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Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 
5, just a bit of review. We see in verses 12 to 16 the 
emphasis on the continuing growth of the church. In verses 17 to 
21, the apostles are imprisoned and ultimately released by divine 
aid. The apostles are then recaptured 
without violence, brought back to the Sanhedrin or religious 
council, and they give their defense in verses 27 to 32. So this morning, we'll note the 
decision of the council. In other words, what's the disposition? 
What's going to be the case with reference to the apostles? What 
is the outcome? And that's in verses 33 to 42. But I'll pick up reading in verse 
17. Then the high priest rose up and all those who were with 
him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled 
with indignation and laid their hands on the apostles and put 
them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the 
Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, 
Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of 
this life. And when they heard that, they 
entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high 
priest and those with him came and called the council together, 
with all the elders and the children of Israel, and sent to the prison 
to have them brought. But when the officers came and 
did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, saying, 
Indeed, we found the prison shut securely and the guards standing 
outside before the doors, but when we opened them, we found 
no one inside. And when the high priest, the 
captain of the temple, and the chief priest heard these things, 
they wondered what the outcome would be. So one came and told 
them, saying, look, the men whom you put in prison are standing 
in the temple and teaching the people. And the captain went 
with the officers and brought them without violence, for they 
feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when they 
had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high 
priest asked them, saying, Did we not strictly command you not 
to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem 
with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on 
us. But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to 
obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised 
up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has 
exalted to his right hand to be prince and savior, to give 
repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses 
to these things. And so also is the Holy Spirit 
whom God has given to those who obey him. When they heard this, 
they were furious and plotted to kill them. Then one in the 
council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of 
the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them 
to put the apostles outside for a little while. And he said to 
them, Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend 
to do regarding these men. For some time ago, Thutis rose 
up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about 400, joined 
him. He was slain, and all who obeyed 
him were scattered and came to nothing. After this man, Judas 
of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away many 
people after him. He also perished, and all who 
obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, keep away 
from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this work 
is of men, it will come to nothing. But if it is of God, you cannot 
overthrow it, lest you even be found to fight against God. And 
they agreed with them. And when they had called for 
the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should 
not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So 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 did not cease teaching and preaching 
Jesus as the Christ. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
thank you again for the written Word, and we need the ministry 
of the Holy Spirit who gave us the Word. We ask that you would 
forgive us for our sins and its darkening influence over our 
minds and hearts, and we pray that you would illumine our minds 
and hearts. Give us wisdom concerning this passage of Scripture. May 
it edify, may it strengthen, may it encourage, Yea, God, may 
it even challenge us as the people of God. And may we see in all 
of this the supremacy, the majesty, the excellency of our Lord and 
Savior, Jesus Christ. And it's in His name that we 
pray. Amen. Remember that the council here is the Sanhedrin. It was made up of 71 persons. It was presided over by the high 
priest according to verse 17. And what we know from the history 
of the time, it was heavy with Sadducees. Remember those men 
in the gospel narratives, there were Sadducees and there were 
Pharisees and they made up this council. But the council specifically 
at this time was more majority Sadducees. This man Gamaliel 
is a Pharisee that comes to speak some wisdom to them, and they 
agree, but having agreed, they nevertheless beat the disciples. So I want to look first at the 
Council's decision about the Apostles in verses 33 to 40, 
and then secondly, the Apostles' commitment to continually preach 
Christ in verses 41 to 42. This is It's such a wonderful 
section of scripture, I think, as it encourages us, and as I 
said in prayer, it challenges us. You know, we oftentimes get 
discouraged, or we oftentimes think that if everybody's against 
us, or life is hard, or there's a great deal of difficulties 
in my service to the Lord Jesus Christ, these men were beat. 
probably 39 times each, on the back and on the chest, which 
oftentimes caused death. The loss of blood would, in many 
cases, cause death. They rejoiced that they were 
worthy to suffer shame for the name, and then they continued 
to go out and preach and teach Jesus as the Christ. I think 
it puts our sufferings into perspective. I think it causes us to reflect 
that, you know, hangnails or being a little tired or having 
a bit of sniffles. Now, I'm not suggesting that 
you come and infect everybody with your colds and fevers, but 
there is a sense, brethren, where the things that we undergo oftentimes 
are nothing. in the world compared to what 
we find these apostles suffer. Well, let's look at the council's 
decision about the apostles. And I want to look first at the 
plan, secondly, the advice of Gamaliel, and then thirdly, the 
decision of the council. But note the plan. Verse 33, 
when they heard this, now what did they hear? They heard Peter 
preach. Notice in verse 28, the high 
priest gets to Peter, gets the apostles, and he says, did we 
not strictly command you not to preach in this name? You are 
filling Jerusalem with this doctrine and you intend to bring upon 
our heads culpability or liability for his death. And what does 
Peter do? Does Peter say, I'm sorry? I'm 
sad that you've interpreted it that way? No, Peter continues 
to fill Jerusalem with the doctrine. And Peter continues to hang upon 
them the reality that they are responsible. Not solely, not 
alone, it was the people of Israel. that cried, away with him, away 
with him, crucify him. It was our sins that were heaped 
up upon the Son of God. He went to that cross to bear 
the penalty in his own body, that suffering and that wrath 
that was due for us. But brethren, these men had a 
hand in it. They were instigators, and Peter 
reiterates that to them in verse 30. So, verse 33 makes sense. Again, I'm not agreeing with 
their decision, or their response rather, but you can see why they're 
angry. You can see why they're furious, 
and you can see why they want to deal with these apostles. 
Because Peter repeats in verse 30, the God of our fathers raised 
up Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. So verse 33, 
when they heard this, Peter's speech, Peter's words, Peter's 
gospel, Peter's, again, assertion that they were guilty for the 
death of the Savior, they were furious and plotted to kill them. 
We see this same verb used over in Acts 7, this they were furious. Notice in Acts chapter 7 at verse 
54, when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart. Literally 
means they were sawn. Their hearts were sawn in two. 
