Sermon

Acts 4:1-31

November 10, 2024 IPC Ealing Sermon Podcast

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗

And if you've got a Bible, please turn to Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 chapter mention
If you'd like a Bible, they're just at the doors.
You come in, it'll really help you if you've got one in front of you.
We're going to take a little break from Acts.
I'm preaching away in some different IPC churches over the next few weeks.
And it's not long until Advent.
And we should give a very warm welcome to those who are in the old chapel.
And so, are you all right? Thumbs up.
I wrote to the church this week saying that we were so full
that we were going to free up lots of room in here
by moving two of the house groups each week into the old chapel.
So we're very grateful that you've taken that sacrifice to be the first.
And there's not massive amounts of room are there today.
So that's really encouraging.
It's encouraging because the church is growing.
And that is the message of the book of Acts.
That the church of Jesus Christ is growing.
And the word of God is unstoppable.
In fact, the big issue in the book of Acts is the progress of the word of God.
The risen Lord Jesus Christ commissions his apostles to be witnesses
that will go out to the ends of the earth.
The Holy Spirit is poured out from heaven.
The church grows.
And Jesus continues to work from heaven.
And the way that the book of Acts speaks about it is quite interesting.
It talks about that the word of God grows.
It's a strange phrase, isn't it?
The word of God grows.
The word of God multiplies.
The word of God increases.
Let me just show you this.
And so, keep a finger in chapter 4.
Turn over to chapter 6, verse 7.
Just a couple of pages.
Chapter 6, verse 7.
And they make decisions there for the good of the church and for the growth of the church.
And then it says this.
Chapter 6, verse 7.
The word of God increased.
What does that mean?
It means that the number of disciples multiplied greatly.
And miracles of miracles.
And number of the priests, the religious elite, they were obedient to the faith.
That is a miracle.
Turn over to chapter 12.
Just a few pages on.
In verse 24, there's this wonderful passage.
Before this King Herod comes to a very sticky end.
And then in chapter 12, verse 24, we read that the word of God grew and multiplied.
Same thing.
Just go one passage on.
Chapter 13, verse 48.
And it says,
When the Gentiles, the non-Jews, heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.
And as many were appointed to eternal life believed.
And chapter 13, verse 49.
The word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
Just one more.
Chapter 19.
The next chapter.
And verse 20.
Many people are soundly brought to Christ.
And chapter 19, verse 20.
The word of God grew and prevailed mightily.
Let's go back to chapter 4.
The big issue is the spread of the word of God.
No sooner does the word of God appear.
No sooner is the good news of the Lord Jesus preached.
No sooner do men and women and boys and girls are saved through repentance and faith.
No sooner does that happen than there is vicious and consistent hostility and persecution.
It breaks out.
We're going to see the three ways to destroy the church in these chapters.
But starting right here in Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 chapter mention
Right up to this very day.
The devil's most obvious and brutal strategy is.
The use of violence and intimidation.
Coercion and pressure.
Against Christians.
And the devil's mission remains the same.
It hasn't changed.
He will do whatever he can to silence the ministry of the word of God.
He wants to stop the spread of the word.
He wants to stop the spread of salvation.
And so he continues to work ceaselessly to stop the spread of the word of God.
Everything up to this point in Acts has been just lovely.
Jesus has gone to heaven hasn't he?
He's given his disciples this brilliant purpose of bringing, of being a blessing to the ends of the earth.
And they're to take his name to the ends of the earth.
And he's poured out his Holy Spirit upon them so that they would do it.
And he's created a community that's marked by radical generosity and love and generous hospitality.
And true community.
And the apostles go out and they speak about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And people believe it's the most brilliant thing that's ever happened.
People start coming to faith in him.
In chapter 3 there's a lame man who's been lame from birth for 40 years.
And with the authority of Jesus Christ he is healed.
And you come to the end of chapter 3 and this guy who was lame for 40 years is standing there.
