A Shot to the Temple

In boxing and ultimate fighting, there is nothing as devastating as a shot to the temple.  A well-placed punch to the side of the forehead usually crumples your opponent into unconscious heap.  

Knock out.  Lights out.  

Here, Stephen concludes his testimony before the ruling Jewish council with a shot to the temple (Acts 7:44-53).  He reminds the Sanhedrin of their misplaced worship of the man-made temple.  

It was a knockout punch.

Stephen wraps up his Spirit-filled, sermon-on-the-fly before the Sanhedrin.  He's walked through the OT describing how Almighty God worked in and through an unending parade of misfits, murderers and malcontents to bring about salvation through Messiah Jesus (Acts 7:2-43).

They have originally charged Steve with slandering and blaspheming God, Moses, and the holy temple (Acts 6:11-14).  The high priest demanded that he answer these charges (i.e. "How do you plead?").  

Finally, in these verses, the church's soon-to-be first martyr answers his accusers.

Stephen once again reminds the council of the history of the temple.  He recalls, "Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness" (v44).  

Before the temple was the tabernacle.  Instead of a brick and mortar building, God camped in a tent among His people.  This was just the way He wanted it (Ex 25:8-9, 40).  

He commanded Moses EXACTLY how to put together this one of a kind, portable sanctuary-on-the-go.  God's Tent contained the Ark of the Covenant, the great reminder of God's everlasting promise to His people.

Moses built the tabernacle because God told Him to.  This is God at work.

Steve goes on to remind the Sanhedrin of the critical role the tabernacle played as God's people came rolling into the Promised Land.  

Joshua was God's handpicked successor to Moses.  He led the charge into this land of milk and honey.  

Notice the specific phrasing of the sentence.  "They dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers" (v45).  

The children of Israel played an active role, but it is God who drove out those living in the land (Josh 18:1; 23:9).

Just as God instructed Moses to build His tent, He also was the One who drove out the enemies of His people as they conquered the land.

Next, Steve recalls "the days of David" (v45-46).  He reminds his hostile audience that the great king was nothing until God showered him with grace.  

The phrase "found favor in the sight of God" can just as easily be translated as David "found grace in the sight of God."  That’s because the Greek word translated here is χαρις/charis, which can mean grace, kindness, mercy, goodwill, favor.  

God used King David only because He blessed him.  David did nothing on his own.  This no doubt includes the gracious promise the Lord made to David that one day his Descendant would sit on the throne of Israel forever (2Sam 7).  

That's what scholars call the Davidic Covenant.  Jesus is that direct Descendant and the fulfillment of that promise.

So let's recap.  God was the One who commanded Moses to build the tabernacle.  God was the One who drove out Israel's enemies in the Promised Land.  God was the One who placed David under His waterfall of blessing.  See a trend?

King David badly wanted to build Yahweh a permanent temple.  Instead, God chose his son Solomon for the project (v47).  The Scripture goes into great detail about this massive undertaking (1Ki 6; 8:17-21; 1Chr 22:7-10).

There's just one problem about temple building.  "The Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands" (v48).  

Solomon understood this irony of constructing a man-made temple for an uncontainable God.  

"Who is able to build Him a house, since heaven, even cannot contain Him?  Who am I to build a house for Him, except as a place to make offerings before Him?" (2Chr 2:6).

Stephen understood what Solomon did.  The temple might be great, but God is greater!  

He quotes Isaiah 66:1-2, where God Himself mocks the idea of trying to limit His presence to brick and mortar.  This is the same thing that Jesus shared with the Samaritan woman.  

Christ Himself announces that the time "is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth," not in any kind of a building (Jn 4:21-24).

Stephen finishes his sermon by swinging haymakers.  He accuses his accusers of being "stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit" (v51).  POW!!  

He says they have rejected God just like their fathers before them.  Israel was following in their fathers' sinful footsteps.  BANG!!

Stephen said that their fathers made sure they persecuted every prophet that God sent (v52).  They killed every last one of God's messengers who had announced "the coming of the Righteous One."  They batted 1.000.  CRUNCH!!

Steve has them on the ropes and goes for the knockout.  He finishes this wicked (and TRUTHFUL!) combination by accusing them of murdering Messiah.  KAPOW!!!!!!!

