WHO SHOULD WE OBEY?
Text: Acts 4:13-22
Introduction
1. “Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about courageously and actively doing God’s will.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
2. The question I want us to ponder this morning is should we obey God or people?
3. According to Peter and John, disciples of Jesus, we should obey God rather than people.
4. Read Acts 4:13-22
Proposition: As followers of Jesus, we need to share the Gospel courageously and actively with everyone we meet.
Transition: First, we should understand that…
I. God Uses Ordinary People (13-15).
A. Ordinary Men
1. Peter’s response to the council had a major impact. Even on the council itself. In v. 13 Luke tells us, “The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”
a. Luke tells us that the council was amazed at their boldness.
b. The word used here means boldness, confidence, and courage (Louw and Nidda).
c. What really amazed them is that they were ordinary men. The word ordinary means “uneducated.”
d. They were fishermen by trade, and they had not had any formal theological or rabbinical teaching. Yet here they were speaking to them with such boldness, confidence, and courage. How could this be?
e. Well one thing that isn’t necessarily mentioned in the text, but we know from reading the early part of the book, is that they had been filled with the Holy Spirit. In fact, earlier in this chapter, as Peter began to speak, Luke says he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
f. However, another aspect that is mentioned is they recognized that these two men had been with Jesus.
g. Now, we know that being with Jesus changes people. We know that spending time with Jesus every morning in prayer and bible study changes us!
h. Even these religious people recognized that being with Jesus meant something.
2. Then Luke mentions something else. “But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say.”
a. There was another thing the council couldn’t deny is that the man whom they had healed was right there among them.
b. This man who had been lamed for his entire life, whom they had seen begging for money at the Temple gate, was standing right there!
c. What were they going to say? They couldn’t deny it. They knew this was not a con job. They knew he was a cripple all his life.
d. Luke makes it clear that they were speechless.
B. Power of God
1. “All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose he has given them.”
2. God uses ordinary people, just like you and me, to take his message of salvation to the world.
a. “And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.” ( 1 Cor. 2:4-5)
b. Too many Christians have the misguided idea that you must go to seminary to share the Gospel with people.
c. But Scripture tells us a very different story. Peter and join were ordinary people. They were uneducated, fishermen who spent most of their life doing menial tasks and working with their hands.
d. However, something happened to them that turned them from ordinary to extraordinary: they met Jesus! And he turned them into fishers of men.
e. He then did something that empowered them to do the task that he had given them: he filled them with the Holy Spirit.
f. How are they different from us? There not! We are ordinary people that can do the extraordinary because we’ve met Jesus!
g. We are empowered to share the Gospel with Floyd County because he has filled us with the Holy Spirit.
h. Jesus took ordinary people and turned the world upside down, and he can use us to do the same.
Transition: However, we need to understand that just like Peter and John…
II. People Will Try to Silence You (16-18).
A. Warn Them Not to Speak
1. The council had a bit of a problem. Look at what Luke tells us in v. 16, “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it.”
a. They asked the question, “what are we going to do with you?” As my mother used to say, “mildew I guess!”
b. They had to do something, but what?
c. They couldn’t deny they had performed a miracle because he was standing right there in front of them.
d. To make matters worse, everyone in town new about it!
e. But they had to figure out a way to shut them up!
2. So, they came up with a plan, “But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”
a. These religious leaders were in a fight, a fight for superiority, prestige, and respect, and they were losing.
b. The people in Jerusalem were listening to the apostle’s preaching about Jesus, saw the miracles they were performing, and the people were believing in Jesus!
c. So, they said, “I know, we’ll tell them to stop talking about Jesus!” We’ll get them to shut up about Jesus and it will all go away!”
3. In v. 18 Luke tells us, “So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.”
a. The best solution they could come up with was to intimidate them.
b. They commanded them to never speak or teach in the name of Jesus again.
c. Jewish law specified that at the first instance of wrong or illegal action, the guilty were to be warned and released. (Bruce Barton et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary, 487).
d. So, this “official warning” would make these apostle’s think twice about speaking in the name of Jesus again.
e. The next time they would be in big trouble, because the punishment for the second offense was to be beaten with rods.
f. What do you think? Is it going to work?
B. I Am Not Ashamed
1. “If the devil were wise enough and would stand by in silence and let the gospel be preached, he would suffer less harm. For when there is no battle for the gospel it rusts, and it finds no cause and no occasion to show its vigor and power. Therefore, nothing better can befall the gospel than that the world should fight it with force and cunning.” (Martin Luther).
2. When people try and silence us for sharing the Gospel of Jesus, we need to shout it even louder!
a. “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.” (Rom. 1:16)
b. The devil has been trying to silence the Gospel for over 2,000 years, and it hasn’t worked yet, and it won’t work now…unless we let it!
c. If people tell us to be quiet, get louder!
d. Share it with your friends.
e. Share it with your family.
f. Share it with your co-workers.
g. Share it with your classmates.
h. Share it with anyone who will listen.
i. Because it is the power of God to save anyone who believes!
Transition: The reason we cannot be silent is…
III. We Need to Obey God Rather Than People (19-22).
A. Do You Think God Wants Us to Obey You
1. Boy were these council members in for a rude awakening. In vv. 19-20 it says, “But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”
a. Peter and John had been commanded by Jesus himself to share the Gospel to everyone they came with whom they came in contact.
b. They had truly been with Jesus, and he had changed their lives forever.
c. Furthermore, they had been filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
d. He had given them boldness, confidence, and courage to preach the Gospel.
e. Maybe they were ordinary men in the eyes of the council, but they had something that the council knew nothing about…the power of God!
f. Peter said, “do you really think God would have us obey you rather than him?
g. We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard!” To obey them would have been to disobey God.
2. These members of the council that they were hot stuff, so, “The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 22 for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.”
a. They probably thought, “Well, who do you guys think you are?” So, they continued to threaten them, but there was little they could do.
b. The people were still praising God for the miracle that had been performed before their very eyes, to a man who was lame for over forty years.
c. If the council went too far it would have started a riot, and if it started a riot the Romans would have gotten involved and that was the last thing they wanted.
d. So, they let them go.
B. We Proclaim to You
1. “God’s plan for enlarging his kingdom is so simple – one person telling another about the Savior. Yet we are too busy and full of excuses. Just remember, someone’s eternal destiny is at stake. The joy you’ll have when you meet that person in heaven will far exceed the discomfort you felt in sharing the gospel.” (Charles Stanley).
2. Just like Peter and John, we can’t stop telling people what we have seen and heard about Jesus!
a. “We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life.” (1 Jn. 1:1-2).
b. The most loving thing you can do for another person is to tell them about the Savior.
c. The most caring thing you can do for another person is to tell them about the Savior.
d. Remember, there eternal destiny is at stake, and God has given you the words of eternal life to share with them.
e. And it’s so simple, just walk across the room and tell them what Jesus has done in your life.
f. You don’t have to be an extraordinary person or have a seminary degree. All you must do is use the courage and confidence that God has already given you.
Conclusion
1. So, what did we learn from Peter and John’s experience today?
a. God uses ordinary people.
b. People will try to silence us.
c. We need to obey God rather than people.
2. What’s the point preacher? God has given you everything you need to lead people to Christ, so go out and share the gospel with everyone you meet.
