Acts 5:17

Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, were filled with indignation. They laid their hands on the apostles and put them in a common prison. But the angel of the Lord, by night, opened the prison doors, brought them forth, and said, "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life."

Let's pray. Father, I do ask that You would speak to us this morning as we look into Your Word. We have prepared our hearts through worship and partaking of communion, remembering Your death, burial, and resurrection. We come before You with thanksgiving today.

Lord, as we are those who have been cleansed, like the ten lepers that Mark shared about this morning, we have received Your cleansing, and we are so thankful. Like the man we saw a few weeks ago in Acts chapter 4, who had been lame for his entire life, yet You healed him, and he was walking, leaping, and praising God. Would we be those, Lord, who have received Your touch? We have been set at liberty. We have been healed, and we would be walking, leaping, and praising You today.

Lord, would You continue to teach us and equip us for the work that You have called us to? We ask it in Jesus' name. And all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." You can be seated.

Amen. Well, we have been going through the book of Acts over the last couple of months, and we have seen how the Lord began His church. He gave His church a commission at the end of Matthew chapter 28: "Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Then we see, as the book of Acts opens, that before they could go and fulfill that mission, they had to wait in Jerusalem because they were going to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, and then He said in verse 8 of John chapter 1. Over the last several chapters, we have seen how God fulfilled His Word.

He poured out the Spirit upon the early church in Acts chapter 2. They were most certainly effective witnesses as they declared all the things they had seen and heard, and as they spoke the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, as is always the case, when God, by His Spirit, begins to move in a life and in a church, there will always be opposition. The enemy, our adversary, the devil, will always drum up a work against the work that God is doing.

Now, we are very thankful because we know that greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. Amen? We know that our God is great. I want you to recognize that there are some within the church throughout the ages who seem to think that Satan is God's equal and opposite adversary. That is not true. Satan is not equal to God in power and strength; he is a created being. Our God is greater, and He has won the war. It is over. It is finished.

We still see the residual effects of the battle carrying on, but it is done, and we know the end of the story. We have been considering that as we have gone through some of the prophetic works on Wednesday nights. God was moving in His church, and as God was moving in His church, the enemy was moving against the church.

I was just talking with Josh, Eric, and a number of the other guys during the time between the services, and we were considering the passage where Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. The church is to be an active force fighting in this world, moving against the work of the enemy. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church; they will not be able to hold the church back. God desires that we would be those who are moving out and moving forward.

A couple of weeks ago, we saw in the book of Acts that they began to meet opposition. The first opposition they faced was just in word only; it had not yet begun to be physical persecution. The leaders of religion in Judaism and in Jerusalem were seeking to suppress the truth. They were trying to keep back the word that God had told His disciples to preach.

In Acts chapter 4, verse 18, when they called them together, they commanded them not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus. But of course, Peter and the other disciples said, "Listen, should we obey God or man? Is it right in your eyes to obey man more than God? You judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20). Oh, that we would be those who say the same thing.

We can't help but speak the things that the Lord has spoken to us. Beginning in Acts chapter 5, we will see how this persecution, which starts as verbal, begins to escalate into physical persecution. This escalation will continue in the early church as we move into Acts chapter 7, where we witness the martyrdom of Stephen, and then into Acts chapter 8, when Saul begins to wage war against the church. The persecution is building and will intensify as we progress through the book of Acts. It serves as a powerful testimony of the early church.

As I reflect on our church and many others in our county and nation, I see that God is on the move today, just as He was 2,000 years ago. Amen? We observe God moving in a powerful way, and we should expect opposition. This opposition will come against the church corporately, as part of the larger body of Christ, but also individually. Some of you this morning may be facing that opposition. You might be experiencing trials or persecution in some way, shape, or form, and it relates to your witness of the Lord.

Peter tells us that if we suffer persecution because of our own foolish or stupid actions, so be it. There is no commendation from the Lord for that. However, if we suffer persecution for the Lord, as we will see in this passage, there is a great blessing that comes with it. You may be experiencing trials, tribulation, or persecution in some form. Right now, it is likely just verbal in our nation. We live in a country blessed with great religious freedom, and as a result, the church has enjoyed this freedom for a long time, facing only occasional verbal persecution.

I believe there will come a time in our nation when we will experience physical persecution as the body of Christ, when they will begin to say, "No, you can't talk about these things." The book of Acts is very applicable to us because we see similar events happening to the early church. We need to recognize how they reacted to these challenges so that we are also prepared to respond in like manner.

