WE HAVE TO SAY IT!
Acts 4:1-22
S: Courage
Th: Walk with Spiritual Courage
Pr: BELIEVERS COURAGEOUSLY SPEAK THE TRUTH.
?: Inductive
KW: Stages
TS: We will find in our study of Acts 4:1-22 three parts that show how the disciples react to adversity.
The _____ part is the…
I. TRIAL (1-12)
II. THREAT (13-18)
III. TRUST (19-22)
Version: ESV
RMBC 21 Sep 03 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Notebook: Fear (Zoo Mime)
One day an out-of-work mime is visiting the zoo and attempts to earn some money as a street performer. Unfortunately, as soon as he starts to draw a crowd, a zookeeper grabs him and drags him into his office.
The zookeeper explains to the mime that the zoo’s most popular attraction, a gorilla, has died suddenly, and the keeper fears that attendance at the zoo will fall off. He offers the mime a job to dress up as the gorilla until they can get another one. The mime accepts.
The next morning the mime puts on the gorilla suit and enters the cage before the crowd comes. He discovers it’s a great job. He can sleep all he wants, play and make fun of people, and he draws bigger crowds than he ever did as a mime.
However, eventually the crowds tire of him. He begins to notice that the people are paying more attention to the lion in the cage next to his. Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience, he climbs to the top of his cage, crawls across a partition and dangles from the top to the lion’s cage. Of course, this makes the lion furious, but the crowd loves it.
At the end of the day the zookeeper comes and gives the mime a raise for being such a good attraction.
This goes on for some time. The crowds grow larger, and the mime’s salary keeps going up. Then one terrible day, while dangling over the furious lion, the mime slips and falls. The mime is terrified. The lion gathers itself and prepares to pounce.
The mime starts screaming and yelling, "Help! Help me!" but the lion is quick and pounces.
The mime soon finds himself flat on his back looking up at the angry lion, and the lion says, "Quiet! Do you want to get us both fired?"
1. Have you ever been afraid for your life?
For the apostles, this was no joke.
We have been studying the book of Acts for the last few weeks.
And as we come to today’s passage, we will observe that they had reason to be afraid.
But, as we will see, they met the challenge.
And in turn, it is an example to us.
2. Our challenge is to “Walk with Spiritual Courage.”
As Christians, our lives are to be characterized by courage.
This is because, at times, there are things that will make us afraid.
Being a Christian is not easy.
Or at least it is not supposed to be!
It is natural for the Christian to be counter-cultural.
And as a result, we will face opposition, even when we are doing what is right and what is good.
Two weeks ago, when we started this study in Acts, we observed Peter and John approach a lame man.
The man was looking for some money.
But money was not what Peter and John offered.
Instead, they offered something better.
Peter said…
“I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
They set a wonderful example to us, because they show us that…
3. Believers reach out to the hurting.
In the name of Jesus, Peter took hold of the man and brought him up to a standing position.
This was something the man had never done before.
And needless to say, it was an attention-getter.
The crowd started to gather as the former lame man was walking and leaping and praising God.
It is at this point that Peter gives us another example, and it is this…
4. Believers talk about Jesus.
Peter and John will take no credit for themselves.
Their interest in the lame man came directly from Jesus Himself.
But that is not all Peter says.
He takes the opportunity to testify about Jesus.
It had been just a few months before that Jerusalem had overseen the death of Jesus.
But this was not the end of the story, for God had raised Him from the dead.
Though they were ignorant of what they were doing, they were guilty of killing Jesus.
But it was sin that could be overcome by repentance and a turning to Jesus.
This message was strong and effective.
It reached to those that were listening.
But not all that heard the message were happy with it.
In fact, as we begin the study of today’s passage, we see that there are those that are just plain angry.
So…
5. We will find in our study of Acts 4:1-22 three parts that show how the disciples react to adversity.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first part of the story is the TRIAL (1-12).
[1] And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, [2] greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. [3] And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. [4] But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. [5] On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, [6] with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. [7] And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” [8] Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, [9] if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, [10] let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing before you well. [11] This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. [12] And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Well, as we can see…
1. We are going to face hurdles when we talk about Jesus.
The Jewish leaders received word about Peter and John and were convinced that they needed to do something about it.
