John: Hey, friends. Welcome back to the Eagle Community Church of Christ podcast. My name is John Gunter. This week we are well, we're getting close to the end of the story. We're in chapter 28.
Talk about new beginnings, the beginning of the church and Jesus' last few days on earth before he, ascends back into heaven. This week, we really talk about what it would have felt like, what it would have looked like to, to be there during this time. What would it be like to be persecuted for preaching Jesus? We don't really know that persecution, but they sure did. I hope it's helpful for you.
I hope you, enjoy it, and I hope you have a great week. Come see you sometime. This part of the story is, as I mentioned, I think, a couple of weeks ago. Probably my least favorite because of how much it covers in 1 week. Those of you who are keeping up with the reading, know how much ground we covered, this week.
Last week, we talked about, Jesus had been crucified and, just found out by the women first that he is no longer in the tomb. That went to prepare and went to take care of their friend in his grave and found that he was no longer there. And what I love about scripture is that we're not left with this, where did he go? We're not left with this kind of question or maybe we we still have faith that Jesus is risen, but we have no idea where he went. That was Jesus' plan was to exit the tomb and be gone.
I can imagine had that happened that even today, we'd be saying, well, somebody must have taken him. It was a ruse to make it look like it was real, But that's not what happened at all. Scripture tells us that Jesus kind of had this farewell tour. Anybody, you know, a fan of farewell tours? Are the Eagles going on one of those?
Is that right? I know. I know. There you go. You're gonna re retire.
Okay. Re retire. And that's what Jesus does. It says, scripture tells us that for something like 40 days, Jesus appeared to over 500 people. And not only did He appear, and again, the skeptic could say, Well, they just kind of brought out a guy that looked like Jesus.
I kinda favored him. Maybe that's Jesus, and kind of do this switch. But what Scripture tells us is that as Jesus went around for these 40 days, he did signs, he did things to prove that he was who he said he was. And so, I'm not left with questions about was this really Jesus or where did Jesus go, that Jesus appeared to over 500 people. Paul tells us this, and, I think I've mentioned before, if this were not true, that would have been one of the dumbest things that Paul could have ever said.
Because Paul says he appeared to over 500 people and a lot of them are still alive. And for me, had I been living, I woulda headed out the back door to go talk to him right then if I didn't know. Right? Would you? Yeah.
For this to be true, that would have been the dumbest thing Paul could have done was to say that. But what do you have? The skeptic walked out the back door and went and talked to somebody who saw. They believed. This time was, I think as we we mentioned already, was kind of this beginning of the church now.
Jesus is going away, but he's not leaving things as they were. Because he has been crucified and resurrected, there is this new beginning, this ushering in of the Kingdom of God and this new look. And what we see is the disciples together. And Jesus tells them, he says, this curious thing, do not leave Jerusalem because the Holy Spirit is about to come down and be on you. Now why Jerusalem?
Jerusalem was the hub. It was the place. Katie's, great grandmother passed away, and her house is now called the hub because that's where everybody got together. Anybody had a place like that? Grandmother?
Mom? Yeah? Grandmother? Yeah. Okay.
All of those things. The place where where everyone assembles and that was Jerusalem. And because Jesus knew that when this happened, everyone was going to be here and you know that once you meet at grandmother's house at the hub, eventually everybody spreads out and goes their own way. Right? So that's exactly what happened.
These tongues of fire come down and all of a sudden, these Galilean men with no education don't ask me how they looked at these people and said that. Sounds a little judgy. Okay? But these guys that didn't have education, all of a sudden, are talking in languages that other people understood. We start reading Acts 2 verses, 14 through 24.
Then Peter stood up with the 11, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd, fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. All of the crowd is trying to figure out exactly what is going on. Because the people talking it and you're listening, what is it to you? Nothing.
Right? We say things like it's Greek to me. Right? And believe me, I've studied Greek. That's a good say.
It's Greek. But it's it's utter nonsense to someone who who doesn't understand and so they're trying to figure out, are these people crazy? Are they just drunk and slurring their words? Because if you don't understand the language, you you don't even understand the word. You have the vocabulary.
So Peter stands up and he says, let me explain this to you. These people are not drunk as you suppose. It's only 9 in the morning. Intervention. Right?
If it's 9 o'clock in the morning, we've got a problem. He said it's only 9 o'clock. These people are not drunk. That's not what's happening here. No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
Have you read your Bible? This is what Jesus, this is what Peter is saying in this moment. Have you not read your Bible? This is what Joel said. In the last days, god says, I will pour out my spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will feel wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the lord.
And everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved. Fellow Israelites, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by god to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which god did among you through him as you yourselves know. You saw him. You saw his ministry.
You saw him going around. You witnessed all of these things. Remember, a lot of times they witnessed it and said, okay. Now what? He's done all these great things.
How do we get him out of here? They didn't say, no. He didn't do those great things. They said, okay. That's a problem.
And Peter said, you saw, you witnessed all of these things. This man was handed over to you by god's deliberate plan and foreknowledge, and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. And the reason Peter could say that is because he had over 500 witnesses that said, yeah. We saw.
You all know that you put him to death, but we saw him raised. Skipping down to verse 29. Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried. David, someone they look up to. Right?
One of their father. Someone they took pride in. David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. You can go see it. He's still there.
What's the implication? Jesus isn't. David is still there. This great man that you're you take pride in. But Jesus whom you crucified, you can't find it.
He's not there. But he was a prophet and knew that god had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. It's not gonna be king David forever. Right? It's going to be someone else as messiah and king.
Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the messiah that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead nor did his body see decay. He wasn't in there long enough. Right? God raised Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
I'm not gonna talk a lot about that because we went through a whole series all summer, didn't we? That god wants to give his spirit to his people and that is exactly what's happening and Peter, I can imagine him turning and pointing. He said, this is what you're seeing and hearing. What god said he would do is happening right now. You are all witnesses of that.
For David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said, the lord said to my lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus whom you crucified. I'm sure he's making a bunch of friends right now. Whom you crucified, both lord and messiah.
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart. Now that's a big statement Because a lot. We hear a lot from god's word, and I I bet we hear a lot from god's word that might hit us in the mouth. When we compare to the way we're living or the way we're acting or what we're doing. And we have a voice in that moment to close-up our heart, close-up our mind, and say, not today.
I'm not interested in that. I wanna be mad, or I wanna act this way, or I wanna live this life. Or we can live and have this kind of heart that the scriptures talk about over and over, a heart that's open, a heart that's that's soft and ready to receive. And when we hear the truth, we allow that to cut us. We allow to we allow ourselves to accept it and say, okay.
Something needs to change. And that's to the heart, and they said to Peter and the other apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And some of the preaches all the time. That is a beautiful, beautiful question. Those who are involved in in the evangelism, I know we have some that are are passionate about it.
When you have that person say, what do I need to do? That is a day where it feels like the heavens open. Because you that heart is receptive to the work of god. What shall we do? Peter replied, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promises for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the lord, our god, will call. With many other words, he warned them and pleaded with them, save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted his message were baptized and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. Can you imagine that? I think if 3,000 people today said, I want to be baptized, we'd be worried about, how do we get this done in an orderly fashion?
Would we? We'd be trying to figure it out in a day. How do we do this? We break it up in tens. What do we do?
How do we say what we need to say? How do we make this efficient? That's where we'd be going. But can you imagine the joy? You've experienced baptisms before.
The joy that is happening when 1 person and Jesus tells us about this. Right? When one person turns back, the rejoicing that happens with that, 3,000 people said, I wanna know this Jesus you're talking about. Well, we're gonna be a part of that now. To come together in a moment like that where so many people say, today is the day.
I wanna follow you. Well, this is kind of a jumping off point as far as scripture is concerned because from this point, they they go out still teaching and preaching Jesus. Remember, both the Jewish leaders and the Roman leadership thought that once Jesus was dead, this would probably go away, right? Problem solved, checklist checked, done. Let's get on to the next business.
Problems his disciples kept going around and why? Because they were upholding some kind of lie. I don't think so. Because they knew Jesus and they knew he'd been raised. Peter and John kept going around and all the other disciples and they kept getting in trouble because of it.
They risked their lives because of Jesus. I can't imagine risking my life for something that I I knew was a lie. Can you? That I know he didn't really he wasn't really raised, but I'll risk my life. I don't think so.
Not not this day. Right? But they kept going around and preaching and teaching, which was still a problem. They kept doing signs that others recognized and witnessed and thought, What do we do? This is still a problem for us.
And at one point, they called in and kind of called on the carpet to the leadership again, and here's kind of how it goes down. Acts 5 starting in verse 27. The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. We give you strict orders not to teach in this name, he said. Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood.
I told you they weren't making friends. That's exactly what Peter said. Right? This man who you crucify. And they said, you're trying to make us guilty of this man's blood.
