SERMON OUTLINE:
The Places:
(1). The Colonnade (vs 12)
(2). The Jail (vs 18)
(3). The Temple Courts (vs 21)
(4). The Court Room (vs 27)
(5). House to House (vs 42)
The Events:
(1). Power on the Porch (Vs 12-16)
(2). Joy in Jail (vs 17-20)
(3). Teaching in the Temple (vs 21)
(4). Courage before the court (vs 27)
SERMON BODY:
• Last we you looked at verses 1-16 the story of Ananias and Sapphira.
• How they try to deceive the other members of the fellowship;
• As well as lying to God by being dishonest.
Ill:
• Being honest is not always easy.
• I like the story of tThe children in a prominent American family;
• Who for a birthday present;
• Decided to give their father a book of the family’s history.
• They commissioned a professional biographer to do the work,
• Carefully warning him of the family’s ‘black sheep;
• Who was called Uncle George.
• Uncle George had been executed in the electric chair for murder.
• “No problem said the biographer,
• I can handle that situation so that there will be no embarrassment”.
• The biographer assured the children.
‘I’ll merely say that Uncle George occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important Government Institution. He was attached to his position by the strongest ties and his death came as a real shock.’
Note: A simple outline of this chapter is:
• In verses 1-11 we saw opposition to the Church from within;
• In verses 12-42 we will see opposition to the Church from outside forces.
Notice: That Acts chapter 5 is a series of places:
Ill:
• Joke - Talking of places – I like the story of the man who;
• Went to a restaurant that had a sign hanging up that said;
• ‘They served breakfast at any time’.
• So he ordered English breakfast during the Reign of Charles 2nd!
• Now if you scan through Acts chapter 5 with me;
• You will see that a variety of places are mentioned.
(A). The Places:
(1). The Colonnade (vs 12):
“The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people.
And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade”
• Solomon’s colonnade was becoming a regular meeting place for Christians to meet together.
• Don’t forget that Church buildings had not yet been invented.
• Buildings came much later
ill:
• On Google someone had asked the question:
• “Where was the first church ever built and who ordered it to be build?”
• The first answer to that question was:
• “The first church was built by Jesus Christ. It is entire the world.”
• Well the answer is half right – the full answer should have said:
• “The first church was built by Jesus Christ. It is made up of every single Christian.”
• Note: We have said it often that you don’t go to Church;
• Because YOU (if you are a believer) are the Church.
In Acts chapter 5 these first Christians recognised the importance of meeting together;
• Regularly meeting together as Christians;
• Should never be an optional extra – it is a basic essential if we mean business with God!
• This Church (group of believers) needed somewhere big enough for them to meet;
• Somewhere big enough to hold a lot of people.
• If you can cast your mind back to Acts chapter 4 verse 4:
• The Church in Jerusalem was rather large;
• It was made up of about 5,000 men plus women & kids.
These Christians met in Solomon's Colonnade;
• This was a long porch:
• Stretching along, the eastern side of the temple courtyard.
• It sounds grand and the architecture was grand;
• But if you were there;
• It would have felt anything but a dignified religious sight;
• It was full of the sick and the feeble, the diseased, the afflicted and the disabled.
• It was full of beggars, the unfortunates of society.
• So this grand colonnade;
• Actually looked like a cross between a card-board city and a General Hospital.
(So the first place mentioned is a porch, a colonnade - the second place mentioned is:
(2). The Jail (vs 18):
“They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail”.
Ill:
• Joke – Talking of jail – I like the story of…
• The woman who was in court for stealing a tin of pineapples;
• The judge said he was going to send her to jail for every pineapple-chunk in the tin.
• At that point her husband shouted out; “She also stole a tin of peas!”
Now what a contrast, the architecture of the colonnade is to a depressing “Public Jail".
• The colonnade was full of opportunities for these Christians to share their faith,
• In the colonnade they had freedom to mix and mingle;
• Freedom and opportunity to practice their faith and to use their spiritual gifts.
• In contrast, now in prison they are confined in a secure cell;
• Now there opportunities to serve God are limited, virtually zero!
• Now it seems that someone has put the brakes on their mission!
• Or have they?
• Even though they are confined in a public jail,
• We are going to see that God's will is still being done!
• God is able to use ‘all things’ for his purposes and glory!
