GO, STAND, AND TELL THE MESSAGE

Acts 5:17-6:7                                                                                                              Key Verse: 5:20 

"Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life."

In this passage the apostles are again persecuted by the Jewish religious leaders. God, our commander in chief, does not tell them to retreat but to advance by faith and give the full message of this new life to a perishing people. Why? It shows who God is! It was also a clear direction for them to obey regardless of the situation. When they obey, God works with them through his angel and the Holy Spirit to defeat the power of darkness and advance the gospel. Despite suffering, they were joyful and victorious. Also when the problem arose inside the church they were able to make a clear decision. May God help us to learn their examples in obeying God.. 

Read verses 17-21a. Who arrested the apostles and why? How did they get out of jail (Heb 1:14)? What command was given to them? What can we learn about God as our commander in chief? Consider each command or statement: 1) “Go,” 2) “Stand in the temple courts,” 3) “the full message,” and 4) “this new life.” What did they do at daybreak? 

*The Holy Spirit was working mightily in the Jerusalem church, especially through Peter(4:12-16). They performed many miracles and wonders among the people. They were highly regarded by the people. More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. When the religious leaders saw this, they were filled with jealousy.(17). They became enemies of God. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. They thought they could stop the apostles. 

* “But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.” God is an almighty God and could do anything. But at this time he prefers to send his angels to open the prison doors and set his servants free. Compared with Mattew 27:62-28:7. Angel is a ministering  spirit to serve those who will inherit salvation(Heb 1:14).

* “‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ‘and tell the people the full message of this new life.’” The angel did not say to them, “You are free. Run fast and get away from here.” Rather the angel told them to go and stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of new life in Jesus. Here are three verbs: go, stand, and tell. God wants them to go to the place where God wants. God wants them to stand and speak out. They must go to the public place and stand and speak out so that all may hear. They must speak boldly and resolutely. “

*Here we learn the heart of God. God is willing to sacrifice to proclaim the gospel to sinners. God sent his Son Jesus into a hostile environment. Now, God was sending his beloved disciples back to the temple courts at the risk of their lives. God wants to save perishing souls. God’s servants must know his heart. God’s servants must also be willing to sacrifice to preach the message of new life in a perishing world. 

*Temple courts is a public place, not a private place. The temple was also supposed to be God’s house, where people could come to hear his word and pray. But under the control of the high priest it had become a den of robbers.(John 2:14-22). In truth, Satan wanted to cut off the life-giving word of God from his people. The temple was like a spiritual battlefield.

*How about “full message”? The full message is necessary especially at this specific moment of persecution. It is easy to shrink back and water down their message.But they must serve the full message without missing anything as follows: Jesus was God in the flesh; Jesus died for our sins; God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him to his own right hand as Lord and Christ; this Risen Christ will come again as King and Judge; at present, the Risen Christ sends the Holy Spirit to those who accept him; this all happened according to the Scriptures; the apostles are witnesses; whoever repents of his sins and believes will receive new life that is eternal, and the kingdom of God as his inheritance.  

*This new life? Especially Jewish people were familiar with Moses' laws. Although they were great, but they were mere shadows of Jesus Christ. They were partial or incomplete knowledge to introduce Jesus Christ. They do need full and new message. They also experienced the work of the Holy Spirit that was the totally new concept to the general people. 

 *How did the apostles respond to the angel’s command? “At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.”

Read verses 21b-26. When did they know about what's going on? Read verses 27-29. How did the high priest rebuke them? What was the apostles' answer (compared with 4:19, 20)?  

*Several hours later, around the business hours such as 9:00 a.m., the high priest and his associates called together the Sanhedrin–the full assembly of the elders of Israel. They wanted to humiliate the apostles of Jesus. Then they sent for the apostles. But the apostles were not in the prison! It was embarrassing for them, especially for the captain of the temple guard. They had to admit that they could not shackle the apostles. Then someone reported that the apostles were standing in the temple courts teaching the people. It was the very thing the religious leaders wanted to prevent. In this way, God revealed that he was in control of things and he was holding the apostles in his hand. It was a clear message to the religious leaders. 

*The high priest tried to threaten the apostles, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” (28). 

