Title: “From Pushback To Push Ahead!”
Text: Acts 4:1-7
Subject: How did the disciples handle the persecution & pushback of jail time and threats?
Complement: they prayed for more boldness and more miracles!
Big idea: “The disciples respond to persecution with prayer for more boldness and more power.”
Introduction:
I begin by listing the top 12 countries in the world where there is severe persecution against Christians.
1. North Korea
2. Afganistan
3. Somalia
4. Libya
5. Pakistan
6. Eritrea
7. Yemen.
(Source: Open Doors - 2021 World Watch List)
And now let me tell you one story of persecution...
The story of a Muslim convert as told in Christianity Today. (May 2021)
...I was born in a Sunni Muslim home in Bangladesh, ...my father was a general in the intelligence service. We lived on different army bases in elaborate quarters reserved for officers and their families. Servants catered to our every need.
I grew up attending an Islamic religious school, where we studied the Qur’an.
My father could trace his lineage back to the grandson of the prophet Muhammad’s great-grandfather). His heritage qualified me as a direct descendant of Muhammad.
In 1975 at age 21 I was in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, looking to buy an electric water heater. I noticed a Caucasian man on a street corner giving out gospel tracts. Wearing scruffy jeans, he looked like a hippie. He was well over six feet tall and stood out from the normal rush of shoppers... Curious I approached him and asked, “Who are you, and where are you from?” He said he was a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ from England. He belonged to a street evangelism team from the Jesus People movement, known for traveling around the world during the 1970s. From my Muslim upbringing, I had only encountered Jesus as a prophet who appeared before Muhammad. And I didn’t believe he had died on a cross—the Jews, we were told, had crucified Judas instead.
He told me Christ would set me free and give me a new life. Though I doubted his God was interested in my despair, I bowed and prayed to receive Christ on the crowded sidewalk in front of a shoe store. I sensed this was what I had been waiting for all my life. It felt like a huge boulder had been lifted off my back. I saw everything in technicolor, and I wanted to sing and laugh.
While alone one afternoon, amid a grove of trees away, I heard an audible voice: “... I will take you around the world and you will tell people about Jesus.”
Although fear gripped me, I believed it was God speaking.
By denying Islam, I knew I was courting disgrace from my family and risking an honor killing. At the time, I lived with friends in Lahore - who turned furious when I admitted I had accepted Jesus into my life.
They wrote to my father, a devout Muslim who prayed five times daily facing Mecca and was discipled by a holy man. Enraged, he rushed to Lahore to confront my apostasy. He enlisted friends to harass me and force me to recant. When that didn’t work, they committed me to a mental facility. Isolated in the hospital’s psychiatric ward for two weeks, I was sedated and guarded by soldiers. Even so, I gained comfort from covertly reading my smuggled New Testament, and I was able to lead several people to Jesus.
The psychiatrist verified my sanity and discharged me.
My father was furious. He kept me under house arrest at his home in Multan, in Pakistan’s southern Punjab region. While armed sentries stood guard outside, I was confined for several weeks before I could escape by bus to Christian friends in Lahore. When I learned the police were searching for me, I fled to Karachi to join an evangelism team. Even under duress, my faith grew as I devoured the Bible, memorized Scripture, shared my testimony, and distributed tracts.
Our street evangelism flourished until my father demonstrated his political power in early 1976. The police arrested five of us for anti-Islamic activities. Jammed into a tiny, filthy cell, we slept on vomit-caked blankets on a brick floor and shared a small can for our toilet. Four of my Christian brothers were from other countries, and they were released within a few days and deported. But my ID card and passport were confiscated. I was warned, “You will leave a Muslim or die.”
The jailers moved me to a ward for political prisoners, where I spent almost one year. Despite the shame and isolation, the Holy Spirit sustained me along with the New Testament I had smuggled in.
The glory of God filled my cell many times.
I felt especially encouraged while reading Acts 16:25, which recounts Paul and Silas praying and singing hymns in prison. It was mind-blowing that God counted me worthy to suffer for Jesus.
Read text: Acts 4:1-7
1. Peter & John Are Put In Jail by the religious authorities.
Acts 4:1The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
Let me describe the scene...
