The Obedient People (Acts 5:17-32)

The Obedient People

 

 

 

 

 

[Acts 5:17-32]

 

 

 

"What does the word “obedience” mean?  In English, the word “obedience” has its origin in Latin, meaning 'hear.'  On the other hand, the Latin origin of the English word 'absurd' is 'deaf.'  A life of obedience is a life that inclines its ear to God, while a life of absurdity is a life deaf to the voice of God (Internet).  Dietrich Bonhoeffer said this about obedience: 'Only those who obey can believe, and only those who believe can obey.' Faith and obedience are inseparable. God does not delight in a life that speaks without action (Internet).  Obedience is the expression of faith.  If we truly believe in Jesus, we must obey His words.  It is the duty of Jesus' disciples to humbly and promptly listen to the Lord's words and live in obedience to them.  But are we really obeying the absolute obedience of the Lord's words?  Richard Foster said this in 'The Simple Life': 'The moment material becomes a priority, thorough obedience becomes impossible' (Internet).  Today, the worship of wealth is rampant. It is a time that directly violates the Fourth Commandment, which commands rest on the Sabbath.  Although taking a rest when one can surpass everyone by working more might be very difficult, there is nothing more urgent than the freedom of laying down this burden.  The prohibition of coveting is in the Tenth Commandment, and there is inner greed in the midst of sin.  Possession itself is not wrong, but excessive greed, inner obsession, and unrestrained desire are sins.  The problem is, like alcoholics who cannot recognize their illness once the disease swallows us, we cannot recognize the disease (Internet).  The insight obtained from the simplicity of the Old Testament is thorough obedience.  Nowhere is it more vividly revealed than when Abraham received the command to offer his son Isaac. God spoke, and Abraham obeyed.  He did not devise emergency measures or attach conditions or excuses.  Through the long process of agony, Abraham learned one truth in his life, that is, the obedience to the voice of the Lord.  This 'holy obedience' is the conduit for a simple life (Internet).  Today, in Acts 5:29, Peter and the other apostles are speaking to the religious leaders threatening them: 'We must obey God rather than men.'  Under the title “The Obedient People”, I would like to meditate on three aspects of what people of obedience are like.

 

First, the obedient people listen and act.

Look at Acts 5:19-21: "But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 'Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.'  And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach."  The background of this passage is when God, through Spirit-filled apostles, was performing many signs and wonders, resulting in the increase of believers coming to the Lord (v. 14).  In contrast to God's work through Spirit-filled apostles, the work of Satan, motivated by jealousy, was manifested through the high priest and the Sadducees, leading them to arrest the apostles and put them in prison (v. 18).  We have previously reflected on the interrogation of Peter and John by the religious leaders in Acts 4, where their discomfort and anger were fueled by the apostles' lack of authority to teach the people in the temple and their proclamation of the resurrection of the dead in Jesus (vs. 'priests and the captain of the temple').  However, the second interrogation of these religious leaders, as seen in today's passage, targeted not only Peter and John but all the apostles, motivated by one common factor, which the author Nuga describes as "jealousy."

 

There is a Jewish folk story about jealousy, as shared by Rev. Dong-won Lee in his book ‘Repentance Acts’: "One day, an angel appeared to a woman and said, 'I will bless you.  Moreover, I will give a blessing to your friend that is greater than the blessing  I give to you. Do you have such a friend?'  The woman suddenly thinks of a friend she is jealous of and excitedly says, 'Angel, there is someone who will give me more blessings than you will give me.'  When the angel asked, 'Then what blessing do you want for yourself?'  She replied, 'Please make one of my eyes blind.'" ...  The end of the story is that, in the fervor of jealousy, she ends up asking the angel to make both eyes of the friend she is jealous of blind (Lee).  How about that?  Haven't you or I experienced jealousy?  It's like the biblical story of King Saul being jealous of David.  As Rev. Lee says, jealousy is (1) a sin that limits the potential of humans and (2) a sin that takes away everything from the daily life of humans (Lee).  Jealousy makes us unable to concentrate on anything other than the object of jealousy.  Ultimately, as we are consumed by jealousy, we deteriorate and collapse, ending in destruction.  Thus, "jealousy" or "envy" is not just to be seen as a simple psychological emotion.  The reason is that behind jealousy is the "spirit of jealousy," or in biblical terms, the "evil spirit" (Lee).  Therefore, a person who is jealous is being used as a tool of Satan.

