Jailbreak

Welcome to Verse by Verse. Thank you so much for joining us as we take a look at the book of Acts. We take things nice and slowly as we look and see what God is doing in the big picture of expanding the gospel from Jerusalem to Judea and to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. My name is David Humphrey and I'm the pastoral care and missions pastor here at United City Church in Humboldt, Texas. We're excited to be your church family while you're incarcerated, but we're going to be even more excited when you get out and you can come and be a part of our church in person. We love you very much. Please grab your Bible and a journal, perhaps a pen, and be ready to take some notes, and let's learn together through the book of Acts. All right, well, last week we were in Acts chapter 5 and we're going to be back in Acts chapter 5. For those of you that are joining us online, we're super glad. Those of you that get to watch us, whether you're behind bars or whether you're just out and about, glad that you have tuned in. This has been a pretty exciting and interesting portion of the book of Acts. We're really getting into the part where there's lots of signs and wonders, and I'll just spoiler alert, that's not going to stop until the end of the book of Acts, okay? So we're going to be talking about this type of movement. A lot of supernatural things are going to happen that are not just your average everyday moments, okay? We are in the portion of this where last week we saw that there were signs and wonders being done. What was maybe one of the ones that stood out to you that was happening that we read last week in Acts chapter 5 verses 12 through 16? We talked about one that was just kind of like, oh wow. Remember what it was? What was happening with Paul? I'm not Paul. Sorry, with Peter. Yeah, Peter's shadow. People were just bringing people out so that in case his shadow would go over them and they were being healed. Guys, that's a lot of power just radiating, okay? You don't have to touch him, right? It's just like his shadow. I mean, you can see shadows in this room. Can you imagine that the miraculous power of Jesus would come through that? So guys, we saw a lot of interesting things. One of the questions that we asked last week was, why don't we

see as many signs and wonders today as they saw in Bible times? That's a good question, isn't it? Okay, unbelief is definitely one of the answers. Yeah, we're not expecting signs and wonders. Yes? I was. I have seen signs and wonders. Yes, I have. Yeah, a lot of people would report from other places in the world that we see more of those in other places. Yeah, well, I like, I read this to you last week, but I'm gonna read it to you again. I like this quote from John Piper. He said, there were fewer miracles in the Bible than you probably think, and there are more miracles today than you probably know, and there's a good biblical reason for why there would be a certain kind of prevalence of miracles in the Bible that is different from today. Now, that takes a little bit of unpacking, but what he's meaning, he is not downplaying the number of miracles that are in the Bible in any way, shape, or form. What he is noting is that there are periods, it's not like every page of the Bible is a miraculous occurrence like a Red Sea parting. We see a lot of those in the Bible, but that doesn't mean that there were not days and weeks and years in which those things weren't happening all the time every day. Now, when you're looking at the book of Acts, it just feels like, I mean, they're just coming left and right and left and right, but that's not everything in the Bible is not signs and wonders. He also, I love the part that he says, there are more miracles today than you probably know. Okay, we talked about miracles that happen here every Sunday, and it's a very quiet little miracle, and what is that miracle that's the greatest one of all? It's the miracle of salvation, guys. That is a greater miracle than a leper being healed. So, make no mistake, the greatest miracle of all we still see on a regular basis. So, I know sometimes, you know, signs and wonders feel like flashy and exciting, and we want that, and we do. We'll praise God. God, if you want to exhibit that here, that's fine. We want to have the faith that says we want to see that, and we want to pray for that, but guys, we need to be praying for the miracle of salvation to come because that is a miracle in itself. So, there have always been seasons in history, as you would say, where there were perhaps more miracles than others, and this season of the birth of the church is one

