An Unstoppable Message

Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day, you and I, we get together, we get into God's Word, and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll make it all the way from the book of Acts to Philemon. So glad to have you this morning. We are at a very interesting and fun place in the book of Acts. Two different topics we're going to talk about today.
Why don't we go ahead and have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. All right, let's have some coffee. Oh Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word. We pray that as we read your word this morning, you might watch over us, teach us. We pray that we would be bold and that we would be loving and just in Jesus' name. Amen. Here we go, Acts chapter 5, beginning at verse 33. And we're going to read through Acts chapter 6, verse 7. We'll take those in two different chunks, but first Acts chapter 5, the rest of 5, verse 33 in the end. When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them.
Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. And he said to them, Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men.
For some time ago, Thaddeus rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about 400, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed.
And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan is of the work of men, it'll come to nothing. But if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest even you be found to fight against God." And they agreed with him. And when they called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded them that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple and in every house they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Well, this is our first section. We're going to move into chapter 6 verses 1 through 7 in a second. We need to ask ourselves here, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this in? see what are we called to do. And I'm gonna move quickly, because we have two sections to do today. So first, what is this about?
Well, the apostles have been brought back into the Sanhedrin. They were teaching in the temple after they'd been thrown in prison, and an angel released them. And now they are mad. They are red-hot, furious, burning under the collar. They are mad at them, and they want to kill them.
Right? Why? Because the apostles have just said, hey, you murdered Christ. You did this. And they're mad because they're trying to put the guilt of Jesus' blood on their shoulders. And they are seeking to kill them, but thankfully the cool-headed person prevails here, and Gamaliel, that great teacher of the law, who would be Paul's teacher, or presently is at this time Paul's teacher, he speaks up. He says, hey, put these guys outside. Right? Put the apostles outside. Put these ones outside. So they go outside and he says, hey, hold on. Remember these two different rebellious groups that happened? The first Thaddeus? We don't know exactly who Thaddeus is. There's some debate over this, whatever. But no matter what, there's a guy who took about 400 people outside. He said he was something, and he was nothing, and it came to nothing.
He was crushed, his followers were dispersed, and etc. And then remember the other rebel, Judas, up in Galilee. This guy rose up during the census, and this is just some historical background. He was a guy who thought it was blasphemy to pay the Romans tribute, because this was God's land, and well, the Romans now had conquered the land, and they wanted the taxes from the land, and So he rose a rebellion against the taxes. People always hate taxes, don't they? Well, they are against the taxes, but what happens?
Well, his group is dispersed. Now, some people would say it's not totally dispersed because the zealots are still part of that, and we can get into the historical stuff here. But he says at the end of his speech, when he brings up these two, he convinces them with these words, he says, And now I say to you, keep away from these men, but let them alone. For if this plan or this work is of men, it'll come to nothing. Just like these other two rebels, it's going to come to nothing if it's of men.
But if it's of God, we got a problem. And this is where he pushes it, right? If it's of God, you cannot overthrow it, right? If this movement truly is of God, and I don't think Amaliel is convinced of that, but if it is, you're not gonna overthrow it. And actually, what's more dangerous, you might be fighting against God. So he's saying, whoa, hold on, don't kill him.
But he's got a way to think through this. And so they bring back in the apostles, and what do they do? They're not just gonna let him go, they beat him. They beat him and they threaten him and they command him not to teach in the name of Jesus Christ. And I love what the next verses say. I absolutely love it. What does it say in verses 41 and 42?
Rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. The apostles didn't go, oh no, they beat us. No, they bore the beating for Christ in his name and they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for his name. Don't think I'm being glib or trite or something like that with persecution. Persecution is evil, it's of the devil, it's wrong, it's horrible. But they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer in his name. That Jesus' words were true. If they hated him, they would hate them also. That now they were learning, don't be surprised when this happens, but rejoice.
Right? Because it means they're following after him. But notice they don't. They do the exact same thing. They don't listen to them. I love it. And daily in the temple and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. The priest could try to shut them up all they want. They could try to push them down. They could try to beat them. They could try to threaten them. They could plan to kill them.
But no matter what, guess what they were going to do? They were going to go right back into the temple, praising God and teaching that Jesus was the Messiah. They were going to go from house to house to house, anywhere they could go, and they were going to teach people that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. And that's what their goal was. That's what Jesus had commissioned them for.
