Chapter 5
This chapter deals with the attacks on the early church. In the first half of the chapter we have the attack from within—Ananias and Sapphira, and in the last half of the chapter, the attack from without from the scribes and the Pharisees and the religious crowd.[1] In verses 1-11 we have the case of lying to the Holy Spirit, a sin of false motivation which was a special attack within the church, and in order to head off that attack and to give the church a chance to grow and to consolidate we have the sin unto death in connection with Ananias and Sapphira.
The background for this passage is found in chapters four, verses 34-37 where Barnabas did a great thing. “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.” This is not communism, this is charity; it was done of one’s own volition. But there was a special case in verses 36-37 – “And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Baranabas (which is being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” The point is, he brought all the money. He didn’t have to, he did it of his own free will. There’s nothing in the Word of God that says you have to give everything you have away or you are really not a first class Christian.
Chapter 5:1 – there were a couple of people in the congregation who were very wealthy. At least the man was very wealthy and the woman was very beautiful. We know that the woman was beautiful because here name was Sapphira, the Aramaic word for “most beautiful.” Both were believers. But into the picture of the church comes Joses, later on known as Barnabas the apostle, and he sold everything he had in Cyprus, bringing the money to Jerusalem and presented the money as unto the Lord. Obviously this would cause some stir in the congregation, and perhaps for the first time since their salvation Ananias and Sapphira were eclipsed. But now they have to have it, they can’t live without it. It is the dope that is stronger than any dope that has ever existed. The day came when no one gave them any approbation, not one mentioned what a great giver Ananias was and no one mentioned the beauty of Sapphira. There was no withdrawal for them, they were wild with jealousy because for the first time someone had eclipsed them and, as it were, they were pushed off the top of the mountain. Now Barnabas, unknowingly and unwittingly, was king of the mountain. As a result, Ananias and Sapphira decide to duplicate the feat of Banabas, but they decide to cheat. Whatever they did they decided to hide it, but they are going to give the impression that the actual price was much greater and, as a result, they are going to try to pass this off as a feat of Barnabas and still come out to the good. What they are really after is approbation and praise. It should be understood from the start that no one said they had to do this. There is no coercion. Whatever they give is between them and the Lord and is really no one else’s business. Now Ananias and Sapphira were making a most vicious attack on the church, and at this point they were the worst enemies of the church. And this is often true: the worst enemies of the church are often found within the church. They are starting the game of king of the mountains; they are jealous of Barnabas. Now Baranabas has entered into this unwittingly, he did it as unto the Lord. He seeks no approbation or any ascendancy in the local church, he is simply doing it as unto the Lord. But because of the tremendous approbation that came his way and did not turn his head Ananias and Sapphira have gone absolutely crazy. In their jealousy they have entered into this transaction where they are going to sell a valuable piece of property and are going to bring part of it and give it just as Barnabas did, but they are going to hold back “part of the price.” However, they are giving the impression that they are giving the entire price. This is the New Testament equivalent of Achan’s sin. Their problem, like Achan’s, it lust, only in their case it is approbation lust in which they desire the praise of the Jerusalem church. Their mental attitude which is behind this is envy and jealousy; they lived by status symbols and receiving approbation from others.
Verse 2 – the sin is given. “And kept back part of the price.” The were giving to the impression to the church that they were giving all when in reality they were giving part. They said this was all. They lied. The sin is lying. There is nothing wrong with giving part of the price but there is something wrong with giving part and saying it is all.
2. It was a sin inside of the church committed by believers.
3. It was not a sin of omission, they did not refuse to give to the Lord. In other words, the sin was not in the giving.
4. It was a sin motivated by approbation lust. They desired to appear to duplicate the feat of Barnabas.
5. It was a sin of king of the mountain. Ananias and Sapphira were competing with Barnabas.
6. Behind their lust for flattery and praise was envy and jealousy.
7. They failed to serve as unto the Lord—Colossians 3:17.
8. There was nothing wrong with keeping back part of the price of the sale. There is no regulation as to how much a believer should give. The sin is in telling the lie, in the envy and jealousy, the mental attitude behind it.
