Father, we come to you with open hearts,
open minds, asking you to fill us with
your word, with the power of your Holy
Spirit, and with the guidance and clarity we
need to fulfill that which you have called
us to in these days.
Bless us with a full measure of your
light, Father, that we might go forth from
this place and be the light of the
world, Jesus shining in us and through us.
And we ask these things for the glory
of God and the saving of souls and
the building up of your people, for we
pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
The biblical pattern for evangelism is found in
the Bible, wonder of wonders, found in the
Bible, it's found here in the book of
Acts.
Let me ask you a question as we
begin today and see if you can answer
it.
What is the primary mission of the church?
There are a number of answers that are
offered for that.
Some would argue that the church should lead
the crusade for social justice, for the poor
and the downtrodden.
That is a noble cause.
But is that the primary mission of the
church?
Others see it as a political force to
help change the culture.
Still, others see the church as a private
club for fellowship and friendship.
What is the primary mission of the church?
Well, on a more biblical note, the church's
goal, if you look at the Bible, is
to mature the saints through the preaching of
the word, to mature the saints through the
preaching of the word with fellowship and discipleship
as it meets to worship and praise the
Lord.
That is really a biblical goal.
All of that.
Now follow this.
But none of those things I just listed
off is the primary goal here on earth
for the church.
If you think about it, those things could
be better done in heaven.
Understanding God, worshiping him, fellowshipping together, those things
could be better done in heaven.
I ask again, what is the primary goal
of the church?
The mission?
Well, Jesus Christ gave it to us when
he charged us to go, therefore, in his
own words and make disciples of the nation,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching
them all, all things he said that I
commanded you.
So the primary goal of the church is
evangelism.
Jesus said you are the light of the
world.
You are the salt of the earth.
So our goal, our mission as the church
left here is to go on with the
work that Jesus Christ began, which was in
his words to seek and to save that
which was lost.
Luke 1910 is where Jesus said that.
And that is the only duty that the
church has that couldn't be better done in
heaven.
So the passage in front of us is
about that, and it is as fresh as
today's newspaper, and it is far more important
than today's newspaper.
We will read through it as we go
along, but I want to give you the
eight key things we're going to see here
in the biblical pattern for evangelism, just to
have them in your mind.
We're going to see and I'll give you
key words here.
We're going to see purity followed by power,
which leads to persecution, which finds a provision
of God.
Then the proclamation of the apostles, the protection
of the Lord upon them, the pain they
receive.
When they are flogged and the perseverance afterwards,
eight things more than I usually have in
an outline, but they are here in the
passage, purity, power, persecution, provision, proclamation, protection, pain
and perseverance.
We'll get them as we go.
To begin with, last time you remember what
happened in the church service.
Ananias pretended he was giving an offering wholeheartedly
to the Lord.
He wasn't.
He was trying to fool the people and
fool the Lord.
At the same time, he and his wife
had covenanted together to deceive the brethren to
look like they were giving individuals when they
weren't.
God didn't want that kind of hypocrisy in
the church, and so he dealt severely to
make an example.
And both of them died.
So on that day, if you look at
it, the church was purified of hypocrites.
And once the purification takes place, we see
the power of God unleashed.
There has to be purification if we want
full power to be useful to the Lord
as an individual.
I must be pure.
In Second Timothy to 19, Paul writing to
Timothy, he said, Nevertheless, the solid foundation of
God stands having this seal.
The Lord knows those who are his and
let everyone who names the name of Christ
depart from iniquity or wickedness or sin.
So if I name the name of the
Lord and I want to be used of
the Lord, and that's what he's talking about
in the passage to Timothy there, there needs
to be purity in my life and the
Lord is the great purifier.
No one stated that truth, I think, better
or more clearly than the 19th century Scottish
pastor and evangelist Robert Murray McShane.
He put it this way.
He gave the following advice to a young
man who was entering the ministry.
He said, Do not forget the culture of
the inner man.
I mean, the man of the heart.
How diligently the Calvary officer keeps his saber
clean and sharp.
Every stain he rubs off with the greatest
care.
Remember, you are God's sword, his instrument.
I trust a chosen vessel unto him to
bear his name and in great measure, according
to the purity and perfections of the instrument,
will be the success.
It is not great talents.
God blesses so much as a great likeness
to Jesus Christ.
And then he summed up by saying a
holy Christian is an awesome weapon in the
hands of God.
