God Will Not Fail

Introduction:

Open your Bibles to Acts chapter 5 this morning

Acts 5:12 found on page 859 in the black church Bibles under the seat in front of you

Last week week we wrapped up chapter 4 and moved into chapter 5

We looked at the continuing story as it unfolded - noting the literary style of Luke as he records these historical events

I like to mention it often, that these are actual historical events - this is not a fanciful story of make believe - these are historical events that occured and Acts reads like a history book

He records the events as they occured and shows us the inside workings as well as the outside workings, having compiled his information from many eyewitnesses

We noticed the ebbs and flows of the narrative - the “now”s of the text that signify the setting - they serve as transitions - moving from one event to the next

And then we also noticed the “but”s of the text that introduce the conflict - the rising tension, climax, and resolution before the next setting change

Last week, the “now” section revealed the unity of the Body of Christ - in their Spirit granted boldness, they continued to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again

The church grew, and the believers loved one another - they were distinct from the rest of the people - different from the world, in that they cared more for one another than they did for things

They held their money and possession loosely - with an open hand - they were generous and ready to give to those in need

So much so, that one disciple named Joseph (whom the Apostles called Barnabas) - responded to the need by selling a piece of property and giving all of the money to the church - to be used for the ministry of the gospel

That was the new setting - but then the language changed and we had a “but”

The contrasting situation - just as there had been attacks on the church from outside, now there was to be an attack from the inside - and Luke is showing us the contrast between generosity and greed

Or as we noted last week - between Holiness and Hypocrisy

We had the Holy church - the people of God separated from the world and pursuing righteousness and then we had the Hypocrisy of Ananias and Sapphira

With hearts filled by satan, they chose to lie to the Holy Spirit - claiming to have sold the property and brought ALL of the proceeds to give to the church - when in reality, they had kept back some for themselves

And as we noted last week, the problem was not that they had kept some of the money, it was that they lied - they wanted to show themselves as something they are not

They were wearing a mask and seeking to glorify themselves instead of glorifying God

The sin was exposed and the LORD dealt with it swiftly - both husband and wife died that day

And fear fell on all who heard - both those in the church and those outside of the church

This morning, as we move forward, we will see the result of this purifying and we will see the provocation that it brings to the religious leaders

So, with that, I invite you to stand with me now, for the reading of the Word of God

Read Acts 5:12–42 (ESV)

12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 

17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. 

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

This is the Word of the Living God

Pray

A couple weeks back, I had the opportunity of riding my motorcycle through Niagara falls, I was able to visit again some of my childhood haunts - we rode by the air base that my father was stationed at - I took a selfie in front of the house I grew up in - and I rode by the church that my mother took me to when I was a boy

What pricked my thinking this week was of all the faithful SS teachers, Jr. Church teachers, and Awana workers who faithfully taught me the word of God

They taught me songs to sing in worship to God - they taught me the Scriptures of the old and new testament that called out tom me with the gospel call of salvation - and they helped me to memorize verses from the Scriptures - those verses are still with me today

And I was… trouble - not in trouble, though that often followed - I was trouble

I don’t know if any of the workers gave up or quit because of me, but I know that I pushed som of them to the limit - but they were faithful

They pressed on and did the work of the ministry

I would guess, it was because they loved Jesus and they could not help but speak of Jesus - to tell little reprobates, like me, that there is a judgment to come and our only hope is “This Jesus” who was crucified and risen and is coming again.

They were faithful to be there each week (even though it was hard) - they longed to be there - if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have been there

This is what we find in the early church - a longing to be with the body of Christ - preaching the gospel

Even after the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira

In fact, what we find is that the church was growing as a result of the Purifying of the church

As sin was exposed and put out of the church, something amazing happened

The church grew

The believers longed to be together and their number increased as the gospel was preached

12b …And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women

The purity of the church did not scare people away from Christ - it called people to Christ

There are many weak churches today who do not deal with sin, because they are afraid that it will scare people off

It will strike fear in their hearts, but it will not chase away those who are being called by Christ - on the contrary, as we find here, the people come and the church grows

People feared the judgment of God and came repenting

A second thing occured - those who were not true believers - fled

13 None of the rest dared join them…

Here is the situation, the church took a stand against sin and hypocrisy - the Holiness of God and the Holiness of His church were on display

And as they stood firm against sin, those who were not truly called by God - those who were not ready to sell everything - take up their cross and follow Jesus - those people… they did not dare join the church

Those who wanted to hang on to their sin did not dare to join them

Still, we are shown that there were an overwhelming number of people coming to Christ - the Word was spreading and people were coming from far and wide to hear the gospel - to see the continuing work of Christ

AS they came, they brought their sick, lame, and demon possessed to be healed - to the point that they were even setting them on the wayside, in hopes that when Peter’s shadow passed over them they would be made well.

