We must obey God and not men...

We must obey God and not man…

“But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 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. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 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. And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 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.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

After Pentecost, the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ spread rapidly in Jerusalem as Spirit-empowered witnesses shared the Gospel with the lost. Signs and wonders accompanied the preaching of the Word of God, and no one could deny that God was at work in a new way among His ancient people.

But not everyone was happy with the success of the church.

The “religious establishment” the “Jewish Leadership” that had opposed the ministry of Jesus Christ, and then crucified Him, took the same hostile approach toward the apostles. Jesus said, “ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. ”

, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”

, “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”

We see in the book of Acts that these words are being fulfilled as well in this passage before us this morning.

It was the age-old conflict between living truth and dead tradition. Think about what Jesus speaking about dead tradition.

Jesus said, “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved” ().

Rather than patching up the traditional practices of righteousness within religious Judaism, Jesus has come to offer real growth in kingdom righteousness, which is like when new wine is put into fresh wineskins.

Hugh Latimer once said, “Whenever you see persecution, there is more than a probability that truth is on the persecution side.”

This persecution was firmly brought on by the apostles, refusal not to preach and teach the Word of God, the one and only true God!

A pure and powerful church will inevitably provoke a hostile reaction from the satanic world system.

Successful Christians and churches will make waves, and the world and Satan will retaliate with persecution. “Indeed”, Paul wrote to Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” ().

Reflecting on the persecution he faced in his ministry Peter also wrote this,

, “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”

We must always remember, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”

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We are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,” if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

Let us pray…

We must obey God and not men… though arrested by men.

, “But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.”

The high priest and his associates had three reasons for arresting the apostles (and this time it they arrested all 12 of them) and then they brought them to trial.”

Should this text surprise anyone who has been following this story? Because of the power and effectiveness of the church it is spreading like wildfire and the leaders of Judaism are finds themselves in bitter opposition. They are rattled, jarred, shaken, and alarmed by the continuing growth of the church through the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are caught off guard by its influence and the fact that it is meeting the spiritual needs of the people. So we see here in the text, that the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect called the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. At this time we understand that Caiaphas was the high priest, a member also of the Sadducees and he as well was filled with envy at the popularity of this new organism called the church. , gives us some insight to the climate that existed as we see how Peter and John were also persecuted and arrested as well.

, “And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.”

The Jewish leadership had sought every-way possible to shut down this new movement at all costs, fearing that it would signal to the Romans that they are rebelling and provoke a reaction from them. If that happen then they might lose their privileged leadership positions and power over the people.

While the Pharisees led the opposition to Jesus in the gospels, we see here that the Sadducees led the chief opposition to the early church and the apostles.

The rise of the church of Jesus Christ threaten the very seat of their power and the spiritual balance of their nation.

Think about, the very man that they had just murdered for being a fraud, the apostles are teaching that He has risen from the dead. Not only risen from the dead, but this Jesus is the very power, the provision, perennial substance behind all the amazing miracles, healings, and the signs and wonders that are happening right before their eyes.

This could not and would not be allowed, tolerated, and given any more oxygen! Their hold on power was fragile enough without the apostles teaching salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. So, what did they do? They arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison; they were not giving any special treatment or upgraded accommodations but they were place in the public prison in the general population with common criminals where they had no control. But the apostles submitted knowing that God was in control.

“Control seems preferable to what we typically think of as its opposite--chaos. But I want to suggest that the opposite of control is not chaos. It is trust, and trust is far preferable to control. We want to control because we fear the outcome of letting God be in control. We fear we won't be taken care of, won't have what we need, or will be taken advantage of. But trying to be in control is futile, because in reality there is very little that we can control.”

But these actions by the Jewish leadership only served to increase the commitment of the apostles. The apostle’s commitment was that they must obey God and not men, even in the face of their arrest.

We must obey God and not men… trusting in an angelic release by God.

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

This passage in the text includes the first appearance of the ministry of angelic releases from prisons in the book of Acts. There are two more later on in the book of Acts, which would show the world that the power of the gospel could not restrained the human prison bars. Look at

, “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the Iron Gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

, “And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.”

Again and again, the opposition of Satan backfired, proving an opportunity for God to show His mighty power. God sent an angel of the Lord in verse 5:19 to free the apostles. Now God used of an angel is so ironic, since the Sadducees denied the very existence of angels; God once again challenged their unbelief my use an angel as His tool to highlight the depth of their misunderstanding of Him. Look what happens next the angel releases them and commands them to God and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the “words of this Life”.

Now this is one unusual jailbreak. With a usual jailbreak the goal is to flee after you have been freed, but angel tells to not to flee but to have a faithful focus on the business at hand. The angel sends them back to the temple the command to teach the whole message, the words of “this life.” The whole message of “ this life” refers to the gospel.

, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

The good news we proclaim is that Jesus Christ came into the world to give abundant and eternal life to the spiritually dead.

, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Although the angel’s command seemed incredible reckless the apostles did not complained, but consciously trusted God. Before the Sadducees were even aware that they were out of prison they were back preaching the words of this life. They choose to boldly obey God and leave the consequences to God. Theirs was defiant courage, and they did not hesitate to put their lives at risk. I have found over the years that, If we are going to learn to trust God in adversity, we must believe God will allow nothing to subvert His glory so He will allow nothing to spoil the good He is working out in us and for us. I think this is way the apostles chose to obey God and not men, trusting in God for an angelic release.

We must obey God and not men… teaching and affirming the truth by faith.

, “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. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 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. And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 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. And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

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

Meanwhile, when the high priest and his associates had gathered, they called the Council together, even all the Senate of the sons of Israel. The morning after the apostles’ imprisonment, the Sanhedrin (Council and Senate both refer to this body) convened to decide what to do about the apostolic prisoners. Accordingly, they sent orders to the prison house for them to be brought before them.

To their shock and consternation, the offices which were (Levites and the temple police) were sent to retrieve the apostles and did not find them in the prison. Instead they reported finding the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at their post around the doors; but when they opened them up, they found no one inside. Everything was as it should with just one exception--- the prisoners were gone!

It is no surprise, that when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priest hear this, they were greatly perplexed and wondered aloud what would come of this. They were already at their wit’s end trying to stop the spread of the church in Jerusalem, yet all their efforts seemed futile, so their panic mounted. The apostles being faithful to God were openly flaunting their authority and the Jewish leader was powerless to stop them because God was with them. People from the north, south, east, and west were making their way to Jerusalem to hear the message about Jesus and to see the miracles that ensued.

At the moment of their deliberation, someone came and reported to them, hey the men you are looking, those Christian apostles that are in the temple teaching the people the “words of this life”.

The apostles were faithful and not fearful, they did not go into hiding but instead they heralded the words of this life before the people of Jerusalem. As the captain of the temple police and all of his officers converged on the temple to re-arrest them, they did it without any fanfare or violence for they were afraid of the people. They were afraid because the words of this life had won over the hearts of many in the temple and they are concerned that might be stoned if that arrested them by force. But as always the apostles submitted to their arrest without protest, with resistance, and without malice. They were content to submit to whatever God had in store for them for they understood, “… all things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purposes”

We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in whatever time He chooses to make it available. But this kind of trusting doesn't come naturally. It's a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith.”

So, as the apostles stood in front of the Jewish Council, the stage was set for the second sermon to the Sanhedrin, God allow them yet another opportunity to hear the “words of life” and the truth about Jesus Christ. But first the high priest questioned them, reminding them, “ …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” ().

These men recognize what was said in,

, “So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.”

This action by Pilate was not an attempt to purge him of sin but a public demonstration that he found no grounds for giving Jesus the death penalty. The word People (Gk. laos) is Matthew’s normal term for Israel as a nation. “His blood is on my hands” was a common idiom denoting culpability for someone’s death. The people placed the responsibility for Jesus’ crucifixion directly on themselves, and they were judged with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Then Jesus was scourged. Roman flogging was a horrifically cruel punishment. Those condemned to it were tied to a post and beaten with a leather whip that was interwoven with pieces of bone and metal, which tore through skin and tissue, often exposing bones and intestines. In many cases, the flogging itself was fatal. The Romans scourged Jesus nearly to death so that he would not remain alive on the cross after sundown. These images and thoughts had to on the minds of the Jewish Council as they faced the apostles and consider what to do with them.

Please notice something hear, that refuses to address the name of Jesus, instead saying in this name and then again saying this man’s blood. They were so convicted by the idea that, they had murdered the real Messiah, they had snuffed out, the light that all of Jerusalem awaited. They were so convicted because to understood if the apostles were right about Jesus, then they were wrong about everything in their lives. Also we need to notice what charge was absent from the indictments against the apostles. Where is the charge concerning their prison escape? The Jews would not even address it. Why? The Jews understood that if they address the escape from prison they would have only confirmed; yet another miracle by God.

Look at the text again, , “But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.”

If all there reports were true, them how did the all the apostles escape prison un-notice? It was because God sent His angel to release them. If God is on our side whom shall we fear?

God is on your side, who has all your enemies in his hand, and can rebuke them, or destroy them in a moment.

"If God be for us, who can be against us?" In the day when we did enter into covenant with God, and he with us, we entered into the most impregnable rock and fortress, and in a castle of defense, protected from all powers of earth or hell. If God cannot save us, then he is not God. And if he will not save thee, he must break his covenant. Indeed, he may resolve to save us, not from affliction and persecution, but in it, and by it. But through all these sufferings we will "become more than conquerors, through Christ that loves us. Just think on the saints triumphant boastings in their God:" God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble: therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea" I will praise his word; in God I have put my trust: I will not fear what flesh can do unto me". Remember Christ's charge, " Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I fear him, which after he has killed the body, has power to cast into hell.

So, now we understand how the apostles had the courage, the conviction and the confidence to answer the Jewish Council in the manner that they did. Saying these words, “…We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him” ().