Acts 5:17-42 | Trend or Movement?

Zach Cunningham continues a series on the book of Acts. 

Transcript

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Glad you're here. Happy Sunday. If you haven't met, my name is Zach. I'm one of the pastors here. So excited that you joined us on this, like Drake said, gloomy Sunday, but excited to be here. We have a great morning ahead of us. And so with your permission, uh I'm gonna go pretty fast this morning. So if you have a Bible, Acts chapter 5. Okay, we're not gonna spend too much time with the sermon because we got some other uh mini sermons we want to hear this morning, but more on that coming up. We're in Acts chapter 5. If you're new, we're just continuing our study through the book of Acts, and we're gonna finish Acts 5. So we've got some ground to take this morning. Hey, as you're turning here uh to Acts 5, I need you guys to do something for me. I need you to hop in a time machine, the the DeLorean, that's a hard thing to say uh with me. I need you to go back to your childhood, okay? Like elementary school or middle school. Can you guys remember any specific trends in your elementary or middle school years? Like phases, trends. Okay, here's why I share that. I um there are a lot of trends in my life growing up. Hey, give me a minute, I'll let you share quickly. But let me tell you, I'm gonna try to paint a picture for you. Um, a lot of trends happened in my life. Well, anyways, I remember the first time I took my wife, Mallie, uh, to Honey Grove, my hometown, uh, to my mama's house. Okay, and if you guys have been married or dating, you know, that that can be quite the adventure, okay? Well, anyways, we're walking through the house, and my wife, she's looking around, and she makes it to my mom's fridge. And on my mom's fridge, I'm one of six, she has about 600 pictures of all of her kids throughout the years on the fridge, okay, just all over from the baby all the way to even today. And my wife, she's staring at this fridge and she's trying to find all the pictures of me, and she asks me, babe, why are you wearing Aripostol in all of these pictures? Aeropostol, is how you pronounce that? She's like, Why are you wearing it in all the pictures? Anyways, because that company, you know, took Honey Grove by storm, okay? It was a trend. It held it captive for years, okay? Everybody in my town wore that brand. And then in another photo, I'm wearing one of those like seashell necklaces, the white ones. Uh uh, you guys know what I'm talking about? Like, I've never been to the beach when I wore it, okay? I think I think Zach, Zach, Zach Efframon wore it once instead of Zach Cunningham's doing it. Anyways, there's these trends, right, that come and they go. Okay, popular phases that remind us, and sometimes they come back, right? And so right now, I want you to tell the per tell the person next to you what your favorite trend was in middle school or elementary school. Okay, ready to go. Favorite trend. Okay. Okay, that's enough to mum. Come back to me. Okay, baby. Sounds good. Great woman. I don't know what it I don't know. 2020 twelve levels, if you remember. Let me trend. Okay, come back to me. You know, if you ask my wife what's a trend I recently went through, she'll say, I just went through a Hamilton phase. Um, but I tell her, babe, it's not a phase, it's staying with us for a long time. So um here's why I share that uh this morning. I want to get you in the mindset of trends because of where we're gonna be in the book of Acts, but also where we're gonna be here as a church in this room today. And here's what I mean, okay, we've made it in the book of Acts to a very interesting spot where a question is gonna arise. Okay, if you can remember in this book so far, it's been a whirlwind, right? The Holy Spirit has fallen and blown on the disciples, thousands are coming to faith, people are being healed, the church is being formed, sin is being exposed, like last week. And now there's this question that comes Is what's happening in Acts a trend or is it a movement? Like, is this Jesus thing gonna continue or die off? Is it just a phase that the disciples are going through, but they're gonna quit and go fishing like they used to? Like, yeah, it was fun for a little bit, but this powerful work of the gospel, is it a trend or is it a movement? And maybe it's good for us to consider that today of all days, because not just what's happening in the Church of Acts, but what's about to happen in our church today. Because today is a special day for us because we're gonna celebrate five people getting baptized today in the service, okay? Uh, which is great. And uh, yes, in fact, since starting our church eight months ago, we have already seen a wave, as it were, of baptisms. In fact, I want to do this just for the picture here. Um, if you're getting baptized today, or if you've been baptized at King's Church since we start this thing, uh, for the next five seconds, will you stand up? Can we see it? Okay, just stand up if you've been baptized here. Okay. Let's go. Okay, okay, okay, you can sit