Good morning. This morning I'm going to be looking at Acts chapter 5. Our focus will be verses 29-32 but for the purpose of context I would like to start at verse 17. Acts chapter 5 will start at verse 17 and read to verse 32 but again our point of emphasis will be verses 29-32 so Acts chapter 5 starting at verse 17. This is God's holy word. For the high priest rose up along with all his associates that is the sect of assages and they were filled with jealousy. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail but during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison and taken them out he said, go stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life. Upon hearing this they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priests and his associates came they called the council together even all the senate of the sons of Israel and sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought but the officers who came did not find them in the prison and they returned and reported back saying we found the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors but when we had opened up we found no one inside. Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priest heard these words they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this but someone came and reported to them the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence for they were afraid of the people that they might be stoned. When they had brought them they stood before they stood them before the council. The high priest questioned them saying we gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name and yet you are filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us but Peter and the apostles answered we must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you have put to death by hanging him on across. He is the one who God exalted to his right hand as a prince and a savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins and we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. Amen may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of his Holy Word. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear gracious Father we thank you Lord for the fact that truly you are holy and holy is your name. Father we thank you that being a holy God that you look at unholy people such as ourselves and make us your children and Father we find honor and glory in that truly Lord that while when we were lost you found us and Father we pray now that as we hear your word that you'll remind us of these things again truly that we are your children and being your children we show forth the fruit that you've commanded us to do Lord and Father we pray now that you'll be with us as we hear this message we pray that you will be with me in what I say and all back things I ought not to say and ultimately Lord we pray that you will do these things for your glory and Christ name we pray amen amen over the past couple gatherings we've taken a detour from our overall study on the life of David and Lord will and will return back to this study the next time we get together however what I want to do this morning is discuss a very important topic when it comes to us as believers namely the topic of obedience and in particular be an obedient and proclaiming the message of the gospel because when we speak about the mission of the body of Christ beloved this is our number one directive you see as we look at what's taking place in Acts chapter five we discovered that this is a crucial time in the history of the post ascension church Jesus hadn't too long returned back to heaven after finishing his work here on earth and he left a continuing of his ministry into the hands of his apostles who had hand picked and had personally discipled for three years however while the disciples perform many miracles and while many people came to faith through their preaching just as in the case of Jesus in his ministry they were not void of their share of opposition and we see this for example starting in verse 17 when we're told that the high priest and the Sadducees became jealous of the ministry of the apostles and thus put them in the jail because of such however in verses 19 through 20 were told that during the same night of their imprisonment an angel the Lord appeared to the apostles released them from their imprisonment and gave them the directive to go back and continue doing what they were before they were arrested and that was to preach the message of the gospel in particular within the temple so eventually after seeing the apostles have been freed from their imprisonment and thus was continuing their preaching of Christ we're told in verse 21 that the high priest called the council and a senate of the sons of Israel together to question the apostles and regards to them breaking the orders they were given which were that they were not to preach or teach in the name of Jesus and these were orders that were initially given to them and Acts chapter 3 verse 18 however in response to this council and senate the Peter and the rest of the apostles stood up and in verse 29 we see them make the statement for which this passage is known for we must obey God rather than men now and given this brief explanation of the events surrounding this text this is the question I want to pose this morning this is the question namely why does Peter and the rest of the apostles feel this strong conviction to obey God's command in proclaiming the message of the gospel and essence why are the apostles so passionate to be obedient and declaring a message that would cause them to be imprisoned caused them to be ridiculed caused them to be persecuted and eventually caused them to lose their lives in absolutely horrific ways well in looking at our text I believe we're given at least three answers to these questions three answers and they are as follows they feel the the conviction to preach the gospel because number one God commands them to preach it God commands them to preach it number two because the message of the gospel tells us that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ that the message of the gospel tells us that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ and third and finally because