Today's Word Radio

Guest (Male): Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men." From Today’s Word, Pastor Brett Meador draws encouragement for today's believers from the New Testament church. Usually you as a person are going to fall into one of those categories of people: that you live in the fear of God or you live in the fear of man. It reminds me of Proverbs 29, "the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe."

The book of Acts shows the early church growing with great boldness. While many were turning to Christ, the apostles also faced imprisonment and persecution from none other than their religious leaders. Yet instead of fear, Pastor Brett Meador notes the example they set preaching the Gospel without compromise. Let's continue our study in today's word of Acts chapter five.

Brett Meador: The first section of this chapter I'm going to break into six chunks. The first thing we're going to call this, verses one through 11, "the hypocrites altering the truth." Take a look, verse one. "But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession." Remember their names: God is gracious and beautiful. They walk into the church. They sold the possession and kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostle's feet.

But Peter said, "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land?" They wanted to be esteemed by others. That's why they were making up this lie. Verse four, "While it remained, wasn't it your own money?" He said, Peter goes on, "Wasn't it your own? In other words, you could have done whatever you wanted with that money. You were free at that point. And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."

And Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose and wound him up, that's in grave clothes, and carried him out and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife not knowing what was done came in. And Peter answered unto her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much," and she said, "Yea, for so much."

So he gives her an opportunity. "Did you sell it for as much as Ananias said?" She said, "Yes, I did." Well, no, it's a lie. Verse nine, "Then Peter said unto her, 'How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out.'" Then she fell down straightway at his feet and yielded up the ghost. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her forth buried her by her husband.

So what a sad thing. God is gracious, but God is also righteous. That's Ananias's name, God is gracious, but don't forget He's also righteous and holy. Sapphira, her name means beautiful, but there was an ugliness on the inside of her pride and hypocrisy. So that's the first section of this chapter: the hypocrites altering the truth.

But now in the next section, verses 12 through 16, we have "the people accepting the truth." And we see that in verse 12. It says, "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women."

Verse 15 goes on and it says, "In so much that they brought forth the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one."

Isn't that something? Every single one of them were healed. So we have number one, "the hypocrites altering the truth," Ananias and Sapphira, verses one through 11. "The people accepting the truth" now and they're being healed because of that in 12 through 16. But that brings us to the third section, "the council attacking the truth" now in verse 17.

It says there, "And the high priest rose up and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation. And they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in common prison." Verse 19, and it says, "But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, 'Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.'"

Don't you love this? So the Sadducees are there, they put them in prison, but the prison doors just kind of open up. And where do they go? Right back out preaching to the people. This is really embarrassing for these Sadducees. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. Man, they got busy. Don't you love this? They didn't procrastinate. I've been in prison all night, I wonder if some of us would have said, "I've been in prison, I deserve a break today. I'll go home and then I'll go maybe at midnight." No, they went early in the morning.

So the Sadducees, how are they going to feel about this? They just threw them into prison, now they're out free as a bird preaching the Gospel. Verse 21, "And when they heard it, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest came and they that were with him, and called the council together and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they found them not in the prison, and they returned and told, saying, 'The prison truly we found shut with all safety and the keepers standing without the doors, but when we had opened, we found no man within.'"

Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. What does that mean? A more accurate translation: they were perplexed and confused on how to deal with the situation. The ESV puts it this way in verse 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." Oh no, what's this going to come to? The guys are out and the prison's locked and the guards are standing there but they're just not in their jail cells. This is pretty cool.

Verse 25, "Then came one and told them, saying, 'Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.'" Verse 26, "Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people lest they should have been stoned." That's with rocks. But all that to say they didn't take them by force. They're like, "Could you guys come talk with us, please?" I like this. Who's showing the fear now? It's these religious guys. They're afraid of the people, but we're seeing in the disciples no fear at all. I love this.

In fact, verse 27, "When they had brought them, they set them before the council and the high priest asked them, saying, 'Did we not straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.'" Remember, they were doing exactly what God told them to do. And the world told them to shut their mouths. And boy, the world tells you as a Christian today: shut your mouth, use the right pronouns, say this or that but don't say the other. They're trying to control speech more than ever.

