Bible Guys Classics: Acts 5 Part 2

Hey, everybody, we're the Bibble guys, and if you're just tuning in recently, just know that we are showing a little bit of reruns for a few months and then we'll be back bigger and better than ever on August thirty first, because behind the scenes, we're taking a hiatus to do some very important things. Yeah, we're building building out a new studio and we've got some new structure. Super excited about it. So August thirty first, brand new content. But in the meantime, enjoy some of our greatest hits. So today we're talking about fighting against God, or at least the idea of it. Yeah. So he's Chris, I'm Jeff, and we're the Daily Baba guys. All right, okay, dude, So hey, you know what, we were trying to shake up the format a little bit, and so we thought we would start off by actually just reading you something that someone else wrote. Yeah, So, are you familiar with The Babylon But I'm really not, you're not really The Babylon b is a satire website that does all kinds of fake news stuff, but from a it's all satire, okay, and it's led by Christians. So there's a lot of Christian funny things in there. It's not all Sometimes they do politics, sometimes they do social commentary, but there's always almost every time they publish, there's something funny about Christianity. So this one today is what your favorite book of the Bible says about you. Yeah right, So we're just going to read through a few of them. It says, here's what your favorite book of the Bible says about you. If your favorite book is Song of Solomon, that means you're a teenage boy. Yeah, well, because it's kind of a racy book, right right. Definitely tell me that when you were a teenage boy you didn't giggle at least once reading through the Book of Song of Solomon. Yeah, yeah, a few times. If Joel is your favorite book, it's because your name is Joel. And then this one says two Corinthians. That means you're a huge fan of the Bible, maybe the biggest fan ever. No one has done more for Christianity than you. You hate fake news. There was a certain famous politician who said two Corinthians instead of second Crithians. Huge. He was uge, he was so popular, that's right, that's right. He was the best he's the greatest of all time. So hulbak. I thought that was funny. If if Hubacic is your favorite book, it's because you like to shut down people who say, so, what's your favorite book of the Bible, because you know they didn't read habakk. That's great, it says uh, it says I. If your favorite book is Leviticus, that means you're a rabbi or maybe amish. I guess that's it. There's only two things. Yeah, yeah, that's the only two that you could be. If Ruth is your favorite book, every time you close your eyes you dream about Boas. Hmmm, Bos. Wow. So it says it's romantic, Yes, yes, yeah. Because you know everybody loves the name Bos. That's right. If you're Esther, it means you're a huge fan of historical fiction novels, will strong female league characters sett in Bible times. Yeah, yeah, there you go. That's so funny. So Psalms, right, yeah, this is a true one. By the way, this isn't a joke. This is true. A lot of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious say that the Book of Psalms is their favorite. Yeah, so that's kind of funny. And then this one says if you don't have a favorite book, they're all just so good. It just says you're a teacher, you're the teacher's pet. That's really good. Yeah, yeah, so those are funny. Anyways, what's your favorite book in the Bible? Book of James, Book of James. Yeah, because it's short, you can get to it quick. That would be incorrect. Okay, thank you, because because he's always the one worried about us reading too many verses on the podcast, because it takes up so much time. That is not even close. It's not, no misunderstood. Yeah, maybe so is it, because it just takes a long time for you want to get to the point and you don't want people to have to just. No, not even it's not even a time issue. It's not. It's an issue content issue. Yeah. So my issue is less is more when it comes to talking about, you know, the topic. So instead of reading, for instance, a whole chapter, time is not the issue at all. It is. It is if we're only going to be talking about let's just say twelve verses in that chapter, only read the twelve verses. Because what you're doing is is you're you're adding information that doesn't add to the concentrated topic of conversation. So for me, it's all about the study strategy. So less is more, meaningless is more. Just because you throw more verses in there doesn't mean it is better. In my opinion, less is more, all right. Yeah, so we were going to read Acts five seventeen through forty two, but now let's just read seventeen. Just very severe things. Officials who are sadducees were filled with jealousy. Let's talk about that. No, Okay, I get what you're saying. Okay, big jerk. I get well, I've poked fun at you in the past over there, and I thought that this was a great opportunity to cover that because I think it is fair for you to say, you know, sometimes it's not necessary to read fifty two verses if we could have covered the same major content in selective fifteen verses, right, that makes total sense to me. So, in all fairness, that poked fun. Yes, but I think that was a very good. So you're throwing me a bone of bone of seriously. No, no, no, I think that's that's a good thing. Yeah, I thought it was a good thing for you. To explain that. Okay. So anyways we are reading now. In Acts chapter five, we mentioned. Yesterday, Wait, what's your favorite book? Oh, my favorite book? Yeah? So I love Ephesians. Yeah, and I'm. I really yeah, And let me just say Ephiesians. Ephesians be my favorite book. Ephesians in luke, it would be my two favorites. You can't get two, I said favorite, Well, I said Ephesians. Ephesians is my favorite book. Okay, Okay? Is that? Okay? Yep, move on, Okay, man, I feel