How Must We Respond to the Word?

Acts 5:29-42

When the Word of God is preached, what is the response of God’s people? Do we hear it and then ignore it? Is there a disconnect between knowledge and practice? Are we forever learning but not forever reforming? Semper doctrina but not semper reformanda? But doctrines must transform into right practice and right affections. James 1:22 says - be doers of the word and not just hearers. When we hear but don’t do, James says we’re only deceiving ourselves. We actually don’t understand the teaching. True experiential knowledge of a doctrine comes by way of obedience. Otherwise, we really don’t get it.

A doctor said to his patient - “You’re in terrible shape. Your life needs to change. Tell your wife to cook more nutritious meals. Stop working like a dog. You need special medication - tell her you’re changing the budget. She needs to keep the kids off your back so you can rest. Unless these changes are made, you’ll be dead in a month.” The patient said, “Doctor, could you speak to her? It’ll be more official coming from you.” And he did, and when the man got home, the wife rushed to him crying - “I talked to your doctor! Poor man, you only have thirty days to live!”

She didn’t get it. She didn’t get that change was needed. And the Bible is filled with examples of people who don’t get it and also those who do. Some hear the word, understand it, but don’t yield. That’s what we see here in our passage. Some were obedient and were changed, but others chose to ignore what was plainly before them. There are 3 propositions in today’s sermon. Firstly, the Word can be understood when it’s clearly preached. Secondly, anger and skepticism are two common unbelieving responses to the Word. Thirdly, the only right response to the Word involves the feeling and will.

Firstly, the Word can be understood when it’s clearly preached. After Peter was told not to preach by the Sadduccees, he responded that he couldn’t obey them but God. Verse 29 - “We ought to obey God rather than men.” And immediately, he preached to them the word - the gospel in a nutshell. And he didn’t mince his words. In verse 30, he confronted them with their sins - “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.” He started with a factual statement. But there were implications to what they did and what he said. To hang someone on a tree was to invoke God’s curse on that person, Deuteronomy 21. But the fact that God raised and exalted Jesus, meant they who crucified him were against the God of their fathers. Why? Because he reversed their curse. So by implication, God was against them. You sinned. That’s why we can’t obey you! You aren’t even serving God. But despite this, in verse 31, he offered forgiveness of sins - even their sins - “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Jesus grants repentance to Israel. He forgives sins. How? He has every authority as God’s prince, sitting on the right hand of God. He has equal authority. Since only God can forgive sin, Jesus is God. So even the sin of killing God’s Son, God’s Son will forgive upon repentance. After offering them mercy, in verse 32, he commands them to obey the gospel and offers the Holy Spirit - “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.” The Spirit is given only to those who obey. Christ is prince. So to be clear, the gospel is an offer, but it’s also a command. It’s more than an invitation. You see, an invitation can be refused, but a command can only be rebelled against. And when God commands unbelievers to obey, there’s no negotiation. The gospel is a summons. When a king summons, it’s not an invitation. It supersedes all other things. And they who obey these summons to repent, will be saved, receive forgiveness, and given the promised gift of the Spirit. This is the gospel in its most basic form - a clear preaching of sin so that guilt is clearly known; an offer of forgiveness to remove that guilt; and a call for obedient yielding of self to God.

And it must be understood. In Acts 2, when Peter preached, the Jews responded - “what must we do to be saved?” There was a response to the Word clearly understood. Same here. The Sadduccees understood. Verse 33 - “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.” They understood the implication that they wanted to kill them. What’s the point of living and witnessing the gospel, if there’s no understanding? When Jonah preached, the Ninevites repented. When Jeremiah preached, the Jews mocked him. When Jesus said he was God, the Jews wanted to stone him. Even Paul - when he preached, the Athenians said - we will hear more of this. Agrippa told Paul - you almost persuaded me to be a Christian. There was understanding. And where we see the understanding is in the response.

Secondly, anger and skepticism are two common unbelieving responses to the Word. Very clearly, when the gospel is understood, there’s a response. When Peter preached at Pentecost, the people will be pierced in the heart. Acts 2:37, “Now when they heard Peter’s preaching, they were pricked in their heart.” And then they responded - “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” That’s a believing response of guilt and grief. But here, there was murderous anger. In Acts 5, these jealous, power hungry, established religious people were so angry when they heard the Word that they took counsel to slay them. Verse 33 says “they were cut to the heart.” Literally, they were split open with anger. Before it was jealousy that led them to hate. Now it was an insane anger that led them to want to kill. This anger was displayed by the Pharisees when Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Luke 6:11 - “And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.”

