MONDAY 26 April 2021 “Roller Coaster”

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Good Monday morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

I wonder if you’ve ever ridden a ‘wild and crazy’ roller coaster at an amusement park? The ones built years ago were tame compared to the ones designed today which often include upside down riding, very fast and steep drops turning almost violently into hard corners and then into dark tunnels. When finally the ride comes to a stop, riders often sit for a few seconds trying to breathe normally again, lower their pulse rate, and regain their equilibrium so they can stand and walk normally.

In the weeks following Jesus’ resurrection and return to heaven, I wonder if that paragraph you just read on ‘breath taking’ roller coasters might be a fair description of what life was like for the followers of Jesus, especially in Jerusalem? Luke writes: “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded…Nevertheless more and more men and women believed in the Lord Jesus and were added to their number…” (Acts 5:12-16) Does that sound to you like a spiritual movement which is gaining momentum rapidly and attracting many new people each day? Have you ever been part of something like that? I have, and it does almost take your breath away, it’s so exciting!

But when God is working to accomplish His great purposes, the enemy of our souls, Satan, is always responding with opposition tactics. Look at what happened in Jerusalem: “The high priest…and members of the Sadducees were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go stand in the Temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.” (Acts 5:17-20) WOW! Do you see why I used the image of a “roller coaster” to describe the rapidly changing events in Jerusalem in those days?

Please remember this spiritual movement really had no formal organizational plan, no formal strategic plan, no marketing scheme, no big corporate sponsors! It also had no permits from the city leaders, the Roman officials or the religious leaders. It was just happening…spontaneously, everyday, by the power of the Holy Spirit of God! People being healed by the power of God from illnesses which had plagued them for years! People hearing the truth about Jesus and believing…and experiencing almost unexplainable changes in their attitudes, their world view, their relationships, even their thinking! For the authorities, I’m sure they thought they could overlook it if there were a few dozen people, or maybe even a couple of hundred people, but thousands, in fact by now we can safely say this movement may have been nearly 7 or 8000 people! That’s a movement no one can ignore, and that’s why some religious leaders took action. . .the public jail for the apostles, at least until some plan of action to stop this thing, could be developed!

But God. . . Have you learned, my “Walking with Jesus” friends, that it’s a dangerous thing to oppose God? Pharaoh tried it and lost most all his army, and found his nation of Egypt decimated by plagues from God! (Exodus 8-14). A huge army tried it against Gideon’s 300 men, and lost! (Judges 6,7) King Nebuchadnezzar tried it and ended up insane for a few years before his sanity returned in his repentance (Daniel 4).

Unlike previous great movements of God in history, this Jerusalem movement, which followed the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, was the launch of something Jesus had called “My church”. Jesus had told His disciples “…on this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail.” (Matt. 16:18) The “rock” Jesus spoke of was the eternal, unchanging TRUTH that Peter had spoken when he said “You are the Christ [Messiah] the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16) The IDENTITY of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of all things. Jesus is God. Jesus is God the Son. Jesus has existed as God from all eternity past, present and future. Jesus is TRUTH. In fact Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6) Therefore Jesus ALONE can be Savior for humanity through His atonement death and His resurrection which is God’s victory over sin, Satan and death. Jesus’ ascension back to heaven is significant because from there Jesus NOW reigns in supremacy and saves all who repent. (Hebrews 1:3; 7:25)

The “Jesus movement” which was happening in Jerusalem, beginning in Acts 2, was being accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit of God at work IN and THROUGH those followers of Jesus. In Acts 5:19 tells us “during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought out the apostles,’ instructing them to ‘go stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.” Angels do not come to earth from heaven on their own. The words ‘angel’ means ‘messenger of God’. They come here at God’s direction, for a specific mission, to a specific place, at a specific time. Jesus was guiding this great spiritual movement in Jerusalem and we can assume Jesus sent this angel to free His apostles from jail, encourage them by his powerful presence and actions, and instruct them what Jesus wanted them to do next! Can you imagine the courage and excitement with which they walked out of that jail?

As you read the next few verses you see the religious leaders gathered the next morning ready to hold court. They’d been contemplating all night how to silence these followers of Jesus. Perhaps there had even been committee meetings of some of the most zealous leaders during the night. As they were all gathered together and ready, they sent for those in jail, and were stunned when the report came back “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened the doors, we found no one inside!” (Acts 5:23) OK my friends, can you explain this?

You’ll remember the last group of guards that tried to restrain this movement were those guarding Jesus’ tomb and when the resurrection happened those guards fell to the ground like dead men. (Matt. 28:4) Not so this time. It appears these guards were totally unaware anything had happened during the night. The jail doors were securely locked, the guards had been awake, on duty. Nothing had changed as far as they knew. Can you imagine their shock when they opened the jail doors? Did the angel put them into a deep sleep for a few moments while he freed the apostles? We don’t know how it happened but it happened…for God’s glory and the forward momentum of this spiritual movement!

But please note, the apostles were not freed from incarceration by the angel and told to run for their lives, get out of town, run and hide. No, they were clearly instructed to go to the Temple courts in Jerusalem, the main gathering place for all religious activity, and “tell the people the full message of this new life.” So, let me ask you… if an angel gave you that instruction today, what would you do and especially what would you say? What, in your understanding and experience is ‘the full message of this new life’? This is very important friends. How accurately are you living and proclaiming the truths of Jesus, if you claim to be a follower of Jesus? Luke tells us the apostles did exactly and immediately what they were instructed to do, but Luke doesn’t tell us what they were saying when guards came to arrest them again, and they were taken by force back to appear before the religious authorities, the Sanhedrin.

Let’s spend today pondering what had happened to these apostles within the last 24 hours. Rounded up and arrested and put in the public jail. Then freed by an angel in the middle of the night, and given instructions to go right back out and preach Jesus’ truth, and now arrested again. What would you be thinking if you were one of them? What would you be thinking if you were an onlooker, someone who was interested in what these apostles were preaching, and fascinated by the miracles and changed lives of other people… but arrest, freed by angels and re-arrested? What would be your reaction?

May I leave you with this song of reflection today as you ponder this remarkable roller coaster of events in Jerusalem and consider: how similar is this to your city is to what God is doing in your city at this time?

Today’s Scripture is Acts 5:12-26.

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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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