In quote, that is so true, so powerful.
And what is true of believers individually is
also true of the church collectively.
The early church was a growing church because
it was a pure church and because they
were a clean channel through which the power
of God could flow.
May he bless us with the same.
The purity.
Let's go to the power.
Their purity was followed by the power of
God unleashed.
And we come to Acts 5, 12, and
we read through the hands of the apostles.
There were many signs and wonders that were
done among the people, and they were all
with one accord in Solomon's porch.
So to get a picture in your mind,
if you've been to Israel, seeing pictures of
the temple mount, they were gathered together just
by the court of the Gentiles in Solomon's
porch and faced to the east.
And that had become a favorite gathering place
for the believers who actually didn't have a
church building to meet in.
So they gathered there and they gathered there
for prayer and worship.
And God began to pour out his power
there with great manifestation of signs and wonders
and miracles.
It is interesting to me that this is
happening because.
If you recall back in chapter four, verse
twenty nine, can you look there back in
chapter four, verse twenty nine, they had been
threatened by the religious leaders to stop preaching
in the name of Jesus.
When that occurred, they went back and they
gathered together for prayer.
Remember that their exact prayer was acts for
twenty nine.
Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant
now to your servants that with all boldness
we may speak your word.
Then verse thirty, by stretching out your hand
to heal and that signs and wonders may
be done through the name of your holy
servant, Jesus.
God answered that prayer, but don't miss the
fact that before he did, he purified the
church.
Then they effectively reached a multitude, and I
say effectively on purpose, they reached people with
real salvation, a multitude with the gospel.
We read in verse thirteen that the hypocrites
were kept away after Ananias and Sapphira died
in the church service as pretty heavy.
A fear fell upon them all as a
holy fear and the hypocrites were kept away.
Verse thirteen said, yet none of the rest
there joined them.
The rest of who?
The rest of the people like Ananias and
Sapphira.
Those kind of people, but the people esteem
them highly.
Hypocrites were kept away.
However, honest hearts were gathered in honest hearts,
were gathered in verse fourteen and believers were
increasingly added to the Lord as the hypocrites
stayed away, the honest hearts came in.
Believers were increasingly added to the Lord.
Look at this multitudes of both men and
women.
Up until now, Luke has been keeping track
on the day of Pentecost 3000 and the
church grew to be about 5000 men plus
others.
Now he doesn't keep track with numbers anymore.
There's too many.
It's multitudes.
And we find multitudes of men and women,
verse fifteen, so that they brought out the
sick into the streets and laid them on
beds and couches.
Beds in the Greek is a word that
refers to the small little beds that the
rich people could afford.
Luke uses two words to show us also
couches, which was little straw mattresses used by
the poor.
He's wanting to show us they were reaching
all kinds of people in all levels of
society, the rich and the poor.
So they came and they were brought on
couches that at least the shadow of Peter
passing by might fall on some of them.
So for the first time, the gospel now
goes beyond Jerusalem and people start coming in
from other places.
Verse 16.
Also, a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities
to Jerusalem, bringing sick people.
And notice this.
Those who were tormented by unclean spirits and
all were healed, all were healed.
Do you realize how remarkably like Jesus Christ
this is reading it?
It reads like a passage from the life
of Christ in the Gospels.
It does.
And don't miss this.
That is exactly the point.
That is exactly what the Lord is doing.
That is exactly what he's after.
God is giving Israel one last big apostolic
manifestation of his power in the name of
the risen Christ to save these people that
refuse so far to come to him.
This looks like Jesus so powerfully and so
clearly on purpose.
The multitudes of the common people are responding
and saving faith, and yet sadly.
The religious leaders respond with jealous fury, jealous
fury.
So you have purity in the church power
in the church.
And then comes the persecution where you have
a pure, powerful church.
You're inevitably going to have hostile reaction from
the satanic system around in the world and
among the religious community at large.
And we read this in the phrase that
they were filled with indignation or jealousy.
If you have an NIV Acts 517, the
high priest rose up and all those who
were with him, which is the sect of
the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation
or jealousy.
The high priest rose up.
Imagine this in your mind.
The high priest rose up and he is
filled with jealousy.
Why is he filled with jealousy?
He's filled with jealousy because sick people are
being healed.
He's filled with jealousy because people are being
delivered from the power of Satan.