In verse 17 of Acts chapter 5, it says that the high priest rose up, along with all those who were with him. He was part of the ruling class at that time, the group that made up the Sanhedrin, the religious leadership of the nation. The group that appeared to hold the most power were the Sadducees. The Sadducees did not believe in the supernatural and specifically denied the resurrection. As we saw last week, the apostles of the church were boldly proclaiming the resurrection.

The apostles were proclaiming that Jesus died on a cross, and everyone in Jerusalem knew this. They also knew that he was buried in a tomb. The Roman leadership in Jerusalem understood this as well, but they couldn't find his body because he did not stay in the tomb. He is risen indeed; he is alive. These disciples, these apostles, were witnesses of the risen Lord, declaring the resurrection from the dead. They proclaimed that Jesus raised from the dead and that he will also raise to newness of life those who follow him by faith.

The Sadducees did not like this message. The chief priests and those who were not of the Sadducees also opposed the message of Jesus of Nazareth being the Christ, the Messiah. They were trying to suppress this truth and hold it back. As it says in verse 17, they were all filled with indignation. These men were filled with indignation. The first thing we see in this passage in Acts chapter 5 this morning, if you're taking notes, is the fury of the leaders. Some translations may say that these men were filled with fury, full of fury as they observed the actions of the early church. They were so angry that they were filled with indignation.

The same words are used in the Old Testament when we read about Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 3. Remember the story of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon? He had built a great golden statue in the plains near Babylon and commanded everyone that whenever they heard the music of the harp or the flute, they were to bow down and worship the golden image he had set up. No doubt, it was probably a golden image of himself. He had everyone bowing down to the music, but three Hebrew young men refused to do so. We typically know them as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three men said, "We're not going to bow down to this golden image."

When they were brought before Nebuchadnezzar, he said, "Listen, I'm going to give you one more chance. When you hear the music, you bow down, and everything will be okay." The music started, and they replied, "We have no need to answer you in this matter, King. We're not going to bow down." The scripture says that Nebuchadnezzar's face changed; he was full of fury. He commanded that the furnace be lit and stoked to seven times its normal heat, and that these three men be cast bound into the fiery furnace. However, the Lord saved them out of the midst of the persecution.

A great story there, but we see that he was full of fury. The men in this passage, the religious leaders, are filled with indignation. The Greek word that is translated as indignation or fury in your Bibles is the word "zealos." Of course, when I say that, we have an English word derived completely from that Greek word: the word "zeal" or "zealousness." These men were filled with zeal or indignation.

We see the idea or concept of zeal throughout the Scriptures and in the New Testament a number of times. It can be both good and bad. Zeal can be a good thing and a bad thing. When you read through the New Testament and look for this Greek word "zealos," you will find that most of the time it is used in a negative context and carries a bad connotation. Zealousness can oftentimes be detrimental.

How so? Well, Paul told the church at Rome in Romans chapter 10, verse 2, speaking of the Hebrew people, the Jewish people, that he bears witness they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. As a result, they would do many wicked things in their zealousness. Their zeal often stirred them to persecution.

There are religious individuals, even today in the year 2009, who have a zeal for their religion. They have a zeal for the principles of their religion or the God of their religion. That zeal, that indignation, can stir them to do wicked things. When I say that, many of us think of what we would call radical Islam. There are Muslims classified as radical, and because of their zeal towards their God, they will do wicked things, even killing people in the name of Allah.

But it's not just Muslims. There are people within different sects or groups of Christianity who consider themselves believers in God, yet they have a zeal without knowledge. They also do wicked things. It can be just as bad within radical sects or groups that lack knowledge of the truth of the Gospel. They take certain Scriptures out of context and use them for their own gain, whatever it may be.

When Paul the Apostle wrote to the Romans about a zeal without knowledge, I believe...

He had a personal experience of this and understood it perfectly. Before Paul was Paul, he was Saul, Saul of Tarsus. We will be introduced to him in about two weeks. Saul of Tarsus was a zealous Pharisee, and Paul tells us about his former nature in Philippians chapter 3. You can jot it down in your notes. Let me read it to you real quick. In Philippians 3, verse 6, he says, "When I was a Pharisee concerning zeal," the same word, "I persecuted the church." He persecuted the church because he was zealous, but it was a zeal without knowledge. He was ignorant of what he was doing, and we will see that very clearly in Acts chapter 9. Thankfully, because of his ignorance, God extended mercy to him. Paul speaks about that mercy in his first letter to Timothy.

