Acts 4:15-20 - We cannot but speak

4:15-17

The Sanhedrin then had a private discussion about what to do with Peter and John. One might wonder how Luke would know what was said in these private discussions but there are numerous possibilities. As we all know, information leaks out! So he might have known by this method. Alternatively, a member of the Sanhedrin may have come to faith later and told Luke. Another possibility is that Luke could simply have deduced what was said, as it is fairly obvious what happened.

As had happened many times in the gospels, the Sanhedrin were faced with a dilemma. The facts stopped them from taking the action they wanted to take. They wanted to stop things getting out of hand, so they decided to simply instruct Peter and John to stop preaching.

4:18-20

So they called in Peter and John and issued the instruction to them. Not surprisingly, Peter and John refused to comply, saying that they had to obey God rather than man. God wanted the message preached, so they must preach. Now, there are, of course, instructions in the Bible to obey the civil authorities. These instructions do not mean obey the authorities under any circumstances. There is the danger that men will use God as an excuse for disobeying the law, and this has been done on many occasions. So how are we to decide when it is legitimate to go against civil authority? A useful question to ask is who is going to gain by my going against authority? If the primary winner is me, then I should seriously question whether I am really obeying God or not! If my action is not going to benefit me, and may well involve considerable cost for me, then it is much more likely that I am obeying God.