Called to be Bold Witnesses to Christ

I trust you were listening to that reading read by Izzy,

the appointed lesson for this morning.

But in order to fully understand what is taking place,

we need to go back to chapter 3.

Now, excuse the teaching, but this is important.

We read there in Acts 3 of the story of the healing of the crippled man,

this man who had never been able to walk,

who sat and begged at the gate of the temple,

of the gate called Beautiful.

And he was there as Peter and John were approaching

in order to go to prayer, the house of prayer,

the time of prayer, 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

He thought he looks like some rich pickings,

and so he asked them for money.

And then we get those famous words uttered by Peter,

silver and gold I haven't got any,

but what I have got I will give to you.

In the name of Christ, stand up and walk.

He'd been a cripple for 40 years.

But Peter wasn't content with just saying it.

He put out his hand,

gripped the right hand of this man,

and hauled him to his feet.

In the name of Christ, walk.

You can read the full story, if you want,

in Acts 3, verses 1 to 10.

Acts 3:1–10

This is your after-lunch reading.

It was this event,

it was this event,

and Peter's subsequent speaking to the people,

which came to the ears of the high priest.

And that meant trouble.

Because the high priest

and the other members of the Sanhedrin

were concerned.

I think that word is an understatement.

They were not just concerned,

they were blinking angry.

They were concerned, very concerned.

According to one commentator,

the Sadducees were the principal instigators

of the persecution of the early Christian church.

They were the ruling class of wealthy aristocrats,

and they were not to be fooled with.

Theologically,

they believed that the Messianic era

began in the Maccabean period,

so they were not looking for a Messiah,

which excluded Jesus, of course.

They also denied the doctrine of the resurrection,

which the Apostle proclaimed in Jesus Christ.

Thus they saw the Apostles as agitators,

heretics,

disturbers of the peace,

and enemies of the truth.

In their eyes,

they were troublemakers.

So they were greatly disturbed.

Well, if you were in their shoes,

you would be, wouldn't you?

All that you stood for

was being contradicted by these men.

For this was unauthorized preaching

by unprofessional preachers.

That was the gist of the matter.

So here we have the priests,

the captain of the temple guard,

and the Sadducees,

coming to confront Peter and John.

And because it was late in the day,

Peter and John were arrested,

no charges laid,

thrown into prison for the night.

But Luke assures us

that the opposition of men

did not hinder the word of God.

The Sadducees could arrest the Apostles,

but they could not arrest the Gospel.

On the contrary,

we are told that over 5,000 men believed

and decided to follow Christ.

And that was the upshot

of the things that the Sanhedrin

had to deal with.

The following day,

Peter and John were brought from prison

to appear before the Sanhedrin.

Do you know what the Sanhedrin was?

We'll just pause for a minute

and put yourselves

in Peter and John's shoes.

The Sanhedrin

is the highest court

in the Jewish system.

It was made up

of 71 members

and it was presided over

by the high priest.

So it was an almighty,

august body.

The highest court

in the land.

And they were the people

that administered justice.

As they sat

in their customary

semicircle,

Peter and John

were brought before them.

What was going through

Peter and John's minds

as they stood

before that

body of people?

I can imagine

that they were casting

their minds back

because Jesus stood

before the Sanhedrin

and he was condemned

and they were

dead.

What was the

man's mind?

Was history

about to repeat itself?

Were they to suffer

the same fate?

Were they to be handed

over to the Romans

and be crucified?

Surely

such questions

must have entered

their minds.

In this situation

one would have

expected the apostles

to be awed,

overstruck,

dumbstruck even,

cowed by the sheer

grandeur

and enormity

of the situation.

Struggling to find

the right words

to respond to questions

but not so.

Not so.

The court begins

with a straight question.

By what power

or what name

did you do this?

And they were

referring of course

to the healing

of the crippled man

in the previous chapter.

Peter's response

is breathtaking

in its audacity.

He addresses

the Sanhedrin

as though he were

preaching to a crowd

of people.

He gave

scant regard

to how important

they were.

The fact that the

high priest was there

he didn't give a jot.

Rulers and elders

of the people

she said.

If we are being

called to account

for an act of kindness

shown to a cripple

and are asked

how he was healed

then know this.

Know this

that you

and all the people

of Israel

that it is by the name

of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth

whom you crucified.

crucified.

I'll bet that

brought them back

on their heels.

Whom you crucified

but whom God

raised from the dead

that this man

stands before you

healed.

So where did Peter

get his courage from?

This

boldness

this

utter

boldness

to actually

attack

the Sanhedrin

with his words.

And the answer

is to be found

in the early words

of

that lesson

read by Izzy.

Peter

filled with the

Holy Spirit

said to them

rulers and elders

of Israel

filled

with the power

of the Holy Spirit.

and it is the

living power

of that same

Spirit

which gives

to Peter

the strength

and authority

to speak

as he does.

Note this

that he takes

no credit

to himself.

He doesn't say

anything about himself.

It is by the

power of Jesus

that this crippled

man has been

healed.

He

Jesus

is the stone

you builders

rejected

which has become

the capstone

salvation

is found

in no one

else

for there is

no other name

given under heaven

by which

we must

be saved.

This was

boldness

in extreme

measure

to accuse

the Sanhedrin

to literally

blame them

for the death

of Jesus

in my humble

view

was a very

risky

undertaking

yet it

worked.

It worked.

The members

of the Sanhedrin

if you'll

excuse the

terminology

they were

gobsmacked.

They didn't

know how

to respond.

They were

completely

taken off

guard

and so much

so that they

had Peter and

John removed

so that they

could discuss

among themselves

what course of

action they

should take.

