Go, Stand, Speak Up Acts chapter 5 part 2

One day, a little girl is sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the kitchen sink.

She suddenly notices that her mother has several strands of white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head.

"Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?" she asks. Her mother replies,

"Well, every time you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white."

The little girl thinks about this awhile, then asks, "So how come ALL of Grandma’s hairs are white?"

Many of us have mothers that we have literally given gray hairs to. 

I want to wish all of our mothers today a Happy Mothers Day. 

Many of you here owe your faith to your mother or grandmother.  My grandmother was the one that brought my grandfather to faith and in that directly lead to me being raised in church.

Many Mothers out there today are the evangelist in our families that pass the faith on to our kids and bring their husbands to Christ.

What is the only duty of the church that can’t be better done in heaven- evangelism.

Evangelism is one job that God has given us, He hasn’t given it to the angels, he hasn’t given it to anyone else but the Church.

This is our mandate and this is the reason we are here, to live to proclaim to the world the Dominion of Christ.

The Gospel is a proclamation of fact, it is not coercion on our part, it is not begging, it is not just a suggestion.

It is this – Christ died for your sins, he rose from the dead, he was proclaimed the Son of God by the resurrection and now reigns in Heaven through His Holy Spirit that has been sent into the world.

This is a truth proclamation that is true whether a person believes it or not.
Now some have the mistaken idea that evangelism can be simply one’s lifestyle without words.

 I would agree that our lives need to be a witness; however, mere lifestyle does not constitute the whole of evangelism.

Evangelism is faithful proclaiming Jesus Christ by life and lips.

The greatest need for each one who knows Christ as personal Saviour is to be consumed with the truth that all of us are responsible for the work of evangelism and to be committed to engage in that work.

C. H. Spurgeon
“If sinners be dammed, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one GO there UNWARNED and UNPRAYED for,”.

Let’s see the pattern for evangelism practiced by the early church members.
I. The MANDATE THAT COMPELLED
All of us are familiar with the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20 and its parallel passages in the other gospels.

Christ has given His church the task of bearing the good news of the gospel to a lost world. But knowing and doing can be two different things!

It is not complex information for us to understand –we don’t need a PhD in theology to get the great commission.

Maybe you’ve heard about the preacher who was visiting various classes during the Sunday School Hour to see how they were doing. One Sunday he visited the class of 6th grade boys.

They were talking about things in the O.T.

He listened for a while & then asked, “Who knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho?” Two boys answered, “Preacher, we don’t know who, but we sure didn’t do it.”

Surprised by their lack of Bible knowledge, he turned to the teacher & asked, “What do you think of that answer?” The teacher replied, “Well, I’ve known them since they were little, & they’ve always been honest. If they said they didn’t do it, I believe them.”

Dismayed, he went out into the hallway & saw and elder of the church. He told him, “I was just in the 6th grade boys’ class & asked who knocked down the walls of Jericho.

Two boys held up their hands & said, “We didn’t do it, preacher.” And the teacher told me that if they said they didn’t do it, he believed them.”

The elder interrupted him & said, “Preacher, let’s not fuss about who did what. We’ll just fix the walls & pay for it out of the General Fund.”

Well the point is that we know the great commission, there is nothing complex about man is sinful and needs salvation.

 We have the words of Life – not because we are special but because God in his grace has saved us. 

Because of that we need to go out and compel others to be saved by the grace found in the blood of Christ.

We must notice a few details before taking a look at the mandate given to the disciples.

These brethren had already gone through the trauma of Peter and John’s arrest after the healing of the lame beggar in the temple.

Let’s go to our passage today and see the situation the Church finds itself in because of the preaching of the Apostles.

Last week we saw the hypocrisy of Ananias and Saphirra and then the teaching and healing ministry of the Apostles.

By the hands of the Apostles great miracles were being worked – the power of God was upon them to an extent that even their shadows were healing people.

God was working mightily through His Church.

Because of this the Temple authorities and religious leaders take notice of the apostles teaching.

It is here that we pick up in our story.

Acts 5: 17-32

17 But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees ), and they were filled with jealousy. 18 They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, 20 "Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life." 21 Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest 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. 22 But the officers who came did not find them in the prison ; and they returned and reported back, 23 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." 24 Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this. 25 But someone came and reported to them, "The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people !" 26 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 ). 27 When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, "We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. 30 "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. 31 "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. 32 "And we are witnesses of these things ; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him."

They had already been arrested once and been warned.

 Now they face the same threat, this time by a more angered group of religious leaders.

They were placed in a prison which was the holding place for thieves and murderers.

The high priest meant business this time. He was tired of all the commotion with these gospel preachers!

The angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, takes the prisoners out of the jail, and gives them the command to go preach the gospel (20).

God sent an angel to deliver the apostles, but the angel was not sent to preach the gospel! He told the apostles to go, stand, and speak to the people the whole message of this Life (20).

Now, don’t you think this would be an appropriate time for a barrage of excuses?

But as you see, we do not find any excuses, only a ready willingness to obey the commands of their Lord!

Just because they had been locked up in jail the Angel did not say – he guys we know it has been tough on you, look your in jail, take it easy enjoy life kick back.

No, they had to preach –

What was this message? – The Whole Message of Life

That reminds us that our preaching must be about the whole counsel of God – not just what makes us comfortable or our pet topics but we must preach the Entire Truth of this Life.

Christ has commanded us to spread the good news of the gospel.