Ill:
• Alfred Hitchcock the famous film director always appeared in each one of his films,
• Normally it was just for a few seconds or minute (play ‘spot the Hitchcock’)
• In contrast Shakespeare never appears in any of his plays;
• Yet his presence is pervasive, in every act, in every line of dialogue,
• Bears the imprint of his pen,
• Shakespeare is the hidden genius behind all the characters,
• The genius behind each twist of the plot, the genius behind every poignant ending.
• Transition - now in much the same way – every Christian;
• Should be assured that God is very much in this story of their lives!
• At time he may seem to be absent, invisible,
• But be assured that he is arranging our circumstances for his purpose and plans.
• In those times when heaven seems silent to our prayers;
• Be assured God is just off stage, cueing the characters and orchestrating the drama.
• Though God may at times seem invisible, never forget that his will is invincible!
The third place mentioned is found in verse 21:
(3). The Temple Courts (vs 21).
“At daybreak they entered the temple courts,
as they had been told, and began to teach the people”
• This time Peter & John have moved from the jail to the temple.
• Only this time they return back to the temple with renewed zeal, with great excitement!
Ill:
• Joke:
• A sign outside a garden nursery:
• "It’s spring! We’re so excited, we wet our plants!"
• Well Peter & John had just experienced the incredible power of God first hand.
• Verse 18 tells us that:
“But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out”
• Wow! They had encountered an angelic creature,
• A spiritual being who delivered them and then instructed them to;
• “Go, stand in the temple courts…and tell the people all about this new life.”
• No wonder they returned to the temple full of joy, full of confidence, full of faith!
• They were on a spiritual high and could not wait to share the message of Jesus!
The fourth place is found in verse 27:
(4). The Court Room (vs 27).
“The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.”
• Although it is not mentioned by name,
• We do know where they were by that key word 'Sanhedrin':
• The 'Sanhedrin', was the highest authority in Jewish affairs,
• It met in the COURT ROOM in Jerusalem.
Ill:
• At the time of Jesus the Sanhedrin was at its most powerful and influential peak,
• This court wrote the final word concerning civil and religious law,
• It could order arrests by its officers,
• But they had limited powers, e.g. they could not kill a man (capital punishment).
• But it seemed to the people of that day - that they could pretty much do anything else!
The fifth place mentioned is contained in verse 42:
(5). House to House (vs 42).
“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah”.
• 'From house to house',
• In this verse they are on the streets.
NOTE: The point I wish to make by pointing out all these places is:
• Everywhere the Apostles found themselves;
• In the colonnade, the jail, the temple, the courtroom, or on the streets
• They made it count for Christ!!!
• For them it mattered not, WHERE they were,
• They reacted no differently whatever their surroundings;
• In prison and therefore in hardships, or in the temple or in somebody's houses.
• To them WHERE they were was not important:
• But rather WHO was with them, i.e. The Lord was with them! (That's what counted)
• In their changing circumstances, they had an unchanging God.
• And a gospel, a message that fitted all people in all situations!
That to me is the stirring lesson of this chapter:
• The apostles were persecuted, imprisoned & beaten,
• For no other reason than teaching the gospel.
• But through Jesus Christ their living Lord;
• They overwhelmingly conquered the situations & circumstances they were in.
Note:
• Now let’s look again at those four situations;
• And notice 4 locations where God was at work!
(b). Four locations where God was at work!
(1). Power on the Porch (Vs 12-16).
Verse 12: “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people”.
Verses 15.
"As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by".
These miraculous signs and wonders actually divided the people into two groups:
• The first group: verse 13:
• “No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people”.
• There were people who approved of Christians;
• But due to peer pressure or fear of the religious leaders;
• They were too scared to join with them.
• The second group: verse 14:
• Others “Believed in the Lord and were added to the Church”.
Peter and the other apostles (verses 15-16) were enabled by the Holy Spirit:
• To perform miraculous signs and wonders (verse 16);
• These signs included healing the sick and casting out demonic spirits:
• Wow!!! What a sight it must have been,
• Solomon's Porch full to overflowing:
• People coming not just by the dozens, but in their hundreds,
• And the sick were being healed and people were finding new life in Jesus!
• It was a marvellous sight, except............... to the religious group,
• Religious people hate it, when you break with THEIR creed,
• THEIR way of doing things.
• Religious people always want to maintain the status quo,
• I guess you know the words ‘status quo’ are Latin for, "The mess were in"!
• (True meaning: ‘status quo is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs’.
• Religious people always want to maintain the status quo,
So when the apostles start creating major ripples in their pond:
• There is trouble,
• Especially when they can do things the religious people can't!!!
