Full Message

Acts 5:17-20 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. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”  
 
GOD enjoys releasing his imprisoned messengers from jail cells. Peter is freed from another jail in Acts 12. And Acts 16 reports Paul’s and Silas’ release in Philippi.
   God specializes in release, doesn’t he? Release is a principle point of Jesus’ mission: Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the LORD is on me…He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives.”
   The Master’s mission became the apostles’ joy. The Spirit gave the 12 apostles a marvelous gift in that jail cell. Locked up at the hands of jealous leaders, Jesus’ messengers heard all they needed to know. “Go. Stand. Tell.” Go to the temple. Stand in the courts. Tell the Jews, tell the world what they must know. Tell them not merely a portion of God’s grace or a little of his love. Tell them the full message of this new life. Tell them how the full gospel story is God’s revelation to open the spiritual cell doors, so you can walk free of sin’s bondage. Tell of God’s full message to keep Israel as his people even as idolatry imprisoned them. The full message will tell how God had nurtured his nation in Egypt’s bondage to prepare them for his full redemptive message, “You will be my people, and I will be your God.” (Exodus 6:7 and others.)  
   Yes, the full message tells you God promises to be your holy temple forever. Revelation 21:22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Tell the full message that promises redemption and renewal. Tell the full message that frees the captive heart. Speak the joy of Jesus’ sacrificial love that rises above death into heaven’s holy realm. Know the full message is the only message that directs us to the new life.  
   God gave the apostles a great gift. They had the privilege to tell the world that Jesus is freedom. This is our privilege, too.