 

In the end, the religious leaders mentioned in today's passage, the high priest and the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy in their hearts.  This jealousy extended not only to Spirit-filled Peter and John but to all the apostles, leading them to arrest and imprison them.  However, unlike the first interrogation, the second interrogation shows divine miraculous intervention.  This is none other than what we see in Acts 5:19 - "But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out."  After that, the command given to the apostles by the Lord's angel was to "Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life" (v. 20).  The apostles' response to this command was, "And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach" (v. 21).  How amazing is this?  On the previous day, at "night," the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, freeing the apostles, and the very next day, at "daybreak," the apostles, without even going home, went straight to the temple and began teaching the "words of this Life."  In the midst of the miraculous liberation by the angel of the Lord, the apostles became free individuals, and in their immediate obedience to the angel's command, we see a reflection of 2 Timothy 2:9: "For the word of God is not bound, despite my chains."  Although the apostles were freed from prison by the angel of the Lord, we witness them immediately obeying the angel's command and becoming vessels for the word of life.

 

Second, the obedient people do not fear people.

 

Look at Acts 5:26 - "Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people."  Freed by the help of the Lord's angel, the apostles were sent by the high priest and those with him to bring them forcefully as they actively convened the Sanhedrin to plan to capture the apostles (v. 21).  However, when the officers entered the prison, they found it securely locked, and the guards were standing at the doors, but the apostles were not there (vv. 22-23).  Perplexed and unsure of what to do, the temple officials were informed by someone else that "the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people" (v. 25).  Hearing this, the temple officers went to the temple with the guards to arrest the apostles, but they couldn't do it forcibly because they were afraid of being stoned by the people (v. 26).

 

How interesting is the sight of these religious leaders?  Instead of fearing God, they were afraid of the people, preventing them from forcefully capturing the apostles, who were teaching the word of life in the temple.  It is remarkable that while many people in Jerusalem came to the Lord through the power of God demonstrated by the Spirit-filled apostles, these religious leaders, filled with jealousy, tried to resist the power of God by convening the council and attempting to arrest the apostles (v. 21).  In this way, we cannot deny that the prophecy of Psalms 2:1-2 is being fulfilled: "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed."  Even during Jesus' time, the religious leaders and rulers, in their joint opposition, were acting in vain (Acts 4:25-27).  Moreover, the efforts of the religious leaders of that time to oppose the apostles, Jesus' disciples, were ultimately in vain. Pastor Sang-seop Yoo said, ‘Their plan to eliminate the apostles turned into futility because God turned their threats in response to the united prayer of the church (Acts 4:29)’ (Yoo).

 

The wise one imparts this lesson to us in Proverbs 29:25 - "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe."  Seeking safety from people is truly dangerous and foolish.  Our safety lies only in the Lord.  Therefore, we should not fear people; we should fear God alone.  Joy Dawson, in her book ‘Intimate Friendship with God,’ said this about "fearing God": ‘The only way to be liberated from fearing people is to have a heart that fears God.  Anyone who is honest will admit that at some time in life, he or she has been ensnared by fearing people.  Thus, fearing people lays a snare as God's word naturally proves: 'The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe' (Prov 29:25).  Fearing people means being more conscious of their reactions than of God's reactions to our activities.  That becomes a snare.  If we have a heart that fears God, we will be conscious only of God's reaction.  At that time, we are freed from worrying about how people will think.  This is freedom, and this is liberation! It gives a great sense of security’ (Dawson). 

