I believe that the Christ who once slain on that cross has the power to change lives today. For He changed me completely A new life is mine That is why by the cross I will stay I believe in a hill called Mount Calvary I believe whatever the cost And when time has surrendered and earth is no more, I'll still cling to that old rugged cross. Try to shake hands and fellowship a little bit tonight. We'll sing that last verse. oh Get in, come on. Dad's getting better. Now mom's getting humble. She's having a bad day. As you get back to your seats we'll sing that third and final verses. Third and final verse. Sing it now. I believe that this life with its great mysteries surely someday will come to an end. But faith will conquer the darkness and death And will lead me at last to my friend I believe in a hill called Mount Calvary Amen. You may be seated tonight. Good singing. Good singing this That was a blessing, man, what a blessing. All right, turn to Acts chapter five tonight, Acts chapter five. And actually tonight I'm backing up, I'm picking up one of the verses that I missed this summer or late spring when I was gone, and one I really wanted to back up and pick up. And so tonight will be in Acts chapter number five, Our memory verse is 29, and so we'll read down through that section here in just a moment. We'll begin in verse number 17, Acts chapter 5. So let's all stand together as we read the Word of God, beginning in Acts chapter 5 and verse number 17. The Bible says, Then a high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand, and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and talked. 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. But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and told, saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keeper standing without before the doors. But when we had opened, we found no man within." Can you imagine that scene? John, you've worked around the jail. Can you imagine going to the priest and you go and the guards are standing outside and everything's locked up and you look in and they're gone. Somebody's in a lot of trouble. You got that right. Verse 24, Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stolen. And when they had brought them, they sent them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, Do not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom he slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him. Verse 33, when they heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. Now, I'm going to jump through the rest. Let's go down to verse number 41. Basically, Gamaliel convinces them in verse 34 not to kill them, lest they be again fighting against God. But he says this, and once they release them, once the council beats them and releases them, verse 41, And they, the apostles, departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name, and daily in the temple and at every house they ceased not to teach. and preach Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father again, I love you tonight. Thank you for the tremendous week you blessed us with. Thank you for the work that you're doing. And Lord, we just praise you and thank you for your goodness, your grace, your love. Father, thank you for Jesus, our Savior. Thank you for that old rugged cross, Father, that reminds us of the debt that was paid for our sin, but Father, the freedom we have in you. So God, help us tonight as we study thy word once again. May you encourage our hearts. May you challenge us. May you correct us. May you encourage us. For it's in Jesus' name that I pray. Amen. You may be seated. And I thank you so much, so much for staying. Again, our memory verse is verse number 29. When the Bible says, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. I just simply titled the study tonight, God or Man. God or Man. Now, please note, God is not the author of confusion. We'll look at that in a little while, nor of rebellion. So what they're saying here is not, well just do your own thing. Notice what they did not say. You ought to obey yourself rather than others. That's not what they said. The apostles said you ought to obey who? God rather than men. In other words, there is a higher authority. There is a higher authority than man. I mentioned this here a few weeks ago, and I don't remember where I was reading the article, and it was a discussion over our founding documents and the Constitution, and I think maybe a politician had made a statement somehow in a conversation or in a speech, but that we were endowed by our Creator, that God had given us our rights, that the rights we have of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, they're God-given rights. And the individual commenting, I can't remember if they were a college professor or someone that was supposed to have been of a degree of intelligence, were like, who does he think he is? What do you mean our rights come from God? And I'm like... What do you mean they don't come from God? That's what I'm thinking. The person who made that statement, and again, I can't remember the exact qualifications. I just remember they were an educated person that should have known our history as a nation. I'm like, how can you know anything about American history and not understand the theistic basis of our truth? In other words, they didn't believe that we were just some cosmic blast that somehow man gives us our rights and government gives us our privileges. No, they said, God, there is an authority. By the way, here's what they were saying when they said we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. What they were saying was, King, there's somebody over you. King George. I was reading a little bit from William Federer this afternoon, 38-year-old King of England. You know what they were telling them? Hey King, you're not the top dog. There's somebody bigger than you and you need to know that. And