WWUTT 1048 Gamaliel Defends the Apostles?

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When the apostles were brought before the council, a man by the name of Gamaliel came to their defense.

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And some will use Gamaliel's words to try to defend against charismaticism. But that doesn't work when we understand the text.

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Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty.

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Visit our website at www .utt .com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes.

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Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of Acts, still in chapter 5, as we have to finish up this exchange between the apostles and the chief priests, the temple officials, the senate of the people of Israel, warning the apostles to no longer speak in the name of Christ.

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For today, I think it'd be good to start in verse 27, and we'll read through to the end of the chapter.

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So when the temple officials had brought the apostles, they set them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying,

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We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you are. You have filled

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Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered,

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We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised

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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.

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And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

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When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named

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Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

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And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.

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For before these days, Theodos rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him.

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He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him,

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Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him.

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He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case,

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I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail.

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But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing

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God. So they 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 then let them go.

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And they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

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And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the

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Christ is Jesus. So we did read verses 27 through 32 yesterday, but I wanted to read those again today.

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So we're keeping everything together in context. Peter, with the rest of the apostles, responded to the council and said that you put

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Jesus to death. And again, all the same guys that were there calling for Jesus to be crucified.

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Same high priest. It's still Caiaphas. All of this had just happened a few months before. Peter is saying you put him to death.

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God raised him from the dead. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior.

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He is your king. He is the ruler over Israel. He is the ruler over all.

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And he has been raised up to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

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Now it's in this particular sermon that Peter says that God has given repentance to Israel through Jesus Christ.

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Therefore, that's why we see Jews turning from sin and following Jesus and becoming

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Christians because God has granted repentance to Israel. It's certainly a remnant.

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It's not the majority of Israel, but it is nevertheless the blessing of God upon this people who just a few months before were complicit in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

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But they can be forgiven. They can be forgiven of their sins by repenting, which

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God has granted to them, has given them repentance and the forgiveness of their sins. So we see

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God being the one who grants repentance to Israel in Acts 531. But then we're later on going to see the blessing of God giving repentance to even the

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Gentiles. That's in Acts 1118, where it says, Then to the Gentiles also

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God has granted repentance that leads to life. God is the one who gives repentance. Second Timothy 225 says the same thing.

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So repentance is not something that you by your will decided to do, but God being merciful towards you, gave you the

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Holy Spirit who regenerated your heart to be able to hear the gospel, be convicted by it and turn from your sin and so be forgiven all of this by the blessing of God.

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And Peter goes on to say, verse 32, We are witnesses to these things. And so is the Holy Spirit whom

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God has given to those who obey him. According to Ezekiel, God has given us the

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Holy Spirit so that we're able to obey him. It's not necessary for Peter to have to lay out the order in which these things have happened.

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But those who obey God have his Holy Spirit, and it is the demonstration of the

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Holy Spirit that is in their hearts when they show their obedience. Note here also that Peter says that we are witnesses to these things, and so is the

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Holy Spirit. In 1 John 5, verse 6, it says that the

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Spirit is the one who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. So there are certainly proofs.

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There are evidences outside of scripture that verify these things. But the Holy Spirit is enough to verify to us the truth of the gospel that is proclaimed.

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And so if the chief priests had the Holy Spirit in their hearts, then what it was that Peter was saying to them would have convicted their hearts and they would have repented and also believed.

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But because the Holy Spirit has not testified to them, their hearts remain hardened against the message that they are hearing.

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And they end up persecuting these servants of God, these who are the very voice of Jesus Christ.

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For Jesus had told them to go and continue preaching those things that he had taught to them.

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And he would give them one who would be with them, the helper that would give them the words to speak. And that is, of course, the

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Holy Spirit. So what it is that the apostles teach is the word of God, for it is the

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Holy Spirit working through them. So now we pick up here in verse 33, where the council responded to the testimony of the apostles with rage.

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When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. You tell us that we are guilty because we put

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Jesus to death. You intend to bring this man's blood upon us. That was what they said to Peter and the apostles back in verse 28.

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And then when Peter responds, saying, well, you tried to kill him. God raised him up, seated him at his right hand, and he's granting repentance to Israel and the forgiveness of sins.

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And the Holy Spirit is with those who obey him. This is Peter essentially saying, we have the

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Holy Spirit of God, you do not. So therefore, the council becomes enraged at what it is that Peter has said.

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Also because they're just not intimidated by the council at all. Council is saying, we told you not to speak in this name anymore.

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Peter says we have to obey God rather than man. So they're enraged and they want to put the apostles to death.

