A. Arrested for preaching (Acts 5:17-18)
B. Miraculously released to continue preaching “the words of this life” (Acts 5:19-20; John 6:66-68)
II. Continued boldness
A. Swift obedience (Acts 5:21a; 16:32-33)
B. Jewish reaction (Acts 5:21b-28; Matthew 27:22-25)
C. The apostles refuse to back down (Acts 5:29-32; Deuteronomy 21:22-23)
III. The council’s decision
A. They “plotted to kill them” (Acts 5:33)
B. Gamaliel’s advice (Acts 5:34-39; Jude 3)
IV. The apostles’ response
A. Rejoiced at suffering (Acts 5:40-41; Matthew 5:10-12)
B. “They did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42)
A. They were not interested in Him as the Messiah (John 6:26-27)
B. The work of God is that you believe in Him whom He sent (John 6:28-29; Hebrews 11:6)
II. Jesus’ works vs. Moses’ works
A. They wanted physical bread (John 6:30-33; Nehemiah 9:15)
B. Jesus challenged a higher focus, a deeper discipleship, an active faith (John 6:34-40)
III. The rejection of the Jews
A. Offended at the suggestion of eternal existence (John 6:41-42)
B. Jesus required 24/7 spiritual devotion (John 6:43-59)
C. “This is a hard saying”…too hard for some (John 6:60-66)
D. There is no alternative to Jesus (John 6:67-69)
A. The effort to keep the church pure does not drive people away – it draws people in (Acts 5:13-14)
B. If we are serious about growing, we must be serious about sin (1 Corinthians 5:1-7)
II. Power demonstrated through the gift of the Holy Spirit
A. Unusual miracles (Acts 5:12, 15-16; Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 6:56; Acts 19:11-12)
B. Always successful (Acts 5:16)
III. The purpose of miracles
A. Confirm the Word (Mark 16:17-20; Acts 3:9-11; 4:4; 5:12, 14)
B. Why don’t we have miracles today? (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; James 1:25)
A. “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”
B. God sees things differently than man (1 Samuel 16:6-7; Luke 16:13-15)
II. Galatians 6:3
A. Context (Galatians 6:1-5; cf. Romans 3:23)
B. How should the Christian think of self? (Mark 12:31; Romans 12:3; 6:18)
III. James 1:21-25
A. If we are going to wear the name “Christian,” we must have the attitude of Christ
B. How important is it to do what we hear? (Matthew 7:24-27)
IV. 1 John 1:8
A. By recognizing sin in our lives, we give ourselves the opportunity to make it right with God (1 John 1:9)
B. Contrast between light and darkness (1 John 1:5-6; Romans 6:16-18; 6:1-2)
I. The selfless nature of the early church (Acts 4:32-37)
A. All things in common (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 6:1)
B. The grace of giving (Acts 4:33; 1 Corinthians 8:1-8)
C. The example of Barnabas (Acts 4:36-37)
D. Was the early church a form of communism? No! (Acts 4:32, 34; 2 Corinthians 8:2; 9:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Acts 12:12; 1 Timothy 6:17-19)
II. The deception of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11)
A. Their sin was deception: “You have not lied to men but to God” (Acts 5:4)
B. Attributes of God on display in this account
1. Omnipotence (Acts 5:5, 10)
2. Omnipresence (Jeremiah 23;23-24)
3. Omniscience (Acts 5:4; Jeremiah 17:9-10)
C. Punishment similar to Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-2) – “Both make the point: God’s Word and His spokesmen must be taken seriously” (Copeland)
A. “God is our refuge and strength” (Psalm 46:1a; Philippians 4:13; Jeremiah 10:23)
B. “A very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1b)
C. God alleviates our fear (Psalm 46:2-3; 2 Kings 19-20)
II. God is in the midst of His people
A. “There is a river…” (Psalm 46:4)
B. “She shall not be moved” (Psalm 46:5a; 2 Corinthians 13:5)
C. Immediate help for His children… (Psalm 46:5b)
D. …against the kingdoms of this world (Psalm 46:6)
E. Assurance for those who abide in God (Psalm 46:7)
III. Demonstrations of God’s power
A. Over the forces of nature and the armies of men (Psalm 46:8-9)
B. Relax and trust Him (Psalm 46:10; Romans 13:1)
C. “The God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psalm 46:11)
A. The religious leaders were unhappy (Acts 4:1-3)
B. HOWEVER “many believed” (Acts 4:4; 2:47; 5:14; 5:42-6:1; 17:6)
II. Opposition to the early church
A. Peter and John before the council (Acts 4:5-7)
B. Peter’s answer (Acts 4:8-12; 2:36; 2:24; Psalm 118:22; Matthew 1:21; John 14:6)
C. The council’s reaction (Acts 4:13)
D. The council’s opposition (Acts 4:14-18)
E. Peter and John refused (Acts 4:19-22; 5:29)
III. The reaction of the early church to persecution
A. Praise (Acts 4:23-28)
B. Prayer for boldness (Acts 4:29-30)
C. God’s answer (Acts 4:31)
A. God is the source of righteousness (Psalm 4:1a; 1 Peter 3:12)
B. God is the source of deliverance (Psalm 4:1b)
C. God is the source of mercy (Psalm 4:1c)
II. The enemies of David
A. Sought to bring him down (Psalm 4:2a)
B. Opposing God is useless (Psalm 4:2b)
C. God will guard and keep the souls of the godly (Psalm 4:3; 145:20; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
III. Encouragement to turn to God
A. “Be angry” or “stand in awe” (Psalm 4:4)
B. Sacrifice (Psalm 4:5a; Romans 12:1-2)
C. Trust the Lord (Psalm 4:5b; 27:13)
D. We must pray for our enemies to come to the truth! (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
IV. With trust comes safely
A. God is good (Psalm 4:6)
B. Our happiness is based on the hope of eternal life (Psalm 4:7; Philippians 4:4)
C. We can sleep in peace (Psalm 4:8)
A. Job’s friends were “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2, 4-5)
B. We should surround ourselves with people who have our eternal interests at heart (1 Corinthians 15:33)
II. It is important to BE a good friend
A. Listen carefully (Job 21:2)
B. Bear one another’s burdens (Job 21:3; Galatians 6:2)
C. Look at the evidence (Job 21:5; Ephesians 4:29)
A. Focuses on the negative
B. Suggests we can interpret what God says however we please
C. Creates a false distance between man and his Lord
D. Even Eve adds her own prohibition – “nor shall you touch it” (cf. Genesis 2:16-17)
II. The sin (Genesis 3:6)
A. Eve was deceived (John 8:44; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 15:33; Galatians 6:7-8; James 1:12-17)
B. Adam was not innocent – he was “with her”
III. Who is to blame? (Genesis 3:8-13)
A. Adam blamed both God and Eve (James 1:13)
B. Eve blamed Satan (1 Corinthians 10:13)
For an excellent in-depth study of the book of Genesis, I highly recommend Michael Whitworth’s The Epic of God. Purchase at this link.
But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. (Acts 8:12)
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