May it please the Lord to bless
us together as we continue our meditation in the Acts of the
Apostles and chapter 5 and this evening we'll read from verse
17 to 25. Acts of the Apostles chapter
5 from verse 17 to 25. Then the high priest rose up
and all that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees,
and were filled with indignation. and laid their hands on the apostles
and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord, by
night, opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said,
Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of
this life. And when they heard that, they
entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. But
the high priest came and they that were with him and called
the council together and all the senate of the children of
Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought but when
the officers came and found them not in the prison they returned
and told saying the prison truly found we shut with all safety
and the keepers standing without before the doors But when we
had opened, we found no man within. Now, when the high priest and
the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these
things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then
came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom you put
in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. So as we continue our thoughts
in this Acts of the Apostles and remembering the last two
chapters have really followed on from the healing of that man
who was lame and it was because of that that the Apostles preached
the gospel and it was because of that they were afflicted and
imprisoned and so we come down to this chapter and at this time
as we've read together then the high priest arose. He arose because
of the preaching of Peter and John and as we read in so much
that they brought forth the sick into the streets and laid them
on beds and couches and at least the shadow of Peter passing by
might overshadow some of them. And so there came also a multitude
out of the cities round about the Jerusalem bringing sick folks
and them that were vexed with unclean spirits and they were
healed every one. Well we can imagine can we not
the ire of the high priest and those with him, witnessing this
very clear evidence of the power of God being displayed. And so
we read that they came and all that they were with him, which
is in the sect of the Sadducees, now we know of course the Sadducees
did not believe in the resurrection. So the preaching, particularly
of Peter and John on this occasion, was so to speak of the resurrection,
as we mentioned before, they always came to that vital and
important aspect that Christ rose from the dead. The Sadducees
hated it. So we see the situation here,
that the witches had set the Sadducees and were filled in
the nation. Yes, they were so annoyed that
that which was occurring and therefore they laid their hands
on the apostles and put them in the common prison. Well, perhaps
we think, well, that was unusual. Well, I'm sure it was, perhaps,
in one sense, but strictly speaking today, throughout the world there
are many who are faithful in preaching the gospel and many
are in prison. We here in our country have such
a comfortable existence, really, And we have no fear of being
arrested. And yet, do we thank God for
this great liberty? And do we make the most of it?
Do we make the most of it now? These apostles, they were put
in prison. But there was a wonderful deliverance.
And isn't it wonderful to see how God appears? He does the
impossible. And God can still do the impossible
today. Blessed be His great and holy
name. And so we have this occurrence
on this occasion. What occurred? The angel of the
Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth
and said, go stand and speak in the temple to the people all
the words of this life. So there was a deliverance, a
wonderful deliverance from this condition of being in prison.
But they weren't just to go out and then just to escape to their
homes and hide, as it were, from the enemy. No, the Lord speaks
and tells us today that we are his witnesses. We are not to
go and hide our light. Now these men, they've been taken
out of prison. They've been taken out of prison
because they've been put in prison because they've been preaching
the gospel. And here, the angel of the Lord comes and tells them
What to do? They had to go into the temple
and not to go in some little out of the way place where perhaps
they might think well we can carry on here and we won't be
seen. No, they were to go into the
temple, the place where they would obviously be seen and the
obvious outcome was they were likely to be arrested again and
put in prison. But not only will let it go and
stand in the temple. They were to do something else.
They were to be given all the words of this life. They were
to preach the gospel. How important that was. And how
wonderful it is, even in this day and age, There are those
who are faithful even unto death and declare and preach the everlasting
gospel. Now we read in the sixth of John
these words. When Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this
offend you? What, and if ye shall see the
Son of Man, ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit
of the quickeneth. The flesh provideth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life. And therefore the apostles were
commanded to speak these words of life. The words of life which
the Lord Jesus spoke. And those words which the Lord
Jesus spoke were so, so important. And what did he tell them? He
told them they were to feed upon himself. There was to be a spiritual
feeding. And so it is today. The Church
of God are to feed upon Christ. He said, except you drink the
blood and eat the flesh of the Son of Man, there is no life
in you. It's a very solemn and straight statement. And it's
not anything that is peripheral. It's something which is very
central. And the Lord said, except It is so important for all of
us that we are partakers of this great blessing of feeding upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, just a few verses further
on we read, Simon Peter answered unto him and said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Well, these apostles were told
to go and stand in the temple and to proclaim the words of
life. And that still today is the commission
that God gives to his servants to go and as it were stand in
the temple and to proclaim the words of life So there might
be much blessing and much favour. And when they heard that, they
entered in the temple early in the morning. Again, it's a good
thought, isn't it? They didn't dilly-dally. They
didn't say, well, I've got to go home and have a little rest
in bed first, to get a bit of strength up. No. went early in
the morning. It's good, isn't it, when we
recognise that the word of the Lord demands haste. We are not to chilly-shally.
The Lord speaks. We are to hear that word and
we are to obey that word. And so we're thankful to read
occasions like this. And when they heard that, they
entered into the temple early in the morning and taught Yes,
they taught the words of life, the truth concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ, His death, His bloodshed and His resurrection. The words of life. They were
words of life then and they are words of life today. And may
they indeed be words of life to our soul. And so we re-read
what occurred then. when they heard that they entered
into the temple early in the morning and taught but the high
priest came and they that were with him and called the council
together and all the senate of the children of Israel and sent
to the prison to have them brought now just get a picture here the
senate was about 70 people and the council was 70 people and
the Senate was something like 30 odd. So there would have been
over 100 people that the high priest had called together, eminent
people. And what did he call them for?
To bring before them the apostles. And now, well, we see what happened. When the officers came and found
them not in the prison, they returned and told saying, the
prison truly we found that shut with all safety, and the keepers
standing without before the doors, but when we opened them we found
no man within. Now when the high priest and
the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these
things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then came one and told them,
saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing
in the temple and teaching the people. What a shock it must
have been for this eminent gathering together, come to here and to
see these men accused and they were not even captive. There
they were doing the will of God, proclaiming the truth in the
temple. Well, we'll leave it here tonight
and God willing next Friday we'll follow on with the effects and
what occurred to the glory of God. What a wonderful thing it
is today to recognise that the Lord still appears and He still
does great things for His honour and for His glory. Amen.