Spirit-Empowered Audacity (Acts Sermon 12)

Turn your Bibles to Acts 5. We’re going to be studying from verse 12 up to the end of the chapter, verse 42. Sometime ago, I came across a sermon by a black preacher in the 19th century entitled, “Your Arms Too Short to Box With God.” That phrase captivated me. I picture human beings trying to box with God, trying to fight God.  When we consider the immeasurable power of Almighty God, by which He spoke galaxies into existence with a word, by which he made the earth and everything in it, the sea and all that is in it, the sky and everything that flies through it, it amazes me that anyone will try to fight God, but evil entered the universe when Satan thought that he could fight God and win.  He and his evil angels, the demons, lost that battle and were thrown from heaven to earth. 

Tragically, Adam, representing the entire human race, joined Satan in his rebellion against God and sought to fight God. For this reason, God sent His son into the world to save sinners. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Son of Man, lived a sinless life. He died an atoning death, rose on the third day and ascended to heaven. That is the gospel, that is the good news, that if we were repent of our sins and believe in that message, we will have eternal life. We’ll be forgiven of our fighting against God, our rebellion against God.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, He commissioned His church, His followers to make disciples of all nations by the preaching of this gospel message to the ends of the earth and to the end of time. But Satan does not give up ground easily. In every generation, he has people who take their stand against the Lord and against His anointed one who seek to fight God. In today’s account, the Sanhedrin is assembled to fight against Jesus’ followers who are trying to spread the gospel in Jerusalem and then beyond that to Judea and Samaria.

In the account, there’s a rabbi named Gamaliel, who raises the possibility that maybe they’re fighting God, that the Jewish leaders were possibly fighting God. We’re going to talk about Gamaliel and his concept, but that’s what led me into considering this phrase, “your arm’s too short to box with God.” The glory of the last twenty centuries of church histories, the power of the Holy Spirit and the church of Jesus Christ, giving amazing audacity that is boldness, giving courage and love and truth to sinful people just like you and me.

I believe the Holy Spirit’s given the book of Acts to us so that we’ll be faithful in our generation in a similar way, not in exactly the same setting that they faced, but that we will have a spirit-empowered audacity and a love of souls, a love of other people, a willingness to suffer. In today’s account, we see some of the earliest patterns being set for the movement of the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth and to the end of time. It’s a painful journey. It’s not an easy journey of the church witnessing to those who are willing to box with God, to fight God, despite God’s awesome power.  We’re going to walk through that and my desire is that we will take these lessons to heart because God’s set us in our own setting. It’s not going to be exactly the same as theirs, but the ground that we have to travel is going to be difficult and challenging. 

I. The Spirit’s Power in Audacity

The Spirit’s power and audacity that is in boldness, Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” This account, this long account at the end of Acts 5 is a demonstration of the Spirit’s power in the apostles.

Throughout this account, we’re going to see how astonishingly bold, audacious the apostles really were. They were totally devoid of fear. They’d lost their fear. As a matter of fact, the shoe was on the other foot. The Sanhedrin was more afraid and fearful than they were. It reminds me of the proverb that says the wicked flee, though no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Wouldn’t you love that to be true of you? That you, through Spirit-empowered boldness, have the chance to lead someone to Christ, perhaps even this week?

II. The Spirit’s Power in Miracles

The account begins with the Spirit’s power working through the apostles in doing miracles, signs, and wonders. Look at verse 12, “The apostles perform many miraculous signs and wonders among the people and all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.” A few verses later, verses 15 and 16, it says, “People brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats, so at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits and all of them were healed.”

Jesus didn’t do anything apart from the will of His father, but neither did He do any signs and wonders apart from the power of the Spirit.

The Spirit is at work in ordinary people, the apostles, doing extraordinary things, signs and wonders,  by the power of the Spirit. Amazingly, we learn this later in the Book of Acts that it was by the power of the Spirit that Jesus himself did His miracles. Jesus didn’t do anything apart from the will of His father, but neither did He do any signs and wonders apart from the power of the Spirit. It is by the Spirit that Jesus worked miracles, and the same Spirit was at work in the apostles. Apostolic miracles are displays of the Spirit’s power.

The miracles were not performed by just anyone. It wasn’t a universal thing, that all Christians were doing miracles, but specifically it says, “They were done by the apostles.” Miracles identified the apostles as Christ’s ambassadors, Christ’s messengers, and also identified their message as authoritative, a message from heaven. The miracles also display beautifully, as they did in Christ’s time, God’s saving intention toward a sinful and sorrowing human race.

The miraculous deaths of Ananias and Sapphira are an aberration. It’s not normal. For the most part, displays of miraculous power in Jesus’ life were healing. They were redemptive, they were constructive. The cursing of the fig tree being an exception, and I think also Ananias and Sapphira, a similar exception, but usually the miracles were redemptive. It was taking what God intended in giving eyes and ears and legs to people that those organs, those functions would be restored and the Apostles were doing that. Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not to kill them.  As John 3:17 says, “For God did not send a son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” He could have poured down fire and brimstone as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah if he wanted to destroy sinners, but He entered the world to save, not to destroy. These displays of the power of Christ through the Spirit are pictures of God’s saving grace and loving intention toward a human race that was trying to box with God, trying to fight against God, and yet God in his kindness reaches out through His son and now the apostles of His son doing the same thing.