Notice: how the religious leaders react in verse 17&18:
• Motivated by jealousy!
• "They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail".
• Last time they were arrested in chapter 4, only Peter & John were arrested,
• This time all the apostles are arrested too.
• So they put the apostles in jail with the common thieves and criminals,
• For the religious leaders it was problem solved, or so they thought!
ill:
Just like the true story, of a missionary:
• Who used a microscope to showed a tribe of natives the cause of their illness,
• He wanted them to see the germs that were in the water they were drinking.
• That night while he was sleeping,
• They broke into his house and destroyed the microscope,
• For them it was the end of the problem!!!
• Yet you and I know:
• That answers nothing, it just removes the evidence.
• The problem still remained.
In Acts chapter 5 the religious leaders were about to realise that:
• The same God who was at work outside the jail,
• Could do exactly the same inside the jail.
(2). Joy in Jail (vs 17-20)
Verses 19:
"But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.
"Go stand in the temple courts", he said".
Notice:
• All though the chapter in every impossible situation you will see God intervene.
• With the sick - God brings healing.
• When they locked up in jail, with no way to break their chains and open the door:
• God intervenes and brings to them freedom, courtesy of an angelic being.
• Angels are supernatural creatures, spiritual beings, messengers & agents of God,
• This angel instructs them to go back to the temple precinct and preach.
• Note the phrase in verse 20: “the full message”.
• They were not to tone things down or miss out the controversial bits.
• They were to preach “the full message”.
Quote Stephen Gaukroger:
“So much of this account …… contrasts with Church life today.
They were bold, direct, rude and produced a commotion wherever they went.
We are often timid, evasive, overly polite and produce a stifled yawn wherever we go”.
Verses 23-24 tells us not even the guards who were there had a clue what happened:
• One minute they have them securely locked up.
• And the next moment their gone.
Question: Where have they gone?
Answer: Verse 25: "In the temple courts teaching the people".
(3). Teaching in the Temple (vs 21)
“At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people”.
• The apostles returned to the temple, full of enthusiasm:
• Having just seen and experienced Christ's power,
• They courageously shout the full message of Jesus;
• To anyone who will listen.
Meanwhile......................... verses 21b-24:
• The Sanhedrin, the supreme court of Israel:
• Note: the “full” council (everyone present) are getting ready for business,
• The top religious heavy weights are gathered together.
• And not realising that the apostles are no longer in jail,
• They send for the prisoners, and wait, and wait, and wait!
• Then instead of the prisoners coming before them,
• A very nervous looking officer brings a message – “They have gone!”
• Verse 23: “The jail was securely locked, we opened it, but there was no one there".
• ill: Twilight Zone moment.
Verse 24 records their reaction:
• They were left puzzled, totally perplexed, confused and confounded;
• Why? Because the human mind cannot fathom out the workings of God,
• To these religious leaders these events just don't make sense,
• And as if to rub salt into their wounds,
• Just then a messenger arrived with some more embarrassing news:
• Verse 25b.
• "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people".
ill:
This section would make a good TV. situation comedy:
• The temple police are confused (no sign of a break out).
• The chief priests are ‘puzzled’ (no idea what is going on).
• The Sanhedrin are embarrassed, trying to have a hearing when there is no-one to hear!
• Everyone has got egg on their faces.
• Finally the riddle is solved;
• Verse 25:”Someone”, walks straight by them on their way to the temple and spots them.
(4). Courage before the court (vs 27):
“The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.”
• As the apostles are brought before the Sanhedrin, into the courtrooms.
• And you can bet that this was not a public meeting,
• It was no doubt held behind closed doors,
• After all the Sanhedrin are desperate to hush the whole thing up,
• Not only were the apostles a threat to their popularity.
• But their biggest fear is that the Romans, who the Sanhedrin collaborated with;
• Will hear that a disturbance has taken place.
• And the one thing the Romans would not tolerate,
• Was a public disturbance.
Verse 27: The apostles are brought before the Court and cross-examined:
• Verse 28a: Informs us of the Pharisee's charge.
• "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name".
• Notice their language: “This name”.
• They are unable or unwilling even to acknowledge or speak the name of Jesus.
Then Sanhedrin inform the apostles of their twofold disobedience (verse 28b):
• “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching”;
• That is: they kept on telling out the message of Jesus.
