Peter, John, and the Council (Acts 4:1-22)

Welcome and Announcements

This coming Saturday from 11:30am-4pm, we’ll have a community outreach event here at the church building. We’ll need a couple of volunteers here at 11:30 to start bagging candy and popcorn for children and at 1:30pm-4pm, we’ll be passing out candy, popcorn, and hot apple cider to those participating in the Philipsburg Revitalization Corporation’s community event. If you’re able to volunteer, please speak with Natalie as soon as possible.

We’ll be collecting some winter materials (hats, gloves/mittens, scarves, socks, etc.) for Ukrainian refugees for about another week and a half—if you’re able to help with this, please just be sure to get that supplies to us by November 2, 2022.

In two weeks, we’ll have our Annual Business Meeting on November 6, 2022 following the Sunday AM Worship. We’ll also have lunch afterwards—there’s a sign-up sheet for that meal at the front of the room.

Let me remind you to continue worshiping the Lord through your giving. To help you give, we have three ways to do so, (1) cash and checks can be given at the offering box. Checks should be written to Grace & Peace; debit, credit, and ACH transfers can be done either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or (3) by visiting us online at www.giving.gapb.church. Of course, everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Prayer of Repentance and Adoration

Call to Worship (Ps 65:9-13)

Our Call to Worship this morning is Psalm 65:9-13, which ends this psalm for the harvest with a description of God’s creation and the fullness thereof. Note, how the praise given in the last five verses emphasizes how God provides abundance. Please stand and read with me Psalm 65:9-13—I’ll read the odd-numbered verses; please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.

Psalm 65:9–13 ESV

9 You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. 10 You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. 11 You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. 12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, 13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.

Congregational Singing

When Trials Come (79)

Come Praise and Glorify (44)

How Great Thou Art (5)

Scripture Reading (Gen 4:1-16)

This morning’s Scripture reading is Genesis 4:1-16. You’ll notice that it’s a little shorter than the past few weeks—that’s because we’re intentionally not reading through the genealogy at the end of this chapter. That doesn’t mean that the genealogy isn’t important—I would still recommend you go and read it at your own leisure, we just won’t be reading it this morning.

Genesis 4:1-16 gives us the historical account of Cain and Abel. Natalie, will you read Genesis 4:1-16 for us?

Genesis 4:1–16 ESV

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” 8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Preaching of God’s Word (Acts 4:1-22)

Introduction

If you have your Bible, please turn it to Acts 4:1-22.

While you’re turning there, let me just give you some background information as we prepare to jump into Scripture this morning. Remember, that this is still the Day of Pentecost, which was at the time simply a Jewish holiday meant to celebrate God’s provision during the harvest. It was during the celebration and really during the worship of God when the Holy Spirit descends on the apostles and they proclaim the Gospel in various languages to various different people.

Last week, we worked through the second of Peter’s sermons on the Day of Pentecost and really, what we learned was that the message between the two sermons remained the same. Peter was very clear in both sermons that man is in sin, that Jesus came, was crucified, buried, and raised from the grave, and because Jesus did this, He provides salvation to all who repent, believe, and follow Him.

In both cases, we saw the response of many people and in most cases, the response was to do precisely what Peter calls them to do—they understood the Gospel, they repented, and they believed in Jesus Christ. Not everyone responds this way and we see that not everyone responds this way starting in v. 1 of ch. 4.

Let’s read together Acts 4:1-22:

Acts 4:1–22 ESV

1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 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 him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

As we study this text together, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) The Arrest (1-4) and (2) The Council (5-22). In this text, we see the Jewish leadership capturing and arresting Peter and John for preaching the message that they’re proclaiming. In it, we see what exactly the Jewish leadership had a problem with; and in it, we see how Peter and John respond to their demands. In our sermon, we’ll take a deeper look at the problem that the Jewish leadership had with Peter and John’s proclamation; and we’ll see the proper response to the pushback that Peter and John are facing. We’ll be encouraged and we’ll be exhorted as we dig into God’s Word this morning.

