THE WINDOW
Bible-Teaching Ministry of
CEDAR LODGE BAPTIST CHURCH
Thomasville, NC
a fellowship of faith, family and friendships
Acts 5:16-42 November 28, 2004
god’s family, the church, is certainly not one-dimensional. A great many folks outside the church would look at the church and say the church is there to serve the “religious side” of people’s needs. While they would be right in one sense, that is too simplistic an evaluation. The church, like any family is complex and multi-dimensioned.
Our study in Acts shows us many things…three that stand out as the important benchmarks of Christian living:
The Birth Pangs – of the early church show us that these early followers of Jesus struggled. They were successful and sinful; there were ministries that went forward, and some that went in the wrong direction. All through the process, God was there.
The Emerging Patterns – of togetherness within the church and unflinching unified stand towards the world. God consistently brought the believers together within, and scattered them to work without.
The Eternal Purposes – of God do not change. Pastor Rick Warren from Saddleback Community Church identifies at least 5 dimensions, or purposes of the church, worship, fellowship, discipleship, serving (ministry), and evangelism. All of these purposes serve the larger purpose of God as He develops His Kingdom.
The purposes also have their pattern, as we see worship, fellowship, discipleship and ministry within the church body; ministry was also extended outwardly toward the world as the opening gate of evangelism in the world. There has always been a debate among believers about the social gospel and the spiritual gospel. There is no difference; the social gospel is the entry point to evangelism (the “spiritual gospel).
God started all that in the era we are studying about in Acts; it is the era of the beginnings of the church. When you see how it started, and notice the patterns that emerged, you can have a much clearer understanding of what we should be doing as part of God’s Kingdom. Unfortunately, you also get a pretty clear picture of just how far we have wandered from the main path of God’s intentions for His bride, the church.
God’s Intentions for His Bride, the Church
The intention of God for the Bride of Christ is that we function as His people, His family. Those functions are the purposes. In so-living-out these five purposes we bless God and establish His Kingdom. And in so-doing we can count on these other realities we see in our text this morning:
POWER TO BE GOD’S SERVANTS
16Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. Acts 5:16
We must remember that the Apostles were not the typical faith-healers we see today. These men really possessed the gift of healing; their touch restored people. They did so in the name of Jesus, but there was no doubt that when Peter entered the hospital ward, everybody checked out!
Today the “healers” cannot seem to replicate that. There are a multitude of excuses why; however, today’s so-called healers fall a good bit short of the Apostles’ impact on society.
The primary reason is in the true power of God’s Holy Spirit, as opposed to tricks and gimmicks. I went hunting for “healing” on the Internet. I found:
· 8 Weeks to Optimum Health
· The healing power of gemstones
· Exploring the healing power of the mind and animals
There was even a book entitled “Grandmother’s Secrets; the Ancient Ritual and Healing Power of Belly Dancing”.
We live in an age where there is a market for everything, and religion is no exception. True power to be God’s servants was granted to those who had no agenda other than a desire to be faithful to God through Jesus Christ.
You can expect power if you will serve Him; you can also expect:
PERSECUTION TOWARDS GOD’S SERVANTS
17Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.” 21At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23“We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.
25Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” 26At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
27Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
29Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
33When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. Acts 5:17-33
Peter and the rest of the apostles just wouldn’t “stay put” in the jail. Reading this account of how the Sadducees put them in the “klink” and in the next sentence they’re out, reminds me of the (now) ancient Saturday morning cartoons. They used to be all about Bugs Bunny. Elmer Fudd, all decked out in his hunting gear, would imagine he had Bugs trapped down a hole. As Elmer is guarding the entrance, Bugs would stroll-up behind Mr. Fudd, casually munching on a carrot and ask, “What’s up, Doc?”
Elmer Fudd would always be surprised, and he would never be able to keep Bugs still, long-enough to get a clear shot at the rabbit. In the same way, the Sadducees had a lock on the Apostles…it was even the public jail where people could see them behind bars. The problem was that bars are no match for angels.