of those seasons, okay, where there was a unique outpouring of more miracles, and what... What was the point of those miracles? We talked about that too. Is it just to be flashy and exciting? To bring attention to Jesus and the message. That was the point. This was not so we've got a magic show coming through town. We'll see what happens when the magician comes and starts asking for the same power that these guys have. That's going to happen later in the book of Acts. If you've read ahead, you know that story. So the magicians are wanting the same thing because they're wanting the attention. That's not what signs and wonders are. They are to point to Jesus, who is the greatest miracle of all. So last week we were with Peter's shadow and all so much miracle power. Tonight we're going to read a lot of verses and we're going to get to some of them. We're just going to see how it goes. But this entire passage, starting in chapter five, verse 17, and we're going to go all the way down to about verse 42 in reading because it's a whole story and I want you to see all of the chapters and then we'll just unpack it as we can. But again, this is Acts chapter five, starting in verse 17 and going on down. So it says, 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. 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 and they called together the council, 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. So they returned and reported, we found the prison securely locked and the guard standing at the doors. But when we opened them, we found no one inside. 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. Someone came and told them, look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple teaching the people. Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. When they had brought them, they set them before the council and the high priest questioned them saying, we strictly charge 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 a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses to these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. 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're about to do with these men. For before these days, Theodos rose up claiming to be somebody and a number of men, about 400, joined him. He was killed and all who followed him were dispersed and it 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.

In the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone. 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 and you might even be found opposing God. So they took his advice. And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them, charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. 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 and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Christ, that the Christ is Jesus. Wow, what this is, I know with several stories back to back here, and we're not going to work our way down to all of those tonight, but we're definitely going to work our way back to verse 17. But I just wanted you to see this full context of the things that are unfolding as a result of the apostles just continuing to do these signs and wonders. So obviously, when it started out, I mean, the way this this came about, they were just doing the things that God had called them to do, was allowing them to do. And they were bringing the sick and those with unclean spirits and they were all healed. And that seems like that would make everybody happy. And it did make a lot of people happy, but who did it not make happy? The Sadducees. See, with a name like Sadducee, doesn't that make you feel sad already? Right, I mean, they're just sad. They really are, they're sad, you see. And so there was some little song, little kid's song like that. But guys, these guys are so upset and the high priest just gets so mad. He was a Sadducee and he was filled with what?

Jealous, well, what's he jealous about? Power. Power, prestige, attention, right? They were the, he was like the grand poobah, right? I mean, he was the guy, everybody look at me, I'm the one. I can represent you before God. I can do all of this. And guys, it had become more of a religious thing than a relationship with Jesus thing. And so now these guys are coming and they've got spiritual power that the high priest has not, doesn't even know how to show. He's not even asking, like we're talking about, well, we don't even have prayer to ask him. Well, high priest wasn't asking for that spiritual power to flow through him. He was just doing his religious things. And so it doesn't mean the high priest didn't believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but the high priest is trying to hold on to the sacred traditions, but something new has arrived on the scene. And the Holy Spirit is now dwelling in the hearts of believers. And so it's a whole new thing. So the primary response is jealousy. And I don't think that was about theological conviction. I think it was just pure jealousy. They just wanted more of that attention

that these guys are now getting. So they had a great plan. The plan in verse 18 is just brilliant, right? Let's arrest them, okay? That already has not gone so well. It's gonna go even worse this time. But why do you think they keep trying the arrest them card? Yeah, they're gonna try again. Maybe we'll shut them up this time. They just get louder each time. Did you notice that? We got all the way through and they were just louder than they were the first time. So, you know, they thought they would try putting them in prison. Of course, it says the apostles, they arrested the apostles. So I know we get a lot of play with Peter, but it's never they arrested the apostle. It's almost always plural. So guys, this is Peter and likely all of them, put them in public prison. But there's always that, right? During the night, an angel of the Lord shows up. And what does the angel of the Lord do? Yeah, well, he opened the doors. He actually was quite the host. He opened the doors, he led them out and gave them instructions. He's like, this is no big deal.

