To the Ends of the Earth, Part 8
Reasons to be Faithful to God in Persecution
Acts 5:26-42 and 6:1-7
Introduction
- Welcome to Seasons Church & 2024 sermon series, “To the Ends of the Earth”
-- In 2023 we unpacked the beginning of all history (Creation/Fall/Promise)
-- And we looked ahead, anticipated the coming & victory of Jesus (Revelation)
-- But, in order to get to the end, we have to be busy doing the work now (Acts)
- Last week … we saw an important promise from scripture …
-- PROMISE: God will provide a way, so your trust/hope must be found in Him!
-- So, the Christian must proclaim what they know … even under duress!
-- Consider week before: The greatest example that you’ve spent time with God is by taking a look at what comes out of you when you go into the world!
- Today, we have two topics to cover:
1. The reasons to stay faithful to God during a persecution, and,
2. The role of deacons (or elders or servants) in the church
- Read Acts 5:26 – 6:7 / Pray
Point 1 – Four reasons to remain loyal to God
- Let’s start with the obvious: The disciples are again, arrested
-- But it’s mentioned specifically that they are arrested without violence
-- Consider, the Temple guards were trying to avoid a conflict / riot (v26)
-- Apparently, this was a familiar thing to have happened before
- And the reason is simple: they had broken the Temple rule to not preach (v28)
-- They were thought to have a false doctrine, and were silenced by the religious
-- BOLD: Look at their response …. V29 … we must be loyal to God!
- In this, we see four key reasons the Disciples choose to be loyal:
-- APP: These are each a great opportunity to examine our life and our walk
-- Deeper: The bible should challenge our status quo …
1. First reason to remain loyal …
It is the primary work of a disciple to obey God! (v30)
- Remember, God had three purposes for exalting / lifting up Jesus
• To make Him a Prince and a Savior
• To give repentance to us when it is asked for
• To bring forgiveness of sins, to restore us to right living
- Greek: archégos; originator, author, prince
- Greek: sótér; savior deliverer, preserver
2. Second reason to remain loyal …
We are to be active witnesses of what we have seen
- We are witnesses to what God has done (because of what He did for Jesus)
-- How? Through the power and authority of the Holy Spirit (v32)
- RE: The work of the Holy Spirit:
• Witnesses for Jesus by giving supernatural power to the disciples to live righteously (they / we do not live righteously by our own power)
-- John 15:26-27, “But I will send you the Advocate - the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry.”
• Convicts and convinces you and I of our sin and of God’s righteousness
-- John 16:7-9, “But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.”
• He works signs and wonders through the believer’s life
-- Hebrews 2:3-4, “So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.”
- BIG: the Holy Spirit is given to us who obey Him (only believers receive)
-- This is why your testimony is so critical – it testifies to “these things” (v32)
-- How? By causing us to live righteously for Him in everything we do
- Get this: If you believe, then you are called to obey!
-- Disciples (men in general) would not give up their life if Jesus was a liar …
-- Fact is: Men will not die for a lie – they will look for a way out
3. Third reason to remain loyal …
We must know that God has a will, and it must be accomplished
- RE (creation): We are living in and under God’s plan for His creation
-- We saw this clearly in Genesis and Revelation – these are His things
- Yet, it was and is His will that has been rejected by the world
-- The religious leaders were cut to the heart and took counsel in this wisdom
-- Why? They realized that (perhaps) their approach was incorrect
-- How? Because one of their own, Gamaliel, recognized their error (v37)
- Being a thinking man, and part of this council, he offered wisdom to them
-- Simply: Leave these men to believe and do what they want (v38)
-- If it’s wrong, it will eventually go away and not be a problem anymore
-- His counsel was heard because his logic and reason was sound
- If this is not of God, it won’t last, and it will eventually go away (v38)
-- But, if it is of God, then we won’t be able to overthrow it on our own (v39)
-- Consider: Mtg today to discuss outreach, if it’s not pointing others to Jesus …
- So, they agreed to beat them (obedience does have a price, must see this)
-- And then, they were released – but look at what they took upon as they left?