It's rendered properly here in 533 as they were furious. They were mad. They had already 
been filled with indignation about these apostles and their 
preaching in verse 17. That's what led them to arrest 
them. And so in chapter 7, we see that 
same response to Stephen. It says they were cut to the 
heart. They gnashed at him with their teeth. Go back to chapter 
2. We don't see the same verb, but 
we see the same concept, but here it's in a better way. Notice 
in Acts 2.37, now, when they heard this, they were, there 
it is, cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the 
apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? That's the goal. That's the hope. That's the desire. 
When the Spirit comes, it's to cut sinners in the heart. Now 
hopefully it's in that Acts 2 sort of a way where they say, men 
and brethren, what shall we do? They're appointed unto the Lord 
Jesus Christ and they by grace believe and are saved. There 
are those instances that we find here in Acts 5 and again in Acts 
7 where they're cut to the heart and they're infuriated by the 
things that they have seen. And notice they plotted to kill 
them. That's just pretty horrendous, isn't it? And these men didn't 
do anything wrong except preach Christ. These men were not public 
enemies to the civil order, to the ecclesia. Well, it was, as 
far as the Sanhedrin was concerned. It was a threat to them because 
why? They loved men, or rather feared 
men. They loved their own power, and 
they wanted to silence the opposition. And as far as they were concerned, 
the apostles were the opposition. And so now they escalate this 
rage and fury to the point where they actually want to kill them. Alexander says this feeling led 
to a new step in the march of persecution. Instead of idle 
threats and prohibitions, they now conceive the thought of capital 
punishment and bloody persecution. You see, here it begins. Brethren, 
this is what we see in the history of the Church. This is the rage 
of the enemies of Jesus Christ against God, against His anointed. And because the enemies can't 
get to God and His anointed, they target God's people. You 
see, this is the way the master was treated in his earthly ministry. 
There were seasons, instances, times where the Sanhedrin or 
the religious council or the religious leaders were infuriated 
with the Lord Jesus, and they plotted to kill him. It ultimately 
culminates in that plot being carried out successfully when 
they hire Judas the betrayer. Judas betrays him, and then they 
cry out, away with him, away with him, crucify him, and they 
see the Son of God hung on a cross. You see, the way the master was 
treated is the way the disciple is treated. Jesus had warned 
them of this, or rather taught them of this, so it would be 
in terms of preparing them for this inevitability. Now note, 
in verses 34 to 39, we have the advice of this fellow called 
Gamaliel. Notice, he's a man that should 
have been listened to. And it does say they did agree 
with him, but I think to agree with him would have been to let 
them go without a beating. We agree with you, but we're 
going to take our fury out on their backs first. We agree with 
you, Gamaliel, but we're still going to open them up. We're 
still going to give them stripes. We're still going to possibly 
kill them by inflicting upon them this whip. But notice how 
it explains or describes this man Gamaliel. He was a Pharisee, 
and he was a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people. Now, this was Paul's master, 
or should I say, Saul of Tarsus. In Acts 22, verse 3, as the apostle 
Paul is rehearsing his upbringing in terms of the sect of the Pharisees, 
he was brought up by this man, Gamaliel. This man Gamaliel was 
held in respect by all the people. He was the grandson of a famous 
rabbi called Hillel. In fact, there was a Mishnah, 
that's sort of commentary on not only scripture, but also 
on tradition, that at the death of this man Gamaliel, it says 
when Rabban, you've heard the word rabbi, Rabban was reserved 
for a couple of the rabbis to distinguish them as being sort 
of better than everybody else. I know that. That sounds, you 
know, you know what I mean, more preeminent than the rest of the 
rabbis. It's Rabban Gamaliel. And this Mishnah says that when 
Gamaliel, the elder, died, the glory of the Torah ceased and 
purity and separateness perished. Now, the word Pharisee typically 
is defined as referring to separation or separateness. So, in a sense, 
this Mishnah saying, with the death of Gamaliel, we essentially 
had the death of Pharisaism. So, all this to say he's a man 
of great importance. He's a member of the council 
and he's functioning here as the leader of the opposition 
party. If the Sadducees are the majority on this Sanhedrin, or 
the Sadducees are the majority in the Council, then Gamaliel 
is functioning as the opposition leader. And he wants to speak 
to them words of wisdom that they ought to heed, that they 
ought to listen to, that they ought to subscribe. Because he 
is no piker. He is no novice. He is no amateur. And notice what Gamaliel does. 
According to verse 34, he asks that the apostles are put outside 
for a little while. Dismisses them so that he can 
talk freely in terms of the proposal that he's going to make to them. 
Now, notice his proposal. He first cautions them. That's 
in verse 35. Verse 35, if I could just put 
it in 21st century sort of North Americanisms, he says, chill 
out. Relax. Don't do what you're plotting 
to do. Do not carry out this particular 
plan and purpose that you have. You need to back it down, is 
what Gamaliel says. Verse 35, he said to the men 
of Israel, It's in their capacity as the religious and political 
entity that was charged with making decisions for the nation, 
of course, subject to the Roman Empire. But he said to them, 
men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding 
these men. You need to be careful. I mean, 
this is—better heads prevail it. This is a man who they needed 
to listen to. This was a man that wasn't a 
Christian. Some have suggested that perhaps 
he was a believer. We have no evidence, no indication 
whatsoever that Gamaliel ever came to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
But he certainly was a more moderate man. He was certainly a more 
thinking man. He was certainly a more judicious 
man. a man who had a degree of wisdom that the rest of the Sanhedrin 
needed to listen to. In many respects, he sounds like 
Pilate's wife here, doesn't he? Remember, Pilate is deliberating 
within himself. He's got the pressure from the 
Jews. What am I going to do with this man, Jesus? And Pilate's 
wife says the same thing to him. Have nothing to do with this 
man. You don't want to go around this man. You don't want to be 
near this man. You certainly don't want to be culpable with 
reference to the disposition of this man. Have nothing to 
do with him, Pilate's wife says. Now, Matthew Poole suggests, 
and I don't have any reason to doubt what he suggests in terms 
of Gamaliel's motivation. He says, Gamaliel interposes 
partly out of his moderate and mild disposition, partly out 
of fear, lest if they slew the apostles, they might incense 
the Romans." Now, at this time, excuse me, the Romans were the 
power. And for the most part, they left Judaism unmolested. 