the message of the gospel provides assurance of our salvation through the work of the Holy Spirit the message of the gospel provides assurance of our salvation through the work of the Holy Spirit so now with these points stated let's discuss each of them one at a time starting first with the apostles were obedient to God and proclaiming the gospel because God commanded them to preach it once again verse 29 reads as follows but Peter and the apostles answered we must obey God rather than men now to start our discussion at this point I want to look at two additional scriptures that harmonize with the context of what the apostles are saying here in verse 29 the first scripture I want us to look at is found in Mark chapter 16 verse 15 so if you have your Bible just stick a pin or a program in where we are now in Acts 5 and turn over to Mark chapter 16 and I just want to read verse 15 Mark chapter 16 verse 15 and here we'll find the words of Jesus before you send it to heaven and these are some of the words he says to his disciples again that's Mark chapter 16 verse 15 Jesus says to his disciples go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation and again that's Mark chapter 16 verse 15 now I want us to look at 2nd Timothy chapter 4 2nd Timothy chapter 4 will read verses 1 in 2 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 once again that 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 and it's here where the apostle Paul charges his protege Timothy with these words he says I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom preach the word be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and in instruction now beloved in examining these two verses that we just read along with verse 29 of our text one thing stands out among all three of them one major thing stands out among all three of them and that is the directive to preach the gospel in all three of these cases is not an option the directive to preach the gospel is not an option you see beloved when it comes to the words of Jesus and when it comes to the words of Paul there were no caveats attached to what they said and short Jesus didn't tell his disciples and Mark chapter 16 15 go into all the world and preach the gospel but only when it's favorable equally Paul didn't tell Timothy and 2nd Timothy 4 preach the word but only when your congregations in the mood to hear it no these verses are imperatives their commands go into all the world and preach the gospel preach the word it doesn't matter if the time is or isn't favorable it doesn't matter if the people in the congregation want to hear it or not do it anyway because the Lord Jesus Christ the one who has authority over heaven and earth and its head of the church says to do it and beloved this is the conviction that is driving the apostles to continue declaring Christ despite the obstacles that they will face in doing so again beloved because the Lord Jesus is King they must obey God rather than men and beloved if there ever was a point that needed to resonate throughout our churches today and particularly towards those in the pulpit who are entrusted in handling God's word and feeding the people of God is the point that God must be obeyed rather than men beloved how many of our churches today are framed into giving the people what they want instead of following the commands which God has laid out in other words because the preacher may have a desire for bigger congregation or may have a passion to create more church programs or they may fear losing people in their churches especially those who are large givers and keep their personal lifestyles going how many of them feel the pressure to change the directive and start giving to people what they want to hear instead of what God wants for them to hear and thus beloved by doing this it has come as no surprise how so many of our churches have wandered away from giving people the only thing that God has ordained to save them from their sins and to grow them in the way that he's prescribed you know I remember when I was serving at a previous church I was in a meeting with some youth leaders and we were having a discussion about how to improve the youth department and I'll never forget that in the midst of our conversation someone raised the point that one of the ways we can improve things in the department is if I started preaching in a more irrelevant way that is if I started making my message is less gospel focus and more child friendly so after some time I had a chance to speak to this particular person privately and I ultimately said these words to them I said until or unless you can prove to me that you are the Lord Jesus until or unless you can show me the nail prints in your hands show me the scars on your back show me the tomb that you rose from in Jerusalem you don't have the authority to tell me what the preach and short I am under the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ and I don't bay him rather than men you see if I love it I'm not in the business of preaching child friendly messages I'm in the business of preaching Christ honoring Christ glorifying messages because now being a father myself I see every day the need for my children to be saved beloved if you're not aware of this in my home lives a two-year-old a two-year-old who is constantly displaying his sinful selfish nature for example when at dinner after he eats his own dessert he'll go over to his mother and try eat up all her dessert and then get upset with she doesn't give him the right to do so but in addition to this two-year-old have another child that's presently unborn but does this little fact stop and stop her from displaying her sin no because beloved I've witnessed on many occasions where she's gotten my exhausted wife up to eat food at some crazy hour or may interrupt her out of her sleep in order to make an early bathroom run in essence beloved I have witnessed the sinful natures of that come from my very own children so what this tells me is that they don't primarily need to hear stories about the courage of Daniel and the lions then they don't primarily need to hear stories about how Joseph overcame the hatred of his brothers to become a success in life they don't primarily need to hear