Our Hope Is Not In Things Below | Sunday Sermon

Our Hope Is Not In Things Below | Sunday Sermon

Series: Acts: The Story Continues...

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If you have a Bible, you can open it, but we have the verses up here. Why don't we just go ahead, if you're able, if you're willing and you're uh okay, it's not gonna hurt you, um, rise to your feet for the reading of the word. The last time I'll make you guys stand up, I promise. Acts chapter five, verse seventeen. But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. And when they had heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak, and they began to teach. Now when the high priest came and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the Senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison. And so they returned and reported, We found the prison securely locked, and the guards standing at the doors. But when they opened when we opened them, we found no one inside. 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 someone came and told them, Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, 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. But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on the tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins, and we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. And when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 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, and he said to the men of Israel, Take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theodus rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of the men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all those who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census, and drew away some of the people after him, and he too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men, and let them alone, for if this plan is of his th if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail, 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, 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. And they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. As I was reading this last night, um I was thinking, what is it that gave these people the ability and the power to live this way? Just like kind of no holds barred, right? All the way to the hilt, like leaving nothing on the table, fearlessly, not hiding uh from peace, not hiding from the persecution, not intimidated, not hedging their bets, but offering up their lives, laying down their lives if that was what was required, so that they could preach, as the scripture says, all the words of this life. And I was thinking about my own life, my own journey to Christ as I became a new believer, you know, and I was so excited about the things of God. I had a real genuine encounter with the Lord. And I knew that he had changed me. I knew that I was different, like one day to the next. It was kind of like a little transition, and then it was like one day I was just like, yeah, I want, I want him. I want all of this, you know. And so I turned to him, and as I um did, I just went all out. I was driving around in my truck, I was listening to um cassettes on tape. Chuck Smith at Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, had these through the Bible teachings, and I would go get a stack of cassettes and put them in my truck and driving around just listening to the Bible all day, and I was learning and I was getting excited about you know, sharing my faith, and um I would go buy like a big book stack of Bible tracts and go down to the beach and pass them out, and nobody wanted them, but I didn't care. I was just trying, I was trying to figure it out. Somebody talked to me one day, they're like, hey, what's this all about? And I had no clue what to say next. I was just lost, you know. But I remember I was all zeal, I was all excitement at that point, but I didn't have a lot of um kind of knowledge, you know, at that point. I didn't have a lot of wisdom yet, you know, and so um I remember at that time it was kind of when AOL was first starting to come around, and you'd like get the CD and you'd put it in the computer, and then you'd like log on, and it'd be like 15 minutes later, you'd actually be on the internet, and they had these AOL chat rooms, and I'd go into the chat rooms, and you know, there was these atheist versus Christian conversations on there, and I'd be going in there like, oh, that's how I learned to type so good. It was like I was just doing this. But I remember at that time feeling like an insecurity. It was almost like I was afraid that someone was gonna come along with enough knowledge to maybe be able to prove me wrong or talk me out of my faith. You know, it was like this insecurity I carried about around me, and so it made me defensive. It made me want to put walls up, and then I would react, you know, when somebody would say something. But from that time to now, I have lived a whole bunch of life. I've been through dark valleys, deep valleys, I've been over some beautiful mountain vistas, and literally and figuratively. Um I've walked through fire. Uh I've been burned. Um but what's funny is through all the things I've walked through, what I've learned is that God has kept me faithful, you know? Like even when I failed, even when I fell, even when I did the wrong thing, even when I made wrong choices, like God still held on to me. There was never a moment, even in the worst moments of my life, the most painful things that I've ever been through, there was never a moment that he wasn't with me. In fact, in those moments, he it was like I could almost sense his presence more. Like that's what he used it for. Like I'm in the valley, I got nothing else, I can't see any hope, I can't see light at the end of the tunnel. And that's the moment when God's like, I'm right here. I am right here with you. I I remember being in like the bottom of the barrel one time, you know, just like my life's trash, and yet God's still kind of opening some doors for me to ministry for some reason. And I'm I was at this, you know, place, this church I didn't want to be at, and I'm in this service, and I'm like saying, God, I don't want to be here, I don't like this place, and all that's going on. And I there was this song that God had been using at that time. Um it's it's