He recognizes that he had a zeal, a passion, and an indignation. He had this great zealousness for God, but it was without knowledge. As a result, he did many wicked things. We, as believers who understand and study the Scriptures, should recognize that the Bible exhorts us to be passionate towards God or zealous for God. However, our zealousness needs to be counteracted with the Word of God. Otherwise, we can end up in all kinds of awkward situations, as we will see in the book of Acts.

In Acts chapter 5, the leaders of the Jews at that time were full of fury and filled with indignation. They laid hands on the apostles. We lay hands on people here at Calvary Chapel. If someone is sick, we gather around them, lay hands on them, anoint them with oil, and pray for them. If we have missionaries getting ready to go out long-term or short-term, we bring them up here, lay hands on them, and pray for them. However, this is not the same thing. They laid hands on all the apostles and put them into a common prison. They wanted to lock them up just for the night because they wanted to deal with them.

But we read in verse 19 that in the night, the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them forth, beginning to speak to them. We see the fury of the leaders here in Acts chapter 5, but we also see the freedom of the Lord. God sets these men at liberty through the angel of the Lord. He takes them out of the prison house, out of bondage, and brings them out into the street.

He has set them free. He opened the prison doors. Jesus, when He came, went to His hometown of Nazareth, and He read there in the synagogue from Isaiah chapter 61. Isaiah 61 speaks a little bit about the ministry of the Messiah, and one of the ministries of the Messiah is that He has come to set the captives free.

In Psalm 107, we read about those who are bound in captivity. The Lord is the one who is able to take them and set them at liberty. Many of you here this morning, as you are seated in this place, once were bound because of your sin. Every single one of us was bound because of our sin. But most, if not all of you—hopefully all of you—this morning have been set free by Christ.

I want you to consider for a moment that these men within the church have been straightly warned in Acts chapter 4, verse 18, to no longer speak or teach in the name of Jesus. They have broken the law that their leaders set down for them, and their leaders have put them in prison. Now they are getting ready to go to trial. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, the doors are opened, and they are taken outside of the prison.

What would you think to do in that situation? Jesus told us that we are going to be witnesses of Him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. It’s not working so well here in Jerusalem. Should we leave town? Should we get out of here? These guys obviously don’t want to hear what we have to say.

But notice, not only did God set them free, He set them free for a purpose. In verse 20, it says, "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." Let’s unpack this verse for a moment. The first word is important because it is the first word that Jesus gave to His disciples in His commission: "Go." The disciples were commissioned by God to go and fulfill a purpose, and their purpose had not been fulfilled here in Jerusalem at that time.

I believe that when God is done with me, when He is done with you, He will take us home. The fact that we are still here—over 200 of us, sitting in this room at 1675 Seven Oaks Road on the 1st of March 2009—means that God is not done. He still has work to do. And when He is finished, He will take us home.

He had given his disciples a commission to go and make disciples. That work was not done in Jerusalem, even though they were meeting opposition at that point in time. Their flesh may have said, "Let's get out of Dodge" or "Let's get out of Jerusalem," but God said, "No, go."

The second thing He told them, through the angel of the Lord, was that they were to stand. This church was to go and make a stance; they were to stand for the Lord. Now, that sounds like a good thing to do, and it's an exhortation that we see a number of times in the Scriptures. But how can we possibly stand in the face of opposition, in the face of persecution, in a culture and society that is averse to us and doesn't want to hear what we have to say? How do we stand?

Paul gives us the answer in Ephesians chapter 6, verse 12. He clues us into a very important fact, a truth for us to recognize and understand: we are in a very real battle, but it is not a physical battle. I told you a number of weeks ago that I believe every time we see a physical incursion or some sort of physical event happening in this realm, it indicates a spiritual battle going on behind the scenes. You and I are to be engaged in that spiritual battle.

The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, 2,000 years ago, when these early disciples and apostles of Jesus were preaching the gospel, were met with opposition. But that opposition was a physical manifestation of a spiritual battle. The enemy, our adversary, the devil, is very real, and he seeks to destroy the work that God desires to do among His people there in Jerusalem. The enemy is also seeking to destroy the work that God is doing in these days.

