Godbey's Commentary - Acts - Romans - Enter His Rest

in that case He gives you His Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart, giving you a sweet heaven in which
to go to heaven. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” — this you will always find true if you
will let God have His way in all things. Your life will become a cloudless sunshine.
DIVINE INTERVENTION.
33-42. Now they reach a grand culmination. The Preachers in charge and the official board are
signally defeated, “cut through,” so they are counseling to kill the apostles. They have condemned
and imprisoned them a second time, ordering them positively to preach no more in their territory.
All their orders are disobeyed. Jails will not hold them. They determine to settle the matter by killing
them by the Roman civil arm, bought over for Jewish favor. Why did they not kill them? They all
finally wore martyrs’ crowns, except John, who, according to Justin Martyr and other Christian
Fathers, was honored with a translation. The simple solution of the matter is, their work was not
done. A vile reprobate once pointed a gun at me, which fired all right a few minutes previously.
When he pulled the trigger it only snapped. Why? My work was not done. So God’s saints are
immortal until their work is done. So God puts His hand on Gamaliel, their giant, the greatest man
of the opposition, their biggest preacher, and raises him up to deliver the apostles and prolong their
lives till their work is done. Twenty years ago, in the time of the Temperance Crusaders, when holy
women in our cities were miraculously closing Satan’s saloons by their prayers, immense was the
excitement! A number of saloons have been closed. The holy Crusaders were praying in a large
saloon. Satan’s mob came to break up the meeting, led by a huge ruffian. A holy woman rises from
her knees, slips out and meets the mob, looks this gigantic, diabolical leader in the face, saying,
“Will you please be so kind as to attend to the men and see that they do not interrupt our meeting?”
Immediately he whirls on his heel and roars: “Back, fellows! back, fellows! We must have order
here. You can not disturb this meeting. I will die for these good women.” So he commands and
quells the mob. So God puts His hand on the giant theologian of the Sanhedrin, the tallest bishop
standing at the head of the hierarchy. To the unutterable surprise of all, Gamaliel takes command of
the situation and suggests that the apostles be sent out of the hall. Now he delivers a thrilling oration
to the Sanhedrin, calling their attention to Theudas, the impostor, who a few years previously had
made a great commotion among the people, receiving a large following, but had utterly evanesced
with all of his adherents, leaving not a vestige. Then he reiterated the brilliant career of Judas, the
Galilean impostor, in the days of the Roman enrollment, preparatory to the taxation of imperial
Cæsar. He with his adherents has also vanished away like the gossamer which recedes before the
effulgence of an Oriental sun. Here he fortifies a stalwart argument, driving his logic with
sledgehammer blows, and clinching the conclusion with the grip of a giant. Of course Luke gives
us but a mere epitome of Gamaliel’s unanswerable oration. The fac simile thus culminates: Theudas,
Judas and other impostors have risen, created great commotions and received large followings,
stirring Judea and Western Asia. These have all vanished away, leaving not a trace nor a track. Now,
if Jesus of Nazareth is also an impostor, He and His followers, with all this mighty commotion which
is shaking the powers of church and state from center to circumference, will break down of its own
weight, vanish away, utterly evanesce and sink into oblivion, like other impostors who have
preceded. This is the negative side: If Jesus of Nazareth is an impostor as you say [“and He was one
of them”], He will evanesce and go into oblivion with all of His following and work, like Theudas,
Judas the Galilean, and multitudes of impostors who have risen and are now buried in oblivion,
utterly unknown, not a vestige of their former greatness surviving. Hence the utter superfluity of all