take my hand, you know. It's by this band called The Cry. It goes, take my hand and walk where I lead. Keep your eyes on me alone. Don't you say, Why were the old days better? Just because you're scared of the unknown. Take my hand and walk. And you're like, Yeah, whatever, that song's alright. But in that moment, it's like that's what I needed. I just needed a lifeline. I needed something, you know? And for some reason that song would come on and it would just hit me. And I'd be like, Yeah, okay, Lord, okay, okay. I'll I'll just trust you, I'll just trust you. I'll just keep trusting you the next day, like one day at a time, you know. And I'm so I'm sitting in this church and I'm like, God, I don't want to be here. You gotta show me. Is this what you want for me? There's so much going on in my life. Is this what you want for me to be in this place right now? And I'm praying this. I'm sitting in the front row and I'm sitting there, and then this guy, the pastor, comes out. He's now he's a friend of mine, his name is Kyle. He comes out and he says, We have these guests, they came all the way from Canada, they're gonna play a song for us. And these two brothers walk out from the band The Cry. Got an acoustic guitar and a cajon. Sit down, take my hand and walk where I lead. It's like he just has always been there. And I was, of course, I was a mess. I was crying, I was on the floor. No, no, I mean like laying on the floor, but I was on my knees, I'm crying, I'm like, okay, okay, Lord, okay, okay, I hear you loud and clear. Afterward, the guy came down, and I'm like, he's like, this guy's weird. It's like God's always been with me, and it's in those moments of darkness, it's in the hard things in life when he's been there and he's shown me that he's faithful. And so as I look at this passage, I'm thinking, you know, what is it that gave these guys this strength? You know, the thing that I've gained through all of those years of walking with the Lord, through all the ups and downs, is that I know who he is. I know he's real. I know he's with me. I know he's holding me. I know his spirit is within me. There's no doubt anymore. You can't talk someone out of their faith when they've seen the real Jesus, when they've met the real Lord, when God has actually touched your life and changed you from the inside out. I'm sorry, you can't talk me out of that. And these men had seen the risen Lord. They had seen him face to face. And even the ones who were being saved through the ministry of apostles, they were being filled with the Holy Spirit and they were seeing his power right in front of them, right in their own lives. And yes, in signs and in wonders and in healings and all these cool things that the passage talks about. But also just in the internal change that's happening within them. They're watching their family members who maybe have been one way their whole life, suddenly be another way, all of a sudden, just because they met Jesus, they're they're seeing, you know, their own lives change. They're seeing the apostles moving in power, they're sensing the difference and the holiness of the church versus the dry old religious establishment that existed before. And so in this passage, it's what's happening is they're all meeting together in the temple. So they're going into the temple courts. There's this place called Solomon's Portico, they're all meeting there. This is the place Jesus used to teach. Okay, this is the place where the lame man was healed when they went to Solomon's Portico. They're in Solomon's Portico. It says all of them are together. At this point, you're talking about thousands of people. There's thousands of people. Okay, and last week we talked about how the people didn't dare join them and yet they held them in high esteem. It's like they could sense that something real, something authentic, something powerful was happening with this group of people. And so it says multitudes of both men and women are being added to the church every day. It's like they're being drawn by the realness, by the genuineness of who God is. You know, who wants a stale religion? Who wants a list of rules? We want the real thing. I want to know the real Jesus. I want to know the real Lord. I don't want to waste my time. I don't want to play games. I don't want to sign up for some club. That's not what we're here for. We want Jesus. Amen. Amen. And so they they were meeting the real Jesus. And it says the high priest rose up, and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy. They're jealous because they're the leaders. They're the ones with the fancy robes and their little curly cues on their sides. They're the ones like with the nice tassels and the hats. They're the ones that are supposed to be teaching and having control and controlling their narrative. And so filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. So they they take them, and it says they arrested the apostles. Now, this doesn't just say they arrested one or two of the apostles. They arrested the apostles. Okay, at this time, this group is big, they know who the leaders are, they go get them, they throw them in jail. So they're like, Yeah, reasserting our authority. Yeah, doing the pec pop and stuff, they're so powerful. And an angel goes in the middle of the night, opens the door, lets them all out. And what does he say? He doesn't say, go run away, go hide, go hide under your bed, go to grandma's house, go get out of the city because they're gonna start persecuting now. What does he say? Go right back to the very center of their authority, go right back to that very spot where they took you from and keep preaching all the words of this life. Don't run away, go right back there because I want to show them something. Amen. So he puts them back in that spot, and I love how he says this preach all the words of this life. That's what our faith is. Our faith isn't a list of rules. Our faith is not a club. Like I said, it's not a country club, it's not a place for us to all come together together and we sing some sing songs and we go, okay, check, mark that off my list. Because if that's what it's all about, then why bother? Our faith is life. It's like what we talked about here. He said, I'm gonna sprinkle clean water in you, make you clean. I'm gonna change your heart of stone, I'm gonna make give you a heart of flesh, I'm