“And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide,” Acts 4:1-3.
Last week we considered the contrast between the reaction of thousands to Peter and John’s preaching and that of the religious leaders in the temple. The former rejoiced and believed the Gospel and the latter angrily had the apostles arrested and put in prison!
Girls and boys, to the end of time that division will remain shoulder to shoulder in this world. But in eternity the believer and the unbeliever shall for ever be utterly separated.
The Saviour had warned of this great separation: — “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” Matthew 8:11-12.
That is the dreadful fate of those who reject the Gospel.
The next day Peter and John are brought before the great council of religious leaders, called the Sanhedrin.
I. THEY ASK A VERY FOOLISH QUESTION!
“By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?” Verse 7. The poor paralysed man did not ask that question . He knew how he had been healed! “And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God,” verse 8.
5000 men and many women and younger hearers no doubt, readily accept that the miracle was the work of God. “Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand,” verse 4. The word “howbeit” at the beginning of the verse 4 shows that different attitude of the many people who witnessed the miracle and heard the Word of God.
II. THE HOLY GHOST ENABLED PETER TO BOLDLY ANSWER THE WICKED MEN.
1. God’s people have always been aided and helped to answer the opponents of the Gospel. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said”. . . Acts 4:8. This help had been promised, Mark 13:11.
2. Boys and girls, such help has been given in recent times. Back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the despisers of the truth of God here in Northern Ireland were put to flight and largely silenced by the witness of God’s servants relying upon the help of God the Holy Ghost! It was not the ‘power’ of men that did this but the moving of the Spirit of God!
3. The powerful witness of Peter and John and the undeniable evidence of God having healed the lame man, rendered the enemy speechless! Verses 13-14.
4.Such was their hatred of God and His truth, they demanded that there be an end of the preaching of the Gospel. Verses 18-22. But it will not always be so, boys and girls.
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure,” Daniel 2:44-45.
It should be our chief delight to search the Holy Scriptures in order to know all we can about that glorious time of victory for the cause of the Lord Jesus.
Those that love Him and His honour will be engaged in such a search! I hope that you, who are saved today are amongst such searchers!