What if one of the brightest people in the world was told about God and Christianity?
If a super smart person were told about Jesus and the New Testament , how would he respond?
An example of these very two things is found in Acts 5.
BEGINNING IN VERSE 34 WE READ ABOUT A PHARISEE NAMED GAMALIEL. THE TEXT DESCRIBES HIM AS A DOCTOR OF THE LAW WHO WAS HELD IN HONOR BY ALL THE PEOPLE.
A.
Luke did not
overstate this man’s position and importance.
B.
There
are sources which say the Jews had a special title for 7 Hebrew
teachers.
C.
This
title was Rabban.
D.
Gamaliel was
one of the 7 men who was honored with this title.
E.
This
teacher was so well respected he was called “the beauty of the law.”
F.
When he
died fellows Jews said, “the glory of the law died.”
G.
Of all the
Jewish rabbis that lived, this man was among the most famous.
2.
It is
said Gamaliel was so bright 1,000 scholars—the brightest
students—studied underneath him.
3.
500 of
these scholars studied the law; the other 500 studied Greek wisdom.
A.
Since Paul
studied under this man we can probably draw a conclusion about Paul.
B.
Paul
must have been extremely bright because Gamaliel didn’t take average
students.
4.
Gamaliel must have had mental abilities which went far beyond brilliant.
5.
I would
not be uncomfortable classifying him as a genius.
6.
As time
passed this highly respected man who was a great intellectual was
confronted w/ the gospel.
7.
The
information presented to him was not limited to what the apostles said.
8.
Several
miracles had been performed in the city of Jerusalem.
9.
The
Jewish religious officials had on more than occasion tried to stop the
preaching.
10.
These same
authorities are now so angry they want to kill the apostles (verse 33).
11.
All this
information would have been familiar to Gamaliel.
12.
In fact,
Gamaliel was well informed he stepped forward too control of the
situation (verse 34 –
READ).
13.
Gamaliel
made an argument based upon history.
14.
He
affirmed that certain movements had come from men instead of God and
they had failed.
15.
This
point is expressly stated in verse 38.
16.
The flip
side of his argument is in verse 39 –
READ.
PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS OF GAMALIEL’S SPEECH. ON THE ONE HAND IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT THE EVIDENCE GIVEN BY THE APOSTLES SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMPELLING ENOUGH TO CONVINCE EVERYONE THEY WERE TELLING THE TRUTH—ESPECIALLY A PERSON AS SMART AS GAMALIEL. SINCE GAMALIEL DID NOT SUPPORT THE APSTLES, OTHERS HAVE SAID HE WAS LIKE A POLITICIAN TRYING TO MAKE A PROBLEM DISAPPEAR. STILL OTHERS PROPOSE HE WAS IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION AND DID AS MUCH AS HE COULD DO TO PREVENT THE APOSTLES FROM BEING KILLED.
A.
However we
wish to view this man, one point is too plain to miss:
B.
Gamaliel suggested that the success of a movement was a test of truth.
C.
If a
group was not started by God he argued it would fail; it would not
succeed.
D.
He then said
any group begun by God could not be defeated.
2.
This
argument may have sounded good and may have been presented in a
convincing way.
3.
Today
when we think about his points we find that he was wrong.
A.
Is success
always an indicator of truth?
B.
Teresa
and I know a member of the church who sells vacuum cleaners.
C.
One day
I visited with this brother at his store and asked him a question.
D.
Most of us
have seen the Oreck commercials; David Oreck can be seen on t.v.
E.
He
looks into the camera and says, “try my vacuum for 30 days.
F.
“If you
don’t like it, send it back.”
G.
This is the
sweeper that is supposedly used in hotels throughout the United States.
4.
The
salesman we know said he keeps one in the store because so many people
ask about these sweepers.
5.
He
doesn’t like them or recommend them.
If you have one and like it, I am glad you’re satisfied.
6.
I am
just telling you what a sweeper salesman told me.
7.
The man
we know says these cleaners “only sell because the guy is a super
salesman.”
A.
There are
products and movements which succeed because people are good at
marketing.
B.
Bad
products can be popular because those doing the selling have a good
sales pitch.
C.
The
liquor industry produces a product that results in death, addiction, and
destruction.
D.
This industry
puts out beverages that help put people into jail and prisons.
E.
God is
certainly not behind this movement but it continues to succeed.
F.
Gamaliel argued that if God were not behind a movement it would fail.
G.
A similar
thing can be said concerning pornography.
H.
With the
Internet, pornography interest and availability have skyrocketed.
I.
In
fact, I read that some operators are making it available free to
soldiers in the area of Iraq.
J.
This
industry is also successful but it is hardly “of God.”
K.
Someone may
say that Gamaliel only had in mind false religions.
L.
If we
limit what he said to religious faiths we must say he still got it
wrong.
M.