Also as we’ve seen in the Gospels again and again, Jesus’s miracles are pictures of the spiritual healing that we all need. I believe that there were physical literal miracles that actually happened, but they were even more importantly, pictures of the spiritual healing we need. Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I’ve not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” [Matthew 9:12]He likens the salvation of sinners through repentance and faith to the healings He was doing of the body. Our hearts were made for God, our minds were made for God, our lives were made for God, and sin interrupted that. Jesus, through the power of the Spirit, through regeneration, heals our hearts and our souls so that we love God and that we serve God. That’s a healing work that He does, and these miracles were pictures of that.

Now, the details of the healing. First of all, they were an abundant answer to the prayers, and as a result in Acts 4:30, the apostles prayed, “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy Servant, Jesus.” They prayed for this exact thing to happen that there would be more healings and God answered their prayers. They performed many miraculous signs and wonders, and they did it in Solomon’s Colonnade there in the Temple area. There were lots of people there. The sick were brought into the streets and laid on beds and mats and it says so that perhaps Peter’s shadow might fall in some of them as he passed by, which is remarkable.

As you read the account, it doesn’t say that they healed anyone there, but at least it shows that they believed that it might, and that God was doing a lot of His healings through Peter, that God had elevated Peter as a leader and they expected that there would be healing just as happened with the lame beggar. It’s really a remarkable time of apostolic healings at that point. Verse 16 says plainly that huge crowds of people were healed probably through the laying on of the apostles’ hands.

Also demons were driven out, evil spirits, fallen angels who come down, they’re invisible beings. A lot of Jesus’s miracles were exorcisms. He drove out the spirits with a word. It showed His authority, incredible teachings. He had the power to drive out demons and it gave Him authority also in His teaching and now the apostles are doing the same thing. These people, the text says, are tormented by demons.  I think that’s what it means when Jesus was able to see in the spiritual realm that people are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. You can imagine sheep surrounded by spiritual wolves and they’re tearing at them daily. I think we need to understand we are very scientific people, we tend to be materialists and we don’t believe what we can’t see. We think that demons… We don’t really think about them, or angels. Yet demons are every bit as active now as they ever were in Jesus’ day. They just hide their tracks and they do the things that they do. Angels also as we’ll see in the account today, and so the demons are driven out.

III. The Spirit’s Power in Holiness

We see also the Spirit’s power in holiness. This goes back to the account at the beginning of this chapter with the death of Ananias and Sapphira that I’ve already mentioned. As you remember, Ananias and Sapphira were church members and in the pattern of the church’s generosity, they sold a piece of property and they brought some of the money and put it at the Apostles feet, but they lied about it. They said it was the full amount and in turn, they lied in turn and they died in turn. Ananias first dropped down dead. Not a hand was laid on him, but God struck him dead for his lie, and then Sapphira with a chance to tell the truth, she lied, and she also dropped down dead.

We’re told in Acts 5, great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Terrible fear came on because we know the sins of our own hearts. We know our tendency to lie, and we think, I’m not any different. I could drop dead at any moment. There was fear that came. Again in verse 11, “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.” There was a fear surrounding this nascent Christian Church, this growing Christ movement. They hear the story about Ananias and Sapphira and people were afraid to join them.  Look at verse 13, “No one else dared to join them even though they were highly regarded by the people.” The church’s reputation was elevated.

By the way, that’s a reason why healthy churches perform church discipline now so that the church’s reputation won’t be dragged down by the sins of church members and the church not dealing with it. The church’s reputation is tied to that. When God does this discipline with Ananias and Sapphira, the reputation of the whole church is elevated among outsiders and people were afraid to join them. They want to join that group, but look at the very next verse in verse 14,  “Nevertheless, more and more people, or men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” It seems like an open contradiction. Verse 13, “no one dared to join them.”  Verse 14, “more and more were joining them.”

 I think what it is you got an attitude of the reputation of the church among onlookers and then God is working in individuals, rescuing them and bringing them over. I think this shows very, very clearly that the holiness of a church has evangelistic power. If the church is committed to holiness in the fear of the Lord, that church has evangelistic power.  God knows that a display of His fiery holiness is actually very attractive to the human race, paradoxically so. The clearest example of this is terrifying Mount Sinai, when God descends in fire from heaven to the top of the mountain and gives them the law, the Ten Commandments, and the ground is shaking and there’s terror and fear in all the hearts of the people. Moses himself said the sight was so terrifying, he said “I’m trembling with fear.” Yet God told Moses, now  to be sure you prevent the people from going up the mountain, put a barrier around the mountain so that they won’t go up the mountain because if they do, they’ll be killed.  It’s counterintuitive, you think people will be running the other way, like from an active volcano. We’re made to be near God, and the truth is God is a consuming fire and we want to be drawn to Him, so a display of this kind of holiness in the early church, for that were being converted, was actually attractive. They wanted to get close to God. God knows that His holiness is actually beautiful.

One of the most mysterious things I learned in Ezekiel is the cherubim there just seemed to be immersed in fire all the time, and there’s lightning and light flashing back and forth and there’s fire amongst them, but they’re also told in judgment on Jerusalem to take some of the fire and hurl it down in the city. Therefore, I thought this must be a picture of holiness. They love it. They’re immersed in it, but wicked, dark Jerusalem can’t handle it. There’s that picture of the holiness of a church. It is very evangelistically attractive. Holy churches are evangelistically fruitful.

Paul commands Timothy concerning this matter, concerning his own personal holiness. He said in a large house, there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also wood and clay. Some are for noble purposes, some for common use. There’s different kinds of vessels in God’s house. If a man cleanses himself from evil, effectively, he will be an instrument for noble purposes made holy, useful to the master and prepared to do any good work.

