Listen To Wise Counsel

Acts 5:33-40

The religious leaders of the day were very upset at the disciples and disturbed at their teaching. These leaders were ready to put the disciples to death. One of the elder men in the group, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, stood up and gave them different advice. He shared with them that if what the apostles were teaching was of men, it would be overthrown and cited some examples of the past. However, if the teaching was from God, man would not be able to overthrow it.

Gamaliel was known as a very wise teacher of the law. In fact Paul had been one of his disciples before his conversion. He was highly regarded in rabbinic tradition and given the highest possible title for Jewish teachers. We notice in v. 40 that the religious leaders, both Sadducees and Pharisees, took his advice.

It is wise to listen to good counsel whether it is of a spiritual or of a material nature. I encourage you to develop relationships with wise men and women that can be of benefit to you and pay attention to their counsel in your life. God has brought several wise men into my life and I believe I have benefited greatly from them. Some of them have been very helpful to me in my spiritual life and others have provided good counsel regarding my career, work habits, etc.

I believe God has placed both Godly and worldly men in my life who have given me good counsel. The one thing I needed to do was to check their counsel against the word of God. If it was good and not contrary to the Bible then I used it effectively in my life. Gamaliel was most likely not a Christian, yet his advice to these men was good.

Another thing we can learn from this passage is that the crowd is not always right. People are easily influenced and this group of religious leaders was being led the wrong way until Gamaliel stood up and challenged them. Often the counsel we may receive may not go along with what the majority are thinking. We need the courage to stand alone and be different if that is the way God is leading.

I pray that you would take advantage of the wise counselors God puts in your life.

“We Must Obey God Rather Than Men”

Acts 5:29

“But Peter and the apostles answered and said, “We must obey God rather than men.”

In this passage (Acts 5:17-32) we have the first of three occurrences where apostles were imprisoned for their faith. In this situation apparently all twelve of the apostles were put in prison (v. 18). An angel of the Lord released them and told them to go preach the message of salvation in the temple. In most cases when people escape from jail they hide from the authorities but in this situation the apostles were instructed to be very obvious about their denial of the rulers commands.

The Bible teaches us to honor human authority and to obey human laws. Here we find an exception to that rule and one that applies to us also. We are to be obedient of the laws of the land in which we live unless they command us to be disobedient to God. In that situation our allegiance to God as a Christian should cause us to obey God rather than man.

Notice the nature of the apostles rebellion. It was not one of force but of simple obedience to the angel’s instructions. They went to the temple and preached the gospel. There is no evidence of resistance when the authorities came to arrest them again. I think one of the reasons for this attitude was the apostles extreme confidence in God. They were very aware of the Holy Spirit’s protection in their lives. It challenges me to see their boldness when I realize that we live in a country where we have freedom of expression and yet we seem to be so hesitant to share the message of salvation to those around us.

It is exciting to be around new Christians because they are typically very bold in sharing their faith. Then as they begin to meet resistance and observe many Christians not doing that, they become more hesitant. We should strive to maintain the freshness of the newness of Christ in our lives and a willingness and boldness to share our faith realizing the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the lives of those with whom we share.

Ananias and Sapphira

Acts 5:1-11

The story of Ananias and Sapphira is one of the more familiar in the New Testament and it is important that we understand its implications. We don’t see God judging His people this severely very often so we need to grasp the significance. Some time ago in studying the book of Joshua we discussed the sin of Achan (Joshua 7) which had similar ramifications. In his case not only was he put to death but also his entire family.

Remember we have just discussed how the people were willing to sell property because others had need. We were just told in Acts 4:36-37 that Barnabas had sold a piece of property and brought the proceeds to the Apostles to use as needed. Ananias and Sapphira did the same thing, only they kept back some of the proceeds but made others believe they had given everything. This is called hypocrisy and is one of Satan’s most effective tools. Their sin was not keeping something from God, but lying to Him.

