But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. Acts 5:1-11 Ananias and Sapphira C. S. Robinson, D. D. The word Ananias means "grace of God"; and the word Sapphira signifies just "a sapphire," the familiar jewel of brilliance and beauty. We should suppose these two people had an unusually bright prospect in the outset. Somebody there was who loved them enough to give them very fine names when they were little. Ananias lied; then it was that "the grace of God" went out of him for ever. Sapphira lied; when a woman loses the truth, it is as if the last light went out of a sapphire. ( C. S. Robinson, D. D. )

Benson Commentary Acts 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, Acts 5:1-2 . But a certain man named Ananias — A professor of the gospel, but certainly not a true believer, for all that truly believed were of one heart and of one soul, Acts 4:32 . Probably he was not yet baptized, but intended now to offer himself for baptism; with Sapphira his wife — Who concurred with him; sold a possession — So the word ????? , here used, properly signifies: what sort of a possession it was, we are not informed: for the word ?????? , (used Acts 5:8 , and rendered land, ) does not necessarily mean so, but simply, a place, of any kind, and might be a house or houses. He pretended, it seems, to imitate the zeal and liberality of Barnabas, chap. Acts 4:37 ; and kept back — Greek, ?????????? , fraudulently secreted, or purloined, part of the price — While he brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet — Publicly, as if it had been the whole, perhaps saying it was so. It has been supposed by many, that Ananias and Sapphira had consecrated their estate to God by vow, and that they were guilty of the sin of sacrilege. But this is not probable; 1st, Because in all the sales of lands or houses, mentioned in the preceding chapters and here, there is not the least intimation of any such vow. 2d, Peter neither accuses him nor his wife of any such crime, but only of tempting, that is, distrusting and making trial of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and attempting to deceive him by an artifice. 3d, The apostle acknowledges ( Acts 5:3 ) that the property was his, and at his disposal, before it was sold, and the whole price of it afterward, which could not have been the case, if he had before consecrated it to religious uses. But yet they were guilty of a double fraud; 1st, In presenting this part of the price to the apostles, as if it had been the whole, when, indeed, it was not. 2d, In tacitly signifying hereby that they had now the same right to be relieved from the common stock which others had, as having nothing of their own, when, indeed, they had money which they had kept back. Acts 5:2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it , and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Acts 5:3-4 . But Peter said — Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, which immediately suggested to him the fraud; Why has Satan — Through thine own wickedness in yielding to his temptations; filled thy heart — With such a degree of covetousness, falsehood, folly, and presumption, as to induce thee to lie to, or, as Dr. Waterland renders ????????? ?? ?? ?????? ?? ????? , to put a fallacy, or cheat upon the Holy Ghost; that is, that thou shouldst attempt to impose upon the Spirit of God, namely, the Spirit with which the apostles were endued. Here we see St. Peter, under the infallible guidance of the Spirit of truth, of wisdom, and revelation, acknowledging and bearing testimony to the agency of Satan in exciting men to and promoting wickedness: and what faith then have they in the inspiration of the apostles, who call in question the very existence of the devil, and even venture to give it as their opinion that there is no such being in the universe? And to keep back part of the price — When thou pretendest to have brought the whole. While it remained unsold, was it not thine own? — It evidently appears from hence, that no Christian converts were obliged to sell their estates. And when it was sold, was it not still in thine own power — To have given, or not given, the whole or any part of the price of it into the treasury of the church, as thou shouldest think proper? Why then hast thou conceived this thing, &c. — So meanly and profanely to dissemble on this solemn occasion? Thou hast not lied unto men — That is, to men alone, whose treasurers we are; but unto God — Who resides in us by his Divine Spirit. Hence it is justly inferred, that the Holy Ghost is God; since lying to him is said to be lying to God. Acts 5:4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. Acts 5:5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. Acts 5:5-6 . And Ananias, hearing these words — While the sound of them was yet in his ears; fell down and gave up the ghost — ??????? , expired. It does not appear whether Peter designed or expected this event to follow upon what he said, though it seems probable, from the sentence he denounced on Sapphira, ( Acts 5:9 ,) that he did. It is likely that Ananias’s own conscience smote him with such horror and amazement at the sight of his guilt, that he sunk down and died at the sense of it. Or, perhaps, he was struck by an angel, as Herod was, Acts 12:23 . This punishment of his sin may seem severe, but we are sure it was just, considering that complication of vain glory and covetousness, of fraud and impiety, which, as several writers have proved, his action contained. It was also wise and gracious, being designed, 1st, To vindicate the honour of the Holy Spirit, lately poured out, in order to the erecting of Christ’s kingdom, and now grossly affronted by an attempt to impose on those who were so eminently endued with his influence. 2d, To deter others from such presumptuous conduct, now at the beginning of this new and divine dispensation. Simon Magus afterward was not thus punished, nor Elymas; but Ananias was made an example now at first, that, with the evident proofs given, what a blessed thing it was to receive the Holy Spirit, there might be also sensible proofs afforded of the awful consequences of resisting or doing despite to the Spirit. Thus the worshipping of the golden calf, and the violation of the sabbath day, were severely punished among the Israelites, when the law of Moses was newly given; as also the offering of strange fire by Nadab and Abihu, and the mutiny of Korah and his company, when the authority of Moses and Aaron was lately established. Add to this, that by this punishment of Ananias and Sapphira, hypocrites and dishonest persons were deterred from joining the Christians, merely for the sake of a present alms, or any temporal advantage, to which, by a fraud like this, many might, on easy terms, have purchased a pretence, who would also, no doubt, have proved a great scandal to a profession taken up on such base motives. This likewise was a very convincing attestation of the apostles’ most upright conduct in the management of the sums with which they were intrusted, and indeed, in general, of their divine mission; for