Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
God's angel opened the prison doors by night and led the apostles out past the soldiers, commanding them to go stand openly in the temple and resume teaching the people, which they obeyed at once by entering early in the morning. All the words of this life means the life-giving gospel about Jesus, His birth, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and exaltation as Saviour and Prince of life, through whom comes repentance and forgiveness of sins. That divine command stood directly against the rulers' prohibition on teaching in the name of Jesus, so the apostles obeyed God rather than men without waiting for human permission. The deliverance was a token of God's care and proof that angels guard and sustain suffering witnesses, not a rescue from examination and suffering for Christ's sake. It remains a present command to every believer and worker to go and speak the words that bring life, with angels urging and cooperating in the work yet unable to take the human workers' assigned place.
Prison Deliverance and Command
The command was given by night by God's angel after the priests and elders had shut the apostles in prison for preaching in the name of Jesus. The angel opened the prison doors and brought the imprisoned apostles out, leading them directly through the band of soldiers guarding the prison. Men were warring against God's work in taking His servants, so the mighty Ruler took their imprisonment into His own hands and sent His angel into the prison house to take His prey from the enemy. This deliverance is proof that angels guard and watch over suffering people for the truth's sake, coming in and ministering to sustain them.
He bade them go, stand openly and publicly in the temple, and speak to the people the full message of life in Christ, resuming the preaching work that the priests and rulers had interrupted. The order was directly contrary to the command of the high priest and elders not to teach in that name, yet human prohibition cannot stop preaching commanded by God. They did not wait to consult the magistrates or receive human permission but obeyed God at once. Entering the temple early the next morning they taught, and were already preaching when the council assembled to try them.
This came while the disciples were healing the afflicted and sick by the power of Jesus, and hundreds daily were enlisting under the crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour. The high priests and elders shut them in prison to make the excitement subside. It belongs to the closing part of Acts 5 that follows the death of Ananias and Sapphira and the signs and wonders done by the apostles, showing that deceptive, unjust, fraudulent and oppressive dealings with the Lord's means bring sure divine punishment while God carries His work forward so truth shall triumph over every hindrance. It followed the disciples assembling and praying for the Holy Spirit after Christ left them, the Spirit coming upon them, and their healing the sick, for which they were taken and shut up yet set free by angels to speak and refused to be silenced. When the apostles appeared among the believers and recounted this deliverance and command, the brethren were filled with joy and amazement. Satan had triumphed and Satan with evil angels had exulted over the imprisonment, but God's angels freed them so the healing and enlisting would continue.
Meaning of Words of Life
All the words of this life are the life-giving gospel message about Jesus, the risen Saviour and Prince of life. That message tells His birth, work, mission and cross, His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and exaltation as Saviour. It was the interrupted work the apostles were commanded to resume in the temple, teaching the people early the next morning after their release from prison.
Its central proclamation was that God raised and exalted Jesus so that through Him people could receive repentance and forgiveness of sins. It declared that His name healed the sick.
To speak in the temple to the people is to proclaim that message of God publicly and openly, standing before the people. It was to be done despite deep prejudice and confused ideas about Christ, despite threats of imprisonment and death, and despite prohibition by the rulers. The command overruled the order forbidding teaching in the name of Jesus, so God's instruction took precedence over human commands.
The apostles spoke those words boldly under the power of the Holy Spirit. Their words and works represented their Teacher and showed they had learned from Jesus, giving testimony to His resurrection. Their testimony was accompanied by signs and miracles, and by God's protection and care to continue their work of seeking the salvation of others.
Obedience Above Human Authority
The angel's order to go stand in the temple and speak all the words of life was given after the apostles had been shut in prison for proclaiming the message God gave them, and it was directly opposite to the command of the priests, high priest, elders and Jewish rulers not to teach in the name of Jesus. When the voice from heaven and the voice of the authorities stood directly opposite, a conflict was created between human authority and divine authority in which God must be obeyed rather than men. The release from prison by the angel affirmed that God's authority outranked human commands, and they were to remain faithful to their commission rather than comply with laws opposing God's law.