A shot to the temple.  From a standpoint of salvation, the Sanhedrin was out cold.  Stone cold.  All thanks to Stephen's Spirit-filled shot to the temple.

©2011

Jay Jennings 

The Big Mo

 Full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen continues to use his trial before the Sanhedrin as a God given opportunity to tell them that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah (Acts 7:17-44).  

He has told the council how Almighty God sovereignly used goofballs like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs and Joseph as players in His divine plan of salvation.

Don't miss two VERY important points.  First, the Old Testament is about Jesus.  All of it.  Second, God is the Hero of the story.  Not the human agents he uses.

Stephen then tells the very familiar story of Moses.  He reminds the council how the clock counted down to "the time of the promise" (v17).  

This is the promise God made to Abraham (Acts 7:5; Gen 17:8; 48:4), what we now call the Abrahamic Covenant.  

As the second hand moves closer to God's fulfillment of His covenant, something amazing happens.  "The people increased and multiplied in Egypt” (v17).  God’s chosen people explode in number.  

Again, this was all part of God's promise to Abe.  The Israelites apparently grew from about 76 people (Acts 7:14) to upwards of a million in their 430 years in Egypt.

There was one big problem for God's people.  There was a new king in town, one "who did not know Joseph" (v18).  This new monarch saw these people as a threat and decided to do a little ethnic cleansing (v19).

This was the scene into which Moses was born.  "And he was beautiful in God's sight” (v20).  Did you know that our heavenly Dad sees each follower of Jesus the very same way?

Steve describes the amazing story of God's hand on this Prince of Egypt.  Set afloat on the Nile to avoid infanticide.  Rescued by Pharaoh's daughter and raised in royalty (v21).  As a result, the Big Mo has life by the tail.  

That will soon change.  At age 40, Moses murders an Egyptian slave driver for abusing an Israelite (v24).  He believed this was the first step in his liberation of his native people (v25).  

But instead of hailing Moses as the leader of the rebellion, the Israelites saw him as a killer (v27-28).  The would-be liberator turned fugitive and headed to Midian (v29).

Fast forward 40 years and we see Moses stumbling onto a burning bush (v30-31).  It turned out to be God's angel (probably pre-incarnate Christ).  

The voice from the flame states, "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob" (v32).  

God Himself has heard the cries of His people in Egypt, "and I have come down to deliver them" (v34).  And He's going to use Moses to do it!  

Once again, God uses jacked up people in jaw-dropping ways.  Moses is in a long line of losers the Lord loves.  

This is what Paul meant when he wrote, "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God" (1Cor 1:27-30).  

Remember, God is the Hero of the story.  Not the Big Mo.

God uses this not-so-mighty Mo as "ruler and redeemer" to His people (v35).  Stephen tells how Moses performed "wonders and signs" just like the apostles in the early church (v36).  

Moses is what theologians call a "type" of Christ.  He exhibits certain characteristics, qualities and behaviors that give us a hint of the One who is to come.  

Moses himself says, "God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brothers" (v37; Dt 18:15).  Scripture clearly tells us that Mo is talking about Jesus.

After God uses Moses to lead His people from bondage, the Israelites then stun their leader with one of the most ridiculous moments of mutiny in all of history (v38-41).  

While Mo was on the mountain with God receiving the "living oracles" (God's Word is truly living and active according to Hebrews 4:12), they molded a golden cow and began to worship it.  

Stephen describes God's reaction to their rebellion.  It is frightening.  "But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven" (v42).  

This same God was with Joseph (Acts 7:9) rejects the people He graciously chose.  And when He "gave them over” (v42), this is an example of what is called the Passive Wrath of God.  

That means the Lord doesn't punish them directly.  He allows them to suffer the consequences of their disobedience.  This is His way of letting them have their way.  It's God's use of boundaries.

Steve then quotes the prophet Amos.  Through Amos, God warns His people that their rejection and idolatry will have dire consequences.  

"I will send you into exile beyond Babylon” (v42-43; Am 5:25-27).  In other words, He will actively punish them if they continue in their rebellion.  

We have seen how our gracious God has used a series of messed up men in His plan of salvation.  

Now the very people He has chosen and through whom He will raise up His Messiah have fully rejected Him.  His chastisement of them is for their own good.  And ultimately, it is for our good.  