none can imagine that Peter would have had the assurance to speak as he did to Ananias, and much less would such an awful sanction have been given to his words, if he had been, at the same time, guilty of a much baser fraud of the like kind, or had been belying the Holy Ghost, in the whole of his pretensions to be under his miraculous influence and direction. And great fear came on all that heard these things — That heard what Peter said, and saw what followed: or upon all that heard the story of it: for, doubtless, it was much spoken of in the city. See on Acts 5:11 . And the young men — Some, probably, appointed in the church to the office of burying the dead; or some that attended on the apostles, perceiving there was no room to hope for the recovery of one who was struck dead by such an immediate act of the divine power; bound him up, and carried him out to burial — Without any further circumstance of mourning or delay. Acts 5:6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him . Acts 5:7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. Acts 5:7-10 . About the space of three hours after — How precious a space! his wife — Who was absent when this happened; not knowing what was done, came in — Into the place where the apostles were, expecting, doubtless, to share in the thanks of all present, for consenting to the sale of the land, and becoming, with her husband, so great a benefactor to the fund; Peter said to her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much — Naming the sum. And she said, Yea, for so much — Ananias and his wife had agreed to tell the same story; and the bargain being private, and, by consent, kept to themselves, so that nobody could disprove their assertion, they thought they might safely affirm what they did, and should gain credit to it. It is lamentable to see those relations, who should quicken one another to that which is good, hardening one another in that which is evil! Peter said — By an immediate impulse of the same Spirit, which had before so awfully interposed; How is it that you have agreed — Have acted as if you had agreed together; to tempt the Spirit of the Lord — To try whether he be capable of searching the heart, and of knowing what is done in secret? Before Peter passes sentence, he sets before her the greatness of the crime. Behold the feet of them which have buried thy husband — Whom divine vengeance has already struck dead on this occasion; are at the door — Upon their return; and shall carry thee out — A breathless corpse. She had not heard till now that her husband was dead, the notice of which, with the discovery of her sin, and the sentence of death passed upon her, struck her as a thunderbolt, so that she expired in a moment. And the young men came in — And, to their utter astonishment, doubtless, found her also dead, and carrying her forth immediately, buried her by her husband! — Observe, reader, there are many instances of sudden death, which are not to be looked upon as the punishment of gross sin, like these here recorded: we must not think that all who die suddenly were sinners above others. It may be intended as a favour to some, that a quick passage is granted them. Such instances, however, are intended to be a warning to others to be always ready: but the deaths here mentioned were, doubtless, in judgment. Some inquire concerning the eternal state of Ananias and Sapphira, and incline to think, that the destruction of the flesh was effected, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. And had there been any space granted them for repentance, as there was to the incestuous Corinthian, there might have been reason for indulging a hope of this kind. But, as the case was, the ground for hope concerning them seems small, according to the Scriptures. Secret things, however, belong not to us, and we know the Judge of all the earth will do only what is perfectly just and holy. Acts 5:8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Acts 5:9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Acts 5:10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. Acts 5:11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. Acts 5:11 . And great fear came upon all the church — All that had joined themselves to it were struck with a holy awe of God and his judgments, and with a great veneration of this dispensation of the Spirit, which they were now under. It did not damp or check their holy joy, but it taught them to be serious in the midst of it, and to rejoice with trembling. And all that laid their money at the apostles’ feet, after this, were afraid of keeping back any part of the price. And upon as many as heard these things — Who could not but acknowledge that it was the immediate hand of God by which both these persons died, and that he was just in this awful dispensation. Many, no doubt, were put into a consternation by it, and were ready to say, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God and his Spirit in these his servants! As the word church ( ???????? ) now occurs a second time in this history, it may be proper to observe, that we have here a native specimen of a New Testament church; which is a company of persons called by the gospel, grafted into Christ by faith and the Holy Spirit, admitted into the society of Christians by baptism, animated by love, united by every kind of fellowship, and disciplined by the execution of a divine judgment on two unworthy members. Acts 5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. Acts 5:12 . And by the hands of the apostles were many signs, &c., wrought — Many miracles of mercy for one of judgment. Now the gospel power returned to its proper channel, which is that of grace and goodness. These miracles, which were not a few, but many, not of one kind merely, but of divers kinds, evidently proved the divine mission of the apostles, for they were signs and wonders, such wonders as were confessedly signs of the divine presence and power; they were not done in a corner, but among the people, who were at liberty to inquire into them, and if there had been any fraud or collusion in them, would have easily discovered it. And they were all — All the believers; with one accord in Solomon’s porch — Frequently meeting there, and conversing together with the most affectionate expressions of mutual endearment, being unanimous in their doctrine, worship, and discipline; and there was no discontent or murmuring about the death of Ananias or Sapphira, as there was against Moses and Aaron, about the death of Korah and his company, Numbers 16:31 . The separation of hypocrites from the society of the faithful, should make those that are sincere cleave so much the closer to each other. It seems strange that the priests, and other rulers of the temple, should suffer the Christians to keep their meetings there; but it was, doubtless, through the providence and grace of God, who inclined the hearts of their enemies to tolerate them there a while, in order to the more convenient spreading of the gospel. Acts 5:13 And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. Acts 5:13-14 . And of the rest — Who were not really converted to Christianity; durst — Or presumed; no man to join himself to them — As, had it not been for the late signal judgment, some hypocrites might have attempted to do, in order to obtain a share in the distributions which were made among the Christians from their fund of charity; but the people magnified them — Namely, the apostles: had a great veneration for them, and spake of them with the highest expressions of reverence and respect, as persons who were owned by God in a most signal manner. And believers were the more added — Though the death of the two above-mentioned unhappy offenders deterred many, who did not sincerely believe in Jesus, and were not awakened to a sense of the importance of things spiritual and eternal, from joining themselves to the church; yet such as truly believed and were brought under a serious concern about their salvation, were united to the Lord in great numbers; multitudes both of men and women — Becoming his genuine disciples, and making an open profession of their faith, by submitting to the ordinance of baptism: for they wisely inferred, from what had happened, how dangerous it would be to oppose or suppress the inward convictions of their minds, in a matter of such great importance. Acts 5:14 And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.) Acts 5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. Acts 5:15-16 . Insomuch, or so that, they brought the sick into the streets, &c. — The contents of this and the following verse are evidently connected with the former part of Acts 5:12 ; the intermediate paragraph being intended to be read in a parenthesis. They brought the sick into the streets, because, as is probable, the priests would not suffer them to bring them into the temple to Solomon’s porch; and the apostles had not leisure to come to the houses of them all. And they laid them on beds and couches — Because they were so weak that they could neither walk nor stand, and in order that, if they could neither have access to Peter, nor he come to them, at least the shadow of him passing by might overshadow some of them — Though it could not reach them all, and they had faith to believe this would be the means of healing them. And it is probable that they were not disappointed, but that some, at least, were thus healed, as the woman mentioned in the gospel was, by touching Christ’s garment. According to their faith it was done unto them. And in this, among other things, the promise of Christ, ( John 14:12 ,) The works that I do, shall ye also do, and greater works than these, &c., was eminently fulfilled. And if such miracles were wrought by Peter’s shadow, we have reason to think some were wrought in some such way by the other apostles; as by the handkerchiefs from Paul’s body, Acts 19:12 . And there came a multitude out of the cities — In proportion as the fame of these wonderful works was spread abroad; bringing sick folks — That were afflicted in body; and those vexed with unclean spirits — Who were troubled in mind; and they were healed every one — Distempered bodies and distempered minds were both cured. Thus opportunity was given to the apostles, both of convincing people’s judgments, by those miracles, of the heavenly origin of the doctrine they preached, and also of engaging people’s affections both to them and it, by giving them specimens of its manifest beneficial tendency. Acts 5:16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. Acts 5:17 Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, Acts 5:17-18 . Then the high-priest rose up — Never did any good work go on with any hope of success, but it met with opposition; for they that are bent to do evil cannot be reconciled to them who make it their business to do good. Satan, the destroyer of mankind, ever was, and ever will be, an adversary to those who are men’s benefactors. And it would have been strange, if the apostles had been suffered to go on thus teaching and healing, and had received no check. In these and the following verses we have the malice of hell and the grace of Heaven struggling about them; the one to make them cease from this good work, the other to animate them in it. The high-priest, Annas or Caiaphas, was the ringleader in the opposition made to them: he rose up — As it were, with awakened and renewed fury; and all they that were with him — His friends and associates; for they saw their wealth and dignity, their power and tyranny, that is, their all at stake, and inevitably lost, if the spiritual and heavenly doctrine of Christ should gain ground and prevail among the people. Which is the sect of the Sadducees — A goodly company for the priest! The Sadducees were most forward to join with the high-priest in this persecution, having a particular enmity to the gospel of Christ, because it attested and confirmed the doctrine of the invisible and eternal world, the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, and the future state, which they denied. And were filled with indignation — Greek, ????? , with zeal, rather; namely, bitter, persecuting zeal against the cause of Christ: for it is not strange, if men of no religion be bigoted in their opinions against true and pure religion. When they heard and saw how the people flocked to the apostles, and how reputable they were become, they were exasperated to the last degree, and rose up in a passion, as men who could no longer bear such proceedings, and were resolved to oppose them, being vexed at the apostles for preaching the doctrine of Christ, and curing the sick; at the people for hearing them, and bringing the sick to be cured; and at themselves and their own party for suffering this matter to go so far, and not suppressing it at its first rise. Thus are the enemies of Christ and his gospel a torment to themselves! And laid their hands on the apostles — Being determined to bring them to another trial before the sanhedrim; and put them in the common prison — Where the vilest malefactors were lodged. Acts 5:18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. Acts 5:19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Acts 5:19-23 . But the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors — In spite of all the locks and bars that were upon them, and without giving any alarm to the keepers, or any of the other prisoners; and brought them forth — Hereby God evidently showed how impotent the rage of the priests and rulers was against those whom he determined to support. And said, Go, stand and speak to the people — They must not think they were thus miraculously delivered, in order that they might save their lives by making their escape out of the hands of their enemies; no, it was that they might go on with their work, with so much the more courage and diligence. Thus recoveries from sickness, deliverances out of trouble, &c, are granted us, not that we may enjoy the comforts of life, but that God may be honoured with our services. All the words of this life — Of the life which God had commissioned them to preach, and which the Sadducees denied; or, the