SERMON: JUST LOOK UP (Acts 6:1-8:3)

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 6:7-7:1

 

Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

 

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

 

11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

 

12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

 

15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

 

Acts 7:1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

 

            -- this morning, we are finishing up our first major section in the Book of Acts that we called, “A New Hope – the Beginning of the Church of Christ on Earth”

– we began this study looking in detail at Christ’s promise in Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” -- and the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20 – “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

            -- and over the last three weeks, we have explored how the Holy Spirit empowered the early believers and initiated the church of Christ on earth – we looked at some of the early opposition to the message of the gospel – both from those outside the church – the priests and the Sanhedrin and the leaders of the established religious community in Jerusalem – as well as from those within the church – like Ananias and Sapphira – who allowed their desires for wealth and recognition keep them from fully giving themselves to the truth of the gospel and faith in Jesus

            -- and we talked about how the Apostles and the disciples in the early church were empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach bold messages of salvation, to pray bold prayers of faith, and to have bold hearts to stand up for the truth in the face of the religious leaders’ commands to stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus

            -- now, as we are coming to the close of this section, the battlelines that we talked about last week are going to fully come into view – as those who are opposed to the truth of the gospel and the truth of Jesus Christ are going to actively begin persecuting the faithful in the church, beginning with Stephen

 

II.  Sharing the Truth (Acts 6:1-8:3)

            -- which brings up the question: what if you knew the truth about something, but when you tried to tell others about it, all they did was ignore you or argue with you about it? – what would you do?

            -- that’s the premise of the 2021 movie, “Don’t Look Up” – which is a fairly accurate satire about the culture in our social media world today – in this movie, Leonardo Dicaprio and Jennifer Lawrence star as academic astronomers who discover a new comet heading straight to earth – based on their calculations, the comet will hit in about six months, and it will be an extinction-level event, meaning that the impact of the comet will destroy all life on the planet and kill everyone on earth

            -- they take their findings to NASA and to the President in the hopes that the Government can do something to divert or destroy the comet , but they are met with apathy and indifference – the administration says that news of the comet isn’t as important as the political issues currently trending on social media – so, they’re not going to waste any time on it

            -- eventually, the two astronomers turn to social media to spread the alarm, but most of the people on social media refuse to believe the comet is real or they say the threat is overhyped – the president sees the trends on social media, so the Government starts repeating the same points as the public, saying the comet isn’t real and even if it were, it isn’t a threat

– eventually, Dicaprio’s character goes on a talk show to criticize the president for downplaying the impending apocalypse and questioning humanity's indifference.

            -- by this time, the comet has come close enough to earth to be seen with the naked eye – the two astronomers try again to rally the public to force the government to do something – they believe that when the public is convinced that the comet is real, the government will have to act – and at this point, the people can easily see the truth for themselves – all they have to do is “Look up!” and they’ll see the comet heading for them

            -- when the president sees the astronomer’s efforts on social media, she doubles-down in her refusal to believe them or act on the truth that they shared with her – in response to Dicaprio and Lawrence’s characters pleas for the people to just look up, the president starts appearing in campaign rallies throughout the country, pushing a new message -- “Don’t look up!” -- passing out hats and t-shirts with that slogan on it

– this new message from the president gains traction, and people all over the country join in, with scenes of stadiums and crowds in the street chanting, “Don’t look up!” over and over

            -- all the while, the two astronomers keep pointing to the sky and are getting frustrated – they know the truth – they’re trying to tell other people about the truth – they keep saying, “Look up – it’s right there – you can see it for yourself” -- but no one will listen to them and all they face is hostility and anger

 

            -- Stephen obviously never saw the movie, “Don’t Look Up!” but he would certainly understand the frustration that the two astronomers felt as they tried to share a truth with the world in order to save them from a potential danger that they all faced

            -- here in this passage, we see Stephen trying to do the same thing and facing the same result

 

            -- look back at Acts 6:7-10

 

Acts 6:7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

 

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

 

            -- here we see the early church mobilized through the power of the Holy Spirit to share the good news of salvation and the forgiveness of sins with the people of Jerusalem – Stephen, a man who is described here as being full of God’s grace and power – filled with the Spirit – was one of those in the church who actively shared the gospel with all those around him

            -- he had heard the truth of the gospel himself – and that truth was now in him – and he had a burden to share it with everyone else – to tell them the truth that he had found

            -- but anytime you try to share the truth with someone – especially the truth of the gospel and of Jesus Christ – you will face opposition – you will face those who refuse to believe and who will argue with you and disagree with everything you say – and that’s exactly what we see here

            -- when Stephen preached the message of Christ, he faced opposition from the members of a group of Jews who called themselves the Synagogue of the Freedman – these were probably former slaves from the Roman Empire who had been given their freedom and who had emigrated from Rome and other areas in the Roman Empire back to Israel

            -- but while they may have won freedom from captivity, they were still bound to sin and death in their hearts – for they held on to the chains of religion and tradition instead of receiving the good news of salvation that Stephen preached

            -- they argued with him – they stood against him – and when they could not refute the truth of what he was sharing, they resorted to lies and slander in order to discredit Stephen and the message he was sharing

 

            -- verse 11

 

Acts 6:11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

 

12 So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13 They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

 

15 All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

 

Acts 7:1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

 

            -- making up lies about what Stephen had said, the members of this synagogue stirred up the people and the religious leaders against Stephen – Stephen was arrested and was brought before the Sanhedrin, the ruling body for the nation of Israel

            -- Stephen stood there calmly before the group even as the synagogue members continued to share lies about what he had said – he had a peace about him – his face was like the face of an angel – because he knew the truth and he was convinced that if he just shared the truth, others would hear it and be convicted in their hearts, and come to believe it just like he had