9. They lied to the Spirit because they wanted the church to think they had duplicated the giving of Barnabas.
10. Hence, behind everything is approbation lust, one of the greatest enemies of the believer. It causes believers to serve in the energy of the flesh and t produce human instead of divine good.
“being privy” – to know along with. His wife knew along with him. She agreed to it, in other words, and so both of them were in it together. This is an inner attack
on the early church. The church will be destroyed from within if approbation lust gains control right from the start. There must be some way to break false motivation and approbation lust. There are two ways of doing it. First, maximum divine discipline—the sin unto death which removes the persons involved immediately. Secondly, the teaching of Bible doctrine, so that people will understand that approbation lust is a part of the old sin nature and that they will be filled with the Spirit and do things as unto the Lord.
Verses 3 & 4, Ananias is judged. “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?” Apparently it was revealed to Peter, but that doesn’t mean that God told him. Neither any demon nor Satan can indwell the body of a born-again believer, but Satan can fill the minds of any believer through approbation lust. The “heart” is the thinking part of the mind. Up in the mind of Ananias there was envy and jealousy. In his approbation lust he committed what is called here the filling of the mind by Satan. This doesn’t means that Satan was personally in his mind, but it means that his motives which originated in Satan are now found to be in Ananias, a believer.
There are five sins in the New Testament which are said to be sins specifically against the Holy Spirit.
2. Resisting the Holy Spirit—Acts 7:51. It can only be committed by an unbeliever, it is rejection of the gospel.
3. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit—Matthew 12:31. This sin can only be committed by an unbeliever. This is rejection of Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. When He was on the earth Jesus Christ presented the credentials of His Messiahship, and those who saw these credentials and rejected Him as saviour are guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, for all of these credentials were fulfilled in the power of the Holy Spirit. Matthew 12:2 cf. 12:14 cf. 12:24 cf. 12:38.
4. Grieving the Holy Spirit—Ephesians 4:30, can only be committed by a believer in Jesus Christ. Any sin in the life is grieving the Holy Spirit.
5. Quenching the Holy Spirit—1 Thessalonians 5:19, can only be committed by a believer. This is the performance of human good.
6. Lying to the Holy Spirit—Acts 5:3, can only be committed by a believer.
Verse 4 – While it remained, was it not thine own?” This is an important question because it indicates that whatever belongs to you, you have free will to do
with it as you see fit, as long as it remains in your possession. The Bible recognises the right of the individual to own property. To dispose of his own money and assets as he sees fit.
“after it was sold, it was in thy power?” – after it was sold and he converted his property into cash the cash belonged to him. It was his money, therefore he could dispose of it as he saw fit. He gave money to the church, and he gave part of it when in reality he was holding back part of the money. He wanted to hang on to his money and give the impression that he was doing what Barnabas had done, that he had given all of it. The interesting thing is that the punishment fits the crime: God parted him from his money by death.
Lying against the Holy Spirit is always false motivation. The motivation comes from approbation and power lust—always from the old sin nature.
Verse 5 – Peter himself did not assess the discipline, it came from God. Peter simply made a judgment which he had a right to do as an apostle. He estimated the situation, he saw the danger to the local church, he brought this sin out to Ananias, and it was God who administered the sin unto death. Peter didn’t say anything about dying, he simply stuck with the case. God did the judging. Ananias “gave up the spirit” – he was a born again believer, he had a human spirit, and his human spirit goes to be with the Lord.
“and great fear came on all them that heard these things” – this great fear is very important because this is recognition of authority. Every local church must have authority. The final authority in any local church is the pastor, but his authority must be connected with the teaching of the Word of God. So there was great fear in the congregation in the sense that they recognised the teaching of God’s Word, that God’s hand was in this thing. And the local church was saved from destruction from within.