Prayer for Illumination

The Arrest (1-4)

Our text starts with the setting for the event that’s about to happen—though note, it gives us one setting and then it shifts in v. 5, but regardless, in v. 1, we read that “as [Peter and John] were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them.”

This tells us the three groups of people represented in this text and each group interacts with the Gospel in different ways:

Clearly, the apostles Peter and John have accepted the Gospel and they believe the Gospel and they are proclaiming the Gospel.

We see a group of people that were listening represented, but we don’t see their response until v. 4.

But then we see a third group of people that is actually several groups of people lumped into one larger group:

We see the priests—which usually refers to the high priests (and remember, for political reasons, there were two high priests at this time in history).

The captain of the temple, which you probably don’t have any prior knowledge about. The captain of the temple according to the Talmud was in charge of the guards of the temple and he was in charge when the High Priests weren’t around.

And then we see the Sadduccees, who were a group of really rich and really powerful Jewish leaders—you could almost think of them as the political leaders of the Jewish people. They are notable because unlike the Pharisees, the Sadduccees didn’t believe in any of the supernatural events (the miracles) in the Old Testament.

Knowing this helps explain why they pushed against the apostles. V. 2 says they were “Greatly annoyed because they [meaning the apostles] were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

Of course, the high priests would be angry about the apostles’ proclamation—they were the ones who crucified Jesus in order to save their own authority and power.

Of course, the captain of the temple would be angry about the apostles’ proclamation—he’s concerned with riotous behavior because he’s charged with keeping the peace in the temple.

Of course, the Sadduccees would be upset or angry, because they don’t believe in miracles—and the apostles are proclaiming that Jesus was resurrected from the grave.

And of course, since these are the ruling parties of the temple, they don’t stop at seething in anger over what the apostles were proclaiming and teaching, they do something about it. V. 3 tells us that “they arrested [the apostles] and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.”

Note, there is a contrast between how they arrest the apostles and how they arrested Jesus—when they arrested Jesus, it was the dead of night and they didn’t wait until morning for the trials; this time around, they wait because of the night.

Patrick Schreiner points out that this is quite possibly because the Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin, which was made of a group of Pharisees and a group of Sadduccees didn’t meet during feast days and other celebrations—so, they would’ve waited until the next day.

Regardless, they arrest them, but by the time they arrested them, the regular people had already started responding to the message of the Gospel. V. 4 says, “many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.”

Peter’s words were not eloquent, they were definitely not something that would reverberate through history—but they were enough for the people to hear the Gospel, understand the Gospel, and believe the Gospel.

Peter’s words were used by the Holy Spirit to draw these people to repentance.

Note that v. 4 says five thousand men believed—we can rightly say two things then:

It sounds like this is 5,000 more in addition 3,000 that believed after Peter’s first sermon—though, we could argue that it might be 5,000 total.

And, it’s clear that there are actually more than 5,000 people who believed. Luke is clear that the number of men were about 5,000—there could’ve been just as many if not more women who believed and there could’ve been children who believed.

Thousands heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ from a simple message in which they were told that they were sinners, Jesus is the Savior, and they needed to repent and believe. It really ought to be encouraging because it shows us that the Gospel doesn’t need to be dressed up to look pretty, it doesn’t need to be eloquent, it doesn’t need our help—Jesus saves with the simple proclamation of Gospel truth.

Now of course, that leaves us with the question, “what happens to the apostles?” And that answer is in vv. 5-22. It’s a lot, so let me read the first paragraph, we’ll break it down before reading the second paragraph and breaking it down.

The Council (5-22)

Acts 4:5–12 ESV

5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 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 him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

It is the next day and those that made up this ruling party—the Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin gathered together in Jerusalem and we see a list of different people that were there in addition to the Sanhedrin in v. 6, “with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.”

So, we can tell that they took this matter rather seriously because both the high priests and their family came to the trial.

Remember, that at this time Annas was the high priest because Rome preferred him, but Caiaphas was the high priest that was originally selected by the Jews to be the high priest.