It is no wonder that the Sadducees got furious – they don’t believe in angels. And at this point the ones who claimed they were released by angels are standing in front of them, obviously with the onlookers validating that they were in jail, and now escaped.
Preaching Jesus everywhere, all the time gets people furious at you. The word “furious” has its root in a word picture of being “sawn in two”. That will get you furious! The Sadducees’ theology and power had just been sawn in two by these unlearned apostles of a crucified carpenter/itinerant rabbi. They weren’t going to stand for being shown-up that way!
The conflict continually escalated. In Chapter 6-8 we find the stoning of Stephen, the dispersion and persecution of the church, the execution of James and more. Through it all, God was in charge.
I got an email from a friend this week about a local church in her area of the world. It seems their ministries are suspect, and at least one website, claiming to know the inside story, tears that church apart. What’s more, people from the church are emailing the webmaster of that site, lambasting him for lambasting them. My friend asked what I thought. My response was:
I followed the link and read the website.
The Assemblies of God churches are brothers; they worship much differently than I do, but we need to remember that, in the area of salvation, they believe the same basics as we do.....salvation in Christ alone by grace through faith.
I have never set foot inside that church or spoken to that pastor, so I cannot say anything about that particular church’s methods.
People always have their opinions, pro & con. We, as brothers and sisters in Christ, need to do better than what I read on that website’s pages. There is mudslinging and retaliation. Neither of those is Christ like.
If I were asked to give a judgment....I’d stay away from that website and not pass-on unconfirmed rumors through the gossip mill. Even if the stuff about that church is true, passing it around to "less-than-mature" Christians, and worse, unbelievers, only makes the real Kingdom look like a sham.
Read what Gamaliel said in Acts 5:38-39 (just happens I’m preaching on that this weekend)....."...leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." Good advice, eh?
Power to be servants, Persecution if you’re going to serve, and…
PATHWAY FOR GOD’S SERVANTS
34But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” 40His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.
Acts 5:34-42 (NIV)
Flogging was done with a leather whip formed of at least three strands. Sometimes there were bits of glass or stone embedded at the ends of the strands to dig in the flesh. In a typical flogging, the chest and back would be laid bare, and the chest would receive 13 lashes, and the back 26. Many people didn’t survive this kind of procedure.
Now, the apostles were being let go, supposedly innocent. They were flogged just because the Sadducees wanted to keep an upper hand. They hated the followers of Jesus. In our Western mindset that is unthinkable. If you’re innocent you shouldn’t get a beating, you sue for false arrest.
But did you see what Luke wrote: The Apostles were rejoicing over being flogged – that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for Jesus. They didn’t get hostile; they used this affirmation of God counting them worthy to serve as a catalyst to go house to house to share Christ. They made the suffering count!
How do you do that? Sometimes, no matter what the suffering, you have got to see it as a pathway to what God wants. On a balmy October afternoon in 1982, Badger Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, was packed. More than 60,000 die-hard University of Wisconsin supporters were watching their football team take on the Michigan State Spartans. It soon became obvious that MSU had the better team.
What seemed odd, however, as the score became more lopsided, were the bursts of applause and shouts of joy from the Wisconsin fans. How could they cheer when their team was losing? It turns out that seventy miles away the Milwaukee Brewers were beating the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of the 1982 World Series.
Many of the fans in the stands were listening to portable radios – and responding to something other than their immediate circumstances. Paul encourages us to fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen (2 Cor. 4:18). When we do, we can rejoice even in hardships because we see Christ’s larger victory.[1]
For the church of Jesus Christ we must be ready to serve Christ with the power He sends, to endure the persecution the world gives, and count on the pathway to share with others what He has done for us. Let the church say, Amen!
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ENDNOTES
[1] Greg Asimakoupoulos, Naperville, Illinois. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 4.