like I'm being grilled here. Grilled yeah, yeah, yeah, like I'm on a stand and you're just coming after me or something. No, you're the one that put fun of me. I didn't put fun of you at all. Okay. I just wanted to say two. You'll let me say one. Okay. So Act chapter five, we've already said that persecution was getting ready to ramp up, and there's been a little bit of pushback up to this point, but now the heat's really going to get turned up. And from this point to the end of the Book of Acts it's pretty rough, and then for the next one hundred and fifty years it's going to be rough. For the Christians. So here's what it says. In verse seventeen. The High Priest and the officials, who were sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail and brought them out. Then he told them go to the temple and give the people this message of life. So at daybreak the apostles entered the temple as they were told, and immediately began teaching. When the High Priest and his officials arrived, they convened the High Council, the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial. But when the temple guards went to the jail, the men were gone. So they return to the council. Report of the jail was surely securely locked, with the guards standing outside, But when we opened the gates, no one was there. When the captain of the Temple guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where would all end. Then someone arrived with startling news. The men you put in jail, are standing in the temple teaching the people. The captain went with his temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid that people would stone them. Then they brought the apostles before the High Council. Were the high. Priests confronted them. Didn't we tell you never again to teaching this man's name, he demanded. Instead, you filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death. But Peter and the apostles replied, we must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on across. Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and savior. He did this the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those obey him. When they heard this, the High Council was furious and decided to kill them. But one member, a Pharisee named Gamelio, who was an expert in religious law and respected by all the people stood up in order that the men be sent outside the council chamber for a while. Then he said to his colleagues, men of Israel, take care of what your planning to do to these men. Some time ago there was that fellow, Theudius or Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About four hundred. Others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing after him. At the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him, but he was killed too, and all his followers were scattered. So my advice is leave these men alone, let them go. If they're planning and doing these things merely on their own, it'll soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may find yourselves fighting against God. The others accepted his advice, and they called in the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the High Council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. And every day in the temple and from house to house they continue to teach and preach this message. Jesus is the Messiah. There is what a cool ending to the story, but let's let's let's start with the beginning. Yeah, So I love, I love whenever somebody is bold enough to you know, not be intimidated or not be threatened. And you know, here are. The Sadducees and and all the religious leaders. They were just you know, just trying their very best to intimidate and and their response is, you know, your opinion matters nothing compared to God's opinion. Yeah right, it's just great. So just as a reminder, the High Priests and his officials, they were Sadducees, they remind you they were Sadducees and Pharisees to kind of two parties within the Jewish religious system. The Pharisees were deeply religious. The Sadducees were highly political, not very religious, and they had aligned themselves with Rome. So really they were being enriched by using their religion to control the people to submit to Rome. That's really what was happening. And so these guys are going around preaching about Jesus, making them look really bad because the people are listening to the apostles and to the rest of the Christians and going, yeah, you're right, that Jesus guy, he really did raise from the dead. What do we do about that? And they all start turning to faith in Christ. These miracles that were happening, we read about them yesterday. Even Peter's shadow just passing over sick people, would heal them? All these incredible miracles that are happening. Where evidence is to all the people that the resurrection was real, what they saw happened with Jesus Christ was real, and that the power the Holy Spirit is real and we want that. And the Sadducees are like, dude, this is going to turn over the apple cart and we're going to lose our power in our money unless we stop these guys. Yeah, And so they bring them in front of the council. They're basically saying, you know, we've already commanded you not to do this, you continue to do it. Then, of course Peter responds, I just reference that, right. He says, we're not going to obey we have to obey God, and his authority, not yours. And then, by the way, he reiterated what they just accused him of. They said, you're blaming us for his death. And he said, let me tell you, the God of our ancestors raised from the dead, whom you put on the cross, right, So he says it right back in their face. And then and and I love Gameleio. So so the apostle Paul actually trained under Gameleeel. Before we get to GAMELLEO, can we can we pause just for a second, because I don't I don't want to miss this. They had done miracles, the apostles. Yea, all these miracles were happening, yeah, everything, and