Big threats and an even bigger God

Acts of the Apostles.

Over the last five weeks, we've seen something strange about the Acts of the Apostles,

and that is the Acts of the Apostles isn't actually about the Acts of the Apostles.

Sounds a bit weird.

But primarily, the Acts of the Apostles is about the unstoppable Jesus.

The unstoppable Jesus gathering his died-for people from the four corners of the earth.

The first volume of this was Luke's Gospel, talking about how Jesus actually died for his people.

Now Jesus is gathering them for the four points of the earth.

Why is he gathering them?

Because he wants them to be a wonderful spiritual empire that we call the church.

Now, of course, the apostles had a critical role in Jesus' mission.

They were appointed as witnesses.

Witnesses of God's long-promised, long-awaited Savior and King.

And as we've gone through each of the five weeks, we've seen what happens when the Gospel of Jesus is spoken.

Remember?

Ordinary people speaking the extraordinary Gospel of Jesus.

What happens?

Well, all sorts of people are radically changed.

That's what happens.

From the inside out.

According to chapter 4, verse 4, we're at passage this morning.

That number is now in excess of 5,000 people.

Just get a feel of that.

Radically changed.

People who've turned to Jesus in repentance.

People who've now received complete forgiveness for their sin.

They've received a fresh start in new relationship with God.

A new acceptance before God.

Including, as we saw last week, this 40-year-old who had been profoundly disabled.

Unable to walk since birth.

And he, above all else, was thought to be visibly, thought to be carrying the curse of God.

That's how the Jews would have viewed him.

And yet, this man also was just renewed and swept into the kingdom of Jesus.

Nobody is beyond the scope and the power of the Gospel of Jesus.

And the renewing of Jesus.

But that's not all of it.

This renewal was expressed in a radical new community.

We see that at the end of chapter 2.

A radical new community defined and shaped by the mind of Jesus.

And we're told in chapter 2 that that community was marked out by people's concern to learn more about God's salvation.

To share in thankfulness to God, one with the other, and together.

Thankfulness for God's mercy and grace.

And they were caring for one another.

Practically.

Deeply.

And all of that combined to make them such a winsome community.

That people on the outside were looking in saying, hey, I want a part of that.

And so, they themselves were responsible for more people being attracted to the Gospel.

More people receiving a fresh start.

Now, if you want an exciting picture.

Man, the first three or four chapters of Acts give you just that.

An exciting picture.

What do we expect when we speak the Gospel of Jesus?

Make it more personal.

What do you expect when you speak this Gospel of Jesus?

At risk of perhaps being negative.

Do you expect anything if you speak the Gospel of Jesus?

Well, with all that excitement behind us, suddenly we move into chapter 4.

And it seems like all the excitement just disappears, dissipates.

And things go terribly, terribly dark.

Over the next two or three weeks, we're going to see the rise of opposition.

Opposition from outside in.

And even more awful, opposition from inside out.

But things go dark.

The Gospel of Jesus, which has given thousands a fresh start in relationship with God,

now attracts opposition and persecution.

So, we need to add one more thing.

What happens?

What can we expect when we hear the Gospel of Jesus spoken?

And the answer needs to be opposition.

Persecution.

Persecution.

We pick up the story here.

Once again, these Jewish political and religious authorities make it their business to stop any mention of Jesus.

Making it their business to reverse any influence that they perceive Jesus might be having.

Just a few weeks earlier, we're not sure exactly what time gap there is between the start of Acts and chapter 4.

But it could be as little as 6 or 7 weeks.

It could be a couple of months, 3 or 4 months.

But just recently, anyway, these guys had sought to silence Jesus by having them murdered illegally.

And they're up for the task again.

But, as we move into the story, we need to take with us this thought.

That as their first attempt to stop the unstoppable Jesus was an exercise in futility,

then so this attempt will be an exercise in futility.

We'll see that as the story plays out over the next few weeks.

Let's look at the story with the first heading, then.

A strong Gospel will most likely bring strong opposition.

Picking up the first 22 verses, really, just the story.

So, verse 1.

Quite literally, Peter is mid-sentence.

He's explaining how Jesus was the fulfillment of God's foundation promise of salvation.

