Rose Avenue
Scripture Reading: Acts 5:17-28IntroductionKarl Marx once wrote: “Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” The author of The Communist Manifesto inspired communist movements all across the world and it is his writings that make up the cornerstone of North Korea’s ideology where Christianity is completely banned as an evil American religion. John Choi grew up in North Korea and was taught by the government run education system that Christianity was evil and that the cross was a sign of the devil. (How one can believe in a devil and not a God is beyond me…) but regardless, even through nursery school children are expected to bow to their current and past dictators and children are taught that Kim Il-Sung (the first dictator of NK), was able to “catch a double rainbow in one hand because of his ‘majestic powers.’” Reports even show that some children turn in their own parents for religious activity due to the heavy indoctrination by the state. According to the Open Doors USA website (a non-profit organization designed to help those who identify as Christian in oppressed countries), if Christians are discovered, no matter if they are heirs of the Christian communities from before the Korean war or found their faith in other ways, not only are they deported to labor camps as political criminals or even killed on the spot, their families share in their punishment as well. Entire families are shipped off to work camps where their family is split up, children work in child labor camps, women work in women’s labor camps where soldiers and staff rape and abuse them, while the men are sent off to hard labor camps where they are literally worked to death. In North Korea Christians do not have a place in society so meeting other Christians in order to worship is nearly impossible and if some believers dare to meet, it has to be done in utmost secrecy. The churches that do exist in Pyongyang serve as mere propaganda and do not preach anything other than glory to the dictator.Meanwhile in a Nigerian town named Dapchi, Boko Haram militants rushed in and kidnapped 110 girls from a boarding school on February 19, 2018. BBC reports that five of the girls had been crushed to death while 104 girls were released some time later. The one girl who (as far as we know) is still alive, Leah Sharibu, still remains in captivity even today because (as her father states), she is a Christian and she refused to convert to Islam. April marks the four year anniversary of the 276 Chibok girls who were abducted by Boko Haram from a “Christian” secondary school in Nigeria. What does all this have to do with our lesson this morning? We as Christians in America are frankly spoiled rotten. We think that because cousin Bill or our co-worker Bob who is a self-proclaimed atheist makes fun of us for being “Bible Thumpers”, that because our neighbor throws shade at us whenever we see them in the grocery store, or that guy who slams the door in our face when we want to hand him a flyer for our upcoming Gospel Meeting, we think that because we have endured such things we somehow can relate to persecution... Whenever we hear about a politician interpreting what the constitution means on separation between church and state; whenever we hear about a Muslim who openly preaches against Christ; whenever we feel the least bit threatened there is a backlash that reverberates throughout social media, throughout the Mainstream Conservative media, etc. We freak out and everyone brings out their soap box for Jesus and we stand on it with our guns drawn and we are ready to defend our constitutional right to be (what we perceive to be) a “Christian Nation.” Frankly, we as American Christians have been so proactive in preventing any and all persecution that we have forgotten what it means to rejoice in our suffering for Christ.In America there is no Kim Jung-Un. In America there is no Boko Haram. In America we don’t have to worry about being dragged off as political prisoners. We don’t have to worry about our children being kidnapped by radical Islamic Terrorists or having to meet in secret to worship our God and Savior. Praise and honor is due Him that we have the liberty to meet openly and without fear of reprisal or punishment; but let us not become so comfortable in our liberty that we forget how to glorify God in times of persecution, because our freedom and liberty may not last forever.Let’s take a look at our example.I. The Apostles Arrested…AgainBoy! When you stop to think about it, Christian’s idolize some of the biggest outlaws in world history. The Apostles are arrested for preaching Christ…again…I’m not going to rehash what was read in our Scripture Reading, but here we have the apostles standing before the council…again…A. Acts 5:29-32 “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.”a. Here they find themselves before the Council once again, arrested for preaching Jesus and trying to bring the good news to those who seek salvation in Christ; and instead of being indignant for being arrested again, they do the same thing as before. Not only do they NOT fear the Council; not only do they NOT stop telling people about the Messiah; but they actually preach the Good News of the Son of God to everyone standing