Robert Murray McShane said this to pastors,”It is not great talents that God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awesome weapon in the hands of God.” It is for the whole church, not just for leaders. A holy church is an awesome weapon in the hands of God and the Holy Spirit is given to work that in us. I think maybe one of the most important prayers there is in the Bible, I’ve quoted it literally more times than I can count, is Psalm 139: 23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me, and know my anxious thoughts. See if there’s any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  We should be praying something like that every day because we have so many blind spots, don’t we, brothers and sisters? So many rivers of darkness that are still in us, despite the fact that we’ve received forgiveness of sins, we still aren’t fully sanctified into this work of holiness. 

IV. The Spirit’s Power in Overcoming Persecution

We see also the Spirit’s power in overcoming persecution. That’s basically the rest of the account, and we’re going to walk through it all.  The account from this point on is an account of persecution overcome by Spirit-empowered audacity. The opposition of the Jewish authorities just began lightly in chapters 3 and 4. The apostles heal the lame beggar and they’re preaching the gospel there in the temple. Peter and John are arrested and they have an encounter with the Sanhedrin that’s just words. They’re warned about continuing to preach the gospel, but now we’re going to escalate to the next level.  They’re going to be beaten for the gospel. They’re going to be beaten. The next level, what happen in chapter 7, where Stephen is the first Christian martyr, he will die for the gospel and then Saul of Tarsus will begin his vicious persecution of the church in chapter 8. It’s going to escalate. It’s going to keep going harder and harder.

A great measure of the Spirit’s power in making us witnesses, “you receive power when the Holy Spirit comes to you”, is our ability to overcome our fear of persecution, to overcome our fear of reprisals in sharing the gospel. We’re not afraid anymore, not afraid of what people will think. Instead, we care more about their souls than about our immediate circumstances. We care more about the glory of God than we do about what might happen if we share our faith.

It begins with the jealousy of the Jewish leaders in verse 17, “Then the high priest and all his associates who are members of the party of the Sadducees were filled with jealousy.” We’re told just a chapter earlier than this that the high priest is Caiaphas, the same one who had oppressed or opposed Jesus. Caiaphas and Annas, his father-in-law, that whole cabal ran the Temple area, made huge money on it. They were corrupt through and through. A den of thieves, Jesus called them, but they had authority. Their word was law over the Temple grounds, and they hauled them in.

Luke tells us they’re Sadducees who didn’t believe in angels or demons, and they didn’t believe in the resurrection. They’re going to get an education on angels, although I don’t think they knew that that was what was going on here. But here are the Sadducees, effectively like theological liberals of the day, denying clear biblical truths. The account tells us their heart state. They are jealous. We’re going to see also that they’re fearful. They’re jealous of the apostles as they had been jealous of Jesus, and they’re fearful also of the people. They’re constantly afraid of the crowd because their hold over the Jewish populace was key to their whole power and the fear factor, intimidation, was part of that.

They also had this core jealousy of Jesus. Jesus was doing these effortless, powerful miracles resulting in huge crowds every day flocking to Him in ardent love for Him and affection for Him, and they were jealous of it. As a matter of fact, Pontius Pilate saw that in them. In Mark 15:10, he said knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. He could see that they were jealous of Jesus, and now they’re jealous of the apostles too.

Verse 18, they arrested them. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. The persecution is about to escalate greatly. It began with incarceration, but prison bars never stopped the spread of the gospel. Amen, brothers and sisters, it never stopped it. Paul himself was imprisoned again and again, and again for the gospel. He says in his final epistle in II Timothy 2, “I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal, but God’s word is not chained.”

That’s a great statement, “You can’t chain God’s word.” They’re trying to do that. In Acts 4 they told Peter and John to stop this thing from spreading any further. Good luck with that. There’s no way they’re going to be able to stop this thing from spreading any further. It’s been spreading for twenty centuries now. It can’t be stopped. God’s word is not chained. It can never be chained. This is the most forceful, powerful thing there is in human history every day, including today. It transforms lives, God’s word does. It saves souls. It cannot be chained.

Peter and John are in prison, and then God dispatches an angel. I always think, about 100 million angels up there and it’s like “pick me, pick me, I want to do that”. It sounds like it’d be a lot of fun to be sent on these missions, but there’s no jealousy there just with the angel that was chosen. He got to come down and do that but what fun that would be, huh? 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 the full message of this new life.”God sends an angel to rescue them. We’re told in Hebrews 1, “Are not all angels ministering spirit sent to serve those who will inherit salvation as one of the way they’re serving.” This is not the last time in the book of Acts that angels are going to get involved in the spread of the gospel. They’re not given the message to preach to lost people generally, but they help out in some remarkable ways, so they’re involved in evangelism and missions. Chains and locked doors are no problem for angels.

Later in Acts 12, an angel is going to be sent to rescue Peter. After James the apostle had been executed, Peter is chained with squads of four soldiers each and the doors are securely locked and all that, and all of it just falls off Peter’s… The door opens by itself. This is nothing, it’s just lots of fun. You just think about the power of God over this and just the ridiculousness of the effort to fight against God. I love how the angel tells him to preach the full message of this new life. Isn’t that a great statement of the gospel? “Preach it all. Don’t hold anything back. Preach the whole thing. Tell those sinners that they’re rebels against God, they’re violating God’s laws. They’re under the wrath of God, but there is a deliverance through faith in Jesus Christ. If they repent and believe, they will most certainly be forgiven and spend eternity in heaven with God. Go tell them that, the full message.”  He tells them to do it right where they were doing it yesterday, back in the temple. No fear at all. The high priest and his associates ran the Temple courts and nothing could be done there apart from their authority, so they thought. They had already commanded Peter and John never to preach Christ there again but the apostles were delighted to disobey that wicked command.