That's why they're called apostles, sent ones, those who have the authority to go out with the good news of Jesus Christ, and they were going to keep that commission. And it's with that thrust that we come to the first seven verses of Acts chapter six, because the disciples are growing. There's a whole bunch of people believing. They're being added to, but it's not just in word, it's also in caring for people. They loved one another. So let's go ahead and look at the first seven verses here.
Now in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose seven, Stephen, a man full of faith in the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Perimaeus, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles, and when they prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith."
Wow, what an incredible section we have there. What is this about? Well, the apostles are going out, they're going house to house, they're going into the temple, they're teaching, people are believing, all these things are happening, but the reality is that they're also caring for the widows. There are people who need food, there are people who need care for, but there's this cultural division that happens between two different groups of Jewish widows. now Christian widows.
There are ones who speak primarily Hebrew or Aramaic, and there is another group that are Hellenistic. They speak Greek. And we don't know all the cultural differences between them. Maybe the Hellenistic ones dressed a little bit different. Maybe they were a little bit okay with, you know, we might say Greco-Roman culture, where maybe the others came from more pharisaical backgrounds or traditional backgrounds. But there's a division between them, and there's a preference being shown here to the Jewish widows against the Hellenistic widows.
And this is a problem. This is a problem that James is going to address in the church. This is a problem that Paul is going to address in the church, especially in the book of Galatians. And as we move in the book of Acts, we're going to see this problem gets bigger and bigger and bigger, so much to the extent that You know, there's going to have to be huge councils to determine how do we deal with not just Jews, but even when the Gentiles start coming into the church. And so here, there's an issue. The danger here, one of the most dangerous times in the church was this moment when the apostles stopped preaching the word.
Would the apostles stop praying and only focus on the material needs of the people? Both needed to be met, both physical and spiritual. But the apostles needed to go out. They were commissioned to go out with this message. They were commissioned to go out and to care and to take the good news to others. But there needed to be people from within the congregation that would rise up and would lead this work.
And that's what they do. They tell the people, go choose for yourself. And so they find seven men, men who are filled with the Holy Spirit, men who are of good reputation. And as they find these seven men, they bring them to the apostles and the apostles pray for them and lay their hands on them. And they are now commissioned to do that work. So they're the ones now who are to do it.
And people rejoice at this. Why? Because their physical needs are being met. But also the good news, the apostles haven't swapped out. They're commissioned. Their entire life is consumed now with this need to go and teach the good news, to spread the good news, to preach the good news. And so this is what they need to do. And it's so important that even the priests in the temple catch hold of this.
Did you notice that at the very end? Verse 7, Then the word of God spread, and the numbers of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. Those people who were in the temple started to take notice of this as they heard it time and time and time again and as they saw the apostles and the believers care for the widows, they realized something was different here and they became obedient to the faith.
Well, what would we underline in our Bible as the best verses to summarize this? Well, in these two sections, I have verse 39 underlined, as well as verses 41 and 42. And in the next section, I have underlined verse Let's see, I have underlined verse four, and verse six and seven. So I know I cheat. I don't just underline one verse. Maybe you're better than that at me. Let me know what you underlined. See calling, lastly calling, what are we called to do in response to this? Don't let the Great Commission, don't let the Great Commission die on your deaf ears. Will you go tell someone about Jesus Christ today?
Maybe it's in the break room at work. Maybe it's your grandchild on the phone. Maybe it's your brother or sister that you haven't talked to for a while. Maybe it's that neighbor that you've been meaning to speak with them about spiritual matters. But maybe you've been, maybe you've been scared. Maybe you've been worried. Maybe you thought, what if they don't believe? What if they hate me? What if they ridicule me? What if it makes our friendship awkward? What if you get beaten or persecuted? Well, will you rejoice? Will you rejoice that you might be counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ?
And will you serve others in the church? Are there people in the congregation now that you can serve? Are there needs of people in the church now? Maybe there's an elderly person in the congregation that needs your company. Could you pick up your phone and call them? Could you send a text message? Could you get in your car and drive to them? Maybe you know someone who's in need. Will you go care for them?
Let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the rich blessing it is to hear of the work that your Holy Spirit has done in the history past. God, we pray that this would not just be a history lesson, but Lord, we pray that you would be doing powerful things in our midst today. Lord, we pray that you would spur us on to speak of Christ and to love like Christ. We pray these things in Jesus's name, amen. Well, may the Lord bless you today. May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ. May you love like Jesus Christ and may you speak to others of the love of Christ. And I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.