Acts 4:13-17<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0When they saw the courage of Peter and John\u00a0and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,\u00a0they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.\u00a014\u00a0But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.\u00a015\u00a0So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin\u00a0and then conferred together.\u00a016\u00a0\u201cWhat are we going to do with these men?\u201d\u00a0they asked. \u201cEveryone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign,\u00a0and we cannot deny it.\u00a017\u00a0But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they saw the courage of Peter and John\u00a0and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,\u00a0they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.\u201d\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 The hubris that these of the council felt dripped from their lips as their proud hearts overflowed.\u00a0 These two Apostles of Christ possessed truth that could not be beaten.\u00a0 They could not argue against Jesus and now these men were like unbeatable just as Jesus was.\u00a0 Peter and John were confident and filled with wisdom, all because they had been with Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 These of the council, and so many more like them who had been trained as they were, and by them, thought in the same way.\u00a0 They could not imagine anyone knowing the wisdom of God if they had not been trained in the way that they approved of.\u00a0 Even today, our denominations, and indeed these are family, set similar standards.\u00a0 They don\u2019t look for evidence of God\u2019s hand, but rather the approval of seminary.\u00a0 I thank God for the Calvary Chapels who, as much as I am aware, still accept those who are not formally trained and are ordinary men, and whom can be seen to be called of God.\u00a0 They are in the minority, but not the only ones.\u00a0 Men are not able to certify whom God calls, only God has that authority.\u00a0 It is the same lesson that these Jewish scholars were to find out.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 The miraculous healing of the formerly lame man was the undeniable proof that these men were of God.\u00a0 Though they could try to argue against Peter and John they would be unsuccessful since they were speaking from the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 These rulers could not argue against the undeniable fact that the man that they had known as lame was now healed and standing by Peter and John.\u00a0 The man himself could tell exactly what had happened.\u00a0 And how about that man?\u00a0 When the heat was turned up he stayed and was a faithful witness.\u00a0 He could have slunk away, but he remained strong alongside the Apostles.\u00a0 Family, after all the Lord has done for us, and is doing personally for each of us, do we sometimes slide out of the room when the heat is too high?\u00a0 Praise God that this man did not!\u00a0 May we be so faithful!\u00a0 Because of the healed man sticking around, those who opposed Peter and John had no argument that could stick.\u00a0 Jesus, whom they had killed, was alive again and still confounding them, only now, through His disciples.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin\u00a0and then conferred together.\u00a016\u00a0\u201cWhat are we going to do with these men?\u201d\u00a0they asked. \u201cEveryone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign,\u00a0and we cannot deny it.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 So the courtroom was cleared.\u00a0 It is unfortunate that the room was cleared not to find truth and determine if what had occurred was from God.\u00a0 No, they cleared the room to plot against the act of God and these men who were speaking the Truth of God.\u00a0 There seemed to be no way to argue against what Peter and John were preaching.\u00a0 The healed man and many witnesses were present.\u00a0 The Sanhedrin was backed into a corner.\u00a0 Not by Peter and John, but by God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 Having come up with no evidence or argument against all that had occurred, they brought Peter and John and all the people back in and warned (threatened) them to not talk about Jesus any more.\u00a0 What?\u00a0 Did they think that telling men who were telling them that the Messiah, that the Lord Jesus Christ, that the Son of God who had taught them, and who was resurrected and is now at the right hand of God, and was living in them via the Holy Spirit, who was teaching them and by whom the miracle had occurred, that these men were going to say \u201cOkay, by the authority of men I will stop doing what God is calling me to do?\u201d\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 Wow, talking about saying something to just say something. It would have been better for them to follow\u00a0Proverbs 17:28<\/b>\u201cEven fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Peter in John were not arrogant, they were filled with confidence and strength that came from being filled by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Family, may we also be led by the Spirit of God and be as bold and confident in God because of our knowledge of Him.\u00a0 Let us always and in all ways praise God!<\/p>\n
Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Acts 4:13-17\u00a0–\u00a0When they saw the courage of Peter and John\u00a0and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,\u00a0they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.\u00a014\u00a0But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.\u00a015\u00a0So they ordered them to withdraw…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,94,17],"class_list":["post-1398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-micah","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1398"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1400,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398\/revisions\/1400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}