God’s Prevailing Presence (Acts 7, pt 1)

God’s Prevailing Presence

Acts 7

Introduction

Remember that Stephen has been charged with speaking against God and his temple and Moses and the law.  In Acts 7, Luke recounts for us his speech before the Jewish council.  It is not so much a defense as it is an explanation of what the Bible has always taught about the temple and the law from key narratives of the Old Testament.

This morning we will look at the first theme of Stephen’s talk – the temple and God’s presence.

 

Acts 7:1-53 (ESV)

And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” [2] And Stephen said:

“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, [3] and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ [4] Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. [5] Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. [6] And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. [7] ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ [8] And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

[9] “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him [10] and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. [11] Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. [12] But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. [13] And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. [14] And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. [15] And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, [16] and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

[17] “But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt [18] until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. [19] He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. [20] At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, [21] and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. [22] And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.

[23] “When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. [24] And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. [25] He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. [26] And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ [27] But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? [28] Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ [29] At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.

[30] “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. [31] When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: [32] ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. [33] Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. [34] I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’

[35] “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. [36] This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. [37] This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ [38] This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. [39] Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, [40] saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ [41] And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. [42] But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:

” ‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? [43] You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan,the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

[44] “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. [45] Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, [46] who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. [47] But it was Solomon who built a house for him. [48] Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,

[49] ” ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? [50] Did not my hand make all these things?’

[51] “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. [52] Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, [53] you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

This morning, we want to trace one of Stephen’s arguments. We want to look at what he says about God’s presence and the temple.

What we will see is that God’s presence and power are not limited to any specific, geographical space. God moves freely and acts powerfully in any place or circumstance. If we believe that, we will see that that truth brings implications for how we live and worship God.

Specifically, we want to see three implications this morning. Three implications from the belief that God’s presence is not limited to any one place.

 

 

 

1. Behold God’s Glory through Christ (7:2-8)

Stephen begins by reminding the people of the story of Abraham. Do you remember what God did in Abraham’s life? God called him from a land called Ur of the Chaldeans in Mesopotamia. He called him to trust him – to put his faith in him because God wanted to bless him and namek his name great. Abraham went to Haran until his father died and then he went to live in the land Canaan (what became Israel). For a while he lived in Egypt then he went back to Canaan.

All the while, Genesis tells us God was with Abraham – specifically, that the God of glory appeared to him. Not just God, but the God of glory. This is important because often in the Bible the idea of seeing God’s glory means having something of who God is, revealed to us. God revealed himself to Abraham, a pagan man living in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq).

Once the law was given to Israel, and the temple was established, God visibly manifested his glory before Israel and resided in the temple. And so, if you wanted to behold the glory of the Lord, you went to the temple. But even then, only the high priest could see the glory once a year on the day of atonement. But the Jews had latched on to this and – in some ways – held up the temple as the exclusive place for beholding God’s glory.

Stephen is trying to show what has happened now in the coming of Christ is not anything new. Israel has forgotten its own history and made assumptions that weren’t valid. And you have to understand the irony of this. These were people who took great pride in being called children of Abraham. And Stephen says, ‘you’ve forgotten about Abraham!”

[illus] It would be like a Lions fans forgetting when they won the Super Bowl – wait, they’ve never won the Super Bowl. How about Michigan fan forgetting all the time they beat Ohio State at the Rose Bowl.

Stephen is saying, ‘Don’t you remember that God appeared to him in glory long before the tabernacle or the temple was around? Don’t you realize that Abraham was a pagan when God revealed himself to him? Don’t you remember that for centuries God’s glory was not confined to the temple, or even Israel?’

So when Stephen says that the temple isn’t all that important anymore, it shouldn’t be all that shocking. When he says that the glory of God has been supremely revealed through Jesus, what he says should not be that far-fetched. Yes, the temple was important, but it wasn’t ultimate. It did not, could not, confine God to specific place.

Furthermore, when Christ came, he revealed God in a way the temple never could. The apostle John says that Christ, the Word, “became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (1:14, 18).

And the author of the book of Hebrews says, “[Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God” (1:3).

Do you want to know God? Do you want to behold his glory? Then look to Christ! That is where you will see the glory of God. Look to him and you will know who God is, and what he is all about. Jesus Christ is the supreme and final revelation of God.

2. Enter God’s Presence through Christ (7:9-34)

Stephen goes to relate the story of Joseph. If you’ve forgotten the story, or have never read it, let me encourage you to go back and look at the whole thing in Genesis chapter 37-50. It’s an amazing story of God’s provision and providence – the fulfilling of his promises to Abraham.

One of Abraham’s great-grandsons was Joseph. When he was young, Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Joseph’s life is a series of ups and downs; of him being given authority and privilege for his faithful service, then thrown in prison and forgotten because of others’ sins. Eventually, Joseph becomes prime minister of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. In that position, he is able to care for his brothers and their families when famine strikes his homeland.

Over and over again, throughout the entire narrative of Joseph’s life, the one thing we see over and over again is the phrase “The Lord was with Joseph.” Whether he is being prospered or falling to the devices of sinful men and women, the Bible assures us the Lord is with him.

And here Stephen picks up on that as well – and tells us ‘God was with him.’ Even when Joseph is taken from his family and sold into slavery in Egypt, God was with him.

Stephen moves from Joseph to the next great leader of God’s people Moses, giving us an overview of his life and ministry. That overview is intended to get to a significant moment in Moses’ life. The moment when God reveals himself to Moses and calls him to be a savior for his people enslaved in Egypt.

Look at verse 30 – “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt’” (7:30-34).

What made a place holy? God’s presence. During Stephen’s time, the thought was that the most holy place on earth was the temple because that’s where God’s presence dwelled.

Now, for a time, God did uniquely make his presence known at the temple. There was a special room at the centered of the temple called the holy of holies, or most holy place. It was the place the ark of the covenant was kept.

[illus] Do you remember the ark? Did you ever see the first Indiana Jones movie? That was the ark, and they did a pretty good job of getting its appearance right. Now, the lightening and weird ghosts things that came out and killed everyone was wrong, but it’s Hollywood after all, what do you expect?

But on top of the Ark, there was a place called the mercy seat where the high priest would pour the blood from the sacrifice he would make once a year for the sins of the people. Below the mercy seat, inside the Ark, was among other things, the ten commandments. About it, was something called the shekinah glory. It was the visible manifestation of the glory of the Lord. It hung over the mercy seat. It was the visible manifestation of God’s presence.

But that didn’t mean that only where God was present. Again, Stephen is trying to remind the Jews of their own history. Both Joseph and Moses were not anywhere near the temple – because it hadn’t been built yet. And they weren’t anywhere near Israel itself. And both of them experience God’s presence.

God’s presence was important, but his presence was a sign of his blessing. Despite what they thought, Stephen knew that God’s presence and blessing is not confined to the temple, or Israel.

He knew what Paul would expressly teach later in his letter to the Ephesians – now that Christ has come God’s blessing does not come from a special place, like the temple, it comes through a saving knowledge of Christ.

In Ephesians 1, Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (1:3-6).

Through Christ, God brings sinners to himself by forgiving their sins and adopting them as his children. As with any good human father, our heavenly Father blesses his children with all that he can. But because he is God – he can bless his people to the uttermost, and so through Christ, every spiritual blessing is ours.

3. Offer God’s Worship through Christ (7:35-50)

When I say, ‘God’s worship’ I of course do not mean worship he gives. I mean the worship that is offered to him; the worship that is his because he receives it.

Stephen’s last example comes from the time of David and Solomon and the building of the temple. And for a thousand years, the temple was the place to offer worship to God. And remember the claim Jesus made that Stephen was taking up, that the temple would be destroyed.

For the pious Jew that would mean an end to the formal corporate worship of God by his people – it was unthinkable! But it was only unthinkable because they forgot who God was.

Stephen acknowledges the temple had great significance. After all, God told his people to build it. But he wants to remind that it was never meant to be understood as God’s home, as if He could only be found there

When the original temple was dedicated, King Solomon offered a prayer and Stephen quotes it here – “the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands” (7:48).

[illus] I’m sure you’ve heard of the little boy who was thinking one day at the breakfast table. He had been told about God at church the week before, and he asked his mother, “Mommy, is God in our house?” And mommy said, “Well of course, darling; God is everywhere.” The little boy looked around and asked, “Is God in this room?” And the answer was the same – “Of course, darling; God is everywhere.”

“Is God in that coffee mug?” “Of course, darling; God is everywhere.” As quick as a flash, the little boy grabbed his around the mug and with a grin a mile wide yelled, “Got him!”

But of course you can’t get God like that, can you? God is not boxed up into a little mug. And neither was he boxed up in a temple. Yes, God chose to make his presence known there, but you could not confine him to that space.

The Jews had been saying, “Come to the temple — that’s where you’ll meet with God!” But now that Christ has come, Stephen and other Christian had come to this realize that the temple wasn’t that important anymore. Christ came in fulfillment of the temple. No there was no more need for offerings and sacrifices. Christ fulfilled all of that and brought an end to it. God can now be approached in worship anywhere through Christ.

