Acts, Chapter 5

Please, in your Bible read the chapter.

Verse 1: “Now a man named Ananias together with his wife Saphira, also sold a piece of property.

Verse 2: With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.”

All of this had the appearance of copying the Barnabas act (4:36). Was Ananias not entitled to some of the proceeds of the sale? He was entitled to all of it. Perhaps he had to pay for private health-insurance or the mortgage

Ananias and his wife acted like Barnabas, as if they too were filled with the Holy Spirit.

Verse 3:”Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that SATAN has so filled YOUR heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?

Verse 4: Did not it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God,”

How very serious. God desired, through the purity of this newly born, Holy Spirit filled Church, to testify to stiff-necked Israel, about the holy righteousness of Jesus of Nazareth. There was one human blot that may blunt God’s testimony, a lie to the Holy Spirit of God. And God must and would wipe it away.

Verse 5: “When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

Verse 6: Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.”

Verse 7: “About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

Verse 8: “Peter asked her: ‘Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?’ ‘Yes,’ she said, ’that is the price’ “.

Verse 9: ‘Peter asked her: ‘How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

Shouldn’t all God’s people these days take notice? Never ever take God or His Holy Spirit for granted!

Verse 10: “At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and finding her dead carried her out and buried her beside her husband.”

In and through the Church, as it then was, God Himself made sure that His testimony to Israel, about His Son Jesus, should be positively spotless. More than that, the event of two people dying and Peter’s discernment in this, was a dire warning to the leadership of Israel. Did they now learn about the mighty power of a holy God? No, they did not.

Verse 11: “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events”.

The Bible now continues by mentioning two series of events:

1. Verses 12 –16 God’s miraculous signs and wonders through the Apostles.

2. The jealousy and anger amongst the priests and Sadducees.

We will spend some time on point 2:

Verse 17: “Then the High Priest and all his associates who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

Verse 18: They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.”

The power of jealousy defeats the power of reason. The power of God may defeat the power of jealousy.. Those priests, they were not only jealous, they also were very powerful. But . . . GOD!

Verse 19:”But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out

Verse 20: “ ‘Go, stand in the temple-courts’, he said, ’and tell the people the full message of the new life.’ “

It would not be surprising if, during the night in jail, the apostles did ask the Lord: ’Why?’ Can you imagine they could have done so? Were they not in the will of the Lord? How many times did the Lord hear that question from human hearts and lips?

Would it surprise you, if His answer were as follows: ‘This happened so that I may gain glory to My Name and the Name of Jesus, My Son?’

We humans may have plans, make decisions, may have loved ones and excellent health, and God brings in a difficulty or a sad situation, can we then acknowledge His love, His wisdom, His power and grace? To bring Him the glory that is so due to His Name? In such situations let us agree with the Lord Jesus when He prayed; ’not My will but Yours be done’.

Verse 21:”At daybreak they entered the temple-courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin - the full assembly of the elders of Israel and sent to the jail for the apostles.

= 26 =

The apostles had been up bright and early, busy doing ‘as they had been told ’.And with them, there at the temple-courts? GOD! HE had a message for the Sanhedrin, all the elders of Israel.

Verses 22, 23: “But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported: ‘We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them we found no one inside.”

The priests and rulers did not like it at all, but the God of Israel was able to move the rock and open the grave of His dear Son and let Him out. Would He not be able to have His servants free from a jail? Is there anything impossible for Him? Standing like a high, hard rock the prison walls stood around them, the doors cruelly forbidding, the prisoners securely locked in. What does all that mean to the God of all creation? When we learn about today’s discoveries, inventions, possibilities and technology it is to us certainly the proof of human intelligence behind all that. Today we are living amongst lots of people who are busy talking about the powers of mother nature that cannot be stopped. Why can they never be stopped? Because they too are subject to intelligence. Divine intelligence.

Every flood, every drought, every thunderstorm, every earthquake and every volcano, spewing or not, is under God’s control. The stars high in the sky, the foundations, deep under the earth, are at His fingertips. All of it starts and stops in His wise and powerful will and wisdom. Let’s glory in Him and HIS eternal intelligence. All powers of nature are subject to God’s intelligence.. ALL is HIS prerogative.

Verse 24: “On hearing this rapport, the captain of the temple-guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this.

Verse 25: Then someone came and said, ’look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple-courts teaching the people.’ “

People who love God need not be ‘puzzled’. They may not always understand the ways of His intelligence, but they know they may trust Him. Not only trust His love, but also His wisdom, His power, promises and grace.

Verse 26: “At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

Verse 27:“Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.”

They did not need to use force. The apostles willingly stood, facing a most imposing gathering. They were well aware that these men could decide about life or death, for this bunch of, as they thought, troublemakers

Verse 28: “ ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this Name’ he said, ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood

Wisely he steered clear from asking: ‘How did you get out of jail’. If those guys in the Sanhedrin were not guilty, who was? The Name they hated so much was the Name judging and condemning them. Whatever they decided to do against the Name of Jesus would be a sad, futile exercise. So it is and will be for the millions who today are without hope and without God in the world. One day they will discover that for themselves. They too will know their guilt ‘of this man’s blood’.

Verse 29: “Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than men!

Verse 30: The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead – Whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree.

Verse 31: God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Saviour that He might give repentance and forgiveness to Israel’ ”.

It should not be necessary, but again we need to notice the word ‘Israel’! On that day at that occasion, God the Holy Spirit, was still using the young Church of the Lord Jesus to address ISRAEL. The ‘speaking in tongues’, all the wonders and miraculous signs, the apostles teaching in those days, all of it was to convict and convince Israel, not for endeavours to copy in 2010.

Verse 32: “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

In other words the imposing meeting of learned and threatening leaders were facing twelve ignorant men who told them they were not obedient to faith in Jesus and therefore could not have the Holy Spirit. The only thing they had witnessed was, what to them was a fraud, dying on a cross and being buried. Jesus, having been raised from the grave, to them that was a monstrous lie.

Verse 33: “When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.”

Yeah, yeah, If you do not want to hear the message, you kill the messenger. That’s what they did with this Jesus of Nazareth, that’s what they wanted for His followers. That’s what would restore law and order. But . . . God!

They all passed away, the apostles as well as their agressors. But the Name, that precious Name of Jesus, oh, how sweet that Name, every day the same! It will never pass away.

Verse 40: “ . . . They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the Name of Jesus, and let them go.”

Their backs and legs a bloody mess

Verse 41: “the apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing, because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.

Verse 42: “Day after day in the temple-courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”