In the event

they decided

that there was

little or

nothing they

could do.

so they

called Peter

and John

back in

gave them

a dressing

down

and told

them to

go on

their way

not to

speak in

the name

of Jesus

and after

further threats

they let

them go

for they

could not

decide

how to

punish them.

What has

all this

got to do

with our

thinking this

morning

about being

called to

be bold

witnesses

to Christ?

I don't

think we're

being called

to replicate

what Peter

did

although some

of us

may be

I don't

know.

I want to

suggest first

of all

that being

bold for

Christ has

nothing to

do with

preaching.

Now

Clive may

disagree with

me there

but let me

explain a

little bit

further.

It has

nothing to

do with

preaching.

It is

however

much to

do with

our lifestyle

and the

way we

behave.

People take

much more

notice of

how we

live than

what we

say.

Some wise

person said

years ago

preach the

gospel and

if necessary

use words.

I remember

when I was

in Sunday

school it's

amazing how

these things

come back

to you more

years ago than

I care to

remember but

I learned

this ditty.

we are

writing a

gospel a

chapter each

day by

the things

that we

do not

the words

that we

say.

In other

words people

are looking

at how

we live

the things

we do

not what

we say.

But this

does not

mean that we

have to be

silent about

our faith.

On the

contrary it

means that

what we

say has

to be

backed up

by what

we do.

The

important thing

to remember

is that Peter

was able to

do what he

did not in

his own

strength but

in the

power of

the Holy

Spirit.

And for

us that

same power

is freely

available.

All we

have to do

is to invite

the Holy

Spirit to

take charge

and then

whoopee off

we go.

So what

are the

challenges for

us this

morning?

How can

we become

bold witnesses

to Christ?

What can

we do that

will show

our willingness

to be

spirit-filled

and do

those things

that will

bring honour

to our

Lord?

Let me

tell you a

story.

It's

perfectly

true but

this is

boldness in

action.

A little

while ago

I attended

a meeting

at Westbury

on Trim

organised

by LPMA,

that's the

Local Preachers

Mutual Aid

Association,

that's a

mouthful,

and one

of the

guest speakers

was the

Reverend

Dr John

Newton

and he

was speaking

on the

subject of

social justice

and he

recalled an

incident

from his

youth

which had

influenced

him deeply.

He told

the story

of a

shopkeeper

in the

town where

he lived

who leased

his premises

from the

local council.

This

shopkeeper

was under

pressure

to surrender

the lease

so that

the man

who owned

the shop

next door

could buy

it from

the council

and extend

his premises.

Whether

there was

any underhand

dealing or

not,

John Newton

never said

but the

whole thing

was turning

a bit nasty

with pressure

being brought

to bear

on this

shopkeeper

to surrender

his lease.

So,

in order

to diffuse

the situation

the council

called a

public meeting

so that

the whole

affair

could be

explained

and discussed.

That was

their mistake.

And it

was to

this public

meeting

that the

young

John Newton

went with

his parents.

The whole

affair was

duly discussed

with the

pros and

cons put

forward by

the parties

involved.

Members of

the council

were there

in force

because they

wanted to

support the

motion that

this man

should be

ousted out

and the

property sold

to the

chap next door.

They were

all in

favour of

selling the

lease to

this chap.

until that

is an

elderly local

preacher who

had been

an elderly

member of

the council

who had

been silent

until then

got to

his feet

and he

berated

the members

of the

council.

He gave

them a

tongue

lashing

and he

could not

understand

what they

were thinking

about doing

this underhand

deal.

And before

he sat

down he

said this

is parting

shot.

This whole

affair

stinks.

It has

about it

the mark

of Naboth's

vineyard.

Methodist

local preacher

bringing

scripture

into the

equation

to boost

what he

was saying.

Here was

a man of

principle

prepared to

stand up

and be

bold

and counted

when it

was necessary.

And for

those who

are not

familiar with

the story

of Naboth

it can

be found

in 1

Kings 21

and tells

of the

underhand

dealings

of Jezebel.

Oh,

there we

go.

The

underhand

dealings

of Jezebel

who had

Naboth

murdered

in order

that her

husband

King Ahab

could take

over the

ownership

of the

vineyard.

This

thing

stinks.

It has

about it

the

odour

of

Naboth's

vineyard.

Needless

to say

the

council

lost.

They

did not

win.

Principle

in today's

life has

now been

overshadowed

by political

correctness.

And we

fear to

challenge

wrong in

case we

are accused

of meddling,

meddling in

matters which

should not

concern us.

And it

is this

fear,

this fear

of being

bold,

or attempting

to be bold,

that allowed

Jimmy Saville,

Rolf Harrison,

Stuart Hall,

to get away

with years

of child

abuse.

Because those

people in

the know

were frightened

to speak

out.

We dare

not speak

of the

wrongs being

perpetrated

in the

name of

faith in

case we

are accused

of racism.

I dare

to suggest

that there

is a need

for Christian

folk to

stand up

and be

counted,

to be

bold for

the Lord's

sake,

to go

into those

situations

and to

be and

to do

what Christ

is asking.

And in a

sense,

it is all

wrapped up

in one

sentence.

We are

called to

live

holy

lives.

This thing

which John

Wesley was so

keen on,

scriptural

holiness,

holiness,

that holiness

should invade

every part

of our

being.

It means

that we

are Christians

seven days

a week,

not just

on Sunday

mornings.

Our faith

should influence

everything we

do,

everything we

say,

every action.

And then

perhaps when

we have

achieved that

holiness,

we can be

bold for

Christ's

sake.

and the

Holy Spirit,

the giver

of that

strength,

he will

be there

to lead

us and

guide us

and help

us and

enable us

to be bold

witnesses for

Christ.

In his

name,

amen.