The sin of Achan: Achan was called a perpetual troublemaker by 1 Chronicles 2:7. He lived in the generation of Jews who crossed the Jordan river and entered the land to conquer it. In a group that size obviously there would be some believers who were troublemakers, for we have them in every generation. Romans 16:17,18 tells us that we should avoid troublemakers, and this means born-again troublemakers, those who are believers. A great deal of the separation which is commanded in the Word of God is commanded with regard to believers. Achan as a troublemaker was not separated from the rest of the believers and as a result he caused some very serious damage before the Lord finally separated him. In Leviticus 27:26-29 we have the doctrine of what the Old Testament called the ban. Anything under a ban is non-redeemable, and when the Jews first went into the land the first objective was Jericho which was placed under the ban, according to Joshua 6:17-19. There were two reasons for this. First of all, the population with the exception of Rahab was unregenerate and they were practicing certain things which, if they spread throughout the human race, would eventually destroy the human race. The second reason was because Jericho was the first city to be conquered in the land and to the Lord go the firstfruits, and consequently it was to be given over to the Lord under the concept of the ban. Achan violated the ban by stealing a Babylonian garment, a very beautiful sword, and some gold from inside of the city—Joshua 7:1. The result was the defeat of Ai, which is also recorded in Joshua 7, and in that same chapter Achan was discovered as the culprit, and his discipline was death.
We have a similar illustration of the sin unto death in this chapter but this time the discipline is administered by the Lord. So we have in Ananias and Sapphira the ghost of Achan. Behind the story in Acts 5 is the principle that the early church which struggled to get going obviously had to be strong doctrinally on the inside. Troublemakers are a hindrance wherever you find them. Ananias and Sapphira were suffering from one of the greatest maladies in the spiritual life: approbation lust. They desired to give the appearance of having given all when they had only given a part.
Verse 6 – “And the young men arose, and wound him up.” Here we are faced with the anachronism of the King James version. To wind someone up meant to wrap the body; “and carried him out, and buried him.” This tells us something about the ancient world. Unless you were very wealthy you were not placed in a coffin, you were simply wrapped in your clothes, or if you could afford it, wrapped in gauze after having spices put on the body, and then buried that way. Most wealthy people did not have a coffin, but they had a vault of some kind. Actually, here they wrapped Ananias in swaddling clothes.
Verse 9 – “How is it that ye have agreed together [to gain approbation] to tempt [test] the Spirit of the Lord? Behold the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.” Peter did not pronounce the judgment on the first one, Ananias, but he does on Sapphira because she is a part of the same situation.
Verse 10 – the death of Sapphira. “ … yielded up her spirit [expired], and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.” When they buried her we have the end of the case. We have a second case of the sin unto death in context. Both were believers, neither of them lost their salvation, and both of them entered into the presence of the Lord. Both of them entered into phase two, but they lost reward. The very thing they sought to gain—approbation—is the very thing they lost. The principle: Either do it God’s way of forget it. If you can’t serve as unto the Lord, don’t do it.
Verse 11 – the reaction. “And great fear came on all the church.” The objective of a local church is not to have people frightened—of the pastor, other people, or the sin unto death. But there is a principle here. This is not an authorisation for bullying. This is not a fear in the sense of being subservient, it is a recognition that a local church which represents God in any way must have discipline.
1. Discipline is necessary for the function of any organization. The local church is an organization.
2. This fear develops a discipline necessary to carry the church through its early stages of growth. It gave them a respect for Peter, which was absolutely necessary because the one who teaches must have the respect of those whom he teaches or he can’t teach.
3. This fear includes the realisation that to fail to live by grace or to utilise grace means loss of opportunity to serve the Lord.
4. This fear includes the awareness of mental attitude sins plus the clarification of the individual’s motivation.
Verses 12-15, as a result there is power in the church.
Verse 12 – “And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought.” The word “wrought” is imperfect linear aktionsart and means “came to
pass” – many signs and wonders kept on occurring. The signs were designed to evangelise Israel which was about to go into the fifth cycle of discipline. The signs had to do with speaking in tongues and other things which warned the Jews of the fifth cycle of discipline and how cursing can be turned to blessing by means of the gospel. The word “wonders” is the Greek word for miracles, and this was designed to reach the Gentile world and to give the gospel a hearing. “Signs” – a means of getting a hearing of the gospel from the Jews; “wonders” – a means of getting a hearing from the Gentiles.
“among the people” indicates that there were two kinds of people, Jews and Gentiles.
