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Reading Acts 5:17-32 where the Sadducees tell the apostles to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, but the apostles respond that we must obey God rather than men. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
The Apostles went on preaching the gospel and it was said to them you can no longer preach in this name. But Peter said we must obey God rather than men and that's upon us as well when we understand the text.
This is when we understand the text a daily Bible commentary that we may be equipped for every good work in Jesus Christ our Lord. Please tell others about our ministry at www .t .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.
Thank you Becky. In our study of the book of Acts.
We come back to chapter 5. We read that saga of Ananias and Sapphira last week right after that. It was said to us that the Apostles continued performing many miracles and they were people coming to faith through the gospel message they proclaimed all of this attention they're getting is making the Sadducees jealous and we read today of the Sadducees attempting to arrest them and stop them.
This is Acts chapter 5 verses 17 to 32 here the word of the Lord. But the high priest rose up and those with him that is the sect of the Sadducees and they were filled with Jealousy, and they laid hands on the Apostles and put them in a public jail.
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and Taking them out. He said go stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life. Upon hearing this they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach.
Now when the high priest and those with him came they called the Sanhedrin together even all the Council of the sons of Israel and Sent orders to the jailhouse for them to be brought. But the officers who came did not find them in the prison and they returned and reported back.
Saying we found the jailhouse locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors. But we opened it and found no one inside. Now when the captain of the guard and the chief priests heard these words They were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this.
But someone came and reported to them the men whom you put in prison are Standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence for they were afraid of the people that they might be stoned and When they had brought them they stood them before the Sanhedrin and the high priest questioned them saying We strictly commanded you not to continue teaching in this name.
And yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and the Apostles answered and said we must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you put to death by hanging him on a tree this one God exalted to his right hand as a leader and a Savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
And we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God gave to those Who obey him? So again in the verses that come right before this we read of the Apostles who were healing the sick and casting out evil spirits and there were people who held them in high esteem.
Even if they did not believe the message of the gospel. They still Respected the Apostles and of course wanted the Apostles to heal them of their diseases and cast out their evil spirits. So more and more people are coming to the Apostles and now you have the Sadducees mentioned here becoming jealous of their popularity.
So in verse 17 the high priest rose up and those with him that is the sect of the Sadducees and They were filled with jealousy. Now the high priest was always chosen from the Sadducees at this particular period of time.
Remember that the Sanhedrin is made up of two sects. That is the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Now the Sadducees were the upper echelon like they were they were wealthy. Whereas the Pharisees might be more like the common man, but the Sadducees were were in Good with the Romans.
So they were willing to do whatever the Romans told them to do and for that reason they had a lot of clout with the Romans and it was from the Sadducees that some Roman official would choose who was supposed to be the high priest.
They wanted to make sure whoever the high priest was going to be it was somebody who was going to Continue in their allegiance to Rome. So these guys are not real popular with the people. Anyway, the people listen to them because well, first of all, they have authority Granted by Rome, but also they Were the teachers in the temple the people didn't have Bibles at home.
They had to go to the temple and to the synagogues to hear the message preached. It was from the the Sadducees that the high priest would be chosen that we have to do whatever the high priest tells us to do.
So they respected them because they felt like they had to but they weren't really popular with the people and hence Why you have the statement here that when they arrest the Apostles? They're careful in how they do it because they don't want the people to rise up and stone them even though the Sadducees have All the all the authority and the control that has been granted to them by the Romans.
Still there's way more people. There's way more of the common folk than there are of Sadducees. So if the people get mad and want to stone the Sadducees, they know that they're they're gonna lose no matter if it's illegal or not.
They would lose their lives and can't gain it back. And if you'll remember that the Sadducees don't believe in the resurrection of the dead verse 18 they laid hands on the Apostles and put them in a public jail, but during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and Taking them out.
He said go and stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this life. So first of all where it's mentioned that during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison.
I've I've read from people before Claiming that this may not have necessarily been an angel. But that it could have been another disciple who was just you know working there Inside the jail and had sympathy toward the Apostles.
So when nobody else was looking he came and opened the prison doors to them and since the word angel can just simply mean messenger doesn't necessarily have to be an Angelic being it could just be somebody who is delivering a message.
Then then therefore you have some of those who will say of of This wording in verse 19 that it was just a disciple that came and freed the Apostles.
No.
It was actually an angel of the Lord and To get a better idea of what this looked like you go to Acts chapter 12 because we have the same thing happen again. Peter is put in prison and it says there an angel of the Lord came and rescued him.
So it would be unusual to ascribe that title to just an ordinary disciple in Acts chapter 5. But then it's actually speaking about a real angel of the Lord in chapter 12 all the miracles that surround his freeing Peter from the jail.
It could have been nothing but an an actual angel from the Lord. So I'm gonna say that these two are the same. It was a real angel of God that came and freed the Apostles and delivered this message to them.
