Those who've been here for a while, you know they've been looking at this book of Acts, portion by portion. The Lord Jesus Christ having risen from the dead, as he was going back to heaven, he promised his people, his apostles, that he will send to them the Holy Spirit. And when they will have received the Holy Spirit, they will be in a position to then spread this word, to so convince the people and proclaim it, and that his people will be guided. will be set in bed and indeed enlightened. And so the book of Acts is showing us what therefore the Lord Jesus Christ continued to do, yes in heaven, but he continues to work through his Holy Spirit in the life of his apostles. We are seeing how his And when we were reaching near the end of Chapter 4, we learned how God's power was so felt that indeed lives were truly changed. Though from Chapter 5 we were seeing, God would have us see that His Church, the growth of His Church, if you like, through Christianity, have various things that mark it. And one of those things is purity, or holiness. But if you maintain the word P, then I'll show you how that works out with you in chapter five. The first thing we saw is purity. Ananias and Sapphira were not pure. They were in the church, and they wanted to build a name for themselves. That was all falsehood. They were not pure. So purity marks the Church of God. We saw that previously. And then, from verse 12, we did see something else. We saw that the Church of God is marked by power. Well, the Church of God is powerful. In fact, so powerful that it brings God's people together in a powerful way. When the gospel is preached, it powerfully brings people together. And when that preaching is done, powerfully bringing people together, those who have no business in the church did not draw near. And I brought that point out. If you are hanging around God's people, we thank God you are here. But I brought it up in the application piece, being here for a purpose. Seek to be one of God's people. And not just be with them, but we are not a part of them. So those who had no business dared, you know, verse 13 told us, none of the rest dared join them. And yet, multitudes and multitudes were added to the Lord. So the second thing is power. The third thing that we are seeing today is, we may not like it very much, but it matters. It's a unique mark of the Church of God as it grows, and that is the word persecution. Persecution. It has what we are seeing in this passage. Christianity, our true Church of God, will grow despite persecution. I want us to see it very briefly in these few verses. And we see, basically, just four simple points. The first point we are seeing is basically this. Prison. Okay, they are not called peas, but the first one is prison. Prisoned not to teach. It's what we are saying here very briefly, verses 17 and 18. This is what we read. But they had grace. Rosa, and all who were with him, that is, the part of the Sadducees, and are filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them Just at that time, when the Word of God was powerfully moving forward, preaching, and people being saved, then the leaders became jealous. They didn't want that thing to spread at all. Because basically, as Pierre told you, the more than ever before, Antiochians were Added to the Lord. And that is added to the group of the apostles. Added to the church. And wow, that dragged these religious leaders the wrong way. So they became jitters. While the apostles were driving the work forward, these religious leaders were seeking to get them off the rail. And so we find the high priest, a man who previously actually is known, and you'll be seeing a few cross-references there, I put them there so that you are able to reach there if you're going ahead. But in chapter, John chapter 11, verse 15, we actually read about this This is the argument going on among them. That's what he hated. I'll just take it from there. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him. And the Romans, we can't take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all. Listen to us. No, do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. So here is a man in the high priesthood. Certainly he was bent in hatred for Jesus. And for him, let's get rid of Jesus. At least he's one man. If we get rid of him, the rest of the people will be saved. After all, the way he's going, everybody's going to him. And so the Bible is consistent. Verse 14, or back in Acts, Chapter 5, verse 15, we get told, And all that believe us were added to the Lord. The very thing. they were trying to avoid. It's happening right here before our very eyes. Now, and in this case, we are looking at the way back in Acts chapter five, now we see this high priest and a group of other leaders who were with him. Here you are to ask the party of the Sadducees. The Sadducees are known They are what we would call the liberals. They were influential in the community, in the society, but they were liberal. They don't claim they're religious, but all their religious was for what they could get out of it. For their life is here and now. But they had, therefore, a special hatred for Christianity. In fact, they did not believe in the future life. They did not believe in resurrection. They did not believe in angels. In a moment, we will see how that just throws them back. But they did believe in these things. For them, life is here and now, less petty, less difficult. That was them. So that the message Jesus, this man, should go, no, no, no, no, let's lock these people in prison. That way they'll be ashamed so that they could just diminish, they could move away from this teaching and preaching. We will have taught them a lesson. that great preacher of the days of old called Matthew Henry, the capture saint, and says, all good works of the