SPEAKING GODS WORD WITH BOLDNESS March 16, 2008

Acts 4

We are currently studying our way through the book of Acts on Sunday mornings, & this morning we are going to be looking at Acts 4 (p772).

Last week Pastor Kent led us as we looked Chapter 3. Peter and John, two of Jesus disciples, had gone to the Temple in Jerusalem to pray. It was 3 oclock in the afternoon. Jesus had gone back to heaven, the Holy Spirit had been outpoured, and now the disciples were taking every opportunity to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior.

As they go into the Temple grounds, there is a crippled man there who is begging, and they heal him. As the man begins to walk and jump and shout & praise God, a great crowd gathers to see what the commotion is. Peter sees it as an opportunity to talk to the crowd about Jesus, which he does. Thats where chapter 4 begins.

READ v.1-4

These religious leaders thought they had stilled the voice of Jesus when they crucified Him. They had hated Him. He was upsetting the status quo. People who had previously hung on their every word were now hanging on His every word, and they wouldnt stand for it. So they killed Him. That ends that problem!

Except for the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, and then sent the Holy Spirit to fill every one of those early Christians with not only a message but also a boldness in proclaiming the message.

Instead of solving their problem, these Jewish leaders had only compounded it, hundreds of times over. Instead of a solitary preacher, now there were hundreds of them, and these Jewish leaders werent quite sure what to do, except that they had to do something. So they arrest Peter and John, putting them in jail until they can have a hearing the next morning.

Why would these religious leaders arrest Peter and John for healing someone V.2 says that they were greatly disturbed not because they had healed the man, but the way they had healed him. They had healed him in the Name of Jesus, in the name of One Whom they said had risen from the dead. So what was the problem?

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. You die and thats it: no eternal reward, no eternal punishment, nothing beyond the grave. You die and youre gone forever. So they could not permit these two followers of Jesus to proclaim that He was still alive and at work in the world.

READ v.5-7

Try to imagine it. One of your neighbors, a man whom you have seen day after week after month after year sitting there at the gate of the Temple begging, and now he is standing there before you. He had never stood before. He had been a cripple from birth. Yet there he stands, healed. And the religious leaders are upset about it.

They should be rejoicing along with every one else. Instead they come with their accusing questions. "By what power or what name did you do this?" They werent interested in seeing people helped. They were afraid that their position and power were being undermined.

Jesus had told Peter, and the other disciples, Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.??

Matt. 10:17-20

So the notation in Acts 4:8 is that Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said to them. Peter is not speaking Peters words, but it is Gods Spirit using Peter to speak the words of God.

His emphasis is that it is by the Name of Jesus that this man has been healed. Boldly, he proclaims the Name of the One they dont want to hear about. They crucified Him, but now through using His Name, the same power He had is released through His followers. The Name of Jesus; that phrase is repeated over and over in this chapter.

As a matter of fact, Peter says, it is through the Name of Jesus that a person is saved, & only through the Name of Jesus. He says to these rulers & elders & teachers of the Law, he says to these most religious of the Jews, You are lost without Jesus. There is no other way of salvation than through the name of Jesus.

Can that be right??The Jews are going to hell? The Buddhists are going to hell? The Hindus, the Muslims, the Native American, the New Agers, everyone who is not trusting in Jesus, they are all headed for hell? Thats what Peter is saying, and thats what the early Church believed. Thats what motivated them to spread the good news of Jesus. They understood that without Jesus, no one would go to heaven. He was and is the only way.

READ v.12

Where did they get that notion? Remember, Peter is speaking here by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is speaking words the Holy Spirit is giving him, just as Jesus had promised. Besides, Jesus Himself had said, and Peter had heard Him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6.

We live in a pluralistic society. We have many religions in our nation. Our constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Whatever your religion is, you have a right to practice it here in the United States. But that does not mean all religions are right! It does not mean that they all have the truth.

For the most part, people in America today are religious. And if you are religious, thats wonderful. Youre religious; I?m religious. What could be better? Just as long as you dont say your religion is right and mine is wrong. You have to be tolerant. You have to accept every religion as being just as valid for that other person as yours is for you.?Dont you dare say that your Jesus is the only Way. Dont you dare say that you are going to heaven but Im not. I wont tolerate that.

Our problem as Christians is that we are followers of Jesus. And our Leader clearly said that He was & is the only Way to the Father. Thats what the Bible calls Jesus the rock of offense and speaks of people taking offense at Him. If we are going to be true Christians, we cant throw out the central teaching of the One we are following just because some find it offensive. The early Church didnt, & they were persecuted because of it. And we must not compromise on this point either.

Difficult as it may be, our stand must be Jesus is the only way. There is no other. He is the only Way to God, the only Way to Heaven. Without Jesus, people are eternally lost. That stand today will bring persecution. But friends, its the only option we have if we would truly be followers of Jesus.

You may be ridiculed. You may be called a narrow minded bigot. You may be called a hate-monger, a Bible-thumping right-wing religious wacko. You may be ostracized and rejected by some. But we must say with Martin Luther Here I stand; I can do no other.

READ v.13-17

They noted that these were unschooled, ordinary men. They did not have theological training and were like the common people. How many of you would say that you are a pretty ordinary person? Most people in the church today would fit this description: unschooled and ordinary.

Peter and John didn?t let that be an excuse. But some Christians today do. If only I had gone to Bible School; if only I had gone to seminary; if only I were an extraordinary Christian, then I could? You dont have to be schooled. You don?t have to be extraordinary. Here is the key:

They took note that these men had been with Jesus. Being with Jesus had made all the difference in these men and it will make all the difference in us as well. I see some people who have been to Bible School or Seminary; I see people who are extraordinary; but they are not being used of God. They are not making a difference for God in their sphere of influence. Its not education and talents that make the difference.