*“Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!’” Peter and the other apostles had simply obeyed God’s word. Peter was very clear that he must obey God rather than men. Peter knew that the religious leaders were full of hatred and ready to do evil. But he did not fear men. He was ready to obey God at the risk of his life. At this time not only Peter, but all the apostles were ready to obey God at the risk of their lives. Compared with 4:19&20, they became more bold and came up with concise answer by putting the word “must”. They had martyrdom Spirit and they're simply unstoppable! 

Read verses 30-32. How did they make the most of this opportunity to witness about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit? What did they try to teach the Jewish leaders? Did the listeners repent (33)? 

*“The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead–whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” The worst thing the religious leaders could do was kill the body. And they could do this only if God allowed them to. But God can raise the dead. God raised Jesus and exalted him to his own right hand. God made Jesus Prince and Savior. God made Jesus the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. God made Jesus the King of kings and Lord of lords. When they had this assurance in their hearts they were fearless. Moreover, they had the Holy Spirits in their hearts. When they obeyed the angel’s message, the Holy Spirit came upon them and burned in their hearts. Their hearts were full of a sense of conquest and victory. “So is the Holy Spirit”

*Also they knew who their enemies really were. The high priest and  religious leaders here in Sanhedrin were mainly Sadducees(verses 17&21b) who were in charge of high position and considered themselves as ring leaders having authority and power. They did not believe resurrection nor angels. So they introduced the resurrection of Jesus first(30) and taught them about God has done in verse 31. “God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior” They prompted them to repent by humbling themselves before Jesus for Jesus is the very King and the Lord.  Also they introduced the Holy Spirit. When they obeyed without compromise, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was unseen, much less they did not believe His existance. But they taught them to obey the new owner, so called the Holy Spirit. Their message was three dimentional one delivered to two dimentional people who knew nothing but practical and political power in this limited world. All they have to do is to humbly listen their full message of new life and repent and obey Jesus who is the Prince and Savior.  

*When the religious leaders heard this, they were furious. They wanted to kill the apostles. They probably tore their silk garments and snarled viciously, baring sharp incisors like angry dogs. Their murderous inner persons were evident to all. The apostles were in danger. 

Read verses 34-39. Who was Gamaliel and how did he help the apostles? Read verses 40-42. Why did they rejoice even after they had been flogged? What can we learn from them (1Peter 4:13)?

*God used a renowned Pharisee named Gamaliel to reason with them. “...you will not be able to stop these men.” This was true! 

*Though the religious leaders decided to release the apostles, they had them flogged first. It must have been quite painful for the apostles. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. Verse 41. “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed" (1Pe 4:13).

*“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” The apostles used every day as a precious opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus. They continued to teach in the temple courts boldly and courageously. They also went from house to house. Their message was, “Jesus is the Christ.” Here we learn that persecution did not hinder the gospel from spreading. 

Read 6:1-4. As the church grew, what problem arose? (1) How did the apostles decide to deal with it? Why was this an important decision? What was the result? (7)

*The Jerusalem church was growing remarkably. Disciples were growing: disciples are different from just mere church shoppers. God sent many people showing spiritual desire to learn and grow to be committed believers. They are ready to obey any sound teaching from bible teachers. 

In the Jerusalem church, there were Hebraic Jews and Grecian Jews. The Hebraic Jews spoke Aramaic and followed Jewish culture. The Grecian Jews spoke Greek and followed Greek culture. The Jerusalem church was predominantly Hebrew. Grecian Jews would have been a minority. Apparently, Satan used unintentional mistake or a matter of cultural sensitivity. 

*The Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.” Here we learn their key principle in doing God’s work. They gave first priority to the ministry of the word of God. This is what they had learned from Jesus. 

* “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them....”(verse 3) The apostles decided to delegate the responsibility of food distribution to others. They asked the brothers to choose seven men for the task. The qualifications were not based on human ability, but spiritual maturity. The men had to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. 

*Verse 4. “...and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” The apostles clarified their mission to pray and serve God’s word. They did not become social workers or businessmen. They made a definite, absolute commitment to spend their time in prayer and the ministry of the word. This decision became the foundation of the spiritual life of the church. 

*The result was marvelous! “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. 

*One word: “Go and stand in the temple courts and tell the full message of this new life”