Verse 16 tells us that they were all healed - that is because this was a sign - just as the promised signs of the Messiah coming, this was the promised signs of the Messiah’s work

The Apostles had been given this power by Jesus to further establish that this work was the continuing work of Jesus

It was not given to the church, but given to the Apostles by Jesus, back in Matthew 10 - and it served as a clear sign, that these men were apostles

Therefore, when the Apostles died, so to did this sign - to be sure, God still heals and works miracles, but we do not have Apostles who can take the hands of a lame man and tell him to rise up and walk

Today, the validity of Christianity is found in the Word of God and the Power of the Holy Spirit to cause new birth

Still, in that day of establishing the church, we find Peter and the Apostles preaching the Word of God and healing the sick - signs that the Messiah had come

And the church was growing

And even those outside the church had respect for the purity of the church

Remember, word spread far and wide when Ananias and Sapphira died - and those who did not believe, did not dare join them - BUT - they held them in high esteem - vs. 13

In other words, they had tremendous respect for them

That is something that they did not have for the Pharisees

They may have feared the Pharisees for their power and influence, but they did not respect them as Holy

People could see right through the hypocrisy

It is interesting to note that the name Pharisee comes from the Aramaic word meaning to “divide” or “separate” - They saw themselves as “the holy ones” who were “separated” from those who were casual about keeping the Law

And yet, they did not garner the respect that the Apostels were gaining - the Apostels who were ordinary men - fishermen - common and uneducated

This did not settle well with them - the first time they were confronted by the preaching of Peter, they were “greatly annoyed” - 4:2

Now, we find them “filled with jealousy” vs. 17

The people were not running to the high priest, they were running of Peter and the Apostles - It was the Apostles and the church whom they held in high esteem and viewed as Holy, not the supposed “holy ones” of the High Priestly council

Before they were annoyed, but now jealousy raged in their minds - this is a far stronger emotion than annoyance - this plucks at the strings of pride

So, they arrested the Apostles and put them in the public prison - treated them like criminals

But the Lord had other plans - and we find this miraculous event

19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. 

The prison doors are opened and the command given to go into the Temple and preach the Words of Life

There is another turning point here - the young church is being pushed out of the Temple

They have been gathering at Solomon’s Portico - a large area just outside of the actual Temple that they could gather and be taught - it is a place that Jesus often taught

But, you must remember, that the Apostles and the young church did not think they were starting a new religion - they were just continuing in the way that God had planned

This was not a new system - as though the old had failed - this was the continuation of God’s plan from before the foundation of the world

If there was a new religion, it was Judaism leaving the One True God

So, the Apostles went to the Temple and preached the “Words of Life” - which is Jesus

So, when the council called for the Apostels to be brought to them, they were astonished to find the prison cells empty - the doors were locked and the guards were on duty, but the prisoners had vanished

That is when someone spotted them in the Temple preaching - and the officers went to arrest them

For fear of the people, they did not take them by force, but asked them to kindly come with them - and they went with them

Now when they stood before the council, we see the jealousy unfold

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

I find it very interesting that they refuse to say the name Jesus - they repeatedly say “this man” or “this name” - but they wont say.. Jesus

We already warned you and commanded you not to teach in His name and you have done the opposite - you have filled the city with this teaching - Jerusalem was a buzz with the idea that this man was crucified and rose from the dead - that this man is the messiah and that we killed him

Your trying to make out like this is our fault

Jealousy spewing form the lips of the Pharisees

The honor and respect that we believe we deserve is being stripped away by rabble like you

This leads to the great contrast of the passage - I think the point that Luke is trying to draw our attention to - he is going to show us a contrast in response to being confronted with the gospel

Peter and the Apostels respond the jealous commands of the pharisees with….

1) Obedience

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

Their obedience was not to the religious leaders, but to God

And there is a great deal of gospel punch in this short statement - a statement that starts with Obedience and ends with Obedience

We must obey God - who? The God of our Fathers

This raises the bar above the religious leaders - the God of our Fathers - the God that the religious leaders claimed to serve and worship

The Apostles are pointing back and pointing forward - noting that they have not changed course - they are continuing to worship the same God

30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Here is the great gospel punch This Jesus was killed - not just a random death, but the death of a criminal - and not just a criminal, but a cursed criminal

There is no doubt that Peter is drawing their attention to the penal substitution

He is bringing them back to the book of Deuteronomy and the laws that deal with the death of a criminal

Deuteronomy 21:22–23 (ESV)

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

A criminal put to death is hanged on a tree and is cursed by God

The image is drawn more clearly for us later on in the writings of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians

For there, he shows us that under the Law, we are all cursed because we cannot keep the Law

Therefore, we are all criminals deserving of death - for to obey the Law means that we must obey the entire law in both action and spirit

And none of us can keep the Law - we have lied, we have lusted, we have coveted, we have placed other gods before the Living God

We are criminals cursed under the Law - our only hope is Christ Jesus who fulfilled the Law in every part - in spirit and in action - thus, as Paul said in….

