27
Acts 5:41-42 THE PRIVILEGE OF SERVING JESUS CHRIST
Introduction:
This
text demonstrates to us in a powerful way that it is a privilege to
serve Christ. It demonstrates to us that serving Christ
brings great joy to
those who do serve Him. It also demonstrates to us that serving
Christ requires
both labor and sacrifice.
I.
An example set by Bro. Don Johnson
Before
examining our text I want to tell you about Bro. Don Johnson, a man
from
Johnson worked for Congressman John Dowdy,
a member of the House of
Representatives in Washington, D. C. who
was also from
considered John Dowdy to be an honest and
honorable man who worked for the good
of the people of
for Mr. Dowdy and he sacrificed a great
amount of time and energy serving him.
But
Don Johnson got saved and God called him to preach. He gave up his
work for John Dowdy and he worked long and
hard to win souls to Jesus Christ.
He also worked long and hard to establish
Missionary Baptist churches in the
family to serve the Lord. He, himself, started the first Missionary
Baptist
work in that area. He then enlisted as many Missionary Baptist
preachers as he
could to come to the D. C. area and start
missions. He was responsible for
enlisting Bro. Robert Myers to that area
and he helped Bro. Myers start the
church in Gambrels, MD, which was
sponsored by our church here at
Bro.
Don Johnson counted it a joy and a privilege to sacrifice his time
and his energies to serve the Lord Jesus
Christ.
II.
The example set by the apostles
Long
before Bro. Don Johnson sacrificed to serve Jesus in the
area, the apostles sacrificed to serve
Jesus in
from the presence of the council,
rejoicing that they were counted worthy to
suffer shame for his name.” Peter and John had been arrested for healing
a lame
man and had been ordered by the Sanhedrin
Council not to speak any more in the
name of Jesus. This order was given only to Peter and John,
but it was intended
to apply to all Christians. But soon, not only Peter and John, but all
twelve
of the apostles were arrested because they
were teaching in the name of Jesus.
However, before they could be brought to
trial, an angel of the Lord had set
them free.
What
do you think you would do under the circumstances. The chances are
that you or I would have fled the
country. But the apostles did not
run.
Instead bright and early the very next
morning they were back in the temple
court yard -- almost right under the noses
of the Sanhedrin Council, telling the
people about Jesus Christ. They were telling the people that the
miracles which
they had been doing were done by the power
of Jesus, who, Himself, had arisen
from the grave. They were telling the people that Jesus is
the Christ of God
whom the Old Testament prophets had
promised. They were telling the people
that
Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of
men.
They
were saying these things openly in the temple where they knew that
they would be reported to the high priest
and to the members of the Sanhedrin.
They were well aware that they would be
arrested again, and they counted it a
privilege to suffer for the Lord.
And
they were arrested again. As soon as the
Council met and it was
discovered that they were not in prison,
that, indeed, they were back in the
temple speaking and teaching in the name
of Jesus Christ, the Council again had
them arrested. They were arrested and the Council would have
tried to kill them
if Gamaliel had not pleaded their
case. So instead of being killed, they
were
beaten.
We can be sure that their beating was severe.
But
what did the apostles do? When they came
out from that meeting where
they were beaten and further threatened,
instead of coming forth weeping and
bemoaning their fate, they came forth
rejoicing--- happy! We could understand
their joy if they had been rejoicing
because their lives had been spared.
They
had experienced a close call with
death. But they were not rejoicing
because
their lives had been spared. If they had been moaning and groaning and
complaining because they had been severely
beaten, we would understand that.
They had been beaten within an inch of
their lives, but they were not
complaining because they had been
beaten. They were rejoicing.
They
were rejoicing that they had the privilege of suffering for Jesus.
Perhaps they remembered what Jesus had
said to them in His Sermon On The Mount,
Mt. 5:10-12. They surely rejoiced that they were saved and
were on their way to
heave.
They knew that if they had been killed they would be in heaven. They
surely remembered the suffering which they
had seen Jesus go through on the
cross.
He had suffered for their sins so that they could be saved. He had
suffered for them, and now they were
willing to suffer for Him. They came
forth
from that Council meeting all aglow with
joy because they had the privilege of
suffering for Jesus.
III.
Serving Jesus by witnessing for Him
V.
42, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to
teach and preach Jesus Christ.” They went right back to the temple and
continued to tell the people about
Jesus. They knew the risk that they were
taking.
They knew that they might be arrested again and beaten again. They
knew that they might be killed the next
time. The people had listened to
Gamaliel this time, but next time Gamaliel
might not speak up for them. Even,
if he were to speak for them, the other
members of the Council might not listen
to him the next time. Yet then went right back to the temple and
witnessed for
Jesus.
They did it again and again. They
did so daily.
They
also went out into the city, going from house to house telling
everybody they could about Jesus. We can be sure that not everybody welcomed
them and their gospel message. But they sought to tell everybody. To those who
were willing they went into great detail
to tell explaining that Jesus is the
Christ, their only hope of heaven. They ceased not to tell the people about
Jesus Christ.
IV.
What those apostles say to us
The
apostles, of course, did not speak directly to us. They were talking
to the people at Jerusalem, but they were
indirectly speaking to us. They say
to us that Jesus is the Christ, that He
arose from the grave, that He is the Son
of God.
They say that He is the Savior of men.
They surely would not have
risked their lives, as they did, if they
had not been fully persuaded that He is
the Christ.
They
were saying to us that it is a privilege to witness for Him. They
did not consider that serving Christ was a
burden, but rather a joy. They are
saying to us that we can be a witness for
Christ by attending His house
regularly.
We might not be able to attend daily as they did at the temple, but
we can attend regularly at the appointed
hour. They are telling us that by
being regular at the house of God that we
tell the people around us that we
believe that Jesus is the Christ of
God.
They
are telling us to go from house to house and tell people about Jesus.
We should know that not everybody will
welcome us into their home, but we can
tell them that the door the purpose of our visit and we can
witness to them
there that Jesus is the Christ, the
Savior. Then if we are invited into
their
home we can go into greater detail about
Jesus being the Savior of men and about
His desire to save them.
They
are telling us that there might be persecution as a result of our
witness of Him, but it is a privilege to
suffer for Jesus.
Conclusion:
1.
Let us be faithful to attend God’s house to worship Him.
2.
Let us witness for Jesus from
house to house, from door to door, from store
to store
to store and everywhere we go.
3.
Let us be happy to sacrifice our time and our energies for the Lord and
even
be
persecuted.
4.
Let us count it a privilege to do so.
Jesus died for us. Surely we can
witness for Him.
5.
Let every unsaved person call upon the Lord and trust Him for
salvation.
6.
Let every Christian who needs a church home come and get in this
church.
Come and
get to work for the Lord.