THE CONCERN OF THE COUNCIL

Acts 5:12-24

Victor M. Eskew

 

I.          TITLE OF THE SECTION

 

A.   The Concern of the Council

1.     Filled with indignation (Acts 5:17)

2.    Laid hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison (Acts 5:18)

3.     They doubted of them whereunto this would grow (Acts 5:24)

 

B.   Wonders and Worries

 

C.   Magnified and Maligned

 

II.        OUTLINE OF THE SECTION

 

i.             WONDERS DRAW THE MULTITUDES (Acts 5:12-16)

ii.            WRATH DRAWS THE COUNCIL (Acts 5:17-24)

a.    The Arrest (Acts 5:17-18)

b.    The Angel of the Lord (Acts 5:19-21a)

c.    The Astonishment (Acts 5:21b-24)

 

III.      APPLICATION TO CHURCH GROWTH

 

A.   God uses the hands of men to carry out His work (Acts 5:12a).

 

B.   Unity is of extreme importance to the growth and effectiveness of the church (Act s5:12b).

 

C.   The apostolic body was well defined and no one attempted to make themselves equal with them (Act 5:13).

 

D.   Church growth has as its goal the adding of multitudes of men and women to the body of Christ (Acts 5:14).

 

E.   There are many things that distinguish miracles of the first century from the supposed miracles some profess to perform today.

1.     A “healing service” was not required to perform miracles.  They were done on the streets.

2.    The miracles did not require special words or a touch by the apostles.  Just a shadow of the apostles would suffice.

3.     No faith is said to have been required by those who were healed.  The faith was in those who brought them to the apostles.

4.    Multitudes were healed.

5.    There was a great diversity in the types of healing that were done.

6.    All were healed.

 

F.    To reject the orders of those in authority will often bring indignation from the authority figures (Acts 5:17).

 

G.   Good men, men of God, can be wrongly imprisoned (Acts 5:18).

 

H.   God can protect and deliver His servants from the hands of evil men (Acts 5:19).

 

I.     Our responsibility is the same as the responsibility given by the angel of the Lord to the apostles (Acts 5:20).

 

J.    We should be obedient to our responsibility the way the apostles were (Acts 5:21a)

 

K.   Our enemies are often deeply concerned about “whereunto this would grow”