down. You can sit down. Great. Okay, you can sit down. It's great. Now, guys, okay, for a church of our size and our age, it certainly feels like a movement of God is happening. Okay, you're about to hear stories of God moving in the hearts of people. But today, I want I want to do something a bit unique, quickly, in a sense. I I'd like to preach this sermon to all of us, uh, but also, especially to those 30 people or so who have been baptized, uh, because I think the same question is gonna come up in your life. Okay, as you live, it's likely came up in my life and people who love Jesus. Is what's happening in your heart a true movement of God, or is it just a trend? This question's gonna come. Is this just a Jesus phase that you're going through? Feels great in college, doesn't feel great when you turn 25, or is it a true movement of God? Has God turned dead hearts into living ones? Okay, it's a good question, I think, for us to consider, even for our church. We're only eight months in. Is this church just a new trendy church, or is God with us and is he for us? And so maybe with all of that in mind, the question I want to guide our morning is this what's it gonna take for us, and really for you, 30 people who've been baptized, what's it gonna take for you to establish your faith, deepen your faith, and sustain in it over time? What do we need to remember about who God is and what he's done for us to continue on in the faith? That's the question on the table this morning. And like I said, I'll be fast, but I want to give you just three quick reminders to those who are getting baptized and also to all of us as we continue in our faith. Sound good? Three reminders from Acts 5. Let's jump in. We've got some ground to take today. Like I said, we're gonna finish the chapter, but really our three reminders are just gonna come from three incredible verses I'm gonna pull out from this text that I want to highlight. Okay, we're gonna start in verse 17 of Acts 5. If you got it, say got it. Okay, try to jump into the middle of a story here. I'll explain it. Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with them, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. And so they arrested the apostles and put them in public jail. But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said this go, stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life. And hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and they began to teach. Okay, some context here. If you remember where Drake left off last week, Luke, he's basically told us in the paragraph before, things are going pretty great for the Jesus movement. Okay, signs and wonders, increasing numbers, people healed, and people made clean. And then almost like deja vu, we see the same thing happen to the disciples that we've seen like the third time in four weeks. They go to jail. Like the religious leaders get ticked, we've heard this, they grab them, you know, they're losing power and influence. So they arrest the disciples and throw them in prison. Okay, it's become like a second home to Peter and John. Well, anyways, something different happens in this story because don't miss it. Okay, try to picture it. A crazy scene happened. It says, a literal angel shows up and busts these guys out of prison. Okay, this would have been the most insane prison break of all time, okay? And we we don't get a lot of details here. You can use your imagination. Like, do they walk through the walls? Do they uh the angels like put a trance on all the jailers? Like, we're not given the details, but either way, this is a miracle happening here. And then look again at what the angel tells them to do. Like it's interesting. Verse 20 is our first key verse. It says, Go, stand in the temple, and tell everybody about this life. Okay, he says, Okay, go back to the same place you got arrested and keep doing the thing that got you arrested. And tell people about this phrase. It says, this life. Or maybe your translation says, tell them all the words of this life. Now that word life is interesting there, okay. I would circle that word life and underline it because it's not what you might think, okay, and it's profound. Okay, some of your translations might actually capitalize the L in life. And some of it might, some of your translation might say, tell them all about this new life. And there's something here I want you to see. That word life here in the Greek is is the word Zoe, spelled like Zoe, and it's and it's different than other words in the Greek used in the Bible. Okay, it's not talking about biological life. Okay, that's the Greek word bios. Okay, it's not talking about something like that, like what people are trying to find on Mars, you know, or like what Ryan Gosling found in space, okay. Project Hail Mary, anybody? Okay, it's not talking about biological life, okay? What's growing inside my wife's womb. No, no, no. That word is different here. With Zoe, we get something deeper, and you get something bigger here. It's the idea of true life or capital L life. Okay, it's talking about meaning and