Be Bold for Jesus
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Intro
Prayer
When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 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, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Story about me and about how we are often timid about sharing our faith...
Family/Work/Neighbors/Friends
Why are we timid? (fear man?)
Anyone here watch the Super Bowl? Remember the “He gets us.” ads?
In the first ad shown during the game, a photo montage of children helping each other is shown before ending with the statement "Jesus didn't want us to act like adults."
In second ad, there are contrasting images of protests, fights, and arguments, before words appear onscreen stating "Jesus loved the people we hate."
Who knew “help each other” and “love your enemies” could be so controversial...
Knowing our culture, I can certainly understand people who say “and you wonder why I’m timid about sharing my faith.”
Isn’t this a bit like Peter? (deny - fear man?) What changed with Peter?
Start working through text...
When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
So we remember what is going on here, let’s briefly review what has happened so we know what Peter & John are telling their friends - the backdrop to our message today:
Peter & John heal a 40 lame man at the Beautiful Gate in the Temple Mount.
Afterward they were preaching in Solomon’s Porch (Portico) to a vast group of Jewish men.
The Sadducees were upset that they were preaching the resurrection from the dead in the name of Jesus.
Peter & John arrested by the Sadducees and, on the next day, they brought them before the Sanhedrin in the Temple Court.
They were question about by what name or what power the lame man had been healed.
Peter addresses the Sanhedrin and, by referencing Ps 118, he equates the name of Jesus with the name of Yaweh - Israel’s God - and, by doing so, say Jesus is the God and he healed the lame man. (look at where they were at - in the temple of Yahweh.
Jesus is Yahweh (remember Jesus saying “I and the Father are one.” Jn 10:30
They were amazed at the boldness of Peter & John and recognized they had been with Jesus.
Because of the miracle, the Sanhedrin was unable to oppose what Peter said. (remember the purpose of miracles - validate the message / messenger)
Instead, they ordered them to no longer preach or heal in the name of Jesus.
Peter basically says no and that they will continue to share what they have seen and heard (the resurrection, other miracles, and Jesus’ teachings).
So, what did Peter and John understand about Jesus? (That He is God)
Why did they believe this? (Because of the resurrection)
So, last week we discussed the centrality of the resurrection for the Gospel.
Why is it central?
It proves Jesus is God (not just any God - he is Yahweh) AND
In its centrality it forces a decision - either you believe or don’t - as Paul says in Romans 10:9
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
(1. in the Handout) So, what is the first step in being bold? Understand that Jesus is God.
How do we know that Jesus is God? The resurrection proves this.
And this message - the message of the resurrection - is validated by the miracle of healing a 40 year old man who had been lame from birth.
So, now that Peter and John have brought everyone up to speed on what
happened… how do their friends respond?
And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 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, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
Rev 6
So, we have seen that Jesus is God,
Now, what does Scripture tell us?
2. God is Sovereign.
So, they understand that Jesus is God, therefore, Jesus is Sovereign.
And, when we put our faith in Jesus, what does scripture say about our identity?
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
So, Jesus is God, Jesus is Sovereign, and by faith we have been adopted as God’s children.
Do you understand this? Truly understand this?
The “friends” understood this. What was their reaction?
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Now, there are 2 ways verse 29 can likely be read, 1: they are asking Jesus to give them boldness to speak. Right? (If you have section headings in your Bible, it probably says something like “The Believers Pray for Boldness” Maybe that is part of it, but what is the context? What has just happened? (talk about the Sanhedrin)
The other way to read this is (and I think it is the correct way) that they don’t have a confidence issue, they recognize the government may shut them down and they may have an opportunity issue - therefore, they are asking God to continue providing opportunities to share.
How often do we do this - pray for opportunities to share about Jesus? Think maybe we should do it more?
When we understand exactly who Jesus is and exactly who we are in relation to him it is liberating because we know longer need fear anything man can do just as Jesus said.
And we can be bold for Jesus sharing the Gospel.
If you were here last week, you know I kind of harped on the need for the resurrection to have a central place in the Gospel message. No I want to spend a couple minutes on why - and, maybe, for some of you this may be new.
But what is the Gospel - the full Gospel. In order to have a full Gospel, we need to understand the full breadth of our plight, and and the plight of humanity in general. Death, Debauchery & Division (God and others) [DISCUSS].
Have you ever thought about it this way? We need a Gospel that addresses all of these issues - enter the...
Resurrection and the Cross and the Ascension (Jesus going to the Father’s side and sending the Holy Spirit into the world).
Resurrection/Death
Cross/Debauchery
Jesus & Ascension & Holy Spirit / Division
And this doesn’t even address the full scope of “making all things new!”
The cross without the resurrection and ascension leaves us with righteousness - but doesn’t address death and disunity.
The resurrection without the cross and ascension leaves us with life - but an unrighteous one plus disunity.
The ascension without the resurrection (assuming that could be) and cross could give us unity but with unrighteousness and death.
SO - there is a lot to work with - maybe for some people in some cultures or situations the cross takes primary position in your sharing, others, maybe it is the resurrection, others maybe it is the ascension - just don’t limit the Gospel to a particular part.
In sharing, remember People are not projects.
Boldness is not being obnoxious - we speak in boldness - in confidence - not because we have any authority, but because when we share the Gospel we are speaking under the authority of JESUS - the Sovereign God of the Universe.
[In closing]
Do you want to be close to Jesus? (who doesn’t!) Then be bold for Jesus!
As you go out this week, ask God for opportunities to share Jesus, to share His good news - to share the Gospel.