Scripture Reading

Acts 5 and we’re looking here at verses 17 through verse 29. So Acts chapter 5 verse 17. Once again listen now to the reading of God’s Holy Word.

Then the high priest rose up and all those who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, And they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.

But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, and brought them out, and said, Go, stand in the temple, and speak to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together with all the elders of the children of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, saying, Indeed, we found the prison shut securely and the guards standing outside before the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside. And when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priest heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. So one came and told them, saying, Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man’s blood on us. But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Let’s think the Lord’s blessing on this word. O gracious God and heavenly Father, we do praise you and thank you again that we have a great honor and privilege to come before you to consider the truth of your word. And we pray that as we consider this passage, that you would give us understanding and insight by the power of your spirit, and that you would truly, richly and abundantly bless your word to us, that we might be equipped to bring all glory and praise and honor to your holy name. We ask now for your blessing upon your word, in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Apostolic Ministry Surpassing Jesus’ Ministry

When we last considered the book of Acts, we noted that the apostolic ministry, which reflected the ministry of Jesus in both content and appearance, was now actually surpassing the ministry of Jesus both in its reach and even in the mighty works which were being done, even as Jesus had promised the disciples that that’s exactly what would happen.

Well, of course, the church was then growing rapidly despite troubles. Inside, for example, the deceivers of Ananias and Sapphira coming up from within the church, lying to God, as well as increasing threats from outside, from the Jewish religious leaders who had finally taken notice of what these men were doing. As many were hearing the truth of the gospel preached, the leaders of the Jews got more and more antsy. Because many hearts were turning toward Jesus, which of course meant that they would be then turning away from the traditions of the Jews, and in particular, turning away from the influence that the religious leaders had over the people’s lives. And so the religious leaders were basically losing control. And so they needed to do something to stop the hemorrhaging, so to speak, of these people leaving and following after Jesus. And so they once again apprehend the apostles.

The Arrest by the Sadducees

Verse 17, that the high priest rose up and all those who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, they were filled with indignation, laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.

Now, I want to note here that the high priest and his associates were Sadducees. This is significant because so far it’s been this particular group that’s risen up in opposition to the apostles’ teaching. Now the Sadducees were akin to what we might refer to today as liberal theologians, who had essentially gutted the scriptures of all that is supernatural.

And so they rejected the idea of angels, demons, miracles, and of course, the resurrection. And it was exactly because the apostles were preaching the resurrection of the dead in Jesus, that these men had come to oppose them. And this is what happened previously in chapter four, after the man who was born lame was healed by Peter and John outside the temple, these leaders being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. So that was their key concern, that they’re teaching this doctrine of the resurrection.

And the fact that someone would teach such a doctrine that clearly demonstrates the supernatural was like a slap in their face. But what’s more is that on this previous occasion there was this miracle that had occurred through the ministry of these men that the Sadducees could not deny. This man was born lame. Everybody knew who he was because he was there day in day out outside the temple and yet he was now healed.

And yet, they wouldn’t hear this message about the resurrection. But instead, they just further hardened their hearts. But they didn’t also hear that they were indignant. They were indignant or literally boiling mad. That in such a short amount of time, These uneducated men had gained a significant following and despite previously charging them to stop preaching and teaching about Jesus and his resurrection, they continued to do so. Now you can even note here a hint of jealousy. In fact, some translations may have there that they were jealous, that they were indignant or jealousy. So fueled by this indignation and jealousy, they arrested the apostles and they put them in jail. Now, of course, the apostles had done nothing wrong. They had violated no laws, but they were seen as a threat, and so they were silenced, or at least this was an attempt to silence them.

Now, this certainly is something that has, we know, has played out over and over again throughout history. And even today, in our own highly civilized world, at a time when you would think people might be more accepting, open, and tolerant, The same hostility against the truth of the gospel exists and attempts are made to silence it. It’s happening more and more, even in our own nation. The religious freedom that we’ve enjoyed for so long is slowly being pecked away at and eroded by rising opposition.

So this passage then should be a great encouragement to us, even as it has been to many other believers who have been silenced, or at least attempted to be silenced, because of their faith in Christ.

The Angelic Deliverance and Command

Well now, what we see here in Acts 5, what comes next is something that we need to know is not to be taken as the norm when believers are in prison.

That is, not every Christian who is thrown in prison will be delivered and set free by an angel of the Lord. In fact, most who have gone to prison haven’t been set free at all. And if they have, it isn’t in such a dramatic fashion. And so the appearance of the angel of the Lord to deliver you out of prison, again, is not the norm. It’s not to be expected.

But what is the norm is the fact that the gospel will not be imprisoned. The gospel will not be silenced. And this is the truth we see again over and over throughout history. Even when opposition to the truth of the gospel intensifies greatly and wide persecution breaks out, the gospel continues to march on, changing hearts and changing lives.

And so the angel here frees the apostles so that the gospel can continue to be proclaimed. And in fact, this is what the angel charges them to do. In verse 20, he says,

Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life, meaning the life that Christ brings, the eternal life through faith in him.

