The Price for Preaching
Notes
Transcript
Last week we looked at the result of the Apostles being thrown into prison and God allowing for their miraculous escape from jail and then they went when asked to appear before the Sanhedrin.
Paranoia (vv 27-28)
Paranoia (vv 27-28)
The leaders of the Sanhedrin were very afraid of the Apostles.
They had been charged by the Romans to help keep control of the people and during this time it as a tenuous job to keep both the Romans and the people (who hated the Romans) happy.
They were so afraid of this movement taking over that they would not even call Jesus by name. Acts 5:28
28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
They were afraid for 2 reasons:
They were Afraid that the people following the Apostles would over throw them and the Romans.
They were Afraid that the people following the Apostles would over throw them and the Romans.
They were Afraid that the Apostles were right and they did kill the very one they were looking for.
They were Afraid that the Apostles were right and they did kill the very one they were looking for.
The truth can be uncomfortable for people who are against it.
It can also be offensive to people who are living contrary to Gods word.
Persistence (vv 29-32)
Persistence (vv 29-32)
No matter what the Sanhedrin said the Apostles were still going to preach.
The word of God will never be stopped.
The word here for leader is archēgos which means prince, or A preeminent ruler, or originator.
Christ is the originator of our faith, He is the one everything is built on.
The word of God is the same today as it was then and therefore we must preach it the same as they did then.
Productivity (vv 33-42)
Productivity (vv 33-42)
For convicting preaching there are but three possible reactions: violent hostility, tolerant indecision, or saving acceptance.
This passage illustrates them all.
Violent Hostility (v 33)
Violent Hostility (v 33)
Those that are hardened in Sin will always act violently to the word.
The word here for enraged is Diaprio which means to literally be cut in half. It only appears here and in Acts 7:54 in both cases it was the same men being confronted with the gospel.
Tolerant Indecision (vv 34-40)
Tolerant Indecision (vv 34-40)
Often times people will take a passive wait and see approach to the issue of the life of Christ.
They are wanting to see if you are truly who you say you are.
Gamaliel was an interesting person.
He was the grandson of another prominent rabbi, Hillel, and his successor as leader of the liberal wing of the Pharisees.
Gamaliel was one of the few honored with the title rabban, instead of the usual title “rabbi” (F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971], 124 n. 44).
How highly he was respected by all the people may be seen in the following quotation from the Mishna: “When Rabban Gamaliel the Elder died, the glory of the Law ceased and purity and abstinence died” (cited in John B. Polhill, The New American Commentary: Acts [Nashville: Broadman, 1992], 171).
His most famous student was the apostle Paul (Acts 22:3 ).
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.
Saving Acceptance (vv 41-42)
Saving Acceptance (vv 41-42)
The early church understood the pattern for effective evangelism.
By consistently practicing that pattern, they turned their world upside down (cf. Acts 17:6).
At the very time they were experiencing the most furious opposition, and some tolerant indecision, their number was constantly increasing (Acts 6:1).
As Paul told the Corinthians, such preachers “are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2 Cor. 2:15–16).