And the Word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. Acts 6:7
In the early 1990s, two men enticed a Moncton man to take them for a drive in his car. As they approached the Sussex area, they forced the man to drive into a gravel pit in Penobsquis, just down the road from the Sussex Gospel Hall. There they murdered him and dumped his body, stealing his money, personal possessions, and his car. Within a couple of days, they were arrested in Maine and returned to New Brunswick for trial. The police and the prosecutors prepared their case very carefully, and they had plenty of evidence to work with. As the trial unfolded the story, the jury could come to only one logical conclusion, that those two men were guilty of first degree murder. There was just too much proof for anything else to be reasonable. Lawyers call it the preponderance of evidence. That is what also convinced the Jewish priests to believe the Gospel as our text relates.
We have many people who we automatically write off as being unlikely candidates for God’s salvation, people who are too opposed to the Gospel, or who are in positions of opposition. That’s exactly what the priests in Jerusalem were. Two chapters earlier, we read that the priests… being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead (Acts 4:1,2). These priests were mostly all Sadducees, men who rejected any concept of resurrection. And yet, something happened that changed their minds. Those who were honest and sincere looked at the evidence and were convinced. We can use the same evidence today in presenting the Gospel.
Nobody then, and nobody now, has an answer for the empty tomb. The empty tomb stands as the stark and irrefutable difference between Christianity and the world’s religions. Those religions have their doctrines, beliefs, and traditions; Christianity has a risen Christ! The priests could – and probably did – go and see the empty tomb for themselves. The lie that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body simply did not hold up to any scrutiny. Coupled with the eyewitness accounts of those who had seen the risen Christ, the empty tomb convinced honest men of the resurrection. That belief is essential for salvation. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and <B>shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead</B>, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9).
The miracles and the great power of the Gospel in the days that followed Pentecost also were impossible for the priests to ignore. These people who were so willing to suffer shame and persecution for their commitment to their risen Lord made a great impression on those who saw them. On top of all that, the priests heard the Gospel preached. And the preaching of the cross – the power of God unto salvation – has within it the power to change opinions, hearts, and lives forever.
If God could save such bitter opponents of the Gospel, who else can He save? Keep praying! -Jim MacIntosh