“they [the leaders] were with one accord in Solomon’s porch.” Now we have a new type of harmony but it is a true type of harmony. There can be a discipline in an organization and still be wonderful harmony. But it is a solid harmony, a harmony which has stability. Here is a discipline now in a local church, but this discipline does not in any way destroy love or harmony or friendship. In fact, it strengthens it. Now we have a most amazing thing. The church is meeting at the end f the temple in the eastern porch, Solomon’s porch, and when they meet now they have wonderful harmony and are “with one accord.”
Verse 13 – “And of the rest durst no man join himself to them.” The rest means the people. The people had great respect for church leadership;. The word “durst” means they did not have the boldness to associate with them because they now were recognised as leaders, and they didn’t try to question their leadership.
“but the people magnified them” – they gave them leadership respect, which is a part of the discipline. So this verse in the Greek is actually developing the concept that they didn’t give them approbation for approbation lust but they recognised their leadership. It says that the apostles had now established their leadership in the local church, there was now harmony in the local church, there was now respect from people on the outside.
Verse 14 – the result of this was a tremendous production. “And believers were the more added to the Lord” – because the local church is now operating, not on approbation lust, but under the discipline which is authorised by the Word of God. Everything is now stabilised within the framework of the discipline of the local church.
Verse 15 – the reaction of people on the outside who do not understand doctrine. They think it is good luck to get under the shadow of some person who has performed a miracle. This is an indication of how sometimes unbelievers regard the power of Christian leadership, or any believer. Some of them didn’t want salvation, they just wanted good luck. So great was the power of the impact that even the superstitious were trying to crawl under the shadow of Peter.
“that at least the shadow of Peter passing might over shadow some” – this is not a bona fide healing situation here, this is simply a reaction of unbelievers who desire instead of salvation to be happy, a little good luck for time.
1. Based upon the superstition that the shadow of a great man falling upon you brings good luck is the principle. This was a commonly understood principle in the ancient world.
2. God does not honour superstition, but faith in the Word.
3. In this case ignorance of doctrine led to a superstitious practice.
4. Notice: The Bible account does not record any results from this, but the silence indicates probably the principle of Jeremiah 17:5, 6 –“Cursed is the man who puts his trust in man.”
5. What is recorded does demonstrate the impact of Peter and the early apostles in the early day of the church. They had tremendous impact and were well-known among unbelievers who were superstitious.
6. Such impact results from the filling of the Spirit and the utilisation of divine power. How the people took it is not Peter’s responsibility. The thing that counts in this life is Bible doctrine, not superstitious concepts.
Verses 16-42, opposition from outside of the church.
Verse 16 – “There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks.” Wherever we have these incidents of healing the
objective is not to alleviate suffering. In every one of these healing passages, whether in the Gospels or in Acts, there is only one purpose in mind and that is to declare the gospel, to give it a hearing so that people can have eternal life. The alleviation of suffering in time is totally inconsequential compared to eternal life. Neither Jesus Christ on the earth nor the apostles in any way tried to heal everyone. The objective was always to give the gospel a hearing before the canon of Scripture was completed. Remember that the book of Acts covers the pre-canon period of church history. When the apostles performed miracles under the gift of healing, this was a credit card showing they had authority from God, and this gave them the opportunity of presenting the gospel and gave people a chance to focus their attention on it. Today, healing has been ballooned a way out of its context as far as the Bible is concerned. The only divine healing that ever occurs today is strictly from God. There is no person on the face of the earth today who has the gift of healing. What healing did in the pre-canon period the Bible does today. It focuses attention on the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
“and them which were vexed with unclean spirits” – simply demon possessed people, and that is what the Greek actually says, i.e. that they were under the control of demons. This led to various types of illness. There is the doctrine of demon-induced illness which is found in the Scripture. The removal of the demon results in the removal of the illness.
“and they were healed every one” – imperfect tense, indicating that each person was individually healed when he came forward and was touched. One at a time they were healed, is what this passage says. This emphasises again that God deals with individuals. So we have the grace of God illustrated before the grace of God is presented in the gospel.
Verse 17 – now to this activity there is a counter-attack, and the counter-attack comes from religion. Religion is always opposed to the truth, it is the greatest enemy of the truth. “Then the high priest rose up” – the high priest is the head of all religion in Israel; “and all they that were with him,” i.e. his special council.