There
are faiths which deny the true God or say Jesus is a created being.
N.
These groups
continue to succeed but they are not from God.
8.
Gamaliel was wrong.
9.
If he
had viewed things from the standpoint of eternity we could agree with
him.
10.
It can be said
that in eternity all groups but the ones organized by God will die.
11.
Jesus promised
this in Mt. 15:13 –
quote.
12. Tonight we want to consider some briefs points of application from the speech by Gamaliel.
13.
The first
point is found in verses 38-39.
A.
There is a
leading denomination that uses this verse to say they are of God.
B.
Their
reasoning goes something like this:
C.
“If a
group continues to exist it is of God” (verse 39).
D.
We have been
around for a long time and even persecuted but we continue to exist.
E.
Since
our existence has not come to an end, we are “of God.”
14.
We have
already shown that Gamaliel’s conclusion is not always right.
15.
It should also
be pointed out that this esteemed teacher was uninspired.
A.
Gamaliel was
not an apostle.
B.
He was
a well respected man whose words are simply recorded in the text.
C.
That
is, the Bible does not claim that what he said is right.
D.
There were
people who said Jesus was demon possessed.
E.
These
words are found in the Bible but the charge of Jesus being possessed is
untrue.
F.
A
similar thing is true of Gamaliel.
G.
The text
records what he said but it does not affirm his remarks are right.
H.
In spite of
this people take what he said and apply it say modern religions are
right.
I.
When
Acts 5 is misused—and this often occurs—we need to show people the
facts.
16.
Paul had been
taught by Gamaliel but he certainly did not take the advice in verses
38-39.
17.
If Paul had
operated by this principle he would have left Christians alone.
18.
Truth cannot
be tested by the formula given in verses 38-39.
19.
Gamaliel did,
however, get one of the points right.
20.
He said the
apostles could not be stopped if their mission was from God.
AS WE LOOK AT THIS ACCOUNT THERE IS ANOTHER MATTER THAT DESERVES ATTENTION.
A.
Gamaliel
persuaded those who heard him (40a).
B.
The ASV
and KJV use the word “agreed.”
C.
This
term has the sense of being convinced.
D.
Notice who did
the convincing and how it was done.
1)
The
convincer (Gamaliel) was a religious man.
2)
He was
extremely bright and had an excellent reputation.
3)
He was
someone who was so influential an angry crowd listened to him.
4)
His
influence was great enough that other religious leaders followed his
lead.
E.
Gamaliel was good at convincing a crowd but he was in error.
F.
Today
there are a lot of people who are just like Gamaliel.
G.
These persons
are religious, bright, may have excellent reputations, and are
convincing.
H.
Others—even
religious leaders—listen to these teachers and follow them.
I.
Being
smart, influential, and convincing can make someone look right.
J.
After
all, if a person is smart and others are listening, what is the chance
of him being wrong?
K.
Acts 5 says to
each person in the world, “be careful when you listen to religious
teachers.”
2.
Have we
stopped to consider what is NOT in this account?
3.
If
Gamaliel was as familiar with the Old Testament law as history says,
what Bible passages did he cite?
4.
Where
is his appeal to the scriptures as he offered advice?
5.
Where
are we told about his inquiring after the Lord’s will concerning the
apostles and the gospel?
6.
This
man, even if his intentions were somewhat noble (calm the crowd), didn’t
evaluate the matter.
7.
A
decision had already been reached.
8.
The
people of God were beaten and ordered to stop preaching (verse 40).
9.
There
was no search for truth or right.
10.
It was
Gamaliel who spoke and his word was enough for the crowd.
11.
Today there
are scores of people who listen to someone like Gamaliel.
12.
A religious
person speaks and they believe and follow what is said.
A.
The crowd may
have felt satisfied but the words of Jesus come to my mind.
B.
He said
if the blind lead the blind both will fall into a pit (Mt. 15:14).
13.
Gamaliel was
like a blind man leading others who also couldn’t see.
14.
He was a
religious man who offered advice that was convincing but bad.
15.
This same
situation continues to occur throughout the world.
16.
The Bible
tries to deal with this type of problem by a simple command.
A.
1 Jn. 4:1
instructs Christians to “test the spirits.”
B.
In 1
Thess. 5:21 Paul said, “prove all things.”
C.
This is
necessary because there are people like Gamaliel.
17.
Acts 5
contains some important lessons for us.
18.
We never want
to test matters in the spiritual realm with the formula given by
Gamaliel.
19.
We can never
say, “It works” so let’s use it. Our
test must be God’s word.
20.
Just because a
person is a respected teacher or very bright doesn’t mean he is right.
21.
Teaching must
always be tested by the scriptures.
22.
Brilliance and
intellectualism are not necessary to being an effective Christian.
23.
A Christian
learns God’s word, obeys it, and lives by the instructions in it.
24.
Is this how we
are trying to live?