Day After Day

 Acts 5:17-42

Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But 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.”

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 guards 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.

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,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

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 things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” – Acts 5:17-32

This is partly a story of how the Holy Spirit helps Christians obey the Lord even in the face of a great challenge.  For the apostles, one of the challenges they faced was persecution in the form of ridicule, physical suffering, and even the possibility of death.  The high priest, his associates and the Sanhedrin faced a challenge of their own.  I’ll get to that in a minute.

Peter and the other apostles made a definitive statement that I think threw dirt in the eyes of the religious hypocrites.  They said, “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”  (Acts 5:32)  Why would they say this?  The most religious-looking people of the day, the Pharisees and Sadducees, claimed to have a corner on the Holy Spirit market.  If anyone knew anything about the Holy Spirit it was them.  They were the experts.   I imagine that the Pharisees thought that if anyone was shown something by the Holy Spirit it would have been them.  If there was anything new to be revealed by God, then they would be the first to know it.  The Sadducees didn’t believe in a spirit realm, so I’m not sure what they thought their experience with the Spirit was like.  The apostles were saying that the Holy Spirit was a witness to the resurrection of Jesus.  The Spirit had witnessed something new unfolding.  The covenant had been ratified.  The payment for sin had been made.  Death had been conquered.  The perfect Lamb was sitting at the right hand of the Father.  The apostles’ claim was that what they witnessed was the same thing that the Spirit witnessed.  They both saw Jesus die, rise from the dead, and ascend to heaven.  Although the Spirit did witness more than they did.  But the Spirit of God was in agreement with them.  The God of the universe, the One the religious elite claimed to have intimate knowledge of, had revealed something to the apostles, and not to the Pharisees and Sadducees.  The apostles weren’t looking down on these guys.  They were making statements about historical facts.  This might have been one of the reasons why Luke said they were “filled with jealousy” (Acts 5:17). 

There was something else in verse 32 that was stinging as well.  They said, “the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”  What command are they talking about?  What command would someone need to obey in order to receive the Holy Spirit?  In Acts 2, Peter preached, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)  That command was directed to everyone, including the religious elite talked about in chapter 5.  They were to repent.  They needed to turn away from whatever they were trusting in for eternal life.  If they could not embrace Jesus as the Messiah, then they had not repented.  That meant that they were destined for God’s judgment.  Paul, by direct revelation from Jesus Christ said the gospel was something to be obeyed,

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power. – 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9

Jesus preached about repentance.  He also told the apostles in Luke 24:47, “and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”  In Acts 2, we see the apostles obeying Jesus by preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins.  They did as he said, beginning in Jerusalem.  Repentance is step one.  Without repentance you cannot know God.  Other things will follow after that like devotion to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.  The things that the church is devoted to will make sense.  In Matthew 16, Jesus said that the confession that He is the Christ, the rock on which the church will be built.  People would enter through the church in that confession.  They wouldn’t enter through devotion to giving or fellowship or worship.  In Acts 2 we see the church being built.  Then we see the church carrying on the things that Jesus taught, demonstrated, and commanded. 

The moment of challenge that the Pharisees faced was that of repentance.  If they repented, then that would mean they would be embracing Jesus as the Messiah.  But this is what many of them had fought and taught against for so long.  It would take true humility to admit they were wrong.  They would have to admit that their intellect had led them astray.  They would have to face ridicule in the face of their colleagues.  In their moment of decision, they chose to deny Jesus.

The moment of challenge that the apostles faced was persecution.  They could speak of what they knew was historically true, or they could deny Him as well.  They knew what Jesus commanded.  Repentance and forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed, and it would start at Jerusalem.  This was only the starting point.  If they chose to keep their mouths closed, then the goal of spreading the gospel to all the world would not be accomplished.  They saw themselves as responsible for the task.  They didn’t pass the responsibility on to other Christians. 

Since the high priest, his associates, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Sanhedrin hadn’t repented that meant that they had not received the Holy Spirit.  They had actually rejected Him.  No wonder they reacted the way they did in verse 33.

When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 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. Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 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. 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. 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 will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

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.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 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. – Acts 5:33-42

God had placed a reasonable man in their midst.  Gamaliel took a risk as well.  He had a moment of decision in the face of ridicule as well.  While he didn’t take a step to approve of Jesus, he did take a step for whatever motivation he had. 

When we read about the apostles’ response it can make us feel inadequate.  They exclaimed, “We must obey God rather than man!”  That’s so noble and bold.  It seems so “In your face!  Take that!”  I can tell you about numerous opportunities when I didn’t share Jesus when I had the opportunity.  Recently, I passed an opportunity to share with someone because I felt like there were too many people around.  Here I am sharing the gospel with students as hundreds of people walk by, and yet, I back out of an opportunity.  When we read what the apostles said it can make us think, “Well, I could never do that!”  Automatically, we begin to make excuses.  As we face these moments of decision, let’s take whatever step is before us.  As we act in faith, the Spirit empowers us.  Peter didn’t act in faith as he denied Jesus before His death.  He had to get back up and take the next step.  Saying hi to someone may be your act of faith this week.  Offering to pray for a neighbor may be another way to take a step of faith. Inviting over someone to eat pancakes could be another.  I would be glad to help you take that step of faith if you want to invite me over.  I would be willing to make the sacrifice.  Don’t see small steps as not worthy enough.  Faith pleases God, no matter what the moment of decision is. 

For the apostles, they did have what seems like us as a big step of faith.  Before evaluating what they did, we do need to remember what Jesus had brought them through already.  They followed their Lord, watching Him preach and have compassion on people.  They saw how He handled opposition.  They also went out to preach as well.  God was building experiences in their lives as they came to this moment of decision.  God might not take you from 0 to 60 mph in 2 seconds!  He might be building experiences in your life to enable you to make bigger steps.  That’s why it’s so imperative today for you and me to not see our small steps as not worthy enough.  As a young Christian, I was petrified of sharing the gospel.  I was the roommate of a guy that was sharing Christ with people.  All I did was hang out with him and another brother in the church as they were sharing the gospel.  Then I took a step to talk with people.  I made some silly blunders.  I used confusing religious words as I talked with suitemates and classmates.  Luckily, I had someone to bail me out.  But, you know what?  I took a step.  Then I took another step.  People that have been with me as I’ve shared the gospel have been amazed at people’s responses.  I share stories, Scripture and analogies.  Most of the time, people really listen to what I have to say.  I am where I am today mostly because of taking one small step at a time.  What step do you feel God is wanting you to take over the next week?

So, the Scripture says, “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.” (Acts 5:42)  They knew what was on God’s heart and they went after it.  They didn’t need God to bring a new word each day.  He already said what He wanted.  We too know what God desires.  We too have the decision to go after it.  We don’t need a new word from Him every day.  We have His words written down for us.  We can read those every day.  Just because over 2,000 years have passed doesn’t mean that God’s heart desires something different.  Do you see that his desire still is that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed throughout the whole world?  His desire hasn’t changed.  What we read in Acts 5 is only the beginning.