This man who was supposed to be the
leader of the people in spiritual things is
furious because Satan's hold over people's lives is
being broken and because sick people are being
healed.
What kind of a man is this?
I'll tell you what he is.
He's an ungodly, Christ rejecting, hard hearted, arrogant,
selfish, inflated ego type of a man.
That's what he is.
And he loves money and he loves popularity
and he's in it not for the sake
of the people, but for the sake of
himself, his own name and his own self
aggrandizement.
The Holy Spirit here is giving the religious
leaders the signs they had always craved.
When you track Jesus through the gospel, these
people are always saying, give us a sign,
give us a sign, give us a sign.
The Holy Spirit is giving them the signs
they've craved and they respond not with saving
faith, but with fury, fury.
And nor was the high priest in this
all by himself.
The entire Sadducee and leadership of the Sanhedrin
was with him in it as well.
And so the persecution breaks out against the
apostles from these people who are fueled by
their jealousy.
Someone has said, I remember reading it, made
the statement, nothing so noble as religious jealousy.
Noble in the minds of those who have
it, religious jealousy.
Karl Marx wrote that religion was the opium
of the people.
You know what?
He was right.
Religion, not Jesus Christ, religion, it opiates, it
numbs you, it dulls you, puts a spell
on you.
These men are filled with religion, but they
have no relationship with God.
And thus they live for themselves and they
are so jealous.
The leading characteristic of the leaders of Israel
is jealousy.
If you look at it in the Bible.
Well, has Philip James Bailey said that envy
is a call that comes hissing hot from
hell?
Envy is a call that comes hissing hot
from hell.
So true.
John Trapp put it so well when he
says envy or jealousy does nothing with reason.
These men, if you think of it in
that light, these men don't have a good
reason for what they're doing.
God says to those that need his forgiveness
and his love.
Come now, let us what in the book
of Isaiah reason together.
And though your sins be as red as
scarlet, they'll become as white as snow.
So God wants to reason the problem with
jealousy.
Is that it jettisons your reason.
It jettisons your reason.
Envy does nothing with reason.
Thomas Manton said there are two sins which
were Christ source enemies, covetousness and envy.
Covetousness sold Christ and envy delivered him up
to be crucified.
So it is very deadly.
These men are filled with indignation, with jealousy.
And so we read in verse 18 that
they put them in the common prison and
they lay their hands on the apostles.
They put them in the common prison, the
public jail.
Last time it was just an overnight stay
for Peter and John in the temple jail.
This time it is the common public jail.
And they did that just out of spite.
They did that to buy time and they
rounded up all 12, all 12.
They had replaced Judas with Matthias.
So they rounded up this time, not just
two, but all 12.
They've got the whole team, quarterback, guard and
everybody that God is using.
They have the whole team and they throw
them in jail.
And then they plot how they are going
to deal with them the next day.
Now, one thing I want to point out
here in the Gospels, the chief opposition is
led by the Pharisees against Jesus Christ.
In the book of Acts, the chief opposition
against the early church is led by the
Sadducees, by the Sadducees.
And that's why you read of them here.
They are the dominant factor in the ruling
body of Israel, which was 71 men, known
as the Sanhedrin.
The thing that is amazing to me, if
you look at it, they put them in
jail.
How, after all these miracles they had seen,
could they feel that prison bars could restrain
the power of God in the lives of
these men?
That is amazing to me.
They can heal people, open blind eyes, the
deaf, cast out demons, and they think that
they're going to put them in prison.
It's going to hold them back.
You find throughout the book of Acts that
imprisonment is never an obstacle to the Lord.
Never.
Not once.
So here are these men in a purified
state, flowing in the power of God, and
they are persecuted by these jealous religious individuals
who want nothing of Christ and are really
uptight for this reason.
They are taking away their following.
The people are following now the apostles.
And I'll tell you why.
They're the real deal.
The common people heard Jesus gladly.
And they still do.
They want to hear the voice of God
through his word.
They want it.
Jesus said, my sheep know my voice.
And they still want to hear the Lord
speak.
And so it is.
They are thrown in prison.
But God isn't caught off guard.
He has a provision for them in the
form of an angel of the Lord.
We read about him in verse 19.
But at night, this is so great.
An angel of the Lord opened the prison
doors and brought them out and said, go
stand in the temple and speak to the
people.
Notice, speak what?
Be careful.
Only speak half the message.
Be careful.
You've been in trouble.
Only speak a fourth of the message.
