The Futility of Fighting God
Acts 5:39
Intro: In this chapter, God was working in an amazing way.
God struck down Ananias and Sapphira in the first part of the chapter. (1-11)
Miracles were being performed – vs. 12
Multitudes were being saved – vs. 14
The masses were being healed – vs. 15, 16
The priests and the Sadducees were fit to be tied. – vs. 17
They arrested the apostles and cast them into prison. – vs. 18
But God sent an angel and let them out. – vs. 19
They went back into the temple and went back to preaching.
They dragged them back before the council in verse 27 and questioned them.
Peter let them have it – vs. 29-32.
The Bible says they were cut to the heart – vs. 33
But Gamaliel had a rational argument. – vs. 34-39
He closed out his comments with this rather compelling truth:
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:
· 39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
I love his rationale – if it is not real, why are you so worried about it?
If this is not of God, it will fizzle out and come to naught.
Gamaliel understood the fickleness of people.
Gamaliel realized that man is always gravitating to the newest and latest fad.
People always get enamored over something new and shiny.
His advice was to let it play out and watch what happens.
Of all the things in a person’s life that is a waste of time and is doomed for failure from the outset, there is nothing more futile that setting oneself in direct opposition to God.
I’ve watched people in my ministry choose to go up against God, and I can testify that not once has it ever worked out for them.
You can’t outflank Him – He’s Omnipresent.
You can’t outsmart Him – He’s Omniscient.
You can’t overpower Him – He’s Omnipotent.
You can’t hide from Him – He sees everything.
You can’t outmaneuver Him – He knows the end from the beginning.
You can’t wait Him out– to God a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as a day.
You can’t sneak up on Him – He never sleeps.
You can’t outrun Him – the earth is His footstool
You can’t outlast Him – He is from everlasting to everlasting.
You can’t burn Him out – our God is a consuming fire.
You can’t starve Him out – He’s the bread of life.
You can’t dry Him out – He’s the water of life.
You can’t lock Him up – He is the door.
You can’t misdirect Him – He is the way.
You can’t trick Him – He is the truth.
You can’t kill Him – He is the Life.
You can’t overthrow Him – His throne is above the heavens
You can’t overrule Him – He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
Trust me when I tell you – there’s nothing more futile that fighting God!
I. The Fight of the Unsaved
Every person that has never been saved is in a fight with God.
Even if they don’t know it, they are in direct opposition to God.
In fact, the Bible states that they are the ENEMY of God.
There is no way an unsaved person can get to Heaven fighting God.
It is impossible for an person to have everlasting life without surrendering to the Lord.
You can’t work your way there. – Ephesians 2:8, 9
You can’t do enough good works. – not by works of righteousness which we have done…
You won’t change God’s mind about your righteousness. – Isaiah 64:6
You won’t talk your way out of it.
You won’t negotiate better terms.
You won’t intimidate God with your rebellion or unbelief.
If you get to Heaven, it will not be by fighting and overpowering God.
There is only ONE WAY. – John 14
· Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
II. The Fight of the Unspiritual
A carnal believer is one of the most miserable existences known to man.
Trying to live the Christian life in the flesh, carnal and without being Spirit-filled is futile!
There is no success outside of God’s perfect will!
ILLUSTRATION: Peter relapsed back into his old life.
He had been recruited to become FISHER OF MEN.
When he went fishing, he caught nothing.
· John 21:3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
He ended up throwing himself overboard when he realized it was Jesus on the shore.
Imagine the embarrassment.
There’s nothing more futile than fighting God’s call on your life.
There’s no greater waste of time than resisting God’s perfect will.
God will not bless you – God will not prosper you – God will not allow you to be successful as a believer.
· John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
It is futile for a child of God to try and live the Christian life in the flesh for a number of reasons:
A. Living a life of constantly being Resisted by God
James 4
· 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
· 5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
· 6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
B. Living a life of being Rejected by God
· 2 Corinthians 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
As a believer, we have been accepted into the beloved.
But it would be a tragic mistake to think that God will accept our service and our life apart from being Spirit-filled.
Romans 8
· 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
· 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
· 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
· 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Revelation 3
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
C. Living a life of constantly being Rebuked by God
Revelation 3
· 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
· 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
· 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
There is no way you can live a happy life as a born-again child of God if you insist on living in the flesh.
It is a miserable existence!
Trust and Obey – for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!
III. The Fight of the Unsubmissive
God is so merciful!
He works and He pricks, and He speaks, and He nudged, and He warns.
Yet there are those that insist on going against God and fighting against His repeated warnings.
They will not yield, they will not surrender, they will not submit to the will of God.
One of the greatest examples of this truth is the testimony of the Apostle Paul.
He was literally at war with God.
He didn’t realize it, but he was.
God confronted him on the Road to Damascus.
READ Acts 9:1-5
· 4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
· 5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Conclusion: Gamaliel was right in Act 5.
If it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it. Lest haply ye be found even to fight against God!
The best thing you can do is to simply surrender and ask “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”
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