And mid-sentence, he's interrupted.

And he's interrupted by a sizable contingent of people.

We're told here, as Simon reminds us,

the commander of the temple police was a contingent of police.

The duty priests at the temple.

A contingent of Sadducees.

They were the religious professors of the day.

Pretty heavy duty guys.

All of these made part of the Jewish religious authorities.

What's their intention?

Very clear.

They're going to silence any reference to Jesus.

And so, only hours after healing,

this profoundly disabled guy,

Peter and John were illegally arrested and locked up.

Just hours later.

He hasn't even finished explaining the context of it.

And he's dragged off and locked up.

Why?

Well, we're told in verse 2.

At first glance, it seems like it was a sort of doctrinal problem.

These Sadducees took exception.

They didn't believe in resurrection.

So, the Sadducees appeared to take exception to Peter and John speaking about the resurrection of Jesus.

But another possibility is that these guys were just intellectually outraged.

Because here are these uneducated, unsophisticated fishermen teaching the people in the temple precincts.

And these sort of Jewish religious professors may well have taken that, you know, not well.

How dare they?

Whatever the reason at heart, it was an association with Jesus.

These men, Peter and John, in their eyes were enemies of the truth.

They were danger to God's people.

They needed to be stopped.

The next day, Peter and John would have been seriously intimidated because they were dragged before what we would call today a high court.

Hastily convened.

And even that would have echoes in their mind of just a few weeks earlier.

That's exactly what happened with Jesus.

The heaviest court in the land, the Sanhedrin, was sort of rushed together, patched together for an ad hoc meeting.

And Peter and John were dragged before this court.

Now remember, this court was therefore full of the brightest professors of Jewish religion.

They were full of the most powerful Jewish political leaders who only weeks earlier had actually manipulated the Roman governor into turning a blind eye to an illegal murder.

These were seriously powerful men.

They had the power of life and death.

Weeks earlier, they had murdered Jesus without regard for truth or justice.

Yet, we're told in verse 7 that Peter and John are stood before them.

Uneducated, unsophisticated men are stood before them and asked to give account of what had just happened.

Overkill, you'd say.

Serious intimidation.

But their attempt to intimidate Peter into silence failed abjectly.

Verses 8 to 12.

Peter sort of takes a deep breath and you can just see it happening, can't you?

You can see him fighting down the fear and the nerves.

Trying to get control of his breathing and speech.

Takes a deep breath and with the enabling of God's spirit, we're told.

Looks them in the eye.

And repeats to these powerful men the same thing as he'd repeated to the crowd, as he'd said to the crowd the day before.

He'd talked to them about Jesus.

Now, that's what they call tweaking the tiger's tail, is it not?

You're standing there in the clink because of what you said about Jesus.

And you turn to the guys who've got the power of life and death and talk to them about Jesus.

Phew.

Strong stuff, isn't it?

And once again we see that the real issue is not the actual healing of the man.

They don't seem to have a particular issue with that.

They can't argue with what they see with their eyes.

No, the problem for them is their association with Jesus.

These guys thought they'd gotten rid of Jesus.

But through the words of Peter and John, he's back.

And once again drawing huge crowds.

Once again influencing deep responses from those crowds.

And look at verse 12.

I don't think it's possible to get more bold than what Peter's just going to say.

There's salvation in no one else.

For there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

And in that sentence, Peter exposes the useless traditions of the Jewish religious leaders and Judaism.

He exposes their blindness.

He exposes their false teaching.

He exposes their sin and their wickedness.

Which interestingly connects back to chapter 3, verse 26.

Because the whole point, Peter had been saying to the crowd, the whole point of God sending Jesus was to deliver his people from wickedness.

And here we see, rather than being delivered from wickedness, we see these guys pursuing wickedness.

They taught, these Jewish religious leaders taught, that heaven was secured by performing religious duties.

Going to the temple, saying your prayer.

Giving alms to the poor on your way to pray.

Peter says, salvation or acceptance with God is only found through faith in Jesus and is actually undeserved.

Chug and cheese.

They believed they were actually protecting God's name and God's character by killing Jesus.

Peter says, verse 11,

Uh-uh.

You guys need to understand that what you did with Jesus was essentially a rejection of not only God's plan of salvation,

but a rejection of God himself.

