Acts 4:1-31 - Arrested for the Resurrection

Introduction

[CONTEXT] The early church grew as wonders and signs were taking place through the Apostles.

One particular wonder and sign took place as Peter and John were heading into the Temple to pray. A man who had been crippled from birth was healed by them in the name of Jesus. This man who had never walked before suddenly had strength in his legs, suddenly stood and started leaping into the Temple praising God!

People, of course, gathered around to see what was happening, and marvel when they recognize the lame beggar now leaping for joy!

Peter then seizes the opportunity to preach about Jesus, the servant of God, the Holy and Righteous One, the Prince of Life, the Christ!

On the basis of faith in Jesus, this man was restored to perfect health!

On the basis of faith in Jesus, these people listening can have their sins wiped away.

Every miracle that Jesus ever performed was a sign that forgiveness can be found in Him alone.

His perfect obedience to the Father was the obedience we lacked.

His gruesome death was the death our disobedience deserved.

His resurrection life is the reason we can find forgiveness of sins through faith in Him.

This morning in Acts 4, we have the rest of the story. What happened after the lame beggar was healed and Peter and John preached about Jesus? Acts 4 gives us that history.

Look at Acts 4:1…

[READING]

Acts 4:1–12 NASB95

1 As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, 2 being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. 5 On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; 6 and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent. 7 When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, 9 if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 “He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. 12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

[PRAYER]

[TS]…

Major Ideas

Proclamation (vv. 1-12)

[EXP] Peter and John preached and many believed, but the Temple leadership didn’t like their message. Primarily they didn’t like that Peter and John kept insisting that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

The Sadducees were especially opposed. They didn’t believe in resurrection or life after death because they claimed it wasn’t taught in the first five books of the OT, the only books they held to be spiritually authoritative.

Of course, Jesus had one time reminded them that when God called Moses from the burning bush, He said, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived and died way before Moses’ call to lead the Israelites, but if God was presently their God when Moses was called, then they were alive after death.

Therefore, there is a resurrection after death; there is life after death.

When Peter was interrogated by the Temple leadership, he didn’t hesitate to proclaim Jesus as raised from the dead.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter gave the glory to Jesus for healing the lame beggar. It was by the Name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom they crucified but whom God raised from the dead that this lame beggar now stood before them in good health.

Peter also identified Jesus as the rejected stone that has become the cornerstone.

That language comes from Psalm 118:22, and its easy to see how it applies to Jesus. Jesus was rejected by men to the point that He was crucified, but He is choice and precious in the sight of God, which is evident in God raising Him from the dead (1 Pet. 2:4). Now, the people of God are built upon Jesus the cornerstone (1 Pet. 2:5).

Peter then highlighted the exclusivity of Christ Jesus in salvation.

Acts 4:12 NASB95

12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Because Jesus has been crucified and resurrected, He is the cornerstone; and because He is the cornerstone of God’s people, there is salvation in no one else.

In the ancient world, every stone in a building was dependent on the cornerstone. In the same way, every soul saved is dependent on Jesus.

[APP] The religious leaders were greatly disturbed because Peter and John were proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead, but people today are just as disturbed by the resurrection of Jesus.

If Jesus has been raised from the dead, then Jesus is alive and Jesus may return one day soon to hold me accountable.

That’s why people are disturbed by the resurrection of Jesus.

The religious leaders were no doubt greatly disturbed by the exclusivity of Jesus, but people today are just as disturbed to hear that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

People are disturbed these truths about Jesus force us to make a decision concerning Jesus.

Will we worship Him as Savior and Lord or will we reject Him?

Because Jesus is alive and He is the only way of salvation, you cannot dismiss Him.

You must either decide to worship Him or reject Him, but you cannot dismiss Him.

[TS]…

Intimidation (vv. 13-20)

Acts 4:13–20 NASB95

13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. 15 But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

[EXP] Peter and John were not naturally impressive. They were uneducated and untrained. But in this moment their confidence stood out, a confidence from having been with Jesus. And when threatened, this confidence became courage.

Acts 4:19–20 NASB95

19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

As respectable Jewish men, Peter and John were meant to submit to Temple leadership.

But when Temple leadership told them to stop talking about Jesus, they said, “We cannot speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

[ILLUS] When I was serving as a youth minister back in Mississippi, our pastor noticed that a lot of the Sunday morning conversation at our church during football season revolved around football.

People were talking about football as they got out of their cars and walked in the building. They were talking about football as they waited on the service to start. They were talking about football just as soon as the service was over.

So our pastor said, “Let’s try to remove football from our Sunday morning conversations.”

How do you think it went? Not very well!

People just couldn’t stop speaking about football!

[APP] It might not be football for you. Maybe its movies, fishing, grandchildren, golf, guns, politics, or whatever. We are compelled to talk about what we are most excited about.

Peter and John were most excited about Jesus. What they had experienced with Him, they had to talk about!

They couldn’t keep quiet if they tried!

They wouldn’t keep quiet no matter how much they were threatened!

What an indictment against us that we so rarely speak of Jesus even though we are not threatened.

[TS]…

Supplication (vv. 21-31)

Acts 4:21–31 NASB95

21 When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened; 22 for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed. 23 When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, And the peoples devise futile things? 26 ‘The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’ 27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. 29 “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, 30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

[EXP] What do you do when you’re intimidated at the prospect of proclaiming Christ to others? Make no mistake, Peter and John didn’t just shrug off this confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders. These people were the powerful people. They had Jesus crucified. They could have Peter and John crucified too.

Peter and John knew this was serious so once they were released they gathered with other believers to pray.

This was a significant moment for the early church.

Would it be intimidated into silence or would it continue to proclaim Christ boldly?

In their praying they acknowledged the sovereignty of God and drew confidence as they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

They acknowledged the sovereignty of God by first acknowledging Him as Creator in v. 24.

It is God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, and it is God who said in Psalm 2 that the unbelievers would rage against His anointed.

That happened when Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Romans, and the Jews crucified Jesus, but this too was apart of the sovereign plan of God.

Then Peter, John, and the rest of these believers asked the Lord to take note of their situation (another rage against Jesus the anointed) and give them confidence while God continued to allow them to performs signs and wonders pointing to Jesus.

Acts 4:29–30 NASB95

29 “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, 30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.”

Acts 4:31 NASB95

31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

These people were plugged into Jesus through prayer. Being plugged in, they had power even when threatened, even when things seemed dark.

[ILLUS] There’s a lap in our children’s bedroom. Sometimes its plugged in and sometimes its not. When bedtime rolls around and the overhead light goes off, we sometimes turn on that lamp as the kiddos get settled in.

I twist the switch, and when its plugged in, the light shines.

But when it isn’t plugged in, I twist the switch and nothing happens. The room stays dark.

Prayer is that plug into God that delivers confidence and boldness to let the light of Christ keep shining through us even when we are threatened by those still in darkness.

[APP] There is boldness in prayer that believes God’s sovereignty and calls on Him for confidence.

The confidence that comes through that kind of praying glorifies Jesus because it is a confidence or boldness that He supplies! It only comes to us as we are plugged into Him!

The world is in desperate need of Christians who are plugged into Jesus through prayer, who have been with Jesus through the Word, Christians who proclaim Jesus with joy, Christians who have a humble confidence in Jesus, Christians who have a boldness for Jesus that has been supplied by Jesus.

Does this describe us?

Why not?

[TS]…

Conclusion

[PRAYER]