I’d like to tell you the story of a young man whose life changed the world. He was only 26 years old. He grew up in Wales, England as a Coal miner. And around him and others stirred one of the greatest revivals in the history of the world.
His name was Evan Roberts. He was a young man who would carry his bible with him everywhere, and was deeply serious about scripture. He would take his bible with him to work in the coal mine, and read from it over their lunch. He became increasingly focused on the concept of revival.
In 1904 he attended a service where the minister prayed saying, “Lord, bend us.” This affected Evan Roberts deeply. He realized he needed to be completely yielded to God. He got on his knees and surrendered all to the Lord. It was a profound experience with the Holy Spirit. And he began to have dreams and visions from God, and believed God would send a revival to Wales. He even began to pray for a particular number, he believed God would give: 100,000 souls.
Roberts returned to his home church. He asked his pastor for permission to speak. Roberts spoke powerfully before the congregation. Soon special meetings began, and Roberts began preaching regularly.
The themes were:
-Confess every known sin.
-Get right with anyone you have wronged.
-Remove anything questionable from your life.
-Obey the Holy Spirit immediately.
-Publicly acknowledge Christ.
“Obey the Spirit” was the catchphrase of the movement. He was interviewed during the revival by the famous journalist W.T. Stead. He was asked about the revival taking place.
With about one year, tens of thousands of people had joined churches throughout Wales, and the revival after about 3 years had led to over 100,000 conversions to Christ. However Roberts faced increasing criticism, and eventually became exhausted and retreated from public life. Yet his life and actions show us God can move through the most unlikely people who are submitted to the Spirit.
We’ve gone through a series on the book of Acts, and we’ll be wrapping it up in a few weeks.
I hope over this series you’re beginning to see the larger story of the book of Acts. It follows the events that took place immediately after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. We see the disciples mimicking the actions of Jesus in Jerusalem, first by receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and then by proclaiming the gospel, and healing the sick throughout the area.
Today we’re going to see a culmination of these events take place. Last time we saw how God purged sin from the early church, by eliminating Ananias and Sapphira. Now we’re going to see the cleansed church reach the heights of power and authority in ancient Jerusalem. And we’re also going to see how the authorities respond to this move of God.
Today we’ll be in Acts 5:12-27.
Acts 5:12 says, “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.”
Just as Jesus did, the disciples continued to perform signs and wonders, supernatural events that gave credibility to their ministry. And they were meeting in a very public place. The place was called Solomon’s Colonnade. It was a porch that was part of the temple in Jerusalem, the most important cite in the entire nation. This was a huge porch, where thousands could gather.
They were meeting outdoors, in the public, and the whole city was beginning to take notice. By this time the number of believers in the city had reached well over 5,000.
Verse 13, “No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.”
No one else dared join them, interesting statement, it reminds me of modern times though. Many may become aware of the activities of the church, but they won’t actually join in the activity. Even though they do highly regard the activity of the church. Which many still do in our society, who actually see the good churches do, instead of listening to the narrative in tv and news and movies, that churches and Christians are mean and bad and judgmental and everything else. When we actually see the food pantries, the pregnancy resource centers, the salvation armies, safe harbor, all these things, they tell a very different story than the television and social media does.
I think there’s a natural sort of barrier that makes is hard for someone to walk into a church for the first time. It can be stressful, you aren’t sure what to expect, it takes a certain level of bravery to step into a faith community. We see even at Solomon’s colonnade most won’t dare to join them. And yet, the church is still growing.
Verse 14: “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.”
It’s quite interesting the mention of both men and women, when the church grew from 3,000 they were just counting men, same when it grew to 5,000, but we see here both men and women were noted as turning to Jesus.
These people were being saved. Set free from their sins. They were turning to Jesus. And Jesus was changing them. And they became part of the faith community, and met together with them.
Next in verse 15 we see this revival, that has grown from 120 all way to most likely somewhere between 6 to 8 thousand, maybe more, reaching a moment of critical spiritual momentum. The energy and momentum, and love, unity, and purity, and their devotion to God is so strong, God begins to move in mighty ways. Impossible ways. Unspeakable ways.
That is where I want this church, our little church to go, we’ve got momentum, we are all growing in prayer, in the word, in sharing our faith, and if we continue to grow, and sanctify ourselves, and repent quickly of sins, and forgive quickly our enemies, we will see the momentum continue to grow. God will bless it.
It says in verse 15, “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”
The anointing over Peter was so strong from the Lord Jesus, that the sick would be brought on bed and mats and laid near and Peter’s shadow would pass over them, and they would be healed.
Jesus never did this in his earthly ministry. Yet it was happening because Jesus was ministering through Peter in a powerful way.
What words of Jesus does this draw us back to? What was being fulfilled from our Master’s lips?
Jesus said, in John 14:12-14: “12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
Greater things, because Jesus was doing it through them. Greater things, even Peter’s shadow falling on someone, and they would be healed. Wow.
Thousands of believers gathered at the temple courts, at Solomon’s Colonnade, praying, preaching the gospel, singing hymns, repenting, confessing, an all-out revival was taking place in Jerusalem. Jesus was moving through the apostles. It began to overflow…
Verse 16: “Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.”
This movement begins to explode out of Jerusalem and into the smaller towns surrounding Jerusalem, and people begin bringing those oppressed by demons and impure spirits and those who were sick or injured, and they were all healed. Not just some, but all.
That is overflow, outpouring, a move of God, the early church was ready for it, they were living pure and holy, and they loved sincerely, and God moved through that. They believed in miracles, and miracles happened.
They were filled to the brim with the Holy Spirit.
But, their opponents were filled with something else: Jealousy.
Next, we see Satan begin to push back against the revival.
Verses 17-18: “17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.”