Even today, we can be like the Jewish people of Stephen’s day and confuse this church building with some kind of temple. We really should never call this building a ‘church’ or ‘God’s house’ because it’s not. The church is God’s people and God’s house – his temple – is Christ. There is nothing sacred about this land or this building.

Now that Christ has come, God can be found anywhere, he can be worshipped anywhere as we turn to Him through faith in Christ, His son.

Conclusion

Overcoming the Complacency of Commonplace Christianity (Acts 6:8-15)

Overcoming the Complacency of Commonplace Christianity

Acts 6:8-15

Introduction

8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

1. Christ-Like Character (6:5, 8-10)

Luke presents Stephen’s character in these verses as well as in the previous section we looked at last week.

Before we look at this, remember who Stephen was – he was not an apostle, not a pastor or an elder. He was chosen to be a deacon. And in this context, that meant helping organize and serve food to the widows.

Nevertheless, he was not a commonplace Christian. He was not complacent in his faith, sitting on the sidelines, letting everyone else do the spiritual work. No, Luke says the church was growing and Stephen was right out front.

We read that Stephen – a man full of faith – [and] full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

In the end, we see five virtues from Stephen’s life.

1.1. Faith

This is from the previous section in verse 5. Luke identifies Stephen as being ‘full of faith.’ What does it means to be full of faith? Did he have no doubts? Had he arrived spiritually?

I think Luke means that he did not have weak faith. Instead, it was lively, energetic, real. It was a faith that saw clearly who Christ was and what he did for him. It went deep so that Stephen could be bold and confident, seeking to grow in his faith.

Pastor Derek Thomas is quick to remind us that having full faith is not the measure of saving faith. Even weak faith will save as long as it is rooted in Christ; that the faith is in him. He says, even if it’s as thin as a spider’s thread, it will save as long as it is rooted in Christ. Because it is not the faith that saves, but the one you have faith in.

Nevertheless, do you think God wants you to have a small, meager faith you’re entire life? No, he desires you to be like Stephen. In fact, that kind of faith should be the norm. The kind of faith that is rooted in Jesus and leads to passionate living for God.

1.2. Grace

Luke says Stephen was full of grace. Grace in the sense of graciousness. He was an engaging guy, winsome. One commentator even explains it as charming. The point is, there was something appealing about him. Stephen had so let God’s grace impact his life that he himself was gracious.

You might make the mistake of believing that being gracious means being meek and mild, like a doormat. Well, it doesn’t. And Luke helps us see that by telling us that Stephen was full of grace and he was full of power.

1.3. Power

Luke is clear that this means Stephen “was doing great wonders and signs among the people” (6:8). Now, I have made the argument that Stephen’s life – though appearing exceptional – should really be seen as basic Christian living. So, then should be all be performing great wonders and signs? The answer is ‘no.’

Just because God’s power was exhibited in that way in Stephen’s life, it doesn’t mean that’s how he will choose to it in your life. In fact, the New Testament most often speaks of God’s power being revealed through suffering.

In 2 Cor 4:7-10, Paul writes, “But we have this treasure [the gospel] in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

1.4. Wisdom

Luke also says that Stephen had wisdom. He not only had the kind of administrative wisdom needed to perform his diaconal duties, he also displays a kind of spiritual wisdom that comes from knowing well God’s word.

We are told he accusers, “could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.” Here is a guy who, though never having any formal training, can hold his ground in a argument about Scripture. He cannot be refuted.

This comes from two things. First, being in the word. You cannot know the Bible unless you read the Bible. You cannot understand the Bible unless you read the Bible. Stephen was a man who knew the Scriptures. But more than that, he was also,

1.5. Spirit-filled

Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. Had not Jesus promised what he would “give [his people] a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict”? Stephen was full of God’s Spirit and so was receptive to his leadership.

To be full of the Holy Spirit is to be mature. It is to be equipped and energized for living the Christian life. Whether it is saying no to every temptations to sin, or giving witness to the life and work of Christ, we are to live by the power of God’s Spirit. And Stephen did.

2. Christ-Centered Conversation (6:11-14)

Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

We are not given the privilege of hearing exactly what Stephen was talking about with his friends, and in public that go everyone so mad. But based on their complaint, we have a pretty good idea of what he was talking about.

Notice what they say –

>“We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

>“This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.”

First, they accuse of him repeating Jesus’ own words. Thus, in a very literal sense, Stephen’s conversation was Christ-centered. It was repeating the words and teaching of Christ himself.

But, more than that, what he said dealt specifically with Christ – what he did and what he would do in relation to the temple and the law. So, are they right? Did Jesus teach these things? Did Jesus say that he was going to destroy the temple?

We could look at several passages, but let’s look at one in John’s gospel. Jesus has just driven the sellers and money-changers from the temple. The Jews are angry and come to him and ask, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” John tells us that “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’ [And John explains that Jesus] was speaking about the temple of his body” (John 2:18-21).

Here Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” We know not only know that he was talking about his own body, but that he was also going to lay it down willingly.

In John 10, Jesus says, “No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

So, what does Jesus mean? At one level, he was simply affirming his resurrection. But because he calls himself a temple, it is more than that. By bringing up the temple, he is brining up all the imagery and practices that goes with.

So, Jesus is saying, “When I die, the temple dies. When I am destroyed, the temple is destroyed. This whole system – all these sacrifices, all this blood flowing to make atonement for sins, all this priestly activity surrounding the holy place where God’s presence dwells – it all ends when I die. You destroy me, and in dying, I destroy the temple.”

This is why the temple curtain is torn in two as Jesus died. It was a sign that the end had come for the temple, the sacrifices, and the priesthood. Jesus himself was taking the place of everything in the temple. Jesus had become the perfect high priest who lives forever to make intercession for his people.

Jesus was made the mercy seat of the temple and shed his own blood as a sacrifice to seal the new covenant between God and his people. God’s glory no longer resided in the temple, but was made manifest through Christ. He is called the Lord of glory – now, Jesus is where you see the glory of God, not the temple.

So, whatever your eschatology, it had better not include the temple. Don’t think that some new temple will be built in the future some day where Christians will offer sacrifices. Jesus said, when I die, the temple dies – but in my death and resurrection, I fulfill all the temple was pointing to, all that is represented. There is no going back – I alone make atonement for your sins and make you right with God.

And so as John is given a glimpse of heaven in Revelation 21 he says, “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev 21:22-23).

Stephen knew this is what Jesus taught and he believed it. He believed it and thought it was the most important thing his fellow Jews could know – that Jesus was the Christ. And now he was the one who brought access to God. Stephen was not against Moses or God or the Law – but longed to see how Christ brought fulfillment to God’s plan for these things.

3. Christ-like Countenance (6:15)

Many of us will hear about Stephen this morning, and even if we grant that this is not meant to be extraordinary but basic Christianity, we cannot imagine how we get to where he was.

How can grow to have such a commitment to Christ? How could we live such a Christ-centered life? How can we overcome the complacency of commonplace Christianity?

Verse 15 gives us the answer. As the Jews that were making the accusations and bringing the charges against Stephen, we are told they were, “gazing at him, [and] all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”

Don’t get caught on the details here of what an angel looks like – that’s not Luke’s point. Instead, we should ask who else had such an appearance? And how do you get it?

Think back to Exodus 34. Moses has struggled with the grumbling and complaining of the stiff-necked and stubborn people of Israel who still rebelled even after being saved from Egypt. And he says to God, I don’t think I can do this. I need encouragement, I need strength. I need to see your glory.

The Lord tells Moses to cut two tablets of stone and hide himself in the cleft of the rock. He passes by Moses and proclaims his name and his goodness. And he gives him the ten commandments.

Then we are told, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God” (Ex 34:29-30).

Do you want your face to shine like an angel? Than you need to spend time in the presence of God. This is the cure of commonplace Christianity. This is the how you live the basic Christian life of Christ-like character and Christ-centered conversation.

It seems so basic and so simple, but it is essential for living the Christian life. You must spend in the presence of God. That means listening to his voice as you read his word and talking to him in prayer.

Don’t tell me you’re not a good reader. Don’t tell me you have the time. If you want godliness, if you want grace and wisdom, and the fullness of God’s Spirit – spend time in the presence of God. That is how you are changed. That is how your life is transformed to reflect the glory of Christ.

One pastor, Martyn Lloyd-Jones was written about another pastor – Robert Murray M’Cheyne. M’Cheyne pastored in Scotland in the mid-1800’s, and his countenance was like that of Stephen.

Lloyd-Jones writes: “Robert Murray M’Cheyne walked into his pulpit at Dundee and before he opened his mouth, people would begin to weep and were broken down. Why? There was a solemnity about the man. He had come from the presence of God. He did not trip into his pulpit lightly and crack a joke or two to put everyone at ease and to prepare the atmosphere. No, there was radiance of God about him. There was a terrible seriousness.”