“and they that were with him [on his side], (which is the sect of the Sadducees,)” – the Sadducees were the aristocrats in the land at that time. They were rationalists, intellectuals, and they disregarded all extra-natural phenomena of any type. Therefore they did not believe in angels, in a resurrection, a life after death.
“and were filled with indignation” – the word “indignation” in the Greek is jealousy, a mental attitude sin. Mental attitude sins in religious minds cause the most awful things in the history of the human race. All you need is a little jealousy in the mind of a legalistic or religious person and you have a created monster. Generally speaking the Sadducees, while they were rationalists, were also in favour of human freedom, and it was the Sadducees, not the Pharisees, who tried to bring freedom into the land of Judah. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were very bigoted and they did not want any freedom of any kind except the rule of the Pharisees. But even though the Sadducees were a freedom-conscious group of people, when it came to anything to do with Christianity they wanted it wiped out. So we find them on the bandwagon to get rid of Christianity. Notice that when it says they were filled with jealousy it led to inconsistency. No one can be jealous without being inconsistent with himself and his best motives and concepts. They were the ones who were strong for human freedom for the Jews, were strong advocates of the law, but they violate the law in their jealousy because, of course, jealousy leads to mental attitude murder which is a violation of the law. As Sadducees plus envy the monster is created and they stoop to that which is contrary to their own standards. They want to destroy Christianity instead of allowing them to worship according to the dictates of their own Bible doctrine. They refuse to stand on their own standards once they have jealousy.
Verse 18 – “And they laid their hands on the apostles.” It doesn’t say this, it says they seized them violently. Because of their jealousy they don’t even follow the usual procedures of arresting an individual, they arrested accompanied by violence. They beat them up first and then took them off to prison.
“and put them in a common prison” – a public tank, not individual cells. The aristocrats were always incarcerated in a very pleasant type of an apartment, but not so the apostles.
Verses 19-20, the deliverance.
Verse 19 – “But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors.” And the Sadducees didn’t believe in angels! So God takes the things that the Sadducees didn’t believe and He delivers His own.
Verse 20 – one they are released the command is given: “Go, stand and speak.” Three commands: “Go” to a specific place; “stand” means to take stand and has to do with mental attitude confidence; “speak.” “Go” is a present active imperative, a dramatic present; “stand” is an aorist passive participle, which means “take a stand when you get there”; “speak” means keep on speaking until the issue is clear.
“to the people” – not to the religious people, there is no hope for them. Religion has blinded their minds; “and to tell them the words of this life,” i.e. the gospel. Cf. John 20:31.
Verse 21 – “And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning [about dawn], and taught.” The interesting thing is that the temple is already filled at dawn. Apparently this was customary, for people to worship in the temple before they went about their daily activities. “And taught” is imperfect linear aktionsart, which means they kept on teaching.
“But the high priest came” – while they keep on teaching the high priest arrives; “and they that were with him” – he pulled together the courts of the land. The council is the Sanhedrin; “and all the senate of the children of Israel” means that he not only called out the supreme court but the senate means he called out the heads of all the tribes. So he called out all of the authoritative people he could find to get rid of Christianity once and for all. He assumes that today Christianity is finished.
“and sent to the prison to have them brought.”
Verse 22 – a type of report that isn’t pleasant for a man who think that he now all but exterminated Christianity. “But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told,”
Verse 23 – “Saying, the prison truly found we shut with all safety . . . we found no man within”
Verse 24 – “they doubted whereunto this would grow.” This is an idiom, and in the Greek it is most unusual. It is the apodosis of a fourth class condition plus an assumed protasis. It should be, “if only they would stop these things I would know how this will turn out.” He is frustrated now. He has everyone together to get rid of these leaders of Christianity; he has everything going for him, and no prisoners. “These things” refers to the miracles. If these miracles, these unusual things, would only stop—fourth class condition, I wish they would but they haven’t: “then I would know how this will turn out.” In effect he is saying. I am out of my element. The high priest is a Sadducee; all of the chief priests were Sadducees. They don’t believe in angels or anything supernatural, they are rationalists to the core. The word “doubted” doesn’t mean doubted, it means they were perplexed. They were disturbed and upset by all these unusual things that were happening.