Jealousy is a very powerful human emotion. If we don’t repent of it quickly, and seek God’s help, it can cause serious problems in our lives. Jealousy gives the enemy a mighty foothold in us. The enemy uses jealousy to attempt to persecute and defeat the early church.
The religious leaders, seeing this gathering of thousands at the outer court of the temple, arrest the leaders and throw them in jail.
Next, verses 19-20: “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,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
During the night. It may have felt like a dark moment, waiting in a cell, awaiting trial, but in the night, God shows up.
The doors of the jail miraculously open. And the angel brought them out. And they are given instructions, go stand right where you were before, and proclaim…
My NIV translates it “the full message” of this “new life.”
All of it, every word, the gospel of Jesus Christ. His crucifixion, his resurrection, and the need to repent of our sins, and put our faith in Him. That is the full message.
It’s a new life. A whole new way of living. Every word of Jesus tells us how to live that life, and it’s very nuanced. We can study the sermon on the mount, the parables of Jesus, his sayings and his debates and his words to his disciples, and we find a whole picture of what it means to be a Christian. The whole, full message of salvation. Not part of it, but all of it, even the parts we find difficult or challenging. Yes, the grace and the love, but also the truth, justice, even judgment. The full message of this new life.
And if I ever begin to teach you a luke-warm gospel, and avoid scriptures that I find uncomfortable, you should find a different church where the full gospel and the whole bible is preached. All of it. Just like God tells the disciples: Give the full message of this new life. All of it.
Verse 21: “At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.”
What did the disciples do in response to the message? They were obedient. They went and did what God said. Sometimes I worry we show up to church, figure that’s good enough, and we do whatever we want to do the rest of the week, but a true believer is completely consumed with God, so in love with Jesus, so excited for their life in Him, they are chasing after His will for their lives, with all their might. Obedience is what God calls us to. It’s a wonderful joy.
Verses 21-22: “21 When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there.”
That must’ve been a comical moment. They show up to the jail, but they aren’t in their cell! The religious leaders felt they were in control, but God was actually in control. They felt they had authority over the apostles, but God had the ultimate authority.
Next, verses 22-24: “22b So they went back and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.”
This scripture helps us understand just how powerful our God is. We can be locked in a cell of sin in our lives. And there are guards, there are bars so solid, and yet, when God says so, they fling open, and we’re set free. Chains break when Jesus shows up. And we walk free.
The enemy loses authority over us. Before we knew Christ we were under the authority of Satan, but when the Father drew us to Jesus, we gave our hearts to Him, and he changed us. Now the Satan has no authority over us.
So the Sanhedrin can’t find the apostles. But someone runs in, verse 25… “Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.”
This was a clear sign to the entire Sanhedrin: This is of God. You can’t control it. You can’t stop it. And it won’t submit to your authority.
Their jealousy had caused them to resist the move of God. I remember when the Asbury outpouring took place in February 2023, so many ministries became jealous and attacked the Asbury revival as being unbiblical. So many Youtubers attacked it, critiqued it. It was sad. And to be honest, when it happened, my initial reaction was jealousy as well. I thought to myself, “Why didn’t it happen at my then church in Owosso, Mi?” And I had to stop myself, and say hold on, this isn’t what God would want from me. So I began to pray, “Lord take this jealousy away, it’s not from you. ‘And I repented, and the Lord took it away.
So the jealousy of the Sanhedrin didn’t matter in the end, God still moved. But I had to ask myself, why did God open the doors of the jail and send them back into the temple courts to continue preaching? Sometimes in scripture God open the doors, and sometimes he doesn’t. But why this time?
Jesus had predicted during his ministry that the temple would be destroyed, and Israel would be surrounded by her enemies. This would happen, because Israel had despised and rejected their messiah Jesus Christ and crucified him.
I believe God created this revival, and opened the jail doors, to continue to gather a holy remnant to himself, before the nation was destroyed. We know from history that in 66 AD Jewish forces rebelled and overthrew the Roman occupational forces, but in 70 AD Roman troops returned, surrounded the capital during Passover, and destroyed the city, and burned the temple to the ground. Perhaps this revival was taking place, to gather the remnant together before these events happened.
Last two verses: “26 At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. 27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.”
The temple guards went, but didn’t use force, they I’m sure ‘requested’ the apostles come with them, to appear before the Sanhedrin. And they apparently agreed. The guards were afraid that they might be stoned by the crowds if they acted too harshly. But again, now the apostles come before the great Sanhedrin, to give an answer for the things that were happening throughout Israel.
And I think we’ll see next week that God would give them this opportunity to bring about a surprising turn of events among the leaders.
In conclusion, we saw today how the revival that began on Pentecost grew and grew, and culminated in astonishing and strange signs and wonders, even the shadow of Peter passing over people, and they were healed. Jail doors miraculously opening. Angels appearing to people. These were miraculous and astonishing events: Signs and wonders, powerful and memorable events, and in the midst of all of it, people were getting saved. From 3,000, then to 5,000, and I would guess they were at 7,000 men by this point, perhaps many more. This revival spread to the towns surrounding Jerusalem, and the whole city must’ve been in a holy uproar. Why? All for the purpose of gathering the remnant of God’s people to Jesus Christ for salvation.
Do you need that touch today? Do you need Jesus Christ? Let Him be your savior today. Invite Him into your heart. Is He tugging at your heart right now? He died on the cross for your sins. He rose from the dead. He’s near you right now. Cry out to Him in your heart: “Jesus be my savior. Grant me your Holy Spirit. I bend myself, to you God. I surrender all!” As Evan Roberts was touched by that simple phrase “I bend myself” let the Lord touch your heart right now.
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| Evan Roberts, 1878-1951 |