stories about how Jonah survived being swallowed by a big fish no beloved the primary story that they need to hear is the one about how Jesus came in order to save them from the selfish attitudes that they consistently displayed in short even at their respective ages in life my children need to hear the gospel they need to hear the message of salvation in Acts chapter 2 verses 38 in the first part of 39 I won't have your turn there but I'll just reference it in Acts chapter 2 verses 38 in the first part of 39 when Peter was asked the question on the day of Pentecost what must we do to be saved he gave this response he said repent each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and then it makes this statement for the promise is for you and your children now beloved notice the words of Peter even children are called to repent and come to salvation in Christ so beloved we don't do our children nor anyone else for that matter any favors when we give them alternative messages beloved no matter who or how old we are God commands all people to do one thing and that is this believe the gospel and the only way we can believe the gospel is when the people of God obey him and preach it in the way he prescribes again beloved we must obey God rather than men he is the sovereign ruler of the world he has the supreme authority over his church and therefore it is only he who sets the directives and only he we are required to follow so the first reason why we must obey God in preaching the gospel is simply because he commands us to do it but secondly in verses 30 and 31 of our texts we see another reason why we should be obedient in preaching the message of the gospel namely because the gospel tells us that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ the gospel tells us that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ let's look at the words of verses 30 and 31 of our texts it reads the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you have put to death by hanging him on a cross he is the one whom God exalted to his right hand as a prince and a savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins now in these two verses Peter and Apostles give us several important things to consider several important things number one they highlight the sovereignty of God the God of our fathers is what they say in short God is not only over the Apostles but he's also over those persecuting the Apostles he's over all men secondly they highlight the fact that Jesus was hung on a cross by the hands of sinful man they say whom you put to death by hanging him on a cross thirdly they highlight how God the Father commissioned and gave Jesus great power they say he was raised up and he exalted him that is Christ then fourthly they highlight how Jesus is the source of salvation and eternal life they call him prince and that word in Greek the word archaegos literally means that Jesus is the pioneer or originator of salvation and equally we see him called savior which further backs that claim and then finally fifth as the pioneer or originator of salvation Jesus is the only one who can reconcile men back to God they say he grants repentance and forgiveness of sins so that's when we put all these things together here's what we have the sovereign God commissioned his son Jesus Christ to come to earth to be delivered into the hands of sinful men in order to be crucified on a cross however and being crucified this same God exult the same Jesus to be savior or the originator of salvation and declares him to be the only way by which man can receive repentance and forgiveness for their sins so therefore beloved and saying all of this why again do we need to be obedient and preaching the gospel because as we just mentioned in the first point all men need to be saved all men need to be forgiven of their sins and thus the only way in which God has ordained these things to happen is through faith and the person in work of his son Jesus Christ and essence we are called to be obedient and preaching the gospel beloved because Jesus Christ again is the sole hope for the salvation of mankind now I'm saying this here's where the problem lies here's where the problem lies while many of us ask Christians would agree with these truths the reality is that there are many of us who don't want to hear these truths beloved let's be honest to some sub-professed Christians hearing about the saving work of Christ can actually be boring it can be boring as the Apostle Paul says again in 2nd Timothy 4 the time is now here where some of us don't want to endure sound doctrine in short some of us want no part of the formal teaching of God's word but instead we want to shout with no substance and we want to praise with no proclamation you know I remember some years back again I was invited to preach at another church which I previously served and it wasn't the one I mentioned in the first point it was another one and I was asked to preach at their youth day service and I don't know why youth keeps popping up in these examples but go with it and being once a member of this church I knew it was what I would call a high emotional church that is the members did a lot of shouting there was a lot of dancing there was a lot of hooping and hollering from the pulpit again just a lot of high emotion so knowing my style and knowing that I probably would have my work cut out for me based on all this I accepted the invitation because I had a lot of confidence in what the Lord was leading me to preach on that particular occasion so as the service started and went on there was nothing out of the ordinary from what I expected again just a lot of high emotion a lot of shouting a lot of dancing a lot of crying etc so thus the time came for me to give the message and I preached on the words of Jesus found in Matthew 19 verse 14 when he says suffered a little children to come to me and I dealt with the reason why we should tell our children about Christ and what he's done through the message of the gospel despite how old they actually are and while I didn't hoop and while I didn't sing in the pulpit to get the crowd going I was very passionate about what I was saying in that sermon despite the fact that the congregation really