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On January 8th, 2006, five young men attacked and threatened to kill a Protestant church leader in Turkey. Kamil Kiroglu, age 29, had just left his church in Adana when he was ambushed and beaten severely until he became unconscious. Kiroglu said, "They were trying to force me to deny Jesus." "Each time they asked me to deny Jesus and become a Muslim, I would say, ‘Jesus is Lord'". So they kept beating him. One of the attackers pulled out a long butcher knife and threatened to kill him but Kiroglu refused to deny his Christian faith and return to Islam. After the incident, he said: "I am praising God not because he saved me from death, but because he helped me not to deny him in the shadow of death." A pure powerful church will inevitably provoke a hostile reaction from the Satanic world system. Effective Christians and churches will make waves and the world and Satan will retaliate with persecution. Paul wrote the following to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12: . . . everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, . . Jesus said this in the Beatitudes: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:10-12 I. Angelic Jailbreak Acts 5:17-28 We should not be surprised that the power and effectiveness of the early church resulted in bitter opposition. The high priest and his associates, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. The Pharisees led the opposition to Jesus in the Gospels. But the Sadducees were the chief opponents of the early church. Why were they jealous? Because the Jesus people were a threat to the Sadducees' power over the people. The apostles were arrested and put in jail. But during the night an angel opens the doors of the jail. Throughout the Book of Acts, imprisonment was never an obstacle to the Lord. Again, Satan's opposition backfired, providing an opportunity for God to display His power. God's use of an angel was especially ironic because the Sadducees did not believe in the existence of angels. John Paton and his wife were missionaries in the New Hebrides Islands in the SW Pacific Ocean. One night hostile natives surrounded the mission station intending to set it on fire and then killing the missionaries. John and his wife prayed through the night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year later, the chief of the tribe came to Christ. Remembering what had happened, Paton asked the chief what kept him from burning down the house and killing them. The chief asked, "Who were all those men with you?" Paton knew there were no men present. The chief said he was afraid to attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords circling the mission station. Angels are not fairy tale characters. The angel instructs the apostles to tell the people the full message of this new life. The apostles were not set free to hide somewhere. They were to boldly return to the temple and continue to preach. Before the Sadducees were even aware that the apostles were free, the apostles were already back to preaching. Their courage was defiant and they did not hesitate to put their lives at risk. We should not be surprised when we face opposition when we share the full message of this new life. What is this new life? This new life is the result of knowing and receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. This new life is supernatural. This new life is powerful. This new life is abundant. This new life is eternal. This new life does not remove the challenges but it gives us courage and strength and resources to face the challenges. This new life is misunderstood by those who have never experienced it. Don't expect everyone to react favorably when you share something as dynamic as your faith in Christ. Some will be jealous, some will be afraid, some will feel threatened. This new life is what Jesus was talking about when He said: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3:3 As we read, the Sanhedrin was called together. The Sanhedrin was a Jewish Supreme Court. There was going to be a trial. But this trial would be a kangaroo trial. It would be a sham. The outcome of a kangaroo trial is determined in advance for the purpose of providing a conviction. In other words, the defendants are considered guilty before the trial begins. Often the proceedings move rapidly and certain rights are denied. The reason for the term kangaroo is that the judicial proceedings move forward by leaps like a kangaroo. The kangaroo court in this passage had a problem. The prisoners to be tried were no longer in jail. The doors were locked, the guards were standing at the door but there was no one inside the jail cell. When they find them out preaching in the temple courts, they escort them to appear before the Sanhedrin. Had the apostles gone into hiding after their escape, it would have been bad enough. But instead, they had the audacity to go right back into the temple to continue where they left off. The Jewish leaders are totally frustrated by this time. The high priest told them, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name." The high priest doesn't even use the name of Jesus. Instead of saying "Jesus' name" he says "this name." He couldn't even bear to say the name. The apostles were given strict orders not to teach and yet they filled Jerusalem with their teaching. It is interesting that the apostles were not asked