April 12, 2026
"If They Aren't for Jesus; They Aren't for God"
Acts 5:29-42
It’s ironic that the religious leaders of the people of Israel were on the opposite side of God. They were supposed to be the spiritual guides of the people but actually misled the people. They were not on the side of God even though they thought they were. This is evident in our text for today.
The religious leaders had a big problem with Jesus. They didn’t believe He had come from God and was God Himself. He was a nuisance to them. That explains why they had Him crucified. If they could get rid of Jesus, their problem would be solved.
The religious leaders got rid of Jesus because He was a threat to their power and influence over the people. Jesus had many, many people follow Him. The religious leaders couldn’t tolerate this. If Jesus were allowed to continue to preach and teach the people, they would be out of a job. So, Jesus had to be taken out of the picture.
What the religious leaders of Israel did to Jesus resembles what authoritarian leaders today do to those parties that oppose them. For example, the former ruler of Venezuela imprisoned those who ran against him in elections. This was his way of staying in power and silencing the opposition. The leader of Belorussia does the same. He arrests the opposition. Sometimes the opposition disappears from the face of the earth. The tactics of those in power haven’t changed over the years. The dictators of today try to silence the opposition by any means necessary.
This is what the religious leaders tried to do with Jesus. And it appeared that they had succeeded. They had Jesus crucified. No longer did they have to deal with Jesus’ preaching and teaching. They had silenced Jesus for good, so they thought.
But it wasn’t as easy as they had thought. Getting rid of Jesus wasn’t as simple as turning off the light switch. Jesus was a much more complicated figure. He wasn’t just an ordinary person who could easily be done away with.
We all know what happened. Jesus rose from the dead. The religious leaders hadn’t silenced Jesus once and for all. Jesus showed them who was really in charge when He rose from the dead.
It is unfortunate that the religious leaders remained stuck in their ways. Instead of turning to God and believing in Jesus, they continued to resist Him. In our text, we see that they continued to oppose God by commanding Jesus’ apostles not to preach in His name. They even had the apostles beaten to get their point across. This goes to show us how hard-hearted people can be. Even when the evidence is as clear as a cloudless day, they still refuse to believe. This was the position of the religious leaders. They refused to believe in Jesus, and as a result, were not on the side of God.
If anything, the religious leaders of Israel stood in the way of God. But praise God, they were unsuccessful. God’s plan to spread the Gospel by the apostles went ahead. There was no stopping it. The apostles continued to preach the Gospel.
Should the apostles have listened to and obeyed the religious authorities? The Bible tells us that the authorities have been put in place by God. Did the apostles disobey God by not following the religious leaders’ orders?
In verse 29, the very first verse of our text, the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.” Even though the religious authority in Israel had been established by God, it wasn’t infallible. It turns out the authorities had not been carrying out God’s will. And for this reason, it was okay for the apostles to disobey them. By doing so, the apostles had not disobeyed God.
When the authorities, religious or civil, are not on the side of God in terms of allowing us to worship God and proclaim the Gospel, we must disobey them. It is a universal right of all people to worship the Lord and proclaim the Gospel. No government has the right to prevent us from doing so or take this right from us. When a government oversteps its bounds in this area, it stands opposed to God.
It came very close to this during the pandemic. The government in many places wasn’t allowing congregations to worship. In that case we had to obey God rather than men. It could happen again.
We might like to believe that our authorities are always on the side of God, but that’s not true. Even though God has established all authority, all authority doesn’t always doesn’t follow God.
I don’t know if you notice it or not, but in our prayers here in church we include both religious and civil authorities. We pray for our government. We pray for our church leaders. We pray for them so that all will go well with us. We pray that they will do God’s will so that we can exercise our right to worship Him and proclaim the Gospel. We pray the authorities won’t hinder this in any way.
The religious leaders in our text could have certainly used prayers. They stood opposed to the Gospel and did what they could to prevent the apostles from preaching about Jesus. Had they been prayed for, they might not have been so hostile toward the apostles.
Earlier I mentioned that the religious leaders were afraid to lose their power and influence over the people. This explained why they stood opposed to Jesus and the apostles. But there was another reason as well. In verses 17 and 18 of chapter 5, it says, “Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.” This other reason was jealousy. They were jealous that the people were turning and listening to the apostles. They were beginning to gain a large following.
The religious leaders might have been jealous of the spiritual gifts that had been bestowed on the apostles. Peter, for example, had been given the gift of healing. This caused many people to seek out the apostles. The people didn’t seek out the religious leaders of Israel. God hadn’t bestowed supernatural gifts on these leaders. So, to put an end to it all, the leaders had the apostles arrested. If they themselves didn’t have the spiritual gifts, they would make sure the apostles couldn’t use theirs.
But this didn’t stop the apostles. Even though the religious leaders opposed the Holy Spirit, God’s power still prevailed. The apostles continued to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Are there religious leaders in Christianity who are opposed to God today? I would say yes. This is probably more of a travesty than an irony. But it is ironic that there are Christian leaders who are supposed to teach the ways of God to the people but aren’t. Instead, they are leading the people astray. They are not teaching the truth about God and His ways.
There are so-called Christian denominations that are opposed to Jesus Christ and His ways. I know this may be hard for us to believe. But it’s true. Unfortunately, most people don’t know the differences. “They all seem the same to me.” Well, they aren’t all the same. There are denominations that stand opposed to Jesus. I’m referring to liberal denominations. How can a church be on the side of Jesus when it allows homosexuality or abortion or women’s ordination? These go against God’s word. How can a church justify its actions? How can it say it is on the side of Jesus when it permits these things within its walls? A church might believe it is on the side of Jesus but it certainly isn’t. What it accepts as being okay indicates that it isn’t truly on the side of Jesus. It’s opposed to God’s word.
There are pastors who accept homosexuality and abortion and women’s ordination, and they can, at times, get aggressive with those who don’t share their views. Sometimes they try to have their dissenters removed from the denomination, or they will try to silence them by other means.
Not all churches are the same. Not all Christian leaders are the same. Some may say they follow the Lord Jesus but their conduct indicates otherwise.
The religious leaders in our text claimed to believe in God, but their actions were in direct opposition to God. They had rejected Jesus, the one whom God had decided would save the world from its sins.
I pray that the Holy Spirit would keep us from opposing Jesus and the teachings of His apostles. I also pray that God would continue to give us faithful leaders who do not stand opposed to God.