Let’s talk about the miraculous escape being discovered. Look at verses 21-26, “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 but on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, ‘We found the jail securely locked with the guard standing at the doors but when we opened them, we found no one inside.’  On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this. Then someone came and said,  ‘Look, the men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.’ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force because they feared that the people would stone them.

What an amazing morning that must have been. The high priest and his associates arrive at the Sanhedrin ready to try the apostles and deal with them for their unlawful preaching. They send guards for the prisoners and everything looks fine. The guards outside the cells are alert, they’re all there. Everything’s buttoned up, locked. Everything’s exactly as it should have been and then they go in and the prisoners are gone. They’re not even there, and they didn’t know what to make of this.

Honestly, I don’t understand the unbelief. If I’d been one of the guards, I would’ve repented of my sins and trusted in Jesus for salvation. I just don’t understand the stubbornness. The worst of all of it to me is paying off the guards that had been hired to guard Jesus’s tomb so the disciples couldn’t come and steal the body. Remember that? They come back saying, “an angel came move the stone and the body’s gone. We didn’t fall asleep, we were there the whole night,” and they pay them off. They know that didn’t happen, but they don’t believe in Jesus. How can you not believe in Jesus with the clear evidence of the empty tomb? That’s it, the stubbornness of unbelief.

The Sanhedrin, instead of believing the guards, they’re ready to persecute them. The fear of the people is a constant issue for them, as it had been in Jesus’ day.  They were afraid of what the people were going to do. True to form, the Apostles were not ardent, fire-breathing, rebel types. They weren’t insurrectionists, they weren’t trying to throw off… They were just trying to preach the gospel as they’ve been commanded to do. When they were told to come, they came peaceably. They could have manipulated the crowd, got them up into a mob or riot. That wasn’t their nature, they just humbly went. As Jesus had said this will result in your being witnesses to them, so they went to the Sanhedrin to be witnesses.

Now we have the apostles’ trial before the Sanhedrin. Look at 27-28, “Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ the high priest said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’” Again, we see the amazing boldness of the apostles here. The high priest in front of the whole Sanhedrin fiercely questions the apostles. They reminded them of the strict orders given not to speak or teach at all in this name. They can’t say “Jesus.” They hate that name. “We gave you strict orders not to preach in this name, this hateful name.” But the apostles, they say, have filled Jerusalem with the gospel with their teaching.  Now stop right there. Do you realize the significance of that? Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth.” Check that box. Jerusalem filled with the gospel. You fill Jerusalem with your doctrine. Everyone throughout the city of Jerusalem is hearing constantly of the name of Jesus and the gospel.

Furthermore, they accused the apostles of seeking to make them “guilty of this man’s blood.” That’s amazing. Remember during Jesus’s trial, before Pontius Pilate, the Jewish leaders had specifically taken responsibility for Jesus’s blood. Remember when Pilot washed his hands, that whole famous hand-washing thing, Pilot took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood.” He tried again and again to release him. “I’m innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It’s your responsibility. They answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children.” They took full responsibility. Now, they don’t want to take any responsibility for it.  The apostles again and again rightly charge the Sanhedrin with murdering Jesus and they do it again here in this account. 

V. The Spirit’s Power in Proclamation

Look at the Spirit’s power and proclamation. Verse 29-32, “Peter and the other Apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Savior, that He might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these the things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.'”

Do you realize how utterly fearless these men are at this point? They have literally no fear of what’s going to happen to them. This is the power of the Holy Spirit on them, and it’s the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made to them. In Luke 21:12-15, “They will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you’ll be brought before kings and governors and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them, but make up your mind not to worry beforehand about how you’ll defend yourselves, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.” This is a direct promise from Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus ascribes the boldness to the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:11, “Whenever you’re arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say, just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” That’s the Holy Spirit’s power on them directly. Look at the message. First of all, they said, “We must obey God rather than men.” They have already said this when they were first warned not to preach Christ. Acts 4:19-20, “Judge for yourselves, whether it’s right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God, for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Christ has commanded the church to preach the gospel to every creature all over the world. The Sanhedrin has no right to forbid that command. We must obey God, not men.

We know that Romans 13 tells Christians to submit to God ordained authorities. That is a biblical truth. But the exception is when the God ordained authorities overreach themselves and don’t stay in their lane, overreach themselves and command things that God’s word forbids, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego  being commanded to  fall down and worship an idol, or forbids things that God has commanded like here, the preaching of the gospel. In that case, we’re free from obeying the God ordained authority when those things happen.  Christ has commanded the church to preach the gospel to every creature all over the world. The Sanhedrin has no right to forbid that command. We must obey God, not men. 

Then they said, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree.” There, they did it again. They directly blamed this evil group of men, the high priest, the Sanhedrin for the murder of Jesus. The Greek word “you killed” is more forceful, more like you laid violent hands on Jesus. It’s not an accident. It’s a direct murder on their part. Note again, as we’ll see again and again in the book of Acts, the clear proclamation of the resurrection.

I just want to say when we go out and do our witnessing, let’s talk a lot about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is the message that separates Christianity from every other message in the world. Jesus was killed and was raised to life on the third day. They can’t preach the gospel apart from mentioning the resurrection, and they specifically use Jewish terms, “the God of our fathers”. This is the fulfillment of Judaism, not some new cult or wicked false religion. Verse 31, “God exalted him to His own right hand as Prince and savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”

As you think about the trial of Jesus before the high priest, this very man, what got the high priest to tear his robes and declare Jesus a blasphemer was his statement, “In the future, you’ll see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the mighty God and coming on the clouds of heaven.” His apostles are saying that’s where He is, Jesus is at the right hand of God. Utterly fearless here. Jesus is prince and savior. The word “prince” is like pioneer or captain. He’s the leader of our salvation. He’s leading out, He’s the Prince, He’s the pioneer, the captain. He’s leading us to eternal life and He is the savior from eternal damnation of our sins.