Stephen tells the council that just as they have rejected Jesus, the people rejected God.  He is the Hero of the story. 

©2011

Jay Jennings

An Average Joe

Stephen continues his amazing sermon before the Sanhedrin in Acts 7:9-16.  The high priest has basically asked him how he pleads to the charge of blasphemy (Acts 7:1).  

Instead of answering the question, Steve begins by flipping open the Bible and proving to the council that Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Messiah that God promised throughout the Old Testament.  

In other words, Steve says the entire OT is about Jesus!

We must not get sidetracked when we study the OT.  These are not a series of moral stories about great men and women who are to be emulated.  Not at all.  They are not the heroes of the story.  

This is God's story!  He is the Hero!  Through the OT, He shows us how He consistently does amazing things through the lives of jacked up, stiff necked, sinful people.  

God is the Hero of the story! 

Steve first tells the story of how God graciously interacted with Abraham, his son Isaac, grandson Jacob and his great grandchildren, "the twelve patriarchs" (Acts 7:2-8).  

Again, don’t take the bait and see these men as great examples.  This is messed up bunch that God graciously used.  

Abraham lied about his wife to save his own skin, not once, but twice.  Isaac was the head of horribly dysfunctional family.  Jacob was a conniving backstabber who schemes to get his brother's birthright.

At this point, I would strongly encourage a reading of Genesis 37, 39-49.  This is the story of Joseph that Steve is about to relate.

This leads us to the twelve patriarchs.  Surely the dozen sons of Jacob were the pillars upon which the nation of Israel stands.  These twelve men are so famous and respected that the twelve tribes take their names from them.  

But there's just one problem with all of that.  It's not true.  Jake's boys put the funk in dysfunction.  These so-called twelve patriarchs are probably better understood as the Dirty Dozen.  

Stephen tells us that "the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt" (v9).  Not exactly the behavior you'd expect from the founding fathers of your faith.

The reason this shouldn't surprise us is that the twelve patriarchs aren't the heroes of the story.  And neither is their brother Joseph.  

Sure, he is less culpable but he's brought some of this on himself with all this immature talk that his brothers and parents would bow down before him (Gen 37:6-11).  Talk about a cocky kid brother!

Joseph is just, well, an average Joe.  There's just one thing different about the boy.  "But God was with him" (v9).  An average Joe accompanied by our awesome Jehovah.  God's great big hand is strongly on little Joe as he rolls into Egypt.  

The presence of God in someone’s life means nothing but lifestyles of the rich and famous, right?  Wrong.  

It’s not long before Joe is wrongly convicted of raping his boss’ wife and tossed into prison for decades.  But he was able to stand strong because "God was with him” (v9).

Joe didn't use any great skill or wisdom to break out of prison.  Nope.  This was God at work.  

Don't forget, God is the Hero of Joe's story.  It's God that "rescued him out of all his afflictions" (v10).  

But this amazing comeback story of our average Joe doesn't stop there.  God then "gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt” (v10).  From the prison cell to the throne room.  Talk about a turnaround!

God eventually places Joseph as number two in authority of the Egyptian government under Pharaoh.  Our sovereign Lord then brings Joe's family to town looking for food during a famine.  Eventually, Jacob and the entire fam pack up and move to Egypt.

God is not only the Hero of average Joe's story, He's the Hero of the Old Testament.  He's the Hero of the entire Bible.  And He's the Hero of my story.  Hopefully, He's the Hero of your story.        

The story of Joseph reminds us that any average Joe that God chooses to use will do great things.  Because He is the Hero of the story.

©2011

Jay Jennings

Stephen Goes into OT

 If you're a sports fan, you know that overtime is crunch time.  OT is where it all happens.  It's at the end of the game where victory is decided.  

In the Bible, the OT is certainly crunch time and where victory is decided.  But there's one big difference, the OT (Old Testament) comes FIRST.

Here Stephen goes into the OT to explain to the Sanhedrin that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah that God has promised (Acts 7:1-8).  He walks through the OT to show them that all of God's interaction with their forefathers was all about Jesus.

We must never forget that the Old Testament is NOT about great heroes.  It's NOT about wonderful examples of morality.  