Spending time with Jesus will change your life. Read the Gospels. Then read them again. Then read them again, and again, and again until you begin to know Jesus. Spend time in prayer. Talk to Him; listen to Him talk back to your spirit. Effectiveness for God comes from time spent with Jesus.

READ v.18-22

The early church believed in and practiced civil disobedience. Christians have always practiced civil disobedience. Im not talking about bombing abortion clinics or shooting abortionists. Im not talking about refusing to pay your income tax because some of it is used for the military. Im talking about civil governments passing laws that go directly contrary to what Gods law says.

Jesus told His followers: You will be My witnesses, in Jerusalem and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. He said to them Go into all the world and preach the gospel.

He sent them out to preach the good news and heal the sick. And now these governmental officials were telling them to stop doing what Jesus commanded them to do.

In Israel at this time there were two layers of civil government. There was the Jewish government, the Sanhedrin and the priests. It was the government that had been in place when the Romans came. And then there was the Roman government, an occupying force that had conquered Israel just as they had conquered the rest of the world. And so while these were not Romans telling them not to preach any more in Jesus Name, they were the legitimate civil authorities for the Jewish people.

No more preaching Jesus. Sorry, brothers. Weve got to preach Jesus. He said so. And we have to obey God. Soon it would be the Romans telling them You have to confess Caesar as Lord. But Jesus is our Lord, and He is our only Lord. We will not confess Caesar as Lord.

Daniel had done it, when they told him he couldnt pray to anyone except the king. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did it when they told them to bow down to the image of gold and worship it. Christians around the world today do it when they are told they cant meet together, when they are told they cant speak to others about Jesus and they go ahead and do it anyway.

There are times when it is not only right to practice civil disobedience; there are times when it is mandatory if we would follow Jesus. But it must be a clear case of mans laws directly contradicting God?s laws. I want to be really clear on that point.

One other thing in that portion we just read that struck me was in v.21 (read). The people were not praising Peter and John. They were praising God. One mark of a healthy ministry is that the people praise God and not the human agent through whom God has worked.

No matter who the human tool might be, if the praise is going to the tool, something is wrong. Watch the attitude of a leader toward praise. It will tell you if that leaders ministry is healthy or not. If the leader accepts the praise, or seeks the praise for what God has done, watch out. These people in Acts 4 were praising God, not Peter.

Then beginning in v.23, we have a prayer prayed by the Christians that gathered together after Peter & John were released. Its an interesting prayer, and one that we could spend a long time studying. I just want us to look at verses 29-31 (READ)

Its such an unselfish prayer. Notice that despite the threats made by the Jewish leaders, these early Christians did not pray for protection. They did not pray that they would not suffer for their faith, that they would not be further persecuted. What they did pray was that their boldness would not be affected. Lord, in the face of their threats, help us to continue to speak Your Word with great boldness.

They knew that if they continued to speak about Jesus, trouble lay ahead. They knew that they would physically suffer if they preached Jesus and the leaders followed through on their threats. Lord, help us to love You more than we fear their threats. Help us to be bold, even though our boldness will bring persecution to us.

How bold are you for Jesus? Students, are you bold, even when you know your boldness will bring ridicule, and even rejection? Adults, how bold are you? Im not talking about being foolish, or stupid. There are times when we ought to keep our mouth shut, and some Christians never keep their mouth shut. Im talking about being bold when boldness is what is called for, when boldness is what God would have us to be, when boldness is what is needed.

Verse 13 of this chapter uses the word courage in the NIV, and boldness in the KJV. Boldness, or courage, in the face of opposition does not mean the absence of fear. Witnessing, speaking what we have seen and heard is often a frightening thing. Its not easy for most of us to talk freely about Jesus to people who do not follow Him and love Him like we do. So dont think you have to be fearless to be bold.

Courage is doing what is right despite your fears. And that courage grows out of our relationship with Jesus. The more you know Him and love Him, the more you will want to obey Him. And obedience involves boldly speaking up when you would much rather keep your mouth shut.

If you struggle here, know that you are not alone. These early Spirit-filled Christians are praying for boldness. Why? Why would you pray for something if you already had it? These people are praying for boldness because they lacked it.

Paul write from prison near the end of his life and ministry and said to the Christians in Ephesus: and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. Eph 6:19-20

Even the Apostle Paul, powerfully used of God to preach and teach and write and establish churches, asks people to pray for him that he would be bold in speaking about Jesus.

I need to pray this morning: Lord, give me more boldness. Some of you need to pray this morning: Lord, give me more boldness. And in a few minutes we are going to pray that prayer together.

The boldness here at the end of Acts 4 came as they were again all filled with the Holy Spirit. Look at v.31. Why did those who had been filled with the Holy Spirit in the past need to be again filled with the Holy Spirit? And does that mean we need repeated fillings if we are going to boldly proclaim Gods Word to those around us in our day?

Ephesians 5:18 says Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Let me get a little technical here because it will help us to understand what God is saying.

The Greek verb be filled in that verse is in the present tense, imperative mood. A command in the present imperative carries the idea of continuing to do it. It means: continually, habitually follow this command; often a call to long-term commitment. This combination in a verb calls for a constant & continual way of life.

Be filled with the Spirit continually, habitually, as an ongoing way of life. Thats where our boldness comes from constantly being filled with the Holy Spirit.

BOLDNESS. Are you ready to ask God for more boldness in your Christian life today? Are you ready to ask Him to again fill you with His Holy Spirit for this days needs, this weeks needs? I am. Lets do it now.

PRAY