s Word?

Look at verses 19 & 20.

Verses 19-20 give us a simple, 3 point outline. These three points, if followed correctly, will be our road to fulfilling the great commission!

We are to GO…STAND…SPEAK.

1. “Go” deals with the consistency or the reliability of our witness. What I mean is are we the same out there as we are in here!?

2. “Stand” deals with the courage of our witness.

3. “Speak” deals with the communication of our witness.

Today let’s just deal with #1 “Go”. Go is an action word!

There is no other way to use this word except to imply some kind of action.

You may say “Preacher I can use the word to suggest something other than an action when I tell my child to go sit down and DON’T move.”

Well “sit down” [which is an action] and “don’t move” can only happen AFTER the action of going! That child cannot sit down and be still until he/she goes to the place of sitting.

Jesus gave us something that we call “The great commission” and He never said to sit there in that pew and be quiet. He said, “Go”! “Stand” and “Speak!”

He said in, [Mat 28:19 NKJV] “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Again He said in, [Mar 16:15 NKJV] “And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Watch the ACTION in [Psalm 126:6 NKJV] “He who continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves [with him].”

Listen to this verse in the NLT. “They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.”

Nothing will ever happen until we go beyond these walls, weeping over the lost and carrying the message of Jesus Christ!

Jesus said it and Jesus did it!

He never once parked Himself in one spot and said “If they want what I have, let them come and get it I am not moving from this comfortable chair.”

Too many have taken the words of that old hymn literally and have planted themselves by the river of salvation, singing “we shall not be, we shall not be moved. We shall not be, we shall not be moved. Just like a tree planted by the water, we shall not be moved.” In other words “I’m not going anywhere and I’m not doing anything!”

In most cases the word translated go is in what’s called the present, progressive tense, which literally means: “as you are going”

Let’s say that you are sitting in your workplace, look over at your co-worker and say, _____, I’ve never asked if you go to church anywhere? This great singing group is coming to EBC and I wanted to invite you. I really believe you’ll love it!