Apostles Vs. Authorities

In Wednesday’s post – God Rather Than Man – we discussed the events of Acts 5 and the arrest of Peter and the Apostles. Peter miraculously escaped the jail, with the help of an angel, and continued to teach in the temple courts. Again, he is summoned by the authorities, and we close chapter 5 thinking about his words.

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you killed, hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. 32 We are his witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

33 But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and were determined to kill them. 34 But one stood up in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, honored by all the people, and commanded to put the apostles out for a little while. 35 He said to them, “You men of Israel, be careful concerning these men, what you are about to do. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, making himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves. He was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the enrollment, and drew away some people after him. He also perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad. 38 Now I tell you, withdraw from these men, and leave them alone. For if this counsel or this work is of men, it will be overthrown. 39 But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it, and you would be found even to be fighting against God!”

40 They agreed with him. Summoning the apostles, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name.

42 Every day, in the temple and at home, they never stopped teaching and preaching Jesus, the Christ.

Acts 5:29-42 (WEB)

Peter begins, as discussed on Wednesday, by telling the authorities that he must obey God rather than man. God has instructed the apostles to share the message about Jesus, and they must obey this command even if the authorities tell them to stop. This is not without risk, and nearly all of the apostles lost their lives because they refused to stop talking about Christ.

Peter pulls no punches. He states that Jesus was raised up by the “God of our fathers,” that is, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and tells them that they are guilty of His death. They killed Him. They hung Him on a tree. Yet God exalted Him, making Him Prince and Saviour. We must understand Jesus is both Lord (Prince) and Saviour. He saves us yes, and we rejoice in that, but He is our Lord also and we must revere Him as such.

Jesus achieved “repentance for Israel,” and “remission of sins.” The people of Israel, not able to fulfil the Law, require a Saviour to act as a substitute for them. Similarly, Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross achieved the remission of sins, meaning that sin is fully paid for. This leaves us the choice of facing the consequences of our sin before God, or accepting what Jesus has done and His payment of that sin. Choose the latter I urge you!

In verse 32, Peter says that they – the apostles – are witnesses for what Jesus has done. Not the apostles only however, but the Spirit of God also. To deny the testimony of the apostles is to deny the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The unpardonable sin, mentioned in Mark 3:29, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. In my own mind, I suspect the unforgivable sin is to deny the witness of the Holy Spirit, that is to refuse to believe what He says about Jesus and to reject Christ as our only Saviour.

They react rather angrily to this, as you might expect. But a peacemaker among them, named Gamaliel, interjects and has the Apostles sent out. He names a number of individuals who raised up and gathered followers. Gamaliel points out that all of these came to nothing.

Gamaliel says something very insightful. If this is not of God, then the authorities need not worry about it. If it is of God, then they cannot stop it anyway and would be foolish to try. Two-thousand years later, the church numbers in the millions and stretches across the globe. It did not fizzle out or lose momentum after Jesus’ and the Apostles’ deaths, rather it has only grown and become established.

There is a lesson for us here I’m sure. How often do we try to force open doors that God has shut, or close doors He has opened? We pray in the Lord’s Prayer “Your will be done,” but at times fight against it. Take this blog for example, I might want it to grow and pay for all manner of advertising to make it happen. That may be a perfectly valid thing to do, but it might also be pushing out ahead of God and beyond His will. Never a good idea.

Are you rushing ahead of God right now? Do you need to fall back and walk beside Him again?

The authorities bring the Apostles back in, and once again strictly command them not to speak in the Name of Jesus. This did not work last time, so I am not certain why they believe it will work now. Peter has already said that he must obey God and not man, so there is clearly no intention to stop their ministry of God. The authorities have them beaten, but this too, does not deter them.

Verse 41 gives us a lot to think about. I don’t know about you, but when I suffer for the Name of Jesus, I rarely “rejoice” about it. In fact, I am sometimes a little offended. After all, I am doing what God has asked me – why would I face opposition or persecution? While we may feel like this, it is not biblical. Our faith cannot be used to move all opposition or to remove persecution from us. Instead, we are to rejoice when we suffer for Jesus.

Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

2 Timothy 3:12 (WEB)

The Bible makes it very clear. If we want to live for Christ, we will be persecuted. But we rejoice when it comes, because it indeed means we are living a life worthy of Jesus. We may suffer persecution now, in this life, yet we have a whole eternity to celebrate and enjoy God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The problems of this life won’t even register!

Chapter 5 closes with the following verse:

Every day, in the temple and at home, they never stopped teaching and preaching Jesus, the Christ.

Acts 5:42 (WEB)

The authorities have clearly commanded the Apostles to stop, yet this verse tells us that they “never stopped.” At home or in church, we must never stop preaching Christ and Him crucified. Amen!