Water it down.
You've been in trouble for speaking.
You were told not to speak.
You spoke.
Now you're in prison.
I got you out.
Hey, I can't promise to do this again.
Water it down.
No, go back to the temple and speak.
What does it say?
All the words of this life don't water
down the word of God.
God uses the angel to free them.
And I love it because the Sadducees didn't
believe in miracles and they didn't believe in
angels.
They didn't believe in life after death, any
of that.
And so how ironic that they deny the
existence of angels.
And yet it is an angel that delivers
them in the middle of the night.
This I love this whole portion of the
book of Acts because it's a transitional period
and it is supercharged with supernatural happenings.
It's so exciting.
In verse 21, when they heard that they
from the angel, their marching orders go preach
the whole word.
When they heard that they entered in the
temple early in the morning and taught people
would gather there as early as sunrise, six
o'clock, whatever time the sun came up
there early in the morning.
They entered and they taught.
But the high priest and those with him
is on tour.
I came and called the council together as
the seventy one elders, all the elders of
the children of Israel and sent to the
prison to have them brought.
And I have to get the picture.
These men are so into their religious thing.
They have special outfits, special robes, special hats.
They had these things that were called phylacteries.
Taken from the Old Testament where God said,
find the word of God on your hand,
on your right arm and on your forehead.
So they took it literally.
They took it literally.
God was saying, let the word of God
control everything you do and everything you think.
Instead, they took it literally.
So they they wound these leather straps around
their arms with little scriptures on them.
Then they made little boxes and they put
little scripture verses in the boxes and they
strapped them to around their forehead.
Then they put their big hat on and
they put their robes on and they walked
out into public and flowed with a pious
vibe and a holier than thou who God
bless you.
And you can just see the people as
they come by.
Oh, gag, you know.
So you have to get this picture.
They get up in the morning, get the
picture of the apostles.
That is the real deal.
They're down in the temple.
Hey, have you heard about the Lord?
You can know him personally.
And there they are just being normal.
These guys get up and they suit up
there in front of the mirror hat on.
Looking good, my man.
Broad the phylacteries.
Jesus said you make broad the phylacteries.
They took it.
They started with little boxes and then they
made bigger ones depending on how spiritual you
were.
Some of them had shoeboxes on there.
I'm just kidding.
But they made them really big.
They look really strange.
And they wound on their leather and their
scripture on their hand to get their robes
right.
And here comes the high priest with his
entourage.
And good morning, I preach.
You're looking really sharp.
And that is a big thing on your
head there.
You're a holy man today.
I sure am.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
And then they all get together.
Good morning, all seven of you.
You're looking good.
Yeah, we're looking good.
And what are we going to do about
these men and the ruckus they're making in
the name of Jesus with all these miracles?
Well, let's see.
Go get them and we'll figure it out.
Bring them from the prison.
Can you imagine how shocked they were when
they find out after they have converged full
force that the force of God has brought
these men out of the prison?
Acts 522.
But when the officers came and did not
find them in the prison, they returned and
reported saying, indeed, we found the prison shut
securely and the guards standing outside before the
doors.
But when we opened them, we found no
one inside.
Now, verse 24, when the high priest, the
captain of the temple and the chief priests
heard these things, they wondered what the outcome
would be.
That's the new King James.
The NIV says they were puzzled.
The old King James says they doubted.
They doubted.
They were confused.
They wonder.
It's all of that.
You know what they were doubting?
Their ability to stop them and their spread
of Christianity.
That is what they were doubting.
No wonder these men are heading for judgment
from God.
They opposed John the Baptist.
They crucified Jesus Christ.
And now they are preparing to fight the
apostles of God.
They no longer doubted the miracles.
The evidence of Jesus Christ's life in these
men was irrefutable.
But listen, a man convinced against his will
is of the same opinion.
Still, we give that to you again.
A man convinced against his will is of
the same opinion.
Still, they were convinced Christ rose from the
dead.
They had to tell people to lie and
say the disciples came and stole the body.
They were convinced they knew it to be
true and they knew these miracles were real.
But a man convinced against his will is
of the same opinion.
Still, you can bring them to the water
of life, but you cannot make them drink
and they refuse to.
So verse 25, one came and told them,
saying, look, the men whom you put in
the prison are standing in the temple and
teaching the people.
You can see them.
They're so upset by this verse 26.
Then the captain went with the officers and
brought them.