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But verse 34, a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, who was very influential in the council.

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He was part of the Pharisees, which means he was in the minority. The Sadducees had kind of control of everything.

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But even though Gamaliel was a Pharisee, he nevertheless had a lot of influence and people listened to him.

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He was very popular among the people. He was Paul's mentor. He taught the apostle

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Paul. Well, he taught Saul of Tarsus, we'll put it that way, before he became the apostle

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Paul. But Paul talks about that when we get to Acts chapter 22, that he was a student of Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people.

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He stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. Let's remove the apostles for now.

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We won't have them in our presence. Let's just talk. And he said to them, verse 35, men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.

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For before these days, Theodos rose up claiming to be somebody and a number of men, about 400, joined him.

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He was killed and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

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After him, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him.

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He too perished and all who followed him were scattered. So Gamaliel is citing a couple of examples here of men who had kind of raised up somewhat of a following after themselves.

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But once those men perish, well, then the following just kind of died off. It dispersed. It didn't nothing ever really happened to it.

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The first example that he uses is Theodos. And we don't know who Theodos was. That's a name that's not very known to us.

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But it doesn't look like he made much of a footprint in history anyway. Only about 400 people following him.

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Right now, we've got thousands of people that are following the teachings of the apostles. So they're already making more of an influence in Jerusalem than Theodos did, hence why we don't know who

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Theodos is. But the second guy that's mentioned, he is well known. And Josephus, the

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Jewish historian, wrote about him. That's Judas, the Galilean, who led a tax revolt in about 6

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AD. So there were these guys that would pop up every once in a while, and they would lead these factions in rebellion against the

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Romans. Theodos apparently didn't have much of a following. Judas had a much larger following.

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And there were a lot of other leaders that were not well known. We don't know their names. But among the zealots, there were just, you know, various peoples who decided, hey, we don't want to be ruled over by the

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Romans, and would try to revolt. But some of the guys that were in power in Jerusalem, particularly the

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Sadducees, including the high priest Caiaphas and his family, as I mentioned before, that family was kind of made a dynasty of high priests.

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It worked out pretty well for them. So they didn't have any reason to be rebellious against the

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Romans or try to lead some sort of revolution against them. Herod the

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Great, likewise, he was put on the throne by the Romans. That worked out pretty well for him.

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So he was not going to encourage people to rise up and rebel against Caesar.

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But you would have those factious groups, the militias that would try to lead some kind of rebellion.

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Likely they were motivated by the Maccabean revolt, which was before Christ, Judas of Maccabees.

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Maybe some of these guys even thought they were going to be that Messiah. So if they could lead this revolution against the

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Romans and free Israel, they would be seated on the throne. And, hey, look at me.

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I am the fulfillment of prophecy. I have come to relieve Israel from their oppressors.

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I don't know if that was in their minds or not, but it could have been part of the thing. Anyway, Gamaliel is using a couple of these guys as examples of those who have led such revolutions.

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Now, Jesus was not leading that kind of revolution. It was not a violent revolution. And therefore,

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Gamaliel probably had some wisdom in that, recognizing, hey, these apostles are not harming anybody.

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They're not hurting anyone. They're not leading some sort of militant revolt.

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They're just preaching a gospel and people, well, you know, Gamaliel wouldn't have called it that, but they're just preaching a certain message and the people are following them.

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But this doesn't really look like any threat to us. It isn't energizing people in any way that would potentially bring the

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Romans down on us. That doesn't seem to be a threat here. So Gamaliel is basically just let it alone.

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And if it's not of God, eventually this thing's going to die off. If we truly believe that what we are doing as Sadducees and Pharisees is the work of the

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Lord, then they're not going to be able to overthrow us. But if what they are doing is the work of God, then we're not going to be able to thwart what they are doing and we would be found guilty in the eyes of God.

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It's very wise for Gamaliel to be saying what it is that he's saying. He's got some wisdom here, even though he himself is not a

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Christian. And that's a very important point, because oftentimes this particular story, this wisdom that Gamaliel is giving to the council is used to talk about how we should not call out false teachers, especially as it pertains to the charismatic movement.

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So you'll have these defenders of charismaticism. And one of those that I think about is Dr. Michael Brown, who is a renowned charismatic, and he uses what he calls the

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Gamaliel approach when it comes to calling out these false teachers in the charismatic movement. And these guys that he defends, incidentally,

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Joseph Prince, Carl Lentz, Benny Hinn, Bill Johnson, Dr.

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Brown, he tries to protect all of these guys from those that wish to call them out as false teachers because that is what they are.

