Henry: Welcome to immerse, the daily bible reading experience.
Day twelve.
The next day, the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers
of religious law met in Jerusalem.
Anas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John Alexander, and
other relatives of the high priest.
They brought in the two disciples and demanded by what power or in
whose name Have you done this?
Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, rulers
and elders of our people.
Are we being questioned today because we've done a good deed for a crippled man?
Do you want to know how he was healed?
Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of
Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ, the
Nazarene, the man you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead.
For Jesus is the one referred to in the scriptures where it says, the
stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.
There is salvation in no one else.
God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness
of Peter and John for they could see that they were ordinary men with no
special training in the scriptures.
They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.
But since they could see the man who had been healed standing
right there among them, there was nothing the council could say.
So they ordered Peter and John outta the council chamber and
conferred among themselves, what should we do with these men?
They asked each other the, we can't deny that they have performed a
miraculous sign and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it, but to keep
them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to
speak to anyone in Jesus' name again.
So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to
speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John replied, do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?
We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.
The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them
go because they didn't know how to punish them without starting a riot.
For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign, the healing of a man
who had been lame for more than 40 years.
As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other
believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said.
When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their
voices together in prayer to God.
Oh, sovereign Lord, creator of heaven and Earth, the sea and everything in them.
You spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor, David, your servant,
saying, why were the nations so angry?
Why did they waste their time?
With futile plans, the kings of the earth prepared for battle.
The rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.
In fact, this has happened here in this very city for Herod Anus, Pontius Pilate,
the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus,
your holy servant whom you anointed.
But everything they did was determined beforehand, according to your will.
And now, oh Lord, hear their threats and give us your servants great
boldness in preaching your word.
Stretch out your hand with healing power.
May miraculous signs and wonders be done through the
name of your holy servant Jesus.
After this prayer, the meeting place shook and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit.
Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
All the believers were united in heart and mind, and they felt that
what they owned was not their own.
So they shared everything they had.
The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and
God's great blessing was upon them all.
There were no needy people among them because those who owned land or houses
would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.
For instance, there was Joseph, the one, the apostles nicknamed Barnabas,
which means son of encouragement.
He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus.
He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles, but there was
a certain man named Ananias, who, with his wife Safira, sold some property.
He brought part of the money to the apostles claiming it was the full amount.
With his wife's consent, he kept the rest.
Then Peter said, an Anais, why have you let Satan fill your heart?
You lied to the Holy Spirit and you kept some of the money for yourself.
The property was yours to sell or not sell as you wished, and after selling it,
the money was also yours to give away.
How could you do a thing like this?
You weren't lying to us, but to God.
As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died.
Everyone who heard about it was terrified.
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 your 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 men who buried your husband are just outside the
door, and they will carry you out too.
Instantly, she fell to the floor and died.
When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her
out and buried her beside her husband.
Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.
The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among
the people, and all the believers were meeting regularly at the temple in
the area known as Solomon's Colonate.
But no one else dared to join 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 of the apostle's 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 he went by.
Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem bringing their sick, and
those possessed by evil spirits.
And they were all healed.
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 an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of
the jail and brought them out.
Then he told them, go to the temple and give the people this message of life.
So at Daybreak, the apostles entered the temple as they were told,
and immediately began teaching.
When the high priest and his 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, the men 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.
When the captain of the Temple Guard and the leading priests
heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end.
Then someone arrived with Startling News.
The men put in jail are standing in the temple teaching the people.
The captain went with his temple guards and arrested the apostles,
but without violence for, they were afraid the people would stone them.
Then they brought the apostles before the high counsel where
the high priest confronted them.
We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man's name.
He said, instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching
about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death.
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 cross.
Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior.
He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven.
We are witnesses of these things, and so was the Holy Spirit who was
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 Gamal, Who was an expert in religious law
and respected by all the people stood up and ordered that the men be sent
outside the council chamber for a while.
Then he said to his colleagues, the men of Israel, take care what you
are planning to do to these men.
Some time ago there was that fellow TDI who pretended to be someone great.
About 400 others joined him, but he was killed and all 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, but he was killed too, and all
his followers were scattered.
So my advice is leave these men 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.
They called in the apostles and had them flogged.
Then they ordered them never again to speak in the name of
Jesus, and they let them go.
The apostles left the high counsel rejoicing that God had counted them worthy
to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.
And every day in the temple and from house to house, they continued
to teach and preach this message.
Jesus is the Messiah.
But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent.
The Greek speaking believers complained about the Hebrews speaking
believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against
in the daily distribution of food.
So the 12 called a meeting of all the believers.
They said we Apostles should spend our time teaching the word of
God not running a food program.
And so brothers select seven men who are well respected and are
full of the spirit and wisdom.
We will give them this responsibility.
Then we Apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.
Everyone liked this idea and they chose the following.
Stephen, A man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, Philip Pros.
Naer, Thyman, Parus and Nicholas of Antioch, an earlier
convert to the Jewish faith.
These seven were presented to the apostles who prayed for them as
they laid their hands on them.
So God's message continued to spread.
The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem and many of
the Jewish priests were converted to.
This concludes today's Immer reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.