Watch this without violence, for they feared the
people.
They're all following the apostles.
Now they fear the people as they would
stone them.
And verse 27, when they had brought them,
they set them before the council.
Very intimidating group of individuals, 71 of them,
semi circle.
These 12 standing in front of them, the
high priest.
You can see him not even looking at
them.
Arrogance, arrogance incarnate, the high priest.
You can see him walking, strutting.
Did we not specifically tell you not to
speak in his name?
Peter's like, he's putting on his big show.
Didn't we tell you not to speak in
his name?
And look, you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine
and on top of it all.
Man, can you believe this?
My holy brothers.
Now you intend to bring this man's blood
on us.
Pardon me.
This is a guilty conscience speaking.
You already brought the blood on yourselves.
See, in Matthew 27, 25, the Bible says
they incited the entire crowd at the crucifixion
of Jesus and the trial of Jesus.
They incited the whole crowd to shout these
words, his blood be on us and our
children.
Envy has no reason.
These men are irrational.
They have been shouting only such a little
time before his his blood be on us
and our children.
And now they say you intend to bring
this man's blood on us.
Oh, I just love the reaction of Peter.
You see, the Sanhedrin is no longer up
against some unlearned fishermen.
They are now up against the Holy Spirit
who is empowering them.
And tragically, they are no closer to repentance
or belief in Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior than they had been at the
beginning.
The Lord got them out.
He had provision to get them out of
the prison, and now they stand before them
and they give a solid, bold proclamation.
The angel had told them to proclaim all.
Peter doesn't forget that.
So in verse 29 of Acts 5, Peter
and the other apostles answered.
They were all on cue on this, all
12 of them.
Peter's like, hold men, hold.
He's saying you intend to bring this man's
blood on us.
Oh, I just love the reaction of Peter.
You see, the Sanhedrin is no longer up
against some unlearned fishermen who are empowering them.
And tragically, they are now up against the
Holy Spirit who is empowering them.
Oh, I just love the reaction of Peter.
He's saying you intend to bring this man's
blood on us.
Oh, I just love the reaction of Peter.
He's saying you intend to bring this man's
blood on us.
Oh, I just love the reaction of Peter.
He's saying you intend to bring this man's
blood on us.
Oh I intend to bring this man's blood
on us.
Hold back men.
Hold back.
It's like, just let us say it.
Hold it, men.
And then it's all of a sudden now.
And they all answered.
Verse 29, Peter and the other apostles answered
and said we ought to obey God rather
than men.
Verse 30, the God of our fathers, the
God of our fathers, your fathers, our fathers,
our God God, Jehovah, raised up Jesus, whom
you murdered, hanging on a tree.
Peter just lets them have it.
You see, Peter uses a phrase here in
the Greek, Diakaridzo.
It means where you read the word, words
you murdered.
It appears only here in Chapter 26.
Also, it means to put to death with
one's own hands, to put to death with
one's own hands.
Far from backing off, Peter intensifies the accusation
against these men.
Verse 31, him God has exalted to his
right hand to be, my Bible says, a
prince and a savior.
The word prince there means giver of life,
literally giver of life.
God has exalted him to his right hand
to be the giver of life.
And notice the word savior joined with it.
He's the giver of life and savior and
to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins.
That's the gospel right there.
See, repentance isn't a work you add to
earn salvation.
Repentance is a gift from God to you,
bound up in the act of saving you.
And so the giver of life and savior
to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins.
And we are his witnesses to these things.
And so also now Peter puts the Holy
Spirit out in the spotlight.
So also is the Holy Spirit whom God
has given to those.
What does it say?
Verse 32, to those who obey him.
You know, if you listen to the gospel
of Jesus Christ, when he comes into his
public ministry, he opens by saying, repent and
believe the gospel.
If I was standing in the crowd and
I wanted to be saved, I simply obey
what he said.
Repent and believe the gospel.
Turn my heart right toward God and give
him my life.
The Holy Spirit comes to those who obey
him.
Salvation is surrendering and obedience to the authority
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit is given to every
person who is saved.
So what is Peter doing here?
Peter makes obeying God and the gift of
the Holy Spirit synonymous with saving faith.
God grants unto you saving faith and from
that gift, you obey God and the gift
of the Holy Spirit comes to your life.
Study that closely the way Peter preaches.
We need more men and women of God
to stand up and testify the word of
God in this way in our day.
