“The Spirit Cannot Be Stopped” Acts 5:27-42

One of the most frustrating things in life is the inability to be in control of a situation when we really want to be in control. Whether it’s something as trivial as a sporting event or as important as a life-changing event, we can only watch helplessly as we wait for the final outcome, knowing that there is nothing you or I can do to change the outcome.

In the early days of the Church, there was a lot of opposition. The message that was being preached seemed to go against traditional religious thought, and the way Peter and the others were preaching the message, they made it clear that Jesus’ death was caused by the ends of those who were in charge of Israel. It’s understandable, then, that the Church was opposed by the powers that be, and that threat was a constant cloud over the success or failure of the Church.

But there was one thing those early Christians knew—God was on their side and He would not let them fail.

Background

The last time we saw the Church, it was literally being shaken by the Holy Spirit, and the Church was emboldened to share the Gospel despite warnings from the Sanhedrin to stop. The Church became a place where people were bringing their possessions to the fellowship in order to sell them and use the money to support the needy members.

Unfortunately, a married couple in the Church decided they would use their possessions to make themselves look good in the eyes of the fellowship. Ananias and Sapphira sold some of their things and brought a portion to the leaders. So far, so good. But Ananias and his wife told everyone that they had given all the money to the Church, when in fact they had kept some of the money back for themselves.

Confronted by their lie, God struck both of them down and sent a shockwave through the Church. The message was we do not lie to the Holy Spirit, because there are dire circumstances to the one who lies.

Meanwhile, the Church continued to minister to the community. Peter and the others spent each day at the Temple, healing and ministering and preaching the Gospel. Inevitably, the opposition arose, and the apostles were arrested.

An interesting thing, though. The apostles had been placed in prison and were to spend the night there before appearing before the Sanhedrin the next morning. The plans of men do not take into account God’s plans. During the night, God sent an angel and released the apostles with the instruction to return to the Temple and “tell the people the full message of this new life” (5:20).

The next morning, the Sanhedrin gathered and sent for the prisoners. The guards went to the prison and returned shortly afterward. Noticeably absent from the proceedings were the apostles. The guards reported that the prison had been and continued to be secured, that all the guards had been alert throughout the night, but the prisoners were gone. The Bible says, “On hearing this report, the captain of the Temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this” (v. 24).

While they were puzzling over this, a person came in and told them that they had found the apostles preaching in the Temple. Quickly, guards were sent and the apostles were gently led away, lest the crowd attack the guards.

And here’s where it gets interesting.

Central Truth: No power on earth can prevent the Holy Spirit from achieving His purpose.

The warning (27-28)

I can only imagine how irked the high priest and the others were upon seeing the apostles brought in. These guys were supposed to have spent the night in prison. Somehow, they got out and were back at the very things they had been arrested for. Their accusation and warning tells us a lot about what they were concerned about.

“’We gave you strict orders not to teach in His name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood’” (v. 28). Can you see what they’re upset about?

First, there’s this matter of ignoring the Sanhedrin’s strict orders. The apostles were not supposed to teach in Jesus’ name, a name that the high priest himself could not or would not speak. This is the same high priest who had earlier said it was better for one person to die for the nation than for the nation to be destroyed (cf. John 11:49-50). There was an intense dislike of Jesus by the high priest and his associates, because Jesus was a direct threat to their positions as leaders. Jesus set on end their beliefs, and no matter what they had done, Jesus’ popularity had continued to grow.

So they got rid of Him.

But rather than putting an end to this nonsense, it was continuing to cause problems for them. So they ordered the apostles to stop teaching in Jesus’ name.

Not only were the apostles still preaching in Jesus’ name, but they were spreading it all across the city. The message was taking hold. People were aware of the message, and people were joining the Church each day. More and more, the city was becoming a Christian city, and that could not be tolerated.

And finally, there was this matter of blame. “You are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Not only were the apostles teaching in Jesus’ name, but they had this nasty habit of telling the facts and the truth, neither of which were pleasing to the powers that be. Look back at Peter’s messages, and in both of the ones we have in Acts, he was not afraid to say that the people of Jerusalem, instigated and led by their leaders, were the ones who had crucified Christ. There was no other way around it. And the Sanhedrin were tired of being the fall guys in this story. I don’t know if this was the part that annoyed them most, but it’s telling that they felt the need to bring it up in their charges against the apostles.

So, to summarize, the Sanhedrin wanted the apostles to stop teaching in Jesus’ name, stop spreading the message all over Jerusalem, and to stop blaming them for Jesus’ crucifixion.

How would the Church respond? We already have an inkling of their responses by the way they have spoken to the Sanhedrin before and in the shaken Church itself.

The response (29-32)

Having heard the warning, it’s as if Peter and the others hadn’t heard a word of the warning.

The first thing Peter said was that if it’s a question of obeying the Sanhedrin or obeying God, God wins every time. They were not afraid to be imprisoned. Clearly, the events of the last two days let the leaders know that no prison could hold God’s message. So, the apostles were not about to obey the Sanhedrin.