I mean, they weren't favorable in the sense that they worshiped 
the God of the Jews or anything like that, but they didn't mess 
with them. They pretty much let them do their own thing, though 
they did not have the power to execute. They did not have the 
power to put people to death. They admit that with Jesus, don't 
they? They have to send Jesus to Pilate so that Pilate can 
give the kill order with reference to the crucifixion. Now, when 
we get to Acts chapter 7, all that just goes right out the 
door with Stephen. So it wasn't as if they were 
given then the opportunity or the privilege to engage in capital 
punishment. What they do as Stephen is absolutely, 
incredibly wicked and wretched. Not that this isn't, but you 
see the escalation. When the enemies of Christ first 
start, they threaten you not to say anything. Then the enemies 
of Christ will lay hands on you and put you in jail. Then the 
enemies of Christ will bring you before their counsel and 
again try and intimidate you. And then the enemies of Christ 
will beat you and open up your backs so that you bleed to death. 
And if that doesn't work, the enemies of Christ will just put 
you to death. They will authorize stoning as 
they do in the case of Stephen. But back to Matthew Poole. Gamaliel 
interposes partly out of his moderate and mild disposition, 
partly out of fear, lest if they slew the apostles, they might 
incense the Romans, who were very jealous of their authority." 
I don't think he means jealous in the sense that they really 
wanted it, but jealous to monitor, jealous to watch, jealous to 
provide scrutiny, to make sure they didn't step outside the 
boundaries. And he goes on to say, "...and 
had taken away their power," this is the empire, "...of capital 
punishments from the Jews." Now, Gamaliel is going to offer two 
arguments as to why they ought to listen to what he says. The 
first is a historical argument, and the second is a theological 
argument. Note his historical argument. He cites two men, a 
man by the name of Thutis, and a man by the name of Judas of 
Galilee." Now, this passage presents some difficulties for some, because 
Josephus, the Jewish historian, wrote his history concerning 
the Jews and puts a Theudas, who does something similar to 
this, about a decade later. In other words, if we look at 
Josephus and we had a concordance, they probably have that. I'm 
unawares, but they have concordances for just about everything. They 
probably have one for Josephus. If we look for Thutis, we would 
see that Thutis lived about 10 years later, or his activity 
was about 10 years later. He basically drew a crowd. They 
followed him. He said that he could part the 
River Jordan. The governor gave the kill order, cut his head 
off, and brought it back to Jerusalem. So Judas of Galilee actually 
was around AD 6 or 7, many, many years prior to this particular 
instance. So some have wondered if Josephus 
was wrong. Others wonder if Luke was wrong. 
When Luke read Josephus, he messed up. But I think the best explanation 
is there was another fellow named Theodos. a fellow that predated 
Judas of Galilee, a fellow that did something similar, perhaps 
not going to the River Jordan and suggesting that he could 
part it, but the point that Gamaliel is making with reference to this 
Judas and with reference to this Judas of Galilee is that they 
were men, men who started movements, men who gained a following, and 
men who ultimately died. And once those men ultimately 
died, their followers were dispersed. Now, this Judas of Galilee, he 
could have been the forerunner of what was called the zealot 
movement. So in a sense, it really didn't die. The zealots would 
be fundamental at the time of the Jewish wars against the Roman 
armies. Remember that sign of the zealot? There were these 
zealots that were sort of anti-tax. They were the guys that didn't 
want to sort of submit to the Roman Empire. But that's how 
Judas of Galilee started off. It was at the time of the census. 
It's not because he didn't want to give his name and address. 
It's because he didn't want to pay his taxes. Or not that he 
didn't want to pay his taxes, but he didn't want to pay more 
than his share. And I think that this is the same census referred 
to in Luke's gospel under the Syrian governor named Quirinius. So Gamaliel's point is this. You have this Judas, and you 
have this Judas of Galilee, and what they did was they started 
a movement. They were followed by a lot of people. When they 
died, the movement died with them. So what's his point? Leave 
them alone. Leave them alone. If it's not 
of God, they'll die. If it's of God, then you got 
bigger problems. And that's the theological argument. Notice, specifically in verses 
38 and 39, we see the historical argument, verses 36 to 37. We 
see the theological argument in verses 38 to 39. It's a good time for him to remind 
them of his charge, of his warning, of his command. Verse 38, and 
now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone. 
