SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/18/2017
9:14 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 Persecution
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 5:17-28
Message of the
verses: “17 But the high priest rose
up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they
were filled with jealousy. 18 They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a
public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of
the prison, and taking them out he said, 20 “Go, stand and speak to the people
in the temple the whole message of this Life." 21 Upon hearing this, they
entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high
priest and his associates came, they called the Council together, even all the
Senate of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the prison house for them to
be brought. 22 But the officers who came did not find them in the prison; and
they returned and reported back, 23 saying, "We found the prison house
locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors; but when we had
opened up, we found no one inside." 24 Now when the captain of the temple
guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed
about them as to what would come of this. 25 But someone came and reported to
them, "The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and
teaching the people!" 26 Then the
captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without
violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned). 27
When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest
questioned them, 28 saying, "We gave you strict orders not to continue
teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching
and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us."”
The first thing I want to write about is what the angel
told the Apostles, that they should go back to the temple and once again begin
to tell the people the truth about Jesus Christ, telling them the gospel
message. I wonder what was going through
the minds of the Apostles at this time.
I wonder if they started to talk to one another about the danger of
doing what the angel told them to do. At
any rate they were going to go right back to the temple and once again teach
the people as we read “Upon hearing his” words, “they entered into the temple
about daybreak, and began to teach.” So
that is where we find the Apostles, doing what the angel told them to do and the
Sadducees had no idea at this time that they were out of jail.
Next in our verses we see that the high priest and his
associates were gathering together to find out what they were going to do with
the Apostles, as this happened the morning after they were put into the public
jail. They wanted to talk to them and so
they sent for them, but to their surprise they were not there.
Now it was the Levites who were the temple police and
they gave the report that all was well in the jail, the doors were locked securely
and nothing unusual could be found, but the Apostles were not there. All were greatly perplexed about what was
going on. Do you think that perhaps the Sadducees
may have thought for a moment that perhaps an angel let them out of jail? I kind of doubt it.
John MacArthur writes “Already at their wit’s end as to
how to stop the spread of Christianity, the harried Jewish authorities wondered
what was going to happen next. As their
efforts proved futile, their panic and alarm mounted. The apostles were openly flaunting their
authority. They were powerless to stop
the spread of what to them was the worst heresy imaginable and the greatest
threat to their own credibility. People
from all over the region were thronging Jerusalem to witness firsthand the
miracles done by the apostles—miracles the Sanhedrin still refused to believe.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “We have found the Messiah”
(John 1:40-41)
Bible question for
today: “Who said ‘My soul does magnify
the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced to God my Savior’?”
Answer in our next SD.
10/18/2017 9:33 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment