INTRO.- ILL.- The warden of a Midwest prison sent a note around to inmates asking for suggestions on the kind of party they’d recommend to celebrate its 25th anniversary. The prisoners all had the same idea—OPEN HOUSE.
ILL.- Not long after a wealthy contractor had finished building the Tombs prison in New York, he was found guilty of forgery and sentenced to several years in the prison he had built! As he was escorted into a cell of his own making, the contractor said, "I never dreamed when I built this prison that I would be an inmate one day."
Sometimes we build our own prison. Have you ever been in jail?
Someone is there who probably thought she’d never be: Paris Hilton. And others may follow. If you play, you pay. And she’s paying these days for ignoring the law.
ILL.- Paris Hilton’s Jail Time Is On. That was the news headline. The 26-year-old heiress reported on Sunday night, June 3rd, to the Century Regional Detention Facility to start serving time for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.
Well, as we all know or heard, Paris got out of jail after only three days and then the judge sent her back to jail and that’s where she’s been ever since June 8th.
I think most people think that she is just a little spoiled, rich girl who deserved to go to jail for ignoring the law.
It will be interesting to see how jail affects Paris Hilton, if at all. Some say it will simply make her more famous like it did for Martha Stewart. At least, it got her a lot of press.
Here is what Paris Hilton is saying now that she’s spent some time in jail "I’m much more grateful for everything that I have, even just to have a pillow at night or food."
"I’m claustrophobic, and my cell is really small. There’s nothing to do but basically sit. A room with a bunk-bed and a toilet and a desk. I was going a little bit crazy in the beginning. I’m getting used to it now. In a way, I’m really glad this happened because it changed my life forever.”
How will being in jail change Paris Hilton? I don’t think it will make a Christian out of her, but it should make her think about obeying the law and it just might make her realize how good she has it in life. It will definitely humble her. It already has.
In our text, the disciples had been put in jail for preaching Christ. It didn’t do much to make them celebrities in the world.
Acts 4:1-3 “The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.”
Later, they were released from jail. Whether you’ve ever been in jail or not, YOU HAVE BEEN IN JAIL! How so?
Gal. 3:22 “But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.”
We all were imprisoned by our sin. Sin dominated and/or controlled our lives at one time. On our bad days, it may still do that, but basically, we’ve been set free from sin by the power of Christ.
Rom. 6:17-18 “But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
Once we accept Christ, believe Him, believe in Him and his death and surrender to Him, we should be released from sin and some good things should happen to us.
PROP.- Let’s consider from this text what should happen once we’ve been released from the prison of sin.
1- When released we must go to God’s people
2- When released we must raise our voices in prayer
3- When released we must allow God’s Spirit to work
I. WHEN RELEASED WE MUST GO TO GOD’S PEOPLE
Acts 4:23 “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people…”
When Peter and John were released they went to be with their own people. They went to be with their Christian brothers and sisters.
ILL.- One lady said, “DURING A VISIT with a friend at an assisted living center, I was invited to stay for lunch. As we entered the cafeteria, she leaned toward me and whispered, ‘They have two lines here. We call them cane and able.’”
Some of us are cane people and some of us are able people. We need one another. Cane people need able people. There are times when we all are ‘cane’ people. We need one another in this rough, tough world. We need to assemble together on a regular basis for support, help, fellowship, encouragement, sympathy, edification, laughter, etc.
Acts 2:42-44 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.” All the believers were together! They needed one another.
ILL.- One lady said, “MY GIRLFRIEND took her five-year-old daughter shopping with her. The little girl watched her mother try on outfit after outfit, exclaiming each time, ‘Mommy, you look beautiful!’ A woman in the next dressing room called out, ‘Can I borrow your daughter for a moment?’”
Brothers and sisters, we all need encouragement from one another. “You look beautiful!” Or “That was great!” Or “You sure did a good job!” “Wonderful music!” etc.
As members of the Lord’s church we should give encouragement to one another any way we can: verbally, physically, materially, etc.
Acts 4:23 “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.”
There are times when we need to report to one another what’s going on in this world in order to give support and help. It’s kind of like planning our battle strategy in this world.
ILL.- For example, a number of you have called me at times to help with your computer. Most of the time it’s something fairly easy but perhaps it wasn’t easy to you. I’ve learned a few things over the years and I’m glad to share that information.
Likewise, as we all learn about life we should be willing help one another whenever someone is facing a tough time. If you’ve been there and done that (whatever the difficulty) then you should help others!
ILL.- I remember when Pete and Lorerinda’s grandson Gage was bitten by a poisonous snake (copperhead) in their garage. Besides getting him to the doctor and hospital asap I know something else that Pete did. HE CAME TO ME TO ASK FOR PRAYER! I was more than quick to pray with him about little Gage. And, of course, everything turned out ok with the doctor’s help and God’s grace!
Now at other times we may be facing some other kind of crisis in life and we don’t know what to do. What should we do? We should be able to go to one another for help, assistance, counsel and prayer! WE NEED ONE ANOTHER!
II. WHEN RELEASED WE MUST RAISE OUR VOICES IN PRAYER
Acts 4:23-24 “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them….”
