PERSECUTION
- A BLESSING OR A CURSE
Pastor
Bob Paquet
Acts 5:12-42
Adapted
from a sermon by John Hamby, "Attacked Again"
(www.sermoncentral.com)
INTRODUCTION
Acts 5:
13-16
THE
IMMEDIATE RESULTS OF PERSECUTION
1.The deaths of
Ananias and Sapphira increased the
evangelistic success
of the church
2. The apostles continued to minister in
miraculous ways and reap an evangelistic harvest
of souls.
3. The fear that resulted from the death
of Ananias and Sapphira caused the
unbelievers to
be unwilling to pass themselves off as believers.
4. The church did not lower it standards
in order to win the lost
5. The church’s growth did not slow
down.
John
McArthur states well the church's current situation,
“That
stands in sharp contrast to the masses of uncommitted, even unsaved,
people
that feel
comfortable in the church today.
The
failure of churches to preach holy
living, and to discipline those who
don’t live that way,allows sinners
and
hypocrites to remain in the church, convoluting its direction,
sapping
its
power, robbing it of purity and marring its testimony.”
(John
McArthur.
The McArthur New Testament Commentary: Acts 1-12 ( Moody Press:
Chicago,
1994).p. 162.)
TRUTH VS
DEAD TRADITION
Truth will
always result in confrontation and persecution by the "religious"
establishment
THE
INSTIGATOR STRIKES AGAIN
Satan -
First he attacks from without - then from within
When that
doesn't work its outside again
THE DANGER
OF THE TRUTH 5:17-28
A. THE TRUTH
IS SEEN AS A DANGER BY
THOSE WHO
STAND AGAINST IT.
The word translated
“indignation” is the
Greek word zeloo and can mean “zeal or
eagerness”
in a good sense or it can mean the worse kind of jealousy as
it is
here.
Why was the
establishment upset?
1. The
teaching of Christ's resurrection was in conflict with
the teachings of the Sadducees
2.
The apostles defied their authority
3.
The apostles denounced their spirituality - because they
had crucified the Christ
they had sinned and needed
repentance
4.
The apostles were a danger to their domination of the
people
B.
THE TRUTH CANNOT BE STOPPED (21-26)
An
opportunity was provided for God to display His power
THE
INDICTMENT (vv.27-28)
1. The
Apostles were accused of "filling" Jerusalem with
their "false" teaching
2.
The Apostles were accused of intending
to "bring this man’s blood upon us
(them)”
The
high priest had conveniently forgotten
that he and his associates had said to Pilate,
“his blood be on us and
on our
children” (Matt. 27:25).
A LACK OF
COMMUNICATION
The
high priest thought that the apostles wanted to have
revenge because of the death of Christ
The
Apostles wanted the Holy Spirit to convict them that
they might repent and be forgiven
II.
DECLARING OF THE TRUTH 5:29-32
A. THEY DECLARED THE TRUTH
BY OBEYING
GOD (29)
B. THEY DECLARED THE TRUTH
BY
CONFRONTING SIN (30)
C. THEY DECLARED THE TRUTH
BY EXALTING
CHRIST (31)
D. THEY DECLARED THE TRUTH
BY A
WILLINGNESS TO BE WITNESSES (32)
III. DEALING WITH
THE TRUTH 5:34-39
"Successful Christians and
churches
will make waves, and the world and Satan
will retaliate with persecution.
To convicting preaching
there are but
three possible
reactions, violent hostility, indifferent
indecision and
saving
acceptance." (John Hamby)
A.VIOLENT
HOSTILITY TO THE TRUTH v. 33
Conviction
either brings repentance or rejection.
Repentance
brings forgiveness and reconciliation with God
and man
Rejection
often brings anger.
If
the gospel we preach is not convicting enough to
ever make anyone angry then it is not sufficiently
convicting to bring
anyone
to salvation. (John Hamby)
B.
INDIFFERENT INDECISION ABOUT THE TRUTH vv. 34-39
Worldly
Advise or Godly Advise?