And Peter and John are preaching about the Lord Jesus and all the blessings of God.
And then it's interrupted by chapter 4 verse 1 to 4.
Look what it says.
As they were speaking to the people, the priest, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them.
Greatly, greatly overjoyed at what was happening.
Greatly thrilled that this man had been kind of restored to life.
No, greatly annoyed.
Greatly annoyed.
Because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
And they arrested them.
Put them in custody till the next day.
For it was already evening.
But, and it's a very big but isn't it?
But many of those who heard the word believed.
And the number of men came to about 5,000.
And if you look at verse 12.
It says there, doesn't it?
And that salvation is found in no other name given among men.
And the word in verse 12 is for men and women there.
But the word in verse 4 is actually just the word for men.
So let's say they had 2.5 children.
A husband and a wife, 2.5 kids.
You can multiply it, isn't it?
Look at verse 4.
There's about 20, 20, 22 and a half thousand people.
And the fact that we're told that it was the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees that have got an issue tells us that this is a problem of power and authority.
And so it's no accident that they came upon the apostles.
It's not as if they were wandering around and suddenly they found these people preaching.
No, this is carefully devised.
They've met their legal team.
They're going to use as much legal force as they can do to get away with it.
They hide their use of the law.
But really what they want to do is silence people.
They want to stop the spread of the name of Jesus.
They want to extinguish the fire of the Spirit before this movement of the Spirit gets out of hand.
And of course it's an abuse of the office of priest, isn't it?
It infuriated these religious people that Peter and John, untrained people, were preaching the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
And the thing about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, that Jesus has risen from the dead, is this.
It's that you can't control it.
I don't know if you've noticed about Christianity, but when you talk about and believe in the resurrection,
it automatically puts you into a power struggle.
Either Jesus really is Lord, or you're going to deny that and hold on to the fact that you are Lord.
The resurrection is all about power and control.
Power and control in my life, and power and control in religious institutions, like you see here.
And it was even worse for this group of people called the Sadducees,
because the Sadducees did not believe in any kind of resurrection.
So the preaching of Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, and he reigns, and he is Lord,
and he's calling people from all over the world to him.
It infuriated these religious people.
It enraged them.
If you were going to try and market the gospel to the Sadducees in Jerusalem,
it is a very stupid thing to talk about the resurrection.
Surely, Peter and John, with these religious people, you'd want to play down that element, wouldn't you?
Peter and John, they need, don't they, some media training, savvy media training.
They don't get it.
So they preach this message that Jesus is Lord, they're thrown into prison.
This is less than two months since this same group of authorities have managed to have Jesus executed.
And I guess they think to themselves that crushing this movement won't take much trouble.
They put these two guys in prison overnight.
And I tell you this, this is written for our encouragement.
If you are going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you're going to walk in step with his Holy Spirit,
and you're going to seek to spread the word, you will have a negative reaction.
It doesn't matter how gracious you will be, how sensitive to your audience, how intelligent, how loving you are,
you will have a negative reaction.
The lovely thing in this passage is that this tactic that Satan uses of persecution and coercion and intimidation
and pressure backfires, doesn't it?
And so there are the apostles stewing away in prison.
And lo and behold, they become bold.
The very people that this is supposed to intimidate, it makes them bolder.
And the word spreads and the word grows.
You find this throughout the Bible.
The authorities, both religious and secular, lock up Christians, and the Christians keep talking about the gospel.
And the word spreads.
So here in chapter 4 of Acts, you've got conflict.
And the conflict is basically between human authority and the authority of God.
I've divided the chapter into two.
You've got the long court scene from verses 5 to 12.
And I've called that the failure of human power.
And so what you have here is the priests and the Sadducees and the Sanhedrin council.
Motivated by their own power and by their own position.
And then you have Peter and John motivated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And as I said to you earlier, these two things will always come into conflict.
As we go through this, it is good to examine ourselves.
What are we motivated?
Am I motivated by power or position or public opinion?