whole doctrine of the gospel, which brings life and immortality to light, and shows the way that leads thereto. This they must preach in the temple. We may be ready to think, though they might not quit their work, yet it would have been prudent to proceed with it in a more private place, where it would have given less offence to the priests than in the temple; and so would have the less exposed them. But this was not permitted: they must speak in the temple: for that was the place of concourse, where they would have the greatest number of hearers, and do the greatest good. It is not for the preachers of the gospel to retire into corners, as long as they can have an opportunity of preaching in the great congregations. And when they heard that — When they heard that it was the will of God they should continue to preach in the temple, they took the first opportunity of doing it; for very early the next morning, as soon as the gates were open, they entered into the temple, and taught with the same freedom as before, no way discouraged by the fear of persecution. Doubtless it was a great satisfaction to them to receive these fresh orders from Heaven; for if they had not received them, they might have questioned whether, since they had now received their liberty, they should preach as publicly in the temple as they had done, Christ having said, When they persecute you in one city, flee to another. But while they were prosecuting their blessed work in obedience to the divine command: the high-priest came — Into the room where the council was usually held; and called together all the senate of Israel — All the members of the sanhedrim, being solicitous that there should be as full a house as possible on so important an occasion; and sent proper officers to the prison, to have the apostles brought before them, that the court might proceed to their examination and punishment. But when the officers came — To their great surprise, they found them not in the prison, and yet could discover no way whereby they could have made their escape, considering the circumstances that appeared on inquiry. Returning, therefore, to the council, they made their report accordingly. Acts 5:20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. Acts 5:21 And when they heard that , they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. Acts 5:22 But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, Acts 5:23 Saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within. Acts 5:24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Acts 5:24-25 . When the high-priest, &c., heard these things — So perfectly unexpected; they doubted of them — They were extremely perplexed, and even at their wit’s end, having never been so disappointed before of a thing they were so sure of. They doubted, ?? ?? ??????? ????? , what this thing might be — That is, whether they had procured their liberty by corrupting the keepers, or whether there might not be something miraculous in the deliverance of persons, whom such extraordinary circumstances had attended; and in that case, what this affair might import, and what the issue of it might be. Thus the world, in persecuting the children of God, entangle themselves in numberless difficulties. Then came one — Who knew their disappointment, and the uneasiness it gave them; saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison — And have commanded to be brought to your bar; are standing in the temple — Here, however they came thither; and teaching the people — With as much freedom and confidence as ever. Now this confounded them more than any thing. Prisoners, who had broken prison, used to abscond for fear of being retaken; but these prisoners, after they had made their escape, durst show their faces even there where their prosecutors had the greatest influence. Acts 5:25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. Acts 5:26 Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. Acts 5:26-28 . Then went the captain with the officers — By the direction of the sanhedrim; and brought them — ?? ???? ???? , not by violence; for they feared the people, lest — If they had offered any violence in their presence; they should have been stoned — The people were so fully persuaded that a divine power attended the apostles, that they held their persons sacred, and would not have borne any open attack upon them. “This may seem a surprising change in the people, considering the eagerness with which they demanded that Christ should be crucified. But it is exceedingly probable, that seeing the mighty power which wrought in the apostles, they might entertain some hope of obtaining temporal deliverance by their means, (see Acts 1:6 ,) of which they were so exceedingly fond; and a disappointment in their hope of which had turned their hosannas [addressed to Christ] into the cry, Crucify him, crucify him.” And when they had brought them — For the apostles made no opposition, but readily and cheerfully obeyed the summons, that they might repeat their testimony to their Divine Master, in the presence of the rulers; they set them before the council — In order to their examination. We may think, if God designed that the apostles should be thus seized, and brought before the sanhedrim a second time, why were they rescued from their first imprisonment? But that was intended to humble the pride, and check the fury of these their persecutors. And the high-priest — Singling out Peter and John, who had so lately been examined before the council; asked them — As the mouth of the court; saying, Did we not straitly command you — You two in particular, and so, in effect, all the rest of your company, and on pain of our highest displeasure; that you should not teach in this name — But you have disobeyed our commands, and go on to preach, not only without our license, but against our express order. See the poor cunning of the enemies of the gospel! They make laws and interdicts at their pleasure, which those who obey God cannot but break, and then they take occasion thereby to censure and punish the innocent as guilty. And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine — Your false and pernicious doctrine, and thereby have disturbed the public peace; and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us — An artful and invidious expression. The apostles did not desire to accuse any man; they simply declared the naked truth. Thus these rulers charged them, not only with contumacy, and contempt of the court, but with sedition and faction, and a plot to set the people against them, for having persecuted, even to death, not only so innocent, but so good and great a man as this Jesus. Acts 5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Acts 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29-32 . Then Peter and the other apostles — Or, Peter, in the name of the others, who, it seems, were all present; said — He does not give them the titles of honour which he did before; ( Acts 4:8 ;) but enters directly upon the subject, and justifies what he and his brethren had done. This is, as it were, a continuation of that discourse, but with an increase of severity; We ought to obey God rather than men — They do not plead the power they had to work miracles; a power which spoke sufficiently for them, and proved their divine mission; and therefore, they humbly declined mentioning it themselves: but appealed to a maxim universally owned, to which even reason must subscribe, and which was a perfect justification of their conduct; God had commanded them to teach in the name of Christ, and therefore they were in duty bound to do it, though the chief priests forbade them. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus — Of the seed of David, according to the promises made to our fathers; that is, he qualified him for, and called him to, his great undertaking. It seems to refer to the promise made by Moses. See Acts 3:22 . Or, he may speak of God’s raising him from the grave. Whom ye slew and hanged on a tree — As if he had been the meanest of slaves, and the vilest of malefactors. You put him to death in the most infamous manner; but God has restored him to life; so that God and you are manifestly contesting about this Jesus, and which must we side with? Him — This very person, notwithstanding all the outrage with which you treated him; hath God exalted with his right hand — By his almighty power, from the grave to heaven; or, to his right hand. You loaded him with disgrace; but God has crowned him with honour; and ought not we to honour him whom God honours? A Prince and a Saviour — To his people, whom he both governs and delivers, and therefore we ought to preach in his name, and make known the laws of his kingdom, as he is a Prince; and the offers of his grace, as he is a Saviour. Observe, reader, we cannot have Christ to be our Saviour, unless we be willing to take him for our Ruler. We cannot be redeemed and healed by him, unless we give up ourselves to be governed by him. His saving us is in order to his ruling us. To give repentance to Israel — To give the people of Israel place or room for repentance, notwithstanding their aggravated guilt; and to declare unto them the terms of peace and reconciliation: or, to call them to repentance by the gospel, and give them grace to enable them to obey the call; and forgiveness of sins — To all the truly penitent, on whom alone that blessing is bestowed: for there is no remission without repentance; none are freed from the guilt and punishment of sin, but those who are freed from the power and dominion of it; that are turned from it to God. And on the other hand, wherever repentance takes place, accompanied with fruits worthy of repentance, and faith in Christ, and in the promises of God through him, remission is granted without fail. Some infer from

Expositor's Bible Commentary Acts 5:1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, Acts 5:38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: Chapter 12 GAMALIEL AND HIS PRUDENT ADVICE. Acts 5:38-40 WE have set forth in these verses an incident in the second appearance before the council of the Apostle Peter and the other Apostles, conspicuous among whom must have been James the brother of John. It is almost certain that James the son of Zebedee was at this time very prominent in the public work of the Church, for we are told in the opening of the twelfth chapter that when Herod would vex and harass and specially weaken the Church, it was neither Peter nor John he first arrested, but he laid hands on James, and placed on him the honour of being the earliest martyr from amongst the sacred band of the Apostles. Peter we may, however, be sure was the centre of Sadducean hate at this period, and one of the most conspicuous members of the Church. We should at the same time beware of exaggeration, and strive to estimate the events of these earliest days of the Church, not as we behold them now, but as they must have then appeared unto the members of the Sanhedrin. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira seem now to us extraordinary and awe-inspiring, and sufficient to strike terror into the hearts of all unbelievers; but probably the story of them had never reached the ears of the authorities. Human life was but little accounted of among the Romans who ruled Palestine. A Roman master might slay or torture his slaves just as he pleased; and the Romans, scorning the Jews as a conquered race, would trouble themselves but little concerning quarrels or deaths among them, so long as public order and the stated business of society were not interfered with. The public miracles which St. Peter wrought, these were the things which brought matters to a crisis, and called afresh the attention of the Sanhedrin, charged as they were with all religious authority, as the miracle of healing wrought upon the impotent man had led to the arrest of the Apostles on a previous occasion. It is a mistake often made, in studying the history of the past, to imagine that events which we now see to have been important and epoch-making must have been so regarded by persons living at the time when they happened. Men are never worse judges of the true value of current history than when they are placed in the midst of it. It is always the on-lookers who see most of the play. Our minds are so limited, our thoughts are so completely filled up with the present, that it is not till we have got away from the events, and can view them in their due proportion and symmetry, surrounded with all their circumstances, that we can hope to form a just appreciation of their relative importance. I have often seen a hill of a few hundred feet in height occupying a far more commanding position in men’s eyes than a really lofty mountain, simply because the one was near, the other far off. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira are recorded therefore at full length, because they bring eternal lessons of justice, judgment, and truth along with them. The numerous public miracles wrought by Peter when "multitudes came together from the cities round about Jerusalem, bringing sick folk and them that were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one," seemed to the Sanhedrin and the religious public of Jerusalem the all-important topics, though they are passed wholly over in the Scriptures as matters of no spiritual interest. If it requires a vast exercise of patience and wisdom to estimate events aright in their mere worldly aspect, it requires the operation and guidance of the Holy Ghost to form a sound judgment upon the relative spiritual value of events falling within the sphere of Church history; and there indeed it is most true that matters which seem all-important and striking to man are judged by God as insignificant and unworthy of notice. So contradictory are ofttimes the ways of God and the opinions of man. The public miracles wrought by St. Peter had this effect, - the only one noted at length by the sacred writer: they led to the fresh arrest of Peter and the other Apostles by the High Priest and the sect of the Sadducees, and to their incarceration in the public prison attached to the temple. Thence they were