Acts 5:38-42 - Leave these men alone!

5:38,39

So Gamaliel, drawing on this example, now gives his advice. His advice was to let the men go. If the events were of merely human origin then it would quickly die out. But if it was actually from God and the Sanhedrin insisted on taking action against them they would find themselves opposing God, and their actions would turn out to be futile. There is no indication that Gamaliel ever became a believer, but there can be situations where non-believers give sensible advice, and God’s purposes are achieved through them.

5:40-42

The Sanhedrin took Gamaliel’s advice on board., though they did have the apostles flogged. They also ordered them, again, not to speak in the name of Jesus. The apostles left the Sanhedrin and rejoiced that they had been counted worthy of suffering for Christ’s sake (Matt 5:11,12). They continued to meet day to day, both in the temple courts and in houses, and taught and proclaimed the good news of Jesus the Messiah. Note that they “taught and proclaimed”. Both should be elements of our preaching.