Because if I'm motivated by those things, it will always put me into conflict with the risen Jesus.
And as it begins in verses 5, 6, and 7, it sends a shiver down our spine.
Peter and John are brought up, aren't they, by the very men who executed Jesus.
The temple is controlled by one family.
The temple mafia.
It was headed up by the godfather who is Annas, the high priest.
He's the high priest between 6 and 50 AD.
Five of his sons become high priests.
One son-in-law and one grandson.
Every high priest until the fall of Jerusalem in AD 66 was part of this family.
They're the mob.
And they draw Peter and John out before them.
And in verse 7, they say, here's the key.
Can you see it?
Verse 7.
By what power?
By what name did you do this?
The issue, do you remember, is power and authority.
They see this, don't they, as a matter of jurisdiction.
What the apostles are doing and what they're preaching, it threatens their structures.
And their concern is not whether the miracle actually happened.
They don't deny that.
Their concern is not whether the resurrection of the Lord Jesus actually took place.
Their concern is not with the truth at all.
Their concern is, have you got your coaching badges?
By what authority do you do this?
On what authority, by what power do you act and speak?
Who gave you the right to speak like you do?
How dare you go outside of our jurisdiction?
Here is Peter, who two months before, in the very same place, denied Jesus Christ.
Do you remember?
He was afraid of being exposed by a teenage girl.
Do you remember?
And he denies the Lord Jesus.
And now he stands in front of the most powerful assembly in all of Israel.
And what does he do?
We don't know whether his knees were knocking.
But we do know, don't we, he is respectful and he's forthright and he's truthful.
Even though he's being treated as a common criminal.
And he takes the opportunity to speak the word of God.
And I hope you notice, it only takes him one sentence to get to Jesus.
He says to them, if you're interested in how this miracle took place, the answer is Jesus.
And then when he gets to Jesus, he preaches the gospel.
Look at verse 10 with me.
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 this man, the sky is standing before you well.
This Jesus, he's a stone that was rejected by you.
The builders, which has become the cornerstone.
And there's salvation in no one else, no other name under heaven, given to man by which we must be saved.
It's a one point sermon with two applications.
Which is very helpful for us preachers.
The one point of the sermon is really the point of nearly all the sermons in Acts.
Your view of Jesus and the way that you've treated Jesus is diametrically opposed to the way that God has.
You crucified him, that's what you thought of him, but God has raised him.
And the resurrection not only shows that Jesus is alive and is able to do miracles, but the resurrection shows you that Jesus is God's anointed Messiah.
He's the king.
That's the point of the resurrection.
He is Lord.
Now again, I don't think that's a very helpful way to defend yourself against the Sanhedrin who didn't even believe in the resurrection.
Jesus is not apologizing.
Peter is not apologizing for Jesus' resurrection.
He's in trouble for preaching it, and then he preaches it again.
And the reason he does that is because even though he knows that the council hate the gospel,
they are not going to come to believe the gospel
until God opens their eyes and opens their ears to it.
And the way that God does that is through the preaching of the gospel.
That as people hear the news of this king Jesus, their eyes and ears are opened.
So he makes two applications.
The first is in verse 11.
He says, you are the builders of the religion in Israel.
But if you leave Jesus Christ out of it, everything that you are building is going to crumble.
He says to them, you might build a very fine edifice of religion with all sorts of things in it,
but unless Jesus Christ is at the center and the heart and the key,
God will not be a part of it, and you will not be transformed by it.
Without the Lord Jesus, everything you're building will crumble.
The second application is in verse 12.
There is no other name under heaven given by God through whom we must be saved.
That's remarkable, isn't it?
He's saying if you reject the risen Jesus, you reject the only salvation that God offers you.
The very name that you wish to extinguish is your only hope.
And all your ceremonies and all your prayers, apart from Jesus, are worthless.
Don't you find that helpful in our kind of pluralist post-modern culture?
That the Apostle Peter should put it this way.