            -- but, as we all know, that rarely works out

 

            -- there are several places in Scripture where God gives us a summary of His actions on behalf of the nation of Israel – most of these are found in the Old Testament – and we will see other instances in the Book of Acts where Peter and Paul recount a summary of what God has done through them – these are helpful to us because they give us a concise and succinct account of God’s covenants and plan of salvation

-- we see a similar passage here -- when the high priest asks Stephen in Acts 7:1, “Are these charges true?”, Stephen -- under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit -- shares the foundation of the faith of the Jewish people and builds upon it to point to the truth of Jesus as the promised Messiah

-- he begins by reminding the Sanhedrin of God’s calling of Abraham and the covenant that God established with him – that through Abraham, God would raise up a people to be His people – a people who would fill the earth and be as numerous as the stars in heaven – a people who would know the truth and share the truth with the entire world – a people through whom the promised Messiah would come

-- Stephen pointed out that God had been with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob throughout their lives – leading them and calling them to follow Him – to hear the truth, to know the truth, to believe the truth, to live in the truth

-- but jealousy and evil desires caused them to reject God’s messengers and the truth of God’s message over and over again

 

            -- look at verse 9-16

 

Acts 7:9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

 

11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.

 

            -- so, the first instance of the rejection of God and His plan for the nation of Israel occurred with the patriarchs – the twelve sons of Jacob from whom all Israel are descended

            -- Joseph was one of the twelve sons that Jacob – Israel – had – now Joseph was special, and Jacob knew it – he honored him above all the other sons and gave him the coat of many colors

-- Jacob was responding to something he saw in Joseph without even understanding it – because it soon became apparent that Joseph had been chosen by God to deliver the children of Israel from famine and plague – even while he was a young man, God gave Joseph visions and prophecies pointing to his exaltation above the other brothers – that through him they might be saved

            -- but the brothers were jealous of him and rejected him and the message from God – they sold Joseph as a slave into Egypt – but just as the visions and prophecies foretold, God was with him through it all – through his captivity as a slave – through his time in prison and in the pit – and then as prince over Egypt as he was exalted to the second highest position in the land

            -- making a way and a place for the nation of Israel to be saved from the famine that was in the Promised Land

 

            -- and Stephen points out in his message to the Sanhedrin that every time the nation of Israel was in trouble – every time they were in captivity or in danger – God would send a deliverer, just like Joseph – and every time, the people would reject him

 

-- look at verse 17-22

 

Acts 7:17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’ 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.

 

20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

 

-- skip down to verse 39-41

 

Acts 7:39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.

 

-- once again, the nation of Israel is in trouble – Joseph and all the patriarchs have passed away, and the kings of Egypt have forgotten them and forgotten how Joseph saved the people of Egypt through the famine by storing food to get them through the hard times

-- when the king of Egypt looks at the Israelites now, all he sees is a group of people who have grown numerous in the land and who have acquired for themselves vast wealth and property – he is afraid they will rise up against him, so he forces them into slavery and tries to stop the Israelites from growing in numbers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies

-- but God raises up a deliverer in Moses, who was sent to lead God’s people out of Egypt – to deliver them from captivity and bondage – to carry them to the Promised Land

             -- and, true to form, the people rejected Moses and the message from God – the first rejection of Moses occurred when he tried to help the people by killing an Egyptian overseer who was mistreating some Jewish slaves – and then they rejected him again, after he brought them out of Egypt and began leading them to the Promised Land

 

            -- and, so, Stephen reminds the Sanhedrin of all of this – of how God had called the people to love Him and to follow Him – to hear the truth and to live in it – through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- through Joseph – through Moses – through the tabernacle and the Law that was given at Sinai – and through the prophets, who pointed to the coming Messiah and the eternal fulfilment of salvation and eternal life through Him

            -- but despite hearing the truth and knowing the truth and having the truth with them – the people closed their ears and rejected God and those who shared the truth of God’s word with them – they chose their own way – their own traditions – their own rituals – above the plain truth of God’s word

            -- and now, he says – you’re doing it again!

 

            -- look at verse 51-53

 

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

 

            -- just like the astronomers in the movie, “Don’t Look Up,” Stephen has gotten frustrated with the response of the religious leaders and the Sanhedrin to the plain truth in front of them

– he and all the disciples have been going to the temple courts every day – preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus – teaching the people the truth of God’s word

-- but when they do that, they are faced with rejection and mockery – by the people and by the religious leaders themselves, who should know better, because they are the keepers of the truth – they are the ones who God has entrusted to lead Israel into the truth of the Promise

-- they are just like all their forefathers who rejected those who came before – Stephen calls them “stiff-necked” – unable to bend – to turn – to face the truth in front of them

-- he says their hearts and ears are still uncircumcised – while they may look holy on the outside – while they may be following all the rituals and traditions of faith – their hearts are far from the Lord – they are hypocrites who have seen the truth but refuse to accept it – hypocrites who should know that the rituals and the traditions were put in place to point them to the Messiah

-- and now that He has come – now that Jesus has come preaching the fulfillment of the Promise and the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven – they refused to believe the message – they refused to believe the truth – and they have rejected the very Savior that God had sent to deliver the Israelites and the whole world from captivity to sin and death

 

-- verse 54

 

Acts 7:54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

 

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

 

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

 

Acts 8:1a And Saul approved of their killing him.