They did not say they could not obey until they had consulted the magistrates and received permission, but obeyed God at once and entered the temple early in the morning and taught. The command overruled the Jewish rulers' prohibition, so Peter was found preaching in the temple despite the ban on preaching in the name of Jesus Christ. When rearrested and brought without violence by the officers before the council for teaching in that name, the answer was that it is right to hearken to God more than to men.
To follow that direction was to obey God Himself, for it was the command of God spoken by an angel by night who opened the prison doors and brought them out. Therefore they had to keep preaching with no fear or hesitation even though the rulers had strictly commanded them not to teach in Jesus' name and seemed bent on their destruction. Loyalty to God means continuing to obey His command and His commission at whatever cost to themselves, even at the cost of safety and suffering, and this is the ground of their defense, We ought to obey God rather than men.
The miraculous deliverance was a token of God's care and an assurance of His presence, given because men were warring against His work, but it did not mean they were saved from examination and punishment. Christ had foretold they would be delivered up to councils, and after such a token it was their part to suffer for the sake of Jesus whom they preached. The command sent them straight back to the public preaching in the temple that the priests and rulers had interrupted, with assurance that God was with them while leaving them to continue preaching and suffer for Jesus.
God has a government above human law and does not work by oppression and persecution, but asserts His own authority over oppressive orders forbidding the preaching of Christ. When human law forbids the preaching of Christ, God's command to preach still stands, and divine authority requires obedience to God over oppressive human orders. The same living God upholds His servants against persecution, oppression and bondage, while Satan is on the side of the oppressor who enforces the spurious sabbath by force, including the spurious Sunday sabbath.
Divine Care and Presence
God the mighty Ruler of the universe took the imprisonment of His servants into His own hands because men were warring against His work, sending His angel by night to open the prison doors and lead them out to stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. He carries His work on earth forward so that truth shall triumph over every hindrance, while deceptive, unjust, oppressive and fraudulent dealings in His work, diverting His means into a wrong channel through fraud, exorbitant exaction and connivance, bring sure divine punishment as in the death of Ananias and Sapphira followed by signs and wonders done by the apostles. The angelic deliverance was a token of His care and an assurance of His presence, not a rescue from examination and punishment, leaving it their part still to suffer for the sake of Jesus whom they preached.
The deliverance proves that angels guard and watch over the children of men, coming right into the prison house for those suffering in prison for the truth's sake to take their prey out of the hands of the enemy. Imprisonment did not prevent God from sustaining His servants, for He sent angels to them in prison and ministered to them there. God sent His angels to strengthen the disciples for their work of testifying of the things they had seen and heard concerning Jesus as the Son of God and Redeemer of the world, in the face of continued rebellion by the Jews who refused to receive Jesus and murdered Him and would receive no evidence in His favor. Strengthened by angels they would keep bearing witness amid persecution stirred by Satan holding the murderers of Jesus fast in his grasp to trouble believers, and in steadfastness at last seal their testimony with their blood, as Stephen did when through the Holy Spirit he declared the evidence of Jesus and, while wrapped in God's glory, was stoned after they stopped their ears lest they be convinced.
After Christ left them the disciples assembled together and prayed for the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they healed the sick, for which they were taken and shut up in prison, but the angels of God opened the prison doors and set them free to keep preaching Christ and to speak when authorities tried to stop their mouths. The Holy Spirit came first upon the assembled disciples, then angels impressed human minds and opened the way, and being sent back to speak publicly after God opened the prison doors helped those who had feared persecution see that God could deliver them. That same deliverance made them ready to suffer if He did not deliver them.
When Christ's apostles were thrust into prison, angels of God came within the prison walls and ministered to them, revealing the love of God manifested to man in His tenderness and compassion, that though He reigns in majesty He loves the most helpless and suffering among His children. It is evidence of His power as Omnipotent Governor of the world who does whatever His wisdom desires and His love inspires, by which truth will triumph and every error in doctrine will be uprooted. It calls believers in suffering to commit the keeping of the soul to God as unto a faithful Creator, to have faith in God, to remember Jesus the Prince of Life who suffered the just for the unjust to save men from death and misery, and to trust that the angels of God are round about them.
