In Acts 4 the believers face
opposition. Their situation is not easy. But let us be inspired as
we see them respond with faithfulness and bravery. As we look at this
morning’s reading, I hope that we will be challenged by the conviction and
courage of Peter and John and that like them we will be compelled to step out
in mission.
1. Conviction: Hold firm
to the truth with Conviction
I know a man who loves the chorus,
‘Peter and John went to pray, they met a lame man on the way; he asked them for
alms and he held out his palms, and this is what Peter did say . . .’
That song highlights the events of
Acts 3, which provide the background for the chapter we are studying.
There Luke records the healing of the cripple at the temple gate called
Beautiful. That event attracted a crowd and Peter used the opportunity to
give an evangelistic talk. But not everyone was impressed. The
temple authorities break up the meeting and put Peter and John in prison.
These religious leaders were Sadducees—a religious and political group who did
not believe in a future resurrection from the dead. Their focus was here
on this world and in this world they collaborated with the hated Roman
authorities to get positions of power. They were disturbed that the
disciples spoke of resurrection and they were worried about the influence the
disciples had over the people.
But many who heard the message
believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand. Isn’t that encouraging? The meeting was broken up and the
speakers were put in jail. But the number of Christians continues to
grow. All over the world the church grows despite opposition. Think
of the growing number of Christians in China . In our own society
influential people may oppose what we teach but God still uses our message to
draw people to himself.
So Peter and John spend the night in
the cells and the next day they are brought before seventy-one members of the
Sanhedrin. The authorities point to the man who was formerly lame and
ask, “By what power or what name did you do this?” Peter responds
with incredibly brave and faithful words. He tells the Sanhedrin that
they crucified the Messiah. He declares that there is only one way to God
and that Jesus is that way. He states that to reject Jesus is to reject
God.
Salvation is found in no-one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be
saved.” To be honest it makes sense. The
religions of the world contradict each other. For example we believe that
there is one God, Hinduism teaches that the divine is impersonal and approached
through many lesser deities; Buddhism technically doesn’t have a god.
Every other religion seems to place an emphasis on deserving God’s favour, the
gospel teaches grace—that God forgives sinful people on the basis of what Jesus
achieved on the cross. If God has given us many religions then he has
left us to wander blindly in confusion. But we are to hold firmly to the conviction
that God has revealed himself in the pages of Scripture and uniquely the person
of his Son.
2. Courage: Pray for the Courage to
speak the gospel
I don’t know about you but I would
not consider myself an especially brave person. I don’t know about you
but I have kept my mouth shut at times when I know I should have spoken.
I don’t know about you but I have found myself in situations where I have not
known what to say. So what was the key to Peter speaking the truth with
such clarity and courage? We read that he was filled with Holy Spirit as
he spoke.
So as we plan our evangelism we need
to pray. At the beginning of each day let’s pray that God would fill us
with the Holy Spirit that we might share the gospel with boldness. Before
we go in to our workplaces pray that we would know what to say. When we
are meeting up with unbelieving friends or family, let’s pray for courage and
wisdom. Before we teach Sunday school or take a kids’ club gather the
other leaders together and pray. For we need to be filled with the Spirit
if we are going to have both courage and wisdom.
When the members of the Sanhedrin saw
the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary
men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with
Jesus. They were ordinary people, who spent time with Jesus, and now
were being used in extra-ordinary ways.
We can see many examples of this
courage in the history of the church. Such courage comes out of a life
that is depending on God in prayer. In the late eighteenth century a
bright and attractive fourteen year-old girl called Marie Durand was brought
before the authorities and charged for her faith. She was a Huguenot (a
Calvinistic group). She was asked to renounce her faith. But she
would not comply. Together with thirty other Huguenot women she was put
in a tower by the sea—for thirty-eight years. Instead of
saying the words j’abjure (I renounce) the inmates scratched on the wall of the
prison tower ’reister’ (‘Resist’). This inscription is still visible today.
3. Compulsion: We are to
be compelled by a burning heart
We need to remain firm in our
convictions about the gospel. We need to pray for the courage to speak
the truth with boldness and wisdom. Finally, we are to be motivated by an
inner compulsion.
The authorities ordered the apostles
to withdraw so that they could consider what to do. “Everyone living
in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny
it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people,
we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
When Peter and John are recalled and
told not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus they replied, “Judge
for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God
…” One early Methodist preacher, John Nelson, was brought before an
official and asked to state the offence for which he was imprisoned, he
replied: ‘For warning people to flee the wrath to come, and if this be a crime
I shall commit it again, unless you cut my tongue out; for it is better to die
than disobey God.’
“… For we cannot help speaking about
what we have seen and heard.” ‘We cannot
stop telling about everything we have seen and heard’ (NLT). Why
not? What was compels these men in mission? How were they so
motivated in evangelism? J. John writes, ‘You and I need to walk in
intimacy with God, our hearts ablaze with the love of Christ. Then we
will find that evangelism happens as a by-product – an overflow of our burning
hearts.’
Their evangelism comes as an overflow
of burning hearts. They live to share the good news about Jesus.
They won’t simply take the opportunity when it comes along; they are actively
looking for the opportunity. How everything would change if we were to
grasp the joy of sharing our faith. We not only rob others when we keep
the gospel to ourselves, we deny ourselves great pleasure.
In 1909 J. Campbell White, Secretary
of the Laymen’s Missionary Movement, said, ‘Fame, pleasure and riches are but
husks and ashes in contrast with the boundless and abiding joy of working with
God for the fulfilment of his eternal plans. The men [and women] who are
putting everything into Christ’s undertaking are getting out of life its
sweetest and most priceless rewards.’
Conclusion
J. John writes, ‘a missionary is not
someone who crosses the sea; a missionary is someone who sees the cross.’
We ought to look at the cross and be people of conviction. Jesus would
not have died there if there had been any other way for people to be reconciled
to God. ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him
we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Cor. 5:21). This message
is fantastically different from what any other religion teaches. We
believe our message is exclusive in the fact that there is no other name
under heaven given to men by which we must be saved; but we are inclusive
in seeking to share this good news with all people.
If we are to have the courage to
share this good news we need to pray. Peter was filled with the Holy
Spirit and spoke in a way that left the Sanhedrin amazed at his courage and
with nothing to say in reply. Pray for people, pray for opportunities,
pray for courage to speak and pray for the wisdom to know what to say.
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