Acts 05 Round Two: Opposition Inside And Outside

Holiness inside and courage outside—Acts 5 brings both into sharp focus. We open with a generous community meeting urgent needs, then confront the sobering story of Ananias and Sapphira. Their deception isn’t about dollars; it’s about truth. The result is holy fear that resets the church’s understanding of integrity, reminding us that the Spirit’s power cannot be separated from the Spirit’s purity.

From there, the scene spills into the streets. Crowds bring the sick and oppressed, and Luke says all were healed as the apostles ministered in Solomon’s Colonnade. The focus isn’t on spectacle; it’s on a surrendered life where the presence of God overflows into real change. As momentum grows, jealousy triggers arrest. An angel opens the jail and sends the apostles back to teach. We unpack why obedience is often quiet, steady, and stubbornly consistent—showing up at daybreak to speak the message of life regardless of pressure.

The council confrontation peaks with Peter’s clear confession: we must obey God rather than human authority. He proclaims Jesus crucified, risen, and exalted, and calls for repentance with the witness of the Holy Spirit. Then comes a surprising voice of wisdom—Gamaliel—who urges restraint: if this movement is human it will fade, but if it’s from God, resistance is futile. The apostles are flogged and ordered to be silent, yet they leave rejoicing and keep teaching daily in public and from house to house. Along the way, we explore spiritual integrity, signs and wonders, civil courage, and resilient joy—keywords that include Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira, Peter, Gamaliel, early church, persecution, holiness, miracles, and obedience.

Join us as we reflect on where opposition shows up today—both inside the heart and outside in culture—and how the Holy Spirit forms a truthful, compassionate, and unshakable witness. If this conversation strengthens your faith, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a friend. What challenged you most about Acts 5?

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Theme: Acts 5
• 1:19 Community Needs And Rising Temptation
• 3:34 Ananias And Sapphira Judged
• 6:23 Signs, Healings, And Holy Fear
• 7:38 Arrest, Angelic Release, Bold Preaching
• 9:18 Trial Before The Council
• 10:33 Gamaliel’s Caution And Flogging
• 12:01 Rejoicing In Suffering And Charge