purpose and true joy, okay, that this life following Jesus is eternal life. It's the life worth living. Okay, which leads me to our first reminder to those of you getting baptized today and all of us in the room, and it's this it's simple. God has given you true life. That God has given you true life. That in Jesus you have been given capital L Zoe life. Okay, that's what the angel tells them to tell people about, and it's also what Jesus said he was all about. Okay, Jesus said this over and over again. I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. It's Zoe there. Or in John 10, the thief comes to steal, killing the story, but I have come that you may have life and life to the fullest. Or John 1, in him was life. Okay, and here's why this is a pretty big deal for us. Jesus wants us to have abundant life. Okay, I used to think while I was in college that following Jesus basically meant this: that you had to live a pretty lame life on earth, sacrifice a lot of fun stuff, but when you die and go to heaven, it'll be worth it. Okay, that's what I thought. But what Jesus is saying here, and all the scriptures say that following him is the way to experience true life. Not just in heaven then, but on earth now, that he alone can provide life, true life, not sex, money, drugs, not a relationship, a job, religion, even. We've been given true life, everlasting life from the Lord. And this is what baptism is actually all about. Okay, it's a symbol of this new life. Okay, today, like I said, we're gonna celebrate five people getting baptized who are dead to their old lives and now have been given a new life. In fact, if you read the Bible about baptism, there's a really popular section in Romans 6, and there's a really popular verse in Romans 6, and it's verse 4, and look at what it says. Therefore, we were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, here it is, so we too may walk in newness of life. Zoe. That's what John's doing here. Same word. Or in other words, on the cross and through his resurrection, Jesus has purchased our right to experience this new life. And in baptism, we walk into that reality that we've been given new life. And so, believers in the room, and especially new believers, don't forget that this life that Jesus has given us, it's better than all of sin's promises and all of the world's Turkish delight. Okay, and like the angels say to the disciples, I now say to all of you, go and tell everybody about this life. That's the first thing here. But let's keep going because things are gonna heat up. Okay, let's cover some ground, okay? I'm gonna try to read it in a non-boring way. Look at verse 21. Hearing this from the angels, they're gonna do it. They entered the temple at daybreak and they began to teach. And when the high priest and those who were with them arrived, they convened in the Sanhedrin, which is the full council of the Israelites, and they sent orders to the jail to have them brought out. But when the servants got there, they did not find them in jail. And so they returned and reported. But when we opened them, we found no one inside. And as the captain of the temple police and the chief priest heard these things, they were baffled among them, wondering what could come of this. Someone came and reported to them, Hey, look, the men you put in jail are now standing in the temple, and they're teaching the people again. And then the commander went with the servants and brought them in without force, because they were afraid the people might stone them. Verse 27. After they brought them in, they had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked, Hey, didn't we strictly order you guys not to teach in this name? Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. May that be true in Denton, and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood. And look at what Peter says. And the apostles, they replied, We must obey God rather than people. Okay, stop right there. Picture the scene here, okay? The disciples they get out, they're preaching, the religious guys come back to them and say, Hey, hey, hey, didn't we tell you not to do this? Like, why are you still doing it? And then it says this, Are you trying to make us guilty of this man's blood? Okay, which, real quick, verse 28, that right there, that's a hilarious and ironic verse. Because if you know your Bible, when Jesus was before Pilate and the Jews, Pilate didn't want to crucify him. He says, I find no guilt in this man, my hands are what? Clean. And do you remember what the Jews said? They said, Let his blood be on us and on our children. Put his blood on us. Well, own it, they said. And now, here, you got the Jews. The same counsel that crucified Jesus saying this are you trying to put his blood on us? Which is ironic because, in a sense, they would love for the for the blood of Jesus to cover them, wouldn't they? I'm thankful for it. But, anyways, the verse I actually want to highlight is not this one. But point two comes actually from Peter's incredible response, verse 29. Look at it again. It's very simple. We must