(a) High Priest (Annas) is President – by virtue of office
o Annas held this position for 9 years!
o Comes with a palace (?)
o Priests were high on orthodoxy and tradition.
Caiaphas (his son-in-law) was High Priest for 18 years.
This is the same Caiaphas who interrogated Jesus – and thought he was now dead. Now he faces the testimony of Peter and John that they are healing people in “Jesus’ name” – which indicates that Jesus is very much alive!
They had participated in the trial of Jesus some weeks before, but their hopes of getting rid of Jesus were short-lived!
See John 18:24 - Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
(B) Captain Of The Temple Guard ? “2nd in rank to only the high priest – and had resp for peace/order in the temple area.
(c) Sadducees:
o Strong traditionalists
o They saw the messianic age as already begun by Hasmoneans (168 BC)
o Messiah was an ideal – not a person; messianic age was a process – not an event.
o Cooperate with Rome and maintain status quo.
o Most priests were of this persuasion
o Sadducees had no belief in the resurrection of the dead. (Which Peter and John were teaching)
The Sadducees needed to work with another entity – the Sanhedrin – who held the real power.
“Sanhedrin”:
o 70 men in total. (A very intimidating sight...)
o Comprised of Priests...elders...teachers
o “The Supreme Court” of Israel
They Approach Peter/John – they were bothered that Peter & John were “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.”
o “Many people believed” – v. 4.
o Total believers are now 5000!
Immediately they threw them in jail until the next day.
2. After One Night In The “Crowbar Hotel” The Next Day Brings Interrogation: v. 5-7
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
“By what power or what name did you do this?”
...How did you do this?
Let’s review chapter 3 – see verse 6 and 16 - “the name of Jesus”
v. 6 “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
v. 16 - “it is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him...”
***Power – persecution seem to go hand-in-hand in Acts.
o “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).
o Jesus himself said, “ ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20).
Q. By What power/name did you do this?
A. Peters answer;
Peter is immediately “filled with the HS” v. 8
“The aorist passive denotes a special moment of inspiration that complements and brings to a functional focus the presence in every believers life of the person and ministry of God’s Spirit.”
This is one of several instances in Acts where God’s servants are filled with the Holy Spirit in order to face a special challenge.4 We often call this anointing.
**Another “Sermon” by Peter is prompted (!)
Peter ? “if we are being called to account for an act of kindness...then know this, “ it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (whom you crucified/but God raised), that this man stands before you healed!”
*Peter’s proclamation is of the absolute uniqueness of Christ as the only means of salvation.
• Salvation is found in no one else.(v. 12)
• Such a beautiful verse!
• “No other name” (!)
Once again we see the miracles opens the door for a gospel message.
Quote – “There was nothing of compromise or accommodation in Peter’s preaching. As this magnificent declaration shows, he was wholly committed to the uniqueness of Jesus as the only Savior. Peter and the other apostles never watered down the fact that apart from Jesus there is no salvation for anyone.”
3. The Interrogators Were Impressed – V. 13
“when they saw the courage (remember the prayer for boldness: 3:29) of Peter and John... “they were astonished” ...and took note they’d been with Jesus.”
“...though Peter and John are professionally unqualified, they are boldly conducting their own defense with great eloquence before this intimidating assembly of powerful leaders.
The Sanhedrin already knows that these men have been with Jesus. But their courage now reminds them afresh how they have been influenced by Jesus, who also “taught … as one who had authority” (Mark 1:22).
Jesus’ ministry once prompted the Jews to ask “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” (John 7:15),
* We can add to this that Peter was filled with the Spirit here (Acts 4:8).
*Luke is describing effective ministry in the New Testament era: speaking out of the fullness of the Spirit and out of a knowledge of the Scriptures.
The apostles have a boldness that comes from confidence about their message and fresh empowerment by the Spirit.”
This is how the church has developed for centuries.
Discussion among the Sanhedrin follows - what to do? V. 16
“what are we going to do with these men?
“they have performed a notable sign and we cannot deny it...” v. 16
“But even the miraculous is not self-authenticating apart from openness of heart and mind; and the Sadducees’ preoccupation with protecting their vested interests shut them off from really seeing the miracle that occurred”.