It says, “That He might grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.” Repentance is essential to salvation. If you want to be forgiven of your sins, you have to repent of your sins, turn away from those sins in your heart and turn to God in faith. That’s what repentance is. The language here is that God grants it. It’s not something you do on your own, it’s something He opens his hand and gives to you. If He doesn’t give you repentance, you won’t repent. The language here is that God grants repentance to those that are being saved. We can as easily create ourselves originally as recreate ourselves as new creations. That’s something only God can do, and He gives the power of repentance and faith.

I can just stop and say to all of you who are genuinely my brothers and sisters in Christ, give praise to God that He worked repentance in you. That wasn’t something you did on your own. It’s something that God did in you. Praise be to God. By Him alone, our sin is forgiven, and the gift of the Holy Spirit comes to those who obey Him, who obey God. We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. Faith produces obedience, and the first thing you obey is the gospel. It’s a command to repent and believe. You repent and believe and having obeyed, then you get the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Sanhedrin, you don’t have the Holy Spirit because you’ve not obeyed God. You’ve not repented of your sins and trusted in God. This is the kind of powerful preaching the Holy Spirit works in his witnesses. As the angel said, “Go stand in the courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.” Don’t hold anything back. “Enable your servants [Acts 4:29] to speak your word with great boldness.” The word “boldness” in Acts 4:29, the Greek word, “paresia”, means “all the words.” Say the whole thing. Don’t hold anything back. As Paul says in Acts 20:27, “I have not shrunk back from proclaiming anything to you that would be helpful or the whole council of God.” We don’t hold anything back. Tell the truth.

At this point, we get the tragic reaction of the Sanhedrin. Again, it’s grievous how much clear evidence there is of Jesus as Savior, of the truth of the gospel, the prophecies being fulfilled. They have all of this and they still don’t believe, but instead they get angry. Look at verse 33, “When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.” One thing I’ve learned about anger, there are two categories, righteous and unrighteous.  Let me ask you a question, brothers and sisters, what percentage of your anger do you think is righteous anger? Let’s be honest, a lot of our anger is sinful anger and I think a large percentage of sinful anger is based on pride. When somebody hurts your pride, you get angry. I think they were enraged because these people were hurting their pride. They were enraged and they wanted to put them to death.

Now along comes this man Gamaliel. What an interesting character he is. Very interesting character. Look at verse 34-39, 

“But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who is honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. Then he addressed the men of Israel, ‘Consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.’ Some time ago, Thutis appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about 400 men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas, the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and lead a band of people in revolt. He too was killed and all his followers are scattered. Therefore, in the present case, I advise you, leave these men alone, let them go, for if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men, you’ll only find yourselves fighting against God.”

What is he saying? He does a little history. First of all, who is this man? Gamaliel was one of the great rabbis in Israel. He was Saul of Tarsus’s mentor in Judaism. The young boy, Saul from Tarsus, went to Jerusalem and trained under Gamaliel. He was one of the teachers of Israel, very well-schooled in the law and a leader there, so he stands up and says these things.

What’s his message? First of all, he gives them a little history lesson. There’s these two other false leaders and when you cut off the head of the snake, the snake dies. That’s what happened. I think the same thing’s going to happen this time. Just step back, let it go. If you don’t, it could be just maybe we’re fighting against God. I will give some credit to Gamaliel for even entertaining that possibility. It doesn’t seem to have ever entered Annas’ or Caiaphas’s mind or any of these other guys that they might actually be on the wrong side of this whole equation. Have you noticed, by the way, the apostles have said it again and again, “you killed Him, God raised Him.” What do you get out of that? You are fighting against God. It’s Psalm 2, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples conspire in vain?” You’re fighting against God. He’s at least raising the possibility.

But I’m going to give Gamaliel a D- here. I’m like what are you waiting for, dude? How much more evidence do you need?  None of these things were done in a corner. We’re talking about three years, a river of miracles done by Jesus, pure and perfect teaching, a perfect example of a sinless man dying in fulfillment of scripture, and now we’ve got this clear proclamation, the Pentecost sermon, all of this is proving that these things were predicted and prophesied. It’s time to stop wondering we don’t know whether it’s from God or not.

Furthermore, it’s just false. Do you know that there’s been significant religious movements that are not from God that have done quite well over the centuries, whose leaders were even killed or martyred and they continue to flourish? Mormonism for example.  Joseph Smith was killed and Mormonism’s still around, 17 million followers and not getting any less year by year. What about Islam? Since the seventh century, it’s just grown and grown and grown and grown. It’s just not true that if it’s just of human origin, it’ll peter out. It just doesn’t peter out. The whole thing. That’s why I’m giving him a D-minus. You might wonder why I don’t give him an F.

Gamaliel’s speech, at least did this, it stopped them from killing the apostles that day. Look at verse 40, “His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.” You might be fighting against God. Okay, we won’t kill them, we’ll just flog them. The logic is the same thing with Pilate. He’s innocent, he’s done nothing wrong, therefore I’ll flog him and release him. It doesn’t make any sense. They’re compromising and flogging them, and this was a significant persecution. If it’s done enough, it could kill you, and so it’s a very terrible thing.