 

– after pointing out how the Israelites had rejected God’s truth time after time, Stephen has just said, “You’re doing the same thing – except this time, you are rejecting the Righteous One who God sent to save you”

-- we read here that Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit – empowered by the truth of God – looks up and points to heaven and cries out, “Just look up – look up and see for yourself – I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God”

-- and as the truth pours out of him – as the Holy Spirit speaks through him – the members of the Sanhedrin close their ears and gnash their teeth and rush at him – grabbing him and dragging him out of the temple and out of the city – and then they begin to stone him for what he has said

 

            -- look at the second part of Acts 8:1b-3

 

Acts 8:1b On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

 

            -- the truth was spoken – the truth was heard – and once again, the truth was rejected by the people and the religious leaders of Israel

            -- people don’t like it when you tell them they are wrong – when someone hears the truth and rejects it, they often act out against it – and that’s what is happening here as this section in the Book of Acts comes to a close

            -- we read that a great persecution begins to break out against the church and against all the believers in Jerusalem, as the people and the leaders reject the truth and choose to live their lie

            -- and this persecution marks the beginning of a new phase for the church, as God uses this for the good of the church and for the good of those who have heard the truth and believed the truth and who follow Him

 

III.  Closing

            -- in the movie, “A Few Good Men,” we see the famous argument between Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in the court room as Cruise is seeking answers for the death of a marine at the hands of other marines

            -- after going back and forth for some time, Cruise’s character demands to be told the truth – he says, “I want the truth” – and Jack Nicholson replies, “You can’t handle the truth”

 

            -- that is the story of us – that’s the story of the men and women that we read about in the Bible – the men and women who couldn’t handle the truth of God – the men and women who couldn’t handle the message that God was giving them and who chose to blindly follow religious tradition and ritual above all else

            -- this is the reason why the patriarchs rejected Joseph – why the people of Israel rejected Moses – and why the priests and the Sanhedrin rejected Jesus

            -- they couldn’t handle the truth – they couldn’t stand to know that what they had been following – that what they had been doing – was wrong

– and when Joseph and Moses and Jesus and the prophets and Stephen stood up before them and pointed to heaven and said, “Just look up and see the truth and hear the truth and believe the truth and follow the truth” – they couldn’t handle it – and they rejected themselves straight to hell

 

            -- we see this in the gospels as the high priest and the Sanhedrin reject Jesus and send Him to the cross

            -- we see this in the opening to the Book of Acts, as these religious leaders of Israel reject the church and the truth of the gospel, and begin a great persecution by stoning Stephen to death

            -- and we see this in the mirror, when we look at ourselves as we choose to close our ears to the truth – when we choose to ignore God and His commands – when we choose to follow our own way and not the path of righteousness and holiness laid out before us

            -- when Jesus and His Spirit stand right in front of us and say, “Look up and follow Me” and we turn away to follow our own path instead

 

            -- as we have seen many times in our study in the Book of Acts so far, we are faced with a choice every single day – the choice to hear the truth – to know the truth – and to act on that truth as God commands – or the choice to do our own thing – to let our own desires and our wants and wishes dictate what we do with our life

            -- every single day, we face a fork in the road – one path is broad and leads to destruction – the other path is narrow and leads to life

            -- Stephen stood up in front of the Sanhedrin and spoke the truth and pointed them to the narrow path, but they chose the other

            -- God’s word stands before us now, speaking the truth and pointing us down that same narrow path that leads to life

            -- as we close in prayer, I want you to take a moment and consider where you are in your relationship with God – and I want you to consider where He is leading – the truth He is speaking – and I want to encourage you to choose today to follow Him and His truth – to trust in His power in the Holy Spirit to enable you to follow Him down the narrow path to salvation and eternal life

            -- let us pray

SERMON: Fighting for God or Against God (acts 4:32-5:42)

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 4:32-35

 

Acts 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

 

            -- several years ago, Kim and I watched a show that quickly became one of our favorites of all times -- when it comes to TV and movies, we gravitate towards spies and mysteries and similar dramas -- this show was called, "The Americans" -- hopefully, you had the opportunity to see it yourself

-- to sum up the plot, “The Americans” is the story about a typical suburban family in Falls Church, Virginia in the early 1980's -- but this typical suburban family has a very non-typical secret -- you see, the husband and wife in this family are not what they seem -- they are actually Russian spies

            -- as the story unfolds over the six seasons it ran, we learn that the husband and wife in this family are not really Americans -- they were recruited in Russia to give up their lives and to come to America to live a secret life -- to be married and to have children and to appear to be, for all intents and purposes, normal suburban Americans

            -- they look like Americans -- they talk like Americans -- they go to work like Americans -- they socialize like Americans -- they take their kids to soccer practice and dance recitals and drop them off at the mall -- just by looking at them, no one can tell that they are actually undercover Russian sleeper agents

 

            -- every time I open the news and read a story of a church scandal or when I see people I know acting in very non-Christian ways, I think about this show – it is a poignant reminder that our churches are made up of people – and not everyone who comes to church or attends church is truly a Christian

            -- surveys by the Barna Research Group and other pollsters reveal that only about 20-30% of people in any given congregation are considered committed, highly-engaged, believers – these would be the people that are born-again – that have a personal relationship with Jesus – those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus for eternal life and the forgiveness of sins and who have committed to living sanctified lives of obedience to Christ’s commands

            -- between 40 and 60% of attendees are considered nominal or cultural believers – these would be the people who might call themselves Christians, but who have not fully put their faith and trust in Jesus

-- this group would also include the cultural believers – those who think they are Christian because they are Americans or because their parents or grandparents were Christian

-- these are the people we associate with in our daily lives who look like Christians and talk like Christians and do all the normal things that Christians do -- they may go to our churches on a fairly regular basis -- they may even put Jesus fish on the back of their cars and tell everybody on Facebook that they are Christians -- but in reality, they are not true, committed believers in Christ