That's not really looking for common ground here, is it?

They taught that God kept heaven for good religious Jews.

Which meant that people like that profoundly handicapped man would never have gotten into heaven.

But there he is before them.

With Peter saying that this newly healed cripple was proof that heaven was for sinners.

That heaven was precisely for people who were under the curse of God.

Heaven was for sinners who turned to Jesus alone for their salvation like this man had just done the day before.

Friends, I suspect, as we read into the story here,

these guys, this Sanhedrin, this Supreme Jewish Council, this Supreme Court,

a term we might recognize,

were utterly frustrated and seething with anger.

And so,

they're caught.

They can't silence Peter.

They can't deny the reality of this guy standing before them healed and praising God

and looking to Jesus as a source of his healing.

They're surprised, utterly surprised by Peter's confident defense.

Their options are severely limited.

And so, what do they do?

They revert to type.

And they physically threaten violence on Peter and John before releasing them.

In their frustration,

they're saying that something needs to be done here.

But they recognize they couldn't simply kill Peter and John

because, if nothing else,

a fear of the crowd.

The crowd had seen what happened.

They couldn't deny it.

And the crowd as a whole were just praising God,

not quite understanding exactly what happened and how it happened,

but they could see the evidence of it.

So,

in a sort of lame

conclusion to this big drama,

they call Peter and John in again and threaten them.

Say,

look,

we're going to release you,

but we're warning you,

do not speak of Jesus again

or there'll be trouble.

And once again,

Peter looks them in the eye and says,

well,

you'll need to do what you do,

but I can tell you now,

I cannot but speak about Jesus.

Now,

that wouldn't have

sort of

helped the

speaker of the Sanhedrin

to sort of settle down inside,

would it?

Peter's defying them.

Not only defying them,

but defying them

knowing full well

what it's going to mean

physically.

It was a big call.

Friends,

let's just prop there for a minute

and just

step back

and get a bird's eye

in the story.

Now,

it's an absolutely

amazing

and

unexpected

response

to what was

an incredible miracle.

Less than 24 hours earlier

and everybody could see

the evidence of it.

Unexpected

and sad response

because these guys

seem to be

totally

lacking

any joy

at seeing

this man

suffering

relieved.

Their only

concern

appears to be

to stop

any mention

of Jesus.

and they've

taken the decision

once again

that if violence

is their only

option,

then violence

is a good

option.

And Peter and John

would have left

that,

been released

knowing that

full well.

So,

bring it up

into our day.

the cost

of refusing

to be

intimidated

and silenced,

I would suggest

he continues

unchanged

in our own

day.

How sad

is it then

that we are

so quickly

prepared

to pay

the cost

of not

speaking

about Jesus?

Now,

my friends

call me

Eeyore,

so I put

that really

negatively

there,

didn't I?

Because I

want to

emphasize

that the

point is

that a

quiet life

can be

purchased,

it may be

purchased.

The world

out there

makes it

clear to us

you can

purchase a

quiet life,

you can

exist well

among us.

But the

cost of that

quiet life

being quiet

about Jesus.

Being silent

about Jesus

before our

families,

and gosh,

we know

how easy

that is.

It's horrible

to be closed

out of family

discussions.

Christians.

It's horrible

to see the

family cluster

over here

and leave

one stuck

out like a

sore thumb

who happens

to be the

Christian.

It hurts.

It's difficult.

It makes

family gatherings

just awfully

tense.

but the

contract's

on the

table.

You can

be back

in the

family

if you

shut up

about that

Jesus of

yours.

Same

applies for

workmates

in the

workplace,

friends and

neighbors.

We've got a

neighbor across

the road who

hasn't spoken

to us in

20 years

except to

swear at us.

Keeps

telling all the

other neighbors

he's really

friendly with

how we've

devalued the

neighborhood.

We've

devalued the

price of

houses.

We've

devalued

everything.

Why?

I've asked

him.

He's never

been able to

tell me.

He just

yells at

me.

I suspect

it's because

I'm a

Christian.

We're a

Christian.

And it

hurts.

It hurts

when you see

the neighbors

round about

chatting away

and

that's

not

extended to

us.