so we as a nation, we're going over your head. We're claiming an authority and a right that government should never be able to take away, all right? That's what they're saying. That whole concept comes from what the disciples say here, or the apostles here in chapter five, verse 29 will look. They also say the same thing in chapter four, verse 19, but they make the observation that man is not the final authority. Now, God institutes governments, we know that from Romans 13, and God establishes the home, we know that from Genesis 3 and Ephesians 5. We know that God institutes institutions, and he gives individuals authority, but the key thing to always remember about authority, there is one that trumps all authority, and that's God. God has all authority, so that if government defies God, who do we obey? We obey God. Right? That's just the mindset. So let's get back to our statement here, and let's put things into context. I was talking with someone this afternoon, and they were asking, when do you have service? I said, we have Sunday morning, and then we have a little Bible study Sunday afternoon right now, and then we have it Wednesday night. And they're like, what do you teach in all those? And I said, what do you do on Wednesday night? So I'm telling them about our memory verse, and they said, you mean you can talk for a whole hour on one verse? I said, not an hour. I said, I'm moving on an hour. Not normally. I used to go about an hour, but I don't preach that long anymore. But I said, yeah. And I said, I don't see how you can talk for a whole hour on a verse. I said, well, there's a whole lot to a verse. I said, number one, who said it? OK, who are they talking to? What's the context? Why are they having the discussion? Why are they even making the statement they're making? And so when you start putting things into that context, there's a lot to be said about a verse. And I'm like, well, I guess there is. I said, yeah, there's a whole lot to be said. And so let's look at the verse and I end its context here in chapter number 5. Just to give you a breakdown of some of these early verses. In verses 1 through 11, there's a very stern message that God sends to the early church. I just titled this section, The Message to the Early Church. It's the message of the importance of integrity and honesty when it comes to your communication with God. Now again, we're not gonna read the whole story, but basically Ananias and Sapphira, verse number one, they sell a property and they only bring part of what they sold it for. The implication is they're being deceptive. When you read the whole context of these verses that they were going to bring, they implied they were selling, gonna bring everything and lay it at the apostles' feet and give it to the local church there, but they didn't. They kept back part of it. In other words, they lied, not just to men, but the most important thing, you'll see in the text, they lied to the Holy Ghost. They lied unto God. Look at verse 4. Why was it remained? Was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. What happened in the early church here in chapter 5 when Ananias lied to God, verse 5, and Ananias hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost. You know what that means? He died, right? He's dead. Well, he brings in men, they take him out to bury him, and lo and behold, the wife comes in. And verse nine, Peter's talking to her, and again, he's already asked her about the cost, and she's like, for such and such, and so on and so forth. Verse nine, how is it, Peter said, then Peter said unto her, how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, so carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost. She died. The message to the early church, don't lie to God. serious business. Be honest with God, because God knows. Now again, does everybody who ever lies to God get killed? No, but God was teaching a lesson to this early church. They heard the gospel. They know Jesus is risen from the dead. They've seen amazing things, amazing things in Jerusalem. I mean, it's incredible what God is doing. We're going to see that here in just a moment, some of the things that God's doing. And so there's this excitement about the church, and there's this excitement about people getting saved, and there's this excitement about preaching the gospel. The reality is, why did man need to be saved to start with? Why? Because of sin. We are sinners. The reason man needed to be saved to start with is because man, apart from God, is a sinner who's condemned by that sin. Well, now they're saved by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. It's a new life. It's a new birth. But that new birth comes with a serious responsibility. You know, I love Dakota Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, but we oftentimes leave out verse 10. I think Brother Danny, I think, mentioned that on Sunday. We leave out verse 10. We're saved unto good works. We're saved unto good works. When you get saved, God wants you to live for Him. God wants you to live a good life and an honorable life and a moral life and a holy life in His power and in His strength, which includes, don't lie to God. And he was establishing a very powerful precedent in chapter 5, a message to the church that he didn't want them to miss. Serving me and living for me is serious business. So verse 1 through 11, the message to the early church. Verse 12 through 16, we see the miracles of the early church. They buried Ananias and Sapphira, but then it shifts gears and starts talking about what was going on there in Jerusalem. And by the hands of the apostles, verse 12, were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon's ports, and of the rest, no man joined himself to them, but the people magnified them, and believers were the more added to the Lord. Added to the Lord multitudes, both of men and women, insomuch that they brought