I don't know how much clearer he could have made this, so that 
when Luke tells us they agreed, they agreed, but they really 
didn't. They agreed, but they had to vent their fury. They 
agreed, but they had to get their licks in. They agreed, but they 
had to open their backs. They agreed, but they had to 
continue to parade before these men. We're the boss. That's overreach. These men are in sin and in rebellion. Peter has already pitted them 
against God by saying we must obey God rather than men. He doesn't mean men in general. He says you men, or he means 
you men in the Sanhedrin that are forbidding us and prohibiting 
us from speaking in the name of Jesus Christ. We must obey 
God. And that's the way verse 29 should 
be read. When he says in the New King 
James, we ought to obey, there's almost that sort of idea in the 
minds of people that, you know, there's an oughtness there, but 
there might be an oughtness there, too. No, it's a must. We don't 
have the prerogative or the privilege to choose otherwise. Necessity 
is laid upon us. We're constrained. We have no 
other option. When man tries to usurp God, 
when man says something like, no more preaching of the gospel 
of the Lord Jesus, we must obey God. We don't kowtow, we don't 
bow down, we don't say, okay, sovereign state. We pull a Daniel. Daniel, when he was prohibited 
from praying to the God of Israel, didn't kowtow. Daniel opened 
up his window, he assumed the position, and he prayed to the 
God of heaven and earth. Brethren, that's the marching 
orders for the people of God, whether we're told not to, whether 
we're arrested, whether we are beaten, or whether we are ultimately 
murdered. We need to hold fast to preaching 
the gospel of our salvation, namely, as verse 42 tells us, 
preaching Jesus as the Christ. So Gamaliel's advice is look 
at these men and now look at God. He says in verse 38, for 
if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing. Jesus and his apostles will be 
like Theodos and Judas of Galilee. Jesus and his apostles will be 
like every other guy that hung his sign out and said, I'm the 
new religious guru that everybody should follow. If it is of men, 
then it will fail. This is Jesus' point in Matthew 
chapter 7 on those who build or with reference to those who 
build on the sand. It's shifting. It's moving. It's not stable 
so that you can build your house upon it. It's not lasting. There's no permanence. That's 
what Gamaliel's getting at in this particular exhortation. 
But notice he doesn't stop there. He goes on to say, But if it 
is of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be found to 
fight against God. So Gamaliel, as I said, we have 
no sort of reason to believe that he went, you know, he's 
a believer in Jesus, but he's sure smart, isn't he? I'd like 
to think that there were people in the opposition that would 
stand up in political parties and speak wisdom like this. Back 
it down. Just look at history. These kind 
of guys, their flash is in the pan. They come, people follow 
them, they die, people don't follow them anymore. You need 
to realize that if this is not of God, it will fail. If it's 
built on man, it will fail. But Gamaliel sort of increases 
or escalates the argument here in this last bit. But if it is 
of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest you even be found to 
fight against God. Now, that's good sage advice 
as well. Again, we don't know his heart. 
We don't know if he's hedging his bets with reference to Judaism 
and Christianity. We don't know what his motivation 
is, but it is true, it is accurate, it is good sound information, 
and it reflects what we know he would have known from the 
Old Testament Scriptures. The reality concerning God in 
the Old Testament, is that what God purposes? He carries out, 
right? Is everybody with me? Whatever 
God purposes, He carries out. Our God is in the heavens. He 
does whatever He pleases. That's the contrast there in 
Psalm 115. The psalmist is mocking. Yes, 
I said it. Mocking the idols of men. When 
he says they have eyes, but they don't see. They have ears, but 
they don't hear. They have mouths, but they don't 
speak. They have noses, but they don't 
smell. He's mocking them. What's the 
contrast? But our God is in the heavens, 
He does whatever He pleases. The prophet Isaiah mocks idolatry 
in his book. There's that bit where the man 
goes out and he cuts down the tree, and he takes some of the 
wood, and he builds a fire, and he cooks his food, and he warms 
his hand over that fire, and with the rest of the wood, he 
makes an idol and he bows to it. The prophet is mocking you 
if you're an idolater. The prophet is mocking in Isaiah, 
or Isaiah the prophet is mocking as well, when he speaks of those 
who worship the gods of Babylon, when they have to pick them up 
and put them on the carts. I've always said that if you're 
God, or if you have to pick up your God, you've got the wrong 
God. The whole glory of the God of 
the Bible is that He picks us up. He puts us on carts. He puts us where we need to go. 
Remember that bit with reference to Dagon when they had the Ark 
of the Covenant and, oh, the Philistines capture the Ark of 
the Covenant and they have this ingenious idea to put it in the 
temple with Dagon, the false god. What happens when they go 
in there the next day? Dagon's, you know, knocked over. 
His hands are gone, something else breaks off, and they have 
to prop him back up. See, brethren, that's mockery 
on the part of God's prophets to tell people that it's absolute 
insanity for you to worship idols. Jesus says the same sort of things 
in the New Testament. Somebody who would choose mammon 
over the living and true God. Somebody who would choose any 
other creator, any created thing over God is a madman. It's folly. It's a lack of wisdom. It's incredibly insane. And if 
you this morning are not a believer in Jesus Christ, you're like 
that guy. Cuts down the wood, warms his 
food, warms his hands, takes the rest, and bows down to it. 
Or you're like those who have been enamored with the Babylonian 
gods and they fall off the ox cart and you have to pick the 
god back up and put him on his stand. The glory of the true 
God is cast your burdens upon him because he cares for you. 
Not pick him up and put him in the place where you want him 
to be and hopefully things will come out in your favor. See, 
idolatry is the same no matter the guides. Idolatry is the same 
topsy-turvy rejection of the living and true God for that 
which is creature, whether it's the gods of Babylon, whether 
it's the gods of Canaan, whether it's the gods of Egypt, or it's 
the gods of North America. Sure, we don't have little statues 
that we bow down to. We don't have poles that we worship. 
But we have money that we worship. We have leisure that we worship. 
We have pleasure that we worship. We have sex and drugs and rock 
and roll that we worship. That idolatry is as bad as bowing 
to Baal, brethren. And the prophet Elijah said, 
How long will you halt between two opinions? If Baal is God, 
then serve him. If Yahweh is God, then serve 
him. Don't try to mingle and mix. 
Don't try to have a little bit of the true and a whole lot of 
the false. You can't do that. So Gamaliel's 
right. He understands Proverbs 19, 21. 
There are many plans in a man's heart. Nevertheless, the Lord's 
counsel, that will stand. What's Nebuchadnezzar's admission 
after God sends him out to the field to live like a beast? I 
mean, I think everybody really ought to listen to Nebuchadnezzar. 
Everybody should give ear to Nebuchadnezzar. Remember, he 
was that man that looked over Babylon, and he was parading 
himself, and he just thought, what a wonderful thing my hand 
has made. It's me, me, me, me. He'd fit right in in the 21st 
century in North America. That same confession that the 
prophet sort of condemns as well in Isaiah. He says that Babylon 
says, I am he and there is no other. It's a competitive word 
against the living and true God. Well, Nebuchadnezzar does that. 
