June 26
Bible Reading: Acts 5:17-26
Acts 5:19, “But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ‘Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.’ And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.”
In one of the most notorious of jailbreaks, three prisoners escaped from what was supposed to be America’s most inescapable prison, Alcatraz, in San Francisco in 1962. This, despite the prisoners being subjected to 12 guard checks every day. The trio used decoy heads for their beds, made of soap and plaster that fooled guards into thinking they were in their cells. They escaped through a kitchen smokestack and strung 50 raincoats together to make a raft.
We read of many jailbreaks in the book of Acts. Unlike the escape from Alcatraz, the apostles were innocent of any wrongdoing and they didn’t escape on their own. It was Satan himself, working through the religious leaders, who locked them up. But they were divinely called to bear witness to Jesus, so God sent an angel of the Lord to break them out of jail. Once released, they returned to the temple and followed the angel’s instructions, speaking “to the people the words of this life” (Acts 4:20). The “captain of the temple and the chief priests” were greatly perplexed by how their prisoners had escaped (Acts 4:24).
There is a real devil, and he’d love to keep us all bound by chains. We are all born sinners and, as sinners, we are born to slavery. Sin is a harsh taskmaster, and freedom is an elusive dream. Life in the jailhouse of Satan’s domain of darkness is full of misery and hopelessness. How beautiful the day, then, when the “light shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). God worked to “deliver us from the domain of darkness (transferring) us to the kingdom of his beloved son” (Colossians 1:13). We’ve been set free! Set free from sin! Set free to know and love Jesus! Set free to serve! Set free to share with others “the words of this life” (Acts 4:20).
As a new student at seminary, I joined the choir. I can still remember the words to that first song we learned: “To all who are tortured and ravaged by sin. The frail and the wounded about to give in. There’s news of release and captivity’s end. We’ve been set free, Come and See.” God worked to break us out of prison. Now we’ve got a message to share with others!
“Come And See, the power of sin has been broken. The gates of your prisons stand open, Come And See!”
COME AND SEE
To all who are tortured and ravaged by sin
The frail and the wounded about to give in
There’s news of release and captivity’s end
We’ve been set free, Come And See
Oh sleeper awake, come out of the night
Throw open the door and step into the light
For sin is undone and the wrong is made right
We’ve been set free, Come And See
Chorus
Come And See, the power of sin has been broken
The gates of your prisons stand open, Come And See
Arise, believe, for the power at work both to rescue and save
Is the power that raised Jesus Christ from the grave
We’ve been set free, Come And See
I, too, lived in slavery, unmercifully bound
Battered and broken, I finally knelt down
And there in obedience freedom was found, I’ve been set free
And now through the dungeons of darkness and night
I run in the freedom of liberty’s light
And shout to the captives, ”Oh prisoners take flight
We’ve been set free, Come and See” [Chorus]
If the enemy’s holding a knife to your chest
Demanding you give up or die
In Christ crucified you’ve already died
And now you are free [Chorus]
Artist: Steve Green; Songwriters: David Huntsinger, Jon Mohr, Bonnie Huntsinger
LookingtoJesus 