{"id":2064,"date":"2011-08-03T17:56:40","date_gmt":"2011-08-03T21:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fbclafayette.org\/?p=2064"},"modified":"2011-12-12T09:26:49","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T14:26:49","slug":"acts-and-the-religious-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/acts-and-the-religious-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Acts and the Religious Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The text for last Sunday’s sermon<\/a>, Acts 5:12-42, found Jesus\u2019 followers at odds once again with the religious leaders.\u00a0 So I thought I would offer a little reminder that the Bible presents a very consistent message regarding the religious leaders of the day.\u00a0 They were obsessed with maintaining their position and having control.\u00a0 Once this became the desire of their heart, there is nothing they would not do.<\/p>\n

Notice how Luke, the writer of Acts, portrays them in Acts 5:12-42.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They were jealous (v. 17) so they put them in prison<\/strong>.\u00a0 They were jealous because according to vv. 13-14 the people were holding them in high esteem and they were growing daily.<\/li>\n
  2. They were afraid of the crowds (v. 26)<\/strong>.\u00a0 Their desire to maintain control is evident in how they respond to the people.\u00a0 Instead of thinking \u201cmaybe all these people have a reason to like Jesus and the apostles,\u201d they instead wonder how they can manipulate the people so that they can continue to have control.<\/li>\n
  3. They focus on the wrong things (v. 28)<\/strong>.\u00a0 In v. 28 they focus on the fact that the apostles did not obey their commands to stop speaking the name of Jesus.\u00a0 Seriously?\u00a0 Hello!!! The Bible just explained that these dimwits put the apostles in a public jail.\u00a0 An angel comes to let them out and the men return to teaching in the temple.\u00a0 And the leaders want to talk about their teaching!!!!\u00a0 For cryin\u2019 out loud \u2026 what about the whole \u201cangel thing\u201d what about \u201chow did you get out without anyone noticing?\u201d thing? What about \u201cwhat is it like to have an angel of the Lord escort you anywhere?\u00a0 Were they all shiny or did they look like you and me?\u201d\u00a0 Apparently the religious leaders did not care a lick about any of that.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because their hearts’ desire is power, position, and control.<\/li>\n
  4. They wanted to kill them (v. 33)<\/strong>.\u00a0 The apostles challenge them (we have the Holy Spirit because we obey Jesus and you \u2026 well\u2026 you don\u2019t), but the response is not to listen, to search the Scriptures; instead, it is rage.\u00a0 When pure emotion takes the place the honest evaluation using the Scriptures, something is terribly wrong.\u00a0 Here is yet another illustration of their wanting power and control more than they wanted to reevaluate their understanding of the OT.<\/li>\n
  5. They flog them and warn them (v. 40)<\/strong>.\u00a0 After Gamaliel\u2019s speech of reason, the leaders still have the men flogged and they still warn them!\u00a0 Certainly they must be kidding.\u00a0 After all, Gamaliel\u2019s warning is that they might find themselves actually fighting against God! In other words, even in this reaction we still see their hearts’ desire coming out.\u00a0 Yes, they listened to Gamaliel, but they still had to get their digs in anyway.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Not surprisingly, this is exactly how the leaders responded to Jesus (you can go back to the gospels to read about that).\u00a0 They were concerned about their position, their power, and their ability to control the people.\u00a0 The more they saw those things sacrificed the more hardened they became.<\/p>\n

    Will You Learn the Lesson?<\/h2>\n

    Friends, there is a lesson here. Our heart\u2019s desires, like those of the religious leaders, encourage us not to listen, not to look at evidence (in Acts, signs and wonders are taking place, people were being saved, and the message was spreading rapidly), and not to evaluate properly.\u00a0 Instead, we do whatever it takes to get the desire of our heart.\u00a0 Be on guard.\u00a0 Search your heart, better yet, ask the Lord to search your heart (Psalm 139:23-24) and recommit your focus back to Jesus, to his teaching, and to his example.<\/p>\n

    The more we think about Jesus, the more he will become our heart\u2019s desire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The text for last Sunday’s sermon, Acts 5:12-42, found Jesus\u2019 followers at odds once again with the religious leaders.\u00a0 So I thought I would offer a little reminder that the Bible presents a very consistent message regarding the religious leaders of the day.\u00a0 They were obsessed with maintaining their position and having control.\u00a0 Once this… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[97,98],"tags":[4388,4407,4379,4411],"yoast_head":"\nActs and the Religious Leaders - Faith Church Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/acts-and-the-religious-leaders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Acts and the Religious Leaders - Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The text for last Sunday’s sermon, Acts 5:12-42, found Jesus\u2019 followers at odds once again with the religious leaders.\u00a0 So I thought I would offer a little reminder that the Bible presents a very consistent message regarding the religious leaders of the day.\u00a0 They were obsessed with maintaining their position and having control.\u00a0 Once this... read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/acts-and-the-religious-leaders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Church Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-08-03T21:56:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-12-12T14:26:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/files\/2011\/08\/Acts-and-the-Religious-Leaders-e1312408593877.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rob Green\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rob Green\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/acts-and-the-religious-leaders\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/acts-and-the-religious-leaders\/\",\"name\":\"Acts and the Religious Leaders - Faith Church Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-08-03T21:56:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-12T14:26:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/044621790bd51280ac2491914cbf2301\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/acts-and-the-religious-leaders\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/acts-and-the-religious-leaders\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/acts-and-the-religious-leaders\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Acts and the Religious Leaders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Church Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/044621790bd51280ac2491914cbf2301\",\"name\":\"Rob Green\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408120942\/GreenRob.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/faith-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/20200408120942\/GreenRob.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rob Green\"},\"description\":\"Pastor Rob Green oversees Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. 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