Sunday Acts 5:17-21

Opposition to the gospel arises.

Click here for an online Bible. Acts 5:17-21

The high priests were jealous of the attention that the apostles were receiving. They had the apostles arrested and put in jail. Their intention was to bring them before the Sanhedrin, the ruling council, for trial. Obviously, they needed to nip this thing in the bud before it got out of hand.

An angel from the Lord released the apostles from the jail and told them to go preach in the temple courts. Notice that God did not fix the bad circumstances of their lives. He enabled them to carry out the mission which He had given them. Jesus told them that they would be witnesses of Him. They were arrested for being witnesses of Him. Now, an angel releases them from jail with the instruction to go back and be witnesses some more.

Whenever there is a movement of God, we can expect opposition. Satan does not want us to follow God. He will do whatever he can to cause us to not do what God wants us to do. We call this opposition spiritual warfare. Satan is warring against God and those who follow God. Satan’s objective is not to make us miserable. His objective is to make us disobedient. His desire is to make us take our eyes off of the mission of God and worry more about the circumstances of life.

The Holy Spirit will help us to stay with the mission. He will empower us to remain faithful to the call. His desire is not to keep us from problems, but to keep us on track. When we obey God and follow Him despite the circumstances, He will empower us to obey.