ILL.- There was a preacher who preached from a full manuscript. One Sunday night the lights went out in the church. The minister thought someone was playing a practical joke on him. “Turn the lights on,” he demanded in a stern voice. He was told that the electricity had gone off.
What could he do? He wisely said, “If the power is off, it is time to pray!” The service was turned into a prayer meeting, and all went well.
Brothers and sisters, many times in life it seems like the power goes off. By that mean, something tragic happens. We lose a loved one in death. Someone has an accident, etc. WHAT SHOULD WE DO? WE SHOULD PRAY! If anything, we should pray. More than anything, we should pray!
ILL.- My preacher friend Lewis Burton from Brunswick, GA, lost both his father and younger brother in less than 24 hours. When he wrote me about by email, I immediately prayed for him and then called him on the phone to offer my sympathy.
When Peter and John were released from jail they went back to the church and they joined together in prayer. Whether it’s something good or bad, we should pray. If it’s something good that has happened we should be quick to praise the Lord in prayer. If it’s something bad that has happened we should be quick to ask God for mercy and grace.
Phil. 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Heb. 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Often, the best thing we can do is to pray about whatever we’re confronted with. And when we join together in prayer we have a powerful force.
Matt. 18:19-20 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
We need to gang up together and pray more! It’ll do some good!
ILL.- Walter Knight wrote: The ancient church had a minimum of organization, but it had a maximum of power. The average church today has a maximum of organization but tragically lacks power.
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan once warned, “One of Satan’s methods today is to start so many organizations in a church that the members have no time for unhurried communion with God. Many Christians are so busy that they can hear only the clink and clatter of church machinery.” Knight said, “Too often we are over-organized and under-agonized.”
ILL.- C.H. Spurgeon was showing some visitors over the Tabernacle (London). After taking them to the main part of the building, he said, “Come, and I’ll show you the heating apparatus.” Imagine their surprise, when he took them to a room where four hundred were gathered in a prayer meeting.
Brothers and sisters, perhaps more good things would happen in our church if we spent more time in prayer! Prayer is the most natural thing to do when you’ve been released from the prison house of sin. You will want to spend time in prayer and praise!
III. WHEN RELEASED WE MUST ALLOW GOD’S SPIRIT TO WORK
Acts 4:31 “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”
ILL.- One lady said, “EMPLOYED as a dental receptionist, I was on duty when an extremely nervous patient came for root-canal surgery. He was brought into the examining room and made comfortable in the reclining dental chair. The dentist then injected a numbing agent around the patient’s tooth, and left the room for a few minutes while the medication took hold.
When the dentist returned, the patient was standing next to a tray of dental equipment. “‘What are you doing by the surgical instruments?’ asked the surprised dentist. Focused on his task, the patient replied, ‘I’m taking out the ones I don’t like.’”
Sometimes we don’t want the dentist to do his thing or what is necessary to correct our teeth problems. For example, I’ve never had a root canal nor have I had my wisdom teeth pulled and I’ve heard a few horror stories about both of those. Those deals can hurt a person!
Likewise, there are times when God might want to do a root canal on our lives and we’re not in a hurry to have it done because we know it won’t be an easy thing. So what do we do? We put it off as long as we can or we do other things.
Some people don’t want to go to church for fear they’ll get convicted by God’s Word and have to do something!
We are often like Adam and Eve in the garden. When they recognized they’d done something wrong, they tried to hide from God. They were like Jonah of old when God told him to go preach to the city of Nineveh. WHAT DID HE DO? He ran away and tried to hide from God and he ended up in whale of a lot of trouble for it!
ILL.- When Robert Morrison, the first missionary to go to China, disembarked from his ship in a Chinese port, the captain sneeringly said, “So you think you are going to make an impression upon China.” Morrison quietly replied, “No, sir, but I believe God will.”
ILL.- Savior, fill me with Thy Spirit
As I seek and wait and pray,
Bend and break me, blessed Master—
Make me wholly Thine today.
Lord, I bow in full surrender,
Yielding all I have to Thee:
Come and fill me with Thy Spirit—
Sanctify Thyself in me.
I would tarry in Thy presence
’Til endued with power and love:
I would know the mighty fullness
Of Thy Spirit from above.
Will He come in all His fullness
As I now obey Thy call?
Yes, oh, yes, for Thou has promised,
If I come confessing all.
—Oswald J. Smith
When released from the prison house of sin we need to continue to let God have His way with us.
CONCLUSION------------------
ILL.- Billy Graham, who is now 88 years old, said one time in a sermon, “America is said to have the highest per capita boredom of any spot on earth! We know that because we have the greatest number of artificial amusements of any country. People have become so empty that they can’t even entertain themselves.
“People have to pay other people to amuse them, to make them laugh, to try to make them feel warm and happy and comfortable for a few minutes, to try to lose that awful, frightening, hollow feeling—that terrible, dreaded feeling of being lost and alone.”
Brothers and sisters, there is a great void in people’s lives. Americans try anything and everything to fill that void, except for trying the Lord. He alones can saves us and make our lives meaningful while on earth.