forth the sick unto the streets, laying them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude, verse 16, out of the cities, round about them to Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vanquished with unclean spirits, and they were healed. What's the next two words? Everyone. Alright, let me give you some thoughts here, and I'm going to move on toward our verse. We're heading in a direction. I want you to see what's going on. God sent a message to the church. Serving me and being my child is serious business. Don't lie to God, alright? It's serious business. You need to be honest with God. You need to have a clear, honest relationship with the Lord. But number two, not only that message, but there's great miracles going into the church. Why? Going on in the church. First of all, verse 12, you see their unity. That's what's happening. There's unity. They're with one accord, the Bible says, the end of verse 12. Not only is there unity, but there's growth. God's added multitudes to the church in verse number 14, both men and women. You've got unity. You've got church growth. But then you've got miracles in verse 15 and 16. You say, preacher, do you really believe God is a miracle working God? Absolutely. He saved me. That's a miracle in itself. that God could take a lost sinner headed to hell with no value in and of myself and that He saved me, He forgave me, He changed me and He made me a child of God. That is a miracle. I'm going to heaven. Not based on my own merits, but based on the shed blood of Christ on Calvary. That, my friend, is a miracle. That's a spiritual miracle. But here we have in chapter 5, God's doing some amazing miracles. Some amazing miracles. God is a miracle-working God. But please know some things about the miracles. Please note this, and it's important, because you have those today who talk about miracles. You believe God can do miracles today? Absolutely. God can do anything he pleases, anytime he pleases with whoever he pleases. God is still God. Nothing limits God, but we move past the early days of the church where the Jews were seeking a sign, and God was giving them a sign. The scripture tells us the Jews seek after a sign, the Greeks seek after knowledge. So God always established things with the Jewish people through miracles. Study Moses. What did God tell him to do? Go down there and teach them the truth. No, he said, you go carry the rod, there's going to be some amazing things happen. Why? Because those Jews were looking for a sign. So what'd he do? He takes it down, he throws it down, it becomes a serpent. Well, hey, don't miss this. The false prophets, the false teachers in Egypt, they threw theirs down too. Guess what? They became serpents too. Don't miss this part of the story. Moses serpent and all that. I like that part. Moses reached down and he grabs the rod. It becomes the serpent, it becomes the rod again. You see that progression through the first two or three miracles and then all of a sudden God stepped up a notch. So what do you say? Satan and the demons of hell can mimic certain things. They have an ability to mimic certain things, but there's a level they cannot attain to. Because they're not God. But what I want you to see in this text tonight, without going any farther down that road, is that God was doing amazing miracles. But there's some things to note about them. Number one, these miracles were free of money. You didn't buy them. They didn't even take up an offering after them. There was no money involved in the miracles. The miracle workers were poor men. And when the miracles were finished, they were still poor men. They didn't make their living off the miracles. They weren't making money off the miracles. The miracles were to point men to God. The miracles were to point men to Christ. So the miracles were free of money. Not only were they free of money, they were free from recognition. They weren't putting up a sign, come see Peter. I can perform a miracle for you. Come see Peter, the great miracle worker of our day. They were free of personal recognition. Now, did it cause recognition at times? Absolutely. But what did those men always do? They said, oh, don't worship me. It's not about me. It's about Jesus Christ. I'm just a man like you are. I'm nothing more special than you are. Any good thing, any great thing, God deserves the credit, okay? There was no personal recognition. There was no finances or money to be given. And the third thing I want you to notice, just things that are in my mind, especially as we apply it to modern day culture, it was free from faith. Now stay with me on this one, okay? There are those who would say, if you have enough faith, God will do it. Find that in chapter five, find it. Because the Bible says, look at verse number 16, I think that's where I'm at, 17. Verse 17, no, 16. Them which were banished with unclean spirits, they were healed, who? Everyone. Everyone. Every single one in Acts 5 that were brought by the apostles who fell under the shadow of Peter, every single one of them was healed. Everyone, no exceptions. So it wasn't about the offering. It didn't matter how much they gave because they gave nothing. So the working of God in their life was free. There was no recognition. It wasn't come line up and see Peter and let him give you a hanky and pray on it and blow on it or something. No, no, no, no, no. That's garbage, okay? That's completely unscriptural. It's wicked. It is carnal. It draws attention to man. It has nothing to do with God because when God works, it's free of money. It's free of human recognition. And again, stay with me, free of faith. And by that, I mean, not that there was no faith, but your miracle didn't depend on how much faith you had. Or if you have enough faith, God will heal you. Or if you didn't get healed, you just didn't have enough faith. Show me that in that verse. God healed all of them. Every single one of them. Every single one that was brought. Why? Because it was a work of God. And God is no respecter of persons. And you don't buy God's favor. You don't buy God's blessing. God gives you blessings simply because you believe on Him. Well, how much do you have to believe? You just have to believe. It's not measured and quantified in amount. All you have to do, somebody just had to believe that a miracle can be done and they just had to bring you and put you there. And boom, it happened. Why? Because it was God's miracle. God's miracles were always free of money, it's free of recognition, and it's free of a demand of faith. Not that there was no faith. Somebody had to believe that God had power to bring you there. But your miracle was not hinging on the quantity of faith that you possessed. And so we see the miracles that are going on in the early church. Again, please understand these miracles in the early church, they're gonna fade away. It's not that God cannot do miracles anymore, but until God established His church, until God gave His Word, and we had the complete revelation of God, God proved Himself through these miracles when He was specifically, especially dealing with the Jews. thought on why miracles began to cease as the church, early days of the church were ended. Paul had an infirmity, his eyesight, but yet he was unhealed. Timothy had an issue with his stomach, and yet he didn't say, come to me and I'll heal you. He said, drink a little wine for your stomach. By the way, that's not alcohol, none of the messes, none of the time, all right? But that was grape juice, that was the fruit of the vine. Okay, he said, don't drink the water, drink some grape juice and you'll be okay, all right? Why didn't he just eat it? I mean, we believe in healing, right? Because that sign gift period was coming to an end. Why? Because the church center was moving away from Jerusalem, which was predominantly what? Jewish, to the Gentile world because Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. And the Gentiles aren't looking for a sign, they're looking for truth. They're looking for knowledge. So we see that going on in the church. That's why I said, yeah, you can take one person I can preach all day because you got to take a while to get there, right? The message to the early church, it was honesty and integrity before God. The miracles of the early church based on their unity and how they were growing in the Lord. But we see in verse 17 through 20, the deliverance in the early church. The high priests are upset about what they're doing, they bring them in, and they throw them into the common prison, verse number 18. But notice what happens in verse 19 and 20. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. We see the deliverance of the early church. And then we see the dedication of the early church, their faith and obedience. And verse 21 through verse 26, I don't know about you, but if I've just been blessed out or been threatened and thrown into jail and told not to preach anymore, the first thing I do is not necessarily gonna be thinking, run out the door and go preach again. But that's what God told him to do. And by the way, if I'm in jail and God gets me out without even opening the door, I think I probably better do what God wants me to do. Understand that's the context of what's going on. They're seeing all this in the early church from Ananias and Sapphira, from the miracles to their faithful service and yet it's bringing persecution and yet in that persecution God still reiterates to them that you need to go back to the temple, you need to go back to the people and you need to preach to them again. So we see their dedication and their faith. And again, I come back to verse 23. I stopped there when we were reading. When the officers come back and say, the prison truly found, we shut with all safety and the keeper standing without before the doors. But when we had opened, we found no man within. I like what John said, somebody's in trouble. Can you imagine that scene though? Can you imagine the scene? Can you imagine being one of those guards? You're standing there with your hand on your sword, you got your spear by your side. You're standing by the door and the guys come in and say, we need Peter and the guys that are with him. You're like, they're in there. And they're like, OK, open the door. You turn around, you open the door. Those guys go in, they come back out, and they're like, they're not in there. What do you mean they're not in there? I've been here all night. Nobody's come in or out. What do you mean they're not in there? They're not in there. Is there a hole or are the bars out of the window? Did they climb through the ductwork? You know they had ductwork right? What do you mean they're not in there? Then all of a sudden if you're a guard you're like, this is bad. Because as a guard to lose prisoners could be a death sentence. According to the prisoner is how severe and serious the situation was. But they have no answer. I mean, that guys, we didn't fall asleep with them in there all night. I don't know how they got out. And so then the guys who came to get them end up going back to the council and saying, well, we came, but they're not there. How'd they get out? Who let them out? The guard said, you know, just go kill the guard. That's all that they tell you. They're lying. But then, catch this, I love this. They're talking about all this stuff and verse number 25 happens. Then came one and told him, say, behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Oh my goodness. I mean, that's where you just took them from and threw them in jail. You sent for them, they're not in jail. You're like, oh my goodness, they've escaped. What are we gonna do with the guards? And then somebody comes in and says, hey guys, the guys you put, they're back out there in the temple again. And you're thinking, what is going on? I