Before the Sanhedrin...stand strong!

What an incredible story of faith and holy spirit fervor lies inside the book of Acts! Peter and John have healed the crippled beggar from birth in the name of Jesus. Tongues of fire rest upon the apostle during the day of Pentecost signaling the power of the Holy Spirit. Believers in Christ share their possessions (the Bible says they shared everything they had!) and helped one another so that everyone had enough for their daily bread. Crowds gather around the apostles bringing their sick and they were healed. However, all of these miraculous signs and wonders do not go unnoticed! The high priest, the Sadducees, and the Pharisees are filled with jealousy. Our blog today starts from in the middle of Acts 5:

"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 all about 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 at a loss, wondering what this might lead to...

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

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 the Sanhedrin: “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.”

This is a long passage but I would like to highlight a few portions for us to think about today. First, not every story starts out with a jailbreak, but our story today does! Who ever said that the Lord never rescues prison inmates? God has been saving prisoners and outcast of society for a very long time...(Think about how God rescued Joseph as a slave in Egypt or how God spared the life of Cain who killed his brother) I think the lesson for us hear is to remember that the Lord opens the doors of the jail so that the apostles could share the Good News of Jesus Christ. In the same way, we have been "set free" from our bondage of sin to spread the Gospel.

Second, I love the reply of Peter and the other apostles who said, "We must obey God rather than men!" The apostle knew that obedience to God was the highest, most important, and #1 priority. In today's modern world, I know that it is very difficult to listen and obey God amidst all the other influences in life (media, society, culture, fashion, money, etc...) And yet, all of us need to make a stand one day before God and answer if we obeyed God rather than men.

Third, there is not a lot of times in the Bible (maybe none except for this portion of Scripture) that I can genuinely appreciate a Pharisee's response. Gamaliel, a teacher of the law and a Pharisee, however, gives a wise response to the accusations brought up against the apostles of Christ. He says, "Therefore, in the present case I advice 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." What I have learned from this verse is that God's will WILL be done! Nothing in heaven or on earth can ever stop the will of God. So I rejoice in the fact that the God of angel armies is always by my side!!!