Verses 25-26, the second arrest of the apostles.
Verse 25 – “Behold the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple.” “Are standing” is in the perfect tense, meaning they have taken a stand in the temple with the result that they are persuading the people. They are not standing, they are taking a stand. It is in the perfect tense to indicate that they have taken a stand with tremendous impact; “and teaching the people,” present linear aktionsart, they keep on teaching the people.
Verse 26 – “Then went the captain [General] with the officers.” The word “captain” in the Greek is strathgoj, which means one who has charge of the strategy, and this is a general officer; “and brought them without violence” – when the General got into the picture he realised that if he took these people by violence there was going to be trouble, so he persuaded them. This is different from the arrest of the day before: “for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.” They are not concerned about what the apostles are teaching, they are concerned about their own hides. This is interesting. Wherever you find the disintegration of a nation you find the leaders of the nation more concerned about themselves than about the issues which are at stake. God is telling the Sanhedrin of their complete helplessness to stop evangelism and the Sanhedrin has failed to read the signs. Everything here points to a total corruption of the leadership of the Jews and helps to explain what happened in AD 70.
Verses 27-28, the cross-examination.
Verse 27 – “And when they had brought them they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them.”
Verse 28 – “Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.” The purpose of the miracles the day before, the purpose of all of the extra-natural activities, had one purpose in mind: to fill Jerusalem with doctrine. Evangelism is filling an area with doctrine. It is the doctrine which is then power of God to save. The doctrine in this case is the gospel.
“and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us” – note that they are concerned about themselves, and when leaders become concerned for their personal safety instead of the good of the people whom they lead, then the nation disintegrates.
“You have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine”
1. Here is the secret to power and production in the Christian life. This was the secret of the early church—doctrine.
2. They knew doctrine; they disseminated doctrine; they made the issue clear.
3. The impact of Christianity depends upon knowing and disseminating doctrine. Doctrine is the power of Christianity.
4. Notice that in verse 28 the statement is not made by Peter or one of the apostles, this statement is made by the high priest, the head of the opposition.
5. The statement is made by the prosecution and the significance of such a statement is obvious. The unbeliever, the opposition, recognises the impact of Christianity only when doctrine is taught.
Verses 29-32, the testimony of Peter and the other apostles.
Verse 29 – “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said. We ought to obey God rather than men.” This brings up the great issue of the believer’s
responsibility to his country and to God, and when these two conflict, then what? Peter is speaking to the leaders of the land.
1. Mental attitude doctrine is the first prerequisite for doing the will of God in any situation.
2. When God’s will and man’s will are in direct opposition to each other, God’s will takes precedence.
3. This is patriotic because divine blessing on a nation is involved.
4. This principle has a definite application to the people today who are enslaved by communism.
5. This governmental body, the Sanhedrin, did not have the right to dictate doctrine or modus operandi to the church. No political body has the right to dictate to the individual what his religion will be or what it will not be. In other words, when it comes to relationship with God the whole purpose of divine institution #4 is to give man freedom of choice.
6. There must be separation between church and state if freedom is to exist.
7. Individuals must have freedom of choice in matters pertaining to religion. Religious organizations must have the right to formulate their own doctrine.
8. The early church had Bible doctrine. The early church had the right to believe in Christ as saviour and to adhere to their doctrine. In fact, the doctrine was the preservative of the state.
9. The Sanhedrin was acting as the governing body of Judah. As a political organization it had no right to dictate to the conscience of the early church. As a religious organization under Satan it was motivated to stamp out the church.
10. Both government opposition to Christianity—the Pharisees and the Sadducees—continues to exist today. Believers must stand on Bible doctrine and resist this opposition.
11. Obedience to God means obedience to His Word, and when there is an issue, when the government is of such a nature to destroy the true issue of divine institution #4, then the believer must go against that government. Peter refused to obey the government and put his case in the Lord’s hands.
Verse 30 – “The God of our Fathers raised up Jesus.” A reference to God the Father who is the author of the divine plan, and the word “Jesus” refers to the humanity of Christ. The divine plan of the Father called for the death of the Son, and since the Son is deity He cannot die He had to become true humanity. Another title is Son of Man in contrast to Son of God. It was the Father who raised Him up giving full approval of His work on the cross.