In my lifetime, I've never seen the freedom of speech thrown out the window. Hopefully that'll change. But whether it changes or not, you and I, we ought to obey God rather than men. How do I know that? Well, that's where we come to point number four in our section. We see "the apostles affirming the truth." And I love this, look at verse 29. "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, 'We ought to obey God rather than men.'"

That's a huge important point, especially in the days we're living. This verse didn't mean as much to me when I was 25 years ago, but today it means a lot more because of the days we're living. The world is trying to cram down your throat what you can and can't say. We live in a society that we fear what other people are going to think about us or even do to us if we say something of truth. And usually you as a person are going to fall into one of those categories of people: that you live in the fear of God or you live in the fear of man.

And I would just ask you, which one are you? Be honest with yourself. You don't have to tell your neighbor sitting next to you, but think about that. Do you mostly live in the fear of God, that is a healthy, not afraid of God, but a healthy fear to do what God asks you to do and to be bold? Or do you live in the fear of man, being afraid of what others think about you as too holy or a weirdo Christian or worrying about what others might say or what they might do to your job or things like that?

It's amazing, I see that it's starting to become more intense, but even 15, 20 years ago nobody cared what you said or thought and we were still afraid. It's like that thing where you get up in the morning and you think, "Well, what are they going to think if I wear this?" And you go through, "What if I wear this? Well, they'll think of this or this." Here's a news flash: they're not thinking about you at all. Nobody's thinking about you.

But what you really should be concerned about is what does God think? And that's why Peter says, "We ought to obey God rather than man." It reminds me of Proverbs 29:25. Do you remember that verse? It says, "The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." What kind of a snare? The word "snare" is a great Hebrew word. If you look up the Hebrew word "snare" that's in this verse, "the fear of man brings a snare," the word "snare" is interesting in the Hebrew: *moqesh*. It means bait, lure, trap, noose, hook in the nose.

Now what's this hook in the nose thing about? This word "snare" became an idiom that was very clear to the Jewish people because when the Assyrians came and invaded Israel back during Rabshakeh and that whole story, they took the Jews captive and put hooks in their noses and then chained them together and marched them up to Assyria as slaves. And the word *moqesh* is what that is, a hook in the nose. What does the Bible say? The fear of man is a snare, a hook in the nose. It'll take you into captivity. It'll take you into... this is what the Jews would be thinking of when they hear that sort of phrase.

So there's moments you either choose the fear of man or the fear of God. What are you going to do? You're around the lunch table and somebody tells a dirty joke. What do you do? Do you laugh and just kind of say whatever, I don't want to go against the flow or be perceived as Mr. Holy Joe or whatever? Are you the hammer or the nail? Are you going to be driven by what's the conversation of perversion and weirdness or are you going to be the one driving the conversation?

It's the question that's before us all. Peter is not afraid of these religious guys, the Sadducees, at all. He says, "We ought to obey God rather than men." Man, I hope you can just remember that as a phrase that should be a mantra for all of us. But back to point number four, this is the apostles affirming the truth. And it goes on in verse 30. It says, "The God of our fathers who raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him."

Interesting, Peter's now preaching to them and he says some things that are interesting. There's kind of a new idea when it comes to Jesus. Savior's not that new to us, Jesus the savior, but he calls him here a prince. That is kind of new to be a prince and a savior. The word prince there, *archēgos* in the Greek, means to be the chief leader, the author, the pioneer, the one who leads the way. That's what Peter's saying here: he's the prince, the author and the leader, the one who leads the way and the savior of the world.

Basically Peter's saying, "This is the one we're following. We're following the prince who happens to also be our savior." That's the idea here. Do you remember that Peter keeps reminding them that they're the ones who killed him? He reminded them in the previous chapters and now he's saying, "You're the ones who killed him." And it's almost like you can see the guys going, "Did we do that?" Like they're sheepishly standing by and they're wondering what in the world that means.