• “You are making us guilty of this man’s blood”
• That is you keep blaming us for the death of Jesus.
This is very much Déjà vu for the apostles:
• Acts chapter 4 verses 18 & 21.
• They had completely ignored the instructions of the Sanhedrin.
• Verse 29: Peter and the apostles reply to the Sanhedrin’s question;
• (the same answer as the last time they were brought before them Ch 4 vs 19);
• "We must obey God rather than men!"
• Peter tells the Sanhedrin that they are only following orders,
• They are men on a mission (Chapter 4 verse 19).
Then Peter gave the Sanhedrin the answer they did not want to hear:
• He and the apostles would disobey civil and religious law,
• If they thought it clashed with God’s law.
• That word translated 'obey' in verse 29
• Is a unusual word in the New Testament and not very often used;
• In fact it only occurs four times altogether.
• It means: 'exclusive obedience',
• Literally: 'absolute, unquestioning submission'.
Peter then presents to these religious leaders the good news concerning Jesus Christ:
• Notice in verses 30-32: He affirms 3 things concerning God:
• First he describes God as; “The God of OUR fathers”.
• Peter is starting his talk on common ground;
• He is saying his God is their God, he is not preaching new truth but old truth!
• “The God of OUR fathers” has done three things for Jesus.
• The implication being Jesus was God’s Messiah, and therefore their Messiah!
• (1). God raised Jesus from the dead.
• (2). God exalted Jesus to his right hand.
• (3). God has given his Spirit.
From that exalted position in verse 31b:
• He (Jesus) is able to give two things, both of which were the gifts of God:
• “Repentance”.
• “Forgiveness of sins”.
Verse 32: Peter really sets the cat among the pigeons by saying:
• We are witnesses of these things (we saw it happen, and we are testifiers of these events).
• And so is God’s Holy Spirit (He saw it happen, and He testifiers of these events).
Verse 33 records the reaction of the Sanhedrin:
• Peter has now touched one raw nerve too many!
• His words of triumph and defiance, caused a furious reaction by the Council.
• "They were furious and wanted to execute them".
Most of the Sanhedrin wanted to put the apostles to death:
• And I think they would have,
• If hadn't been for one man called Gamaliel verse 34:
• Once again when the apostles are in an impossible situation,
• When they are cornered, with no way out.......... God steps in!
• He steps in by working through this unbeliever called Gamaliel.
• Gamaliel was a Pharisee,
• He was a very respected teacher, an outstanding expert on the law.
• In fact Acts chapter 22 verse 3 tells us,
• The apostle Paul studied under him,
• He was a kindly man, with a far wider tolerance than his fellow Pharisees.
• And he had the respect of the council, and they listened to him.
In verse 34 he diffuses the situation in two ways:
• First: he removes the offending item, i.e. the apostles from view,
• Secondly: he uses reason not emotion,
• Gamaliel uses as his argument:
• Two individuals called; Theudas & Judas (verse 35-37).
• In those days Palestine had a quick succession of fire brand leaders:
• Who set themselves up, as the deliverers of their country, even as the Messiah
• These individuals:
• Came into prominence, and soon faded away,
• The point of Gamaliel's argument is verses 38-39:
• "If their purpose is of human origin, it will fail.
• But if it if from God, you will not be able to stop these men;
• You will only find yourselves fighting against God".
Notice verse 40:
• His speech spared the apostles lives,
• But they were still called in whipped, perhaps 39 lashes!
• (i.e. Deuteronomy chapter 25 verse 3).
Verse 41 & 42 are incredible verses:
• Instead of dampening the apostles spirits, and putting out the fervour
• It had the opposite effect and they were even more joyous and eager to share.
ill:
• Winston Churchill was asked by his old Harrow school:
• To go back and address the school boys, he was at this time 75 years old.
• The head master of Harrow school told the students;
"Be ready with your pen and papers, because you will hear things that you will never hear from anybody else, what a speaker".
When the time came:
• They were all eagerly perched on the edge of their seats, pens and paper at the ready,
• Churchill stood up unbuttoned his jacket:
• Slid his glasses to the end of his nose,
• Placed his thumbs in his waistcoat pocket.
• And this was his speech; "Never give up, never give up, never, never, never give up".
• And then he sat down!!!!!
That's the massage of Acts chapter 5.
• It is so easy to look within at our circumstances:
• To sit there licking our wounds,
• To feel sorry for the rough deal we have been given,
• We can easily get overwhelmed by the situation.
