HOLY BOLDNESS
“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John”
Acts 4:1-22
There is a faint knock at your door. You open it to find a
cowering man who timidly asks, “You wouldn’t want to buy a vacuum cleaner, would you?”
Unless you either take great pity on this poor excuse for a salesman or you badly needed what he was selling, you would not respond positively to his weak presentation.
Though there are many differences between salesmanship and evangelism, there are a few parallels. An obvious parallel is that if you want to communicate effectively, you must be confident about your subject. The best salesmen honestly believes that his product is something that people really need. The best evangelists are confident that Jesus Christ is the only Savior and that people desperately need to trust in Him or they will perish.
God had just used Peter and John to heal a beggar in his forties who had been lame from birth. The spectacle of this man walking, leaping, and praising God draws a crowd, and Peter begins to preach the gospel to them.
Suddenly Peter is interrupted as the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees as they are upset that Peter was teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
They arrested Peter and John, put them in jail over night. The next day they are brought in front of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Although they were on trial before this intimidating council, Peter quickly turned the tables on the Sanhedrin, showing that it was they who were on trial.
He points out that it was not a crime to do a good deed to a cripple. Then he indicts the Sanhedrin because they had crucified Jesus, whom God had raised from the dead and in whose name this lame man had been healed. Furthermore, Peter let them know that there is salvation in no one else except Jesus Christ (4:12).
Peter doesn’t see a court; he sees a congregation.
The members of the council are amazed at the boldness
of Peter and John, who had not been educated in their schools. After a private conference, the council commands Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
However, Peter and John replied that they had to obey God, because they could not stop speaking what they had seen and heard.
While Peter and John had to be commanded to stop speaking, most of us need to be reminded of the command to speak to others about Jesus Christ.
Many modern Christians think that Jesus’ Great Commission was really the Great Suggestion.
We all should seek to be a bold witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ as Peter and John.
Note four characteristics of a bold witness
I. A bold witness is EMPOWERED (filled) with the Spirit (8).
To picture this scene correctly, we need to understand
how threatening it was for Peter and John.
The Sanhedrin was like our Supreme Court. The high priest was the most powerful Jew in the city, and the captain of the temple guard was second behind him. They were standing before powerful men.
Just a few weeks before, Peter in order to avoid possible arrest had denied that he knew Jesus Christ to a lowly servant girl. But here he is before this powerful body of men, boldly reminding them that they had crucified Jesus, that God had raised Him from the dead, and that He is God’s only way of salvation.
What made the difference? Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter’s witness before the Sanhedrin was not due to his natural boldness, but to the filling of the Holy Spirit
The key to everything in the Christian life is the power of the Holy Spirit
The Bible teaches that we receive the Holy Spirit the
moment we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The Spirit of God literally comes within our bodies and lives with us for the rest of our lives. It’s a one-time event, and He never leaves. But what makes the difference in Christian living is the degree to which we are filled with His presence. To be filled with the Spirit means that we are completely controlled by the Spirit.
Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, and the empowering work of the Spirit gives Peter a boldness that enables him to share the gospel before a powerful, intimidating group of people.
I think of Peter Cartwright, a circuit riding Methodist preacher of the 19th century. He was to preach to a large congregation, and right before the service, he was informed that President Andrew Jackson would be in attendance. They told Peter Cartwright, "We thought you would want to know so that what you say won’t be offensive to the President." Peter Cartwright said, "Thank you for telling me."
He got into the pulpit and said, "I’ve been told that President Andrew Jackson is in the congregation, and I’ve been asked to carefully guard what I am going to say. I want to begin by saying that Andrew Jackson will go to hell if he doesn’t repent of his sin." You could have heard a pin drop. But, immediately after the service, President Andrew Jackson walked up to Peter Cartwright and said, "If I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the whole world.”
An anointed by the Spirit of God has no equal in the world. It is the God-ordained method for evangelism, edification, and exhortation.
Here was a couple of country bumpkins who should have stood with shuffling feet and downcast eyes. Instead they looked more like what they really were, ambassadors from the courts of heaven empowered with the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit transformed average men into anointed men.
II. A bold witness EMPLOYS the Scriptures (4:11).
Peter quotes from the Old Testament in Acts 4:11. A confident witness will make much of the Scripture No Christian can progress very far in the Christian life or be effective in Christian service who does not make much of the Bible. The Bible is the Sword that is quick and powerful.
A. The Bible paints the picture of the sinner
B. The Bible presents the provision for salvation.
C. The Bible produces the people called saints.
The Bible provides the message and produces the members of the church. 1 Peter 1:23 “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” A Christian can be a confident witness because he is employing something that is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. Saturate yourself with the Word of God if you want boldness?
III. A bold witness EXPRESSES what is SURE (4:20) The disciples could not stop speaking of what they had seen and heard (4:20). They had seen the risen Lord Jesus. They saw Him ascend into heaven. They had heard Him explain from the Scriptures the many passages about Himself. They had seen Him heal this lame man by His power; as a result, they spoke confidently about these matters. I know for certain that Jesus has saved me through faith in His name, and that He will save any that will call upon Him. Peter and John knew that Jesus had changed their lives. The formerly crippled man knew that the name of Jesus had changed him. Anyone who has called upon the Lord to save him from his sins knows that He is mighty to save even the chief of sinners. Dr. Bob Jones once said, "It is better to know a few
things for certain than a whole lot of things that aren’t so." A confident witness is one who gives a testimony that is based on personal knowledge. He does not tell what he thinks or supposes, but what he knows. See John 9:25. He speaks only to what he knew as fact in his own case. He focuses on what he does know and not what he does not know. A man can be bold about what he knows.
IV. A bold witnesses EMPHATICALLY declares the SAVIOUR The Sanhedrin had asked Peter, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?” (4:7). Peter explained it simply: JESUS (4:10, 12). No one is saved unless they trust in Jesus There is no other way to God except through faith in Jesus Christ alone. I highly recommend that you memorize verse 12. It makes clear the exclusive way of salvation. Salvation is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” There is no other name. There is no salvation in any other. Peter and John were straightforward and to the point. Jesus is the only way to get to heaven, not one of the ways, but the
ONLY way. If there is salvation in none other, THEN there must be ONE that is all-sufficient and His name is Jesus. A story is told in which an accountant answered an advertisement for a top job with a large firm. At the end of the interview, the chairman asked, "One last question—what is three times seven?" The accountant thought for a moment and replied, "Twenty-two." Outside he checked himself on his calculator and concluded he had lost the job. But two weeks later he was offered the post. He asked the chairman why he had been appointed when he had given the wrong answer. "You were the closest," the chairman replied. Some people have the mistaken idea that God is like the man who conducted the interview. They think it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re close to the truth However, it does matter- it is Jesus or eternal tragedy.
Conclusion In Ephesians 6:19-20, the apostle Paul shares a startling prayer request. Twice he repeats his request, that he might speak boldly. It’s the same Greek word translated “boldness” in Acts 4:13. If Paul had on his prayer list the need for boldness as a witness, then perhaps you and I should add it to our lists! We all should seek to proclaim with confident boldness the good news that there is salvation in no one else except in Jesus Christ.