God judges him, chastens him, sends him out to live like a 
beast in the field. And afterward, he says, my reason 
returned to me. Take a cue from that. To worship 
the true and living God means you're a reasonable, rational 
person. To not worship the true and living 
God means that you're out of your mind. Before we get back 
to Nebuchadnezzar, there's another illustration of that in the gospel 
narratives. Remember that man who lived among 
the tombs? He was demon-possessed. He was 
naked. He was cutting himself with stones. He would weep and wail all through 
the night. Christ comes to him, casts out 
the demons. And I think it's in Luke's gospel, 
Luke's description specifically, we read that the man is sitting, 
and he's clothed, and he's in his right mind. See, we think 
that that's somehow cool. Somebody, well, maybe not that 
degree of wretchedness, but we think, oh yeah, that person, 
he's evolved to the point where he knows that the God concept 
is just the opium of the masses and that truly rational and reasonable 
people have lots of degrees and they teach in universities and 
they espouse atheism. God tells us those men are out 
of their minds And that a five-year-old who says God is spirit, infinite, 
eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, 
justice, goodness, and truth, is a thousand, a million, and 
eternal times more intelligent than the atheist who says in 
his heart, there is no God. You see, God's word restores 
rationality. We'll see later. The Lord willing, 
someday. when Paul the Apostle is brought 
up on charges, when Paul the Apostle is told, much learning 
is driving you mad. What does Paul say? Well, I should 
take some time off and regroup and find myself. He says, I am 
not mad, most noble Festus, but I speak the words of truth and 
reason. Now brethren, don't miss that. 
He's saying to them, you're mad. Just like Peter is here saying, 
you are guilty for killing the Savior. But back to Nebuchadnezzar 
and the decree of God and the fact that it marches on. What 
does Nebuchadnezzar confess according to Daniel 4.35? All the inhabitants 
of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will 
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. 
No one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you 
done? Everybody should listen to that. Gamaliel certainly was 
listening to it. If it is of God, you cannot overthrow 
it. Now notice, lest you even be 
found to fight against God. You don't want to be in that 
position, do you? You don't want to be the contender 
with reference to God. You don't want to be the one 
that gets in the ring with God. Now, Gamaliel's disciple will 
eventually write, as a Christian man, if God is for us, who can 
be against us? The converse of that is true 
as well. If God is against us, who can 
be for us, right? No army in the world is going 
to defend you from the anger and the vengeance of a holy God. And so, Gamaliel, at least at 
appearance level, appeals to these men and they 
listen. Now, I just do want to add one thought before we move 
from Gamaliel's advice here. This is true in the universal 
sense. It is absolutely true in the 
universal sense. If Christianity is of man, then 
it will falter. If Christianity is of God, it 
will triumph. It will thunder forth. And, of 
course, you know I believe it is true. But at the local level 
and at certain episodic moments in history, we need to guard 
against this type of thought. Let me just explain. Mormonism 
has a lot of adherence presently. Islam has a lot of adherence 
presently. We don't, therefore, conclude 
it's of God. No. There are times in the history 
of our church, not ours specifically, ours in terms of the brethren 
universally, there are times when true works of God Most High 
are extinguished. There are times when the people 
of God suffer and are persecuted to the point where it almost 
seems like there's no more people of God. Elijah faced a time like 
that. He didn't see all the people 
of God. He sat under that broom tree and he said, I'm alone, 
left, there's no more. God says, no, I have 7,000 that 
haven't bowed the knee to Baal. So we need to make sure that 
if a particular true church gets stamped out, we don't necessarily 
conclude it wasn't of God. No, God has his purposes. God 
has his reasons. God moves in a mysterious way, 
his wonders to perform. God is His own interpreter. It is the Word that ultimately 
defines for us whether Islam or Mormonism is true. It's the 
Word of God that ultimately defines for us a group of faithful believers 
who were wiped out by a civil government. It's not the appearances. So as I say, Gamaliel's advice 
holds true at a universal macrocosmic level, but beware of falling 
into the numbers game. Well, this group of people has 
this many adherents and therefore they must be of God. Mormonism's 
not of God. Islam's not of God. It's just 
not. You can't say that, Pastor Butler. 
It's Islamophobia. Not afraid of them at all. They're 
wrong. They're false. They're incorrect. Muhammad was not a prophet. They 
are not serving the same true and living God. They are heretics. So we don't say, from the numbers 
game, it must be of God. Does everybody get that? We need 
to beware of gammalealism when it comes to the microcosm and 
a judging works, whether they are popular and prevalent or 
whether they'd been extinguished and concluding, well, they weren't 
of God. There's been a lot of good brothers and a lot of good 
churches and a lot of good people in history that have been wiped 
out for reasons unknown to us, but we cannot conclude that they 
were of men. Now notice what happens with 
reference to the council. Verse 40. And they agreed with 
him. And when they had called for 
the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should 
not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go." Again, it may 
just be because I'm a simple Tim, but they agreed with him 
should mean they let them go. The beating that they inflicted 
on them is probably that beating of Deuteronomy 25.3. You are 
not to exceed 40 lashes. And if you did, you violated 
the law. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 
11 refers to his having received that 40 lashes minus one. So it would have been 39 lashes. Don't you think agreement with 
Gamaliel would have been, okay, you guys go. We'll just let you 
go the way of Theodos and Judas of Galilee. If you're of men, 
you're gonna fail. We have that confidence now because 
Gamaliel has spoken. Why do they agree? First of all, 
why do these men on the council, who are the majority Sadducees, 
agree with this Pharisee? Believe it or not, people actually 
liked the Pharisees and didn't like the Sadducees. You know, 
we get this idea in our heads of Pharisee. It becomes like 
this four-letter word on the pages of the gospel narratives. 