We aren’t really sure who John and Alexander are—it is not John the apostle, it’s a separate individual and many scholars believe it’s the son of Annas, who later becomes the high priest. Alexander might have simply been someone related to the families of the priests, but we aren’t too certain.

However, we can be assured that what was occurring was something of great concern to the Jewish leadership—otherwise, they wouldn’t have involved both high priests, the families of the high priest, and all the extra people.

All these people gather around the apostles and the Sanhedrin asks the apostles a simple question, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

In a sense, their question is a little foolhardy because in both of Peter’s recorded sermons, he’s only preached one name and one power.

Acts 2:22-24, makes it clear that Peter’s primary point is that the Jesus whom they crucified has now been raised from the dead by God. A few verses later, we read about how Jesus now sits at the right hand of God reigning.

When the listeners are convicted for their sins and ask Peter what they can do about their conviction, he tells them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ

In Acts 3:1-10, when Peter and John heal the lame man at the Beautiful Gate, Peter says that it is “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth” that the man should get up and walk.

And as Peter preaches his second sermon, it’s clear that the name that he is preaching and the power that he is proclaiming is Jesus.

Despite all this, the Sanhedrin asks them “by what power or by what name did [they] do this?” And of course, the answer is simple.

We see the answer to the question in vv. 8-10, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 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 him this man is standing before you well.”

Note that Peter’s answer is directed towards the Rulers of the people and elders, which specifically refer back to the Sanhedrin, the rulers of the Jewish people.

But the answer is no different than the various other times that Peter proclaimed the name of Jesus.

He is clear, he is concise, and he doesn’t beat around the bush.

And note, that in vv. 9-10, he calls them out for their sins again.

He says that if the reason for their examination is because they did a good deed by healing a crippled man, which that is definitely part of the reasoning for their questioning—this gives us some insight into the moral depravity of the Sanhedrin—we see this issue again in v. 16, because they acknowledge that what happened was a notable sign from God and yet, they still reject the message of God. They are sinning.

He calls them out, again, for Jesus’ crucifixion—again, the fact that they not only rejected the Messiah, but they actively participated in His murder—they sinned.

And just as he did with all the people who heard him before, he calls them to a realization of who Jesus is and he calls them to repentance in vv. 11-12, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Peter utilizes the illustration of construction to drive home his point in these verses, which might sound unusual when you consider the point that the Sanhedrin and the High Priests were all very wealthy people, so they wouldn’t have a lot of hands-on experience with building anything, but consider the time-period.

The second temple was rebuilt in 520-515BC, which was about 550ish years from the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

550 years is a long time for any type of building and thus, King Herod offered to build a grander temple for the Jewish people in 18 BC (not for altruistic reasons, but rather for his own benefit). The new temple that Herod agreed to build for them, was still under construction at this point in history and since the High Priests, Pharisees, and Sadduccees—really the Sanhedrin gathered to meet every day, they would’ve seen the construction of the temple as an ongoing project.

So, while they didn’t have hands-on experience, they had seen probably one of the largest construction projects occurring during their life-times in their area.

So, Peter utilizes this illustration to say that the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders are the ones who were building this building, but the stone that they rejected as part of their building—Jesus, happens to be the cornerstone that they should’ve built their entire structure on.

In that type of building construction, the cornerstone was and is the most important part of the structure—the cornerstone was the first stone laid and special care was taken to be sure that this cornerstone was absolutely square and measured correctly.

Because every other stone laid after that was laid based on that first cornerstone—thus, if they messed up the cornerstone, they mess up the entire building.

And Peter says the one whom they rejected “has become the cornerstone,” which means that the entire structure that the High Priests, Pharisees, and Sadduccees have built is completely wrong because they didn’t have the correct cornerstone to measure everything else off of.

Why is Jesus the cornerstone? Because of v. 12, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which you must be saved.”

Jesus is the cornerstone because He is the name by which you must be saved.

Jesus is the cornerstone because no other name can save you.

Jesus is the cornerstone because if you miss Jesus, it really doesn’t matter what else you can build, it’s going to be wrong because you’ve missed the most important point—Jesus.