in the room. That’s pretty bold to say the least. It is very similar to Leah Sheribu who stood before her Islamic Terrorist captors and refused to denounce her faith in Jesus.The Apostles showed no fear before the Council because they understood in that moment that they could lean on God and trust in Him. They were the embodiment of Ephesians 6:10-13 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. (11) Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” These Apostles had donned the full armor of God and stood firm in the face of this very real and very dangerous persecution and what I think we miss a lot of times is that this was a part of God’s plan. He was giving the Council a chance to repent of their sins. b. God had Peter address the Council in this way. Do you remember when Jesus was both forewarning and reassuring the Apostles in Luke 12? He said to them in Luke 12:11-12 "When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; (12) for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." God was not raining down His vengeance upon those who had murdered His Son. In fact it is quite the opposite! God was giving those who had murdered His only Begotten Son the chance to repent and find the hope of salvation! Where they deserved His wrath they were being offered His mercy. The Council had the chance to be saved from their iniquities but they did exactly what Jesus warned the Apostles about in verse 10 of Luke 12 which says, “…he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him.” Jesus (at that moment) was not just talking about the fact that the Pharisees had accused Him of casting out demons by Beelzebul, but this was a bit of prophecy that He was throwing out there because it is crucial for us to understand.You see, God offers salvation as a free gift to all, but if we do not listen, it isn’t like saying “no thank you” to someone offering us a stick of gum; if we reject the gift of salvation that is offered through the Son of God that we are made aware of by the Holy Spirit then we have doomed ourselves. Jesus says in Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” We are either with Him or we are not. There is no multiple right ways of obeying the Gospel. There is no one else beside Him where salvation is found. There are not multiple paths to heaven and there is no addendum to the Bible. It’s here. It’s complete and it was given to us through the Holy Spirit. If we reject the Word of God as the Truth then we CANNOT be forgiven. We therefore blaspheme the Holy Spirit.The Council very clearly rejects (i.e. blasphemes) the Holy Spirit.B. Acts 5:33-40 “But when they heard this, they were cut to the quick and intended to kill them. (34) But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. (35) And he said to them, "Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. (36) "For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. (37) "After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. (38) "So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; (39) but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God." (40) They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.”a. Peter (to sum up what he said), basically told them that they were:i. Guilty of murderii. That Jesus was raised from the dead (thus denying their victory)iii. That Jesus was still alive and was the Messiahb. So the Jews were “cut to the quick” as it says in verse 33. The phrase means “to cut with a saw”; and when applied to the mind means “to be agitated with rage and indignation as if wrath should seize their mind as a saw does upon wood and rip and tear it violently.” When used in connection with the heart it means “rent with rage”. In layman’s terms they were mad as all get out!Clearly they are not only upset because the Apostles had not heeded their command, but because they had charged the Council with murder and they affirmed the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus. This would be seen as trying to overthrow the sect of the Sadducees who vehemently opposed the idea of a resurrection.c. This Gamaliel cat is a teacher of the Law and was pretty well respected the Scripture says, and he is pretty much the only voice of reason in the whole group. He goes on to cite a few instances of fake Messiah’s and uprisings that had basically petered out on their own. He essentially tells them to relax because this will all die down on its own…but if it is from God…then they’d better make sure that they aren’t fighting against Him because they will not be victorious. So they have them flogged and tell them to shut up.i. The flogging was very similar to Jesus’ scourging. Now everything that I have found on the subject indicates that there really is no difference other than the Jewish whipping was done with a slightly different tool. The scourging of Jesus was done with a flagellum, and it was normally adorned with bits of bone, pieces of metal, etc. As where the flagellum that was used in most Jewish floggings would have been either knotted or smooth. It would not have shredded the flesh like the Roman flagellum would.II. Suffering for Christ’s SakeUnlike the Roman scourging that was often done in preparation for crucifixion in which many prisoners did