And I'm not suggesting they were great, wonderful human beings. 
But as far as Israel was concerned, they were a whole lot better 
than Sadducees. So what does this reflect? The 
majority takes the minority position. Remember, one of the things I've 
tried to assert over and over again about these particular 
men is that they fear men. Because they fear men, they listen 
to the Pharisee. When it says that Gamaliel was 
held in respect by all the people, it doesn't mean the Sadducean 
council. It means the common folk on the 
ground. And so the Sadducees say, yeah, 
we're going to listen to Gamaliel. He is respected by all the people. We don't want to offend the people. 
So we'll agree with him and have no further dealings with them 
after we beat them with the whip. after we opened their backs, 
after we hurt them. Now, remember, brethren, these 
12 men were men. These 12 men had families. These 
12 men felt pain. These 12 men were fishermen, 
were men from a background that wasn't military. They hadn't 
been on the front lines. They'd probably never been beaten 
with a whip in their lives. Now they come to Jesus and they're 
being beaten with whips. So again, the lie of the health, 
wealth, prosperity gospel. Come to Jesus and you'll get 
whipped, is what these apostles will say. Not rich. You're not 
going to be the kind of fisherman where fish just jump in your 
boat. Now, there was an instance where Jesus did give them a great 
catch of fish, but that wasn't their experience then on. There's 
no health, wealth, and prosperity in identifying with Jesus Christ 
if you're an apostle. Remember, the apostles were foundational 
in terms of the church itself. The foundation stones are being 
beaten with whips. What does that mean for the rest 
of us? Health, wealth, prosperity? God's good. Very often, He does 
give us health. God very often gives us wealth. 
Very often He gives us prosperity. But brethren, that's not the 
gospel. The gospel isn't bigger bank accounts. The gospel isn't 
no physical maladies. The gospel isn't a prosperous 
life. The gospel is Christ and Him 
crucified. Christ and Him resurrected. Four 
guilty sinners. The gospel is, because of Him, 
we get to go to heaven. The gospel is, because of Him, 
not that I have a great life on earth, but because of Him, 
I'm going to live forever in eternity with Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit. You see, these men understood 
what it was to spend for Jesus Christ. F.F. Bruce explains, 
the Pharisees were in the minority, but they commanded much more 
public respect than did the Sadducees, so much so that the Sadducean 
members of the court found it impolitic to oppose the Pharisees' 
demands. That's why they do it. That's 
why they listen to Gamaliel. They don't really listen to Gamaliel 
all the way, because they got to get their licks in. Now, they 
beat them. I want to just quote one more 
commentator on this statement. Daryl Bach says, the whipping 
would have been on the back and chest with a three-stranded strap 
of calf hide. This passage kind of convicted 
me in a few different ways. First, I was very tired this 
morning. Very tired. Why am I so tired? I thought, 
these men got beat, whipped, bloodied, and they went and preached 
and teached. I know my grammar was off. They 
did it publicly. They did it privately. They didn't 
stop. They weren't dainty. They weren't pathetic. They didn't 
whine. They didn't say, look at what 
we're suffering for the Savior. They did what they were supposed 
to do. Now, I have a special love for 
calfskin. You say, that's strange, Pastor 
Butler. You're not a farmer. My Bible 
is made out of calfskin. It's almost like you can hear 
it low at times. It's so supple and beautiful. 
That's how James White described the leather of a particular Bible. He can almost hear it moo because 
it's so supple. Their experience with calfskin 
was getting their backs opened up by it, not having a nice, 
big, beautiful, wide-margin Bible. Brethren, this is the real deal. This is what Christianity looks 
like. This is giving all for Jesus. The whipping would have been 
on the back and chest with a three-stranded strap of caffeine. This could 
leave one close to death, if not dead, from loss of blood. 
The hope is that by intensifying the punishment, a deterrent will 
be established. You see, what's the Sanhedrin 
saying? Anybody want to join them, that's what you get. Anybody 
want to side with that Christ, that's what you get. This is 
intimidation. This is just gross overreach. This is absolutely terrible. 
And this, brethren, is why you should avail yourself, whether 
it's at our Sunday morning prayer meeting or the Wednesday evening 
prayer meeting, of what's happening outside of our confines. It's a group of believers, and 
as Brother Steve said this morning, and I would agree, I don't know 
the significance of the name, but there's a church called Early 
Rain Covenant Church in China. It's one of the few house churches 
that when they're told to stop preaching, they continually go 
out on the streets. Their pastor is presently in 
jail, waiting for his trial, has not been able to see his 
attorney yet. And why? Because they're inciting 
subversion to the state. You see that, right? How does 
a Christian incite subversion to the state? The Christian scriptures 
tell us to pay our taxes to the state. The Christian scriptures 
tell us to submit to the governing authorities, insofar as they 
don't tell us to sin. Christians should be the best 
citizens in a body politic, but Christians worship another God, 
you see, and when the sovereign state who wants to be God sees 
that, they start arresting and they start pouring out their 
enmity upon them. Praise God for early reign covenant 
church, that they continue to preach and teach just like their 
predecessors, the apostles. We get a raised eyebrow, and 
we're ready to check it in. We get somebody, you know, mock 
us, and that's a bunch of suffering for Jesus. Nobody knows what 
I go through here. Nobody understands the difficulties 
that I'm treading in my Christian faith. Brother, I don't want 
to undermine or say don't do that, but I would say don't whine 
about it. Our service for Jesus is really 
not like what these guys are doing. I'm not saying go to, 
you know, Prime Minister Trudeau and say, can you, you know, beat 
me because I'm a believer in Christ. I'm not suggesting that. 
Enjoy the liberties that you do have. Realize that if they 
do become scarce, we still need to obey God rather than men. 