As I've already said, he will never be able to win. It is finished. The battle belongs to the Lord, and He won it long ago. We are still here, dealing with the residual effects of that battle, but it's over. It's done. He is still trying to go down swinging, but he is done.

And he seeks to destroy the work that God is doing. Here we see it again in Acts. That work is seeking to be destroyed by the enemy. But Paul tells us that we need to recognize that we are engaged in a spiritual battle.

Wherefore, in Ephesians 6, verse 13, he says, "Take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore." Now, who wears armor? Soldiers. Soldiers wear armor. By His grace, God has called you and me to be soldiers in His battle.

That kind of wording sometimes causes people to feel a little bit fearful and concerned. However, Paul also tells us that our battle is not a physical battle. He emphasizes that we need to make sure we are armored with the armor of God. He lists it out for us in verse 14 and onward: "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; and above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."

He lists for us the spiritual armor and weapons that we have to choose from or ought to use in this battle as we stand. In Acts chapter 5, he said, "Go and stand." But I want you to notice what Paul does not say. He does not say, "Church, take unto yourselves the armor, and arm yourselves with AK-47s, grenades, AR-15s, tanks, bombs, and planes."

Now, there are some of you in this room who might say, "Darn, I wish it did say that." But it doesn't. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal; they are powerful. The first thing we need to recognize is that we are engaged in a spiritual battle that is manifested in the physical realm. We can do battle and be victorious in Christ as we put on the whole armor of God and as we stand. However, we have to make a decision to do so. There are many people who simply say, "I don't want to be a part of that battle."

And they just flee. The apostles had the opportunity to flee, but they had the commission from God to stand. We have been given the same commission from God to stand in the day in which we are living.

Now, again, the persecution in America today is merely verbal. It has not become physical persecution yet, but I believe that one day it may. Even that verbal persecution in our own nation causes many within the body of Christ to flee. They give up and say, "I don't want to be a part of it. I don't want to deal with it." But God has told us to go and to stand.

Not only did He tell them to go and to stand, but in verse 20 of chapter 5, He says, "Go, stand, and speak in the temple." Underline the words "in the temple" in your neighbor's Bible. Just reach over there and underline it for them. Stand and speak in the temple. That's like going to the lion's den, right there in the middle of the realm overseen and held by the religious leaders who had told them not to speak in the name of Jesus Christ. They are told by God to go and stand and speak in the temple, to speak to the people all the words of this life.

These men were set free with a purpose. You, this morning, having been set free by God, have a purpose, a call, a commission. It is a call and a mission that He has equipped us for, having given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. He has given us everything we need to be equipped for this battle. But He has also called us to put on the armor of God, and that takes effort from you and from me. It just doesn't happen.

We need to recognize that we must be armed, equipped, and ready because we are engaged in a battle. The angel of the Lord came, opened the prison, and set them out, saying, "Stand and speak in the temple all the words of this life." When they heard, they entered into the temple. Notice that they obeyed the heavenly call. They gave obedience to the heavenly call and went and did what God had called them to do.

So here in this passage, we see the fury of the leaders, the freedom of the Lord, and now the faith of the apostles. They went and stood in the temple. Early in the morning, they wasted no time to do what God had called them to do, and they taught.

But the high priest came, and those who were with him called the council together, along with all the senate of the children of Israel. They sent to the prison to have the apostles brought forth. However, when the officers arrived and found them not in the prison, they returned and reported, "The prison truly, we found it shut up with all safety, and the keepers were standing outside before the doors. But when we opened it, we found no man therein."

Isn't that cool? The high priests, the chief priests, the counselors, and the Sanhedrin took these apostles, put them into the prison house, barred it up, locked it, and set watchmen there to guard it. These watchmen knew that if they lost a prisoner on their watch, they would face capital punishment. So, do you think these guys were lazy about their work? Their lives were on the line. I have no doubt that they were very vigilant, watching carefully to ensure that no one came in and no one went out. This place was locked and sealed.

Yet, it was not a barrier to God or to the apostles. It was a locked door by man, but not to God. The Lord came by night, through the angel of the Lord. This character is very interesting, but we don't have time to delve into the angel of the Lord tonight. The angel of the Lord came, and to the apostles, the door was opened, allowing them to go out.

How is it possible that the door was still shut in the morning, with the guards still there, and they had no idea what was happening? It's a miracle. It is a very clear miracle, and God is able to do these things. Some of you have experienced and seen God move in miraculous ways. He is able to blind people, open doors that no man can shut, and shut doors that no man can open. Our God is alive and well, working in 2009.

