True Power

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

TRUE POWER

Acts 5:17-21

17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life." 21 At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

NIV

Why is it that people get jealous? This high priest and all his associates were the ones who had the official schooling, the education that enabled them to be members of the Sanhedrin. However, these men were also Sadducees who held the theological position that there was no resurrection of the dead. How it is that men who are supposed to know the scriptures and thus know God, do not believe in life everlasting. Nevertheless, they were jealous of these uneducated men, according to their standards of education. However, Peter and John had the best of educations as they sat under the teaching of Jesus. Jealously leads to actions that result in even more embarrassment for them. After arresting Peter and John and putting them in jail, they thought their problems were going to be over. This would put an end to this nonsense and trouble these two were stirring up. But God always has a different plan than men, even those who were supposed to be men of God, or at least religious men. How can any man control the power of God at work? It might be possible, as we are warned, to hold back or quench the Spirit. There is a truth that we could refuse to allow God to work within us, but it would be impossible for us to control how he works in another. This looks like this was the case in this narrative, as the High Priest and his associates refused to allow God to work in their lives, but they had no control over the work He was doing in the lives of Peter and John. Even in a locked cell, under guard, Peter and John disappeared and entered the temple courts at daybreak, as they were told by the angel of the Lord. Were they transported, teleported, from within the locked cell? That is what we must believe, as later in this narrative we are told the cell was under guard and still locked, yet the cell was empty. We can just imagine how Peter and John must have felt, knowing, and experiencing the power of God in that way. It must have been the same way that God moved in the life of Phillip when he transported him after he spoke to the Ethiopian Eunuch that we will see later in this record of the Acts of the Apostles. We wonder if God will ever do that again or why. Surely, Peter and John were boldly proclaiming the message of the resurrected Jesus and with all the opposition they needed the power of God working in and through them. But we live in a time that is becoming increasingly opposed to the message of Jesus Christ. Humanism is ever-increasingly becoming the religion of the people. Phrases such as, “Power to the people” “My body, my choice” “climate change” and so many others that mankind believes everything is under their control, that man is greater than any God if there is a God. We need more boldness to proclaim the truth, to stand up against this humanism, this human-centered religion, even if they put us in jail. Of course, they are already trying to put us in a jail of silence, wanting to control our speech. But if we will not be still, if we will speak up and speak out against the tyranny of this humanistic society imprisoned by the dark forces of evil, maybe, just maybe, we will experience the same power of God as Peter and John did.