Text: Acts 5:12-42<\/p>\n
I. Miracles continued to be done among the Jews of Jerusalem<\/p>\n A. The church, with such a growth, was meeting at the largest building in the city on\nSolomon’s portico of the Temple\n 1. This caused no direct problems. Jews worshiped on the Sabbath and\nChristians on Sunday.\n
B. The early disciples were strongly united, but many of the Jews feared to join them<\/p>\n
1. Even so, the disciples were popular among the Jewish people<\/p>\n
2. The number of the disciples continued to increase<\/p>\n 3. People brought their sick, laying them on the street where Peter traveled in\nhope that his shadow would fall on them and they would be healed.\n 4. Not only from Jerusalem, but also from neighboring cities, people were\nflocking to Jerusalem, bringing their ill.\n
II. With all this attention, the disciples again became a concern of the Jewish leaders<\/p>\n
A. They were jealous of all the attention the people gave to the disciples<\/p>\n
B. The apostles were arrested and placed into jail<\/p>\n
C. But that night an angel of God opened the jail and released the apostles<\/p>\n 1. They were instructed to stand in the Temple and teach the message of the\nnew Life\n 2. In other words, they were not to go into hiding, but to make themselves\nseen in the most public place available.\n
D. Meanwhile, the Sanhedrin Council gathered and the apostles were sent for.<\/p>\n 1. The soldiers returned to report the apostles were gone even though the jail\nwas securely locked and the guards on duty.\n 2. Then another rushed in to say that the men they were looking for were in\nthe Temple teaching the people\n 3. The soldiers hurried to the temple and arrested the apostles, but they did\nnot rough them up because they feared to set off a riot among the people.\n
E. Before the Council the High Priest asked why they ignored their earlier order.<\/p>\n
1. He accused the apostles of trying to blame them for the death of Jesus<\/p>\n
2. Again Peter pointed out that they were required to serve God, not man.<\/p>\n
a. God proved that Jesus was his Son by raising him from the dead.<\/p>\n
b. The very man they had killed. (Yes, Peter did blame the leaders.)<\/p>\n c. Jesus is ruling from heaven, it is through him alone that salvation\nis available.\n d. The apostles claimed to be witnesses of these facts as well as the\nHoly Spirit whom has given them the power to do miracles.\n
3. The words of Peter hurt and the council was infuriated.<\/p>\n
a. They wanted to kill the apostles then and there.<\/p>\n b. But one of the Council, a respected teacher named Gamaliel,\nargued against the plan\n c. After sending the apostles out, he stated that other popular leaders\nhad arisen and fell away after the charismatic leader died.\n d. If this religion is of men, the apostles will eventually fail, but if it is\nfrom God they will not be able to stop it.\n (1) In other words, he is telling the Council that fighting this\nreligion would be politically unsound.\n
(2) They would lose in either case.<\/p>\n 4. They settled on flogging the apostles and issuing again a firm order not to\nspeak of Jesus.\n a. Rather than intimidating them, the apostles rejoiced that they were\nprivileged to suffer for Jesus.\n b. Every day they continued to teach publicly in the Temple and\nprivately from house to house.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tActs of the Apostles\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Popularity and Persecution Text: Acts 5:12-42 I. Miracles continued to be done among the Jews of Jerusalem A. The church, with such a growth, was meeting at the largest building in the city on Solomon’s portico of the Temple 1. This caused no direct problems. Jews worshiped on the Sabbath and Christians on Sunday. B. The early disciples were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":10021,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10124","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10142,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/the-death-of-stephen-and-the-persecution-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":10124,"position":0},"title":"The Death of Stephen and the Persecution of the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Death of Stephen and the Persecution of the Church Text: Acts 7:51-8:4 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Stephen, the defendant, charges his judges of resisting the will of God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They acted no differently than their ancestors \u2013 proof would be their killing of Jesus \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Few prophets of God ever escaped being killed by them\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64657,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/pauls-letter-to-the-romans\/according-to-gods-righteousness\/","url_meta":{"origin":10124,"position":1},"title":"According to God\u2019s Righteousness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"According to God's Righteousness All forms of righteousness are not the same (Romans 10:1-7) Paul again makes it clear that he is not against Israel as a people. He strongly desires that they be saved. Everything isn't all bad about Israel. They do have a strong zeal for God, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7151,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-sermon-on-the-mount\/happiness\/","url_meta":{"origin":10124,"position":2},"title":"Happiness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Happiness Reading Assignment: Matthew 4:23-5:16 Did you understand what you read? To whom was Jesus teaching? Where did they come from? \"Blessed\" is another word for happy. List eight things that according to Jesus brings happiness on the left-hand side of the page. Next to each item, write something that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40708,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/how-to-live-in-a-hostile-world-a-study-of-i-peter\/introduction-to-i-peter\/","url_meta":{"origin":10124,"position":3},"title":"Introduction to I Peter","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction to I Peter Theme During the time Peter wrote his letter, Christians around the Roman Empire were facing mounting persecutions. Though the church started among the Jews, it was never accepted by the Jewish leaders. Their persecutions caused the church to spread beyond the borders of Judea (Acts 8:1)\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10169,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/acts-of-the-apostles\/the-church-in-antioch\/","url_meta":{"origin":10124,"position":4},"title":"The Church in Antioch","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Church in Antioch Text: Acts 11:19-30 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The text of Acts now switches to focus on Saul, who later is known as Paul. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The persecution that started with the death of Stephen has scattered Christians beyond the boundaries of Israel. They have gone to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22733,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-i-thessalonians\/","url_meta":{"origin":10124,"position":5},"title":"Survey of the Bible – I Thessalonians","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - I Thessalonians Text: I Thessalonians 3:11-13 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Background \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Thessalonica was a major seaport and the capital of Macedonia. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It had a population of about 200,000 people during the time of Paul \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It still exists as Thessaloniki in Greece. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It had a Jewish population, as seen\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10124\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}