Note, that even though Peter doesn’t say, “you need to repent” in this conversation that he has with the Sanhedrin, it is implied. The passage then continues with the Sanhedrin hearing the apostle’s response to them, realizing that they needed to do something if they were going to retain their power and authority, and charging the apostles not to speak.

We see in vv. 13-18 how exactly the Sanhedrin plans to deal with the situation at hand. Vv. 13-14 give us their initial impressions and then vv. 15-18 tells us what they command the apostles to do.

In vv. 13-14, we see their impressions, “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.”

Peter and John had a certain amount of boldness that was palpable, the people could see it and feel it—I think we can see it in the way that they respond to those questioning what they’re saying. They don’t hesitate to tell the truth, they don’t beat around the bush, they don’t try to backtrack to cover their reputations or anything like that.

They simply tell the people about Jesus, call the people out for their sins, and call them to repentance over and over and over again.

The perceiving that they were uneducated and common men sounds a little derogatory and honestly, it could have been; or it could have simply been that the Sanhedrin recognized by how Peter and John spoke that they hadn’t been educated in the Law of God the same way that they had.

There was a certain way that the Pharisees and Sadduccees spoke about the Law of God and the Scriptures as a whole and that way of speaking would’ve been taught to them as they intensely studied under a rabbi—and clearly, Peter and John didn’t match their idea of what an educated person sounded like.

By calling them uneducated and common men, they were pointing out that they sounded just like the average person walking the streets, and yet, despite this, they could tell that the apostles “had been with jesus.”

Patrick Schreiener explains the significance of this statement. He says that this probably doesn’t imply illiteracy, but it could simply mean that they were not from the right “school” or differently put, since they were from a “lower class” they were seen as uneducated. Schreiner says, “They lacked the formal scribal credentials. Peter and John are not among the ruling class, but the Jerusalem leaders recognize these men had been with Jesus. Luke deftly indicates they had received the best training in the secrets of the kingdom of God from their teacher . . . Their authority came not through positions, political stations, or social status but rather their proximity to Christ. The [Jewish] rulers cling to their established authoritative positions. But a new authority has apocalyptically arrived and granted his empowering presence.” (Patrick Schreiner, Acts, Christian Standard Commentary, Holman Reference, 2021, 178)

Not to mention not only could they tell that the apostles had been with Jesus, but the healed man presented a problem for them as well. How could they oppose what the apostles had said when there was a fully healed man who formerly couldn’t stand, now standing beside them?

So, in v. 15, we see the apostles leave the room and the Sanhedrin conferring with one another and in v. 16, we read, “‘What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.”

Notice the problem at hand for them. They don’t want to believe what Peter and John are preaching, but there is actual physical evidence of a miraculous moment at hand.

So, what can they possibly do? They can’t just say, “no, this actually didn’t happen” because the people can see that it had happened.

And unlike previous times where they entertained the idea of “getting rid” of certain people, they don’t entertain that thought this time.

Really, the only thing left that they can do is what they do in vv. 17-18, “‘But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.’ So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.”

Again, they see the physical evidence, which means that they know that Peter and John are telling the truth—they just don’t want to believe what they’re saying.

We could postulate all sorts of ideas as to why this is the case—it could be because they don’t want to lose the power and authority that they had built up as the leaders of the Jewish people or it could be because they didn’t want to appear foolish because of these uneducated, common people proving them wrong.

Regardless, we could simply say it like this—they refused to admit what was right and they sought to quiet the apostles because of their own sin.

They literally tell the apostles that they are “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” And that might have worked (1) if the apostles had simply lied about Jesus and (2) if the apostles feared man rather than God.

In vv. 19-22 then close this section by giving us the response of the apostles to the Sanhedrin’s commands and the immediate result of their response.

The Sanhedrin demands that they stop preaching about Jesus and in vv. 19-20 we see Peter and John’s response, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

How do Peter and John respond to the Sanhedrin’s demand? In our modern-day vernacular, it might have sounded something along the lines of “you can make your own decision about whether we should follow you or God, but we’re going to follow God.”

