Scripture
Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate…the Gentiles, and the people of Israel {Jews} were all united against Jesus…But everything they did was determined beforehand according to Your [God’s} will.
~Acts 4:27-28, NLT
Quote
No one can oppose God because He has the power to do what ever He wants.
~Job
In Acts three, Peter and John heal the man who was cripple and he immediately followed them into the Temple. As he went, he celebrated the goodness of God and the miracle of his healing. This upset the politically correct group who ran the temple {a type of Jewish Wal-mart}. I am speaking of the rich and powerful Sadducees. The Sadducees did not believe the scriptures other than the Torah and as Jesus pointed out, they didn’t really believe it. They were a money hungry and wicked lot and there is no evidence that any of them were ever converted. We do have record of several Pharisees who were converted to Christianity: Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Paul for starters. The Pharisees believed in the inspiration of scripture: their problem was they they interpreted it to meet their needs. The Sadducees were your politically correct liberals and the Pharisees were the halo-wearing pretenders. But it is the Sadducees who lead the charge against the Apostles. These rich and powerful Jews were feed up with Jesus. He had already cost them valuable dollars when He cleansed the temple [upset their money-making scheme]. They were under the assumption that they had taken care of Him but now it dé·jà vu. This teaching, preaching, praying and healing in Jesus name is going to hurt their business. So they call a meeting, bring in the Apostles {Peter and John} and threaten them not to speak the name of Jesus again, ever. The lame man who they had healed was standing right beside Peter and John so the Sadducees can’t deny the miracle but they want the name of Jesus squelched immediately and permanently.
That’s when Peter speaks up and I am going to give you the JEV. “When are you people going to learn. You cannot stop God. You hated Jesus from the get go and you did everything is your power to destroy Him but guess what–You failed. You had Him crucified but He arose from the dead. You folks are so ignorant. You thought you were stopping Jesus but you played right into His hands: He intended to be crucified; this was His plan all along and you idiots made it happen. So, read my lips–YOU CANNOT STOP GOD. You tried to thwart His sovereign plan but what you did was enhance it. So stop messing with God, He’s too big for you to handle. You are great at manipulating people but you cannot manipulate God so why not throw in the towel.”
Praise God for warmer weather, amen! If there is liberty, I enjoy preaching and last night I felt the liberty. I love Psalm 8: I love them all. Dot, Roger and Joyce are enjoying the ministry teams. I am proud of you guys. Keep up the good work. Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.