The Acts Of The Apostle

The Acts of the Apostles

Acts 4:1-23

Introduction- Good Morning Church-

Welcome to Rosedale online, we would invite you to join us if you are able to be in the area and experience the presence of the Lord as we worship together.

Prayer-

If you would turn in your bibles to Acts 4

Here is some background as we set up the unique encounter with the religious leaders of the day and the unlearned disciples of Jesus.

Those who have been with Jesus and those who oppose Jesus.

The book of Acts is exactly that – The acts of the apostles recorded for us to see and learn from-

Acts one is Jesus after being crucified and appearing before hundreds of people after his resurrection.

He ascends with the promise that he must ascend so the Holy Spirit can descend and fill HIs people with God’s Holy Spirit.

Acts two is 120 believers waiting on God to accomplish what he had promised in an upper room and the explosion of the gospel is set in motion as the Holy Spirit of God fills these men and women and they begin spreading the gospel with power and authority.

Acts four, our text is the confrontation of religious leaders and the righteous of God.

Peter after being filled with the Spirit at Pentecost saw over 3000 men give their life to Christ.

Now he is with John in the most crowded place outside the holy temple and God begins to use them to win souls for the kingdom.

Acts chapter 4:1-7

Can you picture what happening here?

The crowd has gathered to hear Peter and John tell about the power of Jesus resurrection and they are making a difference because Peter is preaching under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and people are being drawn to the Spirit of God.

The religious leaders of the day are seeing that they are not only drawing a crowd the crowd is responding to them and the gospel is winning souls.

The Sadducees are offended and upset that the very thing they disagree with which is the resurrection of Christ is the very thing that is drawing people to God.

They are the aristocrats who make their money by making the Romans happy and by padding their own pockets.

John and Peter preaching the resurrection was a disturbance that could create a crowd movement that would bring the Roman soldiers to break it up- not that they cared about that but Romans would be mad for the crowd outbreak and it could hurt their pockets and future money.

They had to do something with Peter and John- so they put them in jail for the night and would deal with them in the morning-

In a short time, they estimate that over 5000 Jews had been converted and responding to the gospel.

Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, Alexander were there- they brought them to the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the day the most powerful question of the day- By what power and what name did you do this?

Here’s what filled believers can do- (8) Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit “Rulers and elders of the people. If we are being called to account today for the act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all of the people of Israel. It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who you crucified and whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed!

Do you know what a slap in the face that was! The very thing they did not believe that Jesus was resurrected was done by the very Son of God that God the Father raised from the dead to heal this man that was lame but now stands before you healed!

It is going to take courage to do what God has called you to do

It’s one thing to be filled with His Spirit but it is another to stand in the gap and allow God to use you to speak to the world about Jesus.

I speak this truth in the power of Jesus the Nazarene!

The resurrected one that ascended so that the Holy Spirit can descend and give us the power to proclaim His name!

It took courage to stand before the most intelligent and most powerful people in the land and this unlearned fisherman faced them as their judge instead of as a victim.

This was the very court that condemned Jesus to die.

Peter and John knew that he was taking his life in his hands.

There is two kinds of courage. Reckless which is hardly aware of the danger that you are getting into, and the courage that says I fully understand what is before me but I come in the powerful name of Jesus and I refuse to be intimated by you. I win either way… I am a child of God and I will not be silenced by your threats and actions.