didn't express anything more than several a minutes throughout the whole message so after I finished the sermon I prayed and I sat down the pastor of the church felt the need to stand up and needlessly apologize to the people in particular to why I didn't get the people to show and as that he told them you know minister singleton is in seminary which I was at that time so he doesn't come at us the way we're accustomed yeah in short because my message was gospel focused and I didn't put on a show for the express purpose of getting the people stirred up he basically trashed me in my sermon well needless to say I was never invited back and trust me I was more than okay with that okay now beloved and saying all this let me make something crystal clear let me make something crystal clear I am not against people showing emotion and a church service that's not my point of bringing up that example personally there have been a couple of occasions that I can remember I've actually held back tears while preaching because there was something that God led me to say that grip my heart at that time however well all these occurrences happened oh beloved there was one thing that tied them all together and that was my emotion was rooted and God giving me a clearer understanding of the gospel in essence beloved I didn't cry just because I was in an environment why felt compelled to do so no God touched my heart with the grace and goodness of Christ and this is what stirred my emotions you know the late Dr. Matt King Carter who passed with the new Manala Baptist church in Fort Lauderdale he once made this statement to a group of younger preachers he was the cycling he told them don't major in supermarket gravy don't major in supermarket gravy and what Dr. Carter was saying is don't allow your praise and emotions to be canned that is something that's artificial that you can just open and cook up but rather let your emotions and praise emerge from the excitement that comes when you cook or proclaim that is the pure meat of the gospel so beloved here's the bottom line to what I'm saying if your emotions are not stirred when you think about Christ on Calvary's cross suffering the full weight of God's wrath a wrath that because of your sin you actually deserve to take on yourself if your emotions are not stirred in knowing that you couldn't save yourself and because of this Christ came down from heaven and lived a life you couldn't live died a death you couldn't die rose from a grave to earn justification you didn't deserve also you can be seen as righteous in the sight of God if your emotions are not stirred in knowing that every sin you've committed past present and future has been forgiven in Christ and because he is now your savior you forever have God's favor upon you and that nothing will ever separate you from the love of God found in Christ Jesus your Lord beloved if these things don't stir your heart if these things don't lead you to express true praise and true emotion because God has been good to you
well beloved even you don't truly have what you're professing in Christ or you've made a living too long consuming supermarket gravy oh beloved if we truly understand the gospel of Jesus Christ the one thing we will never walk away thinking is that it's boring but rather when we truly understand the gospel here's what's going to happen we will not only look for it to hearing it over and over again but guess what we'll look for it to telling others about it over and over again let's make no mistake about it while God did give a command for the apostles to preach the gospel to every creature it was not a command which they followed with reluctance but rather they preach the gospel because they love their Lord they preach the gospel because they love what he had done for them they love telling others what they could receive in him when their faith was placed in his work and thus like the apostles all of these things should be what motivates us to obey God rather than men when it comes to the preaching of this message so again beloved the second reason why we are obedient and proclaiming the gospel is because it reveals to us that salvation is found only in the person and work of Jesus Christ but lastly lastly in verse 32 we see a third reason why we should be obedient and proclaiming the gospel namely it provides the assurance of our salvation through the work of the Holy Spirit it provides the assurance of our salvation through the work of the Holy Spirit let's look at verse 32 it reads and we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him now in seeing this verse we are told something that pretty much all Christians know or should know and that is that God has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who obey or believe in Christ however also in this verse we're told another important thing about the Holy Spirit that is he is a witness of these things well what things well he's a witness number once of the truth that the Father has exalted Christ secondly he's a witness to the truth that Christ has been placed at the right hand of the Father as the sole source of salvation and thirdly he is a witness of the truth that the Father has granted repentance and forgiveness of sin through Christ so what does all this mean well beloved here's what I'm saying whenever the believer hears the gospel proclaimed the Holy Spirit reminds them that they are the recipients of both the favor and promises of God which are found in Christ and beloved I cannot express you how comforting this truth is because if you've just taken a few steps on this Christian journey a few steps there is one thing that you will quickly realize that things don't instantly become easy the moment you get saved you see even as believers there are times where life just hurts and many times it hurts so bad that instead of walking in church on a sunny with a smile on our face we're emotionally crawling through the doors on our knees with tears in our eyes and it is during these times where we as believers need a desperate reminder of what we have been given and Christ and equally how God sees us in Christ you know in the modern church today there has been a real push in doing successfully evangelism to unbelievers