Likewise,

my friends,

a quiet

form of

Christian

life can

be purchased

through a

modified gospel.

That's a real

pressure as

well.

So if we

have a form

of gospel

that sort of

plays down

unique and

life-changing

confrontation with

Jesus, if

we decide to

be flexible,

if we

decide we'll

just fit with

where people

are at,

and everybody

has a view

of God they

would like to

sort of

operate with

and hold

on to,

and a view

of what it

means to do

life well,

well, if we

can just

accommodate

that, then

we will have

a quiet

life.

People around

us will

think we're

nice.

But friends,

surely the

cost of no

opposition is

the cost of

betraying the

gospel.

Surely that

cost would be

far greater

than the

cost of

speaking about

Jesus.

This might

sound a bit

brash, but

in my mind

this week as

I was preparing,

I just thought,

well, it comes

down to a very

simple equation.

who would I

be prepared

to take a

beating for?

I don't

like pain,

not at all,

but that's the

equation,

potentially.

Anyway, let's

move on.

So a big,

a strong gospel

will most

likely bring

strong opposition,

and a big

gospel with

strong opposition

needs a big

response.

continue the

story, verse

24.

Once released,

Peter and

John waste

no time

getting back

to the

other

believers

to bring

some

potentially

disconcerting

news of

the new

normal for

them as

Christians,

a new

normal which

is starting

to look

dark with

violent

opposition.

situation.

Now, if

Peter and

John come

into the

room that

we were in

here today,

and they

said,

well, look,

okay, here,

this is what's

going to go

down in the

next few

days and

weeks.

Be prepared,

everybody.

These guys are

threatening serious

violence.

How would we

respond to

Peter and

John?

Well, I

think we

might be

tempted to

say, Peter

and John,

just come in

here, sit

down there,

pick your

head down

and be

quiet.

Don't stir

the possum

anymore.

Perhaps we

need to get

our best PR

people on the

job, and

let's try and

rebuild this

relationship with

the Jewish

political and

religious

authorities.

Let's get

them to see

that we're

not all

hotheads,

that we're

not going to

make life

miserable for

them.

Now, that's

not what

happens.

We're told

very simply,

the believers

just go to

prayer.

They go to

prayer.

Big

opposition,

big response.

Verse 25

and 26,

big response,

let's pray

to our

big God.

sovereign

Lord.

Do you

hear it?

Sovereign

Lord.

How comforting

is that to

say when

you're under

the shadow

or the

umbrella of

a potential

beating,

potential

powerful guys

who seem

to be out

of control.

Sovereign

Lord who

made the

heaven and

the earth

and the

sea and

everything in

them.

God is

in the

world.

That's a

powerful God.

That's a God

who's in

charge of

every single

moment and

part of his

universe.

God is.

And so

the big

response is

that they

remind

themselves

of just

how big

God is.

They remind

themselves

that what

they're part

of here

is God's

salvation

history,

God's

salvation

pathway.

It was

God's

cause

that they

were witnesses

to.

it was

the died

for people

of the

unstoppable

Jesus who

were being

opposed and

threatened.

The ones

that the

Lord has

said all

eternity

was shaped

to save

and having

been saved

would never

be lost,

not one

of them.

They

remind

themselves

that God

was not

threatened by

the wicked

threats of

evil people.

He

quoted from

Psalm 2

there.

And that

God would

deal with

opposition to

his cause

and his

people as

he has

always done.

What has

God done,

Psalm 2?

Well,

God sits

enthroned in

heaven and

he just has

a bit of a

cackle.

Is that the

best you got?

Even more

than that,

Peter's

confident that

as with the

death of

Christ,

the wickedness

of these

people will

actually just

become part

of God's

overarching

plan.

And so

rather than

stop or

derail God's

plan,

we'll actually

serve to

fulfill God's

plan.

Now that's

sovereignty,

isn't it?

That our

worst intentions

is simply

just picked

up by the

Lord and

used for

good.

And they

reminded

themselves,

verse 27 and

28,

that that's

exactly what

happened with

Jesus.

So,

friends,

do you see

the point

of their

prayer?

They're

reminding

themselves

that

opposition,

whatever

shape or

form or

severity it

took,

opposition

did not

mean the

unstoppable

Jesus

suddenly was

stopped.