We're just gonna just head right out here. And the instructions are what's in verse 20. So I'm not trying to just march right over that miracle of the opening of prison doors. But we're gonna come back to it in a few minutes because they have to address it in a second. But he opened the doors, he led them out, he gave them instructions. That also, by the way, the opening of the doors probably would have been related to, there may have been some shackles involved. That's not spoken of specifically here, but that could have been. But what are the instructions that the angel gives? Go stand in the temple. Go stand in the temple, which is just the place they came from and speak to the people all the words of this life. In other words, just do what Jesus told you to do. Keep doing what Jesus told you to do. And they had already made the promise. Hey guys, you can arrest us, but we're gonna have to obey God rather than men. Remember several weeks ago, we talked about civil disobedience, which is basically what is happening here, okay? The laws are telling them, you can't do this. And they're like, we answer to a higher authority. And that's the authority of Jesus. So he says, get public again, get out there immediately.

We can't shut down the message, basically. It's another way of putting, saying what the angel told them. Now, when you look down at verse 20 and verse 21, we don't really know how much time lapsed, okay? We know it was during the night. If you look at verse 19, you can see that's where things are happening. So we don't know at what time during the night. We don't have that specific. And then next thing we know, they entered the temple at daybreak, okay? So again, there could have been a period of several hours in there. It doesn't tell us where they went. You know me, I'm just always kind of digging around in there to see if there's something that could have happened. So we don't know what happened in those hours. Maybe it was. only 30 minutes, can't really say, but what we know is they were right there at daybreak. As soon as the people start showing up, they're right back doing exactly the same thing they've been told not to do because they were convicted. This is what we're going to start doing, and we're not going to stop. So I'm not really sure why verse 21 says, well, let's skip that. It says, the high priest came and those who were with him and called together the council and sent to prison to have them brought. So let me think through this here. Basically what we've got is in that very verse, they came out and they are out there teaching. This is the apostles. In the very same verse, the high priest came and those who were with him and they called

together the council. That's not happening in the exact same spot here. You understand what we're trying to say? The high priest at this point still has no clue what's going on. So it's almost a little bit ironic, right? I mean, Peter and his gang, they're just out here preaching Jesus and the high priest and his gang are over here. Well, let's, let's call them in. Okay. Guards, go get them. And that's when it gets interesting, right? Because I mean, they had the whole shebang. Look at verse 21. They called together the council, all the Senate of the people of Israel. And they said, okay, go get the prisoners. We've got everybody assembled. Now they're about to have pie on their faces, aren't they guys? Because then the officers came and now they start telling the story as they're trying to piece it together. They didn't find them in the prison. So here's the report. Somebody read the report of those, uh, of those prison guards, or I should say the, the, the officers starting in verse 23. Okay. Now what's, what, let's, let's think through this just logistically earlier. What was the description of what the angel did? Open the doors just like, Hey, everybody out, you know, they walked right out, but now we're getting more information about the site, the crime scene, we should say. Okay. Because at the crime scene, there are other players in place.

Who are these other people that, yeah, there were guards and those guards, it says we're standing at the doors. The prison was securely locked. So here's what's going on here. We don't know how they got out. It doesn't sound, I don't know if they put the prison guards in a trance or if they put them to sleep. We don't know what happened, but the guards are just standing there. They were totally oblivious to everything that had happened. Okay. I think obviously God is trying to make a really clear point. He kept it very covert, right? I mean, he could have done anything, right? He could have shackled the guards, right? And just had them walk out in front of them, but they wanted this kind of dramatic entry if you ask me. So that's the best I can see. So basically all the, all the guys are coming back reporting is, well, it was locked. You notice they called securely, right? Like we're trying to cover our bases here. It was, it was locked. Nobody could have gotten out and the guards were there. So it was like doubly secure, but there was nobody in there. Now what do you think the guards did when they showed up and they turned around? They're like, this happened on our watch. You think the guards are getting afraid? I think the guards are like, oh no, we are in big trouble. So it says, now look at verse 24, when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, what was their response? Why do you think they're perplexed?