delivered by an angel and sent to speak publicly in the temple, where their adversaries officially assembled; just as on a later occasion Peter, when imprisoned by himself, was released by angelic interference. Men looking back upon the history of the primitive Church, and judging of it as if it were the history of an ordinary time and age, have objected to the angelic interventions narrated here and in a few other places in the New Testament. They object because they do not realise the circumstances of the time. Dr. Jortin was a shrewd writer of the last century, now too much neglected. He remarked in one place that, suppose we admit that a special revelation of the good powers of the heavenly world was made in Christ, it was natural and fair that a special manifestation of the powers of evil should have been permitted at the time of Christ’s Incarnation, in order that the triumph of good might be the greater; and thus we would account for the diabolical possessions which play such an important part in the New Testament. The principle thus laid down extends much farther indeed. The great miracle of the Incarnation, the great manifestation of God in Christ, naturally brought with it lesser heavenly manifestations in its train. The Incarnation raises for a believer the whole level of the age when it occurred, and makes it an exceptional time. The eternal gates were for a moment lifted up, and angels went in and out for a little; and therefore we accept without endeavouring to explain the words of the narrative which tells us that an angel opened the prison doors for the Apostles, bidding them go and speak in the temple all the words of this life. And then from the temple, where they were teaching early in the morning, about daybreak of the day following their arrest, they are led by the officers before the Sanhedrin which was sitting in the city. Here let us pause to note the marvellous accuracy of detail in St. Luke’s narrative. The Sanhedrin used to sit in the temple, but, a few years before the period at which we have arrived, four or five at most, they removed from the temple into the city, a fact which is just hinted at in the fifth verse of the fourth chapter, where we are told that the rulers, and elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, that is, in the city, not in the temple; while again in this passage we read that when the High Priest came and convened the council and all the senate of the children of Israel, they sent their officers to bring the prisoners before them. These officers after a while returned with the information that the Apostles were preaching in the temple. If the Sanhedrin were meeting in the temple, they would doubtless have learned this fact as soon as they assembled, especially as they did not sit till after the morning sacrifice, several hours after the Apostles appeared in the temple. When brought before the council the Apostles boldly proclaimed their intention to disregard all human threats, and persevere in preaching the death and resurrection of Christ. The majority would then have proceeded to extreme measures against the Apostles, and in doing so would only have acted after their usual manner. The greater part of the Sanhedrin were Sadducees, and they, as Josephus tells us, were men of a bloodthirsty character, ever ready to proceed to punish in the most cruel manner. The simple fact is this, the Sadducees were materialists. They looked upon man as a mere animated machine, and therefore, like the pagans of the same period, they were utterly regardless of human sufferings, or of the value of human life. We little recognise, reared up as we have been in an atmosphere saturated with Christian principles, how much of our merciful spirit, of our tender care for human suffering, of our reverent respect for human life, is owing to the spiritual ideas of the New Testament, teaching as it does the awful importance of time, the sanctity of the body, and the tremendous issues which depend upon life. Sadducees and pagans knew nothing of these things, because they knew nothing of the inestimable treasure lodged in every human form. Life and time would have been very different for mankind had not the spiritual principles inculcated by Pharisee and by Christian alike triumphed over the cold stern creed which strove on this occasion to stifle the religion of the Cross in its very infancy. When the Sadducees would have adopted extreme measures, the words of one man restrained them and saved the Apostles, and that one man was Gamaliel, whose name and career will again come before us. Now let us apply ourselves to the consideration of his address to the Sanhedrim. Gamaliel saw that the large public gathering to whom he was speaking were thoroughly excited and full of cruel purposes. He therefore, like a true orator, adopts the historical method as the fittest one for dealing with them. He points out how other pretenders had arisen, trading on the Messianic expectations which then existed all over Palestine, and specially in Galilee, and how they had been all destroyed without any action on the part of the Sanhedrim. He instances two cases: Judas, who lived in the days of Cyrenius and the taxing under Augustus Caesar; and Theudas, who some time previous to that event had arisen, working upon the religious and national hopes of the Jews, as the persons now accused before them seemed also to be doing. He points to the fate of the pretenders he had mentioned, and advises the Sanhedrin to leave the Apostles to the same test of Divine Providence, confident that if mere impostors, like the others, they will meet with the same death at the hands of the Romans, without any interference on their part. It is evident that Gamaliel must have had some special reason for selecting the risings of Theudas and Judas, beyond the fact that they were rebels against established authority. The closing years of the kingdom of Herod the Great were times when numberless rebellions took place. Josephus gives us the names of several leaders who took part in them, but, as he tells us ("Antiqq." 