I remember Pastor John Michaels, who used to be the pastor of Calvary Chapel out in Las Vegas. He told a story years ago at one of the pastor's conferences about how he had gone to China a number of years ago to smuggle Bibles in. It was the first time he had ever done it. They were going, I believe, into Shanghai. He was given two bags full of Bibles, and they put him on a train, saying, "Listen, just get on the train. In a few stops, somebody is going to meet you, and they will take you to the border and lead you on in."

And so he is on this train, going and coming in. A couple of stops later, a lady comes in and she says, "Are you John?" He replies, "Yes, I am John." She responds, "Okay, come with me." He asks her, "Well, what are we going to do?" She tells him, "Don't worry, I will tell you in a little bit."

They arrive at the border checkpoint and get to the customs area, where they are preparing to go through customs. There are observation tables and armed guards present. He asks, "Okay, what do we do?" She leans over and says, "Just see those doors at the end of the hall. Walk to those doors and just go out those doors. Pray that God would make you invisible." He asks again, "No, really, what do we do?" She insists, "Just pray that God would make you invisible. Just go for that; just pray. God will make you invisible."

He said the closer he got to those customs tables, the more fervent his prayer became: "God, please make me invisible, please make me invisible," until he walked right out the doors. See, God is able to do things like that. Sometimes we forget that our God is alive and powerful. Here we see a very clear miracle. The religious leaders of the day had locked them up and shut them up, saying, "We don't want you to speak in the name of Jesus," but God said, "No, I want you to speak. I’m going to set you at liberty and send you to speak."

We are living in a time where there is an outcry from people, and it's small right now—a minority—but it's growing. These people say to the church and to the body of Christ, "Just keep your religion in the pew." For us here at Calvary Chapel, they say, "Just keep your religion in the fluffy blue chairs. Just keep it there. It doesn't need to come out into the public arena. Bind it up, close it up, keep it there."

No, that's not what God has told us to do. He has told us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that He has commanded us. We are to speak the truth. We are to stand fully armored in the armor of God and be ready to speak the truth at any time. God will open a door. Even though the world tries to close it up, God opens the doors. Those locks mean nothing to Him.

Now, in verse 24, when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted among themselves what this would grow into. They said, "Uh-oh, what's going to happen now? Where are these guys? Do you think they're hiding?" Then one came and told them, "Behold, the men whom you put in prison are, notice this, standing in the temple, teaching the people." What did God command them to do?

Go, stand, speak the words of this life. What did they do? They went to the temple. They stood there and preached in the temple to all the people that were present. They could have run away; their flesh probably told them to do that. But instead, they went and fulfilled what God had told them to do.

Then the captain went with the officers, and they brought them without violence. There wasn't a scene; there wasn't a problem. Notice this: they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. The chief priests, the captain of the guard, and the high priests feared the people. They feared the people. Proverbs chapter 29, verse 25 says, "The fear of man is a snare." These leaders of religion in Jerusalem feared what men thought. This isn't the first time, and it won't be the last.

We see this also in Mark's Gospel in chapters 11 and 12, and in Luke's Gospel in chapters 20 and 22. The chief priests and the religious leaders there feared the people when they sought to take Jesus and put Him to death. They were afraid of the people. They were those who constantly followed the public opinion polls of the day. They would open up the Jerusalem Times every single morning just to see, "Where's our approval rating today?" They felt they had to change their message and fix things because the people didn't like what they were saying.

But the fear of man is a snare. We are living in a time when our elected officials and those appointed as judges and civil authorities are swayed by the fear of man. As a result, they make wrong decisions and unwise plans because of this fear. The fear of man is a snare.

Sadly, this fear of man has entered the church as well. Many times, when we encounter unbelievers or people saying or doing unrighteous things, we are afraid to say anything because we worry about whether they might not like us. However, we find in Proverbs chapter 1 and also Proverbs chapter 9 that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In Psalm 111, verse 10, we read, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

A good understanding have all they that do His commandments, and His praise endures forever. King Solomon, one of the wisest men who ever lived, summed up his study at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes by saying in Ecclesiastes 12:13, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."