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So Dr. Brown will advocate what he calls the Gamaliel approach, just as Gamaliel lays out here.

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If this plan or undertaking is of man, then it will fail.

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But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing

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God. So Dr. Brown's approach to this, when it comes to calling out these charismatic charlatans, he would say, well, if it really is of God, you won't be able to stop it.

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But it is if it is of man and not of God, you don't need to do anything because eventually it's going to fail.

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This works for what Gamaliel is talking about here with the council, because it's

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God providentially working through Gamaliel, though he is not a Christian, to protect the apostles from death, which is most certainly what the council wants to do with the apostles.

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So that's why the wisdom applies in this particular scenario. But that same sort of approach doesn't work when it comes to calling out false teachers.

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Take for example, Mormonism. We know Mormonism is not of God. It is completely contrary to what is said in Scripture.

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The Mormons worship a different Jesus. They worship a Jesus of their own making. But Mormonism has been around since the 1830s and 40s when

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Joseph Smith started it. So it's been around for over 150 years. If it was the work of man, according to according to the

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Gamaliel approach, then it should have died out a long time ago. Right. And since it hasn't died out, well, that must be confirmation that it is of God.

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That's what you ended up. That's what you would end up with if you were taking the Gamaliel approach to Mormonism or taking it to Jehovah's Witnesses.

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And then there are religions that are way older than that. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, etc.

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All of those that have thrived and continued to this very day, though they are the workings of man or to be even more specific, the workings of Satan, the deceptions of Satan.

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Yet they continue to be deceptive even though they are not of God. So the

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Gamaliel approach in this particular circumstance, when it comes to calling out false teachers, doesn't work.

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In this case, in what we're reading here in Acts chapter five, this man has wisdom in what he is observing and seeing among the apostles.

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And God works providentially through him to protect the apostles so that they may continue on preaching.

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But this approach does not work when it comes to calling out false teachers, because that's not what's going on here in the story anyway.

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Nevertheless, Gamaliel being as influential as he is, what he presents to the council is taken.

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In verse 40, when they called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.

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And then the apostles left the presence of the council rejoicing.

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They were rejoicing that they had been persecuted for the name of Christ, that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

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And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the

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Christ is Jesus. Listen to what we read here from Peter again later on in 1

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Peter chapter two. It says this, for to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.

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He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

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When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued in trusting himself to him who judges justly.

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He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds.

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You have been healed for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.

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Skipping now to 1 Peter chapter four, starting in verse 12, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you.

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But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

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Get this verse 14. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

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So we likewise should rejoice and be glad when we face persecutions of such kind because we share in the sufferings of Christ.

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We are counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ. We are blessed by God when we are ridiculed for this faith that we have.

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They left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

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Verse 42. This is back in Acts 5, 42 and every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the

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Christ is Jesus. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that they went door to door preaching the gospel, though it could mean that.

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That's certainly not a wrong approach to evangelism. It's a terrific approach to evangelism. Section out some city blocks, go door to door and share the gospel with people every day in the temple and from house to house.

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They did not cease teaching and preaching. So in the context here, considering the way we know that the apostles were preaching in the temple that's been talked about ever since chapter two, going from house to house was likely the homes of those who had become

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Christians and they want to hear more about what it is that has been preached. So it's like they have these little home groups, these these churches within their own homes that the apostles are going to and meeting with smaller groups and expounding all the more on the gospel and the implications of it.

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So that could be what it means by going from house to house. They're going to believers homes, not necessarily door to door throughout

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Jerusalem. But if you wanted to interpret it as going door to door throughout Jerusalem at that evangelistic effort is certainly a massive undertaking.

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But that's an acceptable read. There's certainly nothing wrong with reading it that way, nor is there anything wrong with you yourself in your own church organizing something that might go door to door, sharing the gospel just as the apostles likely did.

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That brings us to the conclusion of Acts chapter five. Next week, we're going to pick up in chapter six, which is a much shorter chapter.

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But we read about the first deacons being installed in the church. Let's conclude with prayer.

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Our heavenly father, we thank you for the gift of your son that has been given to us, the gift of even being persecuted that we might share in the sufferings of Christ, whether we are ridiculed or made fun of or somebody even threatens us physically.

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Let us rejoice to know that we've been counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ.

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And let us, let us not revile in return, but let us entrust ourselves to him who judges justly.

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We entrust ourselves unto you. We would not be found of wrongdoing, but we've been found faithfully serving in the body of Christ, holding out the word of life until the day of Christ comes.

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Come quickly, Lord Jesus. We pray this in his precious name. Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the

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Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study.

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Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.