17, 10:4), there were then "ten thousand other disorders," into the details of which he did not enter. All these risings had, however, these distinguishing features, they were all unsuccessful, and they were all quenched in blood. Gamaliel must have seen some feature common to the Christian movement and to those headed by Theudas and Judas some thirty years earlier, leading him to adduce these examples. That common feature was their Messianic character. They all alike proclaimed new hopes for Israel, and appealed to the religious expectations which then excited the people, and still are embodied in works like the book of Enoch, produced about that period; while all the other attempts were animated by a mere spirit of plunder or of personal ambition. But here we are met with a difficulty. The rationalistic commentators of Germany have urged that St. Luke composed a fancy speech and put it into the mouth of Gamaliel, and in doing so made a great historic mistake. They appeal to Josephus as their authority. He states that a Theudas arose about A.D. 44, some ten years later than this meeting of the Sanhedrin, and drew a large number of adherents after him, but was defeated by the Roman governor. On the other hand, the words of Gamaliel refer to the case of a Theudas who lived half a century earlier, and preceded Judas the Galilean. To put the matter plainly, St. Luke is accused of having composed a speech for Gamaliel, and, when doing so, of having committed a great blunder, representing Gamaliel as appealing to an incident which did not happen till ten years later. This circumstance has long attracted the notice of commentators, and has been explained in different ways. Some maintain that there was an older Theudas, who headed an abortive Messianic rebellion previous to the time of Cyrenius and the days of the taxing. This is a very possible explanation, and the identity of names constitutes no valid objection. The same names often occur in connection with the same movements, political or religious. In the third century, for instance, the Novatian heresy arose at Carthage, and thence was transferred to Rome. It was headed by two men, Novatus and Novatian, the former a Carthaginian, the latter a Roman presbyter. What a fine subject for a mythical theory, were not the facts too indisputably historical! How a German critic would revel in depicting the impossibility of two men with names so like holding precisely the same office and supporting exactly the same views in two cities so widely separated as Rome and Carthage! Or let us take two modern instances. The Tractarian movement is not yet quite sixty years old. It has not therefore yet passed out of the sphere of personal experience. It started in Oxford during the thirties, and there in Oxford we find at that very period two divines named William Palmer, both favouring the Tractarian views, both eminent writers and scholars, but yet tending finally in different directions, for one William Palmer became a Roman Catholic, while the other remained a devoted son of the Reformation. Or to come to still more modern times. There was an Irish movement in 1848 which numbered amongst its most prominent leaders a William Smith O’Brien, and there is now an Irish movement of the same character, and it also numbers a William O’Brien amongst its most prominent leaders. A Parnell leads a movement for the repeal of the Union in 1890. Ninety years earlier, a Parnell resigned high office sooner than consent to the consummation of the same legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland. We might indeed produce parallel cases without number from the range of history, specially of English history, showing how political and religious tendencies run in families, and reproduce exactly the same names, and that at no distant intervals. But the very passage before us, the speech of Gamaliel and its historic argument, affords a sufficient instance. Gamaliel adduced the case of Judas the Galilean as an illustration of an unsuccessful religious movement. Every one admits that here at least Josephus and the Acts of the Apostles are at one. Judas the Gaulonite, as Josephus styles him in one place, or the Galilean as he calls him in another place, was the founder of the sect of Zealots, who "have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only ruler and Lord" (Josephus, "Antiqq.," 18, 1:6). Judas was defeated at the time of the taxing under Cyrenius, and yet more than forty-five years later we find his sons Simon and James suffering crucifixion under the Romans because they were following their father’s example. Another explanation has also been offered. It has been suggested that Theudas was simply another name for one of the many rebels whom Josephus mentions, -for Simon, for instance, who had been a slave of Herod the Great, and had upon his death headed a revolt against authority. Either explanation is quite tenable, as opposed to the view which represents St. Luke as committing a gross historical error. And we are the more justified in offering these suggestions when we reflect upon the numberless instances where modern research has confirmed, and is every year confirming the minute accuracy of this writer, who doubtless derived his information concerning what passed in the Sanhedrin, on this occasion, from St. Paul, who either as a member of the council or a favourite pupil of Gamaliel may have been present listening to the debates, or even sharing in the final decisions. Let us now turn from the purely historical side of Gamaliel’s speech, and view it from a spiritual standpoint. The address of Gamaliel was so favourable to the Apostles that it has helped to surround his name and memory with much legendary lore. It was the tradition of the ancient Greek Church from the fifth century that he was converted to Christianity and baptised, along with his son Abibus and Nicodemus, by St. Peter and St. John. The story of Gamaliel’s secret adherence to Christianity goes even much farther back. There is a curious Christian novel or romance, which dates back to close upon the year 200, called the "Clementine Recognitions." We find the same tradition in the sixty-fifth chapter of the first book of these "Recognitions." But the sacred narrative itself gives us no hint of all this, contenting itself with setting forth the prudent advice which Gamaliel gave to the assembled council. It was wise advice, and well would it have been for the world if influential religious and political teachers in all ages had given similar counsel. Gamaliel was a man of large scholarship, combined with a wide mind, but he had learned that time is a great solvent, and the greatest of tests. Beneath its influence the most pretentious schemes, the most promising of structures, fade away if built upon the sand of human wisdom, while opposition only tends to consolidate and develop those that are built upon the foundation of Divine strength and power. The policy of patience recommended by Gamaliel is a wise one, either for the Church or for the state, in things spiritual and things secular alike. And yet it is one from which the natural man recoils with an instinctive repugnance. It speaks well for the Jewish Sanhedrin that on this occasion they yielded accord to the advice of their president. We are glad to recognise this spirit in these men, where we so often have to find matter for blame. Well would it have been for the Church and for the credit of Christianity had the spirit which moved even the Sadducean majority in the Jewish council been allowed to prevail; and yet how little have the men of tolerant mind been regarded in moments of temporary triumph such as the Sanhedrin just then enjoyed. Gamaliel’s advice, "Refrain from these men and let them alone. If the work be of man it will be overthrown; if of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them," strikes a blow at the policy of persecution, which is essentially a policy of impatience. The intolerant man is an impatient man, not willing to imitate the Divine gentleness and long-suffering, which waits, endures, and bears with the sins and