everywhere we look church ministries church companies are trying to develop strategies on how to quote win the loss and bring sinners into the kingdom and while obviously I'm not against our calling to evangelize unbelievers with the gospel at the same time I've often asked this question while we're evangelizing those who are lost who's providing encouragement to those who are found while we're evangelizing the loss who's providing encouragement to those who are found in other words who's providing the encouragement to the believer who's struggling with a sin they can't overcome and their thoughts start to wonder whether or not there's a limit on God's grace for them who's providing encouragement to the believer who is on in one of those difficult seasons in their lives and it gets so tough that it seems as if God has forsaken or turned his back on them who is providing encouragement to the believer who's dealing with an environment that levy so many tribulations upon them that they start to become downcast and wonder if they will ever overcome the situation they're in beloved where do we as believers find encouragement and circumstances like this well beloved the answer to this question is that the believer finds encouragement when they continually hear the message of the gospel and is through the gospel where the Holy Spirit who resides in all believers convicts them in understanding that despite the sin they're struggling in there's no condemnation to those who belong to Christ Jesus the Holy Spirit convicts them in understanding that the spike the difficulties they're in the Lord has told them I will never leave you or for say you and the Holy Spirit convicts them in understanding that despite the many tribulations that they will face the Lord has said to them that they can be of good cheer for one reason because he has overcome the world but here's something we need to realize while the gospel saves unbelievers it's the source of continual strength for the believer it provides the strength where the Holy Spirit uses its preaching to continually reveal the wonderful grace of Jesus and what he has endowed upon all his people beloved no matter how long we've been on this Christian journey we will never get to a point in which we will outgrow the gospel we need it every day of our lives because we will never face a time where we are not for a time where we are void of discouragement or hurts and we will never face a time where we are not prone to wander and leave the God we love however along with this message of the gospel we should never forget that God has also given us his promised Holy Spirit the Spirit who as Jesus says serves as our helper and revealing the work of Christ to us and he also serves as our comforter by continually reminding us that we are the recipients of all the blessings that come from his work oh beloved why should we be obedient in proclaiming the message of the gospel because only through that that the Spirit of God reminds us of the hope we have found in the Son of God who is Jesus Christ beloved in their missions to spread the gospel the disciples face much heartache they face many struggles however what kept them pressing through all the heartaches what kept them pressing through all the struggles what made them find joy even when being beaten and persecuted is because the power of the Spirit continually revealed and reminded them that no matter what they were going through Jesus was their Lord and through the aid of the Spirit they were able to face any situation because they knew their position as the recipients of both the favoring grace of God would never change despite whatever they came up against and beloved it's only through the gospel of the proclamation of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit where God continually gives the assurance of the need that we have of the great salvation and blessings that we have been given through our Lord Jesus Christ and thus as we come now to the end of our time together here again are the three reasons why we must be obedient to preaching the gospel number one because God commands us to do it number two because it reveals that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ and thoroughly through the power of the Holy Spirit it gives the assurance of the promises and favor which are ours based on our faith in that message so therefore Glendale as we embark as we embark on serving God in the world that we live especially now in a country that is possibly as divided now it has been in a long time nor that God has given us one command and that command is very clear preach the gospel minister Ferguson minister right as you go along in your calling of ministry and whether you stand in this pulpit or Lord willing one in which the Lord one day blesses you to be the under shepherd of no matter what's going on around you no matter what the people may want to hear you have one duty to perform my brothers preach the gospel and whenever any of you are hurting and start to doubt who you are and what God has done for you here's what you need to do for yourself or have someone do for you while they're walking side by side with you in your struggle what is that preach the gospel again beloved the gospel is the only thing that God has given us to bring salvation to the loss and to bring comfort to those who are found and thus because this is so let us stay faithful to proclaiming the message and in doing so we obey God rather than man amen amen let's close in prayer heavenly Father Lord it's by your gospel that we on ourselves have been brought out of darkness and to light we know Lord that it's it's by Christ and the good news Lord that he lived for righteousness he died for our sins and he was raised for our justification Lord that is our testimony that is why we stand here before you now acquitted Lord and not guilty of the sins that we've committed Lord you've commissioned us Lord not to keep that message to ourselves but to take it out and to spread it and to share it it's good news Lord we pray God that you'll give us the courage and the strength to be obedient to spread that news Lord and we pray God more than anything that again you'll give us a desire to constantly hear that same good news