Acts 5:17-42 – Opposition from Without
The Living Word With Chuck Davis
Acts 5:17-42 – Opposition from Without
Welcome to "The Living Word" with Chuck Davis. Acts 5, 17 to 42, opposition from without. But the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in public prison. 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 of daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison. So they returned and reported, "We found the prison securely locked and the guard standing at the doors, and when we opened them, we found no one inside." Now in the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this could come to. Someone came and told them, "Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people." Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. When they brought them, they set them before the council and the high priest questioned them, saying, "We strictly charge you not to teach in this name." Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men." The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things. And so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him. When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamalia, a teacher of the law held in honor by all people stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, "Men of Israel, take care of what you are about to do with these men." For before the days, Theodice rose up, claiming to be somebody and a number of men about 400 joined him. He was killed and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean rose up and the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this undertaking is a man, it will fail. But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God. So he took his advice and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. And they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from the house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Jesus is Christ. This is the first imprisonment with an angelic escape. There'll be another one for Peter and then Paul and Silas will have a similar experience in Philippi. We're right back to what got them imprisoned in the first place. They're bold witness and when they're released from prison, they go back to the temple and they do the same thing. We're expecting them maybe to lay low for a little bit. Not these guys. They're right back to the gospel message. Jesus crucified and risen and I'll see it with the Father in heaven. There's this one leader who's very wise. His name is Gomelio. He basically says, if this is of God, you're not going to stop it and if it's not of God, it's going to fizzle out like all the other revolutionary movements. He's aware that to kill them would only add fire or maybe we should say it would add fuel to the fire that was already in the believers. You're creating more martyrs. So they beat them, charge them not to teach or preach and we're going to see that it has no effect in their lives. The soul what of this passage is a reminder that outward opposition historically has only propelled the church forward. We shouldn't necessarily want opposition but we shouldn't be afraid of it. For if we want to see the church operate and it's full of strength, maybe opposition externally is a gift that we get to steward. The now what is a reminder just to remain bold. Not the self-sensor but to me remain bold in demonstrating and proclaiming the king of God or more rightly proclaiming king Jesus in our day. So we give ourselves to you Lord. We join the apostles and saying if we do suffer we thank you for the privilege but we ask in the end of the day all that we do will be for the advancement of the glory of Jesus name. We pray this in his name. Amen.