There is only one Hero of the story in the OT.  Jesus.  The OT is part of a grand narrative about Christ.  The OT is filled with shadows, types, promises and prophecies about Jesus.  

Some call it the Meta Narrative.  That simply means the Big Story.  

Whatever we read in the OT, we must see in light of Jesus.  We must read it in light of how God uses an endless list of sinful, jacked up people to fulfill His promise of salvation through His Son.

The OT is crunch time.  The OT is where the game is decided.  The only difference is that in the Bible, the OT happens FIRST!

 

Stephen's Jewish enemies drag him before the ruling council.  The proceedings begin with the high priest asking our man Steve, "Are these things so?" (v1).  This is the equivalent of the judge asking the defendant, "How do you plead?"

Well, Steve doesn't exactly answer his question.  Rather, he uses it as an opportunity to preach a sermon.  He basicly opens the Old Testament to its first book and begins walking through God's story, explaining that Jesus is Messiah.  

This is a reminder that we must "always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect" (1Pet 3:15).  

Are you and I ready?  We need to be.  Maybe not to preach a sermon, but to share the good news of Jesus.

Let's remember how Luke describes Stephen.  The apostles appointed him for service along with six other dudes (Acts 6:5).  These men were to be "men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom" (Acts 6:3).  

Steve shows that he’s "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 6:5).  Once he starts serving, he’s "full of grace and power" as well as "doing great wonders and signs" (Acts 6:8).  

When the Jewish leaders confront him and try to debate him, they’re frustrated by his "wisdom and the Spirit" (Acts 6:10).  No wonder.  With God’s Spirit giving him the words and wisdom, they don’t stand a chance.

The only way they could ever beat Stephen was to cheat.  Just like they did with Jesus, his opponents cook up people willing to commit perjury in order to get him out of the picture (Acts 6:11-13).

Stephen begins his impromptu message by flipping back to the opening pages of the OT.  He tells his Jewish brethren how "the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham" (v2).

Let's be clear about one thing.  Steve is NOT sharing a series of stories about characters from the OT.  He's sharing ONE story about GOD!  

Watch how the One moving the story along, the One making everything happen is actually Almighty God.  He's the One appearing (v2), calling, showing (v3), removing (v4), giving, promising (v5), speaking (v6), judging and afflicting (v7).  

Stephen walks his listeners through the story of Abraham in Genesis (Gen 12:1-4; 17:7-8; 48:4; 15:13-14; 17:10-14).  

This is a not-so-subtle reminder that the first book of the Bible is not a story full of legends and fairy tales.  

It is history.  Or rather His Story.  It is the beginning of the story of God's gracious interaction with His creation.

Heroes are made in OT.  And God is THE Hero of the OT.   

©2011

Jay Jennings

A Second Trial

 Here we go again.  In these verses, Luke gives the account of the apostles second trial before the Sanhedrin.  

The first time, the council basically gave them a warning ticket (Acts 4:18).  Peter and John told the Jewish leaders this wasn't going to stop them from telling others about Jesus (Acts 4:19-20).  

These religious big wigs toss the apostles in the clink a second time for continuing to proclaim the Gospel (Acts 4:17).  But this time God sends an angel to bust them out of the joint and continue preaching the Good News (Acts 4:19-21).

When the high priest and the Sanhedrin reconvenes the following day, they send for the 12 prisoners (v21).  There's only one problem.  They are not there (v22).  

And they are stunned at what they do find.  The cell block is still locked tight.  The guards are still standing at each cell door.  "But when we opened them we found no one inside” (v23).  

That left everyone scratching their heads (v24).  What in the wide, wide world of sports is going on?  

Suddenly, someone runs in to report that prisoners are actually "standing in the temple teaching the people" (v25).  They immediately send out the temple security detail to bring them in.  

But the cops don't make a big scene.  They don't use force.  But this has very little to do with civility and everything to do with public opinion.  "They were afraid of being stoned by the people" (v26).

It is interesting to note the difference in the reactions of the apostles and the captain of the temple guard.  

The Twelve didn't care that the council would most certainly arrest them.  They were going to obey the Lord.  They feared God.  

On the other hand, the temple cops worried about the people's reaction to putting the apostles in a paddy wagon.  They feared man.  