Present Call to Witness
The angel's order still stands as a present command to every true saint, believer, and worker to go among others and actively speak the words that bring life. That means sharing the light and knowledge already received, presenting Jesus as the only Mediator, and working for souls for whom Christ died by telling the glad tidings of salvation to people in darkness and error. In this way Christ's kingdom is enlarged, many are brought to salvation, and His glory is celebrated.
All heaven is active in this work, and ministering angels urge it and wait to cooperate with all who devise plans for souls to hear. Yet angels stand ready to cooperate without taking the human workers' place, for they cannot do the assigned human duty. If the church's work had been assigned to angels, they too would urge proclaiming the message rather than leaving regions in spiritual darkness.
Obeying this injunction brings the Lord's preparation of the way and provision of means to go. Therefore workers need to be given means, and the church's institutions should support the work rather than serve selfish purposes. Those who heed the call share what they have, present Christ as the only Mediator, and bring light and help to people sitting in darkness.
The command belongs to united workers laboring together in Christian fellowship under God's peace and blessing, especially a husband and wife joined as strength and support to one another in diffusing the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Speaking all the words of this life is done by using every opportunity wherever traveling to share those life-giving words with others. It requires consecrating wholly to God, cheerfully following the path of duty amid calls from all directions, and entreating the Lord daily for new strength to speak to those ready to perish, trusting the cause as His to carry forward in His own time and way.
God's messengers are to stand before His people and speak the words He gives them as a living testimony that, when heeded, brings salvation to church members and unbelievers. That includes welcoming those who come and go, visiting homes, and sharing present truth through speech and publications while working with the Lord in an important field. Canvassing with books containing present truth gives young men and young people opportunities to speak those words, sowing seeds that bear fruit and gaining ministry experience not gained by preaching alone.
John obeyed in this way after sharing in the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, continuing with fresh zeal and power to lead thoughts to the Unseen by telling the words and works of Christ with fervent, simple, sublime power that impressed hearts and gave him access to all classes. Fathers and mothers are to tell the prison deliverance to their children in their own families to teach how angels guard them and to give God credit for His working.
God's angel opened the prison doors by night and led the apostles out past the soldiers, commanding them to go stand openly in the temple and resume teaching the people, which they obeyed at once by entering early in the morning. All the words of this life means the life-giving gospel about Jesus, His birth, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and exaltation as Saviour and Prince of life, through whom comes repentance and forgiveness of sins. That divine command stood directly against the rulers' prohibition on teaching in the name of Jesus, so the apostles obeyed God rather than men without waiting for human permission. The deliverance was a token of God's care and proof that angels guard and sustain suffering witnesses, not a rescue from examination and suffering for Christ's sake. It remains a present command to every believer and worker to go and speak the words that bring life, with angels urging and cooperating in the work yet unable to take the human workers' assigned place.
Prison Deliverance and Command
The command was given by night by God's angel after the priests and elders had shut the apostles in prison for preaching in the name of Jesus. The angel opened the prison doors and brought the imprisoned apostles out, leading them directly through the band of soldiers guarding the prison. Men were warring against God's work in taking His servants, so the mighty Ruler took their imprisonment into His own hands and sent His angel into the prison house to take His prey from the enemy. This deliverance is proof that angels guard and watch over suffering people for the truth's sake, coming in and ministering to sustain them.
He bade them go, stand openly and publicly in the temple, and speak to the people the full message of life in Christ, resuming the preaching work that the priests and rulers had interrupted. The order was directly contrary to the command of the high priest and elders not to teach in that name, yet human prohibition cannot stop preaching commanded by God. They did not wait to consult the magistrates or receive human permission but obeyed God at once. Entering the temple early the next morning they taught, and were already preaching when the council assembled to try them.