It was a sudden display of annoyed authority.
You can see the guards pushing through the crowd and grabbing Peter and John, arresting them and dragging them off to be held overnight in jail.
We find that the Sadducees were behind the arrest.
They were the wealthy aristocrats with vested interests politically and economically.
In other words, by testifying about Jesus, Peter and John were messing up their negotiated and authoritative hold on the Jewish nation.
Theologically, they could not agree with these Christians.
They could not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
They believed that the Messianic age had started during Maccabean period, hundreds of years earlier.
They also could not stand this talk about Jesus being alive, for they denied the resurrection of the dead.
So, for the Sadducees, Peter and John were agitators and heretics.
They were disturbers of the peace and enemies of the truth.
But most importantly, they were a threat to their power.
What is interesting to note here is that though the Sadducees could successfully arrest the apostles, they were unable to arrest the influence of the gospel.
Additional people kept coming to Christ.
So they will spend the night in jail and meet with the Sanhedrin, Israel’s Supreme Court.
Peter and John would go into the hostile environment of 71 educated, powerful, and cultured men.
The question is…how would they respond?
ILL Notebook: Responsibility (I was responsible)
“For this job,” said the personnel director, “we are looking for a responsible man.”
“That’s for me,” said the applicant. “Everywhere I’ve worked, whenever anything went wrong they said I was responsible.”
Well, responsibility is something Peter and John show us.
For…
2. We are not to shirk our responsibility to testify when the time comes.
Note what Peter and John do when they come before the Sanhedrin.
They talk about Jesus.
They don’t worry about defending themselves.
Instead, they are empowered, encouraged, and strengthened to speak about Jesus.
In fact, they hold nothing back.
Again, they say…
“…let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing before you well.”
Peter and John are clear.
The Sadducees’ hope that they had gotten rid of Jesus was short-lived.
They had killed Him, but God had raised Him.
In fact, the action of the Jewish leaders had fulfilled Scripture (Psalm 118:22-24):
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Not only has Jesus fulfilled Scripture, Peter and John testify…
Jesus is the only way for salvation.
They unabashedly proclaim the uniqueness of Jesus.
And they teach us that…
3. We are not to apologize for absolutes.
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
We live in a day and age where all religions are considered equals.
In fact, even Christians get influenced by this line of thinking.
Some will say, “Yes Jesus is the only source of salvation, but you don’t have to know him in order to benefit from the salvation he offers.”
The logic of this argument is that if you are a faithful Muslim or Hindu or Jew or animist, you will be saved by Jesus.
There is salvation in no one else, but you don’t have to believe on him in order to be saved by him.
So if you believe in Allah and that Mohammed is the true prophet, as long as you are sincere, you will be saved by Jesus.
I have always thought that the sincerity argument falls apart so quickly, because you can be sincerely wrong.
I can stand on the rail of the balcony up there and jump off and sincerely believe I will fly.
But I tell you now, that I will sincerely be wrong (please don’t ask me to try it!).
Yes, tolerance, diversity and sincerity are all the by-words of the day.
You know, you can take all the religious names of history – Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Ramakrishna, Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy – and many of them uttered fine moral teachings.
They could even tell us what is right in some cases.
But do you know what none of those names could do?
None of them can make you whole.
This is why the name of Jesus is above every other name.
No one is His equal.
There is no other name.
We are saved by calling on the name of Jesus.
Note what Paul writes to the Romans…
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
If you are a believer in Jesus, please get this straight.
There is no other name.
This is an absolute.
We do not need to apologize for it, just because our culture finds it uncomfortable.
The name that changed your life can change them too.
But it is a name that we must speak and testify to.
II. The second part of the story is the THREAT (13-18).
[13] Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. [14] But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. [15] But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, [16] saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. [17] But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” [18] So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Note this…
1. God only needs common, ordinary people to get the message out.
Peter and John were unversed in the formal learning of the Rabbinical schools.