Have they not figured out that there's not going to be any stopping of Peter and these guys? However, have, have Peter and the gang been broken out of jail yet by angels or is this new to the story so far? This is new to the story so far. Okay. Now you do, if some of you who have read, read ahead, no, this is not going to be the last time for a jail break in the book of Acts. Okay. The jail breaks happen in a variety of ways. I know of at least two times are we'll, we'll, we'll let it unfold, but I know there's at least one more time when we've got a jail break. Okay. So this is common. These guys keep getting put in jail and then God just lets them right out and then they go back to exactly what they were doing. And then it's just like, they're perplexed because they're just like, how are they doing this? I don't see this perplexed like scratching their heads. I see this like frustrated, right? Like how in the world do they keep doing it? It's kind of like you've got a mouse in your house, right? You know what I mean? And you're just like, you've done all the things and you're like, how does it keep getting in here, right? It's like we've secured the whole place and they keep getting in or they keep getting out. It's absolutely perplexing to them but they shouldn't have been surprised once they found out where they were

because that's actually the next thing, right? You notice what happened? It says they were perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to and then someone came and said, look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Well, why didn't we look there first, right? That would have been a more obvious place to look for these guys. But they keep thinking they're gonna bind up the message or they're gonna bind up the messengers. They're gonna hold them captive, but guys, they're not. There's nothing that will stop the movement of the kingdom of God in the world. Guys, do you understand that every church in Houston, Texas could shut down and it would not stop the movement of the kingdom of God. Do we understand? Guys, this is not dependent on us. This is far bigger than us. We get to be a part of the movement of God, but guys, nothing will stop the kingdom of God. Guys, it can become illegal in the United States of America for us to have these, right? Anything can happen, but nothing will stop the expansion of the kingdom of God. Guys, from beginning to end, this Bible has said that the kingdom is coming

to all the nations, all the peoples of the earth. So guys, we get involved and we send missionaries and we do all these things, guys, but God is gonna get it done with us or without us, okay? This is bigger than us and I just love this. This gets exciting. Now, I got to thinking about this and I was reading a little bit of commentary about this whole thing with the Sadducees here. And probably some of you know that the Sadducees, there was a lot of things they didn't believe, okay? But what was the thing that the Sadducees were the most famous for their disbelief? The resurrection, okay? The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead at all. They're not just talking about the resurrection of Jesus, but like no resurrection. That was a part of their belief system. I bet you're right. I hadn't thought about that. But yes, it's like speak to the people all the words of this life, right? Tell them everything, don't hold anything back. That's a great point. You see that over and over and that's one of those little tiny words that kind of changes and opens up our minds to it. I found it interesting. There was one of the commentators

that was talking about the way that it's the Sadducees that are sort of in power here. And this miracle as it were is unfolding at daybreak. Does that just remind you of anything else? It reminds me of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Right? They thought they put him in a tomb at night and before they know it, it's Sunday morning and the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive from the dead. So I think Luke and certainly inspired by the Holy Spirit may have been even alluding to that in the way that this miracle unfolded before the Sadducees' eyes. Can you see the parallel there? I just don't think these things are coincidences, friends. So, you know, everything has happened. They've got everybody gathered and it says, of course, verse 22 and 23. It's just comical, right? Well, it was securely locked with guards at the door, nobody inside. How did the angels get them out? We don't know. They're perplexed. Then it says somebody came and saw them in the temple. They came with the report. They brought them. But notice how they brought them. Okay, let's back to verse 25. Someone came and told them,

look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple teaching the people. Then the captain with the officers went and brought them how? Not by force. They were afraid of who? Now the officers are afraid the people are going to stone them. Guys, do you see the popularity of Peter and the apostles just keeps growing? And the popularity of the officers and the high priest just keeps diminishing less and less? And they're getting intimidated. Guys, this is getting to a fevered situation here. The high priest and his whole council are trying to figure out what do we do with these people. We can't stop them. We can't put them in prison. We tell them to stop and we slap them on the hands and say, don't speak in the name of Jesus. And they said, we're going to obey God and not you. And then they just keep doing that. Sandy, what were you going to say? Yes. Exactly. It's very parallel. Yeah, you can see it's the same type thing. Jesus, they tried to shut him down, but there was no shutting him down. Right. They tried. They hang it. They hung him on a cross, which we're going to talk about in a second. But nothing would stop him. Denise? Right. Yeah. I would love to hear the story, wouldn't you? I mean, well, these angels just came and said, hey, guys, come on, let's go. You know, I mean, just open the door. And I guess, like I said, it's the whole thing. It's just everybody is just sort of amazed at what's going on. And just like we should be as we look at it. Steve? OK. Could be. So they brought them, verse twenty six, but not by force. And now they're going to charge them. You ready for this? Boy, this is really going to get good here. Verse twenty seven. We strictly charged you not to teach in this name.