All of us have been angry. Some with an anger that desires to harm. You see it in road rage, on TV, and even in church - poison pen letters and the such. Anger comes from the heart and when sinful - is murder in the heart. Jesus said that whoever is angry without a cause is in danger of judgment for murder. And they were angry with Christ without a cause. John 15:25 says, “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.” And here, this same anger was directed at the apostles because of the preached word. Now, the disciples didn’t kill or harm them, they only preached the Word, pointing out sin and offering mercy. You can imagine the kind of anger. It may not have been the case here, but they ripped their clothes in anger before. They could’ve done it here! That’s one unbelieving response to the Word.

But there’s another. Reasonable skepticism. In the midst of anger, there was a reasonable person. Verse 34 - “Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space.” The Sanhedrin was made of 71 people. The ruling party was the Sadducees. The minority were Pharisees. But the Pharisees were the more popular party. And here, Gamaliel, a Pharisee, the opposition leader, stood up. He was a doctor or expert of the law. In fact, he was Paul’s mentor. Even the Talmud, describes him as one of the most influential rabbis in history. He was respected - he had reputation among all people.

So he was the opposition leader of a large minority with ground support. And in every way he was opposite to the high priest. While Ananias was angry, he was calm. And his authority was considerable. He could order the room cleared and the apostles given a little space - meaning they were put outside so the council could deliberate in private. He did it because angry people don’t think straight. In verse 33 they were already plotting how to kill them while they were in the room! What did he say? Verse 35, “And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.” He’s the voice of reason. He was calm - not frenzied like the rest. He was also not reckless but cautious. He told them to take heed. Be careful! Swift justice against 12 apostles leading 10,000 disciples could lead to a riot. The Sanhedrin will also lose respect before the nation and more importantly before Rome. If there was danger of widespread revolt, then the Romans would remove power from them. And he was also clever. It wasn’t necessary to kill them. Verse 38 says, “And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought.” If this movement originated from man, nothing will come from it. And he provided 2 examples.

The first in verse 36. A man called Theudas rose up - as in he rebelled. There was insurrection. He thought himself important, had 400 supporters, but in the end, he was killed and all his followers dispersed. The second example - verse 37. Another man, Judas from Galilee. He also revolted - but during the time of taxes - presumably he didn’t want to pay taxes. And of course, many supported him. What he died and his supporters dispersed. These two accounts described how revolutions were stopped simply when the leader dies. Gamaliel’s point is simple. Jesus, their leader, had been crucified. If history repeats, if Christianity is human in origin, it’ll fizzle out. Just leave them alone. But Gamaliel also knew that whatever was of God would continue. “But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God” verse 39. Elijah vs Baal, Joseph vs Potiphar’s wife, Moses vs Pharaoh, David vs Goliath, etc. Now, an important incidental point. Luke knew about this closed door deliberation probably through Paul. Remember Gamaliel was Paul’s teacher, Paul sanctioned Stephen’s death, only such a sentence could be carried out by leaders. So Paul was likely there as part of the Sanhedrin.

But despite this reasonable response, the others still responded with unbelieving anger. After he spoke, verse 40 - “And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.” They agreed to let them go, but not before beating them. Each of them, presumably, would’ve been beaten 39 times. But why beat them up when all they had to do was wait to see if it was of God or not? It was because their anger had to be satisfied. And so even though they couldn’t kill them, they’d beat them. There was still the lust for blood to satisfy their jealousy and anger at the gospel. The beating was severe. The skin was likely torn from their bodies. The word “beat” in verse 40 means to skin. They were beaten so badly with whips encrusted with glass, bone, and metal, that their skin was in shreds. And they charged them again not to speak in the name of Jesus, because that name made their blood boil. And this was the beginning. They didn’t listen to Gamaliel here, and they wouldn’t listen to him later - especially Saul, his own student, who leveled false charges against Stephen and pursued Christians to kill them. Skepticism and anger are common unbelieving responses to the Word clearly preached.