Go and stand at the temple and preach the whole message of this life. The whole message that had been given to the Apostles to proclaim that brings life. Those who believe in the gospel will not perish but have everlasting life.
It is the most life that a person can have by putting faith in Jesus Christ. This is the gospel that they proclaimed. So verse 21 upon hearing this they entered into the temple about daybreak and Began to teach now there were thousands of them there.
We had read that they were teaching at Solomon's portico. That was back in verse 12 at the hands of the Apostles many signs and wonders were happening among the people and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico the portico was all those columns if you've ever looked at a picture of the temple of what the temple would have been.
Like in the first century before its destruction in AD 70. So this is Herod's temple and You'll notice that in Illustrations of it. There's all these columns that surround the whole temple courtyard and that was the that was Solomon's portico.
It was it was hundreds. Well 100 it was over a hundred over a hundred columns. That that and a lot of people could have fit in there. So as we had 3 ,000 people come into the faith in chapter 2 and then another 5 ,000 are meant or another 3 ,000 are mentioned in chapter 4 and then many more are added so we have thousands of people but they all would have fit in the temple and Where the Apostles would stand in Solomon's portico and preach it would echo throughout the portico.
It would have been very very easy for people to hear what Peter and the other Apostles were preaching. So they start early in the day. They start off at Daybreak it says as soon as there's light they're already in the temple proclaiming.
Now when the high priest and those who were with him came They called the Sanhedrin together even all the Council of the Sons of Israel so this would be to say that you've got the Pharisees and the Sadducees together now and Send orders to the jailhouse for them to be brought.
But the officers who came did not find them in the prison and they returned and reported back. Saying we found the jailhouse locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors but we opened it and found no one inside and this is further proof that what we're talking about was a miraculous work of an angel.
Not simply someone who is a sympathizer of the Apostles cause and snuck in to sneak them out of jail now this was something miraculous that had taken place so that even the Guards did not know apparently did not know we're not aware of what happened now going back up to verse 19.
It says during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison and taking them out. He said go and speak to the temple. So we don't really know what would have happened to the guard even when we go to Acts chapter 12.
It doesn't clearly say to us what what happened with the guard. So it says that an angel got Peter to stand up and they walked out and they walked past the guard. That's all it says. It doesn't say if they were asleep.
It doesn't say if they were in some kind of a trance. Doesn't say if if like the angel and Peter were just invisible to the guard the details aren't really given to us. But in whatever way this was done It was certainly miraculous.
The angel brings The disciples out and this apparently is not realized by any of the guard. The doors are still locked. The guard is still there, but the men are gone. But someone came and reported to them the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people so then the captain of the guard went along with the officers and Proceeded to bring them back without violence for they were afraid of the people that they might be stoned.
So they don't beat the Apostles. It's not a thing of hey We threw you in jail who gave you the right to just get up and walk out. They didn't try to do anything with them in that way because they thought the people would rise up against them.
The Apostles are hearing are healing their diseases and casting out evil spirits and giving them the message of eternal life by faith in Jesus Christ. The people are on the side of the Apostles here and The Sadducees are acting in their own interest and not in the interest of the people.
Certainly not out of out of any sort of reverence for God and worship unto him so they bring the Disciples back without any kind of violence. This also speaks to the calmness and the cooperation of the disciples.
They trust that God is going to deliver them From this situation. So even though the guard is not violent with them They just quietly go they go along with the guard so that Peter has this opportunity once again to preach to the Sanhedrin and So verse 27 when they had brought them they stood them before the Sanhedrin and the high priest questioned them saying we strictly commanded you not to continue teaching in this name and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and Intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
So remember it was back in chapter 4 where they charged the disciples not to speak any longer in the name of Jesus. Of course, the Apostles did not listen to that. They've continued to proclaim the name of Jesus the way of this life the way to eternal life is By faith in him, but the Sadducees say you also intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
They don't want to acknowledge that Jesus rose from the dead, but they do acknowledge. Yeah, we were the ones that put him to death whatever happened to his body. We don't know. We're not going to acknowledge that he rose again.
But the way that these Apostles are preaching means to bring some sort of condemnation against us. You can tell they have a guilty conscience here even as they are grilling the Apostles about these things.
But Peter and the Apostles answered and said we must obey God rather than Men if you're underlining or outlining passages, that's a good one to underline acts 529. We must obey God rather than men. I'll come back to that here in a moment on to verse 30 the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you put to death by hanging him on a tree this one God exalted to his right hand as a leader and a Savior to grant repentance to Israel and Forgiveness of sins.
Now we have it mentioned twice in the book of Acts that it is God who grants repentance. It said here that he grants repentance to Israel. It will be said later that God grants repentance to the Gentiles.
But our turning from unbelief and our turning from our sin to Jesus Christ. We do so because it has been granted to us to do so. That we would have changed hearts no longer in rebellion against God like these Sadducees have.