This came while the disciples were healing the afflicted and sick by the power of Jesus, and hundreds daily were enlisting under the crucified, risen, and ascended Saviour. The high priests and elders shut them in prison to make the excitement subside. It belongs to the closing part of Acts 5 that follows the death of Ananias and Sapphira and the signs and wonders done by the apostles, showing that deceptive, unjust, fraudulent and oppressive dealings with the Lord's means bring sure divine punishment while God carries His work forward so truth shall triumph over every hindrance. It followed the disciples assembling and praying for the Holy Spirit after Christ left them, the Spirit coming upon them, and their healing the sick, for which they were taken and shut up yet set free by angels to speak and refused to be silenced. When the apostles appeared among the believers and recounted this deliverance and command, the brethren were filled with joy and amazement. Satan had triumphed and Satan with evil angels had exulted over the imprisonment, but God's angels freed them so the healing and enlisting would continue.
Meaning of Words of Life
All the words of this life are the life-giving gospel message about Jesus, the risen Saviour and Prince of life. That message tells His birth, work, mission and cross, His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and exaltation as Saviour. It was the interrupted work the apostles were commanded to resume in the temple, teaching the people early the next morning after their release from prison.
Its central proclamation was that God raised and exalted Jesus so that through Him people could receive repentance and forgiveness of sins. It declared that His name healed the sick.
To speak in the temple to the people is to proclaim that message of God publicly and openly, standing before the people. It was to be done despite deep prejudice and confused ideas about Christ, despite threats of imprisonment and death, and despite prohibition by the rulers. The command overruled the order forbidding teaching in the name of Jesus, so God's instruction took precedence over human commands.
The apostles spoke those words boldly under the power of the Holy Spirit. Their words and works represented their Teacher and showed they had learned from Jesus, giving testimony to His resurrection. Their testimony was accompanied by signs and miracles, and by God's protection and care to continue their work of seeking the salvation of others.
Obedience Above Human Authority
The angel's order to go stand in the temple and speak all the words of life was given after the apostles had been shut in prison for proclaiming the message God gave them, and it was directly opposite to the command of the priests, high priest, elders and Jewish rulers not to teach in the name of Jesus. When the voice from heaven and the voice of the authorities stood directly opposite, a conflict was created between human authority and divine authority in which God must be obeyed rather than men. The release from prison by the angel affirmed that God's authority outranked human commands, and they were to remain faithful to their commission rather than comply with laws opposing God's law.
They did not say they could not obey until they had consulted the magistrates and received permission, but obeyed God at once and entered the temple early in the morning and taught. The command overruled the Jewish rulers' prohibition, so Peter was found preaching in the temple despite the ban on preaching in the name of Jesus Christ. When rearrested and brought without violence by the officers before the council for teaching in that name, the answer was that it is right to hearken to God more than to men.
To follow that direction was to obey God Himself, for it was the command of God spoken by an angel by night who opened the prison doors and brought them out. Therefore they had to keep preaching with no fear or hesitation even though the rulers had strictly commanded them not to teach in Jesus' name and seemed bent on their destruction. Loyalty to God means continuing to obey His command and His commission at whatever cost to themselves, even at the cost of safety and suffering, and this is the ground of their defense, We ought to obey God rather than men.
The miraculous deliverance was a token of God's care and an assurance of His presence, given because men were warring against His work, but it did not mean they were saved from examination and punishment. Christ had foretold they would be delivered up to councils, and after such a token it was their part to suffer for the sake of Jesus whom they preached. The command sent them straight back to the public preaching in the temple that the priests and rulers had interrupted, with assurance that God was with them while leaving them to continue preaching and suffer for Jesus.
God has a government above human law and does not work by oppression and persecution, but asserts His own authority over oppressive orders forbidding the preaching of Christ. When human law forbids the preaching of Christ, God's command to preach still stands, and divine authority requires obedience to God over oppressive human orders. The same living God upholds His servants against persecution, oppression and bondage, while Satan is on the side of the oppressor who enforces the spurious sabbath by force, including the spurious Sunday sabbath.
Divine Care and Presence
God the mighty Ruler of the universe took the imprisonment of His servants into His own hands because men were warring against His work, sending His angel by night to open the prison doors and lead them out to stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. He carries His work on earth forward so that truth shall triumph over every hindrance, while deceptive, unjust, oppressive and fraudulent dealings in His work, diverting His means into a wrong channel through fraud, exorbitant exaction and connivance, bring sure divine punishment as in the death of Ananias and Sapphira followed by signs and wonders done by the apostles. The angelic deliverance was a token of His care and an assurance of His presence, not a rescue from examination and punishment, leaving it their part still to suffer for the sake of Jesus whom they preached.