You see, every single one of us in this room is tempted to fear man, but the fear of man is a snare. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Let me tell you something. Every single week, when I prepare messages for Sunday morning, Saturday night, at the Bible College on Thursday, or here on Wednesday night, there are always passages that I come to and think, "I can't say that." Then I go, "Nah, who cares?" Why? I'm not afraid of what man thinks, and I pray that you wouldn't be as well.

The men we read of in the Scriptures were not afraid of what people thought; they were fearful of God. They had a reason to be fearful of God because just a couple of days before this, God struck a couple of people dead right in front of them. Who would you fear? The fear of man is a snare. We need to be those who fear and reverence God.

As I mentioned, elected officials and appointed judges are in positions of authority. This week, there is another judgment that will be ruled on here in our own state, as Proposition 8 is set to come before the Supreme Court of California, I believe on Friday. They will begin to hear the arguments for and against Proposition 8. Let me tell you something: those men and women on the Supreme Court in California are fearful of what people think, and we need to pray for them.

Unfortunately, I think that many of them have had their consciences seared as with a hot iron. They no longer know or understand what is right and what is wrong. They call evil good and good evil; they put light for darkness and darkness for light. This week, we in the body of Christ need to pray for them and maybe even fast, if the Lord calls you to do so, on behalf of those who will be arguing for Proposition 8 and for traditional marriage in our nation and our state. They have a fear of men, just as did those individuals in the religious establishment in Jerusalem.

They feared the people, but not the disciples. They did not fear the people. In verse 26, it says, "Then went the captain of the officers." I'm sorry, in verse 27, "And when they had brought them forth, they set them before the council." The high priest asked them, "Did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine."

Oh man, that's cool! Didn't we tell you to stop talking about Jesus? We straightly warned you that you're not supposed to talk about Him anymore, and you have filled the whole city with your doctrine. Oh, I hope that they could say that of us. You've filled all of Escondido, the whole of San Diego County, with the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Oh, praise God, hasten the day!

You've filled all Jerusalem with your doctrine, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Now, that's very interesting because this very same group of religious leaders, in Matthew chapter 27, verse 25, when Pontius Pilate said, "I wash my hands of the blood of this man. I'm innocent of the death of Jesus Christ," the religious leaders said, "His blood be on us and our children." Now they say, "How dare you try to put his death, his blood upon us? We're not responsible for it."

Now, every single one of us in this room is responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, as were those who were in that room as Peter and the rest of the apostles stood before them 2,000 years ago. But I believe it was the very clear desire of the apostles to bring the blood of Jesus upon these religious leaders. Why? Because His blood is the only atoning sacrifice.

Then Peter and all the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men." Please underline that in your Bibles. Put a star next to it, an exclamation point, highlight it, and draw big arrows pointing to it. We ought to obey God rather than men.

Then Peter succinctly and clearly declares the gospel message in two verses with four points: "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you slew and hung upon a tree. Him has God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and Savior, for to give repentance to Israel."

And forgiveness of sins. Peter very clearly exposes their guilt in killing Christ. He exposes Jesus' death and Jesus' resurrection, and he calls these men to respond. It is a very simple gospel message. Sometimes we are afraid of speaking the gospel to people, and we don't know what to say. What possibly could I say? Well, he just lays it out. Memorize these two verses: man's guilt, Jesus' death, Jesus' resurrection, and man's responsibility to respond in repentance and receive forgiveness.

He says to these men, "Hey, listen, you hung him on a tree; you killed him, but God has raised him from the dead, and he has come to bring repentance and forgiveness. We are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him." I wish we had more than two minutes, but verse 32 could lead us to talk for an hour about that.

In verse 33, when they had heard, they were all cut to the heart. The very same words are going to be used in Acts chapter 7, verse 54, when Stephen, the first martyr, is preaching the gospel. We read there, "When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth." They stopped their ears. They were cut to the heart, but their hearts weren't cut through, sadly.

Joel, the prophet, says in Joel chapter 2, verse 13, "Rend your hearts and not your garments." Unfortunately, these men would not allow the penetrating word of God to get into their thick, hard, wicked hearts so that they would repent. They were cut to the heart, and they took counsel to slay the apostles. They wanted to put them to death.

In this passage, we have seen the fury of the leaders, the freedom of the Lord, the faith of the apostles, and now we see the forewarning of Gamaliel. Then stood up one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, who had a reputation among all the people. He commanded that they put the apostles out a little while. He said to them, "You men of Israel, take heed to yourselves." What a great exhortation! "Take heed to yourselves what you intend to do concerning these men. For before these days rose up Thaddeus, boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men, about 400, joined themselves."