And of course, they command them to stop preaching Christ. This 
is the end game. And had beaten them, they commanded 
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them 
go. So they agree with Gamaliel, but they don't really agree with 
Gamaliel. They agree with Gamaliel, but 
they got to get their licks in. They agree with Gamaliel because 
they want to appease the body politic that likes the Pharisees 
over the Sadducees. But we can't just let these guys 
go. We've got to hurt them. We've got to open their backs. 
Now, let's look finally at the apostles' commitment to preaching 
Christ. They depart from the council, 
according to verse 21. Of course they do. The first 
moment you'd depart from these madmen, wouldn't you? Given the 
opportunity, you'd want to run from these guys. That's not what 
they do. They're given access to leave. But notice the text, 
verse 41. So they departed from the presence 
of the council. rejoicing that they were counted 
worthy to suffer shame for his name. You know, there are certain 
key texts in the Bible where we can just, you know, close 
our Bibles and get on our faces and repent before God, and this 
is one of them. They don't write their senators 
or their congressmen. They don't appeal to the higher 
court. They don't say, these men mistreated us. They depart 
rejoicing. Why? They had been treated in 
a contemptible manner. This was a very strong shame, 
honor society. You hear that about China, don't 
you? You hear that they want to save face. It's a very honor-driven 
society. Japan, Asian countries, I think 
in many respects, North America, honor, it's very important to 
people. Notice what happens. They're honored through dishonor. 
They're graced through disgrace. They've entered into a realm 
where they have been treated contemptibly by these men, they 
have been held out as a shame in the public eye, and instead 
of whining or crying or commiserating about it, they rejoice. They 
rejoice over the fact that they have been counted worthy to suffer 
shame for his name. Bach again says, in a strongly 
shame-honor-oriented society, to be dishonored normally would 
be considered shameful. The phrase, quote, counted worthy 
to suffer dishonor is an oxymoron, a dishonor that is cause for 
joy. The leaders beat them to produce shame. They hope that 
the shame might function as a deterrent and stop their preaching or at 
least persuade others not to heed them. And yet the disciples, 
the apostles of our Lord, instead of being dishonored, instead 
of being shamed, they're counting themselves worthy to be shamed 
for the cause of Jesus Christ. And we have this bit of a textual 
reading here, where we have in the New King James His name. 
Your Bible, if it's a different sort of text type, ESV, NIV, 
NASB, may just have the name. Now, there's some merit to that. 
The name. The name of Yahweh. The name 
of Christ. At the name of Jesus, every knee 
shall bow. Every tongue will confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Alexander 
explains, not merely for being called by His name, but for the 
sake of all that it implies. His doctrine, His messiahship, 
His service, His divinity. So they are rejoicing that they 
have been counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Now notice 
in verse 42, and daily in the temple and in every house, they 
did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. The apostles 
reject the council's command. The apostles reject the prohibition 
against preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus. The apostles 
with bloodied back and with perhaps now a lamp where they never had 
one before, don't stop preaching Jesus as the Christ. There's 
that bit in Galatians chapter six where the apostle says, don't 
let anybody continue to bug me. That's the Jim Butler paraphrase 
or say things about me. For I bear in my body the brand 
marks of Jesus. I bear in my body the brand marks 
of Jesus. What are those brand marks? 2 
Corinthians 11. He was beaten by the Jews. He was beaten by 
the Romans. I remember a book by Sinclair 
Ferguson, and he comments on Galatians 6. And he says, what 
does Paul mean there? He says, you would have known 
what he meant at the church picnic. Some of the kids would have come 
to Paul, and they would have said, Paul, will you jump in 
the lake with us? And Paul, being the kind of guy Paul was, would 
have jumped in the lake with them. So Paul takes off his outer 
garment to jump into the lake, and there you see Galatians 6.17 
on his back. I bear in my body the brand marks 
of Jesus. You see, brethren, that is Christianity. That's the faith, once for all, 
delivered to the saints. That's what Jesus meant when 
he said, take up your cross daily and follow me. That's the implications 
of coming unto our Lord Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just want 
to draw out a few final thoughts. First, the fury of the enemies 
of Christ. Now, there may be seasons and 
there may be times, and by God's grace, we've experienced it. 
probably most of us for most of our lives. There are some 
in this room that haven't always. There are some in this room who 
have seen overreach, the likes that you and I have never seen 
before. And again, I'm no prophet of 
the son of a prophet, but I am suggesting we need to be ready. 
We need to be ready. I don't mean go live in a hut 
on top of Mount Sham with your beans and your rice and your 
guns. And I guess if you're inclined 
to do that, I can't stop you because you've got guns and beans 
and rice. But you see what I'm saying. 
We need to be prepared. We need to understand that just 
because we've always had it good doesn't necessarily mean we're 
always going to have it good. The enemies of Christ don't change. They hate Christ. They hate Yahweh, 
according to Psalm 2, and they hate His anointing. They rage 
against Him. They plot vain things against 
Him. As Edwards rightly pointed out, sinners can't get to the 
throne and cast God onto the earth and kill Him, but they 
can definitely go after God's people. And we need to be prepared. We need to be strong in the Lord 
and in the power of His might. Secondly, we ought to appreciate 
the perseverance of the servants of Christ. They are threatened 
by the council, chapter 4, and again here in chapter 5, and 
what do they do? They continue to preach Jesus Christ. They 
are arrested by the council, and what do they do? Both in 
chapters 3 and 4 and 5, they continue to preach Christ. They 
are beaten by the council, and what do they do? They continue 
to preach Christ. Escalation of persecution will 
increase in the empire, leading to the death of most of these 
people at the hands of the magistrate. Well, I don't know if all of 
them or most of them, but certainly some of them, Paul the Apostle 
would get his head chopped off by Nero. Peter would be crucified 
upside down. John the Apostle would be boiled 
in a vat of oil. And what really blows my mind 
is that he would survive that and ultimately end out on the 
island of Patmos. He's on Patmos after this oil 
incident. I always thought that was the 
way he met his end. And then some further research 
indicated, no, he was boiled in oil and lived to fight another 
day. I mean, the people of God, by 
the grace of God, stand up to persecution and trials and difficulties. You see, the escalation of persecution 
is going to happen right before our eyes as we move through this 
book of Acts. It initially comes from unbelieving 
Israel. It initially comes from Sanhedrin, from council. It initially 
comes from the religious leaders who are feeling slighted and 
who are feeling angry by the work that is going on right under 
their eyes. But it will increase. it will 
move into the empire itself. Initially, the empire treated 
Christians like they did Jews. They thought Christianity, something 
like a subset to Judaism, so Christians really didn't get 
molested. They didn't get messed with in the empire. But it changed. It changed drastically. It changed 
huge. And this is what the experience 
of God's people has been in the past. Listen to Calvin. He says, 
therefore, in light of the fact that these men suffered what 
these men suffered, therefore it will be to our daintiness." 
