Divine Deliverance To Deliver Divine Doctrine

MAY 1, 2022 STUDY NOTES ACTS 5:17-28 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES DIVINE DELIVERANCE TO DELIVER DIVINE DOCTRINE INTRODUCTION The Sanhedrin Court had recently warned Peter and John not to preach in the name of Jesus, Act 4:17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. Act 4:18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. Now the Sanhedrin Court throws them into prison, but God throws the doors of the prison open There was a Divine Deliverance so they could Deliver their Divine Doctrine Act 5:17 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, The reports of the Apostle’s ministry brought the Sanhedrin Court to their feet, it was shocking news “The Sadducees” were the ones who instigated the previous persecution of Peter and John (Acts 4:1-2) “They were filled with indignation,” they were hot under the collar, mad as a wet hen, they were angry The cause of their anger was jealousy, the Apostles were getting public attention and they were not Jealousy is one of the destructive tools of Satan, he often uses in a church congregation The Sanhedrin was “filled with” jealousy, it controlled their minds and their decisions, it always will The Sanhedrin was also jealous because the name of Jesus was being proclaimed and glorified They did not want people to honor the name of the one they had put to death and follow His teachings The Sadducees were supposedly the spiritual leaders of the people, consider why they were outraged Sick people were being healed, the oppressed were being delivered, and the Sadducees were jealous Act 5:18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. Here is an example of the motivating power of jealousy, the extreme that it will reach They “laid their hands on the Apostles,” which means, they arrested them They “put them in prison,” we do not hear the Apostles say, “I want my lawyer” There was no defense presented during the trial, but their defense attorney will appear from heaven It is possible that all twelve of the Apostles were put in prison Act 5:19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Look at the beginning of the verse, “but,” we are now going to get the rest of the story Which is, from the hands of man to the hand of God, “Divine Deliverance” The “angel of the Lord” is not to be identified as the “Angel of the Lord” in the OT The “Angel of the Lord” in the OT is referred to as a “Theophany” or a “Christophany” Which is an appearance of the Lord Himself, the pre-incarnate Christ, before the birth of Jesus Here the angel of the Lord is an angelic messenger sent from the Lord, “by night” God has a sense of humor, the Sadducees did not believe in angels, Act 23:8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. There are theologians today who do not believe in angelic activity during the present age Page 1 of 5 This present age known as the church age began in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost, before Acts 5 Have you ever sensed the presence of angels and experienced a supernatural deliverance, I have? Do angels minister today? Heb 1:13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Heb 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Angels are created beings with God-given power to carry out and fulfill God-given tasks The Apostles didn’t even spend the night in jail, they slept well in a safe and peaceful place After a good night’s rest, they were eager to do what the angel had told them to do The angel “opened the prison doors,” and instructed them to Deliver their Divine Doctrine Act 5:20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. The angel came with more than a miracle, he came with a message, go stand and speak in the temple “Go stand” has the thought of stand strong, hold your ground, stand against the Devil, Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; Christians are to stand strong in the Lord before Satan comes, withstand in the Lord when Satan comes And you will still be standing when his attack upon you is over for the time being, but keep standing The angel told the Apostles to “Go stand and speak,” keep on going and keep on speaking “Speak in the temple,” go back to where you were speaking when you were arrested and sent to prison Does that put us to shame when we are not going to our community while not facing persecution? When we do speak to our friends and neighbors, what are we talking about? Is it Divine Doctrine? Are our daily conversations with others of eternal value? We too must speak “to the people all the words of this life,” the Gospel, the message of salvation Salvation is the way of life, the way to live today, Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (The highest quality of life upon earth) Salvation in Jesus is also life throughout eternity, 1Jn 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Why must we today “go stand and speak to the people all the words of this life, because, 1Jn 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life (Now or for eternity) “Life” is more than our physical life upon earth, “life” must be more than the physical, Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, (The man by the name of Nicodemus) Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus did not understand that there was a birth beyond the physical birth, Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? (Repetition of the physical birth would accomplish nothing more than flesh life) Jesus explained the fact of the physical birth and the fact of the spiritual birth, Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water (Physical birth) and of the Spirit, (Spiritual birth) he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Listen to Jesus, unless you are born spiritually, you “cannot enter into the Kingdom of God” The Kingdom of God is a present relationship, life in the physical realm now, and an eternal state of life People do not question the physical life, why question the spiritual life, they are both real, Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; (Physical life) and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (Spiritual life) Page 2 of 5 Christians “must” understand the words of Jesus, Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The lost “must be born again,” we “must” speak to all-of the people all the words of this life And don’t hold anything back, preach “all the words of this