Are You Thankful For...Floggings? (AM Sermon Notes)
GIST: When we long to see Him praised above all else, we will be thankful...even when it hurts.
SCRIPTURE: Acts 5:12-42
This morning will be another one of those whiplash Sundays, as we’re going to cover 30 verses in our time together. And again, rather than looking at the entire chunk and then breaking it down, we’re going to take the passages as we come to them. To open us, however, we’re actually going to start...at the end. Today is Thanksgiving Sunday, and this passage closes on a note of thankfulness. Nonetheless, what the apostles express gratitude for is probably a little different than what we likely voice when we go around the table counting our blessing and stuffing our faces full of turkey. Let’s look at Acts 5:40-42.
“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 that the Christ is Jesus.”
I know we have a long passage ahead of us and the lure of the meal to follow pulling at our bellies. I want to try and be conscientious of that as we move through this passage. However, the truth presented here is worthy of our attention because it calls us to examine our gratitude. Hopefully, thanksgiving is on all of our minds as we move into this week. But what we’re truly thankful for will tell us a lot about our characters, and how much we really love Jesus will be demonstrated in how thankful we are for Him even when it comes at a personal cost. And that’s the gist for this morning: When we long to see Him praised above all else, we will be thankful...even when it hurts.
This morning, I want to try and just walk through this passage to see what led to this flogging we just read about and then consider a few quick takeaways.
I. Persecuted For Being Faithful To Jesus (12-18)
“12 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.”
Basically, what we see here is that the effectiveness of their witness led to reality of their persecution (Williams). When I started summarizing the passage, all my observations started with an “r”...so I might have gone a little bit overboard from that point forward--fair warning☺️! First, we see that there were→
Regular Signs Of Jesus’ Work (12) And really, this is the key to this whole passage. What the apostles were doing was intentionally reminiscent of what Jesus had done while on Earth. They went out proclaiming His gospel, and He confirmed that they were from Him by performing miracles through them! As a result, we see two contrasting reactions. First, a→
Respectful Distance From “The Rest” (13) There has apparently been some debate over who exactly is being referred to as “the rest” because the Greek is not 100% clear. However, given the context, it seems to be those who respect the Christians for who they are and what is being done amongst them, but do not believe in Jesus as their personal Savior. While they’re interested, they haven’t been transformed by His grace yet, and they keep a healthy distance...probably because the story of Ananias and Sapphira, individuals who died for not taking Jesus seriously, has spread. Nonetheless, though this might have been a turnoff for some, it clearly wasn’t for others because we also see the→
Redeeming Of Souls! (14) Look at what it says again, “14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” (emphases added). Lives of men and women were being changed by the Gospel! Jesus was moving and saving souls in an awesome way! We can’t miss out on that foundational context!
Then we see that this has resulted in a healing ministry, as well. Much like how we saw Jesus working in His earthly ministry. He did not come primarily to heal. He made it very clear that our spiritual needs are far greater than our physical. Nonetheless, He did often heal because He still cared about those physical needs. This same kind of situation with the apostles has resulted in something interesting→
Regard For A Magical Shadow? (15-16) Most of the sources I studied this week said that this pointed to a superstition the people had. Nonetheless, what started as superstition might have led some to genuine faith. People saw God working in Peter’s life, so they came to be close to that. However, his shadow had no power. Faith was changing people, but only if it was faith in God, not a mystical belief in “shadow power”.
And...many were being changed. Souls were saved and physical bodies healed. This is the powerful work of God. So, of course, the next thing we see is the→
Reactionary Arrest From The Jealous Sadducees (17-18) We’ve seen this before, right? When God is moving, there will be opposition because the natural state of all of our hearts is to oppose Him. Why? Because we love ourselves more. That is precisely what we see here. Why do the Sadducees want to quell the apostles? Because they’re jealous. These uneducated men are getting more attention than them while also threatening the very institution that gives them power. So, we see they are persecuted...because of their faithfulness to Jesus. Period.
Then we see they are delivered...for the same reason.
II. Delivered For This Purpose (19-40)
This is the longer section of our reading, but I don’t want to draw it out too much. Essentially, what we see is that they end up being rescued to tell more people about their ultimate rescuer, but they were not spared persecution or pain. And guys, that’s salvation! We’re saved from ultimate destruction, so we can tell others about His salvation, but we are not spared the hardships of this sinful world.
Rescued To Proclaim Rescue! (19-20) So, they’re arrested, but look at what happens here, “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." They were broken out of prison! Why? So they could tell more people about Jesus! In fact, they were told to go back to the temple and do so. This is a bold command. They are told to stand in the temple. The implication is doing so without fear. Yet, going to the temple would have been terrifying because it meant proclaiming in a public and highly visible place… especially to the ones who want to persecute them!
So they do this...and eventually they are→
Reported And Regained (21-26). This next section records what happened when the religious elite went to get them out of prison the next morning. “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, all the senate of the people 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.” So… needless to say, this wasn’t what they expected! They go in looking to have the upperhand over these “miscreants”, but end of finding them not only missing, but proclaiming the Gospel...on their turf! They’re furious, but have to act cautiously because the people like the apostles.
Once they are finally on trial, we see the accused of this→
Righteous Charge! (27-28) “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." We should want to be guilty of this! They were filling this town with the truth of Jesus! These religious leaders missed that realizing their guilt and then being covered in Jesus’ forgiving blood...was exactly what they needed. And Peter doesn’t hesitate to say that! Look at his→
Righteous Response (29-32) Really, this is the Gospel! Surprise, surprise, right? ☺“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." Amen! He lays out the truth they need even though he knows it’s not the truth they want.
The result? →
Rage and Reason (33-40) First, we see that they really just want to kill them, but then they are advised not to. “33 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.” Gamaliel was a well respected leader. In fact, he was Paul’s teacher. However, his motives don’t seem to have been to help the apostles or further Christianity. While we can’t know his exact motives, so it wouldn’t be helpful to speculate, either way, God used him to spare the apostles’ lives.
So, the apostles were released...but they were still flogged for good measure! And this beating would have been severe and life threatening in itself! Likely, this was the 39 lashes which were meant to come just short of killing a man.
And that brings us back to our opening point. They were→
III. Thankful To Be Worthy Of Disgrace (41-42)
Look back at what we opened with, “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 that the Christ is Jesus.” What we see here is that they have the→
Right Perspective. Look at this phrase again. It almost seems nonsensical! They rejoiced to be worthy of disgrace. Worthy of dishonor? I like how the Life Application Study Bible put this. “Faith in God does not make troubles disappear; it makes troubles appear less frightening because it puts them in the right perspective.” That is precisely what we see happening here. Paul puts this attitude in slightly different words in one of my favorite passages, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” The pain of this life is nothing compared to the absolute joy of Heaven. And, if we endure pain here so that others can experience true fulfillment in Christ, it’s worth it! In fact, it’s what our lives should be about. We have been→
Redeemed to Proclaim The Redeemer! So, when we’re given opportunities to do that, we should rejoice!... No matter the cost.
TAKEAWAYS
1. God is always faithful, but this faithfulness will not always mean deliverance from hardships.
2. Yet, when we long to see Him praised above all else, we will be thankful...even when it hurts. So, what does our gratitude tell us? Is our thanksgiving superficial and selfish, or Christ-centered and selfless? If we were made to proclaim Him, our we? And are those opportunities what we’re thankful for?
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