Don’t mistake solemnity for moroseness or a bland melancholy. No, it was a glad gravity that came from being in God’s presence. And it was so evident – so palpable – that before he even opened his mouth to preach, the people in his church were brought low and humbled.

Again, that should be the norm for Christians. Not that all of us would preach, but that we would have spent so much time with God, it would be evident in our lives.

Our prayer should be that of the David in Psalm 27 – “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (27:4).

Conclusion

Jim Elliot was a missionary to a native people of Ecuador in the 1950’s. He was killed trying to bring the gospel to a truly violent and savage people.

Later his diary was read and parts were published. And one line has become famous over the years. Elliot wrote, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

As Stephen fellowshipped with his Lord, and his face shone like the face of an angel, he was ready to give what he could not keep, to gain what he could not lose.

It was nothing for him – full of faith & grace, power & wisdom, living the Spirit-filled life, to give his all to his Lord –

Who had died for Stephen on a cross, suffering God’s wrath for him, so that he might have forgiveness and life.

. . . what Christ did for us should not evoke a life of commonplace faith and service and love and obedience. It should produce a life that looks a lot like Stephen’s life. That’s what basic, true Christianity looks like.

 

Mission: UNSTOPPABLE – Wise Decisions About Biblical Ministry (Acts 6:1-7)

Sermon Notes are not exact transcripts of sermons preached at BBC. Instead, they are simply the notes the pastor took with him into the pulpit and preached from. As a result, the actual sermon that was preached may vary from what is posted. 

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Wise Decisions About Biblical Ministry

Acts 6:1-7  

Introduction     

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.  [2] And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.  [3] Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.  [4] But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”  [5] And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.  [6] These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.  [7] And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.    

1. The Problem of Disruptive Division  

Notice the contrast in verse 1 – “Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews.”  Some believe that only those churches and ministries that are not doing what they should will encounter problems.  And the implication is, a church doing all the right things will have not problems.

This passage alone shows that not to be the case.  In fact, I would argue that the opposite is likely true.  Here is a church that is doing everything right.  And it is in that context that Satan comes to create conflict.  You see, he has already tried stop the church with the sinful hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira.  That didn’t work, so he tried a frontal assault through intimidation and suffering. That didn’t work either.  Now he tries to divide the church and distract its leaders with this problem.  

The word my Bible has translated complaint is the same one that is used in the Old Testament to describe grumbling and murmuring of the Israelites against Moses in Exodus and Numbers.  The complaint itself involves two ethnic groups with in the church.

First, there are the Hellenists. These would have been Jews who had been dispersed throughout the surrounding region, and then returned to settle in Palestine.  Though ethnically Jewish, they would have spoken Greek and had more in common with Greek Culture than Jewish Culture.  They would have thought and lived like Greeks.   

Second, there are the Hebrews. These were Jews native in the land of Palestine.  They would have mainly spoken Hebrew and Aramaic, and followed all of the customs of Jewish culture.  Following the example of the OT, the early church believed that it was responsible to care for those Christians who were widows and orphans.  But, it seems that in the midst of the distribution of food for these people, the Hellenists were being neglected.   

We don’t know why this was happening, or even if it really was happening.  All we know is that the Hellenists believed it was and a complaint went up to the apostles.  At one level then, the problem facing the early church was an administrative one.  But on another level, but was also a much more profound problem going on. While the problem of ensuring each widow received sufficient portions was important, there was the potential of an even greater problem for the early church.  This lack of a physical need was leading to a spiritual disunity among God’s people.   Notice how it began – along racial and ethnic lines: “a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews.”  The division is occurring among ethnic lines – one group was complaining against another.  This is probably what got the apostle’s attention the most.  They were not just trying to fix a problem in the benevolence ministry of the church – they were trying to stop a division in the church along racial lines.

We have to be careful about this kind of thing today.  It is so easy for divisions to disrupt the ministries of our church.  The issues might be important, but it is even more important to remember that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.  We will all have different preferences – whether based on different cultures or sub-cultures in which we were raised, or our past experiences, or whatever.   But these differences should never divide us.  In non-essential matters, our preferences should never be cause for grumbling and complaining against one another.   

2. The Priorities of Pastoral Leadership  

In vv. 2-4, we read, “And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.  Therefore, brothers [and sisters], pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.  But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’” Some people read this passage and believe that the apostles thought it was beneath them to serve these people in this practical way.  But the matter here is not which is the better or more important ministry. The issue is not the whether or not the apostles’ pride forbids them from such a seemingly mundane task.

The apostles did not see the distribution of food as beneath them, or unimportant. They simply di dnto want it to distract them from their primary calling in ministry.  As the foundation of God’s church, their calling was to serve the church by prayer and the ministry of the word.  It is not a matter of being better than someone else, but a matter of calling.

Ajith Fernando reminds us that “God is the ultimate leader of any Christian group.  The earthly leaders represent him as his agents on earth.  If they are to do so adequately, they must be attuned to him.  And there is no better way for that to happen than by spending time with him in prayer and in the … word.”             

2.1. Prayer  

Pastoral leaders are called to pray for the people they shepherd.  It is the means by which we call down blessings from God fro his people.  Over and over again, the Bible shows leaders interceding for God’s people.   In 10 out of his 13 letters, Paul talks about praying for his readers.  In Exodus 17, Joshua’s army floundered if Moses was failed to pray for them.  Even Jesus himself told Peter, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32).  This ministry of intercession is not just to be done in the privacy of the prayer closet, but with the people as well.  Speaking from experience, there are few things more encouraging, more enlightening to the reality of the spiritual realm than having someone pray for you.   

I can remember another older couple who lived next to us while we were in seminary.  Before we left for the delivery room to have Joshua, they prayed over us.  The prayer wasn’t that great – no profound words, but it was a moving experiencing nonetheless.  One that made me more aware of the presence of God, the love of our friends, and the responsibility I would now have as a father. Likewise, pastors are to bring that kind of grace into people’s lives by praying with them.

Furthermore, pastoral leaders are to lead the people in prayer.  Again, we look to the Scriptures for our example.  From Nehemiah to Ezra to Jehoshaphat to Amos to Peter to Jesus – we see pastoral leaders taking the initiative in calling and leading the people to prayer.               

2.2. Word of God 

God’s word not only brings us close to God as we soak our lives in it, allowing it to transform our lives, but it is also that which pastoral leaders must teach God’s people.  In order to do this, the man himself must be committed to studying the Scriptures.  He must be committed to thinking hard about their truths – meditating on them.  Learning to apply them to his own life and to the lives of those he is responsible for.  

Charles Spurgeon admired the puritan John Bunyan.  Specifically, he loved reading his works because it had so much of the Bible in it.  Whether it was his sermons, or works of allegory and fiction, Spurgeon said, “This man is a living Bible!   Prick him anywhere — his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is FULL of the Word of God.” 

So it should be with all who desire to shepherd God’s people.  And nothing must derail them in the pursuit of such a life and ministry. The apostles understood this and so found it necessary to organize others to oversee this difficult situation.  

Now, in case you missed it, this entire point has essentially been prayer request list for the pastor.  M’Cheyne gave wise counsel to the church when he said, “Pray for your pastor. Pray for his body, that he may be kept strong and spared many years. Pray for his soul, that he may be kept humble and holy, a burning and shining light. Pray for his ministry, that it may be abundantly blessed, that he may be anointed to preach good tidings. Let there be no secret prayer without naming him before your God, no family prayer without carrying your pastor in your hearts to God.” 

Pray for us – for me.  Not because we are worth it, but because we need it.    

3. The Provision of Administrative Service  

Notice verse 3 again, “Therefore, brothers [and sisters], pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.” The apostles call for the church to choose and set apart a group of men to meet the physical needs they cannot take the time to meet.  But not just anyone was selected for such a task. Just as the apostles had been given gifts to enable to fulfill their calling for public teaching, So those whom God has called to serve as deacons will have certain gifting as well.  

In one of my previous churches it made me angry when I found out that two of the men nominated and put forward to be voted on as deacons could not even name the two ordinances of the church – baptism and the Lord’s supper – when question by the ordination council.

Nevertheless, because they were successful in the secular business world, they were still presented to the church and voted in.  What we have here are proto-deacons.  And the apostles are very specific in what qualifies people to hold such a position in the church.  It doesn’t have anything to do with worldly success. Instead, two qualifications are given – they must be full of wisdom and the Holy Spirit.    

Now the Bible describes different kinds of wisdom.  Specifically, these people are to possess administrative wisdom. This is the same kind of wisdom Solomon asked for in the Old Testament. You will remember that God asked him what he wanted, and Solomon said, “How can I be king over your people unless I have wisdom?” So, God gave him what he asked for – why?  Because what he wanted was not self-serving; but oriented toward serving others. He wanted the kind of administrative wisdom needed to run a country. But this did not automatically make him a godly king.  Solomon had hundreds of wives and concubines, and he eventually forsook the worship of the Lord for the worship of foreign gods.

