13. We Ought To Obey God

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Hymns: RHC 46 A Mighty Fortress Is Our God 284 Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus 324 Trusting Jesus

Acts 5:15-29

15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. 17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, 18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. 19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. 21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, 23 Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. 24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. 25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. 26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, 28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. 29 Then Peter and the otherapostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

We Ought to Obey God

OUTLINE

  • Experience God’s Power (v15-16)
  • Expect Evil Man’s Persecution (v17-18, 22-28)
  • Experience God’s Presence (v19-21, 29)

INTRODUCTION

Acts 5:15-29 – The title of our message is “We Ought to Obey God”. It suggests a choice, to choose to obey God. It suggests a will, God’s will and our submission to that will. And it suggests a unity of hearts and minds, “we”, the concerted resolve of the disciples in the infant church to obey the Great Commission. That was how the gospel advanced in the early church. 

As one pastor puts it, “Jesus had gone up, the Holy Spirit came down, the apostles went out, and the lost were coming in.”[1] What a glorious scene before us with souls saved, believers were added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. The disciples had put the “Go” to the gospel by simple obedience. As Peter and John declared in Acts 4:20, “for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 

What did they see and hear? They saw their resurrected Master Jesus and hear Him commissioning them to this task of ushering souls into God’s kingdom. And they have chosen to serve Him because He chose to save them and commissioned them. They were obedient to the Great Commission.

Then there were the oppositions. Persecution came. We saw and shall see in our text this week and next week how sometimes obeying God will not bring us into a place of safety, but rather, into danger and harm. But, as soldiers of the cross, we must be ready and willing to obey our Commander-in-Chief without question or complaint. 

This text comes in the wake of God’s discipline upon the infant church. Two of their converts, Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for lying concerning their giving. They were struck dead and great fear came upon the all the church (v11) and as many as heard this recent event of God’s judgment. No hypocrites dared to join them, for fear of being struck dead! And yet the Lord was adding many more, we notice Luke has stopped counting those added to the church. The church saw how God is to be feared and not men. We have to trust God to take care of us as we do His blessed will. The apostles feared God rather than men. 

  • Experience God’s Power (v15-16)
  • Expect Evil Man’s Persecution (v17-18, 22-28)
  • Experience God’s Presence (v19-21, 29)

(1) Experience God’s Power (v15-16)

15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.

And the apostles were performing extraordinary miracles of healing and deliverance. Does it not remind you of the time of Christ? God authenticated the gospel message by His supernatural power manifested to convince the hearts of these that this is from God! 

We see the movement of people seeking help from the apostles how our text tells us they healed every one. Because the disciples were obedient to God’s command, they also experienced Christ’s promised authority and power with them to accomplish their mission. 

Indeed, all things are possible with God. The disciples have waited upon the Lord for His time for every promised blessing they are now receiving. The disciples have waited on Him for ability, to do and fulfill His righteous will.

John 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

God’s power was with His apostles, these sent-out ones, to accomplish His blessed will. 

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way. While we do His good will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey.

What an exciting time for the disciples. Christ proved His promises to them by the power that was unleashed to help the sick and the spirit possessed.

(2) Expect Evil Man’s Persecution (v17-18, 22-28)

17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, 18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison…

This is the second instance where they are detained. The first time they were detained for one night and released. But this time, they were thrown into the common prison.

John Bunyan was a seventeenth century preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s hand was on him. He was a mighty intellect. But the church in England said to Bunyan, “Now Bunyan, you can’t preach without a license, and it is the state that will license preachers.” 

Bunyan said, “Oh no, if I let you license me then that is some sort of an agreement that I would have with some sort of power that is not God’s power. And I’m not going to let you license me. I’m not going to put myself under the state.” They said, “Well, you can preach the same thing, but just let us license you.” He said, “No, I’ll not do it.” He said, “God is sovereign, and God has called me to preach, and I will preach. But I will not sign that document.” They said, “If you preach, we’ll put you in jail.” He said, “I’ll preach.” 

And he preached and they put him in jail. And they put John Bunyan in a dirty, filthy jail not even a bed to sleep on. He had to sleep on the cold ground in the inner most dungeon. He had a little girl that had epilepsy. They had no one to take care of them. He had a wife who was sickly. He had few visitors who would come and do you know what they did to Bunyan? They said, “Listen. All you have to do is just sign this piece of paper.” And they put the paper right outside of his cell door with a pen or pencil or a writing instrument and said, “Just reach out and sign it, and the minute you sign it you’ll walk out of this prison.”

His friends, his peers were preaching. His church however had been nailed up. They were doing well. His wife was sick. His child had epilepsy. He was cold and miserable and filthy in that prison. But you know when he was in there you know what he did? He wrote Pilgrim’s Progress, one of the greatest pieces of literature in the English language, something that has blessed and transformed the lives of so many.

And do you know why we have Pilgrim’s Progress, and do you know why this man is not forgotten when all those other preachers in England were forgotten, and do you know why I am standing up here today talking about John Bunyan? I’ll tell you why. He believed this text. We ought to obey God rather than men.[2]

The Bible commands us as Christians to be subject to governing authorities (Rom. 13:1; 1 Pet. 2:13-14), even when these authorities are evil people. But if the governing authorities command us to do something that would be disobedient to God, then we must obey God, even if it results in our being punished.

It is the duty of believers to submit to the authority of human government. The Apostle Paul explains that it is God who sovereignly appoints human government. As such, when the believer resists civil authority, he is resisting the order that God has set to maintain law and order in society. He pronounces God’s displeasure and judgment upon believers who rebel against civil authorities. In any civil society, the law and the enforcement of it bring peace and order.

God’s word says in “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed” (Gen. 9:6). One of the key functions of law enforcement in any society is to bring to task law-breakers. And murder according to God’s law is punishable by the death penalty. As we survey the history of civil government, there is law and order in society when the death penalty is enforced. Believers are to abide by the laws created by civil government as unto God.

Jesus Himself, though the highest authority in the universe, sets the example to pay the temple tax in Matthew 17:22-27 from the gold coin taken from the mouth of the fish that Peter caught. The Jewish religious authorities exacted their own taxes for the temple expenses so the people came under a heavy yoke. It was estimated that the Jewish family paid approximately 49% of its annual income to these various taxes: 32% to Romans (19% on crops, 13%on sales, income and other taxes), 12% to Jewish taxes (8%on crops and 4%on temple and sacrifice taxes) and 5% on forced extractions from corrupt officials. The ruler over Judea and Samaria collected the land and poll taxes directly for Rome.

The Roman government in Jesus’ time were the power ordained of God providing one world language, Greek, throughout their empire and allow citizens to move freely from one country to another, they built roads to facilitate travel – that was what allowed later for the gospel to spread so freely and widely! And laws put in place to protect their citizens. Recall later even the Apostle Paul appealed to Caesar when he was unjustly arrested by the Jewish authorities and was vindicated.

Jesus says in “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”  May the Lord help His people to abide by the law as they live to be His witnesses in society to the honour and glory of God.

22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, 23 Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. 24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. 25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. 26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, 28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. 

(3) Experience God’s Presence (v19-21, 29)

19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, 20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. 21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought….29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

God sent an angel to deliver them out of prison and commanded them to continue the work. Obedience is duty, debt and delight! The Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and were assured that God is with them to help them. All praise to Him Amen.

CONCLUSION

  • Experience God’s Power (v15-16)
  • Expect Evil Man’s Persecution (v17-18, 22-28)
  • Experience God’s Presence (v19-21, 29)

Amen.

[1] The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection – The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection – Sermons.

[2] The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection – The Adrian Rogers Legacy Collection – Sermons.