And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. Acts 5:35
Two young men came up with what they thought was a great idea for disturbing the Gospel meetings that were underway in a tent in their community. Both of these men had ‘muscle’ cars that had noisy mufflers. One evening, just after the meeting started, both cars pulled up outside the tent and sat rumbling noisily. The young men took turns roaring away from the site and then returning with squealing brakes. For awhile, their plan worked; the racket made it almost impossible to conduct the meeting. But they didn’t know that an off-duty policeman was among those attending the meetings, and he contacted his buddies on the force. The troublemakers were quickly rounded up and charged with disturbing a religious service. A judge with a sense of humour, in addition to levying a stiff fine, sentenced them to attend at least two meetings in the tent. They should have heeded the warning in today’s text.
If you talk to any full-time worker, you will hear plenty of stories of people who have interfered with efforts to spread the Gospel. The devil has no shortage of helpers when it comes to this work. But those who actively oppose the Gospel or who set out to persecute and annoy Christians do so at their peril. Gamaliel’s warning to the Sanhedrin is still valid today. This wise and highly respected Pharisee urged caution when dealing with the Christians. He had lived long enough to see malicious plans backfire. And he knew that the Sanhedrin had no real case against the Christians, that they were merely retaliating against the Christians’ claims that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead. As a Pharisee, he did not share the Sadducees’ rejection of a resurrection. Some traditions tell us that Gamaliel was later saved, but we don’t know that. We do know that his sage advice stands as a caution to opponents and as a comfort to Christians.
Not everybody gets busted for disturbing Gospel meetings. But everybody who does will have to answer to God for their evil deeds. We know it is God Who opens the doors for the Gospel to go forth. That means those who oppose the Gospel are opposing God. They could not possibly succeed unless God allows them to do so. Why would God allow opponents of the Gospel to succeed in their efforts? Sometimes He does so to test the Christians. Sometimes He does so to enable the opponents to destroy themselves. Sometimes He does so in order that a later victory over them will be all the more powerful.
Those who oppose the Gospel may win short-term battles, but they must pay a heavy price for it. Attempting to shut a door that God opens will never work. -Jim MacIntosh