“whom ye slew and hanged on a tree” – it was the supreme court made up of religious and rationalistic leaders who were responsible for getting Christ to the cross. “Hanged on a tree” was not Jewish punishment and he was making it very clear that by themselves they couldn’t do it. They had to have help from the Roman empire because the Jews did not practice capital punishment by hanging on a cross, their form of capital punishment was stoning. He was saying to them that they didn’t even have the power to execute a judgment, to condemn Jesus Christ as a court, and yet they did not even have the authority to provide that which was prescribed by the Mosaic law, and so in their hypocrisy they went to Rome for help. So when he says this Peter is accusing them of failure all the way around as a judicial body. He is saying in effect that their principles by which they operated judicially had been distorted. And whenever you distort a government institution out of its context you destroy that institution even though it may survive to cause more damage. In fact, the Sanhedrin would survive for a further forty years when it would be destroyed by the fifth cycle of discipline. Notice here that Peter is criticising his government, and legitimately so. We as citizens have a right to be critical of the government on the basis of an absolute criterion, i.e. the Word of God.
Verse 31 – “Him hath God exalted with his right hand.” The first word is in the emphatic position in the Greek and it says, “Him and only him.” The emphatic position of the pronoun reminds us of the fact that God in His plan glorifies one person, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything in the plan of God is designed for the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact there is no other way to operate under the plan of God. So Peter is making it very clear that only Jesus Christ has a right to glory and that the Sanhedrin itself is in opposition to the principle of the glory of God and therefore the principle of grace.
“to be a Prince and a Saviour” – the word “Prince” is a political concept, and it is the fact that eventually the very nation now represented in leadership by the Sanhedrin will be ruled by the Lord Jesus Christ, and that Jesus Christ is the only legitimate ruler of that nation, and that the Sanhedrin has now demonstrated that it is not only a failure as an instrument of government providing freedoms for individuals within that government, but at the same time it is usurping the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. But not only is He a prince but He is Saviour, and it is because He is Saviour that there will be a future government/kingdom. And Peter is reminding these men that if they want to get into the future kingdom, to enter into the plan of God, then they must believe in Jesus Christ.
“for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” – the word “for” means because. In other words, these very ones who are responsible for His crucifixion He has provided for them forgiveness of sins on that cross. When the Sanhedrin put Christ on the cross they meant to get rid of Him. They recognised Him as a challenge to their authority and therefore they sought to eliminate Him. But while Jesus Christ was on that cross He died for every sin ever committed by any member of the Sanhedrin. Peter is giving them one of their greatest opportunities for reversing their decision, and by doing so to provide for themselves eternal life in the only way possible.
Verse 32 – the principle of the witnessing concept. “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so also is the Holy Spirit.” There is a double witness here. The believer is the instrument and the Holy Spirit is the power.
“whom God [God the Father] hath given to them that obey him” – the word “obey” here must be understood in the light of 1 John 3:23 which has two commandments. The first is “This is the will of God, that we believe on the name his Son, Jesus Christ.” The second commandment is to love one another, and this is accomplished in the filling of the Holy Spirit. So to obey God means two things: to enter the plan of God, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; in phase two, love one another and/or be filled with the Holy Spirit. This explains why Peter must obey God rather than man when there is an issue.
Verse 33 – the Sanhedrin reacts. Like most organizations in authority they resent anything which is going to remove that authority. Here is the principle of power lust. “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart.” The Greek simply says they were cut up. Obviously they were cut up in their minds. This goes to show that they were listening to Peter and that they were thinking. As a result of their thinking they are all cut up in their minds, which is the quickest way to get cut up.