First 32, we are his witnesses to these
things, and so also is the Holy Spirit
whom God has given to those who obey
him.
Peter could not have been more clear.
You are not just fighting us.
You are fighting the Holy Spirit of God.
So what has happened here?
No longer is the Sanhedrin the depository of
God's message.
The apostles are now.
No longer is the nation of Israel.
The custodian of God's truth, the churches.
And so the proclamation comes forth so clear.
Now comes the protection of God in verse
33.
We find that they cannot stop them, so
they have a plot to murder them.
Verse 33, when they heard this, they were
furious and plotted to kill them.
The old King James says in verse 33,
when they heard that they were cut to
the heart.
That's literally the Greek cut to the heart
and they took counsel to slay them.
Now follow this very closely.
When a human being is cut to the
heart this deep with the spirit's convicting work,
they either repent and are saved or they
react and they are not saved.
These men react immediately with a plot of
murder.
We cannot stop them.
So let's eliminate them.
We'll murder them.
Why did they crucify Jesus Christ?
Because they couldn't stop him.
They murdered him because they couldn't stop him.
God isn't done with these men yet.
You are invincible until the Lord is finished
with you.
God isn't done with these men yet, so
he protects them from murder by thrusting forth
a man by the name of Gamaliel.
Any of you know who Gamaliel is?
Other than the president of the Sanhedrin, he
is Paul's tutor.
That's right.
The apostle Paul let us know that he
was tutored by a man named Gamaliel.
Here he is.
Then one on the council stood up a
Pharisee.
Luke points that out because almost all of
them are Sadducees.
There are, however, a few Pharisees.
The one on the council stood up a
Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law
held in respect by all the people and
commanded them to put the apostles outside for
a little while.
Excuse me, men.
Can we put these guys out?
I want to talk to you privately.
So what is happening here is this.
To muster the sufficient votes for a death
sentence.
The Sadducee dominated Sanhedrin must have the support
and the vote of the Pharisees in court.
With the rising up of Gamaliel here, they
don't have it.
And this is the way God protects the
apostles from being murdered sovereignly.
Gamaliel is not a believer.
God sovereignly uses this man, however, to protect
his apostles from being murdered.
Acts five thirty five.
He said to them, men of Israel, take
heed to yourselves what you intend to do
regarding these men.
For some time ago, you recall, Theodos rose
up claiming to be somebody in a number
of men.
About 400 joined him.
He was slain and all who obeyed him
were scattered and came to nothing.
After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up
in the days of the census and he
drew away many people after him.
He also perished and all who obeyed him
were dispersed.
Now I say to you, keep away from
these men and let them alone.
For if this plan or this work is
of men, it will come to nothing.
But if it is of God, you cannot
overthrow it.
Lest you be found to fight against God.
And those are the words that God uses
to protect these men from being murdered.
I would just encourage you that when you
are walking in the Holy Spirit, when you
are living out the will of God.
Anyone who comes against you in any way
to stop what you're doing in obedience to
God will be found in the end to
fight against God.
And you can rest in that.
So these men, as we know.
We're following God and the long term history
of the church has proved that.
So here they are saved from murder by
God sovereignly, but don't miss this.
It's so critical.
They are not saved.
They're not protected from pain.
They are protected from murder, but they are
not protected from pain.
I can see them as the twelve as
they're in there and they see these guys
getting all agitated and they remember what they
did to Jesus when they were agitated.
Then Gamaliel says, can we put these men
out for a minute and you can see
the apostles outside.
They're probably going right to prayer.
Lord, don't let them murder us.
God, please don't let them murder us.
And the Lord protects them from that.
Now, in verse 40, the same God who
protected them from murder allows a beating.
They are all beaten.
God allows it.
The law of Moses permitted flogging.
The rule is 40 stripes, save one.
Deuteronomy 25, 3.
That is not called for here.
They're abusing Deuteronomy 25, 3 to vent their
hatred and their jealousy.
It's wrong what they do.
But in verse 40, we read they agreed
with Gamaliel.
And when they had called for the apostles
and beaten them, they commanded them they should
not speak in the name of Jesus and
let them go.
This is terrible.
Gamaliel, you know, you're right.
We should leave them alone.
And then you can see the leaders whisper,
get the old guy out of here.
We agree with you, Gamaliel.
We should leave them alone.
We'll leave them alone.
Get him out of here and get the
whip while you're at it.