But

opposition

does not

mean the

unstoppable

Jesus is

somehow or

other

unexpectedly

defeated in

his task of

gathering his

died for

people.

In fact,

they're reminding

themselves that

opposition has

always been the

trademark

response of

rebels,

especially to

God's servant,

Sam 2.

what else

might we have

expected is

really what

they're saying

as they pray.

And so

filling their

hearts and

minds with

that truth

squeezes out

any developing

panic and

enables them to

continue to have

a quiet trust

and confidence

in God's

care of

them.

And even

more than

that, as

we'll see in

just a

second, it

actually gives

them boldness

as they face a

potentially awful

future.

And so

verse 29, 31,

they actually

ask that.

They ask God

for boldness to

keep on keeping

on being

witnesses, to

keep on keeping

on speaking the

gospel of

Jesus.

and now

Lord,

this is the

bit when we

go to our

prayers and

we say,

Lord, this is

what we need,

this is what we

want.

This is the

supermarket aisle

of the prayer

list.

And now

Lord,

remember the

context?

And now

Lord,

look upon

their threats

and grant

to your

servants to

continue to

speak your

word with all

boldness.

What a

prayer.

They pray

to be

faithful

witnesses.

As God

wants them

to be,

and clearly

as they

want to

be.

And most

amazingly,

they pray

this,

knowing

the

likelihood

that this

prayer

would bring

them more

opposition

and very

likely

physical

harm.

And that's

exactly what

we'll see

as the

story unfolds

next week.

What a

prayer.

Pray it

in the

context and

under the

lordship of

the unstoppable

Jesus.

In the

power of

the secret

weapon of

witnesses,

the

Holy Spirit.

And not

only that,

they keep

on praying,

and they

pray for

the unstoppable

Jesus to

continue

demonstrating his

power among

unbelievers.

So they're

praying for

that,

that they

might be

faithful

witnesses,

while you

stretch out

your hand

to heal

and signs

and wonders

are performed

through the

name of

your holy

servant

Jesus.

Do you get

what they're

praying there?

the very

thing,

the healing

of this

profoundly

disabled man

and other

miraculous things,

the coming of

the spirit

and other

things,

the very

thing that

stirred up

these Jewish

religious

authorities to

see the

hand of

Jesus,

the fingerprint

of Jesus

back among

them when

they thought

they were

rid of him,

they're

praying for

more of

that.

Why?

Because that's

the thing

that's swept

to this

point in

time with

the interpretation

of the

focus on to

Jesus,

that's the

thing that's

swept more

than 5,000

people into

a fresh start

with Jesus.

And they

want that.

And they're

willing to

pay the

price for

that.

And they're

willing to

they know

full well the

consequences of

their prayer,

suffering and

pain for them

personally,

but forgiveness

and a fresh

start in a new

relationship with

God for

countless

thousands of

needy people.

Again,

as they saw

it,

a fresh start

for countless

more thousands

of people.

is well worth

the cost

they might

have to

pay.

My parents,

I got one

brother who's

not a believer,

and I could

never understand

why my parents

said,

until I became

a parent myself,

I could never

understand why

my mom and

dad said it was

so hard to

pray for my

brother.

and the

prayer had to

go along

these lines.

He was

married,

a lovely,

still is

married,

lovely wife,

three beautiful

girls,

very successful

businessmen.

Mom and dad

had to work out

if they were

prepared to

pray the

prayer that

said,

Lord,

do whatever

you need to

do in this

man's life

to get his

attention and

bring him to

repentance.

I'm a dad

of four kids,

twelve grandkids.

I'm finding the

same difficulty

praying the

same prayer.

What will it

mean?

What will it

mean for me

if the Lord

uses me as

the model of

sweeping my

children into

the kingdom,

and I believe

most of them

already are in

the kingdom,

thankfully?

what might

that mean to

see them

mature and

grow in

Christ?

Am I

prepared to

be the

model,

the model

of handling

illness,

or rejection,

or whatever

that model

might be?

Big prayers,

big responses

to the

gospel.