“and took counsel to slay them” – the word to slay is an aorist active infinitive, and it is the infinitive which is important because it expresses the purpose of the enraged Sanhedrin. They have received legitimate criticism. They have not only rejected the criticism as legitimate but they have taken it as a personal insult. This is stepping on their concept of power lust and now they seek to kill Peter and the other apostles who are taken into custody. Their anger placed them in a position of contemplating a judicial blunder. One thing government bodies cannot afford is anger. They must sit, they must weigh, they must examine criticism. Governmental bodies must be sensitive to it rather than simply rejecting it. So this anger was not the result of the Spirit’s conviction as such but it was simply the result of rejecting Christ as saviour and now recognising that they are out of line as a governmental body. So the negative volition of the Sanhedrin has put them in the position of losing their temper. The only way that any order can be restored is for someone to remain calm.
Verse 34 – “Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel.” He now speaks to the Sanhedrin which is about to do a terrible thing: destroy Peter and the other apostles. First he has Peter and the other apostles put out of earshot.
Verse 35 – the advice of Gamaliel. “Take heed to yourselves” – first of all take a good look at yourselves. Here they are, all emotional. Anger leads to emotion precluding thought; “what ye intend to do as touching these men.” In other words, he is warning them not to go out on a limb and try to destroy these men. Now he is going to cite some cases from history to show that there is a precedent for handling this particular problem. Remember this is a judicial body and they have respect for law.
Verse 36 – “For before these days rose up Theudas.” He gathered together about four hundred followers and passed himself off as Messiah. The words “rose up” is technical for a revolution.
“and brought to nought” – this is the point. In other words, it became nothing. Also, in the case of Theudas the Romans handled it by scattering the followers and killing Theudas. They cut his head off and placed it on the steps of the temple as a reminder that they were still in charge [44 BC]. Gamaliel is saying in effect that this is a civil matter at best. If there is anything to it, if it is a revolt, it will be handled by the Romans.
Verse 37 – a second case of precedence cited. “After this man rose up Judas of Galilee.” This takes us down to 6 AD. He was another who led a revolt and was destroyed as well.
Both of these revolts had something in common. They were both put down by the Romans apart from any help from the Jews, and apart from Jewish law. The Jews are in danger of taking their own law and distorting it to get rid of some people who were obnoxious to them personally. This was a personal matter with the Sanhedrin and they are very definitely out of line.
Verse 38 –
Gamaliel’s logic
1. If this movement [Christianity] is the work of man it will be destroyed by Rome.
2. If this movement is the work of God the Sanhedrin has placed itself in the embarrassing position of fighting God.
3. In verse 38 there is a 3rd class condition—“for if,” maybe it is and maybe it is not. It indicates that Gamaliel doubts that this movement is of men.
4. In verse 39 he switches to a first class condition: “But of this be of God,” and it is. This 1st class condition indicates that Gamaliel thinks this movement is from God.
Verse 39 – “But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.”
Verse 40 – “And to him they agreed.” Later on they failed to agree and Stephen will become the first martyr. But even though they agreed they showed the
direction in which they are going. “Refrain” means to let the apostles go without any punishment. While the Sanhedrin agrees in principle they can’t keep their personal feelings out of it. This is the first great failure of any government or administration. They must operate on the basis of established principles which benefit a nation, they cannot operate on the basis of vindictiveness and personal feelings. But the Sanhedrin is generally vindictive, and while they agree to let the men go they beat them. This is unjust and unfair.
“they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.” They did not follow the instructions of Gamaliel, because he said to leave them, to let them alone.
Verse 41 – “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing.” The Sanhedrin has now begun that type of thing which will result in their own destruction. As far as the Sanhedrin is concerned it no longer represents law and order, it does not provide freedom for individuals, it does not sift cases on the basis of evidence; it makes decisions on the basis of personal prejudice and personal feeling. Therefore the Sanhedrin is defunct as far as a judicial organization of the country is concerned. Later on it will suffer for this when many members of the Sanhedrin will be personally slaughtered.
“that they were counted worthy to suffer for his name” – notice that the apostles had inner happiness even though the pressures of government are all against them.
Verse 42 – “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” The Sanhedrin has accomplished nothing. It had good advice from Gamaliel. Gamaliel will die before he can do much more by showing them the error of their ways. The Sanhedrin has a warning from without and from within. It is no longer an instrument of judicial activity but is now a distorted instrument of torture, religion, and which will destroy in every possible way Christianity; and yet, forty years from this time the Sanhedrin will cease to exist, but Christianity will be world wide.