-- It is our fourth reason to remain loyal …
4. Fourth reason to remain loyal …
We must rejoice in the knowledge that God is faithful
-- Get this: God will do something incredible within a persecuted soul (v41)
• How? God stirred within them that persecution was a privilege
• Being persecuted created a sense of joy and rejoicing in their heart
• And, when one was persecuted it boosted their courage and mission
- Why? Because persecution is not only going to happen, but, in Matthew 10:22 Jesus promised, “And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.”
- Promise and wisdom from Paul: Romans 8:17, “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”
- TR: Turning the corner, in order to effectively minister the Church …
Point 2 – We must have help to accomplish God’s Work
- INFO: There were many different groups in the church during this time
-- The Hellenist Jews had adopted Greek culture, spoke Greek, and wrote it
-- FYI: This original form of the bible was referred to as the “Septuagint”
- FACT: Hebrew Jews would have been taught to reject anything Hellenist
-- So, now they’ve come together, and real word problems begin to arise
- Chapter 6:1-7 could be referred to as the church’s first administrative problem
-- It is not a large problem, but it does uncover some interesting challenges
-- Truthfully: It shows that leaders cannot do everything … they (I) need help!
-- This is reason #1 why others are appointed and must be involved
- Yes, this does specifically relate to deacons (or elders) …
-- Greek: anér; a man
-- Greek: martureó; bear witness, give evidence, give a good report
- But understand this: the application is universal when it comes to serving God
-- “It takes a village …” … and the Church is no different with respect to needs
-- This could be its own message, but I feel we need to cover it here
-- Why? It relates specifically to the growth and expansion of the church
- What was the problem? (v1) Widows were being neglected
-- FACT: The church had outgrown its ability to contain itself
-- So, human nature kicks in and so does the “complaint department”
-- TJ: This is a great example of recognizing a need and just taking care of it!
- Leaders presented a solution: involve the whole church in handling this (v2)
-- Yes … the leaders (Disciples) understood the need, but needed boundaries set
- This is why v2 seems harsh, but it is actually setting the tone for moving forward
-- Said another way: “We cannot focus on just this – we actually have jobs!”
- APP: There is a breaking point where ministers must guard themselves
-- The primary job of the leader of a church is to study, then to teach / proclaim
-- Implied: This means there must be time to actually do these things!
-- Have to have time to go before the Lord: pray, search scripture, and decipher it
- So, they outline a recommendation and the qualifications needed (v3)
-- Give us 7 men who: are faithful (proven in their works), are well attested (good reputation), and are full of wisdom (able to discern and make good judgments)
- Their basic ROLE was to relieve ministers of administrative needs (v4) Why?
-- The works of the church are two-fold: prayer and ministry of the Word
-- The minister is called to be very specific in these and to do them continually
-- Greek: proskartereó; persevere in, continue steadfast in
-- FACT: A minister’s job is never-ending, which is why help is commissioned
- Therefore, men are selected in the same way that they are called today (v5)
• The church acts in humility and love and demonstrates unity to call others
• The church agreed that this is needed in order to move out (ref Acts 1:8)
- Those chosen were not known, except for Stephen and Philip and Nicolas
-- Note: Nicolas was a Jewish proselyte, a gentile converted to Judaism
-- He has been credited as one who helped found the church at Antioch
- And so, men were set aside (or recognized) to do the needed work (v6)
-- This can vary in how it is done – but prayer is the key as is faithfulness
BIG IDEA
- When servants step up (RE earlier obey), something incredible happens (v7):
• The word of God increases
• The church grew through the work of the Gospel
• Even some Jewish priests were reached for Christ
- Our story today outlines the foundation of the church, and it’s needs
-- Loyalty is needed – but so are servants to do the work – it’s a tenacious cycle
-- This is where we’ll see the call of the church focused ahead … are you in?
- Pray