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well, hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Acts chapter 5. And this was a hard one because if I were to give this one a title, it would be Opposition Inside and Outside. What's happening is that even though there's great things going on, there's expected opposition. We always have a spiritual enemy, the devil, who does not want us to succeed in the things of God. He doesn't mind us succeeding in a whole lot of things that have nothing to do with God. He does not want to see the church move forward. We're going to get into that in just a moment. But as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe. The YouTube video, make sure you are leaving us a five-star review on where wherever you get your podcast, whether it's Amazon, Apple, Spotify, really helps us out a lot. And then also go to the Bible Breakdown discussion or on the YouTube video and let us know how you're engaging with all of this. And I want to hear from you, what is the greatest opposition to Christianity today? If you could say one thing, what is the greatest opposition to Christianity today? And we're going to talk about that today, but kind of catch you up. The doctor-turned investigative journalist, Luke, is writing about the first 30 to 35 years of the church. And he's talking about how everything started off with a bang and it just went from there, right? And the theme of the gospel, or excuse me, the theme of Acts is this. And we've been saying this every day, is that if you were voted most likely to succeed in your graduating class, if everything works out for you and you always get the job, I got good news for you. God can still use you, but he often uses the least likely to succeed, the overlooked, the ordinary person to do the greatest things he's ever done. And what we see in the gospel, or excuse me, Acts, I always want to say gospel, but in Acts, is we see these ordinary fishermen and a used up Pharisee named Paul who gave their lives over to God completely. And when they did, they got to see the world turned upside down. And if God can do that through them, what can he do through us if we will give our lives totally to him? And that's what we see happening over and over and over again. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came and infilled all of the disciples, and they began to speak with other languages, and they were filled with uh power and the glory of God and preached the gospel, and they're just doing all these things. And when we left them yesterday, they were praying for boldness. And as they were praying for boldness, God gave them boldness, but there was also a logistical, like physical problem, and that is people running out of money. When the day of Pentecost happened, people were coming there to celebrate for a week or so and then going back home. But the problem is, is that because the Holy Spirit had been poured out, people didn't want to leave. And so the crowd is now in trouble. They they need help. They're running out of money. And so what's happening is that there are people starting to sell extra land and extra things, and they're coming, they're giving the money over to God. Well, here's the problem is that whenever you do that, you also run into the risk of then people elevating themselves by, wow, they're so generous. They're so this, they're so that. Now, that's not why the original people did that, but it does tend to happen. And if people don't have their identity and who they are in Christ, then they'll start to look for their identity everywhere else. And that's the problem we run into today as we see opposition from the inside, and the judgment of God falls on two people, a husband and wife called Ananias and Sapphira. So let's read this. It's hard to read, but it's important to see. Acts chapter 5, verse 1. If you have your NLT Bible open, the Bible said, but there was a man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. His wife, with his wife's consent, and he kept the rest. Peter said, Ananias, have you let Satan fill your heart? You've lied to the Holy Spirit, and you've kept some of the money for yourself. The property was yours to sell or not to sell as you wished. But after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You're not lying to us, but to God. And look at this. As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell, boom, to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. Oh Lord, people be dying up in the church. Verse 6. Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him. About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, Was this the price you and your husband received for the land? Yes, she replied, That was the price. And Peter said, How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the spirit of the Lord like this? The young man who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out too. Instantly she fell to the floor and died. And when the young men came in and saw that she was in the dead too, they carried her out and they buried her beside her husband. And then great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened. Uh yeah. Can you imagine? Hey Peter, by the way, that was uh that was$27 and two cents, two cents, not just$27, two, two cents, Peter. But this is what happened is it wasn't that they had sold the things. It wasn't that they lied. What had happened was, is they sold some property, just to use round numbers, let's just say$100. Sold the property for$100. But what they did was, is they came and they said, Man, the Lord was good to us. We sold some property and we made$70 off of this. And so what happened was, though, is when they said, Is that is that what it was? Yeah, that that's all it was. It was$70. So there was the extra$30 that they kept, but they claimed something different. And so that was the problem. It's not that you had it. It was yours. You can do with it whatever you want to do with it, but you're lying about it, and that's the problem. And that's where judgment fell on the house of God is not because of selling the property, but lying to the Holy Spirit. Verse 12 says this the apostles were performing many miracles and wonders among the people, and all the believers were meeting regularly at the temple in the area known as Solomon's Colonnade. But no one else dared to join them. I don't blame them, even though all the people had high regard for them. Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord. Crowds of both men and women. As a result, the apostles' work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats, so that Peter's shadow might fall across some of them as they went by. Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and all were healed. Now think about that. The presence of God is on Peter so strong that they actually take sick people and fling them out in the street so that maybe his shadow would go by so they could be healed. Now, what's special about Peter? Nothing. Nothing that you and I don't have. He had a real relationship with God and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. That's what you and I can have as well. Now we don't go seeking after this prominence. We go seeking after the giver of the gift. But then he can use us in that mighty way as well. But now, because they are doing this, predictable opposition occurs. Verse 17. The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But the angel of the Lord came at night and opened the gates of the jail and brought them out. And he told them, Go to the temple and give the people the message of life. So at daybreak the apostles entered the temple, and as they were told, they immediately began teaching. When the high priest and the officials arrived, they convened the high council, the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial. But when the temple guards went to the jail, they were gone. So they returned to the council and reported, The jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there. And when the captain of the temple guard and the leading priest heard this, they were perplexed, wondering how it will all end. Then someone arrived with startling news. Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them. We gave you strict orders to never again teach in this man's name, he said. Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teachings about him. And you want to make us responsible for this man's death, which, by the way, yeah. Verse 29. But Peter and the apostles replied, We must obey God rather than any human authority. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a tree. Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as the prince and savior. He did this so that the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him. When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them. But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was an expert in religious law and respected by all the people, stood up and ordered that the men be sent outside to the council members' uh chamber for a while. Now pause. Now, this guy, not only having a very interesting name, Gamaliel, something you need to know about him. He was considered to be the wisest man in Jerusalem. He was the one who taught the highest and the most elite the ways and the laws of God. And that's what's amazing, is because we also know that Gamaliel was Paul the Apostle's teacher. Now back then you didn't go to college and get a four-year degree from Stanford or Yale or Harvard. You would go an apprentice under a teacher. And so you would say, instead of having a master's degree from Harvard, you would say, I have apprenticed under Gamaliel. And if people knew that, they were like, Whoa, this guy must be pretty smart because Gamaliel was really, really smart. And so he was the most well-respected and Paul's teacher. And this is what he says. Then he said to the colleagues, Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men. Some time ago there was a fellow named Thaddeus who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed. And all of his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing. After him, at the time of the census, there was Judas of Galilee. He got people to follow him too, but he was killed and all of his followers were scattered. So my advice is leave them alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God. The others accepted his advice and they called the apostles and had them flogged. Then they ordered them to never speak the name of Jesus, and then they let them go. Remember, flogging was 39 lashes. So they didn't just slap them on the wrist, they beat him half to death. And then they said, Don't do this anymore. But listen to this as we finish. The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. And every day in the temple, from house to house, they continued to teach and preach the message, Jesus is the Messiah. Isn't that amazing? That rather than feeling like there something was wrong because they had been persecuted for the gospel, they consider themselves thankful that they were worthy of being persecuted for the gospel. My hope is for all of us that we never receive persecution, that we never go through a bad day because of the cause of Christ. But over the course of our lives, that's not going to be possible. There's going to be times, if you're living for Christ, that other people are not going to agree. But can I encourage you? The next time someone slights you because you're a Christian, next time someone says something bad against you because you're a Christian, instead of saying, Oh God, I heavily carry this persecution, rejoice. Be excited because you are counted worthy to suffer to suffer disgrace because of Jesus. What a powerful honor it is to carry the name of Jesus with the Holy Spirit inside of us into every area of life today. Let's pray before we finish. Father, thank you so much that you're for us and not against us. Thank you, Jesus, for coming and dying on the cross, rising again, and for sending the Holy Spirit to live within all of us. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are our best friend, that you walk with us every single day. Your fruit grows in us, your gifts move through us so that we can make a difference in the lives of others today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Don't forget, Jesus said Acts 1, verse 8, that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. My prayer for you today is that you would experience the power of the Holy Spirit, and it would empower you to be a witness in your world today. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Acts chapter 6.