That if Peter is right, if there is salvation in no other name than Jesus,
it means that at the very least, there is no salvation in Muhammad.
And there's no salvation in Buddha.
And there's no salvation in Krishna.
And there's no salvation in yourself.
Because only Jesus has come from God.
And only Jesus has died for our sins.
And only Jesus has been raised from the dead.
And only Jesus will come again in glory.
And it is only through Jesus that God offers forgiveness.
Forgiveness of our sins and the gift of his spirit.
And not just the healing of our bodies one day in glory.
But the healing of the deeper and dreadful disease that all of us suffer with.
That is our sin and our rebellion and our guilt.
It's very bold, isn't it?
And the council, when they hear that, is not a little astonished.
Verse 13.
They take note of their boldness.
Even though these men are amateurs.
They're not theologically trained.
They're laymen.
But they speak with courage.
And they keep on insisting on the resurrection.
And it provides a terrible problem for the council.
Just a little sideline here.
Nowhere in the book of Acts
Did the enemies of the gospel
Try and disprove the resurrection?
Nowhere in the early years
After Jesus was raised from the dead
Do people say, well no, no, it didn't happen.
If there possibly would have been a way
That they could have done that
Surely they would have done that, wouldn't they?
Nowhere do you see
The opponents of the gospel
Ever trying to disprove the resurrection.
In this part
They send Peter out of the room
Out of the council and talk together
And they decide this isn't the best damage
The best bet is damage control
Verse 18
They bring them back in
And they place a gagging order
On Peter and John
They say
We do not want you to mention
Jesus Christ again
When you see this phrase
The name of Jesus
It's not like a lucky charm
It's not if you say
In the name of Jesus
Something magical will happen
The name of Jesus
Is the person of Jesus
It is the specific understanding
Of who Jesus is
That he is the one who was crucified
Died
Buried
Raised in glory
Come again
And by him
God is building
By him
God alone saves
And the Sanhedrin
And the Sanhedrin
Want John
To promise
To keep silent
Because they say
We have the authority
And then we read
In verse 19
It's brilliant isn't it
Peter and John
Answered them
Well whether it's right
In the sight of God
To listen to you
Rather than to God
Well you must judge that
For we cannot
But speak
Of what we've seen
And heard
Peter and John
They're respectful
They're polite
And then they state
Flatly
We will disobey
And they have no idea
What it's going to cost
Them long term
But their obedience
To the Lord Jesus
Outweighs their obedience
To this council
Or any other factor
And so I want to
Point out to you
This morning
Really clearly
That if as Christians
We want to be
Obedient
To God
It will mean
That you must
Be disobedient
To the duly
Appointed lawful
Authorities
Of the church
And of the state
And so if the state
If the government
Call upon you
And me
To do something
That is contrary
Against
The will of God
It is your
Christian duty
To disobey
And that may prove
Isn't it
Very very costly
But be under
No doubt
That when the
Authorities
And God
Collide
For the Christian
We must say
Jesus Christ
Is Lord
That's what this
Passage is about
The conflict
Between human
Authority
And the authority
