Acts Of The Apostles (8 Of 39)

As we come to the fifth chapter of the Book of Acts, God had moved by the power of the Holy Spirit in a great way.

But when we get to chapter five, we see where the devil makes his move, through a couple in the church called Ananias and Saphirra.

WHAT KIND OF CHURCH MEMBERS WERE THEY?

They were first class hypocrites. Sad to say, but every church has them

God used Ananias and Saphirra as examples, to show how He was displeased with hypocrisy, and killed them in church because of their hypocrisy.

HOW DID THAT AFFECT THE CHURCH?

The Bible tells us, GREAT FEAR came on the congregation. Look at verse 11, “And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.”

Illus: In boxing this was a knock out punch. The devil raised his ugly head, and the Lord knocked it off at the shoulders.

I want to remind you, that in the book of Acts, Luke is writing to his good friend Theophilus, and telling him of the “Acts of the apostles” of this early church.

He was saying, "Theophilus, after this tremendous spiritual victory, here is what happened:

I. THE ARREST

Look at verses 17-18, we read, “Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.”

The early church was being greatly used of God and the devil is furious. Look at-

A. THEIR RAGE

It does not take much to make some people mad. Peter and John had not broken one law of the land. They had not hurt anyone physically. Yet the Bible says the high priest and his gang, were filled with “indignation…”

The word “Indignation” here is the Greek word, “zelos” which means JEALOUSY.

The Christians were everything they were not, and they were clearly jealous!

The Bible tells us that when we march forward, we might as well expect opposition from Satan.

In 2 Tim. 3:12, we read, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

Peter and John had been preaching the gospel, and God had been blessing their efforts. Multitudes were coming to Christ, turning their loyalty and income from the High Priest and his cohorts, to Christ and His ministry.

Look at Acts 5:17-18, we read, “Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.”

Illus: Someone said, “When a man is wrong and won't admit it, he always becomes angry. "

To say the high priest was angry would be putting it mildly.

B. THEIR RELEASE

The high priest was about to find out he could not have the final word in this case. People may think they call the shots, and pull all the strings, but there is a God in heaven Who is very much in control of His church.

The man who comes against God's church, as His people work to reach lost souls for Christ, does not know what he is doing! They are not fighting man, they are fighting God.

God wins all His battles, He has never lost a fight. Anyone rising up against God's work, would be a lot smarter to crawl in a pit of poisonous snakes, and play with them.

Notice, they locked the apostles up in a common prison. They thought, with all their power and influence, they had really done something big.

They had pulled the right strings, and pushed the right buttons, and they were successful in stopping God's men, by having them jailed.

Once they accomplish their goal, the Lord turns around and smashes their efforts. How?

Look at verse 19, we read, “But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth…”

We looked at THE ARREST, but now let us look at -

II. THE ARENA

WHAT TOOK PLACE THERE?

A. THEY SPOKE

Look at verses 19-20. We read, “But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”

We cannot help but marvel at what man has been able to achieve in the physical realm, but when it comes to spiritual things, we find man is a moron.

Illus: We have some of the smartest young people ever. All they know in the secular realm, will simply amaze you, but those same students could not tell you what God requires a person to do to be saved, if their lives depended on it.