Look at how the account ends and their reaction to the flogging. Verse 41-42, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering, disgrace for the name. Day after day and the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is of Christ.” This is the relentless courage, the perseverance, the love that the Spirit worked in these men. They weren’t afraid of dying anymore, they weren’t afraid of suffering, they weren’t afraid of anything.  They were amazed that sinners like them would’ve been chosen for such a high office in the kingdom of God, counted worthy of suffering, disgrace for the name of Jesus, and their rejoicing was in direct fulfillment of Jesus’ statement in the Sermon of the Mount, “Blessed to you and people insult you, persecute you falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your award in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

VI. Applications

The first application is clearest as always, come to Christ. If you came in here as an unbeliever, you came to hear the gospel, that’s why God brought you. You’ve heard it and I’ve made a direct appeal. I’ve told you what to do. All you need to do is repent of your sins and trust in Christ and you will be forgiven. If you are a Christian, just stand in awe of what the Lord has done over 20 centuries to get the gospel safely to our generation. Think about our brothers and sisters who went before us in this great relay race that were willing to pay this kind of price to get the gospel to us.  We are their spiritual descendants. We are their brothers and sisters, and they still live because to God, all are still alive. We have inherited this relay race and now is our time. 

My final application, before we go to the Lord’s Supper, my final application is ask God to give you this kind of boldness. This is a great season for evangelism, isn’t it? We’ve got trappings of Christianity around us. I know there’s all kinds of other things too, a lot of secular stuff, I get it. But people are thinking about spiritual things and they’re thinking they’re open for spiritual conversations.

Ask God to make you bold this week. It could be in the workplace, it could be on the campus, it could be with some dorm mates, some roommates that you haven’t shared with yet. It could be a neighbor, it could be a relative. We going to gather with relatives. It could be some of the hardest witnessing we do is to people very close to us, a lost son or daughter, a lost father or mother or brother. Ask for an opportunity to share the gospel. Ask God to give you this kind of boldness.

We’re going to close this time in prayer and then we’ll go to the Lord’s Supper. Father, we thank you for Acts 5, we thank you for the incredible account of the boldness of the Apostles given by the Holy Spirit. We thank you that we have the opportunity in our time to share the gospel boldly. Help us, oh Lord, create opportunities for us even this week whereby we can share the full message of this new life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

In the 1970 movie “Patton,” General Patton is quoted as saying to a fellow commander, “You must guard against being too conservative. Remember what Frederick the Great said, “L’audace, l’audace, toujours l’audace.” Translated, that mean “Audacity, audacity, always audacity…” Battles are not won by faint-hearted, timid men. At the key moment, the commander must commit himself with great purpose and courage to win the day.

Jesus laid down the gauntlet for the advancement of his kingdom when he said to Peter and the other apostles, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”

He pictured the construction of his church in a militaristic sense, that the church would be storming the gates of Hades and could not be stopped. The “gates” pictures the powers of Satan, sin, and death as a walled fortress. The church shown as taking the bold initiative, and the gates unable to restrain that assault. The gates of Hades crumbling… death swallowed up in victory.

Faint hearts never won the day when it comes to the building of the church of Jesus Christ. Fearsome forces, entrenched opposition await us. Satan has his people established in positions of power all over the world. Behind them he and his spiritual forces of evil—his demons—constantly work to stop the gospel’s advance. Their threats are real… but all of them are earth-bound. They threatened to take our possessions, our reputations, our freedom, our health, and even our physical lives. But over twenty centuries of sacrificial acts of courage and valor the church has never ceased to advance, rescuing eternal souls from Satan’s dark kingdom year after year, century after century. Acts is the story of how it all began.

I. The Spirit’s Power in Audacity

Acts 1:8  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

This account is a demonstration of the Spirit’s power in the apostles…

Throughout this account we will see how astonishingly bold—audacious—the apostles were. Total devoid of fear. Rather, it was the Sanhedrin that was cowardly, fearful of the people.

Proverbs 28:1 The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

II. The Spirit’s Power in Miracles

Acts 5:12  The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.

Acts 5:15-16  people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.  ¹⁶ Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed.

A. The Spirit’s power is displayed in these amazing miracles

1. It was by the power of the Spirit that Jesus himself did his miracles

2. These miracles are just as much a display of the Spirit’s power

3. Miracles were not performed by just anyone, but by the apostles

4. Miracles identified the apostles as Christ’s representatives and validated their message

B. Miracles Display God’s Saving Intention

1. The miraculous death of Ananias and Sapphira was unusual; miracles usually were REDEMPTIVE not destructive

2. Jesus came into the world to save sinners, not to kill them

John 3:17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

3. These displays of the power of Christ through the Spirit are pictures of God’s saving grace, his loving intention toward a human race drowning in sin, misery, and death

4. Every physical healing was a picture also of the true spiritual healing all sinners need

C. Details of the Healings

1. An abundant answer to the prayer the church prayed

Acts 4:30  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

2. They performed MANY miraculous signs and wonders

3. The location: centered at the Temple, Solomon’s Colonnade

4. Sick were brought into the streets and laid on beds or mats for the apostles to heal

5. “Peter’s shadow”… that shows the esteem with which Peter was held; he is singled out here as the clear leader at that stage of the church; it does not say that Peter’s shadow healed anyone; merely that some people believed it might!

6. BUT verse 16 says plainly that huge crowds of people were healed, probably through the laying on of the apostles’ hands

7. Also DEMONS were driven out… people were being TORMENTED by demons… “vexed” or “afflicted”; but the apostles drove them out by the power of the Spirit in Jesus’ name

III. The Spirit’s Power in Holiness

A. Backdrop: The Fear Connected with Ananias and Sapphira’s Death

1. Ananias and Sapphira had lied about the money and they died

2. News about their death had spread throughout Jerusalem; the fear of God’s fiery holiness spread

Acts 5:5  And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Acts 5:11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

B. Two Results of this Holy Fear

1. People were afraid to join the church

Acts 5:13  No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.