“ to stop this thing from spreading any further...speak no longer to anyone in this name” v. 17
They here admit the power of Jesus name!!!
... These disciples had no intent of starting a new religion named “Christianity.” They wanted Judaism to recognize God’s anointed one – Jesus of Nazareth.
Also Martin Luther – wanted to reform the catholic church – not start a new version of the church. But he was excommunicated.
Peter and John’s Response To The Threats... V. 20 “We Cannot Help Speaking...”
4. Peter And John Report To The Believers: v. 23
Immediately They turn to Prayer: Notice the substance of the prayer...Description of their prayer:
1. Sovereign Lord
2. Creator
3. You spoke thru David
4. They did what your power and will decided beforehand should happen” v. 28
5. Their request
i. give us more boldness
ii. give us more miracles!
The noun translated “courage” (parresia) and its corresponding verb (parresiazomai) appear twelve times in Acts—generally in close association to preaching the gospel to Jews.11
**Adjith Fernando: ...In an effort to maintain respectability, we can be tempted to jettison some of the aspects of the gospel that are offensive to the world. This happened in Sri Lanka after it received independence from the British in 1948. Many within the established churches maintained their respectability with the Buddhist hierarchy by refusing to insist on the uniqueness of Christianity. One of the results has been a loss of fire in these churches, and with that also a loss of members. A key to maintaining a vibrant witness in an environment hostile to the gospel is courage.
*** they did not pray a prayer to crush the persecutors!!!
Instead give us more displays of power – and more signs/wonders !
They are not playing defense – they are playing offense – they are on the move!
6. God’s Response To Their Prayer:
o Place was shaken...
o All filled with the Holy Spirit – v. 31
o and they spoke the word boldly – v. 31
***These people were “on mission for God” !!!
Big idea: “The disciples respond to persecution with prayer for boldness.”
“Persecution produces prayer, power and proclamation!”
Application – Apply these same (3) prayers
o Lord give us boldness
o Lord give is miracles
o Lord fill us with your Holy Spirit!
“Persecution produces prayer, power and proclamation!”
And yes indeed... more power follows... 5:12 ff
Acts 5:12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people.14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.
More pushback for the Jewish authorities:
More jail time – then an escape!!! (5:19)
17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
5:28 “we gave you strict orders not to teach in this name”
Gamaliel:
40 His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
“Persecution produces prayer, power and proclamation!”
Conclusion Of The Testimony...
After threatening my father with litigation in Pakistan’s supreme court, I was released to his control. Under the terms of the settlement, I remained a political prisoner and could not leave the country, own a Bible, or associate with Christians. Living with my father wore me down, especially after getting arrested again for hiding the New Testament under my mattress. (I had occasionally managed to sneak out for fellowship with Christians, despite fearing retribution.)
In 1977, with my father’s pressure to renounce Christianity as relentless as ever—he would threaten to have me beheaded for apostasy—I made the fateful decision to flee Pakistan. There was no other choice.
During my seven-month escape journey, God always provided. ... From Kabul I passed through Turkey, Russia, Belgium, Holland, and finally to Sweden. ... the government finally granted me political asylum.
Sweden became my new home. I learned the language and joined an evangelical Lutheran church. I attended Torchbearers International Bible School.
All the while, he was preparing me to fulfill the mission he had revealed back in Lahore, to preach Jesus all over the world. We moved to America for further Bible training and returned to Sweden a year later, after which I taught at the Word of Life Training Center in Uppsala for four years.
I was also active in the church and with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, doing street evangelism and praying for the sick. ...
Shortly thereafter, I founded Dynamis World Ministries, a precursor to conducting mass evangelistic meetings in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
In 1993 we moved our headquarters to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Over the past 40 years I have been privileged to preach in more than 75 nations and plant churches in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa.
In the account from John’s gospel of Jesus miraculously feeding the 5,000, the original loaves and fishes come courtesy of an unknown boy (6:9). The story reminds us that God can use even the smallest things—and the unlikeliest people—to dramatic effect. ... ensuring that more and more people can taste the Bread of Life.