mean, why are they, we just put them in jail. Why are they back out there preaching again? We threatened them, we put them in. I mean, understand, the faith, please get this, the faith of the early church was shaking the minds of this religious crowd. I mean, they're threatening them, they're persecuting them, they're putting them in jail, and they won't stop. I mean, they just won't stop. Throw me in jail, I'm gonna preach in jail. Take me out of jail, I'm gonna preach out of jail. I mean, they just had a mindset that the gospel was so powerful and so important, it didn't matter where they were, they were gonna faithfully proclaim the word of God. I got a question for me and you tonight. What would it take for us to stop? As far as I know, none of us have ever been put in jail. I don't think. I'm not talking about working. I'm talking about being put in jail. Not for our faith. Not for just preaching and telling people about Jesus. And yet how often have we seen people in my life, I know, they just quit. And I get the human side of that dynamic. But I'm like, this early church, man, they had something that's like, I'm not gonna quit, man. Put me in jail, maybe you say what you're going to. But I'm not quitting on God, I'm just not. They had a passion that we need to find in our own midst. And then verse 27 and 28, let's get to our text, we're heading there. So then they bring them in. They try to do it real quiet, because again, verse 10 to verse 26, they're afraid the people would kill them and stole them. And so they bring them back in before the council in verse 27 and ask them, verse 28, say, did not we straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name? Behold, you fill Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Bring this man's blood upon us. You do know who's saying this. This is the crowd who told the crowd, crucify him, crucify him. Give us Barabbas. What do you mean then? You're putting his, Jesus' blood on your head. You're the one who said let his blood be on us and on our children. They're just drawing light to the fact that you're guilty. That you're guilty. And so again, they're concerned, they're upset that they keep preaching this message. Then we come to verse number 29 and Peter's statement. The Bible says, then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. That is a powerful, powerful statement. Who do we obey in our life? Now we know God establishes authority in the home. God establishes life and authority in government. God establishes authority in church. We understand that. Those are God-ordained authorities. But we also understand there is an authority that trumps all authority. And that's God. Why? Because man can be wrong. That's hard for us to believe, right? Man can be wrong in any of those elements. It can be a bad home situation in which they want you to disobey God and dishonor God and do things that are defiling according to God's word. What do you do? You have to honor God. You have to do what God wants you to do. The government, especially in our day, but it's been throughout human history, they sometimes demand that you condone or promote or be what God's told you not to promote or do or be. You say, what do you do? You honor God. Because God's authority and God's truth always trumps it. And I've always said as a pastor, and I've been doing this for a long, long time, I'm gonna try my best to preach to you the word of God, but the authority in your life is not me, it's God. And if I'm contrary to God's word, guess who's right? God, not me. Even though within the context of a local church pastor, I'm to lead the flock and to guide the flock and to preach to the flock, but I'm not the final authority. I'm not. I'm an undershepherd that's been given authority, but I'm not the final authority. I'm the husband, the dad in my home. I'm the father of these children, and I am their authority in the home, but I'm not their final authority. God is. They're accountable to God. They're accountable to Him. And so what the apostles are laying down here, now in the context, they've been told, don't preach in Jesus' name. And they're like, hey guys, I'm sorry. That's not gonna happen. Why? Because I must obey God and God told me to preach the word. God told me to go into the temple. God told me to preach the gospel. God told me to give the message. And I don't care what you say, and I think they were saying it respectfully, but boldly. I don't think they were being smart, Alex. I don't think they were having an attitude. I think they were looking straight in the face of the religious leader and the council and said, listen, I just want you to understand, we must obey God rather than man. By the way, who were they saying that to? The religious leader. The one who was supposed to be the one speaking for God and helping people know God. He should, of all people, have known that they should obey God rather than men. He should have, of all people, known that truth. But he didn't. Why? Because religion blinds. It always does. And so they made that statement. Who are you going to obey? God or man? Again, just some thoughts, and I'm going to wrap up here in just a moment. Philip says this concerning this verse. There was a higher court in Israel than the Sanhedrin. It was the supreme court of heaven. He said the God of heaven had sent his son into the world. He had sent his spirit into the world and he had now sent his servants into the world. The Sanhedrin had no authority to forbid them to preach in the name of Jesus. They knew it. The apostles knew it. It was simply a question, please pardon this, it was simply a question of loyalty. From the apostles standpoint, there was no more to be said. They derived their authority from God. Let the Sanhedrin bow to that. But John and the others had not finished. They were now going to put the shoe on the other foot and accuse the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin had accused them of wanting to bring the blood of Jesus on their heads, but they had already brought it upon their own heads. Clark says this about this verse. He said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The same answer they gave before in chapter four, verse 19. If you want to look back there. Chapter four in the book of Acts in verse 19. Again, Peter and John are being brought before the council or a council again. The Bible said that Peter and John answered and said unto them, would it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God judge ye. In other words, it's one of those rhetorical questions. You know who I'm supposed to abide by. You know who I'm supposed to obey. Why don't you tell me, religious leader, should I obey man or God? It's the same context. It seems they kept coming back to that head. The same answer again they gave in 419, founded on the same reason, which still stood good. We have received our commission from God. We dare not lay it down at the desire or command of men. Again, looking back in 419, he makes this comment, would it be right in the sight of God? As if they had said, worldly prudence and consideration of our secular interest would undoubtedly induce us to obey you. But acting as before God and following the dictates of eternal truth and justice, we dare not be silent. Can it be right to obey men contrary to the command and will of God? When he commands us to speak, dare we hold our tongue? We have received our authority from God through Christ and feel fully persuaded of the truth by the Holy Spirit which now dwells in us. And we should be guilty of treason against God were we on any consideration to suppress His testimony. Gill makes this comment and we'll close in a moment. He said, men, civil magistrates, and ecclesiastical rulers are to be obeyed in all things which are not repugnant to the will of God. But in things that are, God is to be obeyed and not men. Now again, God's not speaking about confusion. 1 Corinthians 14, 33 tells us God is not the author of confusion. God's not trying to create confusion, nor is He trying to sow rebellion. 1 Samuel 15, 23 says rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. He's not sowing rebellion. He's not sowing confusion. He's just saying you need to know where authority lies. God gives the authority over society to civil government. He gives the authority in the home to the parents. He gives authority in the church to the pastor and the leaders of that ministry. But all of those authorities are established by God, are responsible to God, are accountable to God, and if they go contrary to God, then guess who wins? God. How did they respond to that? And this is it. How did they respond to that? request. The council says, we told you not to speak. They said, Hey, we've got to obey God rather than them. We see verse 30, the courage in their answer. Listen to what they said. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus and he slew and hanged on a tree. the courage of their answer, the confidence in their answer, verse 31 and 32. Him and God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sin. Listen, they didn't want to preach to be angry or to be a snare to those Sadducees. They wanted them to be saved. They wanted them to hear the gospel. They wanted them to hear about Jesus. They didn't do things out of spite. They did things because they believed there was power in the name of Jesus to change their life. We see the courage in their answer, the confidence in their answer, verse 32, and we are His witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost that God has given to them that obey Him. The courage, the confidence, the conviction from their answer, look at verse 33, and when they, the council, heard that, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. You're gonna find two things about conviction. It either makes somebody really broken or somebody really mad. When you speak truth, you're gonna get one or two responses. Very, very, very rarely will someone just be neutral when you speak truth. They're either gonna be convicted because of their own guilt or their own sin, or they're gonna get really mad at you and say, who do you think you are? I can't believe you brought me nothing. And they'll lash out at you, won't they, won't they? Well, here they lashed out at them, the conviction, but they did it because they were convicted. He said they were cut to the heart. And then we see the consequences of the answer, verse 41 and 42. Notice what they did. They threatened them. Again, Gamaliel speaks up and spares their life. He's really their spokesman and leader, Dr. the Law, verse 34. By the way, remember that Saul of Tarsus, who later becomes Paul the writer of most of the books of the New Testament numerically-wise, not necessarily in the length of content, he sat at the feet of Gamaliel. That was one of his great teachers when he was a Pharisee. That's Gamaliel. And Gamaliel speaks up and he said, listen, don't you fight against these guys unless you're trying to fight against God. If this is of God, you don't want to resist it, but if it's not of God, he'll die. It always does. He said, leave them alone. So they beat him and threw him out, but what did they do? How did they respond? Verse 41, and they departed from the presence of the council and hid in the bushes and determined they wouldn't ever do it again. I don't know who's reading along and who's not. Some of you are going, wow, that sounds weird. Some of you are like, that ain't what this is. No, it's not. They departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Wow, wow, wow. How often do we, oh Lord, I can't believe you let me go through this and they were meeting the mayor. Oh, what a minute, hey. What happened to the spirit of God, thank you? that I could become worthy to suffer for you, the one who suffered all for me.