This isn’t the first or only time that Peter will make a statement like this to the authorities. Acts 5:28-29, the same council confronts them “The high priest interrogated them saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than man.’”

And really, this idea shouldn’t surprise us, especially with Jesus making the clear statement, in John:14:15 “15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Because they love God; because they love Jesus, they realize that following Jesus and obeying Him is far more important than following what the human High Priests say.

Which of course, is not the response that the Sanhedrin wanted and vv. 21-22 then tells us how the Sanhedrin responds and how all the people outside of the Jewish ruling party responded to the healing of the man, “And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.”

Because of Peter and John’s response, they continue to threaten them, but since the people saw the miracle and they recognized it as a miracle done by God through Peter and John, the Sanhedrin was left with not being able to punish them, so they let them go.

Note the contrast between how the apostles firmly believe that they need to obey God; whereas, the Jewish leaders are swayed by the voice of the crowd—if the Jewish leaders were actually following God then what the crowds wanted, wouldn’t really matter to them.

The uneducated, common apostles follow the plan of God by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and Luke, by mentioning that this man who was healed was more than forty years old, makes it clear that he had become a symbol of great hope to a people that was disenfranchised as a nation.

Now, in the remaining few moments, I do want to help you see the application that this passage gives; and in order to do this, we’re going to look at the entire historic narrative as a whole.

Application

Now, remember that all that is in this text was precipitated by Peter and John preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who witnessed the healing of the lame man. If it weren’t for this—their preaching and the miraculous healing of the lame man, the Sanhedrin might not have stepped into their way; but note that the reason the apostles were arrested was because “they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” And it’s clear that despite the miraculous healing of the lame man, the council doesn’t want to accept nor believe what Peter and John are proclaiming, which again, is nothing more or less than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because the Gospel opposes the council’s ideology and desire to retain power, the council tries to silence the apostles, which clearly, doesn’t work. So, how do we apply a passage like this? There are two statements that are affirmed by this passage that our application is then built on—(1) People will oppose the proclamation of the Gospel (1-12) and (2) People will try to stop you from proclaiming the Gospel (13-17). Both of these lay the foundation for what our application is—that the proper response to people’s opposition of the Gospel is to continue preaching and proclaiming the Gospel (18-22), let’s work through these ideas:

People will oppose the proclamation of the Gospel (1-12)—we see very clearly, that despite having evidence in the form of a miraculous healing done by God through Peter, the council or the Sanhedrin—made up of the ruling members of the Pharisees and Sadduccees and the High Priests didn’t want to believe. It wasn’t a matter of them needing more evidence, it wasn’t a matter of them being uncertain—they knew what had happened, they knew that the healing was done in the name of Jesus Christ, and really, the council (which are the same people who were in power during the crucifixion) knew all that happened with Jesus, His body, and His resurrection. We learn some significant details from this:

Most people oppose the Gospel regardless of how much evidence you give them—there’s a reason why Jesus says that the way to life is narrow and few find it and broad is the path to destruction and many find it.

The reality is that the majority of people are going to reject the Gospel because man loves darkness rather than light.

Now, of course, that doesn’t lessen the responsibility that believers have of proclaiming the Gospel, nor does it diminish the need of personal evangelism.

What it does, is it helps us process why some people simply do not seem to “get it,” repent and believe.

In the case of Acts 4, the Sanhedrin see a physical miracle take place and refuse to believe—I can’t help but to think of the rich man in hades crying out for Jesus to send Lazarus to warn his brothers and Jesus’ response is, “they have the prophets and the patriarchs” meaning the Old Testament Scriptures; if they refuse to believe the Scriptures, they won’t believe even if someone is raised from the dead.

Some people will always reject the truth, but we don’t know who will and who won’t, thus we proclaim the Gospel to everyone and everywhere.

In addition, some of those people who will reject the truth will also openly oppose the proclamation of the Gospel by trying to prevent you from proclaiming the Gospel (13-17)—and usually, they happen to either be the loudest or they have a modicum of authority on this side of eternity.