Who was slain, and as many as obeyed were scattered and brought to nothing. After this, a man named Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the taxing. He also drew away much people after him, but he perished, and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

Now I say unto you, refrain from these men and let them alone. For if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nothing. But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest happily you be found even to fight against God. Gamaliel stands up and gives a warning to the Sanhedrin, to the group, after he asks that the apostles be put out. He says, "Listen, we know what has happened in history." He gives an illustration of two individuals who had followers; when the leaders died, the followers dispersed.

Here we have another group of followers following Jesus of Nazareth, who has been put to death. If this work is not of God, then all these apostles and followers will disperse as well. They will fall apart. But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it. The Bible, the work of God, is an anvil that has worn out many hammers. Many have sought to destroy the work of God, to destroy God's word and the preaching and proclamation of His truth. They have died, yet God's word lives. Gamaliel recognized this, and while we don't know for certain—although some traditions among the church say that he became a believer—we do know he offered wise counsel here.

He said, "Let's wait and see what happens. If it's not of God, it will come to nothing. But if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it, and if you try to fight against it, you will find yourself fighting against God."

Now, here's an interesting point. Gamaliel's disciple, his learner, was a man named Saul of Tarsus. It is very likely that he was in this room at the moment when Gamaliel said these things. Saul of Tarsus, as we will see when we get to Acts chapter 8, decides to disregard Gamaliel's advice and make war with the church.

He's going to fight against the church. He's going to try to destroy the church, and then in Acts chapter 9, the Lord is going to come and put the smack down on Saul of Tarsus, knocking him off his donkey and asking, "Why are you fighting with me?" Gamaliel was very right: if you fight against this, you will find yourself fighting against God. Let me clue you into something: if you fight against God, you'll lose. Every time, all the time.

Some of you here in this room today still, like Jacob of the Old Testament, walk with a limp because you fought with God for a long time, and He won. Some of you this morning are sitting in your seats and are still fighting with God. Let me tell you something: He's going to win. It's like tap out or knock out; it's done. He is going to take you out. He who fights with God will not win. He's also not very wise.

All the people there in the Sanhedrin agreed, but they agreed only in lip service. We read that when they had called the apostles, they beat them. The word to beat them here in the Greek also means to fillet them, to slay them, or to cut them open. They likely whipped them very heavily, and they commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus. They said, "Don't speak in His name anymore, or else we will beat you more." Then they let them go.

Did the apostles walk away and think, "Gosh, we better keep quiet"? No. They departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Daily, in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach in Jesus' name. They went right back to the work that God had called them to do, commissioned them to do, with great boldness, even though the religious establishment said, "Don't do it, or else we will beat you." They said, "We will obey God more than man." May that be our stance as well.

In a number of months, we are probably going to have Brad Dacus come and share with us on a Sunday morning. Those of you who were at the men's retreat heard from Brad, and he shared some very interesting things, really giving support to the rights we have as citizens of this nation to be able to speak. We have freedom of speech, and although our society...

Our media and so many around us are trying to say, "No, you don't have rights. You have to keep quiet." We're going to have him come and share, and he'll share with us a little bit more about how we do have rights because we need to speak the Word of God with boldness.

Even if we lose our rights and even if we find persecution in our day, we still need to declare the truth. Why? Because there are multitudes going to hell, and I want to be a speed bump on their path to hell, even if it ticks them off. May the Lord give us boldness.

Let's stand and pray. Father, I thank you for this testimony we have before us in Acts 5, Lord. As we continue through the Book of Acts, I pray that you would strengthen this body. Not just this church, but Lord, I pray for the other churches in our area that stand upon the truth of Your Word, Your inerrant Word.

Lord, I pray that you would fill the church with Your Spirit. Here at Calvary Chapel of Escondido, Calvary Chapel of Hidden Valley, Emanuel Faith, and Mission Hills Church, we lift these fellowships into Your hands. I pray that by Your strength, You would strengthen us to stand, even when we see the fury of those that come against us.

Lord, You've given us freedom; help us to stand in faith, trusting in You. I thank You for the work that You're doing here in our midst. I thank You for this body, this church, and I pray that You would pour out a blessing as we prepare to go from here. For we ask it in Jesus' name, and all agree together, saying Amen.