2. YET more and more people were saved

Acts 5:14  Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.

3. AND this attracted crowd who then received miraculous healings

Acts 5:15  As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats…

C. Holiness in the Church Has EVANGELISTIC POWER

1. It weeded out the casual enquirers, people who weren’t serious

2. And God knows that displays of his fiery holiness are actually ATTRACTIVE to people… they want to be near God

3. Amazingly, at Mt. Sinai, God told Moses to put a fence around the holy mountain lest people climb UP toward the consuming fire he appeared in as he descended from heaven to the summit

4. God knows his holiness is beautiful and attractive

D. Holy Churches Are Evangelistic Churches

When God wants to make a church overwhelmingly powerful in evangelism, he first works powerfully through the Spirit in holiness, purifying it of all uncleanness

2 Timothy 2:20-21  In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.  ²¹ If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Robert Murray McCheyne exhorts pastors:

“It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hands of God.”

The same is true of a local church. “A holy church is an awful weapon in the hands of God.” And the HOLY Spirit is given to work that in us.

Psalm 139:23-24  Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  ²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

IV. The Spirit’s Power in Overcoming Persecution

The rest of the account is a narrative of the apostles’ response to persecution

The opposition of the Jewish authorities just lightly began in Acts 3-4. Now it is going to escalate greatly.

A great measure of the Spirit’s power to make the church witnesses is in working holy boldness in the face of great opposition.

A. Jealous Jewish Leaders

Acts 5:17  Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

1. Still Caiaphas, with Annas the real power behind him

2. They ran the Temple and the religious life of the Jewish nation

3. Their word was law, and they were to be feared

4. Luke tells us they were Sadducees… the religious liberals of their day, who denied resurrection and did not believe in angels

5. The account tells us their heart state… spiritual jealousy

a. Constantly afraid of the crowd, since their hold over the Jewish populace was essential to their power

b. But they also had a core jealousy of Jesus because he testified that they were evil and needed to repent

c. Jesus did effortless miracles and was overwhelmingly loved by thousands of people… so they were jealous of him

d. Pontius Pilate saw this

Mark 15:10   knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.

So also the high priest and his associates were jealous of the apostles’ miracles and soaring popularity with the people.

B. Arrest

Acts 5:18  They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

The persecution is about to escalate greatly. It began with incarceration… but prison bars never stopped the spread of the gospel. The apostle Paul was imprisoned again and again for  preaching the gospel, as he wrote:

2 Timothy 2:8-9  … I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.

God’s Word is NOT CHAINED… it can never be chained! It is the most powerful force in the world today, transforming lives and winning souls for all eternity.

C. Angelic Rescue

1. God sends an angel to rescue them and command them what to do

2. This is not the last time in the Book of Acts that we will see angels directly involved in the work of evangelism and missions!

Acts 5:19-20  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 the full message of this new life.”

3. The chains and locked doors were no obstacle at all to this angel; in the next such occasion, the rescue of Peter in Acts 12, Peter’s chains fell off his wrists and the iron gates opened by themselves!

4. I love how the angel tells them to preach “the full message of this new life”… what a great word! More on that in a moment

5. He also tells them to do it in the temple courts as they had been doing! NO FEAR AT ALL!!!

6. The high priest and his associates RAN the temple courts and nothing could be done there apart from their authority

7. AND they had already commanded Peter and John never to preach Christ there again

Acts 4:17-18  to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”  ¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

8. The apostles were delighted to disobey that wicked command

D. The Miraculous Escape Discovered

Acts 5:21-26  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 puzzled, wondering what would come of this.  ²⁵ Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.”  ²⁶ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

1. What an amazing morning that must have been

2. The high priest and associates arrived at the Sanhedrin, ready to try and condemn the apostles for their unlawful preaching

3. But on sending guards for the prisoners, they were shocked! Everything was exactly as it should have been—doors locked, guards awake and posted—but NO PRISONERS!!!

4. They did not know what to make of this

5. If I had been one of the guards, I would have yearned to hear more about Christ; the high priest and the whole Sanhedrin should have been ready to repent and believe

6. Instead, they received the alarming news that the apostles were right back in the Temple preaching and teaching the people again

7. Their fear of the people was a constant issue for them; they had to finesse the apostles out of their with gentle persuasion

8. But true to form, the apostles were not ardent rebels, fire-breathing rabble rousers. They went back with the captain of the temple guard and his officers quietly

E. The Apostolic Answer to the Inquisition

Acts 5:27-28  Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.  ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

1. Again, we see the amazing boldness of the apostles here

2. The high priest, in front of the whole Sanhedrin, fiercely questioned the apostles

3. They reminded them that they had given strict orders not to speak or teach at all in “this name”… they cannot bring themselves to say Jesus’ name! They HATE that name!!

4. But they say the apostles have FILLED JERUSALEM with their doctrine… everyone throughout the city of Jerusalem is hearing constantly of this name and this message!

