ut 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.”

Acts 5:17-23

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. 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 all about this new life.”
21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
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. 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.

Today’s title is “Let The Angels Open Your Prison”

We Christians often think that everything will go well if we just obey and serve the Lord faithfully. We even expect that we wouldn’t have any problem if only we do not sin. I don’t think that this is necessarily bad or wrong. Being faithful to the Lord certainly changes our life. It leads us into the blessings that the world would never know or give. But if you measure God’s return or reward on short-sighted worldly things only, you may well be very disappointed and frustrated. We need to look farther and longer. Having witnessed the death and resurrection of the Lord with their own eyes, the disciples and believers of the early church were highly dedicated and were very faithful. Especially after they received the Holy Spirit, they became totally different kinds of people. They preached the gospel of Jesus Christ boldly and faithfully in full obedience to the Lord. But that didn’t solve all the problems. In fact, such passionate obedience brought more problems. The religious leaders were filled with jealousy and anger against the church. They intensified their persecutions. They arrested apostles and put them in jail. They probably planned to kill them after the full assembly the next day as they did with the Lord. Should the apostles die like Jesus? They would be willing, but not at this time. They have missions yet to be accomplished. So during the night God sent the angels of the Lord and open the door of the prison, telling them “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” So here we see a good example of how the Christian life works. We might have more problems and challenges as we live by faith. True. But as long as we are faithfully working on the mission that God has given to us, God protects us from and delivers us out of the evil hands. What is your life mission? It could vary. It may not be as dramatic as that of apostles. But as long as you are faithfully working on it, you may see the angel open your prison door. Any genuine Christian can testify to it. How about you? Are you being faithful? Then you will definitely see angels open your prison.