Acts 5:39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
Now that’s a fight we’ll never win Friends; remember that. The apostles had been healing and teaching Christ crucified around Jerusalem. This angered the high priest and his sect, the Sadducees, so through the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council, they had the apostles imprisoned. ‘But the angel of the Lord by night opened the doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught.’ (Acts 5:19-21) All power to God, Friends! He turned the joke on the council, who thought they had the apostles safely out of the way, in jail. And were they surprised and confused when the apostles went missing, with the prison normal. They had no idea of their whereabouts until told that they were teaching in the temple. This raised both their ire and laughingstock level, and sent the guard to arrest the apostles again, which they did, but without violence, afraid the people would turn into a riotous mob and stone them. And with the Lord directing His script, the drama heightens. When the apostles appear before the council, the high priest berates them for preaching in Jesus’ name, after they’d been explicitly warned not to. The council feared that through the apostles teaching, they would be blamed for Jesus’ death. But in the face of such adversity, the apostles stood strong, proclaiming, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’ (Acts 5:38) This only increased the council’s anger and they voted to slay the apostles. But strangely, Bruh Paul’s teacher, Gamaliel, was the one wise, dissenting voice. He recounted the many false Messiahs who had appeared through the ages, but had amounted to nothing, and their followers had simply disbanded after their deaths. ‘And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought.’ (vs.38) ‘But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it.’ Of course not, for Jesus said, ‘I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist.’ (Luke 21:15) Also,’Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men: and the weakness of God is stronger than men.’ (1 Cor.1:25) And Gamaliel ends, ‘lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.’ A fight they’d been unsuccessfully waging for years. ‘Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye.’ (Acts 7:51). Bruh Paul himself learned that from hard experience when he got knocked down by heavenly light, on his way to persecute more believers in Damascus, and the Lord told him, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.’ (Acts 9:5) So,through one man’s timely wisdom, the Lord saved the lives of the apostles. But they were beaten, commanded not to preach Jesus and released. ‘And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.’ (Acts.5:41-42) All praise to the Lord’s power people! They can berate and beat, even kill our physical bodies, but not the spirit that’s filled with the Word. Let’s go forth and do likewise, so that future generations will look back on our witness with pride, as we do on that of the original apostles. Much LOVE!…there’s no battle as worthy…as the Lord’s…so fight it…tooth and nail…
Now that’s a fight we’ll never win Friends; remember that. The apostles had been healing and teaching Christ crucified around Jerusalem. This angered the high priest and his sect, the Sadducees, so through the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council, they had the apostles imprisoned. ‘But the angel of the Lord by night opened the doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught.’ (Acts 5:19-21) All power to God, Friends! He turned the joke on the council, who thought they had the apostles safely out of the way, in jail. And were they surprised and confused when the apostles went missing, with the prison normal. They had no idea of their whereabouts until told that they were teaching in the temple. This raised both their ire and laughingstock level, and sent the guard to arrest the apostles again, which they did, but without violence, afraid the people would turn into a riotous mob and stone them. And with the Lord directing His script, the drama heightens. When the apostles appear before the council, the high priest berates them for preaching in Jesus’ name, after they’d been explicitly warned not to. The council feared that through the apostles teaching, they would be blamed for Jesus’ death. But in the face of such adversity, the apostles stood strong, proclaiming, ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’ (Acts 5:38) This only increased the council’s anger and they voted to slay the apostles. But strangely, Bruh Paul’s teacher, Gamaliel, was the one wise, dissenting voice. He recounted the many false Messiahs who had appeared through the ages, but had amounted to nothing, and their followers had simply disbanded after their deaths. ‘And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought.’ (vs.38) ‘But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it.’ Of course not, for Jesus said, ‘I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay or resist.’ (Luke 21:15) Also,’Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men: and the weakness of God is stronger than men.’ (1 Cor.1:25) And Gamaliel ends, ‘lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.’ A fight they’d been unsuccessfully waging for years. ‘Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye.’ (Acts 7:51). Bruh Paul himself learned that from hard experience when he got knocked down by heavenly light, on his way to persecute more believers in Damascus, and the Lord told him, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.’ (Acts 9:5) So,through one man’s timely wisdom, the Lord saved the lives of the apostles. But they were beaten, commanded not to preach Jesus and released. ‘And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.’ (Acts.5:41-42) All praise to the Lord’s power people! They can berate and beat, even kill our physical bodies, but not the spirit that’s filled with the Word. Let’s go forth and do likewise, so that future generations will look back on our witness with pride, as we do on that of the original apostles. Much LOVE!…there’s no battle as worthy…as the Lord’s…so fight it…tooth and nail…
SCRIP-BITS 