It seems apparent that Ananias was a Christian, yet “Satan filled his heart”. Satan can influence the Christian as well as the non-Christian. When we become a Christian we get a new nature, but the old nature still resides within us and is constantly fighting for control of our lives. We must not let Satan succeed. I John 1:9 was written to the Christian and we need to confess our sin as soon as we realized we have sinned in order to maintain a right relationship with God.

Don’t miss the insight given to Peter by the Holy Spirit. He immediately knew something was amiss and challenged Ananias. He then revealed the sin “You have not lied to men, but to God.” It is important here to note the fact that we are completely transparent before God; we have no secrets from Him. He not only knows our every deed, He knows our every thought.

I pray that you will be so sensitive to God’s direction in your life that you will recognize when Satan presents you with temptation and will avoid it. When you disobey God with your thoughts or actions I pray that you will recognize that quickly and confess it to Him so that you will retain the relationship with Him that He desires.

Sharing Among Believers

Acts 4:32-37

It is interesting to note the unity of believers in these first few chapters of Acts. We saw earlier that the Christians were selling their possessions to care for the needs of others. Here we see a specific example of that and are introduced to the man Barnabas.

Notice the characteristics of the believers mentioned in this passage. They were of “one heart and one soul”, “not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own”, “there was not a needy person among them”. I believe this is the way God desires the church to function. That belief is confirmed by a study of the Bible’s teaching concerning the poor, widows and orphans. Consistently we are instructed to care for them.

The Bible is careful, however, to point out that there should not be abuse of this practice. For instance I Timothy 5 discusses the care and regulation of widows in depth. Notice in v. 4 that the first responsibility is with the children and grand-children of the widow. God felt so strongly about this that in v. 8 He tells us that if we don’t care for our own we are worse than an unbeliever. Additional regulations are listed in the following verses. If a widow doesn’t have family it is the church’s responsibility to care for her.

Notice the result of being obedient to the Lord’s commands in this area. Acts 4:33 tells us “abundant grace was upon them all”. That abundant grace is a part of the abundant life Jesus has promised (John 10:10).

We live in a very selfish society, one that depends on the government to care for the poor and needy. The majority of people are living beyond their means so if a crisis occurs where they desire to share they often are prevented from doing so because of their own financial condition. From God’s perspective giving should be our top financial priority but from the human perspective it is our bottom priority.

I pray that you will be sensitive and responsive to the needs God places on your heart. You will be richly blessed by that attitude.

Specific Prayer/Specific Answer

Acts 4:23-31

This passage gives us the first prayer recorded in the book of Acts. Peter and John had been released and went to their companions and shared what had happened to them. All of them apparently lifted their voices in prayer to God recognizing His sovereignty. We also learn that they realized that the Holy Spirit directed the writing of the Old Testament as they quote Psalm 2. Finally, they recognized that the opposition encountered was predestined by God.

In verse 29 they asked that they might be given boldness to “speak Thy word with all confidence.” We see the answer occurs quickly in v. 31 where we are told they “began to speak the word of God with boldness.”

Prayer is an important part of our Christian lives and one that is often neglected unless we are encountering some type of problem. Many Christians seem to want their relationship with God to be like one with a mechanic. They only come to Him when there is a problem. These men had just escaped a problem and were now asking for boldness to continue their ministry in spite of the opposition they expected to face.

Notice that first they gave praise to God and recognized His sovereignty. That is a good process in our prayer life. It is profitable for us to recognize the largeness of God and the smallness of ourselves. They also recognized God’s power and desire to work through them as they prayed for boldness to proclaim His message. When we are carrying out God’s will in our lives we can anticipate the leading and power of His Holy Spirit in our lives. We must be careful, however, never to take that for granted and we should also give Him the glory for anything that is accomplished through us.

I pray that you will recognize the awesomeness of the Holy Spirit residing within you and that you will also see the need to maintain a vital prayer life.