My point, it is not enough to simply be wise.  The apostles are clear these men are also to be godly – they are to be full of the Holy Spirit. They have to be good Christians, displaying the kind of fruit of the Spirit listed in 1 Timothy 3: blameless; not double-tongued; not drunkards; not greedy; managing well their own households. Thus, the apostles wanted – above all else – these men to be wise and godly men who displayed the fruit of the spirit in their lives.  It’s important to see that the solution the apostles reached was not about doing everything themselves.  It was about understanding that all Christians are called to serve, and to serve in different ways.  

Even today, it is important that our current and future deacons understand their calling as deacons, and that they display the necessary gifts for that calling.  Part of that understanding is not just character issues, but a realization that in meeting physical needs, they are working to bring spiritual unity.  

In regards to this, Pastor Mark Dever says – “Edifying and uniting the church is especially the ministry of the deacons as we see it in Acts 6. Therefore, “we cannot have people serve us well as deacons who are unhappy with the church. The deacons are not those in the church who are complaining the loudest or jarring the church with their actions or attitudes. Quite the opposite! The deacons are to be the mufflers, the shock-absorbers. Therefore, among those who would serve a church as a deacon there must be no small-mindedness. Such members must not be given to “turfiness” – caring about their area, their rights and prerogatives in that area, or even quietly resenting service by others who would interlope into their sphere! Deacons are not set apart to advocate their cause, or argue for their corners like representatives or lobbyists. Instead, they are to come on behalf of the whole – to serve particular needs, yes – but with a sense of the whole, a sense that their work contributes to the health of the whole. Even more, they are to be able to help others come to understand this particular ministry as a part of the uniting and edifying of the church as a whole. They are to be builders of the church by being servants who help to bind us together with cords of kindness and of loving service.” 

The apostles’ plan to select deacons was designed to solve an administrative problem and ensure that the physical needs of the people were met.  But with spiritual wisdom, their plan also included a design to prevent the church from being fractured.  This is the kind of servant leadership deacons are called to – leadership in meeting the physical of God’s people; leadership in actively pursuing spiritual unity among God’s people.  

4. The Product of Shared Ministry 

In v. 7, we see the God-given result of their actions, “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”  Notice the two results of the apostles’ solution:              

4.1. God’s Word spread  

Verse 7 says, “And the word of God continued to increase.”  If we’ve understood the passage up to this point, then this should come as no surprise. How could anything else have happened? If under the leadership of God’s Spirit, the apostle’s have made the decision to not neglect their divine calling to the ministry of the Word, then natural result is that the word of God would go forward.  

But the reverse is also true – if the ministry of the Word is neglected, then it can never go forward. And it appears that the whole church understood this. Luke tells us that “what the [apostles] said pleased the whole gathering,”  It would have been easy for the apostle’s to just take on the extra responsibility.  It would have been easy for those in the church to let them take on that extra responsibility. But instead of those things, the apostles and the church understood that in order for God to be honored, the apostles needed to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. 

In this way, these deacons were not only helping the body as a whole, but were also helping to support these apostles, whose main obligations lay elsewhere.

E. M. Bounds was right when he said, “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use— men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men—men of prayer.” 

The deacons helped ensure that God’s leaders had the time and energy to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word.  And as a result, the God’s word spread throughout the entire city.              

4.2. God’s church grew  

Luke tells us that “the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.”  If the natural response of an attention to the Word, is the word spreading, then this is the natural response to that word going forward – successful evangelism and church growth.  

Many churches don’t grow.  Some have growth by members from other churches coming and joining. But many do not see much success in evangelism.  After considering a passage like this, I cannot help but wonder if part of the reason for that lack of growth is a lack of concern that the pastors devote themselves to prayer and the Word.Elsewhere in Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that God has given gifts to the church in the form of pastors-teachers. These men are to “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” (Eph 4:12).  If they themselves are not able to adequately prepare for the task to which God has called them, then they will be unable to equip the saints for ministry. The result will be that the Word does not go forward and the church will not grow.   

Conclusion 

During one World Series, Yogi Berra was catching for the New York Yankees, as Hank Aaron – the chief power hitter for the Milwaukee Braves – came up to bat.  As usual Yogi was keeping up his ceaseless chatter, intended to pep up his teammates on the one hand, and distract the Milwaukee batters on the other.  Aaron came to the plate, Yogi tried to distract him by saying, “Henry, you’re holding the bat wrong. You’re supposed to hold it so you can read the trademark.” Aaron didn’t say anything, but when the next pitch came he hit it into the left-field bleachers. After rounding the bases and tagging up at home plate, Aaron looked at Yogi Berra and said, “I didn’t come up here to read.” 

Aaron knew his job and didn’t let anything distract him from it.   As a church, we have to be careful to not let ourselves become distracted.  There is nothing easier for the enemy to do than get our minds of what we are supposed to be doing.  

We have to be careful to remember what we are called to do and what others are called to do in ministry.  We also have be careful to not let small things distract from our calling in ministry – to build up one another in the faith and reach out with the gospel to those who do not yet know Christ.

Mission: UNSTOPPABLE – What Will You Do with Christ? (Acts 5:33-42)

Sermon Notes are not exact transcripts of sermons preached at BBC. Instead, they are simply the notes the pastor took with him into the pulpit and preached from. As a result, the actual sermon that was preached may vary from what is posted. 

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What Will You Do With Christ?

Acts 5:33-42  

Introduction  

The last two weeks and today have formed a sort of mini-series.  Two weeks ago, we looked at the marks of biblical evangelism.  Those things that normally accompany the preaching of the true gospel.  

Last week, we looked at what the gospel is – we looked at the basic content of the gospel message.  There we saw that Peter told the prominent Jews of the Sanhedrin that they have been preaching about Jesus – and will not stop preaching about Jesus – because the God of their father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, raised him up as the Messiah.   

And though, they sinfully killed him rather than receive him, it was part of God’s plan for Jesus to offer himself as an atoning sacrifice.  By his death, he became the sacrifice needed to satisfy God’s wrath against their sin.  But Jesus did not stay!  Because of his humble obedience, God raised him back to life.  Peter says, God did this – he Christ at his “right hand as Leader and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” 

Repentance is a turning away from sin towards God.  It is a moral act that involves the whole person in spirit, mind, and will turning from their desires to obey the will of God.   Our repentance is that which brings forgiveness of sins from God.  

Now, this morning, we see how people respond to the gospel.  Specifically, we see three responses that are the basic ways people today respond.  As we look at these responses, ask yourself how you have responded.  What have you done with Christ?  

[The high priest said to them]“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”  [29] But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.  [30] The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.  [31] God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.  [32] And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”  When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.   

1. Violent Rejection (5:33) 

Luke tells us the reaction of the religious leaders to the apostle’s affirmation of the gospel – they were enraged and wanted to kill them. They wanted to kill the apostles. 

About this, Derek Thomas asks, “Isn’t that astounding, when you think about it? What had these men done? Were they murderers? Were they child molesters? Were they guilty of some gross form of pornography? Had they embezzled funds from the Jewish authorities in some way? What had they done? What law had they broken? What evil, dastardly deed had they done that would bring about in the Sanhedrin a desire that they might be killed – that they might be judicially put to death? What had they done? Were they insurrectionists? Were they armed bandits? Were they calling on men and women in Jerusalem to arm themselves and form some kind of militia?”  

The answer to all of these questions is ‘No.’ Instead they had simply preached Jesus.  They had been telling the people that salvation could be found in no one other than Jesus, God’s Messiah.  And it is the very mention of Jesus that causes these men to become violent.  

To be honest not much has changed in 200 years.  Christianity is still an intolerant religion.  By intolerant, I do not mean that we have a prejudice against any group of people.  No, in that way Christianity is universalist – we preach to Christ to all kinds of people, from every nation and tribe around the world, knowing that God desires to save all kinds of people.  

But Christianity is intolerant in that we say that there is only one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ.  It is only by his life, death, and resurrection that sinful people like us can be saved from our sins.   This is not a message our society likes to hear.  They like to hear that all religions are basically the same.  That all roads eventually lead to heaven.  So the good Muslim, the good Buddhist, the good Hindu and Mormon – all will see God, just as Christian will.   

And when teach what the Bible says – that this is wrong – society often responds like the Sanhedrin did towards Paul and apostles, with opposition.   Sometimes it is clear, but mild opposition.  For instance, it doesn’t take long watching television, reading magazines, or listening to the radio to notice that virtually any religion or idea is given sympathy or the benefit of the doubt, expect Christianity.   

Other times, though, the opposition is more violent.  Seattle is one of the most, if not the most liberal cities in the country.  Statistically, there are more dogs there than Christians.  Nevertheless, one of the biggest and fastest growing Christian churches is located in Seattle.   But that churches pastor, Mark Driscoll, could tell you it hasn’t been east.  In fact, Driscoll has to preach with bodyguards now.  A couple of years ago, Driscoll preached over an hour on the atoning sacrifice of Christ.  That God sent his own Son to die as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity, and that his sacrifice is the only way to be made right with God.  Some people got angry over that message.  One guy got so worked up, he charged the stage and wanted to fight Driscoll.  