-- in a very real sense, they’re only pretending to be believers -- and it could be they've lived this lie so long they have started to think it’s true -- if you were to ask them if they were Christians, they would tell you, "yes," even though they don't have a personal relationship with Jesus

-- the rest of the people in a congregation – about 10-20% of the attendees – are the non-believers and visitors – these include the seekers – people who are curious about Christianity and are coming to learn more about our faith – this category also includes those people who come only because they are closely associated with someone in the church or in a community, but who have no real interest in religion – for instance, family members who may come with their families to services from time-to-time but who have no true spiritual faith in anything

 

-- now, keep in mind that these are generalized statistics, and you may see different percentages based on what poll you look at – Rick Warren always said that in his experience, 30% of the church were committed Christians, 30% were nominal Christians, and the rest were what he called, “the crowd” – unbelievers and seekers – but he pastored in California, which certainly has a different demographic than we do here in the Bible Belt

– also, I expect that the percentages in each category vary based on the size of the church – more than likely, you have a greater percentage of non-believers and nominal Christians in larger congregations – where it is easier to get lost in the crowd – than in a small church, where the fruits of the Spirit and the evidences of faith are more easily discerned by the other members

 -- the point that I am trying to get you to see, though – the truth that I want you to grasp -- is that in any congregation, there is a mosaic of belief – there is a gradient of faith in a church that runs from unbelievers or cultural Christians to the fully committed, born-again believers

– that means that in any church, there are some people who truly believe and some people that are either in the beginning stages of belief or who are unbelievers, even though they may be members of that church and may call themselves Christians

 

            -- the passage we opened up with -- Acts 4:32-35 -- points to the ideal state for the church – it gives us the picture of a community of believers who were one in heart and mind – they were all committed to their new faith in Jesus as the Messiah – and they put into practice His teachings and the commands that He passed on to the apostles

-- they did life together in a way that we do not see in the world today – sharing all things with each other – taking care of each person as if they were their own family, such that there were no needy persons among them – and sharing their resources communally so that everyone in the community was provided for

-- this is what we should be striving for – both personally and corporately – ideally, this is who we should be in our personal spiritual lives – and this is what our churches should look like – not just on the surface, but in our heart of hearts

-- believers who live in koinonia – true biblical fellowship – being one with each other in heart and mind – and sharing our lives with each other as we follow Christ in all our ways

 

-- but even in this idyllic New Testament Church – which certainly had a higher percentage of true, born-again believers within it – there were those who were not what they seemed – even in the first church, there were sleeper agents among them who were not true believers and who continued to live for themselves while calling themselves believers

-- as we move on in our series in the Book of Acts, we find ourselves in a section here from Acts 4:32 through the end of Chapter 5 where we see these differences in the church come to the forefront

– in this section, battle lines are drawn and people have to decide whether they are truly going to place their faith and trust in Jesus and unify around the testimony of Jesus’ death and resurrection and live in the power of the Spirit or if they are going to hold onto their worldly religious practices and materialistic lifestyles while claiming to be believers

-- in other words, the people have to decide -- do they stand for God or do they stand for themselves in their lives and in their practices?

-- in this section, we see three clear examples of people who made that choice – two groups chose to live for themselves – to hold onto their religious traditions and practices and their materialism – while one group chose to stand up for God and live for Him instead

 

II.  Ananias and Saphira (Acts 4:36-5:11)

            -- let’s look at the first example here – look at Acts 4:36-5:6

 

Acts 4:36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

 

Acts 5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

 

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

 

5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

 

            -- this section opens with the story of Barnabas – the same Barnabas that we recognize from the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul

            -- Barnabas was a truly faithful and committed member of the early church – and he was moved by the Spirit to sell a field that he owned and to give the proceeds from that sale to the church

            -- here’s a case where we can read between-the-lines and know what is going on, even though we are not told in black-and-white – while the Scriptures do not tell us how the church and the apostles reacted to Barnabas’ sacrificial act of giving the proceeds from the sale of his land to the church, we can assume that he was praised by the apostles for this act

            -- there was obviously some type of public recognition that called attention to what Barnabas did – and when Ananias and Saphira saw the recognition that Barnabas received, they wanted it, too -- the desire for similar laud and praise drove them to act in a way that brought about their ultimate downfall

            -- just like Barnabas, Ananias and Saphira had a piece of property, too – and after seeing him sell his property and give the money to the church, they decided to do the same – however, instead of giving all the money from the sale of the land to the church, they held some back – which was not wrong – it was their right – no one would have faulted them for that

            -- but here’s where they got into trouble – they lied through omission – and when Ananias brought the money and gave it to the apostles, he let them believe that he was giving them the entire amount that he received from the sale of the land, even though he was keeping some of the money back for himself

            -- he wanted the recognition and the applause for doing just like Barnabas, but in his heart he was lying to the church and to God

            -- Ananias, in collusion with his wife Saphira, chose to take a stand for himself – to pretend to be wholly sold out as believers while living a lifestyle of his own choosing

            -- and for this lie – and to make clear the distinction between true faith and nominal belief in an idea – God struck Ananias down and killed him in the presence of the entire congregation

 

            -- verse 7

 

Acts 5:7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

 

“Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

 

9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

 

10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

 

            -- just a few hours later, Sapphira came to the place where the church was meeting and was confronted by Peter about the money she and Ananias had offered to the church -- he asked her point blank, "Is this all the money you got for the land?"