And here's what they said. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching. You see what's happening? It's spreading. It's spreading just like Jesus told them. You fill Jerusalem with your teaching. And now look, here's the next thing. You intend to bring this man's blood upon us. What are they talking about here? What are they speaking about you? He's talking to Peter. He's accusing them of preaching when they were told to be quiet. And he's accusing them of getting making the blood of Jesus come upon them. What does he mean by that? Yes. He says you are accusing us of killing this man. And Peter's like, yes, exactly. So let me let me clarify for you right here. Yeah, you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly what I'm doing. Let me make it even more clear. Look what he says here. Peter and the apostles answered that, you know, you got your typical first part. We must obey God rather than men. We've heard that before. And then Peter gives a brilliant, brilliant statement here. The God of our fathers. Do you see that? He is identifying with them. You understand he's trying to help them understand Jesus is the son of God, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Like we have some common ground. We're not believing in two different gods here. Come to me here. Listen to this. He says the God of our fathers raised Jesus. Now, when I first saw that, when I see the word raised Jesus, the first thing I think of is raised him from the dead. And I will tell you this in this particular phrase, there's really two ways that this could be this can be interpreted, both of which fit logically and fit biblically. OK, of course, God raised Jesus from the dead. He's going to bring that up a little bit further. He's actually going to take it further than just raised him from the dead.

He actually exalted him to the right hand. OK, we've talked about that. But it could also mean here when he says he raised Jesus, it's like he raised him up to to have this voice. Right. He like like God raised up Elijah and gave him a voice at a time in history. And God raised up Isaiah. So either one of those are OK. This doesn't have to mean the resurrection, but it certainly can. But look what he says after that. He says the God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed. And then he says by hanging him on a tree, he doesn't allude to and say by hanging him on a cross. But he says by hanging him on a tree, does anyone have any clue why? they might use that language instead of by crucifying him or something like that. And that's what it means. Of course it means that, but he is alluding to something that's been stated. Thank you very much, Billy. Cursed is the one look at Galatians chapter three, verse 13. So that's a right in your Bible, but Galatians chapter three, 13 is actually quoting a verse from the old Testament. So somebody read Galatians chapter three, verse 13 for us. Just go ahead and read verse 14. It's so good. Thank you so much. Can someone look at your cross-references and see where is that quote, cursed is everyone who's hanged on a tree. Where is that referring to in the old Testament? If you don't know what a cross-reference is, some of your Bibles probably have little letters or maybe even some, some references in the middle. Mine has it on the side that would point to where that is in the old Testament. Deuteronomy. Exactly.

So you see what Paul is writing in Galatians is just reiterating how the death of Jesus on the tree, on the cross was seen as Jesus being cursed. Okay. Those, those who saw that was considered a cursed way to die. But what does Paul say about the fact that Jesus died in that cursed way? He became a what? Do you see it and read, read it again. Galatians chapter three. Yes. Jesus Christ. It says that he took the curse for us. How did it say, did it say he became a curse for us? Yes. It says that it says by becoming a curse for us, beginning of verse 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. So Jesus, just like we talk about that, he took our sin. He took the curse of the law, which cursed us to death for our sin. But he took that for us. So that's what that beautiful verse is referring to. And that is exactly the idea that Peter is referring to when he says the God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. What he's saying is you hung him up cursed. But Jesus Christ, it says, was later exalted because the very next words out of his mouth, verse 31, God exalted him. That is Jesus at his right hand as leader and savior. Why? To give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So do you see, Peter says, we don't even need to talk about the resurrection. He not only resurrected him, he sent him right up to the father's right hand. Guys, there is no more powerful place.

