24

Acts 5:17-26 HELP FROM GOD IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

Introduction:

God has not promised that if one will get saved he will not have any more

trouble in this life. Neither has God promised that if a saved person will

dedicate himself to God and seek to live right that he will have no more

troubles in this life. But He has promised to be with His people and to help

them in their times of trouble.

In our previous texts we saw that it was doing the will of God in the

healing of the lame man that got the Apostles Peter and John into trouble with

the Sanhedrin Council. They had been arrested and ordered not to teach or even

speak in the name of Jesus any more.

In our text today we will see all twelve of the apostles get into trouble

and they were not in trouble because of any wrong doing on their part. Rather

it was because they were doing the work which God had assigned to them to do.

All twelve of the apostles were used of God in the healing of many sick and

afflicted people who were brought to them by the people of Jerusalem. The more

they healed, the more the people brought. Their fame began to spread to other

cities and villages and great crowds of people came to them from the cities and

villages around Jerusalem.

This was a great thing. It did a great amount of good to the people and

it brought a great amount of honor and praise to God. But it did get the

apostles in trouble ---again.

I. An angry enemy

V. 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.”

Although what the apostles were doing was a good thing, it did not please

everybody. In fact, it made some people very angry. It seems that the

Sadducees were the ones whose anger had been stirred the most. What angered the

Sadducees the most was that the apostles were telling everybody that Jesus is

the Christ and that Jesus had arisen from the dead. They were bitterly opposed

to the idea that anybody had risen from the dead. They did not believe that

anybody ever had risen from the dead or that anybody would ever arise from the

dead. They most certainly did not believe that Jesus had arisen from the dead.

To believe that Jesus had arisen from the dead would indicate that Jesus is the

Christ, the Son of the Living God and they most certainly did not believe that.

They refused to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

It angered the Sadducees that the healing of the sick and the afflicted at

the hands of the apostles was persuading many people that Jesus had arisen from

the dead, that Jesus is the Christ whom the prophets of old had promised and

that Jesus is the very Son of God the Savior of men. This the Sadducees just

absolutely refused to believe. No amount of evidence would persuade them. No

matter how many people were miraculously healed, they refused to take this as

evidence that what these apostles were saying about Jesus was true.

You will note that when the Sadducees came to arrest the apostles they

brought with them the high priest. The high priest had not been involved in the

arrest of Peter and John back in chapter 4. He had been involved in their

trial, but not in their arrest. However, now the Sadducees brought with them

the high priest.

The presence of the high priest provided a measure of safety for them.

The only reason they had not already put a stop to the miraculous healing and

teaching in the name of Jesus is that they were afraid of the great masses of

people with whom the apostles were very popular at this time. They were afraid

that they would be mobbed and torn limb from limb. But they were confident that

the people would not do violence to the high priest nor to them as long as they

had the high priest with them.

II. Arrested & then set free

V. 18, “And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common

prison.” The apostles had been laying their hands on the sick and afflicted

and the sick and afflicted were healed. But now the Sadducees lay hands on the

apostles and they are arrested. They are arrested because of the good that they

had been doing.

V. 19, “But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and

brought them forth, and said.” You will note that the angel of the Lord did not

interfere when the apostles were arrested. He did not prevent them from being

arrested. Nor did he interfere when they were thrown into the prison and the

doors were locked behind them. He did not interfere as long as the daylight

hours lasted. He waited until the darkness of night was upon them and then he

came and opened the doors of the prison and let the apostles out.

Now why? Why did he not just prevent them from being arrested? Why did

he allow them to be arrested? Surely he could have, but he didn’t. Then why

did he not at least come during the daylight hours and overcome the jailers and

open the doors and set the apostles free in the day time? Surely he could have,

but he didn’t. Why? It seems that the reason he did not come until the

darkness of night was that God did not want their absence to be discovered until

morning. God had a special work for them to do tomorrow morning and He wanted

it to be a surprise to the high priest and the members of the Sanhedrin Council.

After the apostles were released from the prison the angel of the Lord

spoke to them and informed them what the Lord wanted them to do the following

morning. V. 20, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words

of this life.” They were instructed to go into the temple the next morning and

to explain to the people about Christianity. Can you imagine such a thing?

They would surely be arrested again. Why would the angel bother to come and get

them out of jail just to give them an order that would get them thrown right

back in jail? I can almost imagine one of those apostles turning to another and

saying, “Did I hear him right? Did he say that we are to go to the temple and

preach tomorrow morning? Surely I must have heard him wrong!” But they all

heard the same thing and so it was. They were told to go right back to the

temple and to preach to the people.

I want to call special attention to three words which the angel used in

this command. First, he said, “Go.” They were to go to the temple. This word,

go, is the very same word which Jesus had used when He instructed His church to

carry the gospel message to the unsaved. He said that they were to go. They

were to go into all Jerusalem. They were to go into all Judea. They were to go

into all Samaria. They were to go into the uttermost parts of the world. That

is the same instructions which the Lord has given to each New Testament church

through the words of the Great Commission.

Secondly, he said, “Stand.” They were to stand in the temple so that they

could be seen and heard. This, also, is a word that is used in other Scriptures

to instruct Christians in their work for the Lord. They are to take a stand for

the truths of God which are taught in the word of God. They are to stand in the

face of all opposition to truth. They are to stand even in the face of danger

to themselves. They are to stand and having done all to stand.