5. Furthermore, they accuse the apostles with seeking to make them “guilty of this man’s blood!”

6. Amazing! During Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate, the Jewish leaders had specifically taken responsibility for the death of Jesus in these exact words:

Matthew 27:24-25  [Pilate] took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”  ²⁵ All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

7. This accusation was actually true… the apostles again and again rightly charged these men with conspiring to murder Jesus

8. And they will do it again here

V. The Spirit’s Power in Proclamation

A. Peter and the Apostles Preach Boldly

Acts 5:29-32  Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!  ³⁰ The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead– whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.  ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.  ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

1. Notice the utter fearlessness they have here!

2. This is the direct power of the Holy Spirit in them

3. And it is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus had made

Luke 21:12-15  they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.  ¹³ This will result in your being witnesses to them.  ¹⁴ But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.  ¹⁵ For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

In another place, Jesus specifically ascribes this boldness to the Holy Spirit:

Mark 13:11  Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

B. Looking at the Message

1. “We must obey God rather than men!”

a. They already said this when first warned not to preach in the name of Jesus Christ

Acts 4:19-20  “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.  ²⁰ For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

b. Christians are consistently commanded to obey God-ordained authorities

Romans 13:1-2  Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established….  ² Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

c. BUT the exception is when the human authorities overreach themselves and command something that God has forbidden (as in the case of Nebuchadnezzar ordering Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to bow down to an idol) or to forbid something that God has commanded, as in this case

d. Christ has COMMANDED the church to preach the gospel to every creature all over the world!

e. The Sanhedrin has no authority to forbid this preaching ministry

f. “We must obey GOD, not men!”

2. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree”

a. There!! They did it again! They directly blamed this evil group of men—the high priest, and the whole Sanhedrin—for the murder of Jesus

b. The Greek word “you killed” is more forceful… like “you laid violent hands on”… it was no accident, but direct action on their part

c. Note again the direct mention of the resurrection from the dead

d. They apostles cannot preach except that they declare the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!!

e. And it was specifically in Jewish terms… the God of our fathers… this is the fulfillment of Judaism; not some new cult or wicked false religion

Acts 5:31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.

3. The exaltation of Jesus Christ to the right hand of God… the very thing that had caused the high priest to tear his robes at Jesus’ trial, the apostles now declare again

4. Jesus is also PRINCE and SAVIOR

a. “Prince” is like “pioneer” or “captain”… the leader of the Jewish nation

b. Follow him to eternal life!

c. Savior = from the eternal damnation their sins deserve

5. GRANT repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel

a. Repentance is essential to salvation

b. Turning in the mind and heart AWAY from sin TO God!

c. God alone can GRANT this work

d. We can as easily create ourselves to begin with as we can recreate ourselves as repenter-believers

e. This is a work only God can do, and he grants it only through faith in Jesus Christ

f. By him alone are sins forgiven!!

6. The Gift of the Holy Spirit comes through obeying Christ!

Acts 5:32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

a. Faith produces OBEDIENCE…

b. Jesus is Prince and Savior… and by obeying his command we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit

7. SO… this is the kind of powerful preaching the Holy Spirit works in his witnesses!!

8. As the angel said,

Acts 5:20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.”

ALL THE WORDS OF THIS LIFE!

Don’t hold back anything!

This is the BOLDNESS that the Spirit empowers his messengers to have

Acts 4:29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

“Boldness” = “parresia” literally “all the words”… say everything!

[Paul ] Acts 20:27  For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

C. The Tragic Reaction of the Sanhedrin

1. They should have repented and believed; instead they were enraged

Acts 5:33  When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.

2. BUT Gamaliel spoke up a weird message of indecisive toleration

Acts 5:34-39  But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  ³⁵ Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  ³⁶ Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  ³⁷ After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  ³⁸ Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  ³⁹ But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

3. This may seem like a good thing… but it is actually incredibly wrong-headed and tragic

a. Gamaliel was considered one of the greatest teachers of the Torah in the nation of Israel

b. Saul of Tarsus sat at his feet and learned Judaism from him

c. He seems to admit at least the possibility that they were fighting against God; you may think that’s progress

d. BUT why not actually REPENT AND BELIEVE?? What more evidence did he need???

e. He was completely aware of Jesus and of all the things that had happened; he knew about the miracles; he was aware of the empty tomb and the soldiers they had bribed

f. What more evidence did he need that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God??

g. But instead he gives this political lesson and a message of “Who knows??”

h. As spiritual leaders in Israel it was their job to discern with right judgment!! They should have led the way in receiving Jesus, not punting like this and said “Maybe we’re fighting God”

i. Also, it is completely false… many wicked religions and cults have grown up and prospered for centuries and only have gotten stronger; numbers and success don’t prove that God is in something

There are over 1.8 billion Muslims in the world today… that movement is fourteen centuries old and only getting stronger by the year!

There are over 17 million Mormons all over the world

That movement is not waning

So. Letting it alone, letting it go… and waiting to see if it dies out because if it is not from God it will DIE OUT has proven to be false.

But Gamaliel’s speech did at least keep the Sanhedrin from KILLING THEM that day! Instead, they flogged them.

Acts 5:40  His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

Amazing! If this is from God, how would God react to them FLOGGING his messengers???

MAKE A DECISION!!

John 7:24  Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.

D. Final Persecution… and their Reaction

Acts 5:41-42  The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.  ⁴² Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.

This is the relentless courage and faith-filled reaction of the apostles… more evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in them

Also in direct obedience to Jesus’ promise:

Matthew 5:11-12  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

They were “counted worthy” of suffering disgrace for the name of Jesus.

They were chosen for this great privilege.

But most importantly, they continued boldly to preach the gospel.

VI. Applications

A. Come to Christ

B. Thank God for the Way the Spirit has worked in ordinary people over twenty centuries… audacity, miracles, holiness, overcoming persecution, proclaiming the gospel boldly… ONLY BY THE SPIRIT’S POWER has this happened!

C. Ask God to Give us these same traits in our generation!