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How To Be Glad When Things Seem Bad
Have you ever had one of those stretches where nothing seems to be going right? Where it just seems like everything that happens is negative?
I remember when I was a little boy, maybe 10 years old. Our neighbor went to leave for work and had a flat tire on his truck. He as he was changing the flat tire he sliced his hand. And he looked up and said, “what else can go wrong today.” At about that moment a bird was flying over head and well, you know what landed on him! Well, friend we all go through that at times. The question is not what our current circumstance might be, but what our current commitment to Christ is.
We have seen in the book of Acts just up into the fifth chapter that these dedicated believers were experience what we would call good times and bad times. Yet they seemed to still be glad. They seemed to still have their joy. A big part of that is because while there circumstance was always changing, their commitment to Christ never changed. And God was always using what seemed like bad circumstances to bring about His will.
Today, as we finish Acts 5, I want us to see some actions that we must continually take in our lives to have joy. I want us to see
How To Be Glad When Things Seem Bad.
Three things you must routinely do in your Christian life:
(Note: I should say that I had this sermon title picked out over a week ago. And with being ill and some other things, I can only say that God decided to have me live this message this week. I mean I was bombarded with negative information all week. It came from the telephone, email, and regular mail. It just seemed like everything was negative. But I had a lot of time to pray!)
I. Be consistent in your witness
Acts 5:17-25
But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, "Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life." And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, "We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside." Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, "Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people."
Now the religious leaders had been watching all of this. They thought that they had nipped this in the bud when they killed Jesus. They are filled with “indignation.” This word has the idea of “jealousy.” They wanted to be the ones who were popular. So they put the apostles in prison—again! Apparently they did not learn from the last time. The last time when they were upset b/c the apostles healed a man, they threw them in prison and it didn’t work. Would it work this time?
Acts 5:19-20
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, "Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life."
God sent His messenger, this time an angel, to do His work. (This also demonstrates that miraculous things were happening that we would not expect to see today.) They were commanded to share the gospel. This is God’s way of showing that He is indeed sovereign and nothing will thwart His plans.
Acts 5:21
And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
Now the disciples did not waste any time. Now the word used here for “temple” speaks of the temple courts. And they taught the Scriptures.
Acts 5:21b-24
Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, "We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside." Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to.
Now the angel had shut the prison doors back up. This would seem even more odd to the prison guards. Now I love the v. 24. They “wondered what the outcome would be.” They could not conceive of how they could have gotten out of the locked gates and past the guards. They were probably wondering what miracle had occurred now!
Acts 5:25
And someone came and told them, "Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people."
Nothing was going to stop God’s messengers. Do you see that. I have always been amazed by the attitudes of many God’s servants in the Bible. I mean how can you be in prison and be beaten and yet be glad? By not focusing on your circumstance, but on Christ. This is what they were doing. So the next time you find yourself in a difficult stretch be sure that you are sharing Christ with others. In fact, it even makes for a more powerful witness. When people see us going through difficult times and we are still being faithful to God, that is a particularly strong witness.
So one thing we can do to be glad when things seem bad is to be consistent with our witness. And secondly,
II. Be persistent in your obedience
Acts 5:26-32
Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
When we are going through difficult times we find out really how committed to Christ we are. Anyone can praise God when all things seem to be going well.
Acts 5:26
Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
I wish I could have seen the expression on their faces! Now the people, by and large, liked the disciples, so they were careful to be gentle with them in public. And God had given the disciples favor in the peoples’ eyes. That wouldn’t always be the case.
Acts 5:27-29
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.
Notice the way they flippantly say “this name.” They couldn’t even bring themselves to say Jesus’ name. Now they are concerned that the apostles would dare “bring this Man's blood on us!" This is ironic because when these same leaders refused to allow Pilate to let Jesus go they defiantly said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children.” Well that is exactly what happened! And Peter again made it clear that they had to obey God over man!
Now I want you to observe Peter’s words. He takes the time to preach another evangelistic sermon here. In fact when you study the New Testament in seminary you learn about what is called the kerygma. This is the Greek term for proclamation. And so the kerygma refers to the pattern of almost all of the New Testament presentations of the gospel. It speaks of Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and to his appearance after His resurrection to chosen witnesses. Notice how Peter preaches here:
Acts 5:30-32
The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
As we see Peter mentions all of these elements of the kerygma. So Paul once again confronts them with their sin. And notice he finishes in v. 32 making it clear that these leaders were not obeying God! Peter probably mentions the Holy Spirit here because He is the power behind the miracles which were being performed.
But again the key here is being persistent in our obedience. The world is persistently trying to get us to be disobedient, so we must be very persistent in our obedience. This will also help us to find joy in the midst of difficult times. Lastly, we must:
III. Be cognizant of God’s sovereignty
Acts 5:33-42
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, "Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!" So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
These disciples certainly were. You know so many times we act as if we are shocked when we find ourselves in difficult times. We shouldn’t be. But we must keep in mind that God is working out His plan even in our difficult times.
Acts 5:33
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
We can see here the escalation in the opposition. They did not want to put them in prison anymore, they wanted to kill them. Fortunately for them, there was one person there who had a bit of wisdom, though he was not a believer.
Acts 5:34
But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
Now Gamaliel was actually a Pharisee and the teacher whom the apostle Paul, when he was Saul before his conversion, was studying. In fact, at the time this took place Saul may still have been studying under him. Now as we will see Saul’s approach was much more violent than Gamaliel’s. But notice how God in His sovereignty, uses one of the most unlikeliest of men to save the disciples! With a God as powerful as we serve, we truly should never lose our joy.
Acts 5:35-36
And he said to them, "Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.
Now attempts have been made at elaborating on exactly who this Theudas was, but the fact is that we know nothing certain about him except what we read here.
Acts 5:37
After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.
As is the case with Theudus, we do not know anything about this Judas, except what is written here.
Acts 5:38-40
So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!" So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
So Gamaliel reasoned that if it was not of God, then it would die out. Well, some 2,000 years later it has not died out! Gamiliel shows surprising wisdom for an unbeliever. Certainly God was using Gamiliel in this situation.
Now though the people agreed with Gamiliel they couldn’t resist beating the apostles. They didn’t kill them but they still decided to at least beat them. And what was the disciples disposition after they were beaten? They were praising God! Man can we learn from this. We get upset when we are stuck in traffic or our coffee doesn’t taste just right. These believers were beaten for no good reason and they praised God for it! Friend, we all need an attitude change. And this includes me. You think you have problems? You think God is not “fair” to you. These men were sharing the gospel and look what happened to them. We get upset when things happen to us and we probably bring those things on ourselves, unlike these believers.
Acts 5:41-42
Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Remarkably these believers are filled with joy. Some have suggested that the theme of Acts is “joy.” It is amazing that the church could be so joyful while being so persecuted. But again, we see that the persecuted church is the powerful church!
Now they were once again warned not to speak in the name of Christ. Well, not only did they speak in the name of Christ, they did it daily! These believers knew “how to be glad when things seem bad.” We should too! We must witness, be obedient to God, and trust in His sovereignty. Certainly we could add other things but these are three characteristics which stick out in this passage.