Yet they spoke with a freedom and forthrightness that impressed their judges.
With poise and confidence, they stood calmly in their presence.
Untrained and uneducated, they were untroubled before the Sanhedrin.
But even the leaders know why.
They were students of Jesus.
And He had done the same thing before them.
Jesus always had had an answer.
The leadership was in a quandary.
The evidence of Jesus continued to haunt them, for there was the healed man standing before them.
The good deed had been done.
The leadership was confused.
They didn’t know what to do.
Ultimately, they resort to what those in power often do…
ILL Notebook: Intimidation (dissed)
Chad was intimidated by the burly professor yelling into his face, "Your work is sloppy! Your study habits are horrible! Your grades are slipping! I hate sloppy work! I hate poor study habits! And I hate that shirt you are wearing!"
The class was dead silent as the professor chastised Chad for several minutes. Then a collective gasp filled the room when the professor turned and began to yell at the entire class.
"You guys have made it through high school because your mommies babied you. Now you have to grow up! Your mommies are not here!"
Chad spoke in a quivering voice. "You’d better be glad my mom’s not here. She bought me this shirt!"
The only weapon the leaders had at this point was the same this professor used – intimidation.
You see…
2. The world just wants us to be quiet and blend in.
The verdict was in.
A complete ban was imposed on any further public mention of the name of Jesus.
They were not to speak or teach anyone about Jesus.
Their threat may have gone like this…
“If you do, we’ll arrest you, put you in jail, interrogate you, mock you, flog you and kill you.”
So here is what the opposition wants us to do.
The world wants us to calm down and lay low.
Just take it easy.
III. The third part of the story is the TRUST (19-22).
[19] But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, [20] for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” [21] And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. [22] For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
1. If we are true to our relationship to God, we know our authority.
We live in a day where tolerance and diversity are concepts that are elevated and honored.
The culture of today continues to put pressure on the Christian to leave others with different beliefs to themselves.
When we come across a Hindu or a Muslim or a Sikh or a Native American, were to respect them.
We are not to convert them.
We are especially not allowed to say that we are right and they are wrong.
That would be arrogant and intolerant.
But the culture of the day is not our authority.
We must remember that God is worth trusting, no matter what.
This is what Peter and John believed.
It is also how they answered the Sanhedrin, with a concept that they should have understood and practiced.
They would listen to God.
He was the higher authority.
You see…
2. When we encounter life-changing truth, testifying to it is a matter of compulsion.
For the Christian, it is not that we will not be quiet.
It is that we cannot be quiet.
The message and the person of Jesus was so challenging and so transforming, we cannot be silent
APPLICATION:
So, if you are a believer in Jesus today, note that…
1. Believers courageously make a difference.
We are to live out our faith to those around us.
We are to make a difference to those that we know and those we meet.
Our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and employers need to see the difference Jesus makes in us.
We are live out the love of Christ.
It must be active and seen and appreciated!
Not only that…
2. Believers courageously speak about Jesus.
Sometimes I think that Christians, in mass, have succumbed to the fearful “sharethefaithaphobia.”
We are so quiet.
We have been seduced by the world into silence.
Whether it be by pleasure or by material possessions, our witness to Christ has been silenced.
Unlike Peter and John, we haven’t needed governmental interference to keep us quiet.
Let us be quiet no longer!
Let us walk with spiritual courage.
For…
3. BELIEVERS COURAGEOUSLY SPEAK THE TRUTH.
The eternal lives of millions of people hang in the balance because the truth is not spoken.
We cannot be ignorant and indifferent to their fate.
We must make a difference.
We must speak in the name of Jesus.
We must speak the truth.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Speak the truth when the trials come…believers will engender opposition, we must realize this…but we must not give in on what we know and what we are convinced is to be true.
Speak the truth when the threats come…for the Lord is with us…the opposition want us to be quiet, but we can’t keep quiet…the good news about Jesus is too good not to share.
Speak the truth, because God is worth trusting…He is with us wherever we go…and the results are always His…you see when obey, He works…it is that simple.
Now…May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
Amen.