Of course, it’s even worse in other countries.  In some places, Christians are beaten, tortured, maimed, or killed – simply for believing the gospel.   Just as we see in this passage, so also today, many will respond to the message of Christ with violent opposition.  

But this shouldn’t surprise us should it?  What did Jesus tell his disciples in John 15?   Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).     

2. Blind Indifference (5:34-40) 

Luke says, that while most were, enraged and wanted to kill them. [There was] a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.  After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.  So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” 

This Pharisee Gamaliel was an important man during his day.  He was a prominent rabbi – a teacher and theologian.  He was the grandson of another famous rabbi Hillel. So great was Hillel that an entire school of thought among the Jews came from his teaching.  It was the more moderate way of thinking and interpreting the law, as opposed to the school of Shammai, which was more strict in its views.  

Gamaliel is mentioned in two important Jewish writings, the Talmud and the Mishnah.  Both were the oral traditions of the Jews regarding how to interpret the Mosaic Law in the particulars of life.  It served as case law, establishing precedents for making rulings on matters of the Law.  And in these works, Gamaliel is given the specific title, Rabban instead of the normal rabbi.  It distinguishes from the others, acknowledging that at one time he was head of the Sanhedrin. 

I tell you all of this so that you can better understand his prominence, why it is he speaks here, and why it is everyone listens when he speaks.  One further thing does need to be said about Gamaliel, though.  Did you notice the problem we have here in the text?  Look at verse 34 – the order is given for the apostles to be put out of the meeting, so that they might confer in private.  So, how does Luke know what was said? 

Well, you might remember Luke traveled with a man named Paul, the apostle to the gentiles.  And before Paul was Paul, he was Saul of Tarsus.  And later in Acts, chapter 22, Paul will tell us that while he was Saul, his teacher was none other than Gamaliel himself.  In fact, it is very likely that Saul was there for this meeting, hearing the judgment issued against these men who were concerned heretics and blasphemers.  

Do you notice what he does?  He lumps the in apostles in with Jewish terrorists.  Both men that he mentions – Theudus and Judas the Galilean – were terrorists, or freedom fighters depending on how you look at it.  Both used violence to try to overthrow the Roman oppression of the Jews.  They would be something like the IRA of Ireland, the Shining Path of Peru, or the ETA of Spain.   

And he says these Christians are just like those guys.  If God wants them to succeed, they will.  But if they are nothing, then they will fail.  Either way, we should just let them do their thing, and not worry about them.  And is what wins the day.

When you read some commentaries, and hear some sermons, often this Gamaliel’s advice is given a word of approval.  It’s seen as wisdom that can be applied in any situation.   Essentially, the thought is, “leave well alone; wait and see; if this thing is of men, it will perish; if it is of God, then nothing that you can do can disabuse it of its rightful place.”  

And at first glance, it may seem to be wise thinking – something we might even use today as Christians.  But the reality is, this is no wisdom at all!  His advice is nothing more than indecision.  As one pastor says, for all his credentials and learning and respect, Gamaliel is “utterly untouched by the supernatural.”  He is not in tune with God, and has not turned his knowledge of the Bible into wisdom for living.  

After all consider if Churchill has given this advice in the 1930’s.  The Nazi are rolling over Poland and Europe, and he says, ‘ahh, leave it.’  He never gives his famous speech about the enemy knocking at the door; issues no call to arms. 

No, this principle just doesn’t stand.  It’s not biblical.  Yet, many respond to Christ that way – with blind indifference.  They say, ‘well I’m glad that works for you, but I don’t see much worth in it.’ 

Or perhaps even worse, someone who says they believe Christ – that they see the truth of the gospel – but never commit.  They give their life over to him.  They give evidence that they really do not believe by their indifference.  My friends indifference is nothing more than unbelief.  Do not be indifferent towards Christ.  If you feel nothing for him, if no passion burns for him – then pray and ask God for it.  Ask him to enliven your mind and heart to treasure Christ.     

3. Devoted Belief (5:41-42) 

Luke tells us that the Sanhedrin “took his advice and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.”   I guess Gamaliel has a different understanding of what ‘leave them alone’ means than I do. For after his great speech, he still agrees to have them beat.  Specifically, they were flogged.   

One reference work explains that, “Floggings were administered with a whip made of calfskin on the bare upper body of the offender – one-third of the lashes being given on the [chest] and the other two-thirds on the back. The offender stood in a bowed position with the one administering the beating on a stone above him and the blows were accompanied by the recital of admonitory and consolatory verses from Scripture.”  

In other words, while the apostles are being beaten, they are being yelled at.  People are yelling verses from Old Testament at them, admonishing them not to commit the same offense.  You can imagine, as the whip is falling, they are hearing things like,  

• “The Lord our God, the Lord is one . . .  you shall have no other gods;”
• “Stop blaspheming the name of the Lord”;
• “Stop preaching about this man Jesus”.
• Perhaps, from Psalm 7: “If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow”;
• “Repent of your sin and return to God, lest you perish.”   

One can only imagine the pain.  Thirty-nine lashes with whips and possibly bits of metal tied on at the ends.  And after a while, their flesh shreds and flies off, their muscle, maybe even an organ is exposed and beat as well.  

And what is their response to all this?  What do the apostles do?  The Bible says in verse 41 – “[when it was over] they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.  And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”  

This is real Christianity.  This is real faith in him.  This is real love, real devotion for Christ.  You can probably follow them back to their homes by the trail of their blood,  and yet they do not whine, or complain; they do not curse the Sanhedrin, nor do they grow angry at God for letting them suffer.   Instead, they rejoice.  They give praise.  

Are they masochists?   Are they so sick in the head that they enjoy pain?  No, it’s not the pain they enjoy.   These men are joyful because they were considered by God worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus.  

They stand in the long line of godly men who chose to suffer at the hands of godless men for the sake of knowing and begin known by God himself.  The book of Hebrews that, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.  He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward…  And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.  Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy— wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (11:24-26; 32-38) 

With eyes of faith – eyes that could see past the immediacy of their circumstances to the glories of life with God – these men and women endured suffering and hardship.  Likewise, these apostles had embraced Christ with saving faith. 

And in believing in Christ, they devoted themselves to him.  They treasured him more than anything else, and so could not stop bringing glory and honor to his name by telling others of his death for sinners like themselves.  

If this is what true Christianity looks like, brothers and sisters, then I fear we know very little of it.  We are far too easily satisfied and comfortable in our lives.  Let us pray to God that we might cherish Christ as these first apostles did.   

Conclusion 

What will you do with Christ this morning?

Plan for ‘Our Life Together’ :: The Cliff Notes

In one of our previous discussions about our upcoming changes, many admitted they did not read the original handout.  Perhaps it was too long.  Regardless of why it was not read, it is important that everyone who WHY these changes are being proposed.   

So, here is the ‘Cliff Notes’ version.  That is, the stripped-down, bullet-pointed version of the biblical basis and rationale for our changes.  I especially want us to focus on our move to family discipleship.  Hopefully, most of your were able to here Voddie Baucham’s message about the need for this, but if not you can find it and some related resources at his website.

Our Life Together 

The Biblical Rationale and Spiritual Motivations for Changing Our Ministries

God’s Plan for His People 

Statistics  

• In recent years, the general adult population has grown by 15%, but the number of unchurched adults has grown by 95%. 
•  The SBC has a little over 16 million members listed on church books.  However, less than 6 million are in attendance for worship on any given Sunday morning. 
• Currently in the SBC, it takes 43 people to bring in 1 new convert to Christianity.
• In the past 5 years, BBC has baptized 7 people.  Of those 7, only 4 were the result of new conversions.  

Biblical Basis  

• Matt 22:36-40 – “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
• Matt 28:18-20 – “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 
• 1 John 4:20-21 – “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.  And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”  

Practical Implications  

•  The Bible is clear that we are to love God and one another, and we are to share Christ, making disciples.
•  As Christians, we are to provide care and correction for one another in the church.
• According to statistical data, doing things the way they have always been done is no longer effective.
• Therefore, we need to express our love for God by finding new and better ways of loving one another, reaching people with the Gospel, and making disciples.   

Small Groups 

Statistics  

• George Gallup reports that 70% of Americans have said church is not meeting their needs – to believe life is meaningful and had purpose; to have a sense of community and deeper relationships; to be appreciated and respected; to be listened to and heard; to grow in faith; to receive practical help in developing a mature faith.
• Of over 300 churches polled that were dead or dying and came back to a place of strong growth and vibrancy, the formation and use of small groups was ranked as the 5th most important factor in their comeback (changes in an emphasis on prayer was number 1).  