Of God
When your employer
Says you
Must do this
But it is against
The word of God
The Christian
Will say no
Jesus is Lord
The reason for that
Of course
Is this
Underneath all
Our commitments
Is the great
Commitment to
Jesus Christ
Not all of our
Commitments are
Equal
We seek to live
I hope as good
Citizens of London
And England
We enjoy
Don't we
The benefits
Of generations
That have gone
Before
It's part of
What Remembrance
Sunday is about
But the reason
That we do
That is because
Of a prior
And deeper
Commitment to
Please Jesus
Christ
That's human
Power
Let's move
Secondly and
Briefly
To the success
Of human
Weakness
Verses 23
To 31
As soon as
They're released
Peter and John
They race back
To the church
Community
The fellowship
And the first
Thing they do
Is pray
And there are
Two features
Of the prayer
That are important
For us
First of all
They find refuge
In the complete
Sovereignty
Of God
They don't go to
God and say
Lord everything
Is out of control
It's all gone wrong
They don't say
God you've let us
Down
This hasn't
Turned out
As we'd hoped
They don't go to
God and say
The good guys
Have been arrested
No they pray
Don't they
Sovereign Lord
And the first
Two thirds
Of the prayer
Are them telling
Each other
And God
Of his
Matchless control
They say
Lord you created
All things
Heaven and earth
The mountains
The stars
The sea
And you revealed
Through the mouth
Of your David
That people
Who you've created
Will rage
Against you
And against your
Son Jesus Christ
And that's
Been fulfilled
In our experience
And so it's
Really important
For you and I
Brothers and sisters
This morning
That when wicked
Things happen
The sovereignty
Of God
Hasn't been
Turned aside
The sovereignty
Of God
He doesn't
Turn his back
And allow things
To happen
While he's not
Looking
Nor is it
So much
That God's
Sovereignty
Works around
Wickedness
But what the
Apostles are
Saying here
Is really
Important
It's saying
That the
Very wickedness
Of men
And women
Promotes
And prospers
The purposes
Of God
And they
Remember
Don't they
Verse 27
And 28
The crucifixion
Of Jesus
As an act
Of desperate
Wickedness
Where the
Sinless
Son of
God
Is put
To death
By a
Plot
And they
Know that
Even through
That
God is
Working his
Salvation
So what's
The worst
Day that
This world
Has ever
Known
What's the
Worst day
That this
World has
Ever
Known
It's
The day
When Jesus
Christ
Was crucified
Isn't it
It's the
Day when
They killed
The author
Of life
When they
Put the
Son of
God
In his
Humanity
To death
It's the
Worst sin
That's ever
Been committed
But what's
The best
Day in
The history
Of the
World
What's
The best
Day in
The history
Of the
World
It is
The day
When Jesus
Christ
The Lamb
Of God
Was crucified
And that is
The shape
Of every
Event ever
Since
I don't
Know what
Your circumstances
Are this
Morning
I don't
Know what
You're
Facing
But the
Arm of
God is
Not
Shorter
Today
Than it
Was
On the
Day of
Crucifixion
And God
In his
Sovereignty
Today
Is no
Less
Than it
Was at
Peter and
John's
Trial
And he
Is working
All things
For the
Glory of
His
Son
And you
If you've
Trusted in
His
Son
Can rest
In that
And that's
Why they
Pray about
His sovereignty
And that's
Why they
Pray to
His sovereignty
And the
Second feature
Of the
Prayer is
What do
They pray
For
Verses
29 and
30
It's
Really
Interesting
Isn't
It
What do
They pray
For
They don't
Pray for
Deliverance
And they
Don't
Pray for
Protection
