How to Handle Opposition - (Acts 4:1-22) P8

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Introductory information

In Acts 3 Peter and John had healed a man who was crippled

This resulted in a large crowd gathering and hearing the Gospel message from Peter

For a while, the Apostles had been preaching against the Jewish leaders.

They taught that the Jewish leaders had led the people astray in killing Jesus, were false teachers, and had been proven wrong by Jesus’ resurrection

The Apostles were leading people away from following the Jewish teachers toward following Jesus instead

As a result, the Jewish leaders were looking for ways to silence or eliminate the Apostles, the same way they persecuted Jesus

READ

Question to consider as we read:

How do we handle opposition to Christianity?

Acts 4:1–22 CSB

1 While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them, 2 because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day since it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 The next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high-priestly family. 7 After they had Peter and John stand before them, they began to question them: “By what power or in what name have you done this?” 8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: 9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was 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 and whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing here before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” 13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 After they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign has been done through them, clear to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.” 18 So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; 20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done. 22 For this sign of healing had been performed on a man over forty years old.

EXAMINE

What are some key points in this passage?

Acts 4:1–3 CSB

1 While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them, 2 because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day since it was already evening.

The Jewish leaders wanted to silence the apostles

The Apostles were pointing out the sin of the Jewish leaders

If the people listened to the Apostles, the Jewish leaders would lose their power and influence

Acts 4:8–11 CSB

8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: 9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was 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 and whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing here before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

Peter directly confronts the Jewish leaders’ ongoing rejection of Jesus

He makes the point that he and John had done a good thing by the power of Jesus - and yet the leaders were still rejecting Jesus

In other words, he was saying the Jewish leaders had a problem with Jesus, not he and John

Acts 4:15–16 CSB

15 After they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign has been done through them, clear to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

The Jewish leaders still chose to reject Jesus even though the evidence for Him was clear

They so badly wanted to stop the Apostles, but they couldn’t deny the miracle that had taken place

The issue was not the lack of evidence for Jesus - it was their own stubbornness

Matthew 13:14-15 [Jesus speaking] “Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You will listen and listen, but never understand; you will look and look, but never perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back— and I would heal them.”

Acts 4:18–20 CSB

18 So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; 20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Peter appeals to God’s authority as the one that both he and the Jewish leaders had to obey

He challenges them with the rhetorical question “who should I listen to?”

This is what the Apostle Paul would later say - Galatians 1:10 For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Acts 4:21–22 CSB

21 After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done. 22 For this sign of healing had been performed on a man over forty years old.

The crippled man’s own testimony was Peter and John’s real defense

God’s work in the miracle was indisputable

Peter and John didn’t need to defend themselves because the good fruit of their action was so obvious

There is also a clear connection between Acts 4:21 and Acts 3:12

Because Peter and John had made the miracle about God and not themselves, it had created a testimony that even their enemies couldn’t find a fault with

APPLY

[Pose the following questions for group discussion, offering the suggested answers below only if the group has nothing to say or drifts too far off topic]

What are the “big ideas” you see in this passage?

Suggested “big ideas”

We must be more concerned with what God thinks than what people think

We have to trust the work of God to speak for itself

And make sure that we are conducting ourselves honorably, to not harm that testimony

How do these ideas apply in your life? or what might be your next step?

Suggested applications and next steps

I have to be more focused on demonstrating the power of the Gospel than defending my beliefs and positions

I have to reevaluate what voices I allow to influence and persuade me

Am I listening to God or “man”?

REFLECT

Prayer Point

Pray for the strength and courage to go against cultural opinion and opposition

Devotional Question

In what unnecessary ways might you feel a need to defend your faith in Jesus?