But if that’s the unbelieving response, what’s the only right response to the Word? Verse 41 - “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” After being beaten severely - they could still return home rejoicing. There were godly feelings. They rejoiced. Why? Because they felt honored to suffer for Christ. The fact they suffered meant Christ counted them worthy. Wait, what? Can we understand this? Perhaps some of you are skeptical. Maybe you’re angry I could say this. Parents would never desire this for their children. Stay low! Don’t be too religious! But their feelings were yielded to the truth they knew. This was a right response to the Word. Jesus had told them that they would suffer for their faith. “Blessed or happy are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” If they were like the Sanhedrin, they would’ve fought against that idea. Suffer? Christ is supposed to make my life good. And they’d get angry. But they responded rightly to the Word of Christ. If the Sanhedrin had responded rightly to the gospel, they would’ve repented. But they got angry. If the disciples responded wrongly, they would’ve tried to escape suffering. But with heart, soul, mind, and will, they believed and obeyed the Word of God. This is why they felt rightly.

And their will was also subservient to the Word. We see right response in their active obedience. Verse 42 - “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” Presumably after their wounds healed, they were back at the temple - where they were arrested twice before. They also went into every house. Those who had placed their sick in the streets, perhaps invited them in. And this was a risk - of imprisonment, of beatings, of anger. But they did this daily - meaning, it was continuous, both in public and private. And their preaching was intentional. The word preaching is literally good messaging. They preached the good news and without ceasing. Why? It was because of Jesus Christ, for his name. They were beaten badly but they endured. It wasn’t cold and clinical obedience that led them to do this. It was a heartfelt love for Christ.

Dearly beloved, what are the applications directly from this passage and context? Firstly, it has to do with clearly ministering the Word. What do I mean? The gospel involves pointing out sin, offering forgiveness, and commanding obedience. Speaking about sin is never comfortable. It’s never been. It’s dangerous. But when sin is only conceptually spoken about, but never identified or applied, there can never be a response. There can’t be an offer of mercy or command. But many fear preaching an understandable gospel. Some say - I evangelize with my life. But do you? If your life is holy enough so it can truly evangelize; your life will also be empowered. And if your life is empowered, your mouth can’t help but speak. You get my drift? And also many don’t seize the opportunity. You reach out by spending time with people, befriending, sharing feelings, building relationships - but they don't get it because you’re not clear. I’m not against building relations and wise timing. But if there’s no discomfort, revulsion, skepticism, or submission, then your message is unclear. You ?? but that’s it. Similarly, how’s our mutual teaching and admonition. Do we love one another enough to teach, rebuke, correct, calling for a right response to the Word?

That’s why secondly, what’s your response to the Word? Dearly beloved, the Word rightly preached and understood must translate into right practice and affections. But can a believer ever respond with anger or skepticism? Yes. We do get angry at the Word - more often, with the messenger! Even the gentlest but direct admonition is responded to with unhappiness. Yes, we don’t want to yield to the Word because we don’t want to change or to forsake sin. But when we yield to the Word of God - we grow. Blessed are the poor in spirit, who mourn, and come meekly, hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Unless we yield to the Word, there will be no change, no blessing, no happiness. But skepticism is also another response. Can God give me contentment in times of poverty? Can I really be joyful in trial? Can I have victory despite temptations? Will I ever be satisfied in him alone? Will we not say as that man - I believe, help thou mine unbelief!

Dearly beloved, we have come to the Lord’s table today to proclaim our faith. Belief must translate to response. Do you feel joyful and blessed you’re in Christ? Are you strengthened to go forth to obey him? Christ was the most joyful, even in his sorrow. His meat was to do the will of him that sent him. He said, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.” He didn’t only hear or speak, he did. And while he never needed to repent, because he had no sin - he took upon himself the sins of his people. That for the joy that was set before him, he endured the shame and sorrow. So that we, who are in union with him, might also delight to do the will of God, having our sins forgiven, our guilt removed, and our joy made full. Do you get it? Is your response today, joy?

1. The Word Is Understood When Clearly Preached

A. Gospel in a nutshell

B. Must be understood

2. Two Unbelieving Responses to the Word

A. Murderous anger

B. Reasonable skepticism

3. The Only Right Response to the Word

A. Godly feelings

B. Active obedience