 

Those who obey God's word fear God, and they are conscious only of God's reaction.  When thinking about God's reaction to the apostles who heard and obeyed the call (voice) of the Lord's angel, I was reminded of 1 Samuel 15:22 - "And Samuel said, 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.'"  The Bible states that those who hear God's voice, that is, those who obey, are pleasing to God.  However, those who do not fear God and fear people, disobeying God's word, cannot please God.  The one who fears God, therefore, does not fear people.

 

Third and last, the obedient people receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

Look at Acts 5:32 - "And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."  The apostles, who stood before the Sanhedrin council, responded to the question posed by the high priest, "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?  Yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching" (v. 28).  In today's passage from verses 29 to 32, we can see how they answered in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit: (1) The first answer is found in verse 29: "But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.'"  As early as the first trial before the religious leaders, as recorded in Acts 4:19, Peter and John boldly confessed, "...whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge."  Those who receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit boldly declared before the Sanhedrin that obeying God is more fitting than obeying men.  (2) Those guided by the Holy Spirit testified to the Word of God, which is the gospel.  Look at Acts 5:30-31: "The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."  Here, Peter and the other apostles, gathered before the Sanhedrin, proclaimed before all the religious leaders and elders of Israel, "You killed Jesus by hanging him on a tree."  Furthermore, they declared that God raised Jesus, exalted Him as Leader and Savior, to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.  After proclaiming the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the apostles affirmed the purpose of His death and resurrection, stating that it was for the repentance and forgiveness of sins in Israel.  The apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit, could not help but proclaim the gospel that the Holy Spirit bore witness to within them.  As they had declared in Acts 4:20, "For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard," the witness of the life of a disciple is characterized by confessing and proclaiming what they have seen and heard.  In conclusion, those who obey God receive the Holy Spirit as their guide, leading them to prioritize obedience to God over human commands and boldly testify to the gospel, being witnesses of what they have seen and heard.

 

In order to become excellent witnesses, what must we do?  The esteemed Leroy Eims, who served as the president of Navigators, stated, ‘To be excellent witnesses of Christ, one must possess the following five essential elements’: (1) Be patient. If you don't succeed initially, keep trying. Giving up is always too quick.  (2) Treat others kindly. Do not become a nuisance.  Instead of driving them away, you must win them over . (3) Obey under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Surrender yourself through the channel through which the Holy Spirit is working.  (4) Clearly deliver the message.  Use words that people can easily understand.  (5) Live a life worthy of the gospel.  By observing your life, they will come to know the truth of the message you convey (Internet).

 

Let's conclude with a reflection on the Word.  In the book "A Life God Rewards" by Henry & Richard Blackaby, they state, "A life of obedience is life!" and share the following story: ‘The first funeral I conducted was for a little child.  It was the first child of a couple in our church and the first grandchild for the grandparents.  One day, when I visited their home, I observed that the child blatantly ignored the parents' words.  When told to come, the child went; when told to sit, the child stood up.  The parents found such behavior cute rather than disobedient.  One day, the front yard gate was left open.  The daughter was seen leaving the yard towards the road.  From the other side, a car was approaching at a terrifying speed.  The daughter slipped through the parked cars and ran straight towards the oncoming car.  'No! Come back!' the parents urgently shouted to their young daughter.  The child paused for a moment, smiled at the parents, and then turned back, running straight into the path of the approaching car.  The car struck the child violently.  The parents' wailing at the child's death was truly heartbreaking.  It was a tragedy that occurred because the child was not trained to obey the parents' words.  I learned a great lesson through that incident – that God's people must be taught to obey immediately when they hear His voice.  Recognizing God's voice and obeying Him immediately is indeed life!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Desiring to humbly obey the Lord's commands,

 

 

 

 

 

James Kim, Sharing

[Remembering God's word, "To obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Sam. 15:22)]