Acts Part 1 Lesson 5

Brought Before “The Council”

DAY 2 The New Believers

Acts 2:44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common...

47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Acts 4:23When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

29“And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,

32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

Acts 5:11 And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

14 And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number,

Hellenistic Jews

Acts 2:5-11 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.7They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?8“And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?9“Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,11Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”

Widows

Deuteronomy 26:12-13 “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.13“You shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments.

Psalm 146:9 The Lord aprotects the strangers; He bsupports the fatherless and the widow,

But He thwarts the way of the wicked.

Isaiah 1:16-17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil,17Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

1 Timothy 5:14-16 Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach; 15for some have already turned aside to follow Satan.16 If any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, she must assist them and the church must not be burdened, so that it may assist those who are widows indeed.

James 1: 27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Laying On of Hands

Numbers 27:15-23 Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying,16“May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,17who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep which have no shepherd.”18So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;19and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him in their sight.20“You shall put some of your authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him.21“Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his command they shall go out and at his command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”22Moses did just as the Lord commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation.23Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

1 Timothy 5:17-22 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.18For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”19Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.20Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.21I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.22Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.

DAY 3 & 4 False Witnesses

Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Deuteronomy 19:15–19— “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. 16 “If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

Exodus 22:28 “You shall not curse God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

Leviticus 24:11-16, 23 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)12 They put him in custody so that the command of the Lord might be made clear to them.13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,14“Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then let all the congregation stone him.15“You shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone curses his God, then he will bear his sin.16‘Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

23Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

DAY 5 The TEMPLE

Isaiah 66:1-2 Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?2“For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Matthew 26:60-61 They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward,61and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’”

John 2:18-22 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”21But He was speaking of the temple of His body.22So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

“An Obstinate People”...Tolerant?

Exodus 32:9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are ban obstinate people.

Exodus 33:3, 5 “Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way.”5For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘You are an obstinate people; should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I shall do with you.’”

Stephen’s FINAL Witness About Jesus

Mark 14:61-62 But He kept silent and did not answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”62And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”

Luke 23:34,46 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.46And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.

Luke 9:22-26 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”23And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.24“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.25“For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?26“For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

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