ACTS 5:17

Previously the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem had tried threatening the apostles to try to get them to stop speaking about Jesus. Of course, that did not work. Now the leaders are going to try more severe persecutions. Once the leadership of a society has decided to oppose the freedom to preach the gospel, on most cases they continue down that road until they become willing to perform serious physical persecutions. That is one reasons that the future does not look good for the free preaching of the gospel. There are now too many people in leadership positions who hate the gospel of Christ. Those who love Christ will preach the gospel no matter what happens. The Bible says in Acts 5:17-20, “Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of his life.”

Yes, the leaders of the world have power, but God has more power. The government can throw you in jail and throw away the key. But if God wills, He can open the prison and let you go free. That is the big lesson of this passage. If God wants you to do something for Him, He is going to provide the opportunity, and no one will be able to keep that from happening. The apostles did absolutely nothing to get out of the prison. They did not get a lawyer, even though that would have been perfectly appropriate. They did not try to escape. They did not complain to the authorities. They did nothing, and God did everything to get them out of the prison. If you have a ministry from God, a real ministry and not a career, then your ministry came about in the same way. God did it. God opened the doors that no man could shut.

When God opened the doors for the apostles, God did it for one reason. God did it so that the apostles would go out and teach the truth. That is what the world needs, and that is what God wants to use you for: to teach the truth of the gospel to the world. Either you have the gift to teach or you have some other gift that will be used to help those teach who do have the gift to teach. It is all about the spreading of the truth. That is what God is interested in. People can only get saved if they hear the truth, and those who are saved can only grow in Christ by hearing more of the truth. “How shall they believe, except they hear?” Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

The Bible says in Acts 5:21-29, “And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the priest to have them brought. But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and told, Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council; and the high priest asked them, Saying, did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

The Lord wanted the apostles to teach, and so they taught according to the opportunities that were given to them. They did not have television, and they did not have radio, and they did not have the internet, and they did not have the printing press, and they did not even have church buildings to preach in or to teach in, but they still taught. They stood at the entrance to the temple and they stood on street corners and they taught. They did not yell at passers-by nor make a nuisance of themselves. but they taught where they could. By teaching what they could where they could, even their enemies had to say, “You have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.” Do not look at what you cannot do. Look at what you can do, and do it.

In spite of the increased persecution, the apostles gave the same answer that they had given before to those who demanded that they stop speaking about Jesus. The Bible says in Acts 5:29, “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Sometimes when you find a good idea you need to learn to stick with that idea. There will always be pressure from human beings to not mention the name of Jesus with honor in public. The pressure will be there: on the job, in the family, and with old friends. Every generation of believers will be faced with the same issue: to obey God or to obey man.

Peter and the apostles said in Acts 5:30-32, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God has given to them that obey him.” God is the One in control. Human beings out of their lust and out of their selfishness and out of their hunger for power do many deceitful acts to try and make things happen the way they want them to happen, but in the end God decides what happens. The leaders of Jerusalem had Jesus put to death, but God raised Him from the dead and Jesus ever lives. The leaders of Jerusalem and the people and the Romans had cast Jesus out from being King. But God has made Jesus the King of kings, and His kingdom will come and last forever.

What a contrast between Jesus and the religious leaders! They had become murderers and persecutors of good people. But Jesus is the Savior. Instead of destroying people, He saves people. The way to be saved is given right here: “repentance” and “forgiveness of sins.” If you repent of your sins, Jesus becomes your Savior, and you are given forgiveness of sins. Anyone who has the forgiveness of sins only has it because they repented. To repent means to change your mind from going your own way to turning to Jesus. Once you experience the forgiveness of sins, then you are qualified just like the apostles were to be a witness of the things that Jesus has done for you.

You have the same capacity to be an effective witness for Christ that the apostles had, because their effectiveness was based upon having the Holy Spirit within them. You have the same Spirit, if you believe in Jesus. When you witness of Christ, the Holy Spirit will speak through you and touch the hearts of those who hear. That is what happened in this case. The hearts of the Jewish leaders were touched, but then they rejected what they heard. You can be just as good of a witness if someone rejects your message as you can be if someone accepts it. Your responsibility is to be a witness. Those who hear you are responsible for how they react. Acts 5:33 tells us how the Jewish leaders reacted to what they heard about Jesus. It says, “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.”

Before the Jewish leaders took action against the apostles, they had a discussion among themselves about the situation and what they should do. Maybe most of the Jewish leaders were hard-hearted unreasonable reprobates, but not all of them were. It is a good example of why you should not brand someone with a label just based upon what group with which they are associated. Everyone should be evaluated base upon their own individual qualities. Acts 5:34-39 says, “Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; And said unto them, You men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves; who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nothing. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished: and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this council or this work be of men, it will come to nothing: But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it; lest haply you be found even to fight against God.”

One thing about Gamaliel is that he stuck to his principles. Even if he was not a believer in Jesus, Gamaliel was an honorable man who gave every group and every idea the same consideration. His principles of fair play were more important than any prejudice that he otherwise might have had. Too bad that more people are not like that. If you are going to have a free society, you must have people that understand the importance of being this way. Gamaliel also pointed out that his attitude was consistent with believing in an all-powerful God. Do you not believe that God is the Judge, and that God is involved in the affairs of all men? Then wait and see what God does to either allow this thing to prosper or to wither on the vine. God has purposes that we do not understand. The day will come when God will even permit the antichrist to take over the world. Of course, after seven short years, God will destroy the antichrist.

The Jewish leaders did listen to Gamaliel somewhat. It is hard for even power-hungry, selfish, and paranoid people to reject all reason. Always stand for the truth to the degree that it has been revealed to you. You never know what good might be accomplished by doing so. The Bible says in Acts 5:40-42, “And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

Perhaps the most remarkable thing in this incident was the reaction of the apostles to the beating they received. It says, “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” The only way that a human being could react this way in such a circumstance of suffering is by being filled with the Holy Spirit. Even so, Jesus told all of His believers to be like this. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said in Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

Christians have every reason to rejoice no matter what are the circumstances. We have been saved from our sins. Our future is secure. Our eternal destiny is established. The worse thing that can happen is that we will die, but then we will go to heaven. Do not just learn to rejoice when good things happen to you. Learn to rejoice when the bad things happen also. First Thessalonians 5:16 says, “Rejoice evermore.” Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.”

If you do not have anything to rejoice about, you could trust in Christ as your Savior, and then spend the rest of your life rejoicing in your salvation.

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