I just wanted to cite this quote because I love his choice of 
word. Daintiness. That's, I think, my problem. 
Dainty. Therefore, woe be to our daintiness, 
who, having suffered a little persecution, do by and by resign 
up the light or the torch to another, as if we were now old, 
worn soldiers. Now, as you get old and as you 
get worn, you do slow down. It's just the way it is. But 
I think Calvin's point holds. Woe be to our daintiness if we 
suggest, well, you know, I just can't go on anymore. These men 
were beaten within inches of their lives and continued to 
go on. They continued to preach. They 
continued to teach. I want to consider thirdly, in 
terms of conclusion, the joy of the servants of Christ, the 
joy of the servants of Christ. The apostles rejoice that they 
were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name. Very similar 
to what Christ taught in the 8th Beatitude, isn't it? Matthew 
5, 10 to 12, blessed are you when you suffer for my sake. 
It's consistent with what Christ had warned them about. Christ 
told them that this was going to happen. Matthew 10, 17, they 
will deliver you up. They will scourge you in their 
synagogues. The master had prepared them 
for this eventuality. The master had promised a beatitude 
for those who suffered for his cause. And now these apostles 
are knowing it in their own experience. And I think as well, with reference 
to this apostolic suffering on behalf of Jesus, it corroborates, 
validates, affirms, underscores, or causes us, hopefully, to take 
heed to what they would write. We studied this on Wednesday 
night. a little break from Genesis and 
looked at the believer and trials in James 1, 2-8. What's James tell us there, my 
brethren? Count it all joy when you fall 
into various trials. Why does he tell us that? because 
the contrary is typically the way we respond. We fall into 
trials and we whine, we murmur, we grumble, we complain. We need 
to be like these disciples who put their money where their mouths 
were and who would write these things not because it was some 
ethereal dream, but because it was their own experience born 
out of their suffering for the Lord Jesus Christ. In his statement 
on how the church ought to deal with persecution in 1 Peter chapter 
4, the Apostle Peter tells us we're to rejoice. We're to rejoice. Why? Are we sadistic? Are we masochistic? Do we like 
blood and pain and shame and all that? No! We're suffering 
for the Master. We're counted worthy to suffer 
for the name. We're following our Savior. We're doing what He bid us. We're 
taking up the cross daily, and we're following Him. And I want 
to end on that. Christ, according to the book 
of the Song of Solomon, Christ is described by the bride there 
as altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. You know that experience 
in your own bosom, don't you? You as believers in Jesus Christ, 
amen, that description of the bride in Song of Solomon chapter 
five. He is altogether lovely, isn't 
he? We know that. He justified us 
freely by His grace. He's sanctifying us by the power 
of His Holy Spirit, and He's going to glorify us in that eternal, 
blessed New Jerusalem. He is altogether lovely, and 
He is chief among 10,000. Well, brethren, if He is those 
things that the bride suggests, if He is those things that our 
hearts resonate with, then He's certainly worthy of us upsetting 
a religious council who hates Him. He is certainly worthy of 
us going to jail, if called upon. He is certainly worthy of us 
having our backs ripped open until they're a bloody pulp, 
if He decrees for us. And He is certainly worth our 
dying for. because he's altogether lovely 
and he's chief among 10,000. If you're an unbeliever here 
this morning, very often you hear pastors or preachers say, 
come to Jesus and it will be wonderful. I can't say that any 
better. It will be wonderful. There's 
this kind of common misperception out there that when you go to 
Jesus, you lose. You go to Jesus, you have to give everything up. 
You go to Jesus and life changes, it changes so much, and it's 
all for the worse. What believer in here would ever, 
ever say that's the case? Anybody here on their way to 
the celestial city want to go back to the city of destruction? 
Does anybody here say, you know what? I don't want this one who's 
altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. I'd much rather have 
the devil. I'd much rather have this godless, 
wretched, horrible world. And I'd really rather have my 
sin. Now, I know we battle, and I know we struggle, and there 
is that war in our hearts, the good we wish to do, we don't 
do. But the prevailing attitude of the people of God is that 
He's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. If you're not a 
believer here this morning, come. You will not lose, you will gain. You will say with the Apostle, 
for to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Because that 
means more Christ. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for this account 
in Acts chapter 5. Give us grace as the people of 
God to see the altogether loveliness of our Savior, to see that He 
is, in fact, chief among 10,000. And may we be willing to defy 
courts that would tell us not to preach in His name. May we 
be willing to submit to the whip, to arrest, to even death itself, 
because He's altogether lovely and chief among 10,000. Thank 
you for churches outside of North America, those suffering under 
the persecuting hand of godless states. Thank you that you give 
them grace. Thank you that you give them 
courage, that you give them tenacity and perseverance to continue 
to preach the gospel, even when their own governments are against 
them. and have targeted them for destruction. May this word 
continue to go forth, and may it not return unto you void. 
May it always accomplish the purpose for which you sent it, 
namely the salvation of a great multitude that no man can number. 
And we ask this in the name and for the glory of our Lord and 
Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, let's close by singing 
the doxology in praise to our God,