            -- Sapphira looked Peter in the eye and said, "Yes, it is" -- and the same judgment that fell on her husband fell on her -- Sapphira dropped dead on the spot and was carried out and buried next to her husband

            -- battlelines were drawn – decisions were made – rather than committing themselves to faith in Christ and following His commands, Ananias and Sapphira decided to live for themselves and to allow their desire for praise and recognition, along with their material greed, to color their relationship with God

 

            -- the other two examples of decisions to either follow Christ or follow self occur in an event very similar to the passage from last week

            -- look at verse 12-17

 

Acts 5:12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.  17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

 

            -- now, skip down to verse 27-29

 

Acts 5:27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” 29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!

 

            -- and let’s finish up at verse 41-42

 

Acts 5:41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

            -- in the first example, we see Ananias and Sapphira holding on to the desire for material things – in this case, money – and the desire for praise and recognition instead of giving themselves fully over to faith in Jesus

            -- in the second example, we see the high priest and his associates, the Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin – choosing to hold onto their religious practices and traditions instead of turning to Jesus as the promised Messiah

 

            -- when Peter and John and the other apostles continued to preach and teach the good news of salvation and the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ – and when God affirmed their teaching with signs and wonders through the power of the Holy Spirit – we read in verse 17 that the high priest and his associates were filled with jealousy

            -- as the leaders of the Jewish community and as those in charge of worship in the Temple, the high priests, the elders, and the Sanhedrin were accustomed to being recognized and lauded for their holiness and righteous way of life

            -- because of this, the worship of Yahweh, the Lord God Almighty, had become more about practicing religious traditions and rituals than worship of the Father in spirit and truth – and as the leaders who mediated the presence of God to the people, the high priest and his associates basked in the praise of the people of Israel

            -- when Jesus appeared in Judea and began preaching and teaching the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven, proclaiming Himself the long-awaited Messiah – this did not set well with the high priest and his associates – their desire for praise and recognition were being usurped – and their religious practices and traditions were being threatened – and so they had Jesus put to death on the cross by Pontius Pilate

            -- when they cried out before Pilate to let Jesus’ blood be upon them, they made the decision to stand for themselves and their positions in the community against the Messiah – they put their religious practices and traditions above all else so that they would continue to enjoy the praise of the people

 

            -- and now, even after Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and the obvious power that the church enjoyed through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, the desire of the high priest and his associates continues to be praise and recognition from the people – and when the people begin to turn to Peter and the other apostles in response to their teaching – when the people start paying attention to someone other than the high priest and his associates and the religious order of the day – they became jealous

            -- just like we read in last week’s passage, they tried to quench the move of God in their midst by arresting the apostles and having them appear before the Sanhedrin

            -- once again, they demand that Peter and John and the other apostles stop preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus

            -- just like Ananias and Sapphira, a choice has been made – a battleline has been drawn – and the Jewish religious leaders, from the high priest to the Sanhedrin – choose themselves and religious tradition above the plain truth that the Messiah has come

 

            -- but we see in this passage another way – another choice – in the example of Peter and the other apostles – just like last week, Peter stands before the religious right of his day and states in verse 27, “We must obey God rather than human beings”

            -- and then in verses 41 and 42, we read that he and the apostles walked out of the court proceedings with the Sanhedrin and never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah

            -- another choice was made – another battleline was drawn – but in this case, Peter and the apostles chose to stand for God

 

III.  Closing

-- in 1836, a pivotal event occurred in the Texas Revolution against Mexico – about 100 Texans under the command of Colonel William B. Travis and James Bowie were garrisoned at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio

-- on February 23, about 1500 Mexicans marched into San Antonio as the first step in Mexico’s campaign to retake Texas – Travis and Bowie and his men retreated into the Alamo, where they faced an onslaught of battle from the determined Mexican army, led by General Santa Anna

-- fighting claimed the majority of the Texans – and after several days of the siege, it became obvious that the remaining men would not be able to hold off the Mexicans much longer – they knew it would only be a matter of time before the wall was breached and all of them put to the sword – it was an impossible situation

-- on what became the final day of the siege, Colonel Travis took his sword and drew a line on the ground, and he issued a call -- he said everyone who is willing to fight for Texas, come and stand with me behind this line, knowing that it may cost you your very life -- the rest could leave and surrender to the Mexicans and save their lives

-- there was a moment of silence as each man pondered the decision in their hearts -- and then, as one, every single man remaining in the Alamo took a step and crossed that line and made their choice

-- they chose to do what was right, despite the personal cost -- they chose to stand up for what they believed in, despite the fact it could cost them their life -- and, in the end, every Texan in the Alamo that day was killed

 

-- throughout the Bible, we are faced with a similar call – a choice that we all have to make – battlelines are drawn – and we have to decide which side we will stand on

-- on one side is the cross – on the other is the world

-- on one side is the choice to live our lives based on faith in Christ for salvation and eternal life – on the other is the choice to live for ourselves and our own personal desires

-- in this section from the Book of Acts, we see three separate groups facing that choice – Ananias and Sapphira, the high priest and his associates, and Peter and the apostles

-- two groups chose the world – they chose self – they chose to live into their desire for praise and recognition – for material wealth and religious practices and tradition – over Christ and His kingdom

-- one group – Peter and the apostles – chose the way of Christ

 

-- this same choice is before us today, for the Bible tells us that we must make the choice every single day to get up, pick up our cross, and follow Christ

-- every morning when we rise, we face a line in the sand – and every morning, we have to choose how we will live that day – which side of the line we will stand on

-- that choice is before us now

 

-- as we close in prayer, we need to make a decision as to who we are going to be – how we are going to live – and what we are going to choose to believe

-- this same decision has to be made every single day

-- I pray that you will choose the path of Christ, and that you will stand for Him in this world above all else

-- so, let us close now in prayer and consider the examples that are before us in Scripture – and let us choose the path that we will take