The Apostle Paul had the right priorities.  "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?  Or am I trying to please man?  If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Gal 1:10).

Once the hearing gets underway, the high priest reminds them of the warning ticket he gave them just the other day.  

What particularly ticked him off was that these men were teaching the people that the Sanhedrin played a central role in Jesus' execution.  "You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this Man's blood upon us” (v28).  

Clearly, the Gospel is turning the city on its head.  It's all the buzz.  

As they have done many times before, Pete and the boys boldly accuse the Jewish leaders as being culpable in the death of Christ (Acts 2:23, 26; 3:15; 4:10).  The apostles pulled no punches.

As leader of the Twelve, Pete responds.  And the Sanhedrin's not going to like what he has to say.  "We must obey God rather than men” (v30).  He says they really have no choice.  

When the ruling authority demands a follower of Jesus to sin in disobedience, there is but one godly response.  Obey God.  

We've come to call it civil disobedience.  A better term would be godly obedience.  This call to obedience was such a burden for Martin Luther King that he led the American Civil Rights movement.  

Throughout the Bible, we read of God-fearing individuals thumbing their noses at sinful authority (Ex 1:15-17; Dan 6:4-10).

Pete goes on to proclaim Jesus' resurrection before the council.  "The God of our fathers raised Jesus” (v30).  

Let's be clear on this.  This is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who brought the Rabbi/Carpenter back to life.  

This is OUR God!  This is the God these Jewish leaders claimed to follow.

Then the fisherman drops the hammer and accuses the Sanhedrin of murdering Messiah.  "Whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree” (v30).  

And the Greek word used here is διαχειριζω/diacheirizo.  It means to lay hands on violently, to seize and kill, to murder.  

Pete doesn't want the high priest to miss his point.  Yes, Jesus' blood IS on his hands!

But it didn't end with simply a risen Jesus flaunting the council's failed plot to eliminate Him from the scene.  "God exalted Him at His right hand as Leader and Savior” (v31).  

Jesus has returned home to heaven.  And His Dad was saving a chair for Him.  It was the throne of authority at the Father's right hand (Ps 110:1 Lk 20:41-44; Acts 2:34-36; Phil 2:9-11).

God has given His Son the authority "to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" (v31).  We often think of the forgiveness of sin as a gift, but how about repentance?  

Peter is teaching that repentance itself is a gift of God.  The Lord doesn't have to let us turn back to Him.  Our holy God could simply damn us to hell for a single sin, no questions asked.  

But He doesn't.  He grants us the gracious gift of repentance.  We should take full advantage of this wonderful gift each and every time it is needed.  For me, that is all too often.

Peter goes on to testify that the followers of Jesus "are witnesses to these things" (v32).  And they aren't the only ones.  “So is the Holy Spirit” (v32).  

God's Spirit also testifies to the truth of the Gospel.  And God gives His Spirit "to those who obey Him” (v32).  What a marvelous promise!  

And notice the appearance of the Trinity here in these verses.  The Father is at work.  The Son is risen, ruling and reigning.  The Spirit testifies.

In essence, Pete tells the council that if they make the apostles choose whom to follow, they will follow Jesus every time.  

How 'bout you?  

©2011

Jay Jennings

Prison Break!

 The Shawshank Redemption.  The Great Escape.  Escape from Alcatraz.  Papillon.  Stalag 17.  

Who doesn't love a great story of someone wrongly imprisoned busting out?  OK, probably not the warden.  But there is something in our souls that longs to hear these stories again and again.  

I truly believe our love for these tales of escape are in our hearts because God has placed them there.  We long to be free.  And we can only find freedom in Christ.

Well, if you like a good prison break, then you need to sit down and read the book of Acts.  Dr. Luke tells the story of three different escapes (Acts 5:17-21; 12:6-11; 16:23-28).  

Each time, the prisoners got help from the outside.  And that outside help was from the hand of God Himself.

We pick up this particular story as God is working countless signs and wonders through the apostles.  Healing of diseases.  Exorcising from demons.  

The early church proclaims the grace and salvation only in the risen Jesus.  The Sanhedrin had already tried to warn Peter and John to stop all this nonsense, but the two apostles blew them off (Acts 4:17-21).