-- Hudson Taylor. The great missionary said,
“The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed”

Charles Spurgeon. The great English preacher once said the following about those that have not heard the Gospel:

“Someone asked, ‘Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved?’ It is more a question with me whether we -- who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not -- can be saved” –

That sounds harsh but Spurgeon points out the obvious, if we are saved by the Grace of Christ – how could we withhold that message.

We should be bursting at the seams to go and tell that message to others – to tell them that God loves them and wants to forgive them through the blood of His Son Jesus.

We really have no excuse but our own disobedience for failing to proclaim the gospel!

I think that we can find some help by seeing what the angel commanded the disciples and follow their pattern.

A. SUIT UP - GO
They first had to leave the jail and go to the people.

That is simple enough, yet it is an important truth for us. They were to go to the unbelieving so that they might testify of the grace of God.

You cannot stay at the entry to the jail and get a whole lot of evangelizing done.

 You must go where there are people.

The disciples made their way to the temple about daybreak, which was the time of prayer in which hundreds would be making their way to an encounter with the gospel.

This is the hardest part for me sometimes – I have to wade out in the muck and mire of the world and preach the Gospel – we cant sit in the Holy Huddle and just keep it to ourselves.

Christ has dominion and the world needs to hear it.  There is a King other than the governments of our world and he demands your allegiance – this is a truth.

If we could ever get in mind that the circles in which we find ourselves encountering people are not by chance, but by divine design, it would change our whole attitude about life.

Some of you think that your job is horrible because you have all sorts of wicked people around you. My friend, God has placed you on a mission field--start evangelizing!

Our jobs are a perfect place to bring the light of Christ – if you work in a secular place – let me suggest some practical things for you.

Organize  a Bible study one day a week.  You may be surprised who will come.  Most employers will let you do things like this on your lunch our or before work. 

Invite them to Church events if they life close enough – start living intentionally to share the Gospel in all types of ways.

We must go for God has told us to go with the gospel! We must go for the world desperately needs what only we have. We must go for multitudes are dying without Christ. “

As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”

B. STAND Up
I think it is interesting that the angel not only told the disciples to "go" but also to "stand."

The word conveys the idea of someone who is ’taking a stand’ at a particular spot and fulfilling a purpose.

Do we have that type of resolve to take a stand.  To stand for truth – to know that God has a purpose for you?

On September 11, Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell (from U.S. Army Headquarters) had just stepped into a Pentagon hallway when the fireball from the hijacked plane hit him.

After recovering from the initial shock, Birdwell realized he was on fire. "Jesus, I’m coming to see you," he remembers praying.

 When doctors finally attended to him at the Washington Burn Center, they found second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of Birdwell’s body.

To save him, they performed several skin graft operations. President George W. and First Lady Laura Bush visited the Washington Burn Center on September 13.

Among those they visited was Birdwell. Laura Bush went into Brian’s room and spoke to him for about a minute, all the time as if they were life-long acquaintances.

She then turned to Brian’s wife, Mel, who had been at the hospital for about two-and-a-half days.

 She was dirty, grimy, and wore a bloodstained shirt. Despite this, Laura hugged her for what Mel said seemed like an eternity, just as if Mel was one of her closest family members.

Laura then told Brian and Mel that there was "someone" there to see him.

The President walked in. Standing by Brian’s bedside, the President told Colonel Birdwell that he was very proud of them both and regarded them as heroes.

The President then saluted Brian. Brian slowly began to return the salute, taking about 15 to 20 seconds to get his hand up to his head because of his bandaged arms.

 During all of this, President Bush never moved. He dropped his salute only when Brian was finished with his.

Birdwell lives now with renewed purpose.

"I’m a walking miracle. Christ got me out of the fire. In him not taking me, that means I have a mission to complete. He’ll tell me what it is in due time."

Brian Birdwell – knew he has a purpose.

That attack and his burns didn’t deter him from that. 

Life may have burned us or we may have lost our excitement for the Gospel but God is calling us to go and STAND-

God will strengthen us, he will give us the power to get through.

It might be a commando unit that takes a hill and then digs in so that they will not be moved by the enemy.

It is the idea that you are staking off your territory, and you will not back down because of anyone.

In that classic passage of Ephesians 6 addressing the spiritual conflict we face, we are exhorted three times to "stand."

If we are to get anywhere in the work of sharing our faith, we must stand firm in our faith and not cave in to fears and intimidation.

This is a wonderful exhortation for all of us. So often we give up on sharing the Gospel with people because we are afraid.

To stand is to take courage, to be bold, to keep pressing on for Christ in the face of every intimidation and fear.

We must determine in our hearts that by the strength which the Lord supplies,

 we will stand firm in the Lord to proclaim the gospel of Christ.

Live bravely for Him who died lovingly for you.

C. SPEAK up

We are not to just go and stand! We are to go, stand, and speak the message of Life!

We have not finished the job of evangelism until we have spoken of the gospel of Christ.

There was a man that got up every day and prayed the following prayer:

 "Lord, if you want me to share my faith with someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is."

One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him. The bus was nearly empty but this guy sat next to our praying friend.

The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus.

 But before he could get very nervous about the man next to him, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep.

He then cried out with a loud voice, "I need to be saved. I’m a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?"

He turned to the Christian and pleaded, "Can you show me how to be saved?" The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?"

 Are you looking for a "sign" to start sharing your faith?

We don’t need to pray to find out because the Bible has already spoken on the matter. 

 Jesus has already told us to go and preach the Gospel to all Creatures.

 Remember, evangelism is the faithful use of life and lips to communicate the gospel of Christ.

We must suit up; stand up; and SPEAK UP!