So my

friends,

hopefully that

personal thing

didn't clatter

what I've been

saying this

morning,

but question

now to you,

do you expect

and accept

opposition

and persecution

and real

loss when you

speak the

gospel of

Jesus?

To family,

friends,

workmates,

neighbours,

whoever?

Or do you

simply conclude

that opposition

really shows

that the

so-called

unstoppable

Jesus is

actually really

quite easily

stopped in

real life?

How sad

is it when

the first

response of

Christians to

opposition is

to lose

confidence in

the message of

salvation in

Jesus?

Jesus?

We need to,

we forget

rather,

we forget

that so

often people

don't oppose

God's pathway

to salvation

in Jesus

because it's

stupid or

there's a

lack of

evidence for

it.

They oppose

it because

they don't

want to go

to Jesus.

They don't

want to give

up their

autonomy.

they don't

want to

admit they're

not good

people.

They don't

want to

admit that

of themselves

they can't

earn heaven

and acceptance

before God

and they'll

stick at it

in their

defiance.

And so my

friends,

we need to

remember that

often times

opposition is

evidence that

the gospel is

getting under

the skin of

people.

Or perhaps

you're already

defeated when

you speak the

gospel of

Jesus to

your friends

and family

because your

horizon is

dominated by

the power of

those who are

opposing you.

Social media,

absolutely cruel.

People just

lash out and

tear you to

shreds if you

dare to say

anything against

the sort of

normal accepted

culture.

But if we

focus on that

horizon then we

will be

defeated.

But there's a

horizon behind

that horizon

which is the

sovereign Lord.

And yes,

the sovereign

Lord will use

social media.

This is a

really hard one

for me but

even the Lord

will use social

media for

good.

And probably

he's the only

one who can

use it for

good but I

won't start my

normal rant

about social

media.

Or perhaps

you're just

immobilized by

fear.

Fear of

verbal attack.

You just

find that you

can't cope with

the notion of

being dismissed

as a hate

speaker or a

lunatic.

Fear of

physical and

emotional loss.

Loss of

friendships.

Loss of

other relationships.

Loss of

career promotion.

Sometimes we

think that when

we become a

Christian that

that means our

career will be

onwards upwards.

Oftentimes it's

the opposite.

Oftentimes we

lose out on

promotion.

because we're

Christians.

And so on and

so forth.

Loss of a

hassle-free

life.

Loss of

ease and

comfort.

Fear will

immobilize us.

We need a

big prayer.

We need lots

of confidence

in God's

Holy Spirit

and confidence

in the

unstoppable

Jesus.

So the

question comes

down to this

and I'm

finishing on

this.

I'm sorry

I've gone

over time

this morning

but the

question is

this.

How much

has prayer

been part

of your

planning

to speak

the gospel

in the

past weeks

and months?

There's two

assumptions in

there.

One that you

have been

speaking the

gospel where

you've had

opportunity to

you've been

doing so in

the context

of prayer.

prayer.

Are you

daily spreading

out your

helplessness

before the

Lord in

prayer?

Looking to

his power

to effect

change in

those to

whom you're

speaking?

Is it

something that

you say is

important and

uniting for us

as a church

family?

We want to

impact our

community with

the gospel of

Jesus.

We want to

see people

saved.

But are

we praying?

One for

confidence to

speak and

two that the

Lord might

sovereignly

change stubborn

hard-hearted

lives,

rebellious

lives,

angry lives.

If not,

if we're not

praying then

most likely

we will be

carrying the

burden of

success as

witnesses

on our

own shoulders.

And my

friend, I

tell you, I've

learned, I've

learned really

painfully over

the years,

that's a

burden you

can't bear.

And let me

also say I've

learned it's a

burden you

don't need to

bear.

So let's

pray.

Lord, too

often prayer is

our last

resort.

Lord, may

our

Lord, may

our

Lord, may

our

Lord, may

our

horizon be

filled with

you and

your

sovereignty

and the

unstoppable

Jesus and

the power

of your

spirit to

change people

from the

inside out.

And help us

then, Lord,

just to be

happy to do

the part that

you've asked

us to do,

and that is

simply to speak

the message

of Jesus.

Help us to

hear this this

morning, Lord,

and change our

hearts, warmer

hearts.

In Jesus' name I

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.