obey God rather than people. Okay, a very simple yet incredible response. One that you ought to slow down and look at it, every word of it. It says we must, not we should. It says obey, not just listen to, and it says God and not people. Or in other words, when given the choice between the authority of God and the authority of man, we must obey God. He is our highest allegiance in life, which is the second reminder I love to give all of us, and especially those baptized, it's this God is your highest allegiance, that he has given you true life, but also he is your highest allegiance. And I say the word highest there because it doesn't mean you don't have other duties and other devotions and other allegiances underneath that. No, certainly you do. Okay, you read the Bible. Certainly, I have an allegiance to my family before I have an allegiance to Drake's family. There's a different kind of allegiance. And I have an allegiance and a devotion and a duty to this church over and above the church down the road. And other things could be said, true. Like I have an allegiance to my neighbors, as it were, and community and to this nation, and yet, under all of that, or over all of that, is my allegiance to the Lord. He is our highest allegiance in life. And I share all that to say this so much so that when you're given the choice to be disobedient to or act in a way that's contrary to God by people, our response should be the same, should it not? We must obey God and not people. And so when someone at work says, Hey, can you cut the corners? Can you fudge the numbers? Can you exploit the person? What's what's our response? We must obey God, not people. When someone says, Hey, you should live together before you get married, try it out. Our response? We must obey God, not people. That over and over again we make the decision that honors Jesus, even if we're told there's a cost. Our highest allegiance is not to others, it's not to feelings or impulses or even to temptation. No, our highest allegiance is to the king. In fact, that's what baptism is all about. Okay, I think most of us today, like if you're like me, baptism Sundays are very exciting, and we think it's simply a celebration of a yes, that these people, these five, have said yes to Jesus. But historically, baptism is not just a yes, it's also a no. And what I mean by that, it's kind of like a wedding vow. Like, I'm gonna say this to Tyson in like 68 days. I'm gonna say to Tyson when he gets married. Tyson, do you take Ellie as your wife? A yes. And then I'm gonna say this in the same vow. And forsaking all others, do you commit yourself only to her as long as you both shall live? Can you see it there? A yes to Ellie is a no to every other girl on the planet. It's a yes and a no. And here's what I mean by that with baptism. In church history, it's kind of like that. It's not just a no to bad things. And it's not just a no to sin. But actually, historically, baptism is both a yes to Jesus and a no to Satan. That baptism is a dual vow, both declaring your allegiance to King Jesus, but also renouncing and rejecting Satan, his authority, his ways, and his lies. In fact, if you read church history, the early Christians, before they get baptized, they explicitly and publicly renounced the devil before they got in the waters. Like the earliest accounts of baptism record not only a profession of faith, but also enunciation. Okay, here's what I mean. Tertullian of Carthage, really early church history, wrote this. When we're gonna enter the water, but a little bit before that, in the presence of the congregation, we solemnly profess that we disown the devil, his pomp, and his angels. Or in Egypt, right before baptism, they would say this I renounce thee, Satan, and all thy servants and all of thy works. Or in Jerusalem, a very popular city, right before baptism, the night before, they would all stand up together. Imagine all five of them standing up here, and they would face west. Which way is west? That way. Thank you, Matt. Okay, guys, you get turned around when you're up here. Okay, they would face this way because west, like literally west, it was a symbol, it was a symbolic direction of darkness, because that's where the sun sat each day, not because California is out there, but um the West, the West fa it meant darkness, and so they would face the West and they would lift up their hand like this, and they would say, I renounce thee, Satan, thou wicked and most cruel tyrant. I renounce thee, thou crafty and most subtle serpent. I renounce thee, plotter as thou art, who under the guise of friendship contrived all disobedience in the garden and worked apostasy in our first parents. I renounce thee, Satan, the artificer and abitor of all wickedness. Here's my point. From Africa to the Middle East to Asia, believers viewed baptism as a declaration of allegiance and a renunciation of allegiance. And even though we don't do it like that, it's the same for us today. Today we watch five people declare not just we must obey God rather than people, but we belong to Jesus and no longer Satan. That God is our highest allegiance. And if he is, that means we won't just declare it today in front of everyone, but also we'll declare it every day that we will be his witnesses everywhere. That's Peter's response here. They say, be quiet. He says we can't, and then keep reading, verse 30. Here's the gospel message in the book of Acts. The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had murdered by hanging him on a tree. God exalted this man to his right hand as ruler and savior. Why? To give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. And here it is. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given us, so that we might obey him. Can you see it here? We're gonna declare it. Okay, now, confession to all of you for a number of reasons, most of my life, I was not a fan of LeBron James. Okay, he's uh he's grown on me a little bit. As he's gotten older. But he made he made fun of Dirk once, and that's a hole that's hard to get out of, okay? I renounce thee, LeBron. Anyways, what's happened is LeBron's like 50 years old, I think, and he's still balling, okay? He's about to beat the Rockets, okay, which does get points for me. Anyways, regardless of your feelings of LeBron, it's hard to argue that when he was coming into the NBA, that one of his taglines wasn't incredible, okay? And it goes a couple different ways. The first one is this two words, kind of rhymes. Witness greatness. And the second one is more often it says this we are all witnesses. Witnessing greatness with LeBron. Okay, also this morning somebody broke the marathon record of two hours. Two people, actually, this morning. Okay, we witnessed greatness even this morning in London. Okay, incredible. Anyways, look, I'm telling you about it. Here's why. Because when you witness greatness, you have to tell people about the greatness. Because what is a witness? That's Peter's response here. The thing about witnessing greatness is you can't stop talking about what you've witnessed. In fact, if you think about it, like just a definition of the word witness is both someone who sees something, but also who says something. A witness is a testifier in court. And likewise, Peter goes, We are witnesses to this great gospel. Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus rose, and Jesus reigns. And like he said earlier in Acts, we can't help but speak of this greatness. And so we'll move to the third point soon, but to all of us, I think this is a quick lesson that you can learn here. And you can also learn it across Scripture, and it goes something like this You can't be forgiven and saved without also being called and sent. That there's not a Christian that's been forgiven and saved that hasn't also been called and sent with the gospel, that we are all witnesses, Acts 1.8 says, called and sent with the greatness of the gospel. Which is fascinating in the story because you can make an argument that the whole purpose of the miracle is so that the message would get proclaimed, right? They get busted out of prison. Why, the angel says? To go and preach. And I could make the same argument that the miracle that has happened in your heart, the purpose of the miracle is to what? To go and preach, to share the message. He moved in your heart so that you open your mouth to preach the gospel. And so, yes, in about seven minutes you're gonna get up here and share your story, but never stop sharing your story. And never stop sharing the story of Jesus, how he changed your life. Be a witness, right? Now let's finish up because the question is finally going to come to the room that I opened the sermon with. Is this Jesus thing a trend or is it a movement? Well, look at this fascinating back scene conversation that Luke gives us, okay, the room where it all happened. Okay, verse 33, look at what it says. Now, when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, okay, if we have a son next, that's his name, okay. Um, we're struggling, seriously, we're taking suggestions. Gamaleel stands up, and he's a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, and he stood up in the Sanhedrin, and he ordered for these men, no, he ordered all the men to be taken outside for a little bit. And he said to them, Men of Israel, be careful about what you're about to do to these guys. Some time ago, Thutius rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about 400 men rallied behind him. He was killed, and all of his followers were dispersed, and came to nothing. And after this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census, he also attracted a following, he also perished, and all of his followers were scattered. So, in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone. God loves to speak through random people. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail, fail. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God. And they were persuaded by him. Okay, so there's a lot here. Peter bows up to them, and it says they got really mad, they wanted to kill him. And then this guy Gameleel stands up, and he's a super important teacher to those guys. And if you know this, and later in the book of Acts, he's actually the rabbi who taught Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul. He's the man Paul trained under. So he gets up there and he says, Guys, chill out. Okay, there once was a guy named Thutius who rose up, and it says he claimed to be somebody, and he had 400 dudes rocking with him. But the moment he was killed, everyone did, so nothing happened. It was a trend, it was a fad, it was a phase. And then he lists the other guy, Judas. Okay, same song, different verse. Dude died, his people bounced. But can we look at verse 38 again? So in this present case, I tell you, stay away from these guys. For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might find yourself fighting against God. Okay, some incredible insight from this man. What we do here, what we got here is we get a couple if-then statements which are true of us as well. The first if-then is this if this work is of human origin, then it will fail. Or in other words, I'd say of this as well, if this movement in Acts, or if this church here in Denton, or even if the proclamation of your faith today is of human origin, meant it didn't come from God, it was all willpower or conjured up faith or man's doing, let me tell you, it will fail. Everything that begins with humans eventually comes to an end. But he says, if this is of God, not only will it not fail, but it can't be beaten, it can't be overthrown. If God is for them, who will be against them? The God, this God will establish his church. And if you look wider in scripture, this is what I want to say. We also see that God loves to establish his people. Which leads me to my final reminder to us this morning. That if God has given you true life, and if God is your highest allegiance, number three, God will sustain you. That God will sustain you, that if you are truly his, that you've been bought by the blood of Jesus and chosen in him before the foundation of the world on the authority of Scripture, I can confidently say he will establish and sustain you till the end. This isn't a phase. This isn't a trend, it's a movement of God, okay? He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it in the end, Philippians 1 says. John 10, nobody will snatch you out of the Father's hand. Romans 8, nothing will separate you from the love of Christ if this work is of God. And let me tell you, we sat down with all of you. We heard your story, Dylan. We heard your story, Marisol. We have heard what God has done in your life. And it with as much authority and confidence that we can say, we believe this is a work of God in your life. And if that's true, God is not gonna cut you out of his family. All of us have experienced something like that. Like a breakup, like a parent leaving, or the fear of a job, getting fired. Okay, especially today. Okay, I just read this last week. Microsoft cut 7% of their employees because of AI. And that's not some rink-a-dink software company. We're talking about Microsoft here, right? And one closer to home, KPMG, one of the big four accounting firms, cut seven percent of their employees because of AI. And a lot of people are asking the question, and they got concerns. Even people in this room, they're asking these kind of questions. Am I safe? Am I secure? Will I get cut? And the church needs to know what's coming, and there's some conversations that need to be had, but can I tell you a conversation that doesn't need to be had? A conversation that does not need to be debated or discussed, something that's settled, that no technology and no man can ever disrupt the love of God for his people. You never need to ask the question, am I safe? You never need to ask the question, am I secure or will God cut me for other people? Absolutely not, because God will keep his own and God will build his church, and the gates of hell will not prevail. So I say all that to say this to the guys getting baptized in the gals, welcome to the family. God will sustain you. You can be confident that if God has given you a taste of true life and he is your king, he will sustain you to the end. And so to that end, let me pray for them. And if you're getting baptized as I'm praying, you can come up to the side and let's hear some stories of life change. God, we're so thankful for the true life that's found in Christ, for the abundant life that you have offered us, that great joy is found in you alone. God, thank you for being the king of heaven and earth, that our highest allegiance belongs to you. And God, in this room and in the city, we renounce the works of the devil, his works, his lies, and his authority. In this church, we belong to the King. And God, I pray for these people getting baptized, and everybody in this room. God, that we would be comforted by the sustaining, sovereign grace of the Lord, that you will do a mighty work in us and you'll keep us till the end. That is our confidence in life and death, that we belong to the King. And so be with us and help us celebrate these stories. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.