Fighting God
The fifth chapter of the Acts in the New Testament Bible explains what the apostles of Christ were doing after Jesus ascended into heaven. The basic gist is that they were living in community together, praying, teaching, and healing. Because they were teaching about and in the name of Jesus Christ, they spent some time in jail as well. The miracles performed through their ministry were evidence that the Holy Spirit’s power was moving mightily within them.
Luke, the author of Acts, details how the wonder-working power flowing through the apostles became so renowned that “crowds also gathered from towns around Jerusalem” to receive healing, and “all of them were healed!” The hand of God was on the early believers. So, of course, the religious leaders felt compelled to stop them. To be fair to the religious leaders, the apostles were not treading lightly on the sensitive subject of who had Jesus killed. They were putting the death of the Messiah squarely on the shoulders of the religious leaders. This was not a desirable situation if one was in that group.
When people attempt to suppress the Gospel of Jesus Christ or insert their man-made doctrine into the same, they are fighting against God.
These arbiters of religion had another problem: Jesus’ gospel continued to be preached to the public. So they seized the apostles and threw them in jail to be tried the next day. But God didn’t want them in jail, so He set them free via the working of an angel. The same angel who set them free instructed them to immediately go back to the temple and continue preaching “this new life.” That’s exactly what the apostles did.
The religious leaders, unaware of the overnight developments at the jail, met and called for the apostles to be brought before them in the morning. Even though the prison was completely locked up and securely guarded, the apostles were not in there. This was reported to the religious leaders along with the fact that these apostles were “standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” That's some fortitude right there. You think these guys believed what they were talking about? Let me know in the comments below.
The religious leaders had the apostle captured again and brought before them. They accused the apostles of continuing to preach “in this [Jesus] name” and for making the religious leaders “guilty of this man’s [Jesus’] blood.” Peter, the leader and apparent spokesperson for this band of believers, spoke up. He basically told the religious council that his associates and he were going to obey God rather than them and, once again, accused the religious leaders of having the Son of God “killed”.
This made the religious leaders “furious” to the point of wanting to put the apostles to death. But a reasonable Pharisee stood up and gave some wise advice. This man’s name was Gamaliel. He was a well-respected leader among the people as well as a mentor to a young Pharisee named Saul, who would become Paul. Gamaliel reminded the religious leaders of a couple of previous instances when men had arisen claiming to “be somebody.” After these somebodies were dispatched, their followers were all disbanded and the leaders forgotten. Then he said, “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men [the apostles] alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
This is possibly the wisest advice that has ever come out of the Sanhedrin council. The religious leaders didn’t entirely follow it. They flogged the apostles and released them. Side note: The apostles “rejoiced” to have been worthy to “suffer disgrace” for Jesus’ name. There’s more fortitude.
While the religious leaders did let the apostles go, rather than killing them. They continued to fight against God. They are fighting against Him to this day. Leaders within the religious orders, be they Jew, Muslim, Christian, or other, all fight against God. They are unwilling to allow Jesus to be who He is. They fight to keep people from realizing the truth that they are not god and Jesus is God. Gamaliel’s statement was not wise because it directed the religious leaders to do what was right. It was wise because it was true! When religious leaders attempt to squash and squelch the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they are fighting against God. If you don’t believe it, just consider what the Gospel has done over the last two millennia.