We talked about that. This is not the first time this whole idea of Jesus being exalted, not just back to earthly life, but then when he was, when he ascended to the father, he landed at the right hand of God, the father, where he sits today, that is where Jesus sits. And what is so important about the right hand of the father? What do we know about the right hand of the father? It's a seat of authority. That's right. It's where Jesus operates right now at the right hand of the father. He's been given the authority and that is where he sits. Although in, in, it won't be too long. We're going to actually see Jesus stand at the right hand, but that'll, that'll be another story. Some of you guys know what's coming on that. That's not too far around the corner when we see Jesus stand at the right hand of the father. But here it's this whole idea that you killed him by hanging him on a tree as a cursed. God exalted him at his right hand as who leader and. Savior. He is leader. Leader is recognizing Him in a preeminent position. He has authority. He is sharing that authority with God. Remember when Jesus walked the earth, He would say, I don't do anything except what the Father tells me to do. Jesus was not a rogue actor. Jesus did not act independently. Jesus acted in submission to the Father. If the Father said, write, He said, we're going to write. If the Father said, jump, He said, how high? And Jesus was always in submission to the Father, but the Father gives Him authority, and He rules from the right hand. You look at Colossians chapter 3. By Him, and through Him, and for Him, all things were made. Guys, Jesus is the center of authority that God has here. And He says He gave Him kind of two names here, basically. He exalted Him and His right hand as leader and as Savior. Okay, what's the difference in leader and

Savior? Just think about that for a minute. Those are two different titles for Jesus. A leader shows you the direction. Yeah, yeah, it's like, guys, I mean, He's not just pointing you in a certain direction, right? He literally has saved you. He is your Savior, and that is why He goes on to say to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Guys, He is the leader and Savior to give repentance to Israel. Repentance is a turning from sin, not just asking forgiveness. Asking forgiveness is not repentance. Asking forgiveness is wanting forgiveness. Repentance is turning from your sin. If you ask forgiveness and then just keep doing the same thing over and over, that's not repentance, okay? He is saying He was lifted up at the right hand as leader and Savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. That's that Savior aspect of His role. And it says now, Peter says, we are witnesses to these things, and so is who? The Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. Now, there's a lot being said here, guys. Giving repentance and forgiveness of sins. Think about who He is speaking to when He says this. To the ones that have killed Jesus. And don't you know Peter is thinking with the mind of Christ? He is thinking, we want you to be saved, too. You can be saved. Repent of your sin. Repent of literally hanging Jesus on the cross. Cathy? Yes, it's a gift. Exactly right. He gave repentance to them and forgiveness. And then these guys said, we're witnesses and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. Guys, look at this. Look at the Trinity in just these verses. Do you see it? The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. So you don't have to see the word Trinity in the Bible to see the concept of the Trinity is everywhere. Yes. Yes, it would. Yes. Keeping the Torah. Right. Yeah, it's just keeping the law. Keeping the law. Do, do, do. Right. They were not anything about salvation by grace through faith. No, it was do this work. Do this work. If I do this work, God's going to be pleased with me. And so these guys are they don't have this understanding like they have. But they go on here to say that this Trinitarian teaching, as it were, is that

the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that's the Father, sent the Son to be the Savior. And then, of course, when he was killed, he was he resurrected the Son and then brought the Son back to the right hand. And remember, we talked about Acts chapter two. It was from the right hand that Jesus poured out who? The Holy Spirit. Right. Once he was seated, he was like, now I'm here, I'm gonna pour this out just like I promised that I would. And it was this Holy Spirit who Peter says here, it is the Holy Spirit who is a witness to these things. Now, when Peter says we are witnesses to these things, what are these things that Peter says the apostles are witnesses to? The killing of Jesus, of course, yes. The resurrection of Jesus. Yeah, the ascension of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Guys, they're like, by witnesses, they're not, we didn't just hear about this. Like we saw it, we experienced it. You wanna know why we're bold and why we're not afraid to be imprisoned? It's because we're full of the Holy Spirit. We're not the same people we were just a few weeks ago. These guys are getting bolder by the minute. And that's why they're saying, look, guys, we're not just talking about things told us about, we saw all of this. We are witnesses, and so is the Holy Spirit. And then he gives a little bit,