Now note this command, go. This in many ways is a repeat of the Great Commission, right? The disciples are to go. They’re to go despite the threat of imprisonment. They’re to go despite increased hostility. They’re to go and speak boldly and publicly. They’re to go and speak the whole message that Jesus gave them. Go and proclaim the gospel of eternal life in Christ. They were to go and they were to press on in the mission that Jesus had called them to.

Well, again, this is a great challenge and encouragement to us. It’s a challenge because too often when we’re faced with even the slightest bit of opposition, we may be ready to quit and say, well, okay, we tried. And then we just turn away and go in the other direction. And likely we’ve run into more brick walls of opposition than we have of those who are actually ready and willing to hear the gospel.

But this is an encouragement as well. And so we’re challenged in that sense to just to continue to press on, to not give up so easily, but to press on. But the encouragement here as well is that because as we go and persist in going forth with the gospel, we’re also reminded of Jesus’ promise, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. And the angel of the Lord appears, again, reassuring them that the Lord is truly with them. And so we can be encouraged that Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit is going forth with us. And this was the challenge and the encouragement that the disciples received in the midst of this miraculous deliverance.

And so immediately, early the next morning, they are right back in the temple courts preaching and teaching about Jesus.

The Comical Confusion of the Leaders

Well, what follows next is perhaps one of those somewhat comical scenes of Scripture, if you take the time to sort of think about it.

Verse 21, yeah, the entire court of the religious leaders, as well as the Jewish civil leaders, are all called together by the high priest and his Sadducee associates. Now many of these that are called together probably didn’t really know why they were being called together. They obviously thought, well, this must be something of something great importance and even a great threat to the peace of our community. And so, yeah, OK, if the high priest is calling this emergency meeting, well, we need to be there and hear what the trouble is. And so all eyes were focused on the high priest when the order was given to retrieve the prisoners. And certainly those there gathered must have thought that they were about to see some dangerous and seditious men brought before them.

And so they waited in anticipation, and finally, nothing happened. The guards returned and said,

Indeed, we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.

The prison was securely guarded and locked. It was empty. The high priest and his associates had nothing to show for all of the concern that they had raised. Verse 24,

Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priest heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be.

Well, what’s going on? This makes us wonder.

How exactly did the angel deliver them? Now we know later in Acts chapter 12 that Peter will be chained between two soldiers and in prison and an angel of the Lord would deliver him, leading him past the guards unnoticed. And it was so surreal that Peter thought he was dreaming. And so it’s possible that this is how Peter and the others were delivered at this time.

Certainly the guards who would have been very vigilant, lest they themselves would be subject to death if they failed in their duty. The angel of the Lord, though, led these men out unnoticed, without even having the doors unlocked. And so it truly was a great miracle that left the Jewish leaders perplexed and even embarrassed as they soon discovered what had happened to these men that they had imprisoned. Verse 25,

So one came and told them, saying, Look, the men whom you put in prison, look, they’re out standing in the temple and teaching the people.

Until the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. So these men, that they had locked away, were now in the very same place that they had been the day before, preaching and teaching in the temple. And after they stumbled around a bit, after the leaders stumbled around a bit, probably in their confusion, what’s going on here?

They quickly went to re-apprehend the apostles. I want you to note that they did this without violence. That is, they were careful because they were afraid that if they treated the apostles roughly in front of the people, that the people would actually rise up and stone these leaders. And so they needed to be diplomatic. And so filled with jealousy, rage, and anger, the religious leaders had to bite their tongues and hold it together.

You can imagine how they got them to say, hey, could you please come with us? Because we want to ask you a few questions. And yet all the time, they’re seething under their breath, waiting to get their hands on these men. And you’d also hear that the apostles Though, like Jesus, when he was arrested, he went willingly, without resisting, without causing a disturbance.

The Charges and the Apostolic Response

Once in the confines of the temple court, the charge then is laid out. They say,

Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man’s blood on us.

And so while the whole Sanhedrin and the elders present, the Sadducees weren’t about to mention, of course, the resurrection. They left that part out. because of the Pharisees who were also now present. And so if they mention the resurrection, well, they didn’t want to create a division because, see, the Pharisees actually believed in the resurrection of the dead. And we know the Apostle Paul, when he is in a similar position facing the Jewish religious leaders, he takes advantage of this. And he mentions the resurrection on purpose so that it causes a division in the crowd and it allows him to escape the instability of this raging mob that had come together and grabbed hold of him. They don’t mention the resurrection because they don’t want it to be a distraction.

They just want to focus on how can we get rid of these men. Well, here they come up with a couple of charges.

• First, the apostles had defied the order that was given to them the first time that they were arrested back in chapter 4. Again, because of the miracle of the healing of the lame man was undeniable. There was nothing that they could charge these men with at that time. And so they released the apostles. But remember, they commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. And yet these men had defied this order and were doing this very thing. And the result was that their teaching was filling Jerusalem. That is, many people were believing that message. And if they weren’t believing it, well, they were at least talking about it. And so this became dangerous.
• And the second charge is that the apostles intended to bring this man’s blood on us, meaning the blood of Jesus. And this was certainly true. We know Peter in both his sermons before this and in the previous defense before the court, Clearly, laid the guilt of Jesus’ death at the feet of these religious leaders as well as others.