Remember, they all kind of try to wipe their hands up, everyone of them. Peter and the other apostles replied, we must obey god rather than a human being. Now this is not an easy thing to say, is it? It? What just happened to Jesus because he preached and talked?
What are the basis by saying that? You know what it is. That you must obey God over human beings, and you're saying this to the religious leaders. And sometimes you have to stand up and say this to religious leaders and nobody takes it really well, I'm sure. But we may god, we must do what god wants and what god has asked of us instead of other people.
The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. If they didn't get it before then, they got it now. Right? Yes. That is exactly what we're doing.
You killed him. God exalted him to his own right hand as prince and savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. This is what god is trying to accomplish. To make Israel right with him. That's what he wanted to do.
You accuse Jesus of so many other things, but he wanted to have this right relationship with Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. Remember this hard heart versus open heart ready to be cut. They hear the truth, what do they do?
They become furious. That is often the reaction. But a a named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addresses the Sanhedrin, men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men to these men. You you almost hear the wisdom in this, right, already.
Somebody who's been there, done that. Consider carefully what you're about to do. Some time ago, Theodos appeared claiming to be somebody and about 400 men rallied to him. This has happened before. He he said he was somebody.
He had disciples. He had followers. He said about 400 men rallied to him. He was killed. All his followers dispersed, and it all came to nothing.
Why do you think they dispersed after he was killed? He didn't back up, did he? Once he was killed, it was over. There was no claiming anything else. Once he died, that was it.
When Jesus died and showed back up, even to the surprise of his disciples, uh-oh, this thing is not over. He said it came to nothing. He said after him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed and all of his followers were scattered. You see the difference?
All of his followers were scattered as soon as he died. Therefore, in the present case, I advise you, leave these men alone. Leave men alone. Let them go. For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.
We've seen it before. It will fail. It will stop because he died. Notice in 39, but if it is from god, you will not be able to stop these men. Now I imagine they took that real well.
Say what? You'll think I can stop them? We got a little pride sometimes, don't we? You you don't think I can stop them? We can stop them?
He said, if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men. You will only find yourselves fighting against god. Anybody wanna be in that position? His speech persuaded them, thankfully. They called and had them flogged.
Why? I don't know. Leave them alone? Okay. Let's log that.
Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name. Anybody understand that real well? Thank lord for that flogging I received. How many times do we pray for safety and peace?
Right? And what they put pride in the suffering for the gospel. A little different mindset there. Let's open that this morning. Maybe sometimes the struggles are okay.
Maybe they're good. Maybe we take pride and stepping out there on our faith and getting rejected. He finished 42 day after day in the temple courts from house to house. They never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. Why?
Because they'd seen him. Their friend killed. They've seen their friend resurrected, come back to life, still doing signs and wonders, and though their life was threatened, at the end of the day, they could say, it's worth it. Every lot of trouble they had, every chance that they had to be killed, they would say, it is worth it. Now I'm asking this question today because I think what Gamaliel said was fantastic.
The wisdom he showed in the moment was, I think, awesome, that what you will see is going to play out one way or the other. We've seen it before. All of those things ended. If it is from man, this will go away, but it if it is from god, you may be fighting against God, and you will not be able to stop it. What do you think happened, sir?
What do you think, sir? We're still here. We're still here because it's true. We're still here because Jesus said he would be killed and he would be raised on the 3rd day. We're still here because those men who witnessed that had the courage because they witnessed it, to live a life of courage and strength, and to go from house to house with their lives in danger telling people, this is real.
The messiah come. God is with it. God has been working among us. This is all done for every one of us. I can't imagine sometimes.
I like to think, you know, who do you meet in heaven? Who do you wanna meet in heaven? Sometimes I feel a little bad, for how really easy we have it. We have it easy, don't we? Let's let's just be honest.
I don't care how bad you think it is. We've got it easy compared to these people. I get a meeting Peter and John and the disciples and sharing war stories, and I don't have a whole lot. At one time, at Walmart, they said happy holidays to me. You said merry Christmas.
And they become like somebody else looking at me right now. But they look this way with strength and without fear because it was true. And we can do the same exact way. That a church cannot be stopped because you are fighting against God if you try to fight. So let's do strength.
Let's go in power. Let's go with courage. If this is true, I wanna live it out because if you have any we're gonna offer a song of invitation. Love to pray with you. Love to see you put on Christ in baptism today just like 3,000 people did 3,000 years ago.
Isn't that amazing? God's company.