ignorance of the children of men. And the Church of Christ, when she became intolerant, as she did as soon as ever Constantine placed within her reach the sword of human power, forgot the lesson of the Divine patience, and reaped within herself, in a shallow religion, in a poorer life, in a restrained intellectual and spiritual grasp, the due reward of those who had fallen away from an imitation of the Divine example to a mere human level. It is sad to see, for instance, in the case of a man so thoroughly spiritual as St. Augustine was, how easily he fell into this human infirmity, how quickly he became intolerant when the secular arm was ranged on the side of his own opinions. The Church in his own boyhood, during the days of Julian, had to strive against the intolerance of the pagans; the orthodox, who upheld the Catholic view of the nature of the Godhead and the scriptural doctrine of the Holy Trinity, had to struggle against the intolerance of the Arians. Yet as soon as power was placed in St. Augustine’s own hand he thought it right to exercise compulsion against those who differed from him. It was exactly the same in later days. Men may take up commentators of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Protestant and Roman Catholic alike. There they will find many remarks, acute, devout, heart-searching, but very few of them will be found to have arrived at the mental fairness and balance involved in those words, "Refrain from these men, and let them alone." Cornelius a Lapide was a Jesuit commentator of those times. He wrote many valuable expositions of Holy Scripture, including one dealing with this book of the Acts, filled with thoughts suggesting and stimulating. It is, however, almost ludicrous to notice how he strives to evade the force of Gamaliel’s words, and to escape the application of them to his own Protestant opponents. The Sanhedrin were quite right, he thinks, in adopting Gamaliel’s advice, and in showing themselves tolerant of the apostolic preaching because the Apostles worked miracles; and so, though they were unconvinced, still they had just reason to suspend their judgment. But as for the Protestants of his time, they were heretics; they were the opponents of the Church, the bride of Christ, and therefore Gamaliel’s words had no application to them; as if the very question that was raised by the Protestants was not this-whether Cornelius a Lapide himself and his Jesuit brethren did not represent Antichrist, and whether the Protestants were not the true Church of God, who therefore on his own principles were quite justified in persecuting their Romish opponents. It is very difficult to get men to acknowledge their own fallibility. Every party, when triumphant, believes that it has a monopoly of truth, and has a Divine right of persecution; and every party when downcast and m adversity sees and admires the beauties of toleration. Verily, societies, churches, families, as well as individuals, have good right diligently to pray, "In all time of our wealth, good Lord, deliver us," for never are men in greater spiritual danger than when prosperity leads them to vote themselves infallible, and to practise intolerance towards their fellow-men on account of their intellectual or religious opinions. The sentiment of Gamaliel on this occasion may, however, be pushed to a mischievous extreme. He advised the Sanhedrin to exercise patience and self-control, but he did not apparently go any farther. He did not recommend them to adopt the noblest course, which would have been unprejudiced examination into the claims put forward by the Christian teachers. Gamaliel’s advice was good, it was perhaps the best he could have given, or at least which could have been expected under the circumstances, but it was not the highest or noblest conceivable. It was the kind of advice always given by men who do not wish to commit themselves untimely, but who are waiters upon Providence, postponing their decision as to which side they shall join until they first see which side will win. Opportunists, the French call them; men who are sitting upon the fence, we in homelier phrase designate them. It is well to be prudent in our actions, because true prudence is only Christian wisdom, and such wisdom will always lead us to take the most effectual ways of doing good. But then prudence may be pushed to the extreme of moral cowardice, or at least the name of prudence may be used as a cloak for a contemptible desire to stand well with all parties, and thereby advance our own selfish interests. Prudence should be united with moral courage; it should be ready to take the unpopular side, and to champion truth and righteousness even when in a depressed and lowly condition. It was easy enough to side with Christ when the multitude cried, "Hosanna in the Highest." But the test of deepest love and unfailing devotion was-when the women stood by the cross, and when the Magdalen sought out the grave in the garden that she might anoint the dead body of her loved Lord. Finally, let us just notice the conduct of the Apostles under those circumstances. The Apostles were freed from the pressing danger of death, but they did not entirely escape. The Sanhedrin were logically inconsistent. They refrained from putting the Apostles to death, as Gamaliel advised, but they flogged them as Roman laws permitted; and a Jewish disciplinary flogging, when forty stripes save one were inflicted, was. so severe that death sometimes resulted from it. Man is a curiously inconsistent being, and the Sanhedrin showed on this occasion that they had their own share of this weakness. Gamaliel advised not to kill the Apostles, but let time work out the Divine purposes either of success or failure. They adopt the first part of his advice, but are not willing to allow Providence to develop His designs without their interference, and so by their stripes endeavour to secure that failure shall attend the apostolic efforts. But it was all in vain. The Apostles were living under a realised sense of heavenly things. The love of Christ, and communion with Christ and the Spirit of Christ, so raised them above all earthly surroundings that what things seemed toss and shame and grief to others were by them counted highest joy, because they looked at them from the side of God and eternity. Human threats availed nothing with men animated by such a spirit, -nay, rather as proofs of the opposition of the evil one, they only quickened their zeal, so that "every day, in the temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Christ." How wondrously, life would be transformed for us all did we view its changes and chances, its sorrows and its pains, as the Apostles regarded them. Poverty and disgrace, undeserved loss and suffering, all alike would be transfigured into surpassing glory when endured for Christ’s sake, while our powers of labour and work, and our active zeal in the holiest of causes, would be quickened, because, like them, we should walk and live and toil in the loved presence of One who is invisible. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.