a little bite of teaching on the Holy Spirit. That's whom God has given to those who obey him. So what he's saying is you too can have the Holy Spirit. Obey God, receive the gift of repentance, right? I love that idea of God giving repentance as a gift. I had a brother that I've read some, and he talks about praying for people to receive and to experience the gift of a deep and true repentance. Those are, I'm just gonna tell you, that is some prayer language that I use sometimes when I'm praying for people who I know are just stuck. Anybody got somebody you know in your life that, I mean, they're just stuck in a sin rut. And one of the greatest gifts you can pray for them is that they will have the joy of a deep and true repentance. Because you know, that's what it's gonna take, guys. It's gonna take a deep and true repentance for them to experience the joy of his salvation. Because you can only receive it when you turn from your sin. Turn from whatever it is that you're trying to get your feel goods by walking in this worldly way, this wrong relationship or this wrong practice or this wrong, the way that we're treating other people. When we turn from our sin and place our faith and trust in Jesus, that's a gift, and I love this. I love that language. The gift to give them repentance,

to give repentance, as it says in verse 31, to Israel and the forgiveness of sins. Now, I can't wait to talk next week about verses 33 and following, because Gamaliel, which of course, we've already read it tonight, is an amazing character. He really stands up and says some amazing things here. But I want us to take these last five minutes or so and just see if anybody has any questions, any thoughts, any comments that maybe the Lord brought to your mind as we were looking at these verses tonight. I'm wondering about the Sadducees. Yes. I'm sure, or I'm not sure, but I'm reasonably sure, they were aware that Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, out of the grave. I assume they knew that. I'm sure they had some answer for what happened there. I'm sure they had some, you know what I mean? They had come up with some story, right? You know, there's- But Lazarus had been there longer than three days. I don't remember how many days it was for Lazarus. Anybody remember? Four days. Four days, yeah. And the Jewish belief was that you're not dead till after three days.

Is that not correct? That's correct. That's right. So that's a great question. What the Sadducees did with the Lazarus situation. I'm sure they tried to shut that one down. Also, my imagination, Jesus, when he was resurrected, he came to the apostles and he didn't come through the door. He came through the wall. I know it. So the angel could have, in my mind, could have said, well, let's just walk out of here. Right, well, he could have, but we do know, at least in the detail there, that the door was open. Because, you know, of course, Peter and his gang, they do not yet have- resurrected bodies, but nonetheless it does say the angel opened the door. What we don't know is the guards that were supposedly sitting right there, they missed the whole thing. Okay, so how that happened is that's part of the miracle. That reminds me of Jesus after the road to Emmaus. He just vanished. Yes, he did. Yeah, Jesus did a lot of vanishing and he'd show up here and show up there. They might have walked right by the prisoners. And I know just broke the bread and then he, you know, vandalized the whole thing. Yeah, that was, we love that story. That was so much fun. You know, we don't know for sure. We sure don't. One of the things that struck me was when the captain of the guard basically rearrested the apostles. Yeah.

This is a victim without force to deliver praise to people. What struck me about that was the tremendous amount of faith that the apostles had in Jesus' plan, God's plan for them. They just accepted what was going on. Okay, we got to go back again or something's going to happen to us. We don't know what, but it's part of God's plan. So it's going to be great, whatever it is. It's just that show of faith that's kind of hidden from the lives there. It just, it just bowled me over. It is. It's beautiful. I love how it's like new God. It's like Jesus keeps doing new things. I'm not sure that Peter and I wonder, you have to wonder, were Peter and them praying in there? Like, God, get us out of this. Or were they just sitting there like, okay, well, this is, you know, this is what it was. You just wonder, you know, those are some of the back stories that we don't know. You know, were they praying and then suddenly the angel showed up? Because later we got one of the funniest stories of the next jailbreak, just a spoiler alert, was that the people are over here praying that they'll get out of jail. And then the angel gets them out of jail and they show up knocking on the door. And they're like, that can't be you. We're praying for you to get out of jail. Like, it's just ridiculous. And it's just so funny. Some of the things in here. So yeah, Thomas. Verse 31 and 32. Yes. And so I am really amazed by what I seem to be reading in 32.