            -- let’s pray    

 

SERMON: BE BOLD -- ACTS SERMON SERIES

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Acts 3:11-16

 

Acts 3:11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

 

            -- in the foreword to Nik Ripken’s book, “The Insanity of Obedience,” about Christians boldly standing up for God in persecuted regions, Brother Andrew shared a personal story about the faith of two of his Muslim friends, who he called S and Q to protect their identities and the identities of their families

            -- he first met the men in 2002, when he was staying in a hotel in a radical Muslim region – the men came to his room secretly at night to meet him and to share their stories

            -- S came from a religious family, with both his father, his grandfather, and two of his brothers serving as Muslim imams – prayer leaders and spiritual teachers – in the local area

            -- S followed suit, becoming an imam himself -- teaching religion at a government school and leading prayers in the neighborhood mosque – as a very young man, S had memorized the entire Qur’an in Arabic and was known in his community as a devout Muslim and dedicated follower of Allah

            -- the teaching job gave S access to a library, where he found other religious books besides those dedicated to Islam – he began to read about Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity, learning more about each of these religions

            -- one day, another imam recognized S’s desire for knowledge, and he began meeting with him to discuss religion – as they met to discuss which religion was true, it soon became evident that this new imam was secretly a follower of Jesus Christ – and after several conversations comparing Islam to Christianity, the imam shared a copy of the New Testament with S – which was illegal in their country

            -- S began reading the Gospels and realized that Jesus was the true revelation of God on earth – in fact, S came to believe that Jesus was God in the flesh – he quickly became a Christian and stopped serving as an imam and teacher of Islam, causing him to struggle to earn a living

-- on top of that, once his brothers learned that he had become a Christian, they vowed to kill him – so S was forced into hiding and had only sneaked out so that he could meet Brother Andrew

-- Andrew asked him what he was going to do now that he faced such persecution – he proudly announced, “I am going to be an imam for Jesus!” – and after a brief time of prayer, he and Q left Brother Andrew’s room

-- a couple of years later, Brother Andrew heard from a ministry colleague that S had been serving Christ covertly in a region where a fierce fundamentalist Muslim group was in charge – he had planted several house churches and had led them to grow in faith in Christ – but, he had just been captured by the fundamentalist group – no one, not even his family, ever saw him or heard from him again after his capture -- Brother Andrew’s colleagues believed that S had been martyred for his faith and his bold witness for Christ in a hostile land

 

-- Q was just as bold in working for Christ and the death of S did nothing to dampen his passion – after S was captured, Q took over his ministry -- he traveled the same route as S and took over care of the house churches that S had founded – he taught the Christians in those underground churches the way of Christ – and continued to lead them in their Christian walk

-- Like S, he continued to share the gospel with people in the community when he could,  narrowly evading a couple of attempts on his life by radical Muslims who sought to silence him -- But after a few years, his “luck” ran out and Q was also captured and killed

-- Brother Andrew closed his story by talking about the grief he still had for these two dear brothers he had lost – but, at the same time, he said that he stood in awe of their example

-- like us here in this room, Brother Andrew said he could freely cross the street and knock on someone’s door and share the message of Christ with them – they might slam the door in his face, but he didn’t face the threat of being kidnapped and tortured or killed for talking about Jesus, like S & Q had – but even with this freedom, Brother Andrew admitted that he didn’t go and share his faith as Christ commanded

-- his unwillingness to share the gospel stands in contrast to the boldness of S and Q – who woke up every morning eager to tell people about Jesus, even though they knew it could cost them their lives that very day – they stood boldly against the fear of death, and continued to be faithful witnesses of Christ in lands hostile to the gospel -- eventually, they paid the ultimate price and lost their lives as martyrs for Jesus

-- S and Q followed the way of Jesus – they boldly witnessed for Christ with their lives and with their words – and they stand before us as modern day examples of bold and faithful Christians -- this is the way of the cross – this is the way of Jesus – this is what Jesus commanded us to do

-- how would our world change today – how would our country change today – if we could but have the boldness of S and Q – faithful witnesses who took up their cross and followed Jesus in order to share the good news of the gospel with all, regardless of the cost?

 

II.  Becoming Bold

-- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on the Book of Acts – Being Bold Witnesses for Christ

-- our goal in this study is to grow in our faith and become bold witnesses of Christ who go forth to do the stuff that He has called us to do – to share the good news of Christ as we follow the examples of the men and women that we read about here in the Book of Acts and that we see modeled for us in the lives of men like S and Q

-- our key verse – our guiding light – throughout this series is Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”

 

-- we are currently working through the first major area in the Book of Acts that I am calling, “A New Hope – the Beginning of the Church of Christ on Earth” – this section will go through the first part of Chapter 8

-- so far, we have discussed the scope of the Book of Acts, looking in detail at Christ’s promise in Acts 1:8 and the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20 – including looking at the sending of the Holy Spirit to the church at Pentecost and the realization of the power of Christ within us to accomplish His purposes in the world today

-- and let me remind you that if you missed those messages, you can find the transcript on our blog – onlyimagine.blogspot.com – the link is pinned to the top of our Facebook page

 

-- this morning, we are in Acts 3 and 4, where we are starting to see how the disciples are engaging with the presence of the Holy Spirit within them – and how they are learning to be empowered through His presence to be bold witnesses for Christ, even in the face of adversity and persecution

-- as this passage opens up, Peter and John have come to the temple to worship and to share the message of Christ with those present – as they were entering the temple courts, they passed through the gate called Beautiful, and they were met with the cries of a lame beggar – who came everyday asking the passers-by for money

-- Peter and John, moved by the Spirit, witnessed to the lame beggar and instead of giving him money, healed him through the power of Christ within them – the now-healed man followed them into the temple courts -- walking and jumping and loudly praising God – the commotion he made drew a crowd, who surrounded Peter and John as they came to see what was going on

 

-- look back at verse 11

 

Acts 3:11 While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.