Biblical Basis  

• Heb 3:12-13 – “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” 
• Eph 4:29 – “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
• As a church, God commands us to: love one another (John 15:17); live in harmony with one another (Rom 12:10); instruct one another (Rom 15:14);  care for one another (1 Cor 12:25); comfort one another (2 Cor 13:11); agree with one another (2 Cor 13:11);  serve one another (Gal 5:13);  bear with one another (Eph 4:2); be kind to one another (Eph 4:32); forgive one another (Eph 4:32); submit to one another (Eph 5:1); admonish one another (Col 3:16); encourage one another (1 Thess 5:11); build up one another (1 Thess 5:11); exhort one another (Heb 3:13); show hospitality to one another (1 Pet 4:8); stir-up one another to love & good works (Heb 10:24) 

Practical Implications  

• Small groups provide a proven method for meeting real and felt needs of church-goers.
• Small groups have proven themselves effective in serving as a ‘front door’ to the church for unchurched people. 
• Small groups provide an opportunity that other times do not; specifically, a time to fulfill biblical commands to watch, care, guard, encourage, serve, etc. one another as the body of Christ. 

Family-Driven Discipleship  

Statistics  

• While the last 30 years has seen the greatest increase in the number of youth ministries and youth ministry degrees begin earned, it has also seen the greatest increase in the number of unreached teens. 
• According to researchers, between 70% and 88% of Christian teens are leaving the church by their second year in college.
• 85% of “born again teens” do not believe in the existence of absolute truth. Over 60% agreed with the statement, “nothing can be known for sure except the things you experience in your own life.” More than half of those surveyed believed that Jesus sinned during His earthly life!
• Statistics show that when a child is the first to attend church, 3.5% of their families will follow.  When a wife and mother first begins attending church, 17% of the families follow.  But when a husband or father first begins attending church, 93% of their families follow them in attending church. 

Biblical Basis  

• “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).
• “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:1-4).  

Practical Implications 

• Current methods of discipling children and teens are “unbiblical, antithetic to the biblical model, and they do not work.” 
• God clearly commands that parents (especially fathers) are to be the primary disciplers of their children. 
•  Therefore, if we are to be faithful to God’s plan for us, and if we are going to be successful, we need to emphasize family discipleship. 
•  This means eliminating some of our programs for children and youth, and equipping/encouraging parents (especially fathers) to disciple their children.
• Eliminating programs means that families will have more time to spend together, and that the programs cannot used as crutches (substituting for family discipleship). 
• Finally, this means that we should target our witnessing efforts at families, especially fathers.    

*All statistical data came from the following sources:  Voddie Baucham, Family-Driven Faith (Crossway, 2007); Thom Rainer, Breakout Churches (Zondervan, 2004); Andy Stanley and Bill Willits, Creating Community (Multnomah, 2004); and Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson, Comeback Churches (B&H, 2007).

Proposed Changes   

Sunday                        

Prayer (9:30a) / Children’s Sunday School 

Worship (10:30a) 

Small groups (6:00p or 6:30p)  

Mid-week

Family Discipleship Night (at home)  

Monthly                       

Outreach Saturday (10:00a-1:00p) – prayer walking; survey teams; evangelism teams 

Men’s Group (tba)

Women’s Group (tba)

Youth event (6:30p; last Saturday of the month)

Mission: UNSTOPPABLE – “The Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:30-32)

Sermon Notes are not exact transcripts of sermons preached at BBC. Instead, they are simply the notes the pastor took with him into the pulpit and preached from. As a result, the actual sermon that was preached may vary from what is posted. 

 _________ 

The Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ

Acts 5:30-32  

Introduction  

Early this week, I was asked what I would do if a doctor told me I would be dead on Monday.   My first answer was, go to Ohio and spend time with our family.  But then I thought about it for again and said, I would rather them come up here so that I could preach this morning.  In fact, I told her that this was a good week to ask that question because if I only had one sermon left preach, I think this might be it.   

This morning, as we continue in our series on the book of Acts, I want to linger over some of the verse we looked at last week.   I want us to linger and savor these two verses because here we see the essentials of the gospel.   

As we begin, let’s remember the scene.  The apostles have been arrested for preaching about Jesus.  God has supernaturally secured their release from prison by sending an angel to break them out.   They are found again preaching Jesus and are again brought before the religious authorities.  They are asked to justify their action, but the apostles don’t really offer a defense.   Instead, they simply explain who Jesus and what he did and say – we cannot help but speak of these things.  

“The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

From these verses, this morning we want to see the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.  That is, we want to see and unpack and rejoice in the essentials of the gospel message.     

1. The Promised Plan  

Peter begins his explanation of the gospel by saying, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus.”   

Remember to whom Peter and the apostles are talking – it’s their own people, the Jews.  And by beginning with the phrase, ‘God of our fathers,’ Peter is at the very least saying, ‘We’re not starting something new.  We’ve not invented some new deity.  We are teaching about and worshiping the same God as you – the God of our Fathers.’ 

But I think even more than that, he is helping them to see that what has happened in Christ, and what they are proclaiming is not just about the same God, but is in line with God has promised to do from the beginning.  Remember the fathers are not just their immediate ancestors among the nation of Israel.  No, the fathers – the patriarchs of Israel – go back farther than that.  They go back to King David, and even farther than that to Moses, Israel deliverer from slavery.  Still yet, though, that is not the beginning.  Before Israel was a nation of 12 tribes, it was a family of 12 brothers – the sons of Jacob.  Jacob himself was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham.  Abraham himself is ultimately a descendent of that very first man, Adam.  

And it is because of that first man that God has planned and accomplished the great work of redemption throughout the history.   You see, God created Adam and Eve – the first human beings – in his own image.  He created them to care for world he had created.  He had given them everything that they could have needed or wanted.  Yet, Satan tempted with the one thing God withheld from them – the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   God withheld the one thing that was bad for them.  Everything else was theirs.  But they were not satisfied.  Adam did not trust that God withheld this out of love, nor that God had truly given them all they would ever need or want. 

Adam refused to glorify God by loving, serving, and obeying him as their Creator-God.   As a result of Adam’s sin, God cursed his once-good creation.  Sin and death came into the world, so that now every human is born a sinner, standing under the condemnation of God.  And given the first opportunity, this sin nature will be expressed through sinful acts.  

Yet when God pronounced his curse on humanity, he also offers hope.  In Genesis 3, he says to Satan who tempted Adam and Eve to disobedience that one day from Eve a descendent would come – and though Satan would bruise his heel, the promised Son would crush Satan’s head.  

Thus in Romans 5, Paul explains, Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.  Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.  

This is Jesus – the One who was to come.  He came in fulfillment of the promised son.  By his death, sin and the devil were crushed, defeated for all time.  And ever since that first promise to Adam and Eve, God had been working, foreshadowing, promising again and again the work that Jesus would do.  

So, when we hear of Jesus.  When we think of the gospel, we shouldn’t think that somehow he was God’s ‘Plan B.’  No, Revelation 13:8 says Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  That means that before God creates, he knows humanity will sin.  God chooses to create us anyway, and then – even more unbelievably – chooses to make his own Son the means of our salvation.  

Understanding and believing in this perfect plan to bring salvation should have an effect on how we live our lives as Christians . . .   1) confidence in God;  2) assurance of salvation;  3) thankfulness for his mercy and grace . . . .

2. The Atoning Sacrifice  

If tomorrow night, you were to stop people in the mall and ask them who Jesus was, most would likely say, ‘a good example,’ or ‘a great teacher.’  And there is a sense in which that would have been same answer you would have gotten from the religious leaders that Peter is talking to.  

Though they would not have thought he was good or great, they would have Jesus was a teacher like so many others.  They would have thought that though he was probably right in seeing the need to reform Judaism on some things, he was wrong on several, crucial points – that’s why he was put to death.   He was charged with blasphemy.

But Peter wants them to understand that, that is a wrong view of Jesus.  He was more than just a teacher.  He was more than just a good example.  He came to be a Savior.  In fact, Peter says that the very person God raised up to be the Messiah was killed by the very people he came to save.  Peter looks to the religious leaders and says it was Jesus the Messiah “whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.”   

If you’re new to the Bible it may look like either you or Peter has missed a basic element of the Jesus’ story.  Wasn’t Jesus killed on a cross?   Why did Peter say he was hung a tree? When Peter says Jesus was killed by hanging on a tree, he isn’t denying the fact that Jesus was crucified.  Crosses were made of wood, which meant on a very basic level that when Jesus was hung up on a cross, he was hanging on a tree.   And this is important because it helps explain what happened on the cross. 

You see it wasn’t by accident that the instrument of Jesus’ death was a cross.  A thousand years before in Psalm 22, God prophesied through David that it would be a cross.   And it’s interesting that most people were simply stoned to death by zealous Jews.  After all, that was the method for execution God prescribed in the Law for those that committed blasphemy. 

But Jesus’ wasn’t stoned to death.   No, God made sure that Jesus was killed by crucifixion.  Because, back in the Law – in Deut 21:23 – he had declared “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”  Remember that God issued a curse upon all of creation because of Adam’s sin.  Since we are born into this world as sinners, we also stand under that curse.   But, Jesus was born without a sin nature.  Symbolically, he was not born with Adam as his representative before God because he didn’t have a human father.  Rather, God supernaturally impregnated his virgin mother.   And so by dying on the cross, Jesus willingly places himself under a curse.  Specifically, he takes upon himself our curse. 