Twisting the knife more, Peter again reminded the high priest and his people that they had, in fact, killed Jesus. Peter didn’t belabor the point, but he didn’t deny it either. Maybe the high priest didn’t want to hear it, maybe he didn’t want to be reminded of his role in the events of the crucifixion, but that wouldn’t change the facts. They had betrayed Jesus, and God had raised Him up again.

And in further defiance, Peter continued to teach them in Jesus’ name. “God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Savior that He might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him” (vs. 31-32).

In making this declaration, the apostles, through Peter, answered the warning with a firm, “No.” They would not stop preaching and teaching in Jesus’ name. They would not stop reminding the people of those who betrayed Jesus. And they would not stop preaching forgiveness of sin in Jesus’ name to everyone in the city. The Sanhedrin could do what they wanted, but nothing short of killing the apostles would stop them from their ministry.

The wise counsel (33-39)

Putting them to death seemed like a good idea to most of the Sanhedrin. The Bible tells us they were furious. How dare these crude fishermen and common people defy the authority and integrity of the august body of men who stood in judgment of them? Who did they think they were? If a prison wouldn’t hold them, then let the executioner have them. That will put an end to it.

It was then that the voice of reason arose in the chamber. Earlier in the chapter, the high priest and his associates had been identified as Sadducees. The Sadducees were the equivalent of moderate churches in today’s Christian world. They didn’t necessarily recognize the Old Testament beyond the history books. The prophets and poetry were interesting, but they didn’t necessarily believe the Psalms, Proverbs and everything else through Malachi was the inspired word of God.

The Pharisees were the more conservative branch of Judaism. Similar to most evangelical churches, they believed all of the Old Testament was the inspired word of God, and they believed the obedience to the law was paramount to a people who would continue to find God’s blessings.

One of these Pharisees was a man named Gamaliel. He stood up, asked that the apostles be taken out of the Sanhedrin and then addressed the assembled group. He gave them a lesson in recent history. He mentioned two men in particular, men who claimed to be the Messiah. These men had followers, but the followers disappeared when the men had died. Both of these men had been killed, but we don’t know who had done the killing.

Gamaliel then said this. “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God” (vs. 38-39).

His counsel was wise and carried with it so much truth. Others had come before Jesus, making claims similar to His claims. They had gathered followers, similar to Jesus’ followers. And they had died untimely deaths, just as Jesus had been crucified. The similarities were too strong not to connect the dots. Do nothing. If it’s from God, it can’t be stopped. If it’s not from God, it will die of its own accord.

His last words carried the most weight. If it is from God, you will only find yourselves fighting against God. Gamaliel reminded them that God cannot and will not be stopped, and any effort to thwart Him would go against God’s will. Going against God’s will was the invitation to bring judgment upon them all.

I think it is a mistake to assume that Gamaliel was a secret convert to Christianity. There is no record that he was. He probably resented the words of Peter and the others that had been spoken only a few moments before in this same room. Yet, Gamaliel had enough presence of mind to know that the best thing to do was to do nothing. Let it go and see what happens.

The final results (40-42)

The Sanhedrin had listened to Gamaliel. The Bible says his speech persuaded them. Sort of.

Gamaliel had said to let them go and do nothing. That wasn’t good enough for the Sanhedrin. In order to remind the apostles who was in charge, they had the men flogged. Beaten with a whip that stripped the skin from their backs. Then they were told, once more, stop preaching in Jesus’ name. Having taken their literal pound of flesh from each of the apostles, the Sanhedrin then let them go.

And how did the apostles respond to this? They rejoiced!

Lest we think the apostles were gluttons for punishment, their rejoicing wasn’t in being flogged, but in being considered worthy to suffer as Jesus had suffered. And they continued to preach their message.

I’ve told you this story before, but it is appropriate for this passage. Years ago, I had attended the state evangelism sessions. One of the speakers was a man who was a minister in communist Eastern Europe. This man had returned his homeland from studying in England, knowing that preaching was illegal in his homeland. Yet, he went and preached the good news of Jesus Christ. And sure enough, he was arrested.

He said during one of the interrogation sessions, one of the state police threatened him with a statement that they had the power to kill him and nothing would happen to them. The minister’s response was, “Go ahead and kill me. If you kill me, you will give my messages greater power. People who already have the tapes of my messages will listen again more intently, because they will know that I died for what I believed. My blood will empower these messages. So, please, go ahead.” He said he was released shortly after that and never bothered again by the state police.

That’s what the apostles were about. They had been counted worthy to suffer for Christ, and it gave them a boldness beyond what they had before. They knew their message was taking hold, that it was having an effect. And they never stopped preaching in Jesus’ name.

Conclusion

No one likes to suffer. No one enjoys pain. At least, most people try to avoid it. There are times, though, that suffering is necessary for our good. We have to run a fever in order to burn out the virus that is making us sick. We have to endure hardship in order to discipline ourselves better for life’s challenges.

We are blessed to live in a country where we really don’t have to suffer for following Christ. Nonetheless, there are certain slights we face, certain snide remarks we have to endure. No one is going to flog us, but we are called upon to sacrifice for Christ at times.

The question we have to answer today is: We have an opportunity to share Christ with our world. How will we respond?