And then he says, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus." I love this sort of line of thinking. This was a testimony that Peter's giving faithful to the foundation of the Christian faith. Notice the things Peter's talking of. He speaks of man's guilt: Jesus, whom you murdered, that's their guilt. Jesus's death: the one you hung on a tree. His resurrection: God exalted him to God's right hand, he says here. And then also Peter includes man's responsibility to respond: to give repentance to Israel, he says here, and forgiveness of sins there at the end of verse 31.

Peter's doing the perfect presentation of what they need to hear, just like you and I need to give that. Talk about man's guilty, Jesus died for man's guilt, he rose from the grave, and our responsibility is to respond. Do you see the pattern there? That's what you and I are supposed to be doing. That's what I try to do every Sunday morning, try to remind people of man's guilty, we've sinned against the Lord, death is our result. Jesus's death was in our place, he rose from the grave, and our responsibility is to respond.

Now when Peter does this nice pattern, this makes them so mad they want to kill them. And that's where we pick it up here in verse 32. "We are his witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him." Okay, so that's that last part of Peter's message.

Now in verse 33 we come to the fifth section of this chapter and we're nearing the end here. Now we have "Gamaliel avoiding the truth." Who's Gamaliel? Well let's read verse 33. It says, "When they heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, and had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space."

Interesting who's this guy? Well, we know a couple things. We know about Gamaliel that he was a big deal. Gamaliel was like the smarty-pants guy of the Pharisees. Did you know Paul the apostle who is just a child at this time and is not a Christian yet, he's the guy who's going to be holding the clothes at Stephen's stoning to death. But who was his teacher? Well, it was this guy Gamaliel. You can jot this down next to this: Acts 22:3. We're going to read about it when we get to Acts chapter 22. Paul says, "Verily I am a man which I am a Jew, born of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, yet brought up in the city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God as you all are this day."

Paul in giving his defense there in the book of Acts, "I was schooled by Gamaliel." That'd be like if you're a math person saying, "I was schooled by Einstein," or whatever. It was something you could boast of. Gamaliel was my teacher. That's what Paul is saying. That's the guy we're talking about here, this is kind of interesting. So his name, if you read outside of the Bible, they gave Gamaliel a nickname and they called him the beauty of the law. Can you imagine having a name like that? If people walk, "You're the beauty of the law." Gamaliel said, "Yes, I am." That's who this guy is, okay?

So this is what we know about him. And it says in verse 35, "And he said to them, 'You men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody to whom a number of men, about 400, joined themselves; who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered and brought to nought. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing and drew away much people after him: he also perished and all after as many as obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought or nothing. But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest haply you be found even to fight against God.'"

What's Gamaliel doing here? You've got to kind of like Gamaliel's logic. He's saying, "If it's not God, it'll fizzle out like these other stories he told them reminded them about. But if it is God, it'll work out and we'll realize it and we'll see it." Is this actually a wise thing that Gamaliel's saying? It might sound wise at first but the answer is no. There's the following people who have died and long after they're gone people still follow them. One example of that is Mohammad. Mohammad died, didn't raise up from the grave, but centuries after Jesus, 600 AD, Islam started and has flourished and it's growing faster than Christianity today.

So I just want to show you a little bit of flaw in Gamaliel's logic here. But Buddhism, Krishna, Marxism, Nazism: those are things that people followed and they should have, hopefully, been dispersed like Gamaliel said, but there's a lot of things that didn't and haven't. So his logic actually breaks down. Now why would Gamaliel say this? And the answer is I'm not really sure. We're going to learn more about Gamaliel later in the book of Acts and we'll be able to discern what was his intention when he tried to let these guys go.

So at first you're going to think, "Oh Gamaliel is a good guy, he's letting them go and he's saying, 'Hey, if this is from God it'll flourish, if it's not they'll die and be dispersed.'" Some scholars argue that Gamaliel's like, "If they die, we'll know it's not of God. Let's make sure and kill them before the day is over." Like that's kind of what some people believe he's doing here because Gamaliel would be teaching Paul and Paul, the fruit of Gamaliel's instruction, would be a murderer of Christians. That would be Paul's MO before he's saved. So this is Gamaliel and it seems like he's putting it off or, like our point here, avoiding the truth.