gonna put my spirit in you, I'm gonna give you life, I'm gonna take you from spiritual death, and I'm gonna make you spiritually alive. I'm gonna take that connection that was broken in the Garden of Eden with all of humanity, and I'm gonna restore that through my son, and I'm gonna reconnect you back to the one who made you, who formed you in your mother's womb and created you, and know all of your days before you had ever lived even one. I'm gonna connect you to that God, and you're gonna have a real living relationship with him. Keep preaching all the words of this life, preaching to these dead people, to this dead system, all the words of this life. And when the high priest came, those who were with them, they called together the council and the Senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they didn't come and find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, there's no one inside. I thought this was funny when I read it. It's like God's got a really funny sense of humor. Because I was picturing all of the, you know, pompous, arrogant, you know, leader people. You know, they're they got their fancy robes and they're all, you know, dressed up in their best, and they're probably waking up that morning and combing their hair and their beards and stuff and putting their beard butter on, and they got all ready to go, and they get sit themselves down in their special circle, you know, and they're looking around. Oh, we look good, don't we? Yeah. Bring them in. And then they go and they find, oh, yeah, by the way, they're not in there. And so it says they're perplexed and they're like wondering what's gonna come of this whole situation. And then all of a sudden somebody walks in and says, Hey, we found them. They're actually standing right there. They're right on the temple and they're doing the exact thing that you threw them in prison for. They're just doing it, they're still preaching, they're still teaching the people. And so it says that the captain of the temple went and got them, but it says they didn't bring them by force, did they? They're like, hey, why don't you guys come with us? Because by this point, there's thousands of people all there. And obviously there's something going on that's very powerful because they're seeing people get healed, they see the miracles that are happening, and now, somehow, these men that they threw into prison are free. And it says when they had brought them and sat them before the council, the high priest questioned them, we strictly charged you not to teach in this name, and yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us, saying, We told you not to do this, and you've now filled all Jerusalem with your teaching. It's like a just a confession of their impotence right here. Just saying, we have no actual power. With all our power, with all our authority, with all of our knowledge, with all of our learning, with all of our degrees, with everything we have, we have actually no power at all. We told you not to do it, and now all of Jerusalem has been filled with your teaching. And he says, Now you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Do you remember what the people chanted when Jesus was standing there with Pilate? When he said, Why? He's innocent, he hasn't done anything wrong. They they they chanted, His blood be upon us and upon our children. You intend to bring this man's blood upon us. No, you did that. You did that actually. And so instead of cowering down, the Holy Spirit filling Peter and the apostles, and they answer, We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree, and God exalted him at the right hand to give 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. So they just start preaching the gospel to them. What's funny about this is Sadducees don't believe in angels and they don't believe in resurrection, and yet an angel led them out of jail, and now these guys are preaching resurrection in the temple and out to their face. Okay, so there's like no fear in the man who ran away and denied knowing Jesus on the night of his trial. Okay, now he's filled with the Holy Spirit. There's no fear at all, and he stands in front of these powerful people with the other apostles, and they just boldly preach right in their face the man you crucified, God's exalted him and made him leader and savior to give forgiveness of sins and repentance to Israel. And yeah, you are guilty. You crucified him. But I just look at this, you know, and then let's just skip to the end. Down at the end, they they it says that they they talk to Gamaliel. Gamaliel is a teacher who is actually the teacher of the Apostle Paul. Later we find out as we read. But he says, hey, look, there's been other uprisings, there's been other groups, but you know, if they're not of God, then they're just they just kind of tend to fizzle out. So why don't you just leave them alone? And if they're not from God, they're gonna fizzle out. But if God is with them, you're not gonna be able to overthrow them. You're gonna be fighting against God. Now, Gamaliel's not a a believer, he never became a Christian as far as we know. But what he said was was pretty smart. And it actually turned out to become a prophecy, you know. If if what they're doing is of God, you're not gonna be able to overthrow it. And that's sort of the message we see in this passage is nothing can stop the kingdom from advancing. There's nothing that can stop it. And there's nothing that can stop his people from living their faith out loud when they've actually genuinely met him and know him and been filled with his spirit. You know, and that's that's I think the message for us today is now the temple was a simp center center. Like the Sadducees were basically a political religious group, and so they they controlled the narrative, they controlled power, and and they wanted their power, and so they wanted to keep control of who was saying what. Okay, and so the angel delivered them, he put them in the temple, and he said, he didn't say though, go preach against their position, go preach against their political stance, go preach against this. He said, preach the words of this life. And see, they were able to go lay down their lives because what they were preaching was the actual gospel. What they were doing, what they were living for, and the one they were obeying was the Jesus that