and God gave them courage to face off with the most powerful people in their world at the time. These sadd season the high priests and the note you know we love that Life Application Study Bible. It says the apostles for seven teen and eighteen. It says the apostles experience power to do miracles. They did great boldness in preaching and God's presence in their lives. Yet they were not free from hatred and persecution. They were arrested, put in jail, beaten, and slandered by community leaders. And then here's the sentence. Faith in God does not make troubles disappear. It makes troubles appear less frightening because it puts them in the right perspective. What a great phrase. Don't expect everyone to react favorably when you share something as dynamic as your faith in Christ. Some will be jealous, afraid, or threatened. Expect some negative reactions, and remember that you must be more concerned about serving God than about the reactions of people. So we think man alive. When we trust Jesus, all our problems are go away. And in reality, faith in God lets us be able to face these struggles with a different perspective. They're not so scary when you have a God as big as our God to trust in. Right. So that's it. That's why he was able to say the one that you killed has risen from the dead. And then now begin to Gameleio. Being this kind of voice of reason a little bit is pretty amazing. So you said, Paul studied under a Gameleia. Yeah. And by the way, let me just tell you real quick. It came to my mind when you were talking about not worrying about what people think, and you know, It's not like we want to get in people's face and rub God's word in a negative way and in a wrong judgy way, you know, and then say. We don't care about what you think. That's not the heart of it all. It's talking about doing what is right and then you know, going up against people who oppose that which is right. Yes, so I was actually thinking my senior year, we were going around the room and we were talking about for some reason, it wasn't a teacher sanctioned thing, but it was a bunch of kids in study hall. We were talking about our first time having sex, and we were talking about the idea of like waiting and being a virgin until you're married. I'm the only one in the entire crowd, the only one, and every and every and everybody's making fun of me, and they're laughing and they're just cracking up. Not not that even necessarily. That I even was, but the fact that I that I thought that that was a good idea to. Be to hold yourself back until marriage. Yes, so, like you're an advocate. For abstinence, what I was saying. Yes, thank you, thank you for saying it plainly. Yes, So I had said that I was dating my girlfriend and they were talking about sex, and I said, no, my goal is not to have sex until after marriage. That's what I said. And and so basically they were just all, uh, you know, just cracking me up. And they said why. So it wasn't the fact that ohaha, you know, it was more like why, and I said because, And I tried to share my beliefs, and so I was basically sharing my beliefs and then they all started making fun of the fact. And it's so stupid and so outdated it's a religious book that is so old fashioned and all these different things. And that was a case where it's like, man, I presented myself loving, I took a stand. Everybody was against me, and I actually remember in that moment thinking, I am proud to be the one standing up, and I'm proud to be persecuted, made fun of and everything else, because I wasn't going to back down. Man. I almost wore it like a badge of honor, right, And I was like, man, I'm glad to say this, I'm glad to stand up for Christ. I'm glad to be the one that has enough guts to do this. I was so proud of myself in that moment, for I have enough guts to say, yes, this is what I believe. Right, And so you know, Peter or you know, these guys coming out of the prison who got flogged, they said that they were counting it. They were rejoicing, you know, that they had counted themselves worthy, God kind of them. Worthy, you know, for the pursuit, worthy to disgrace. Yeah, so most of us don't think that that's a good thing. Yeah, right, for Christ, most of us would fear that we would be afraid of having people mock us, or that we might lose our job, or that people would look down on us or will get over looked for promotion. You know, these guys have been put in prison, and then when they were let the angels let them out of prison, which. Is super cool, by the way. We just kind of blew over that. Super cool that the angel lets them out of prison. And then they go out and start preaching immediately, and then they get arrested again, and then they're like, well, hey, we're going to obey God rather than men. And then they get beat again and then released, and these guys are like, hey, it's a privilege to suffer for Christ. You know, our savior suffered for us. It's a privilege to suffer for him. If that's what we have to do, right, right, that's awesome. None of us want to suffer. But they looked at it totally different than you and I would look at it, and maybe maybe it would be better for us if we had the kind of faith they had, if we would grow up in our faith and say, you know what, whatever it takes to get the good news of the message of Jesus Christ out, I'm going to do it now. They weren't fighting over political positions, they weren't fighting over social issues. Were What they were pushing back on was Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. Jesus Christ's sacrifice is the only way to get your sins forgiven. That's what they were pushing on. They weren't making political fights, right, so, they weren't being put persecuted because of who they were going to vote for. They weren't being. Persecuted for their position on some social issue that you disagree with, you know, with the person across the street. They're here suffering