In Acts 2, he says,

Him, that is Jesus, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, so it’s God’s purpose in it all, and yet God is overruling in the actions of sinful men, you have taken by Lois’ hands, have crucified, and put to death.

Peter meant no words. Then again, in chapter 3, he said,

when He was determined to let him go. But you denied the Holy One and the just, and asked for a member to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

And then, again, in chapter 4, verse 10,

Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole.

And so it’s very true. The apostles were charging the religious leaders with the crime of murdering Jesus. In fact, we didn’t read it, but we’ll look at it next time. This is exactly what Peter will go on to say the next day. You did kill him. But of course the apostles weren’t the only ones who laid the blood of Jesus at the feet of the religious leaders. Because it was these very same leaders who actually proclaimed publicly that the blood of Jesus would be charged upon them and their children.

Remember when Pilate wanted to release Jesus because he knew Jesus was innocent, and he knew that the only reason that the Jews wanted Jesus dead was because they were jealous of him. And Pilate was ready to release Jesus because he didn’t want to put an innocent man to death. Pilate was actually somewhat honorable in this. In fact, we read in Matthew 27, when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person.

You see to it.

But then listen to what these same religious leaders cried out.

And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us and on our children.

They willingly condemn themselves and their children for the murder of Jesus. And so what the apostles charge here is nothing that these religious leaders hadn’t already done for themselves. Yet now they were choosing to forget that little detail. And they accuse the apostles of falsely charging them.

But then Peter and the other apostles respond with these famous words in verse 29.

We ought to obey God rather than men.

And what’s interesting here is that Peter had previously warned the religious leaders that this was their very position. When they had been arrested previously after the healing of the lame man and charged to not speak again in Jesus’ name, Peter responded in Acts 4 verse 19,

whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.

Kind of like, what would you do if you’re in this situation? If God calls you to do something, are you going to listen to God or are you going to listen to man? You decide what you would do. But for us, Peter goes on,

we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

And so the fact that the apostles defied the order of the religious leaders should have been no surprise to them. And even these leaders would have known that obedience to God would take precedence over obedience to men. And so this example of the apostles becomes really then the grounds for Christians throughout history to partake in some forms of what’s called civil disobedience. As if Christians are told that they must do something that God has forbidden them in His Word, or that they’re being told to do something God has forbidden, or that they must keep from doing something that God has clearly charged them to do, well then we ought to obey God rather than men.

Now we should be cautioned though, this isn’t a blank check to disobey every and any order given by civil authorities just because we don’t like it. No, we’re called to still give honor, respect, and obedience to those whom God has placed over us. But it’s only when the civil order directly contradicts or opposes God’s order that we must stand boldly and declare we ought to obey God rather than men.

And so, brothers and sisters, this time is coming, and perhaps now is, when we may be called to do just this. For we know that those who preach tolerance have no tolerance for those who follow a higher rule of law. From being compelled to think of some of the things of the past, to make cakes for an occasion God calls sinful, to employers being compelled to pay for abortions and bodily mutilations, And we can think of many other examples of immorality and support of immorality being imposed upon people.

At such times, when we’re faced with those things, we must obey God rather than men. And the example of the apostles here, even at this early point in church history, ought to encourage us to do so. Because when we’re faithful to the Lord, even sacrificially so, we can be confident that He will continue to use us to work out His plan, even the spread of the gospel and the growth of His kingdom, the church. The gospel can’t be silenced. Many have tried and all have failed. And so let’s be encouraged then and take hope in this as we strive to be faithful gospel witnesses to the glory of God.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we do rejoice and give thanks for your word, for your instruction to us, this encouragement and challenge to to be bold with the gospel and to stand for truth.

And especially if we might find ourselves, as we know, many of our brothers and sisters in the past, even presently in different parts of the world, find themselves in these most difficult situations with our call to stand for your truth. to obey you rather than to obey man. And we know that the pressures to bend to the will of man is great. And perhaps even we ourselves have seen that, even in our own lives, where we may have compromised in different ways. And yet we pray that you would enable us in the grace and power of Christ and His Spirit, that we would always stand for the truth, that we would always seek to obey you. if we’re called to contradict your word and contradict your law.

And so we just pray, Father, that you would give us boldness, that you would be with our brothers and sisters again, especially in those parts of the world where they are so much more severely persecuted, that you would give them grace to stand in truth. and boldness even to declare the gospel in the midst of such pressure and persecution, knowing with all confidence that the gospel will not be silenced, and that even their commitment to being a witness to you, even if it costs them their life, will be used by you to further spread the gospel, even as you’ve done many times in the past.

And so we just praise you and thank you, God, for this great challenge and encouragement. We just, again, thank you for this, the Lord’s Day, and our time together, and to be able to worship, and to rest, and to fellowship. And so we thank you for the gift that you’ve given. And we pray especially that as we enter into the week that lies ahead, that you would truly be with us. Help us to remember these things, to be faithful witnesses for your glory, all to the praise of your glorious name, until we return again on the next Lord’s Day. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.