Lord will meet with opposition. Here are the Apostles engaged with good work, preaching God's good work, bringing salvation to sinners. But these people are opposing it. So all good works of the Lord will meet with opposition. So basically, they are locked in prison. And by the way, they are locked in common prison. Common prison in the sense that they are locked up with terrible people who have been captured and locked in. Thieves and robbers and murderers and drunkards. That is where they were locked. so that they will be assured. That's number one. Number two, part number two, is when we see release. While they were prisoned not to teach, in the second place we see release to go on teaching, and teaching the words of life. Because it's 1921, release back during the night. Angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, go and submit the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Okay, so during the night, God sends his angel Please remember, the Sadducees did not believe in angels. But God then wants to shape them. And God sends his angel. And the angel then goes and opens the prison doors. Well, it wasn't just one door. It could basically be given the picture that there was main door, the second door, and then we need a door. But doors, these doors get open, these people get release, the summons of the Lord. Ah, friends, what are we seeing there? What are we learning there? No prison is too dark or too strong that God can't visit and bring His own light. By the way, let that encourage you. I know you need to transport yourself from the prison building stones, but you know in our very lives, we could be going through things which basically are prisons enslaving us. And what the angel of the Lord is doing, or what God is doing to this angel, is a great encouragement. Here was a prison with gates, with doors. In fact, when he was told later that after these doors were locked, there were then the guards manning them. But friends, take it again, no prison. No prison is too strong that God can't visit and bring someone out. Whatever your prison may be, there is hope in God. Well, so why are they released? Verse 20 tells us, go and think if the devil Speak to the people all the words of this life. That is why you are released. Released to serve. They are the servants of God. So go and serve the Lord. And the way it is put, go, stand, speak. And when you listen to those verbs put there, honestly, it's indicating bold conviction. Go, not day-dally, not somehow just speak when it is convenient, let's speak. No, here are a people thoroughly convinced, and they'll be released, and we are told, when they have this, when they have this commandment of God, then nothing will stop them. Therefore, we know they went with wordless. So convinced. to declare. But what were they to declare? What was the content? That verse tells us. Speak all the words of this life. Speak all the words of this life. Which life are you talking about? Well, the life that comes by believing In the Lord Jesus we die and rose again. That's the purpose for which he died. So declare these words of life. That's why I gave you John chapter 10 verse 10. Because there it tells us in a nutshell why Jesus came. Verse 10, John 10, 10. The King comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. The rewards of Jesus are this. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Those who have Jesus, those who believe in Jesus, then they have life. But they have it abundantly. It's abundant life. Obviously, therefore, those who do not have Jesus do not have the life that he's talking about here. And so, my servants, don't waste any time. This is the very reason I've removed you from prison. People must hear. Words of this life is an urgent matter. And so they went. And so they taught, because back to Acts, Acts chapter 5, verse 25, they entered the temple, they prayed, and began to teach. They began to teach. They taught the people. So the prison, They were released to go on teaching the words of love. In the third place, we see what simply we say, perplexity of the highest order. They were completely perplexed. Perplexity and fear. one B all the way down to verse 28. You see, the previous day, the high priest and the Sadducees had commanded, and these people were rounded up, they were locked in. Previously, it was only Peter and Joel. Now, it's only the apostles. They're locked, but then the angel of the Lord gets them out. Before the high priest and the high-powered council got to know, they can't get High Priest and all these other leaders, they can't get together and order the prisoners to be brought. But those who were sent to the prison came back, and their story is this. In fact, we found that they're securely locked The prison was secure, locked, with the guards standing at the door. You know, because of the orders that brought these people, the guards wanted to be as diligent as they could. So they are there standing at the door, guarding. If anyone would leave through the door, well, they are nearly left. Authorities were greatly perplexed. Greatly, that's verse 24. Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. And we may just read it and not collect very well, but actually, when the prisoner escapes, then the one who was in charge would pay with his life. And other passages reveal that that is the case. That's why there was this great complexity and worry filling them. Because if the prisoners are born, then they know their life is at stake. But there, it was 25. It's like someone runs in. Remember, the first person has gone in to the people who were sent, come in to say, I'm sorry, but I don't have any good news. The prisoners we had gone for are missing. But the prison door is still securely locked. The guards are still at the door. Had we let him go in there one day, maybe they'd find him. What's happening? What's happening? But you know, definitely their life is like that. We're in trouble. We are in trouble. Then we must rectify it. And someone came and told them, look, the man whom you put in prison, not that they're just a deer into the forest. No. These men you are putting in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Wow. What do you say to that? They've not run away for their lives. But they are there in the temple teaching the people. Now, that meal certainly was good, but a meal that must be handled very carefully. Hot potato, they had to handle that meal ever so carefully. So we can only imagine the haste with which they ran to the temple to apprehend them. Yet the fear they had because it was twenty, six houses. Then the captain with the officers went and brought them back, not waiting for us, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. So while the captain and the officers may have come with their clubs and drums and whatever else they carried, because they feared that the people would turn against them. How they convinced the people to just be patient because people were listening to them. We are not told how they persuaded the people. Obviously, the apostles did not refuse. We are not told that there was a scaffold No, as occasionally we see when some of these prominent people want to be, the police want to round them up. Occasionally we see that. No, we are not told that at all. They cut in on the temple. And the people who went, the other officers, Well, they are brought before the council, and it was a large council, a powerful council. All they said, we are told in verse 20, 21, near the end of verse 21, the people who are there, the high priest, of course, remember the Sadducees are there, and all they said, the people of Israel, all the representatives of the people of Israel. So as they are gathered, verse 27, Then the interrogation begins. This is what they say. When they had brought them before the council, the high priest questioned them. Pastor Jade, we strictly charge you not to teach in this name. That's a very exciting thing to read. But this is what they the high priest and his powerful council, we told him, don't point people to this man. Don't hold out his promises to the people. This man who came, that people may hear about him and believe in him, may have life eternal or life abundantly. And the high priest is saying, no, no, no, don't do that. We told you not to do that. Friends, I hope you are seeing how this is playing out. And there's this one authority against another. In a moment, we will see who has the last word. But according to these people, we told you, keep your mouth shut. Don't talk about this man. Don't hold his promises. I to the people feels otherwise people will believe and it is true people were believing him and in him and going to him. Beautifully, I refine back again to verse 14, Acts chapter 5 verse 14. And more than ever before, more than ever, believers were added where? It is to the Lord, to the Lord. to this one whom they are being told, don't speak in his name anymore. Well, their accusation has not gone. Their charge was not just, don't speak in his name, no. And they go on. Yet, yet, here you have claimed Jerusalem with your teaching. So certainly this tells us, that this summons of the Lord, these apostles didn't obey and didn't keep their mouth shut, and that they have been speaking and speaking more and more because the authorities are saying, look, you guys, this is too much. You have linked Jerusalem with your teaching. And the last bit of it, By doing this, by filling the epistle, you are teaching about this man, telling people to believe in him, but again they're believing him. You know what you're doing, you people? You intend to bring this man's blood upon us. You're putting us in trouble. Do you see the danger you're putting us in? But we say enough to think about. council are racing to kind of wash their hands, please turn back. We saw it, you know, many months back. But turn back to Matthew chapter 27. Turn back there, just briefly, Matthew chapter 27. And this is what we read. Matthew chapter 27 verse 25. And this is what we read. This is a portion that talks about Pilate delivers Jesus to be crucified. And we read this. So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a ride was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, I am innocent of this man's blood. See to it yourself. And see what these people responded, how they responded. The high priest and all the others, the people of Israel. And all the people answered, he bled thee on us and on our children. Then he released and insurgent, Jesus delivered him to be crucified. Here are a people who months earlier had clearly said, come on, let's get rid of this one. This one person, if he goes, at least we can rest. Just get rid of him. And now, Christ has been God, Christ was again, and he is being proclaimed. And these people, instead of saying, we were wrong, we were wrong, they are still digging in. And now they're saying, listen, by proclaiming life in this man's name, promising people, you intend to bring this blood upon us. They brought it upon themselves. They brought it upon themselves. No. Even now, they should say, yeah, bring it on. We are guilty of using light. We said it some months back. We still start by light. Here, they are saying, listen, by the way you are behaving, we are in danger. Well, my friends, as we can look at The apostles were glorious here, successfully, powerfully preaching the gospel, people flocking to the Lord. And then they are locked in so that they don't speak again. And then when they're locked in, God then brings them out and says, listen, you go back there and preach this world to life. The religious