persecution, specifically for the gospel. Of Jesus Christ. And they count it great worthy, you know, a great honor to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. Yeah. So the the Bible note says, have you ever thought about persecution as being a blessing? As something worth rejoicing about? You know, it is a really great question for us. Yeah. And so anyway, when I was going back to Gamaliel, I was just referring to the fact that when Paul studied he actually, you know, when he became Saul, or excuse me, when he was Saul and became Paul. It was a point in time where he actually studied under Gamaliel. And so keep in mind that Gamaliel, you know, was intertwined with these religious people, so is Paul. Paul is a Pharisee. Paul was right there with that crew and Gimaliel. It is no wonder why he's such a great teacher, because he's demonstrating incredible wisdom, because he's saying, listen, you think they're a sham, but what if they're not? And if God is real, could you imagine fighting against God? And he's saying, he's saying, so leave them alone, because if you end up fighting against God, you're gonna lose. You know, historically, Goammelliel was one of the at the time, one of the premier Bible teachers. He was one of the premier religious leaders. He sat on the High Council, which would be the highest It would be like their version of the Supreme Court. Right, what did they call the High Council, by the way, Yeah, the Sanhedrin. Man as John a blank there. So he sat on the Sanhedrin. This is one of the most respected guys. And then among the Sanhedrin, he was, you know, a man among among boys. At that point, he was even elevated above everybody else, and so he becomes an unexpected ally to these, you know, to Peter and the rest of the disciples, not because he was supporting their position, but rather, you know, he was saying, I'm understanding that you know, various quote unquote messiahs have sprung up, and he mentions a couple of incidences where people had gotten up and said, hey, I'm the Messiah, I'm the promised one. And when that guy dies, eventually his followers just disperse. And so he was saying, hey, listen, I'm an old man. I've seen this happen. A bunch of times the founder is dead. Just let it run. It'll run out of gas. There's no reason. So what he's trying to do is trying to not trying to encourage the Sanhedron and the rest of leaders to not expose themselves to some kind of uprising. Ignore it and it'll go away. So he wasn't endorsing their position. He was just saying they're of no consequence. Ignore them, and this whole thing will go away unless it's of God. And I think it's a tongue in cheek statement he's making here. I don't think he thinks it's of God. I think he's saying, if it's of God, hey, then we're going to fight against God. But come on, it always goes away. That's what he's. Saying right here, And sure enough, they wind up going, okay, there's some wisdom in that, we don't need to stir the pot. And they just beat these guys and say you can't speak in Jesus name anymore. Yeah, it's actually fun to think about what Gamellel really did think because the phrase that it reads, well, you know, it's translated in different ways in different books, but the way it translates here is you may even find yourselves fighting against God. Well, there's a part of me that likes to believe that maybe he did think perhaps it could be true. He gave no indication to your point, right, no indication, But there's a part of me that maybe hopes kind of like Nicodemus, you know, Nicodemus, you know, never really truly turned the corner. But we find Nicodemus, you know, a religious leader that Jesus approached in John chapter three, right, and he gave the most famous version all the Bible to Nicodemus, John three sixteen, the most famous verse and explained in Nicodemus. And Nicodemus was not ready to leave his position as a religious leader and follow Jesus. But after Jesus died, Nicodemus went to the tomb, right, And so we know that he was a believer and follower in Jesus. And so yeah, so I just sort of view Gamaliel as like a not as far along maybe perhaps as Nicodemus, right, but maybe perhaps you know, who knows. Maybe you never know here, but I do know what he's doing, and I think that we as Christians should be this similar in this He's showing tolerance to a religious viewpoint that's not violent, right, They're not oppressive, they're not trying to overthrow a government. But they're saying, hey, there's no reason to fight these people just because of their beliefs. And there's some wisdom in that for all of us today to offer a little bit of tolerance. If you're not talking about violence and hurting other people and they have a different opinion from mine, I can make room for them in a free society. And so I think that in. His wisdom, in his age, in his experience, he was like, guys, let's not fight about stuff that's not worth fighting about. So there's a lot of wisdom I think in that you're not you're not endorsing another viewpoint just because you allow that viewpoint to exist, right, Right. So as we wrap up our time, I think that the good thing to take away from today is let us not be afraid to stand up for God to you know, if we consider ourselves being persecuted, maybe it's time and you know, made fun of whatever, whatever, it's time to start thinking like Peter and John and saying this is actually a blessing right that God has considered me worthy to stand up, make a difference and take a stand for the truth in this situation. Yeah, and and count yourself worthy, right, Let God count you worthy in that. So tomorrow we're going to pick up with some some organizational difficulties that they're having within the church, and then the first martyr in Christian in Christianity, Stevens. So it's going to be a really powerful, i think discussion tomorrow. So that's what we're gonna be talking about tomorrow, So join us then,