SERMON: Acts 5:34-42

Reading:
Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;   And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.   For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.   After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.   And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:   But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.   And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.   And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.   And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

Good and Evil Counsel 

Beloved of the Lord……The Word of God in Psalm one says, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night."  This psalm teaches us not to accept ungodly counsel, nor do the evil things the ungodly do.  Rather we are to walk in the way of God's counsel, the "law of God", even thinking about it day and night.  There are, of course, two sources of counsel or advice in this world.  Good counsel is godly counsel based on God's Word.  This good counsel brings us Christ, His grace, forgiveness, faith to believe, peace, joy, hope, trust, and in the end life everlasting.  Evil counsel however does just the opposite.  It takes Christ away, robs souls of forgiveness, even leads to damnation.  For the good of our soul then let us beware of the evil counsels, including psychology.  Beware of the Oprahs, Dr. Phil, the Freuds of this world and the vanity of their counsel.  How many counselors believe and will counsel that all men are inherently evil by nature, and all our problems stem from sin?  What worldly counselor or  psychologist teaches Jesus is the fount and source of all grace, who gave His own body as a ransom for our soul on the cross, whereby God's forgiveness is free?  What counselor teaches us "by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast?"  Today let our boast and counsel be, "Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed His blood for me."

 

I.  Good and evil counsel.  The counselor in today's lesson was Gamaliel.  He stood on the side of God's enemies, yet his counsel was to spare the life of the apostles.  It is doubtful Gamaliel had faith, but we leave it as an open question.  God doesn't tell us.  But without a doubt, Gamaliel was a wise man of this world held in good reputation.  Setting the apostles aside, He urged caution and care.  This is good advice, even Scriptural.  When we are hot with anger, we seldom think straight and usually move too fast in the wrong direction.  Proverbs 16:32 says,  "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."  To rule your spirit means to control yourself and don't let your flesh run wild.  As God is "slow to anger" so should we by His grace be.  Joel 2:13 declares "Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." 

        Continuing to urge the council to think rationally, Gamaliel uses a bit of history to make his point.  Theudas led a rebellion against Rome but he was put to death and his comrades scattered.  Similarly Judas of Galilee led a rebellion  against Rome during the great census.  At this time property was numbered, valued, and taxed.  Not wanting to pay this tax, Judas of Galilee took up arms against the government and promptly was killed.  The argument of Gamaliel was that the followers of Jesus would likewise be dispersed soon enough.

        Gamaliel now continues, "And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God."  This was a powerful conclusion to the matter.  If the cause is of men it will perish, but if the cause be of God, who can overthrow it?  This counsel then is very reasonable, practical, and pragmatic.  It agrees with the logic and reason of all men.  As Christians we should especially notice this argument is on the side of the law.  Not only is it reasonable, but the compelling reason not to murder the apostles is the wrath of God.  Who wants to fight against God?  Fear then is the motive not to murder the apostles.

        We too as Christians must know well how to debate on the side of the law.  Yet we do not preach the law to scare men into heaven.  That is evil.  Sometimes our good counsel is the law, and sometimes the Gospel.  We must judge which according to the need of our neighbor.  Sometimes our good counsel is the law, so that the proud and self-righteous heart of man may be broken, ready to receive Christ.  Jeremiah 23:29 says, "Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?"  If our neighbor however comes to us in this broken state, our good counsel is Christ and His sweet forgiveness of sins.  This good counsel fills the heart with joy.  That is why Jesus said to the woman at the well, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."  Thus regarding both the law and Gospel, let we remember Galatians 3:24-25, "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."