people are upset. In fact, when they see the final one, they are so upset, they wanted just to murder, kill his apostles. But they're here. They're here. So who passed the last word in this game play? Now, look with me in verse 29 to verse 33. And we see, again, it is, The Lord asked the last word. Because it is God himself who releases his servants and says, go speak these words. And in fact, Peter says, listen, you have spoken, now listen to us. We have an answer for you. Verse 29. Peter and the apostles answered. rather than men. Now that is very bold. Very bold indeed. And so, having made that opening statement, if you like, what does he do? Then now he goes to explain. And every statement he makes is like a dagger that goes into his people and he turns it in and turns it in to their conscience. Why do I say that? Well you see, Peter, speaking on behalf of the other apostles, says, the God of our fathers raised Jesus. That's a powerful word that God gave. The God of our fathers raised Jesus. To raise a person from the dead takes power. No one can do that. For who is this being raised? With a toy in that box. The God of our fathers raised Jesus. Who you killed. This one who was resurrected is the person you have put to death. Well, of course, when he says the God of our fathers, he's saying the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. The God who the high priests and the Sadducees and the saint of Israel, it's the God they claim in the Sadducees, who only will stick to the earlier books of the Bible. All together. Yes, the God with them, but this is the God who raised the man you people put to death. You put him to death by handling the tree. And that is another dagger inside, a sharp sword inside. They close, they handle the tree and say, You are cast. You look at Galatians, Galatians chapter 12 or 13, just listen to what the Old Testament portrays of someone who is hanged on a tree. Galatians 13, Christ redeemed us from the cast of the law. by becoming a curse for us. Or it is a little. Listen to this phrase. Curse is everyone who is hung on a tree. Obviously, the leaders of Israel gave the Lord Jesus the worst punishment they could ever imagine and say, they're free to go. But the beautiful thing is that this one who is cast to God and therefore the hand of the tree is actually someone who God raises up and that there are hidden blessings that follow his being raised up. Because we see that having been raised up And that proves that the leaders of Israel were totally wrong. They were mistaken. Then what do we find, my friends? Blessings untold. Because God has exalted him. That is, God has raised him, lifted him. After being resurrected, God lifted him. God placed him in his right hand, hand of power. And God has, therefore, made him a leader. You see, it's the leaders of Israel being told to their face, the one they rejected is actually now the leader. He's the leader. He's the one who will provide salvation. saying, who is he going to lead? Who is it? It is those whom he gives repentance and forgiveness of sin. Those last few verses or few words at the end of verse 31 are loaded, they're basically a sign by themselves, to give repentance to So he's an amazing leader. Not one who will squeeze life out of the people he's leading, no. But one who will provide what the people needs. He gives them repentance and forgiveness. You know, if you were to repent, my friend, it's not you working yourself up. You must come to realize Repentance, you can only do it if God gives you to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how helpless sinners are, actually. People leave us all the day, but then they can repent. It's as though you just put your hand in the pocket, bring out the key, open your door, It's what people often say, I'll be saved when I finish school. I'll be saved when I settle in marriage. I'll be saved when things go well for me. And so you have your plan of where to go. This repentance is a gift given by this one who God has selected to be leader and savior. Every sinner must come to realize thoroughly helpless, hopeless in yourself. But there is hope in the one who got raised up, in the one who got exalted, in the one who got us to be a leader and a savior. This one is pleased to give people repentance and forgiveness. Well, friends, we must honestly round this up. But we are seeing also that the preacher tells on behalf of the other apostles, Peter is saying, listen, you cancel. With all Jesus next to you, you cancel. We are witnesses to this truth. That's what he says at the end. We are witnesses to this truth. What's that truth? These things are true. In fact, for him to send me a witness, he's basically saying, we're ready to die for these things. You guys were fearing when you found out that we were not in prison, fearing for your lives. And somehow you were happy that, oh, so we were in the temple and you brought us here. But we tell you, we are ready to die for these things. And then at the end he says, the Holy Spirit is also with us. The Holy Spirit had come. And when the Holy Spirit came, you may remember in chapter 2 verse 4 I believe, that then gave them amazing power, amazing confidence as chapter 2 verse 4. And they were filled. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. It is when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, Then they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And it was some gibberish things that no one could do. When they talk of tongues, later on, moving down there, we are told the tongues they were speaking is, they were telling in other people's tongues, mighty works of God and of us in the land. So the Holy Spirit is a witness, because he came upon them and therefore enabled them to stand before the authorities. It is you, Peter, this guy is concluding, who has brought this man's blood upon yourselves. You put him to death. Yes. Friends, I wish we had few preachings, plain preachings of God worth today, like it was here, where Peter is so clean, clear, bold, urgent. But you see, these things don't just go easily like that. You stand and you're willing to be counted for the Lord, you will suffer for it. As we are told, Paul writing to Timothy says, those who seek to live godly lives in this, you know, in this life, they will be persecuted. And he and Peter and the apostles seek to do just that. They're persecuted. And now we know that because also verse 33. Just look at how it ends, verse 33. How did the authorities react when they heard this? They were enraged and wanted to kill them. It's like, we are valuable. Let's not hear one more sentence from these people. They were ready to kill. Now, we have to be patient and extremely god-willing to find out what happened. These people were just supposed to kill The apostles, if they succeeded, would that be the end of Christianity? Well, no, no, resounding no. With the death of Pastor Emmanuel, the man the rest of us saw as the leading light in Rwanda, Kigali. Is that the end of reformed faith in Rwanda? No. We know it is low, because even in the barriers, as we were told later, many came to observe the things that have been here. How the Lord now on this strange visitation, and we must continue to pray that with the death of this brother having exited, but starting a fire, a fire that will not be quenched. So, and wait and hear. Friends, I want to round it up and give you just three things to carry home with you. Think of that wedding at the end, little tiny baskets are given to each one who came to the wedding and inside you find a portion of a cake So when you reach home, you can eat, as you remember, or give your children who need to come. So what will you learn from this passage talking about persecution? Three things. One, persecution, rather than being a weapon to destroy the church of God, we must see it actually as a tool in God's sovereign hand to cause the growth of the church. It's not some ugly weapon that is used to destroy Christianity. Now, of course, haters of Christianity will think they're destroying Christianity, but when they do that, God actually turns it around and uses persecution as a tool. A tool in the soaring hand of God. A tool that he uses to cause his church to grow. Because that's what we sow. Mighty preachings give way to the Lord's prison. And then the angel comes and releases them and they go back and preach more and more so boldly. So, now in our day, we don't face, at least in our own context here, we don't face persecution like these people did. We have our own forms of persecution. Those who want to degrade us, from the word of God being listened to and being received clearly. There are necessary noise that we so much hear around us. That's a form of persecution. And we can then apply this in many other ways. But whatever is done without jealousy and all other manner of things, when God's word is moving forward, moving on. Please, as God's people here, we are truly child gods, particularly as members of this church, let's see those obstacles as God's sovereign tool, God's sovereign hand, to cause this church to grow. Do you see it that way? You better begin to see it that way. In the second place, we see the great importance of teaching the Word of God. The great importance of teaching and of course preaching the Word of God. Listen friends, it is the way repentance and forgiveness will be borne and received. This keeps coming. We can't avoid it. The apostles were constantly preaching and teaching, preaching and teaching. That must be. As we were told this morning, my brother, fellow elder, you know, there are churches where even when you are praying, even when you are to cast demons, people think you are going to pray. Our business is not casting out demons. It is teaching people and teaching us what? All the worries of life. Who Jesus is, why he came. His death. His resurrection. And the consequences of that. And so friends, we have no authority. We have no authority. I miss Sam. I hope you've been coming here for a while and you say, OK, he's judged. Let me settle it. They're not just entertainers. You come here, it's all dry. You wake up, you just sit, and then sit, and then hear our one hour of preaching. We want you to. We want you to. If you are taught, if you are preached to, then you will be able. And we must labor in pressing on that. Finally, if you'll be saved, if you'll be saved, you must take the word of Christ. You must take the word of Christ. You see, he cannot redeem and heal you if he does not rule you. That's what now I mean. mainly want blessings they can get from Christ. Yeah, I want my sins to be forgiven. And I just want my problems to go away. I want this blessing and I want the other. But are you willing, are you ready to obey this one voice now, leader? Unless you are willing to be ruled by Christ. How do you know them? It's only if you turn, closely listen to what is taught and bring that into your life and say, what does this mean? Am I living the way the Master would have me live? O Lord our God, thank you for your word. Bind it, hide it, please, for us, in our hearts, so that it doesn't just fly away, it doesn't enter. Or, through their ears, say to them, O Lord, bind it in. Cause us to then think, reflect, Help us then to be those who, when taught, we can weigh these things so that we may receive genuine repentance and true forgiveness. Hear our prayer. Hear our prayer. Help those of us who stand to preach and teach your word to be faithful in doing so. Tell every true believer here to be willing to stand for Christ and be counted for Christ, even if it costs us. Lord, we must. Amen.