For instance, people who already have a platform (like Bill Nye or Richard Dawkins) or people who seek to develop a platform through loudly proclaiming their disdain about God (like the person described in Romans 1 who knows the truth about God, suppresses that truth, and professes to be wise when revealing that they’re really foolish).

And really, we can postulate all sorts of reasons as to why some people are like this, but the reality is that the answer is simple—they don’t want to believe in God, so they refuse; and they don’t want others to believe in God, so they spew out heresies to try and convince others to not believe.

We really ought not be surprised that people are so vile towards the truth of Jesus Christ—He, Himself said that if they hate you it’s because they hated Him first.

Occasionally, the push back and opposition against the proclamation of the Gospel will be more subtle—like in the case of the apostles who were simply threatened and told not to keep proclaiming or it make get more oriented towards physical hurt and death for proclaiming the Gospel.

Some people who openly oppose the Gospel will do whatever they can to stop the proclamation of the Gospel.

We shouldn’t be surprised by it, we should expect it because Jesus told us to expect these things, thus we continue to proclaim the Gospel to everyone and everywhere.

The proper response to this opposition and disdain towards the proclamation of the Gospel is to continue preaching and proclaiming the Gospel (18-22)—as Peter and John say to the Sanhedrin, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

Even when culture and society pushes against the Gospel and you proclaiming the Gospel to all that will listen—the only proper response to this is to continue proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ.

Of course, there is a loving way that we can do this; and of course, in light of Acts 4, we can tell that not everyone will agree and accept the truth.

But the reality is that the truth that not everyone will accept the Gospel shouldn’t prevent us from continuing to proclaim the Gospel

In fact, it should encourage to keep proclaiming the Gospel because unlike God, we don’t know who will accept Jesus or reject Him.

And we don’t know who will reject Him now, but in a year or five years or ten years or maybe even towards the end of their lives, come to the realization that they need to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Just like the apostles, “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” if we are truly believers in Jesus Christ.

Now, the push-back usually falls into two categories: (1) either we think we aren’t qualified to proclaim the Gospel, so we don’t say anything or (2) we’re worried that they’re going to reject us, so we don’t say anything.

But take a moment a think through this passage again—the Sanhedrin marveled at Peter and John because they were “uneducated, common” men.

According to the Sanhedrin, Peter and John were completely unqualified, but the reality was that they were qualified: how? Because they knew Jesus.

According to worldly standards, Peter and John sound like the educated elite, but the reality is that their personal relationship with Jesus qualified them to speak the trust of Jesus’ Gospel.

How did their personal relationship with Jesus qualify them? Because Jesus qualifies the unqualified through the grace of God—He equips those who seek to follow Him and do the work of ministry

Jesus equips those who are willing to serve Him.

The Sanhedrin rejected the Gospel—we very clearly see this, but Peter and John aren’t really phased by their rejection. Why do you think this is? Let me offer two reasons:

The Sanhedrin didn’t reject the apostles, they rejected Jesus—the Pharisees, Sadduccees, and High Priests didn’t reject what the apostles said, they rejected what Jesus said through the apostles.

Or in other words, the rulers of Judaism during the book of Acts rejected the what God had spoken through the apostles, not what the apostles thought.

Thus, why would they be phased by the rejection of the Sanhedrin?

No, they determine instead, to continue speaking the things that God had taught them and shown them through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Or in other words, the proper response to the rejection of the Gospel or the opposition against the proclamation of the Gospel is to keep serving God and keep proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ.

Put simply, Acts 4:1-22 teaches us that there will be opposition against the proclamation of the Gospel and some people might even be nasty concerning their rejection of the Gospel—don’t be surprised by this. (1) Trust Jesus, (2) keep serving Him, and (3) keep proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

They aren’t rejecting you—they’re rejecting Jesus; they aren’t opposing your opinions or ideology, they’re opposing God’s Word. So, keep doing what God has called you to do—trust Him, serve Him, and proclaim the Gospel anyway.

Pastoral Prayer

Congregational Singing

I Will Glory in My Redeemer (196)