 

-- as the crowd surrounds Peter, he is filled with the Holy Spirit and begins to share a bold message of faith to the people in the temple – he asks them why they are surprised – why do they stare in astonishment at him and John – for it wasn’t they who did the miracle of healing that day, but Jesus Himself who had healed the man and made him walk

-- he shares with them the story of Jesus – His death and resurrection – and he ends by telling them that it was by faith in the name of Jesus that this man had been healed –that this faith is what set him free

-- and then he goes on to tell the people how they, too, can be set free from that which binds them and has made their spirits lame – verse 17

 

Acts 3:17 “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’

 

-- so, I want you to get the whole picture here – the whole scope of what has just happened -- Jesus promised in Acts 1:8 that His followers would receive power when the Holy Spirit came on them, and that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth – what we are seeing here is the fulfillment of this promise

-- after healing the man at the gate called Beautiful, Peter boldly stands up in the middle of the temple courts and proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah – that He had been put to death by the Jews – specifically, the priests and the Sanhedrin – and that He had risen from the dead on the third day and ascended to heaven – that through Jesus, salvation and the forgiveness of sins and healing of the body, soul, and spirit were available to all through faith in Him as the Messiah

-- as he says in verse 19, all they have to do is “repent, then, and turn to God, that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”

-- and the people are amazed at the message that Peter has shared – for not only do the words that he shared ring true, but the proof is right before them in the presence of the healed beggar who continues to stand and jump for joy and praise God before their very eyes

 

-- but here’s something that we often miss in this story – the true miracle that day was not the healing of the lame beggar – the true miracle that day was the example of Peter standing there before that crowd of people, sharing a bold message of faith

-- let’s put this in perspective – we don’t know the exact timing of this event, but it was not long after Pentecost – after the Father sent the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower the church on earth

-- Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover, which was when Jesus died on the cross – so, it’s only been a few weeks since Jesus died and rose again and ascended to heaven – it’s only been a few days since the Holy Spirit came on the believers at Pentecost – and I want you to grasp that, because the change in Peter is nothing short of miraculous

 

-- do you remember Peter and what he did on the night Jesus was betrayed? – do you remember Peter after Jesus’ arrest? – do you remember his denials?

– three times in the courtyard of the high priest – when the servant girl and the others around the fire accused Peter of being one of Jesus’ followers -- Peter denied that he ever knew Him – he refused to say that he was a follower of Jesus – he feared for his life and turned away from Jesus

 

-- and then we have the scene after the resurrection, when Jesus appeared to the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee – when Jesus turned to Peter three times and asked him if he loved Him

-- flip over to John 21:15 or listen as I read that passage

 

-- verse 15

 

John 21:15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

 

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

 

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

 

-- when Jesus asks Peter here if he loves Him, He asks him, “do you agape me more than these?” – do you love Me with all your heart and soul and mind and strength – do you love Me unconditionally – with the love of God

-- and Peter replies, “I phileo you” – I love you like a brother – Peter is unable to love Jesus as Jesus wanted

 

-- verse 16

 

John 21:16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

 

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

 

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

 

 

– again Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him – if he agapes Him – and, once again, Peter can’t say, “yes” – he responds again, “I phileo you” – I love You, but not like that

 

-- verse 17

 

John 21:17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

 

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

 

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

 

– finally, Jesus asks Peter if he can at least love Him like a brother – instead of asking if Peter agapes Him, He says, “Do you phileo Me?” – and it hurts him to say so, but Peter replies that yes, he does love Jesus as a brother

 

-- now, put those two events together – first, we see Peter trying to be bold – proclaiming before all the disciples in the Upper Room that he would never deny Jesus – that he would never turn away from Jesus – but a few hours later, he does – three times, in fact, he denies knowing Jesus

-- and then, after the resurrection, Jesus comes to Peter and asks him if he loves Him – Jesus wants to know if Peter can love Him with the same agape – unconditional love -- that God has – that God wants from us – but Peter confesses that he doesn’t

-- not that he doesn’t want to – he just can’t – it’s not in him – he doesn’t have the power to do so

 

-- now, consider what we just read in Acts 3 – this man who is boldly standing up in the face of the priests and the Sanhedrin – who boldly shares the message with everyone there that Jesus was killed by the Jews and raised by God on the third day to offer salvation and the forgiveness of sins to all who believed and repented and trusted in Him in faith

– this man who has just healed a lame beggar in his forties who had been laid at the gate called Beautiful for decades

– this man is the same man who denied ever knowing Christ on the night He was betrayed and who wasn’t able to love Jesus with an agape, unconditional love, even after the resurrection – it’s only been a few weeks – a few days

-- so, what changed? – what happened to turn Peter from a cowering coward before the crucifixion and from a weak follower after the resurrection into the bold man that we see standing up for Christ in front of a hostile crowd in this passage?