Thirdly, they are told to “Speak.” They were to speak to the general

public which would come into the temple. They were not told to speak to the

members of the Sanhedrin Council, because those people had closed their minds

and would not be receptive to their message. But they were told to speak to the

public because many of them would be receptive to their word.

They were even told what to speak. They were to explain to the people

what the Christian way is all about. They were to tell about the Christ and His

desire to save the souls of lost sinners. They were to tell that Jesus is the

Christ --- that Jesus is the Savior of men. They were to tell the people that

the way to be saved is by repenting of their sin and trusting in Jesus Christ to

save their soul.

Unless the people be told, they will not repent. Unless they repent

they will not trust Jesus for salvation and unless they trust Jesus as Savior

they will not be saved. Rom. 10:13-14, “For whosoever shall call upon the name

of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have

not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and

how shall they hear without a preacher?”

III. Preaching in the temple again and a surprised Council

V. 21, “And when they heard [that], they entered into the temple early in

the morning, and taught...” Once the apostles understood what the Lord wanted

them to do, there was no hesitancy on their part. All twelve of them went to

the temple bright and early the next morning. I think it is safe to say that

none of them had much sleep. The angel had come and released them from prison

during the night. If they got to bed at all, it was well into the night, but

they were up and ready to go to the temple bright and early.

The apostles were in the temple teaching before the Sanhedrin Council met

and before anyone on the Council knew that they were out of prison. They were

there teaching to the people about Christianity and about salvation.

(V.21), “...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.” When the members of the Sanhedrin

came together the first order of business was to send to the prison for the

apostles. They were all in for a surprise.

V. 22-23, “But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison,

they returned, and told, 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.” Don’t you know that those officers hated to return to the

Sanhedrin Council and give their report? What could they say? All they could

do was to tell what they had seen. They related how that when they came to

prison they found the guards outside the door. There was no indication that the

prisoners were gone. But when they opened the doors to look inside, the

prisoners were gone. Not one of the apostles was to be found. I’m sure they

must have questioned the guards who were at the doors and learned that they had

seen nobody going in or out. These officers had no explanation of how they had

escaped out of the jail.

However, the high priest and other officials of the Sanhedrin Council did

not need an explanation how the apostles had gotten out of the prison. V.

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.”

They just chalked it up to another miracle. They did not wonder how they had

gotten out. What they wondered was: How in the world were they would ever be

able to stop these Christians? Where would it all end? What I wonder is: Why

in the world did they not recognize the hand of God at work among the apostles

and realize that by working against the apostles they were working against God?

You would think that they would know by now that Jesus is the Son of God and

that they were fighting a loosing battle by opposing the apostles. How blind

can people be?

Before the members of the Sanhedrin could get over the shock of finding

the prisoners gone, there came another shock. V. 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.”

To the leaders of the Sanhedrin it must have been an exasperating

experience. But to the apostles, it must have been an exciting experience. I

feel surely they were having a good time. They were getting to witness to a

great crowd of people who were very enthusiastic about hearing their word,

people were coming under conviction of the Holy Spirit and souls were being

saved. What more could they ask?

IV. Arrested again

V. 26, “Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without

violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.” The

Sanhedrin Council sent after them again to place them under arrest again. But

this time the high priest did not go with the officers. He may have been afraid

to go. The officers who went were most certainly afraid to go. They were

afraid that the great masses of people who were listening to the apostles would

stone them.

I note that Luke said that they arrested them without violence. This was

a rare thing. Those officers always liked to make a show of power when they

made an arrest. But they did not do so this time. Instead they approached the

apostles and asked them kindly if they would to come along with them to the

Council meeting. I think that by this time the apostles themselves were not

afraid even in the least. By this time they knew that God was with them and

nothing would happen to them except what God was willing to allow to happen to

them. These were men were a lot braver now than they had been at any time of

the past.

Now listen to me. That same God watches over us in all of our trouble.

Nothing that happens to us catches God by surprise. That same God who was

with those apostles to help them in their trouble is with us in our trouble.

The angels of God have been sent to help us. We never see the angels

which minister to us and help us, but we can be sure that they are present.

God is able to help us in the worst of circumstances. Nothing is too hard

for God to handle. Those prison guards, those jail doors, those viscous

Council members were not too much for God to handle. God can help us in any

situation. God can help us in the storms of life. God can help us in times of

accidents. God can help us in our times of bereavement at the loss of a loved

one. God has not promised us that these trials of life would never come upon

us, but God has promised to be with us and to help us.

As we get deeper and deeper into the end-time events and closer and closer

to the time when the Anti-Christ will bring such severe persecution on the

people of God, it is a great consolation to know that God will be with His

people in that day to help them.

Conclusion:

Let the unsaved learn to trust the Lord Jesus Christ with the greatest

problem of all. Let him trust Jesus to take care of his eternal destiny. Let

him trust Jesus to keep him out of the fires of hell and to take him to heaven.

Let us who are saved trust the Lord to help us in all of our problems in

this life. Let us also learn to work for Him and to witness for Him in every

situation.