Let's flog them.
If we cannot have our way to murder
them, at least we can beat them.
So they took them and they beat them.
The amazing thing to me is that God
allowed it for sovereign reasons.
And the other thing is, don't forget where
we started.
These men are pure.
The church is pure.
They have pure hearts.
A pure heart doesn't have any doubts when
pain is allowed.
A pure heart doesn't have any doubts when
pain is allowed.
It's going to go through the what ifs.
If you know you are serving Christ and
pain comes your way, you know you're obeying
the Lord.
You do your best to commit the rest.
You know you're obeying the Lord and pain
comes your way.
A pure heart doesn't have any doubts about
it.
Why pain is allowed is sovereign in God's
hands.
And we see it here.
A pure heart is left open and free
for the joy of the Lord to fill
you with his strength.
That's what happens to these men.
A pure heart is left open and free
for the joy of the Lord to fill
you with strength in the midst of the
pain that he allows.
So far from being discouraged or intimidated by
the beating, the apostles see it as sharing
in Christ suffering.
We read that they went on their way
from here rejoicing.
What can you do with men when you
flog them and they thank God for the
favor you have bestowed upon them?
You can't stop individuals like this.
Paul in Philippians 310 said, I want to
know Christ and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings.
And that is the mindset of these men
right here.
So we come from this pain of the
beating.
All 12 of them were whipped with 39
lashes.
Cat and nine tails most likely would have
ripped open their backs, exposing their kidneys, their
bones, their ribs, tearing off the flesh.
And this is a terrible, bloody thing.
But their pain is followed by not pouting
or anger, but perseverance.
Verse 41 and 42.
And the joy of the Lord is their
strength.
So they departed from the presence of the
council rejoicing.
They were counted worthy to suffer for his
name.
Don't forget, Jesus had been whipped the same
way.
Thirty nine lashes.
Now they rejoice, they're kind of worthy to
suffer shame for his name.
They are able to do that because they
are filled with the joy of the Lord,
which is their strength rejoicing.
So here's 12 men.
By the way, these are real men, real
men of God.
They come out and they are rejoicing.
They're going down the road.
They've been turned loose and they're looking at
each other.
I was going to say slapping each other
on the back, but I doubt it.
They're looking at each other and they're rejoicing.
We have been counted worthy to suffer for
his name.
Guys, we're becoming Christ like we have become
so much like him.
They have now treated us the way they
treated him and they were rejoicing.
And I can imagine one of them goes,
yes, look at look at my back.
I suffered for his shame and Peter over
here.
That is nothing.
Check out the kidney.
This is what you call a real whipping.
And so here they are.
They're rejoicing.
They're going down the road.
I love the picture because it is a
picture of the sufficiency of the spirit of
God in the midst of pain to even
bring these men who were just sheep, sheep
who knew his voice and followed him to
become more than conquerors.
And so in verse 42 says they were
daily in the temple daily.
They were in every house and they did
not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as Christ.
They went on incessantly proclaiming all the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
Why?
Because there's was a battle tested faith, a
battle tested faith.
Unlike the false faith that wilts under persecution,
there's was a battle tested faith and they
went on.
Do you know that Paul said in Romans
eight thirty six, it is written for your
sake, we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
We're sheep and we're counted as sheep for
the slaughter.
It's very interesting that he would say we
are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
And then the very next verse, he says
this at Romans eight thirty seven.
Yet in all these things, we are more
than conquerors through him who loved us.
Pain is allowed by God.
Suffering will come because of the name of
Jesus.
But even though we're sheep and just sheep
by the power and the might of God
in Christ, in the midst of all these
difficulties, we more than conquer.
These men are not super saints.
They go through this, they are sheep just
like us, and their secret was the same
as ours, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ.
May God grant us the same joy, the
same power and the same love, the same
passion.
May he use us in these days.
May we be just like the sheep here
who followed their master and made such a
difference because of it.
Let's pray, shall we?
Father, thank you for the power of your
Holy Spirit, the power of your love.
And thank you for the examples here on
the pages of scripture and the biblical pattern
of how we as your people are to
go forth in evangelizing the world as the
light of the world.
God, strengthen us, each one.
To stand against whatever comes with our hearts
fixed on Christ.
Purify us, Lord.
Fill us with your power and use us
mightily, we pray.
We ask all these things for Jesus' glory
and we pray them in Jesus' name.
Amen.