        There is (of course), good and bad counsel in this world, and we must discern which is good and which evil.  God's Word alone is our guide.  Regarding the devil, while Satan knows the Gospel well, his counsel to us is not to believe the Gospel.  Thus when we inwardly despair or doubt our salvation, we must go to our good Counselor, Jesus Christ.  In His sacred Word of Promise which cannot fail, we hear the good counsel from His sacred lips, for "Ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold….But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."  Likewise when we are tired and worn out by our sins, the good counsel of Jesus is, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  Let it also be said, if we are having trouble and our soul is vexed, we should seek the good counsel of a fellow Christian, especially our pastor.  When Luther was yet a monk, and he was fearful regarding his salvation, a priest by the name of Staupitz gave him the good council and advice.  He said to Luther, "Why do you torture yourself with these speculations?  Look at the wounds of Christ and at the blood He shed for you; from these your election will shine forth.  Therefore we must hear the Son of God, who was sent into the flesh and has appeared for the purpose of destroying the work of the devil."

        Today's lesson especially is a good example of how God destroys the evil counsel of the devil.  Though it was the clear will and desire of the Council to murder the apostles, just as they did Christ, God worked mysteriously through the mouth of Gamaliel so they were released.  They were beaten, 'tis true, yet they were not in any wise beaten.  For Christ's sake they suffered the wrong knowing the Lord would not cast them off forever.  In the end, by faith, by grace, these beaten yet unbeaten apostles left "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name."   

 

II.  God's good and eternal counsel was our salvation through Jesus Christ the Lord.  All of this teaches God's good and eternal counsel is our salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Rather than worry and fret, we should hear and believe and receive by faith the good counsel of Jesus Christ Himself who says, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  Without faith this passage makes no sense.  How can scarlet be white as snow?  How can red crimson be "as wool"?  But each believer knows the answer.  Jesus, His blood, His righteousness makes us white as snow.  His blood red like crimson, makes us whole.  While the Gospel itself is not reasonable to the natural man, for when do we get something for nothing?.....the Gospel is reasonable when we see Christ is the reason for our justification.  Through Jesus we are absolved and forgiven of all sin, for "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."  Though God then is the Judge of all flesh, it is not that there is no mercy in the heart of this Judge.  Nor did the Judge of all flesh ever invent a law for Himself whereby He forbade Himself from having mercy upon the guilt.  Jesus Himself is the mercy of the Judge's heart, or better, Jesus came forth from the heart of the Father, that we through Him might are saved.  Speaking of this heart of God our Father, Luther two beautiful verses in Hymn #387.  "But God beheld my wretched state, Before the world's foundation, And mindful of His mercies great, He planned my soul's salvation.  A father's heart He turned to me, Sought my redemption fervently: He gave His dearest Treasure.  He spoke to His beloved Son: 'Tis time to have compassion.  Then go bright Jewel of My crown, And bring to man salvation; From sin and sorrow set him free, Slay bitter death for him that he, May live with Thee forever." 

        Knowing this perfect plan of God, not only does God give us good counsel on the way to heaven, but He breaks and hinders those whose counsel against us is evil.  He even uses their counsel to His glory.  Thus when we see the Herod's of this world, the Pilates, the Neros, or even certain "powers that be", aren't they also in God's hands?  Can't God destroy their evil counsel, or even turn their evil counsel to good?  Weren't the apostles released in spite of the evil Council?  Didn't the evil Council listen to the good counsel of Gamaliel.  "If it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God?"  Though these words were argued on the side of reason and logic, we as believers can see (if we look closely), Gospel in these words when we think of Christ and God's sure plan of our salvation.  Nobody can overthrow this Christ who came forth from the bosom of the Father.  Their plans to overthrow Christ were God's plans to overthrow the devil and destroy His power through the cross of our salvation.  Therefore "If God be for us, who can be against?"  Jesus is our Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, He who was dead yet lives.  He by His Spirit begins our faith, and He by His Spirit working in the Means of Grace finishes our faith when we reach heaven.  This good counsel of God is clearly stated in Hebrews 12:2.  We look "unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross."  "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?  Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."  "Be not faithless but believing" dear child of God for whom Christ died and rose again!  Amen!