But a heart that is for God desires his word and wants to obey it. This is a transformation that is given by the Holy Spirit the Regeneration of the heart that we may hear the message of the gospel and so believe it.
But as we read about in Romans chapter 9 God has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills. So he grants repentance. Where God has ordained that he would grant repentance and he hardens the hearts of those Whom he has chosen to harden and here these Sadducees are hardened.
But the many thousands more who have heard the message of the gospel they have had Repentance granted to them that they would turn from their unbelief. Even those who were involved in Christ's crucifixion if they didn't directly crucify him.
They were there cheering on his crucifixion. We read about them in Acts chapter 2 even they to them. It has been granted repentance that they would turn from their unbelief to Jesus Christ. And this is not just for Israel it is also for the Gentiles granting repentance to Israel and the Gentiles and The forgiveness of sins and Peter saying we are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit Whom God gave to those who obey him.
Now, let me go back up to verse 29. This is where Peter and the Apostles responded by saying we must obey God rather than men. The Sadducees had charged them not to preach any longer in the name of Jesus.
But what have the the Apostles decided here? And and this was the Holy Spirit coming upon them in chapter 4 that they would preach with all the more boldness. So what is it that they've decided? God has told us what we are to do.
The angel just freed us from a jail cell that you put us in he told us to go into the temple and preach and. So that's what we're doing. We must obey God. Rather than men and my friends there may be times for us Where we will have to obey God rather than men.
The Lord has said that we are to be subject to the governing authorities because it is God who has granted those governing authorities. We read about that in first Peter chapter 2 in Romans chapter 13.
But when those governing authorities go against God, they would coerce or Or they would order and command you to follow something that goes contrary to what God has said. Well, we're gonna have to obey God rather than men and the way that this has been put to this test in my life as a pastor even was back in 2020 with Kovat and The governor of the state of Kansas.
I don't live there any longer. But when I was pastoring a church in Kansas the governor there.
Was.
Requiring she had issued this mandate. That there could not be gatherings larger than 10 people and This effectively was shutting down the churches. Churches could not gather because of her mandate. Well, my church in Junction City was never in cooperation with that.
We were always over 10 people. So we could have been arrested if they had known about it, but we weren't trying to raise a stink about it. We were just being obedient to God. I did not see that there was a good cause for me to shut down my church.
And so I told I told people hey if you are concerned about this virus. We don't quite know what it is yet. If you think you need to be safe and stay home. Then go ahead and you're not gonna get any pressure from your church to come back.
Like right now while all of this is going on while we still don't know what this is. But understand that I'm gonna be over at the church building and I'm gonna have the doors unlocked. And so anyone who wants to come and join us may come.
I was always there. I Was never in compliance with what the governor said, in fact, the governor was going against our own state Constitution. I was actually still in obedience to the law. She was the one who was disobeying the law but that was still an occasion in which I had decided I must obey God rather than men and I don't have any reason to shut down my church.
I wasn't afraid of the virus if I caught it and I died so be it that would be God's will for me. And I will go to heaven to be with him sooner. But I had to be there and I had to be. Proclaiming the word didn't have anything to do with money because if people weren't gonna come we weren't gonna get the money.
Anyway, I just had to be in church and was gonna continue to preach the gospel on Sunday. And if I was gonna get arrested for that, so be it if I was gonna get sick because of that. So be it now there were others that made other decisions at that period of time during kovat.
But I'm I'm just saying that for me the conviction that was upon my heart. This was what I had to listen to and obey and there may come times Where we are put in a position like that where we must obey God rather than men.
It could happen in a workplace. Maybe it's not even the government. It's somebody at work tells you that you you can't be a Christian in this way. And you know that you're gonna have to obey God rather than men.
I had soldiers that that worked for officers that you know, they may have an office or something. Perhaps they were an officer that had an office and they would have certain things on their desk might be a Bible or a cross or something like that somebody would tell them you can't have that on your desk and They would say I must obey God rather than men.
There are occasions in which we will go out and share the gospel and people will try to shut us down. They will say we must leave or we're not in compliance with the law or we're unpopular or whatever else that sort of reason might be thrown at us as to why we need to be quiet, but we must obey God rather than men and Especially when it comes to holiness.
We're going to have all kinds of peer pressure put on us by the world, right? The world is gonna dictate to us. This is the way that you need to behave and these are the things that you need to do in order to be popular and don't you dare tell us that we're wrong if you disagree with the way that we act and behave and It's in these occasions, especially we must not go along with the world.
We must obey God rather than men. Let us hold fast to the word that we have been taught and live according to these things in holiness and uprightness. Until the day that we are with Christ. Heavenly Father we thank you for these things that we have read.
We thank you of your work through the Apostles in the spreading of the gospel that would eventually get to us today. That we would believe in Jesus Christ and be forgiven our sins and live. Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name's sake help us to obey God rather than men and it's in Jesus name.
We pray amen.
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