And they
Don't
Pray for
Safety
And they
Don't
Pray
Lord give
Us a
Quiet life
And look
After us
They
Pray for
Boldness
The
Very
Thing that
Got them
Into
Trouble in
The
First
Place
Was
Their
Boldness
It's
Wonderful
Here
They
Are
They
See
That
The
Real
Issue
Is
Not
Their
Comfort
And
Their
Long
Term
Security
And
Their
Life
Goals
The
Real
Issue
For
These
Men
Was
The
Glory
Of
Jesus
Christ
And
The
Primary
Way
That
Jesus
Is
Glorified
Is
Through
The
Spread
Of
The
Gospel
And
If
They
Hadn't
Been
Bold
They
Would
Not
Have
Been
Arrested
And
Now
They
Pray for
More
Boldness
It's
Unnatural
Don't
You
Think
They
Don't
Just
Pray
That
They
Be
Faithful
The
Aim
Of
These
Early
Christians
Was
That
They
Would
Be
Obedient
And
Jesus
Christ
Had
Called
Them
To
Be
Witnesses
They
Don't
Just
Pray
That
They
Would
Stand
Still
As
A
Church
That
They
Would
Be
Kept
They
Pray
That
They
Would
Move
Forward
With
The
Word
Of
God
And
God's
Will
For
Us
As
A
Church
Family
Is
Not
Just
That
We
Would
Be
Kept
It
Is
Not
Just
That
We
Would
Be
Faithful
It
Is
Not
Just
That
We
Would
Stand
But
We
Would
Move
Forward
With
The
Word
Of
God
God
Because
You
And
You
And
I
Are
Caught
Up
In
The
Same
Conflict
Today
And
Satan's
Desire
Is
Exactly
The
Same
Is
Silence
The
Gospel
Our
Culture
Takes
Great
Pride
In
Kind
Of
Having
Outgrown
All
Forms
Of
Religious
Intolerance
At
At
At
That's
What
It
Thinks
And
Yet
Religious
Intolerance
Shows
Itself
Doesn't
It
In
Different
Ways
The
Media
Take
Every
Opportunity
They
Can
To
Persecute
The
Message
Of
Jesus
Subtly
And
Often
In
Entertaining
ways
And
We
Might
Not
Be
Imprisoned
We're
Very
Unlikely
To
Be
Imprisoned
But
We
Do
Run
The
To
To
Silence
The
Gospel
And
So
As
I
Finish
Two
Things
Alright
I
Want to
Leave
You
With
Two
Things
Alright
First
Of
All
This
Do
Not
Fear
But
Rest
On
God's
Sovereign
Power
Do
Not
Fear
But
Rest
On
God's
Sovereign
Power
And
Grace
And
So
Maybe
Today
You
Feel
Very
Anxious
And
Tearful
Maybe
It
Feels
Like
It's
A
Little
Bit
Out
Of
Control
And
When
There's
Conflict
And
When
There's
Opposition
And
You
Don't
Know
The
Way
Ahead
It's
Natural
Isn't
It
To
Feel
Fearful
Later
On
In
This
Book
Of
Acts
The
Apostle
Paul
Says
To
Some
New
Christians
He
Says
It's
Through
Many
Trials
That
We
Must
Enter
The
Kingdom
Of
God
But
It
Is
The
Kingdom
Of
God
And
It
Is
Under
The
Rule
Of
King
Jesus
Who
Is
Risen
From
The
Dead
And
He
Is
Lord
And
He
Still
Reigns
And
He
Is
Sovereignly
Committed
To
His
Purposes
And
I
Want
To
Say
This
Morning
God
Will
Provide
And
He
Will
Care
For
Us
And
Therefore
Each
Of
Us
In
Our
Different
Circumstances
Must
Rest
On
His
Sovereign
Power
And
On
His
Sovereign
Grace
Do
Not
Fear
And
Then
Secondly
!
Do
Not
Be
Silenced
But
Pray
For
Boldness
Because
Opposition
And
Hardship
Can
Either
Make
You
More
Timid
Can't
It
Or
More
Bold
And
I
Don't
Know
What
Boldness
Looks
Like
For
You
In
Your
Circumstances
It
Will
Be
Different
For
What
It
Looks
Like
For
Me
But
Can
I
Encourage
You
In
Your
Prayers
And
In
Your
Family
And
In
Your
Circle
Of
Influence
That
You
Would
Be
Bold
Because
If
Jesus
Christ
Has
Died
And
Is
Risen
And
If
God
Is
Sovereign
We
Have
The
Freedom
To
Speak
And
To
Be
Bold
Do
Not
Fear
Be
Bold
Let
Me
Finish
With
These
Words
Of
Jesus
Blessed
Are
You
When
Men
Revile
You
And
Persecute
You
And
Out
All
Kinds
Of
Evil
Against
You
Falsely
On
My
Account
Rejoice
And
Be
Glad
For
Great
Is
Your
Reward
In
Heaven
For
So
Men
Persecuted
The
Prophets
Who
Were
Before
You
Let's
Pray