they had known and met and who had changed their lives. And I think the thing that I was thinking about last night as I was thinking about this passage, I was thinking, you know, we have a lot of stuff going on in our world right now. A lot of stuff that makes us feel insecure, a lot of stuff that makes us feel anxiety. There's wars going on, the price the price of fuel is sky high. I had to put diesel in my truck the other day, it was $7.29 a gallon. You know, it's like that's going on. People aren't wanting to spend money because things are very expensive. So, business owners like me, you know, we feel that. Um, we've got a chemical spill going on. Me and my family are out of our house. We're living in our tiny little trailer at an RV park. The solace is too are out of their home, living at a family member's house. It's like there's all these things. What's gonna happen? What's gonna happen with the tank explosion? What's gonna happen with the chemical thing? Is it gonna hurt our house? Is it gonna ruin us? Is it gonna there's all these things, and we have all these anxieties and fears. But the reason that the apostles and the disciples had so much strength is because they knew who Jesus was. They knew what the big picture was. See, we get focused on the little things in our lives and the little anxieties that we face, and they feel big and overwhelming, and we we get overwhelmed by the anxiety of them all. And yet the apostles looked and they said, Well, that's Jesus. He's the King of kings and Lord of Lords. He's the one that God exalted to the right hand. He's gonna come back and he's gonna make all things new. He's gonna restore all things. This world is not our home. Paul the Apostle said, You know, I had a lot of things. I was a Pharisee, I had learning, I had achievements, I had recognition, I had respect, but you know what? I count them all rubbish compared to the surpassing worth of simply knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. See, they could live for what was higher. If they had been focused on, you know, we need to overthrow these Sadducees so we can take power back in Jerusalem. And then we can start spreading the gospel through political means. That's a low bar. That's a low thing to live for. That's a low target. And so we get distracted because we think, well, we've got to take the White House, or we've got to keep the White House, or we've got to, you know, win the governorship, or we've got to lose the governorship, or whatever. It's like we've we get all anxious because we're so focused on the world around us. What's going to happen with our money? What's going to happen with our politics? What's going to happen with our world? What's going to happen with the chemical spill? In the meantime, God is in heaven saying, I got this. You're living for me, for my kingdom. And if an angel can come down from heaven and open the prison doors and let the people out and say, stand right in the middle of where all those people are trying to persecute you, the same people that killed Jesus, I want you to stand right in the middle of them, and I'm going to give you power and boldness and courage to preach my gospel in front of all those people. Then he can take care of us no matter who's in the White House. The apostles didn't care who the emperor was. The apostles didn't care who the high priest was. Because they were worshiping and serving and living for the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. It's funny. Is it Psalm 2? Yeah, Psalm 2. I'm going to wrap up, guys. I'm not going to keep going. Don't worry. Warm it up for Act 2 here. Psalm 2, it says, Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves. The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. Let us burst their bonds apart, cast away their cords from us. And so he's saying, you know, look at all the rulers of the earth are making all their plots and their plans and their schemes, and they've got all their things that they're what they're going to do, and I'm going to do this and go there and take over that and establish my kingdom, and I'm going to do this. And you know what it says in verse 3? No, verse 4. He who sits in the heavens laughs. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord holds them in derision. All the things that worry us don't worry him. And when we face things that worry us, what we need to not do is not worry more and anxiety and scramble and try to figure out how are we going to solve all these problems of the world? How are we going to gather enough signatures? How are we going to get enough votes? Who's going to come and rescue us with a financial package that's going to help us? No. We go to Jesus. We go to God. We go to the one who has the power of creation. The Bible says he holds all things together by the word of his power. He holds everything together by the word of his power. Molecules, atoms. He holds them together. Think if he just let go and it all just goes and unravels. He has the power of creation in his words. He just speaks and solar systems come into existence. But we're going to worry about who's in the White House. That's silly. That's just flat out silly. 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. And then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple, from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. When they suffered, they rejoiced. Because they were counted worthy to share in the sufferings of their Lord. It's weird when you go through something hard and then you start experiencing that closeness that God gives you when you're in a hard thing. It's weird how you can almost get excited about the fact that God's going to meet me here. I'm going through something hard, but this is like this is my chance. I get to actually experience his nearness, you know, even a little deeper. Because when we go through hard things, what it does is it it helps us to let go of our tight grip on the things that we want and the things of the world and our hope in world systems and all that kind of thing. It helps us to let go of those things and it helps us to just go, what does all this stuff matter? I'm just gonna look at him. He's the one that can save me, he's the one that can heal me, he's the one that can give me the power to walk through whatever I walk through. And if it all crumbles and I have him, I'm good.