It says we are witnesses of these things and a witness sees. That's right. They see. But 31 says, God, did him, did God exalt with his right hand to be a prince and a savior? That is happening in a realm that's entirely spiritual. That is correct. They say there are witnesses. So now I'm on a search for how many verses is it going to take to explain this to me? There you go. They're witnesses. Yeah. Of something that's a spiritual event. Right. Well. They spent all those years with Jesus and they saw. Absolutely. Yes. And of course, we know they literally saw with their eyes. Jesus raised up from the ground and headed up into heaven. We know that. I mean, that that is explicit in scripture, crystal clear that that's what they saw. So, yes, you have to wonder, is that is that what they mean by we are with that? We even are witnesses to that. But we have seen that as the testimony all the way through. The book of Acts so far that they know that the place of Jesus. In heaven is at the father's right hand, crowned as leader, as prince, as savior. He is at that exalted position. Somebody else. Good question. What are you going to say, Jamie?

I was going to say, as you read and all the way to verse forty one, that is the reason why they did and felt the way they did. Because once they met the presence of that council. Yes. They were so excited. They were rejoicing because they got to suffer. Yes. Be counted worthy. Mm hmm. Just a small part of Jesus name for Jesus. And I think that we have so many Bible verses that say counted all joy. That's right. Just suffering in the name of Jesus. Exactly right. That's the thing about Christians around the world, people. That's why you can't keep them down. If they're rejoicing in suffering for the name. Nothing can stop them. Right. Because they're like, oh, OK, put me in jail. That'll be fine. I get to suffer for the sake of Jesus. That's an unstoppable person. Right. Who? Yes, we do. Yes, we do. That's why we read. that we would not only read it for information, guys. We've talked about this.

We pray for transformation, that we would be as bold as the apostles, because we have the same Holy Spirit who has come to dwell in our hearts. When we accepted Christ, whether you were five years old or 45 years old, when you gave your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit came to dwell within you and to give you power to be his witness no matter what comes, okay? We don't know what may come in the next five years, in the next 10 years, guys. There is no guarantee that in the land that we live in, I'm not trying to drum up fear, but we don't need to live as if there's some guarantee we're gonna have religious freedom for the rest of our days, guys. Guys, maybe we will, and praise God if we do, and as we do, we ought to all the more be witnesses. Guys, we don't even experience persecution for the thing. I mean, we might, somebody might think we're kind of crazy. I mean, literally, nobody's being put to jail, put in jail in the United States for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, okay? It could come, but you know what? Christians who are full of the Holy Spirit are unstoppable, just like the message is unstoppable, and I think that's a good place to stop tonight. What do y'all think, all right? Why don't we pray?

Father God, we just magnify your name, God. Your word is so good. It is literally like honey on our lips, God. We are just so grateful for all of the stories that you have left us, God, so that we would be better equipped to just walk with you and to know you and to love you, God. Make us bold as the disciples and these apostles were so that your great name can be glorified. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, guys, thanks a lot. See you next week. Thanks again for joining us verse by verse through the book of Acts. I hope that you have learned a lot. More importantly, I hope that you'll apply these things to your life this week. Share it with a friend. Great thing for you to just have some discussion with the other people around you. Share the things that God is doing in your life. Again, remember the Bible is a book about God far more than it is a book about us. So let's learn about him. Let's grow to love him more and more. Here at United City, this is not the only thing that we have on the Pando app. We would love for you to follow some of our other content, watch some of our worship services along with music and the messages, as well as podcasts.

We've got a lot of great content and we would love for you to follow that. Also, if you would like to be in touch with us here at United City, the best way to do that is by writing us a letter. You can address that to prison ministry at United City Church, 19901 Townsend Boulevard, Humble, Texas 77338. We'll read that, we'll pray for you and somebody will write you back. God bless you and we'll see you in the word.