Galatians 3:13–14 (ESV)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

So, do you see how that ties in with Peter’s preaching in Acts 5

30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

You killed Him as a criminal - one who is cursed - though he was the only one who was not under the curse

But this is the gospel - it is the plan of God to send His Son to be the curse in our place that we might receive forgiveness for our sins…

31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” 

Now here is the punch that they did not like - the Holy Spirit is given, not to those who claim to keep the Law better than others, but to those obey Christ - to those who by faith receive forgiveness

Forgiveness is for those who Obey - those who exercise faith

Remember Acts 2 - the Holy Spirit came not to the temple and not to the pharisees - He came to the church in the upper room - where the disciples obeyed and waited in Fatih

This enraged the religious leaders - to the point of wanting to kill the apostles

But… there is a contrasting conjunction in the text that shows the Hand of God saving the Apostles

34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

Gamaliel was a respected teacher - he was the best of the best - if you wanted to be trained as a pharisee, it was Gamaliel that you wanted as your mentor

Later we will find out that he was the mentor and teacher of young Saul of Tarshish who would become the Apostle Paul

Gamaliel spoke up with words of wisdom that tempered the rage of the council and gave the contrast to obedience as he warned against standing in…

2) Opposition

35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!”

What a stern warning - a little history lesson, on those who had risen up to prominence claiming to be the messiah - false teachers - false messiahs who lead crowds away

When they died, the crowds eventually dispersed - the following died out and people forgot about it

So, if this is of man, it will follow the same pattern - since Jesus is dead, his followers will eventually grow weary and his message will die out - and it will end itself

Then the warning - BUT… you cannot overthrow the work of God - so, if it is in fact of God, it will not fail and you do not want to be found in Opposition to God

Well, we can see from history that the movement of the church has not died out - where there were a few hundred following the false teachers, there are already tens of thousands following This Jesus

The wise council was given and the Scriptures tell us that they took the advice - but not without beating the Apostles and commanding them again not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus

But don’t think this takes them out of the realm of opposition

See, there are only two options - Obedience or Opposition

They did not listen to the message of Peter - the one that pointed them back to the curse of those who violate the Law of God

They still did not see themselves as cursed under the Law - so they could not see a need for a Savior to bring forgiveness

Conclusion:

We must be confronted by the harsh reality that we are cursed as law breakers - so that we can see our need for a savior

Instead of heading the gospel call of Peter - they turned in opposition - they saw the problem as a lateral one - between the Council and the Apostles - and they believed the Apostles to be the ones sowing discord and division

That is what those in opposition to God always do - they turn the argument from God to man

The Apostles were not trying to sow discord - they were not trying to be divisive - their actions had no consideration for the council and no animosity for the council - they were simply obeying God

This is a frightfully similar occurrence today - if you notice, when the world is confronted with the gospel, they always turn the argument to “us vs them”

When you stand up and say, I cannot participate in that activity - they accuse you of hatred

The Christian does not hate the sinner - He loves those who are enemies of God, recognizing that he too once walked in that path

Peter has no animosity for the council - he loves them enough to tell them the gospel hope - that there is a Savior who has taken the curse of sin to the tree - and that forgiveness and salvation come through faith in This Jesus whom God raised from the dead

We must be confronted with the fact that we are sinners in Opposition to God in ordert to see the need of a Savior - and then we must hear the Words of Life - the Jesus Christ is the Way, The Truth, and the Life - and that no one comes to the Father except through Him

This is the message that the Apostles preached

The councils beating did not have the desired effect - it did not discouraged the Apostles - they left the beating …

41 …rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

The mission of the church is Unstoppable - because it is a work of God - and any who stand against it will fail - and be found in opposition to God

And that is a dangerous place to be

The Writer to the Hebrews tells us…

Hebrews 10:31 (ESV)

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Do you stand in Obedience to God or Opposition

If you are in obedience then rejoice in the suffering that may come your way for doing what God commands - you have been counted worthy to suffer for the Name

But, if you are not in obedience, you are in Opposition

And you are hanging over the pit of hell by the thin strand of God’s mercy that allows you to agan be confronted with the Gospel this morning - repent and believe in Jesus as the only hope of Salvation

Pray

Benediction:

Revelation 22:20-21 - He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.