not survive, the Apostles walked away from their punishment a little sore but no worse for wear. What I’d like to do is make some comparisons.A. Man’s Reaction to Unjust Punishmenta. In 1985 Steven Avery was convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder. After serving 18 years of a 32 year sentence, he was exonerated by DNA evidence and released from prison. The first thing Avery did after his release was file a $36 million civil lawsuit against Manitowoc County, its former sheriff and its former district attorney.Paul Terry was wrongly convicted of murder and rape. After he was exonerated and released he was awarded a $2.7 million dollar settlement.Ronald Jones served 14 years in prison, 8 of which were on death row, before he was absolved by DNA evidence and received a $2.2 million settlement.We see these cases and situations like them all the time and we think to ourselves, “good! They deserve it after what they went through.” And perhaps they do. After all, they were victims of an imperfect justice system. But at the end of the day there is a big difference in how the world handles being unjustly treated by authorities and how Jesus’ Apostles reacted after being unjustly treated by authorities. Of course there is a difference between Steven Avery, Paul Terry, Ronald Jones and the Apostles of Christ, but I think it’s similar enough to make a comparison.b. Acts 5:41-42 “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. (42) And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” They rejoiced! IF we are to repeat history (as our series suggests), then we must take a moment and consider that IF we are persecuted like the Apostles were, then we had best react in the same manner as they.c. James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, (3) knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (4) And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, (7) so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ…”Persecution has the ability to test our faith. The testing of our faith can produce stronger faith. I think in some ways, we as spoiled Americans could stand to gain a lot from a little more persecution. Our faith is rarely tested beyond social rejection or familial ridicule. These of course are powerful tools in Satan’s arsenal. It is not easy to be ridiculed by family. It is not easy to be rejected by people. We all want to be liked and accepted and so social rejection can test us and produce endurance just as James and Peter point out. But I do believe we could really separate the men from the boys (so-to-speak), we could really strengthen our faith in a sense if we suffered a little more for Christ. Jesus said,d. Matthew 5:10-12 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (11) "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. (12) "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”Isaiah the prophet was cut in two with a wooden saw by Manasseh the son of Hezekiah.Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt.Ezekiel was killed in Babylonia by the leader of the Israelite exiles.Amos was tortured mercilessly by Amaziah the priest of Bethel. Amaziah’s son mortally wounded Amos with a staff after which he was sent home and later died.These prophets and others were persecuted and slain for speaking the prophecies of God and for rebuking those who needed rebuking. Jesus says that if we suffer as they did, our reward in heaven will be great for all who suffer for righteousness sake are rewarded.e. Romans 8:16-18 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (18) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”At the end of the day how we react to persecution will be decided by our attitude. If we consider that the “…sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us…” then we will suffer any and all persecution with a joyous and thankful heart.Conclusion:It isn’t enough to get through the light persecution that we endure here in America grumbling and moaning about it. We are commanded to rejoice in our suffering for Christ which is completely counter intuitive to us as human beings. Physical, worldly people gripe and moan, they fight back when persecuted, but that does not bring glory to God unfortunately. I wish it did as a weak and imperfect creature. It would be nice if we could indulge our fleshly desire for revenge…but the fact is we are instructed differently. Every example in the New Testament screams the complete opposite!Stephen, while being stoned to death begged for their forgiveness, following the example of Jesus Christ who said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” As He hung bleeding out on a cross.We are told to “consider it all joy…” I hope that you will consider that the next time you encounter persecution in your life. Consider it the testing of your faith and remember that Jesus is with you and will help you through it because He understands and He has been through it before you...in fact He did it FOR you. Despite how you may feel in the moment, you are not alone and your suffering will be rewarded.So how will you handle persecution the next time it comes along? The choice is yours. (Invitation) ................
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