This is why in Galatians 3 Paul says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—“ (3:13).    

Peter himself went on to say, “[Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24).   

Jesus was not simply a good teacher.  No, he was a savior.  Jesus offered himself as an atoning sacrifice.  He took the punishment we deserve for our sins, fully satisfying God’s wrath against us so that we might have forgiveness and life.    

3. The Risen Lord  

Jesus died on a cross as an atoning sacrifice.  He willingly poured out his righteous life in the place of sinners.  Yet, Peter is quick to remind us that Jesus did not stay dead.  He says, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior.” This word ‘Leader’ is a unique word that is hard to translate and so the meaning can be obscured to us in our English Bible.  

If you’ve ever seen the original Star Trek series, you know Captain Kirk was this young, brash kind of guy who was always the first to beam down to a planet and lead the missions.   But, when the second series – Star Trek the Next Generation – came out, the writers agreed that while Kirk was cool, but a little unrealistic.  After all, they thought the Captain of the ship was the most important person on the ship and shouldn’t be in immediate danger all the time.  So, they cast a more mature actor as the Captain, kept him on the ship and had the first officer be the young, brash guy who was leading dangerous missions.  But that didn’t go over well with the fans.  It might have made more sense, but it wasn’t all that dramatic.  So, shortly into the second season the Captain began going on missions, beaming down to dangerous plants and eventually, he almost always went!  The fans loved it.  After all, you want to see the leader lead.  You want the Captain to be there, leading the way in missions.   

This is very much the sense of this word for Leader.  It has been translated as author, prince, pioneer, founder, and captain.  The word is archegos means someone who begins something so that others may follow.  

This is exactly what Jesus is for his people.   Jesus is the Leader of our salvation in that he has gone on before us.  He has done battle and won the victory over sin, hell, and devil.  He has willingly faced those things and overcome them.  He endured temptation without sinning, he defeated the lure of the devil, and conquered hell through his resurrection.  

Furthermore, in being raised back to life, he is the first to experience the resurrection.  Nevertheless, he has simply gone on before us in the same path we will follow as his people.  Christ has told us that for those who place their faith in him, we will experience the resurrection on the last, being raised with bodies uncorrupted by sin or death – fitted to spend eternity with God forever in heaven.  

Jesus has blazed a trail for us to follow in salvation.  And since he is our Leader and Savior, we can look to him for encouragement in the midst of temptation and despair.  When your own conscience or Satan tempts you to doubt your salvation, or become despondent over your sin, the Bible exhorts us to  “. . . let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the [archegos] founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1-2).    

4. The Gracious Gift  

Peter has told these prominent Jews that they have been preaching about Jesus – and will not stop preaching about Jesus – because the God of their father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, raised him up as the Messiah.   And though, they sinfully killed him rather than receive him, it was part of God’s plan for Jesus to offer himself as an atoning sacrifice.  By his death, he became the sacrifice needed to satisfy God’s wrath against their sin.  

But Jesus did not stay!  Because of his humble obedience, God raised him back to life.  Peter says, God did this – he Christ at his “right hand as Leader and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” 

Repentance is a turning away from sin towards God.  It is a moral act that involves the whole person in spirit, mind, and will turning from their desires to obey the will of God.   Our repentance is that which brings forgiveness of sins from God.  Repentance is essential for salvation.  The very first thing Jesus says in the Gospels; the very first message he preached to the people was – “repent and believe the gospel.” 

But there is a problem here. As sinful people, we cannot repent.  Imagine asking a squirrel to recite Shakespeare.  It is just not going to happen.  It doesn’t matter how much you read to that squirrel, or work with it, it will never say anything let alone offer a quote from the Bard.   

Or as in our case, imagine trying to ask a corpse to get up and walk around.  You can yell and scream and beg and cry, but it will never happen.  There is a fundamental inability on the part of the corpse to respond – it’s dead.    Likewise with us, before Christ, we are spiritually dead in our sins.  Thus, there is within us a fundamental inability to respond to the gospel.  Spiritually, we are no better than a corpse – there is nothing in us that would desire God, or heed his call to repent.  

And this is what makes the gospel all the more sweet.  As the Leader and Savior of God’s people; as the exalted Lord, Jesus gives repentance just as he gives forgiveness.  He not only dies to give us life, points us to the way of salvation, but grants us the ability to receive it.  The theologians call this begin regenerated, or being born again.  This is something God does to us so that we might repent of our sins and believe the good news of Jesus Christ. 

This is why Peter will later say in his first letter – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” (1 Pet 1:3).   

This then, is the gracious gift of salvation from God.  From before the foundation of the world, he ordains Christ to die for our sins, raises him back to life and exalts him as Lord of all things, and grants us spiritual life so that we might grasp hold of Christ by faith and find forgiveness of sins.    

Conclusion  

What then should be our response to the gospel of Jesus Christ?   Two things: believe and proclaim.

Some of you here this morning have never trusted in Christ as leader and savior.  You need to repent and believe. . . .

For those of us who have believed, we must proclaim.  “And we are witnesses to these things” 

Mission: UNSTOPPABLE – Marks of Biblical Evangelism (Acts 5:12-32)

Sermon Notes are not exact transcripts of sermons preached at BBC. Instead, they are simply the notes the pastor took with him into the pulpit and preached from. As a result, the actual sermon that was preached may vary from what is posted.

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Characteristics of Biblical Evangelism

Acts 5:12-32  

Introduction        

Acts 5:12-32 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.  [13] None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.  [14] And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,  [15] so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.  [16] The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.     [17] But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy [18] they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.  [19] But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,  [20] “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”  [21] And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought.  [22] But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, [23] “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”  [24] Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.  [25] And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”  [26] Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.     [27] And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, [28] saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”  [29] But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.  [30] The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.  [31] God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.  [32] And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”   

From this passage, we see four marks, or characteristics of biblical evangelism.

 1. Purity (5:12-14) 

Luke says, “And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.  None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.  And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” 

If you were to jump into Acts at this point, these verses wouldn’t make much sense. After all, clearly there is some group here that seems to be afraid of the Christians – afraid to the point of not associating with them, but clearly still respecting them.  What’s caused this?  Remember just previous to this, the hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira has been exposed.  They wanted the other Christians to think they were super-spiritual and lied about how much they were contributing to the needs of the poor.   And in a perfectly just expression of his holiness, the Lord strikes them dead as soon as Peter confronted them with their sin.  This was the very beginning of the Church, and God wanted to be clear that he would not tolerate sin in his people.   

With such a dramatic display it is no wonder that Luke tells us that “great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things” (5:11).  And so, we get to our passage and the Christians are gathering all the time in Solomon’s Portico. 

Solomon’s Portico was a porch-like place along the inside of the outer wall of the temple complex in Jerusalem.  Jesus had taught there during his earthly life and it quickly became a favorite place for Christians to gather for worship, prayer, and preaching.  So, the Christians are gathered here and it is no surprise given what happened to Ananias and Sapphira that some are scared to death of them.  They respect, but will not join them.  

On the other hand, Luke is also quick to tell us that despite the reluctance of some, “more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.” 

Unfortunately, the idea of purity is not a popular one today.  Very often today, churches do not like the thought of discipling its members.  Some fear that they will be sued as has happened in the past.  Others have a false sense of what biblical love is all about – they cannot reconcile loving someone with confronting them on their sinfulness.  

Some of you know that as Southern Baptists, we hold the rare distinction of being the only denomination to have begun moving liberal and then come back to its conservative roots.  We had seminary presidents and professors, denominational leaders, and pastors denying the authority of God’s word, denying the resurrection of Jesus, living in open sin.  And the fight to come back nearly torn the denomination apart, and it all nearly destroyed our witness to the world.   

But the sad thing is, none of that would have happened if churches had done what they were supposed to do and seek the purity of God’s people.  If they had loving corrected and if need be disciplined its sinning members, the problem would not have been nearly as intense.  

The point of all of this is to say that it is not a coincidence that Luke ties together this incredible demonstration of the holiness of these Christians and their explosive growth.  We must learn that maintaining our purity is essential to the success of our efforts at sharing Christ.  If we are not a holy people – both individually and corporately – then we will be ineffective in our evangelism.  

We’re not advocating pulling out from the world, buying up all the canned foods we can, and holing up in our basement, waiting for the rapture and trying to avoid having barcodes stamps on your forehead.   No, we have to engage the world with the gospel – we cannot run away from it. 

Nevertheless, if that engagement is going to have any success, our lives will be marked by a profound sense of holiness.   This is closely linked with the second characteristic we see from this passage, and that is Power.  Biblical evangelism is characterized by divine power.   

2. Power (5:14-16) 

As I was preparing for this message, I read about a very famous painting from the Italian Renaissance artist, Tommaso Masaccio that depicts this very scene.  It shows Peter looking sort of detached and a pompous, with a papal sort of hat on.  And there are only a handful of in the streets.  And Peter is looking straight forward and not looking at this cripple who is down by his feet, as his shadow passes over him.  