The deliverance proves that angels guard and watch over the children of men, coming right into the prison house for those suffering in prison for the truth's sake to take their prey out of the hands of the enemy. Imprisonment did not prevent God from sustaining His servants, for He sent angels to them in prison and ministered to them there. God sent His angels to strengthen the disciples for their work of testifying of the things they had seen and heard concerning Jesus as the Son of God and Redeemer of the world, in the face of continued rebellion by the Jews who refused to receive Jesus and murdered Him and would receive no evidence in His favor. Strengthened by angels they would keep bearing witness amid persecution stirred by Satan holding the murderers of Jesus fast in his grasp to trouble believers, and in steadfastness at last seal their testimony with their blood, as Stephen did when through the Holy Spirit he declared the evidence of Jesus and, while wrapped in God's glory, was stoned after they stopped their ears lest they be convinced.
After Christ left them the disciples assembled together and prayed for the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they healed the sick, for which they were taken and shut up in prison, but the angels of God opened the prison doors and set them free to keep preaching Christ and to speak when authorities tried to stop their mouths. The Holy Spirit came first upon the assembled disciples, then angels impressed human minds and opened the way, and being sent back to speak publicly after God opened the prison doors helped those who had feared persecution see that God could deliver them. That same deliverance made them ready to suffer if He did not deliver them.
When Christ's apostles were thrust into prison, angels of God came within the prison walls and ministered to them, revealing the love of God manifested to man in His tenderness and compassion, that though He reigns in majesty He loves the most helpless and suffering among His children. It is evidence of His power as Omnipotent Governor of the world who does whatever His wisdom desires and His love inspires, by which truth will triumph and every error in doctrine will be uprooted. It calls believers in suffering to commit the keeping of the soul to God as unto a faithful Creator, to have faith in God, to remember Jesus the Prince of Life who suffered the just for the unjust to save men from death and misery, and to trust that the angels of God are round about them.
Present Call to Witness
The angel's order still stands as a present command to every true saint, believer, and worker to go among others and actively speak the words that bring life. That means sharing the light and knowledge already received, presenting Jesus as the only Mediator, and working for souls for whom Christ died by telling the glad tidings of salvation to people in darkness and error. In this way Christ's kingdom is enlarged, many are brought to salvation, and His glory is celebrated.
All heaven is active in this work, and ministering angels urge it and wait to cooperate with all who devise plans for souls to hear. Yet angels stand ready to cooperate without taking the human workers' place, for they cannot do the assigned human duty. If the church's work had been assigned to angels, they too would urge proclaiming the message rather than leaving regions in spiritual darkness.
Obeying this injunction brings the Lord's preparation of the way and provision of means to go. Therefore workers need to be given means, and the church's institutions should support the work rather than serve selfish purposes. Those who heed the call share what they have, present Christ as the only Mediator, and bring light and help to people sitting in darkness.
The command belongs to united workers laboring together in Christian fellowship under God's peace and blessing, especially a husband and wife joined as strength and support to one another in diffusing the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Speaking all the words of this life is done by using every opportunity wherever traveling to share those life-giving words with others. It requires consecrating wholly to God, cheerfully following the path of duty amid calls from all directions, and entreating the Lord daily for new strength to speak to those ready to perish, trusting the cause as His to carry forward in His own time and way.
God's messengers are to stand before His people and speak the words He gives them as a living testimony that, when heeded, brings salvation to church members and unbelievers. That includes welcoming those who come and go, visiting homes, and sharing present truth through speech and publications while working with the Lord in an important field. Canvassing with books containing present truth gives young men and young people opportunities to speak those words, sowing seeds that bear fruit and gaining ministry experience not gained by preaching alone.
John obeyed in this way after sharing in the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, continuing with fresh zeal and power to lead thoughts to the Unseen by telling the words and works of Christ with fervent, simple, sublime power that impressed hearts and gave him access to all classes. Fathers and mothers are to tell the prison deliverance to their children in their own families to teach how angels guard them and to give God credit for His working.