Do you obey God? - Acts 5

When faced with a choice between obeying God or pleasing men, which one do you choose?  For a believer in Christ we are to obey God rather than men.

Luke illustrates this very vividly in the story of Ananias and Sapphira who came before Peter with an offering.  They claimed that they sold the land and gave all the money to the church; however, they had secretly held a portion back for themselves.  Ananias and Sapphira determined in their hearts to lie about the amount of money they sold their land for.  In other words, they were seeking to please men rather than God.  As a result, God judged them and they both died.

The apostles on the other hand were obeying God rather than men.  They had banded together and were a faithful witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and about the resurrection of all men.  Their following had grown so large that the religious leaders were concerned that the people were going to turn on them.  The religious leaders decided to grab the apostles and throw them into prison in order to stop them from obeying God as faithful witnesses to the resurrection.

When it was time to bring the apostles before the Sanhedrin for trial, they found that the apostles were no longer in jail; rather, they were in the streets preaching having been released by an angel.  As a result of their faithfulness, the apostles were saved from the hands of those who wanted to kill them.

The religious leaders then sent men to bring the apostles before them.  The apostles clearly were not obeying their commands; rather, they were obeying God.

When brought before the religious leaders, Peter bluntly told them, “We ought to obey God rather than men."  He then proceeded to tell the that they were witnesses to the resurrection and that God gives His Holy Spirit to them that believe which of course made them angry.

Gamaliel, a Pharisee, then stood up and argued that God was sovereign.  If these men were obeying God, then the counsel may be fighting against God.  He stated, "for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God."

The only question left is whether you are a person who seeks to please God or to please men.  Are you like Ananias and Sapphira who were seeking to please men or are you like the apostles who obeyed God no matter the consequences leaving the outcome to God?