And that brings us to the last section here, number six. We have "the church announcing the truth" there in verse 40. And it says, "And to him they agreed, to Gamaliel, and when they had called the apostles and beaten them," just for good measure I guess, "beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak the name of Jesus and let them go." Do you think they're going to speak the name of Jesus anymore? Even though they got beaten?

Like this just shows us Peter's like he's willing to take a torture test but he's still going to preach the name of Jesus. You've got to love that. Verse 41, "And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." Don't you love that?

Man, even though they were beaten, when they were beaten did they go, "Oh, woe is us. We were just sharing the Gospel and suffering for..." No, they're like, "Yes! We were counted worthy to suffer even as Jesus suffered a little bit and the beating that we took." They came out of it rejoicing and they just went on and preached all the harder, all the more. Were they crazy? No, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Beatings turned into blessings in this case. The more they were beaten, the more the Good News came out.

It's funny how they say, "We told you before to stop saying the name of Jesus, so we're going to beat you and now go and stop saying the name of Jesus." But they just rejoiced and continued to preach. Beatings are not that bad. If you've ever been beaten in a fight or if you've ever had... it's funny how when it happens you're kind of like, "Ah, it wasn't that big a deal." I wonder if these guys are like, "Bring it on, we'll take more of that."

You wonder how people do that through history. You wonder how some of our, you see the movies of the waterboarding and torture and stuff and like, "Man, who could do that?" We won't do that to our enemies apparently now, but we did it to our special forces soldiers so they'd know what it feels like. It's like what can people endure, but it's amazing what people can endure when they have an incentive.

But what greater incentive than sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth of Jesus? And you might get beat up a little bit at work or at school for being an on-fire Christian, but man, you'll be able to go away rejoicing because the name of Jesus has been glorified. Remember Proverbs 28:1, "the wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are as what? Bold as a lion." That's what we're seeing in the early church here. And we're going to see what happens after this because it's going to heat up here in the next couple of chapters.

Guest (Male): Just as Pastor Brett Meador has said, the book of Acts provides a revealed look at what the church should look like and no better example of that of what we witnessed in our verse-by-verse study from today's word of Acts chapter five. And I hope you'll stand by as Pastor Brett will conclude this message with a closing word of prayer in just a moment.

But first, let me tell you a little bit more about Brett Meador. He's the senior pastor of Athey Creek Church, just outside of Portland, Oregon. Brett's been the pastor of Athey Creek for 30 years. We invite you to listen each day for more. If you've missed any portion of our study, you'll find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at todayswordradio.com. You can also watch full video messages from him by going to todayswordradio.com.

I also want to mention that in addition to the main Athey Creek campus in West Linn, we also have locations in Hillsboro and McMinnville. For more information, go to todayswordradio.com and click on the link "Locations." Again, todayswordradio.com and click the link "Locations." Well, now to close our time together on today's word, here's Pastor Brett Meador.

Brett Meador: Let's pray together. Lord, I do pray that one of the things we'll glean from this study is a boldness. Forgive us again, Lord, where we cower and we're afraid to speak the truth and to believe the truth or proclaim the Gospel. Lord, I pray that we would be a church that's bold, not in a weird way, but in a loving way; bold in a way that would draw people to see that You really are the way, the truth, the life.

Lord, give us that boldness and wisdom. We see in our country a shift happening and things that for a Christian worldview theoretically could turn for better. We do pray that there would be revival in this country. We pray that people as Christian people, they might be emboldened in these last days to speak the truth in love; that not just for a healthy nation, but for a world that's saved, that there would be revival and people would come to know Your Son, Jesus, as the Savior. Lord, we all crucified Jesus. We're all guilty of sin and death, but thank You, Lord, for giving us the way out, the truth, and the life. So make us bold. We do pray, Lord, that You'd bless these Your people who have taken time to study Scripture. May it bring forth good fruit, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen. Pastor Brett Meador closing our time here on Today's Word. And that's all the time we have. Next time, Pastor Brett examines when truth is distorted. We learn how to combat such attacks by knowing what Scripture actually says. Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.