life” which is the gospel The gospel that Paul said must be preached first, 1Co 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 1Co 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: Are we speaking to the people all the words of this life? Are we ready for the next verse? Act 5:21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. “And when they heard that,” are we listening to God’s Word today, are we hearing what God says? Are we ready to get up early and go teach and preach the Gospel? The Apostles were ready to obey God There was no hesitation, no excuses, they could hardly wait until daybreak Early the next morning they entered the temple to teach just as the angel had commanded The Sanhedrin was not through with Peter and John, they sent officers to the prison to get them The story gets interesting now, they sent officers to the prison for the Apostles, but--Act 5:22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, The officers returned to report to the Sanhedrin, but it was not what the Sanhedrin wanted to hear The report was, we “found them not in the prison,” but that is not the end of the story Can you imagine the conversation of the officers on their way back to the Sanhedrin? Their conclusion was, just tell them the truth, tell them like it was, there was no other explanation Act 5:23 Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. Pay attention to their report, they presented it in detail, they covered it all, they left nothing out They found everything normal at the prison, the prison doors were secure, and the guards were on duty But their mission failed because there were no prisoners to be brought back to the Sanhedrin No prisoners, that is humanly impossible, there is no way there could be no prisoners in a locked jail Humanly impossible, but nothing is impossible with God, Jer 32:17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: (Not even opening a jail cell, a Divine Deliverance To Deliver Divine Doctrine) There is nothing too hard for the Lord, including removing the Apostles from a locked prison cell Including passing the Apostles right by the guards who were guarding an empty jail cell Including the resurrection of Christ from the tomb without the stone being rolled away Have you got the picture? Do you see the miraculous hand of God at work? Officers were sent to remove the Apostles from prison, but God had already released them The prison doors were secure, they had not been unlocked Guards were in position, guarding prisoners who were no longer there The doors of the prison were opened and they “found no man within,” the miraculous hand of God The Sanhedrin now had a dilemma, the Apostles were once again involved in another miracle Page 3 of 5 Act 5:24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. “They doubted” does not mean they did not believe what they heard, they were greatly perplexed They were now standing at a crossroad, what do we do now? No doubt another miracle has happened They knew one thing for sure, this story was going “to grow,” it had already grown before they knew it Their question was not, how did the Apostles get out of prison, too late to worry about that? They didn’t want to discuss that, their question was, what are we going to do now? They did not want this story to go public, it would only be more publicity for the apostles and Jesus We are not told of their question-and answer session, we are told they received another report There was even more news concerning the Apostles, even more troublesome for the Sanhedrin Court Act 5:25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. While the Sanhedrin was discussing their dilemma, someone came in with some important news More news was not good news for the Sanhedrin, it was news the Sanhedrin Court did not want to hear It only added to their question of what are we going to do now? The report was, the prisoners you are looking for are not in prison, they already knew that The report was, they are where you told them not to go, they “are standing in the temple” They are doing what you told them not to do, they are “teaching the people” Peter and John were where the Sanhedrin did not want them to be and doing what they told them not to do The Sanhedrin had only one choice, but they must be careful in how they do it Act 5:26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. The officers were then sent to the temple to bring Peter and John back, but “without violence” Which was because they “feared the people,” and which they did not need to do anyway The Apostles did not put up a fight, they had a defense attorney who would tell them what to say Think about what we are told, the Sanhedrin had a fear of man instead of a fear of God Unbelievable after the report that they had heard, scripture explains it, Pro 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. Because of their unbelief the Sanhedrin was caught in a trap, and they were afraid The Apostles were safe, sound, and secure because of their faith in God Act 5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Peter and John again stand facing the Sanhedrin Court, again for the same reason as before They stand before the Sanhedrin because they had obeyed God, their stand was for God The “high priest” reminded them of what they had been told, the warning they had received Act 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Notice that their questions did not relate to their miraculous “Divine Deliverance” from prison Their question was, didn’t we command you not to teach “in this name?” This is the second time the high priest is reluctant to speak the name Jesus, Act 4:17 But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. Page 4 of 5 Then the high priest stated a miraculous fact, “you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine” The reason that was true is because they had been teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus What a challenge to the church of today, what a goal to set, fill our community with the Divine Doctrine Satan is filling the world with his doctrine, the church must respond with the doctrine of Jesus The last statement of this verse is a fulfilled request of the Sanhedrin, Mat 27:25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. The purpose of the Apostles was to proclaim the truth of the blood of Jesus (Eph 1:7; Heb 9:12) The Apostles were faithful to God and God was faithful to them, listen to the song Page 5 of 5