No offense to Tommaso, but that’s about as far as you can get from what this passage tells us is going on!   Luke describes the scene totally different than that.  

You have these apostles hanging out all the time, perhaps even every day at the Temple in Jerusalem, and as they are preaching the gospel, proclaiming Christ, God is also empowering them to perform miraculous signs and wonders to authenticate their message.  And many of these signs involved healing people of various illnesses, and words begins to spread about this.  So then all kinds of people from all over Jerusalem and even beyond begin flocking to Solomon’s Portico hoping to get healed.   There are so many crowded around the apostles that many can’t get close to them.  So, they begin lining up along the side of the roads leading up to the temple, hoping that as night draws near and Peter leaves, or perhaps as he comes back in the morning, maybe just his shadow will fall across them and they will be healed.  

The result of all of this is what?  Verse 14 – And more than ever believers were added to the Lord.   As these miracles are happening, the apostles are proclaiming Christ.  So that these things were not just miracles, but signs as Luke calls them.  The physical healing pointed to the spiritual healing that could be theirs in Christ.  It revealed that the same God that could cleanse their physically could also cleanse them spiritually.   

All of these extraordinary healings and exorcisms caused the people to stand back in awe and in wonder at the majesty and power and sovereignty of God, the Holy Spirit, as He manifested Himself in the lives of these apostles.  Thus, their message – the gospel message of Christ – came to the people with power.   

I want to say that the same should be true of us today.  We share and preach the same message as these early Christians and we should do so with the same power.   

Does that mean that we should see the same kinds of miraculous signs?  Not necessarily.  Don’t get me wrong – God still does miracles.  God still heals people.  But the apostles were given a special authority to ask for these things as the church was first being birthed.  In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul says these things were a sign of the truthfulness of their message, of the authority and power of Christ.  So, don’t think that these jokers you see, acting like they have the same kind of authority in performing miracles on television today are the norm.  They’re not.   

But even if our evangelism isn’t accompanied with miracles doesn’t means it cannot come with the Spirit’s power.  Paul says the fruit of the Spirit is ‘love…’   Our message should come with a holiness that repels people and a love that attracts them.  We could go on with the rest of the fruit of the Spirit.  God may allow us to miracles.  But at the very least, our evangelism should display the basic, yet powerful evidences of God’s presence in our lives.

Having the Spirit’s power isn’t difficult to obtain either.  It simply means that  we must remain in communion with God through prayer and the reading of his word.  we must remain in fellowship with his people, by consistently attending church.  And we must remain pure by obeying God seeking his forgiveness when we sin.   Doing these simple things will enable us to be a vessel fit for God’s service, and will ensure that when we seek to share Christ, we can do so with the power of God’s own Spirit.   

3. Persecution (5:17-24) 

Despite the power and success of the evangelism of these early Christians, life was not easy.   Luke tells us that in response to what was happening, “the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 

The truth is that a pure and powerful church will always provoke a hostile reaction from a culture that is opposed to God.  Resistance and even persecution are to be expected for Christians and churches that seek to fulfill God’s will for their lives.   

Paul tells Timothy that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” (2 Tim 3:12).  Peter goes on to say, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pet 4:14).   

I know many Christians get upset and mad when we are made fun of in the media, or receive some slight from a political or social action group.  But based on the experience of God’s people throughout history, even from the very beginning, what do they expect?  If you truly seek to follow God, you will be at odds with the world.  

That being said, remember that what we see in Acts is an unstoppable mission.  Christ himself has been given authority over all things and so commissioned his people to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.  But the success of their mission does not lie in their own efforts, but in God himself who ensures its success.  [19] But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,  [20] “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.”  [21] And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. 

The apostles have been imprisoned by the Sadducees, but they didn’t stay in prison long.  Luke tells us that “during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ‘Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.’”   

Now, this text alone should put to rest any thought that God is not sovereign, or for that matter, doesn’t have an ironic sense of humor.  You see, it was the Sadducees who put them into prison.  And I’m sure from all of your reading about first-century Jewish religious groups, you will remember that the Sadducees did not believe in the supernatural – things like the resurrection. That’s why they’re so ‘sad-you-see.’   The point is, I think it is just awesome that God sends an angel to break them out when these guys don’t even believe in angels!  Call it the overly academic thoughts of a nerdy pastor, but I just think that is awesome.  

But, we should not expect that to be the norm.  We have to be careful not to get the wrong idea about sufferings and persecution for the sake of our faith.  I have shared before that in the last one hundred years, there has been more Christian martyrs than in the previous 1900 years.  Just stop and let that sink in for a moment.  

One of the things that says, is that God does not always alleviate the persecution.  Sometimes it goes on and ultimately results in the death of our Christian brothers and sisters, and maybe even someday us.  

Now, I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, and I work for a non-profit organization.  I am neither a doomsdayer, but let me be clear that things will get worse for Christians in this country.  The handwriting is already on the wall and it may or may not be in our lifetime, but there will come a point when it will be very difficult to be a Christian in this country.  And in that, we should not think that God is being cruel to us, nor should we expect to be rescued from such things.  After all, if other Christians around the world experience, why can’t we? 

And so, if it does happen, our response should be the same as Daniel’s friends who were about to be thrown in the fiery furnace for not worshipping the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar.  Do you remember what they said?  It’s in Daniel 3 that they say, our God is able to save us.  But he might not – either way, we will still serve him and not bow down to worship you.  If we are faithful in proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, then we should expect persecution.  And we should respond with perseverance.  This is the last thing we want to see this morning.   

4. Perseverance (5:25-32) 

The angel who freed the apostles told them that they were to continue to “speak all the words of this Life.”  I think my translation rightly has the word ‘Life’ capitalized because I believe the angel is referring to Jesus, who called himself, “the way, the truth, and the life.”   

Per God’s orders, the angel essential said, ‘Remember you calling.  Keep fulfilling your commission from the risen Lord – tell others about him.’  And that’s exactly what they do –  [25] And someone came and told the [Sadducees], “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”  [26] Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.  [27] And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, [28] saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”  [29] But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 

Many of you will know the name of George Whitefield.  Those of you that don’t should ‘google’ him this afternoon and get to know him.  Whitefield was ordained by the Church of England at 21 years old and whenever he was invited to speak at churches, people would flock to hear him and many would get saved.  This made some authorities in the Church of England nervous.  You see, Whitefield actually preached the Bible and true gospel.  They didn’t.  He was sort of black-listed and churches stopped inviting him to preach.  And at this time the law said, you couldn’t preach in public or in someone else’s parish without permission.  So, here was his dilemma – was he to obey man or God?  Was to he to let his own countrymen perish apart from Christ, because ungodly ministers refused to let him?  Or, was he going to obey the Lord’s clear command to proclaim Christ? 

Thankfully, he chose the latter and began preaching in fields, on hills, anywhere he could to proclaim the good news of Christ.  Eventually, he came to America and did the same thing.  You can even go to Whitefield’s rock in Massachusetts and see one of the places he preached from.  It was his faithfulness to preach the gospel that led to the greatest, biblical revival this country has ever seen, called the Great Awakening.  

Then, just last week, another man – Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, Peter Jensen – denied a fellow bishop (John Shelby Spong) access to any of the pulpits in the city of Sydney.  Why?  Because Spong is a heretic.  He has publicly denied “that Jesus was born of a virgin, that Joseph ever existed, that Jesus performed miracles, that He died for our sins, and that He was raised from the dead.  [Spong has also denied] the deity of Christ and the nature of God as a personal being. . . .  has suggested that the Apostle Paul was a repressed homosexual [and] recently . . . joined the chorus of those suggesting that the death of Christ was necessary for the salvation of sinners amounts to ‘divine child abuse.’” 

Despite Spong’s obvious lack of anything resembling the Christian faith, other Anglican churches were more than happy to welcome him to speak from their pulpits, and condemned Jensen as narrow-minded.  Both of these men – Whitefield and Jensen – took stands that were not popular and said, ‘we will obey God rather than men.’ 

Why?   What motivates people to such commitment?  The truth through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God saves sinners.   What does Peter say? “We must obey God rather than men. [Why?  Because,] The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” 

This message – that on the cross Jesus died in place of sinners, fulfilling God’s wrath against their sin, so that if we trust in Christ and not ourselves to make us right with God, he will forgive our sins and give us eternal life – That message is worth fighting for.  That message is worth enduring persecution for.  

True, biblical evangelism doesn’t give up.  That doesn’t mean that you don’t use wisdom or think how best to bring the gospel to bear in people lives – that’s essential.  But it does mean that even if the situation will be uncomfortable or perhaps you have even been accosted in the past, you do not stop proclaiming the gospel.  Most of us will never be put in the same kind of situation the apostles were put in – being brought before their people’s most powerful religious and political body.  But our response should always be the same as theirs – “We must obey God rather than men.”  

Conclusion