Acts 5

And then they would, they would overly qualify that to say, well, this is not really talking about the Sunday gathering and, I was just so surprised how the events that are happening, whether it was COVID or whatever was happening, you know, that was then dictating, you know, our exegesis or interpretation of texts.

And so when it came to, you know, texts like Romans 13, or you go to Acts 5, you know, you hear, well, we must obey the government unless and until they forbid us from preaching the gospel.

you try to find an example of that in history where they say, okay, well, you can, you can preach this and that, but you just don't preach narrowly the gospel.

You know, you can go back to, you know, Nazi Germany and Hitler says, well, don't preach anything but the gospel, you know, just don't touch anything political, then you'll be fine.

And I think a lot of, a lot of churches just, or a lot of pastors were comfortable with that kind of argumentation, but it just didn't hold up the weight.

So when you actually read the passages in acts four and five, Yes, they were persecuted for preaching the gospel, but it wasn't just the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

They were preaching, it says in Acts 5, all the words of this life, all the words of Christ.

They were talking about the authority of Christ.

Today is Tuesday, October 27th.

Let's begin with a reading from Acts 5.

When they had brought them, they set them before the council.

And the high priest questioned them, saying, We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

Why was the Apostle Paul imprisoned? It depends on who you ask.

The Jews accused him of teaching against the law, defying Moses, and defiling the temple in Acts 21.28. To the Romans, he was a public nuisance, disturbing the Pax Romana in Acts 24.5-6.

The Macedonians accused him of sedition and treason against Caesar in Acts 17.7.

But what did Paul think? He claimed to be imprisoned on account of the gospel in 2 Timothy 1, verse 8.

Now, why would Paul do that? He tells us in multiple places that he imitated Christ, and he urged others to imitate him too.

In this setting, to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord is to be political.

That basis and fundamental confession is political dynamite in a society that worships another Lord.

In Acts chapter 17, as the Apostle Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica and caused no little disturbance, the charges against them were clear.