-- the Holy Spirit

 

            -- that is what happened at Pentecost – that is the importance of that day – for it is the fulfillment of the promise of Acts 1:8 – it is power coming in the presence of the Holy Spirit to indwell Christians – to indwell the church – and to make it possible for them – and us -- to stand boldly in the face of adversity and persecution and witness to the truth of the gospel of Christ

            -- Peter is still the same man he was before the death and resurrection of Jesus – he still has that same desire in his heart to follow Jesus and to stand for Him and to not deny Him or turn away from Him

            -- the only difference is that now he actually has the ability to do that through the power of the Holy Spirit within him – now he can be who he wanted to be – now he can live up to who Christ has called him to be – and that is true for all of us, as well

 

            -- empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter can now stand up and proclaim a bold message of faith in Christ before the same priests and temple guards he feared just a few weeks before – in fact, when they have him and John stand before them and command that they not speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus, Peter refuses – look at Acts 4:18

 

Acts 4:18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

 

21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

 

            -- Peter is a changed man because of the Holy Spirit within him -- but Peter is not the only one who has been empowered to boldly stand for Christ

            -- look at verse 23

 

Acts 4:23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

 

“‘Why do the nations rage

    and the peoples plot in vain?

26 The kings of the earth rise up

    and the rulers band together

against the Lord

    and against his anointed one.’

 

27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

 

31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

 

            -- a bold message is followed by a bold prayer – empowered by the Spirit and emboldened by Peter and John’s defiance of the high priest and the Sanhedrin – the believers turn to God and raise their voices in praise and faith as they recount the great things that He has done and ask Him to enable them to continue to speak His word with boldness and to perform signs and wonders in His name

            -- there is a difference in the disciples now – where before, they cowered behind locked doors in fear of the Jews – now they gather together without fear of what man might do to them – they boldly proclaim the Lord’s name in their speech and their conduct and their prayers

            -- the power of the Holy Spirit has made all the difference – and He makes all the difference in our lives, too

 

III.  Closing

            -- I opened this message with the story of S and Q and their bold witness for Christ – but I want you to understand that neither of them did what they did on their own – neither of them boldly stood up as witnesses for Christ in a hostile land in their own strength or through their own knowledge and education in the faith

            -- S and Q were able to stand up for Christ solely through the power of the Spirit within them – and that same Spirit that enabled them to be bold witnesses for Jesus – that same Spirit that empowered Peter and John to heal a lame beggar at the gate called Beautiful – that same Spirit who gave Peter the bold message of faith that he shared with the crowd in the temple courts that day – that same Spirit who moved the church to pray with boldness and faith in the face of persecution – that same Spirit is within you right now

 

            -- so, the reason we are not doing the stuff that we read about in the Book of Acts is not because of who we are – it’s not because we’re not strong enough or knowledgeable enough – it’s simply because we aren’t trusting in the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us like He has these other people

-- the presence of the Holy Spirit is what changes us and enables us to live for Christ and to be His witness in the world today – just like with Peter – just like with S and Q -- the Spirit allows us to become who God has called us to be – and with His strength working through us, we too can have a bold message, bold prayers, and bold hearts – because through Him, we have all that we need to go and do the stuff that He has called us to do

-- so, the reason we’re not doing the stuff today – the reason we don’t see God working in His church like He did in the Book of Acts – comes down to two things:

 

-- first, it is a lack of faith – we read about the Holy Spirit indwelling and empowering us – we believe it is true – but we don’t trust Him to do so – we don’t believe He can do in us what He did in Peter and John and S and Q

-- we quench the ability of the Spirit to work in us because we don’t have faith in Him – and without faith, we have nothing – without faith, we can do nothing

 

            -- and, second, the other reason we don’t see God working in us and in the church today is disobedience – we simply are not trying to do what He has called us to do – we are not following His commands

            -- as Brother Andrew pointed out in his foreword to Nik Ripken’s book, even though we have nothing to fear in this country but rejection and slamming doors, we don’t take the initiative to share the word of God with those around us – we sit passively and wait for them to come to us first

– we don’t take the initiative to do what Jesus told us to do – to go forth and make disciples – to baptize them and to teach them to obey everything that He has commanded us to do – because we are not doing what He has commanded us to do

            -- and until we start doing what Jesus wants us to do – until we start going and doing – we’re not going to see anything happen in our lives – we’re not going to see anything happen in our churches – we’re not going to see the stuff

 

            -- in his book Radical, David Platt has a chapter entitled "Beginning at the End of Ourselves -- The Importance of Relying on God's Power”

-- let me share with you a quote from that chapter:

 

"This is where I am most convicted as a pastor. I am part of a system that has created a whole host of means and methods, plans and strategies for doing church that require little if any power from God.

 

“I am frightened by the reality that the church I lead can carry on most of our activities .....never realizing that the Holy Spirit of God is virtually absent from the picture.”

 

            -- this is exactly why we are not seeing the stuff in our churches and in our lives today – it is because the Spirit is not there – He may be inside of us, but we have quenched His presence and His power through our lack of faith and our willful disobedience

 

            -- do we want to be bold witnesses of Christ today? – do we want to see Him move in us and through us? – do we want to experience our church doing the stuff that we read about in the Book of Acts?

            -- if so, it has to start with us – first, let us be aware of the presence of the Spirit within us – and let us learn to put our faith and trust in Him and in His power to make us into the people who Christ has called us to be – let us pray to the Spirit and ask that He transform and change us as He transformed and changed Peter and John – S and Q

            -- and then we have to get up and go – we have to start moving – we have to go across the street and knock on the door and share the message of Christ with others – we have to get out there and get our hands dirty by ministering to those in need in Jesus’ name – we have to stand up for justice in the face of injustice – to take care of the orphan and the widows – to advocate and care for the poor and needy – to be the voice and the hands and feet of Jesus

            -- we’re never going to see Jesus and the Spirit do anything through us until we get up and move and ask Him to empower us to do it – and trust through faith that He will

 

            -- so, as we close in prayer, let us turn to the Spirit and ask for His power and His presence to be made manifest in our lives and in this church – and let’s get ready to go forth in His name with a bold message, bold prayers, and bold hearts

            -- let us pray