At this point, the high priest and his cronies had enough (v17).  Most likely, the high priest mentioned here is Annas (Acts 4:6).  He was the patriarch of a family who held a kung fu grip on the high priesthood.  

Annas had served previously in the role but it was now "officially" held by his son-in-law Caiaphas.  Two of his sons would also hold that office.

Annas was the leader of the Sadducees.  This was a small but very powerful sect of Judaism.  These were the wealthiest of Jews that controlled the temple in Jerusalem.  

The Sadducees don't buy all of that supernatural mumbo jumbo that others proclaim.  No angels.  No heaven.  No resurrection.  Let's face it, that stuff is only a crutch for the weak.

Annas and his toadies were "filled with jealousy."  Luke's choice of verb is interesting.  To this point, he describes early believers as being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31).  

But these members of the ruling religious elite were filled (Gr. πλεθω/pletho) with something else completely.  Something darker.  Jealousy.  

Rather than celebrate the miracles God was doing in the lives of people through the First Church of Jerusalem, they burned.  

What fills your heart when you see others succeed?  Do you see them as stealing something that should be yours?  Or do you celebrate their victory?  

I'll be very transparent with you.  In the past, I have struggled as I watched God grow other churches.  For 15 years, I served in small, struggling church plants.  I would watch other churches thrive while we struggled to survive.  

As long as I took my eyes off of what Jesus was doing and felt sorry for poor, poor pitiful me, jealousy would fill my heart.  

I thank the Lord that He revealed that to me and graciously allowed me to repent.  But this is something I must always guard against.

So I ask you, what fills your heart?

So what did the jealousy-filled Sadducees do?  "They arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison" (v18).  

Ironic, isn't it?  These religious leaders were prisoners of the jealousy bubbling up in their hearts so they throw the apostles in the pokey.  The apostles may be behind bars, but Annas and his posse are the real prisoners.

Luke tells us that all of the apostles were tossed in the clink.  Not just Pete and John like the last time (Acts 4:3).  All twelve of them.  And that included the new guy, Matthais (Acts 1:26).  

This was actually a fulfillment of something Jesus had told them earlier (Lk 21:12).  They locked them up "in the public prison."  Think the county jail.

"But" (v19).  You've gotta love any story about someone innocent put in the slammer that includes this wonderful little conjunction.  In other words, they may be prisoners now BUT something is about to happen.  

Do you have hope that Jesus in your darkest hour, Jesus is on the verge of doing something?  Is there a supernatural "but" about to happen?  It's in times like these that God loves to move.  We see it over and over in the Bible. 

  

"But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors  and brought them out" (v19).  Luke doesn't give us many details but here's what we do know.  It was nighttime.  

God sent "an angel of the Lord."  Notice that this is not THE angel of the Lord we see appearing at various times in the OT.  There's a lot of evidence that THE angel of the Lord is actually the pre-incarnate Christ moving and acting.  

This is AN angel of the Lord.  God has used such unnamed messengers many times in the Gospels, especially at Jesus' birth.  This unnamed angel unlocks the jail doors and leads out the twelve.

Jesus promised He would so this.  In the synagogue at Nazareth, He said that His Father "sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives" (Lk 4:18; Is 61:1-2).  Christ has come to free you as well.  From your prison of sin.  

The prison doors are open.  Don't just sit there.  Walk out!  Walk free!  This is why these prison break stories resonate in our hearts.  We're all prisoners in our sinful selves.  Jesus has come to bust you out!

This particular angel gives them instructions.  God has sprung them from the slammer but He has an assignment for them.  "Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life" (v20).  

He doesn't tell them to hit the road and lay low.  Get back to the temple.  Get back in the spotlight.  There's work to be done.  There's a message to proclaim.  

Christ has freed each one of us for a purpose.  And that is to tell others about Him, "all the words of life” (v20).

And that's exactly what these twelve men did (v21).  As the sun came up, they hit the temple courts and start teaching.  Don't miss the obedience of the apostles.  

It would have been real easy for them to say they needed the day off.  They were immediately obedient to God's command.  When Christ tells us to do something, let's not waste a second.  

Forget "The Shawshank Redemption."  God has a more breathtaking prison break for each of us.  And I'm SO thankful He set me free to proclaim "all the words of this life.”

©2011

Jay Jennings