how they escaped from jail. Wasn't anyone curious about how they got out of jail. I think they were afraid to ask for fear that the word "angels" might come up since the Sadducees didn't believe in angels. The Jewish leaders did not want to be confused with the facts. II. Wholehearted Obedience Acts 5:29-32 Obedience can be costly. Obedience can be difficult. But genuine obedience is seldom boring. The question of obedience is not just to obey or not to obey. The question that faces us is whom to obey. Everyone obeys something or someone. Godly obedience is the priority of obeying God over every other demand in your life. It's important to stop listening to what the world is saying and start reading what the Word of God says. The world is telling us one thing, and God is telling us something entirely different. We have to decide who we will listen to. Stop living for this world and live as though you have been given less than a year to live. Peter and the other apostles replied "We must obey God rather than men." Instead of backing off, Peter intensifies his accusation of the Sanhedrin by telling them they had Jesus killed. The only Person through whom the Jewish leaders could find forgiveness was the One whom they had killed. If anybody should have regrets it should be this group of Jewish leaders. They had killed the Savior of the world, the One whom God the Father exalted and placed at His right hand. There is an interesting statement by the apostles in verse 32: "We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." We know from Scripture that the Holy Spirit lives within every believer. I don't want to read more into this verse than intended but I do know this: The more the Holy Spirit has of us, the more we have of Him. By that I mean, when we choose to live a fully surrendered life, the Holy Spirit has all of us and we are filled with the Spirit. When we choose to hold back certain areas in our lives because we want to, the Holy Spirit does not have full control of our lives. When we hang on to stuff in our lives, we can not be filled with the Holy Spirit. When we choose to obey God fully, I believe we experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Just think about our own experiences with the Lord. In those times when we have fully surrendered we have experienced power, peace, joy, love and the rest of the fruit listed in Galatians 5:22. But when we are not surrendered, for whatever reason, we just don't feel right inside. Some of you may have had to choose between obeying God or obeying men in your workplace. That is a tough situation when your boss asks you to do something unethical. III. False Wisdom Acts 5:33-39 When the truth of the Gospel is presented, there are several reactions possible. One is violent hostility The high priest and his fellow Sadducees were enraged with the apostles for several reasons. The apostles had denied the doctrine of the Sadducees by proclaiming the resurrection. They had also defied the Sanhedrin's authority by preaching after they had ordered them to stop. Also, by charging the Sanhedrin with executing the Messiah, the apostles assaulted their spirituality. Finally, by winning large numbers of converts they threatened the Sadducees' domination of the people. The Sadducees were the aristocrats. They were the hotshots and wanted to be in control of the people. At this point, almost all of the Sanhedrin, Sadducees and Pharisees, were ready to put the apostles to death. Another reaction to the truth is tolerant indecision. Gamaliel, a Pharisee, kept his cool in the midst of this frenzy. The Pharisees were the other major party in the Jewish Sanhedrin with the Sadducees. The Pharisees were the strict keepers of the law, not only God's law, but hundreds of other rules they had added to God's law. They were careful about outward purity but many had hearts full of impure motives. Jesus confronted the Pharisees often during His ministry on earth. Gamaliel was an unexpected ally for the apostles. He probably did not support their teachings. He was a distinguished member of the Sanhedrin and a teacher. While Gamaliel may have saved the apostle's lives, his real intentions probably were to prevent a division in the Sanhedrin. The apostles were popular among the people and killing them might start a riot. The Sanhedrin decided to wait, hoping that this would all fade away harmlessly. They couldn't have been more wrong. It's interesting that Saul, who would later become Paul, one of the greatest apostles, was one of Gamaliel's students. You see, Paul was not yet saved at this point. Gamaliel's advice may have seemed wise to the Sanhedrin and it may even seem wise to some in our day. But the notion that whatever succeeds has God's blessing on it is false. Cults and false religions in our day have millions of followers. They do not have God's blessing on their beliefs and practices. This was false wisdom. A third reaction to truth is acceptance. Many of the people the apostles spoke to believed and were saved. IV. True Rejoicing Acts 5:40-42 They were flogged. They were beaten. But they rejoiced because they had been counted worthy of suffering for Jesus. They never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. Persecution is not pleasant. Some of you have experienced persecution from your very own families. Remember, in the end God wins. God is sovereign and He will carry out His plan for this world. |