Gamaliel's advise was really
only good
worldly advise. It sounds like sound reasoning, but it is not.
1.
He classified Jesus as
just another rabble-rouser.
2.
He assumes that history always repeats itself
3. He had the mistaken
idea that if something was not of God it
always fails,
experience tells us that is not always
so
4.
He assumed that it is possible to be neutral about Jesus
and his message and it is not!
“He
who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me
scatters
abroad.” (Matthew 12:30)
He was right in that he
asserted that
“if something is of God you can not overthrow it” v. 39.
Tragically Gamaliel did not
make a
commitment to follow Christ. Instead, as far as we know he
died waiting
to see
whether the Christian movement was really of God.
THE CALL OF THE
GOSPEL IS TO RESPOND TO GOD'S
INVITATION TODAY
(2 Cor 6:2,
Heb. 3:7, 15, 4:7).
IV. DECISION
ABOUT THE TRUTH 5:40-42
V.
CONCLUSION
1. No man can stop us from
proclaiming
the gospel.
2. No one stop the spread of
the gospel, not even in countries where
Christians are being persecuted and killed.
3. Persecution
promotes preaching and the truth
4. We should never be
ashamed of
proclaiming the gospel. Because it is the power of God unto salvation
to
everyone who believes.
And what is the gospel?
It is that Christ Jesus died
on the cross, bearing our sin and
suffering its
penalty as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This
Jesus now
freely offers us total salvation.
When
people hear the gospel, either they will
repent and receive Christ, or they will reject him, refuse
him,
and be forever separated from Him.
The
moment you hear and understand the gospel,
you must make a decision, either to receive or to reject, the decision
is
yours.
NOW YOU HAVE
HEARD - NOW YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE
‘Happy New
Year! 1962.’
In his
commentary on the book of Acts, R.
Kent Hughes
tells
the
story of Aida Skripnikova, a Russian girl
who
was
born in 1941 in Leningrad. “In the fall of
1961
Aida
came to know Christ as a nineteen-year-old,
and
with
her new faith came the impulse to share it
with
others. Aida purchased some postcards with a
beautiful
picture
by Claude Lorain representing a
harbor
at
sunrise, (chosen perhaps as a symbol of the
spiritual
sunrise she had discovered) and then wrote
a
poem on
the reverse side. The poem expressed her
perception
of life and the need to find God. The poem
was
entitled: ‘Happy New Year! 1962.’”
Our years fly past
One
after
another, unnoticed.
Grief
and
sadness disappear,
They
are
carried away by life.
This
world, the earth, is so transient
Everything
in it comes to an end.
Life
is
important.
Don’t
be happy-go-lucky!
What
answer will you give your creator?
What
awaits you, my friend, beyond the grave?
Answer
this question while light remains.
Perhaps
tomorrow, before God,
You
will
appear to give an answer for everything.
Think
deeply about this,
For
you
are not on this earth forever.
Perhaps
tomorrow, you will break
Forever
your links with this world!
SEEK
GOD
WHILE HE IS TO BE FOUND.
“Aida
then
took her postcards and stood on the Nevski
Prospect
(which is the Leningrad equivalent of Fifth
Avenue
in
New York City) and handed out her cards to
passersby.
She was, of course, arrested. In April
1962,
she
was tried by a Communist court. She was
exiled
from Leningrad and lost her job as a lab
assistant.
She was arrested again in 1965 and was
sent
to a
labor camp for a year. In 1968 she was
arrested
again and was sent to a labor camp for three
more
years” (R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire,
[Wheaton,
IL: Crossway Books, 1996], 86-87).
What
do
you think inspired Aida Skripnikova? Perhaps
she
had
read the fifth chapter of the book of Acts
and
been
struck by what the angel told the apostles
after
he
delivered them from prison, “Go, stand in
the
temple
courts and tell the people the full
message
of
this new life.” Perhaps she took note of
how
the
apostles were arrested, tried, and flogged,
but on
their release they went right back to the
temple
courts and “never stopped teaching and
proclaiming
the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”
