3 Things Every Christian Should Expect (from Acts 4)

Bible Reading

Acts 4:1–22 ESV

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 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. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 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.” 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. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 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. 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. 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, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 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.

There are three things I wish to pull out from this portion of scripture today that I pray would be a help and support to you in your Christian life.

1) CHRISTIAN’S SHOULD EXPECT MIRACLES!

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.

In those days, there were two main religious sects within Judaism. One was the sect of the Pharisee’s and the other was the sect of the Sadducees.

Though the Pharisee’s were the chief instigators in the crucifixion of Jesus (because He rebuked their religious ways and claimed to be God), it was the Sadducees who quickly became the enemy of the early Church.

The reason for this was because the Sadducees didn’t believe in the supernatural.

- They were the rationalists of their day.

- They didn’t believe in angels or demons, spirits, or healing.

- Most of all they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead.

This is why they were so hot on persecuting the early church – because the early Church pulled no punches - they boldly shared of how:

- Jesus had died on the cross for the forgiveness of sin,

- had rose again on the third day, conquering both sin and death,

- and through faith and trust in Him, all could experience eternal life.

Let’s be honest. Here on the Wirral, there are no walking, talking Sadducees (not that I know of anyway). However, I have no doubt that within many Churches across Merseyside there are plenty of Spiritual ones.

For all of you sitting here today, be careful you don’t become a spiritual Sadducee…

- For many of us, although we’d never say Jesus is dead – we can all too often live like he’s still in the grave.

- As believers, we are called to be hopeful, faith-filled Christians, not hopeless, cynical Sadducees.

- I want you to know this morning that you cannot confess to be a Christian and not believe in miracles.

- You say I don’t believe in miracles… I say your faith is founded upon one – the resurrection.

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Paul makes clear that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and raised on the third day.

In 1 Corinthians 15:17-20 he goes on to say that…

17 if Christ has not been raised, (in other words, if the miracle of the resurrection had not happened) then our faith is useless, and we are still guilty of our sins.

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.[1]

The God we serve is a God of miracles. He not only rose from the dead nearly 2000 years ago and He is still giving new life today.

I’d like to introduce a good friend of mine up, Dan, who knows more than anyone that God is still in the business of doing miracles. He’s going to share with you a little bit of his story.

Psalm 86:10 – Indeed, you are great, a worker of miracles. You alone are God!

Matthew 19:26 – Jesus said to his disciples “humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

What are you believing for?

- Perhaps you’ve got family or friends who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

- Perhaps that’s you today – and you’re in need of a miracle. I want you to know that Jesus can provide it.

- I want to remind you that He can turn that situation around today.

- The new job you need or that addiction that binds you, freedom can be found. God is a miracle worker, and all things are possible for Him!

POINT ONE – CHRISTIAN’S SHOULD EXPECT MIRACLES…

2) CHRISTIAN’S SHOULD EXPECT PERSECUTION

In Acts 4 we see the beginning of persecution for the early church, and from Acts 4 onwards, things only got more difficult for those who followed Jesus.

- In Acts 4:21 we read that Peter and John were released from jail with a warning.

- In Acts 5:17, all the apostles were imprisoned, an angel freed them, and after being re-arrested for preaching in the temple, they were flogged and released.

- In Acts 7 we read of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, stoned to death.

- In Acts 8 we read that persecution spread to the whole Church.

- and over the next 300 years, the Church began to face some of the worst persecution in their history, starting with Caesar Nero in AD67 until Diocletian in AD 303

o Christians were beaten, scourged, beheaded…

o Many were given wax shirts and lit as living torches in the gardens of Rome until they died in flames.

o They were given skins of freshly killed animals which were sowed around live men and women of faith and then wild dogs were set on them to consume them alive.

- Christians still face persecution on earth today. Some may think it doesn’t happen anymore but there is an increasing stream of it. From church bombings in Nigeria, to the likes of ISIS beheading Christians for not recounting their faith.

- In the West however, we don’t experience that kind of persecution.

o It’s more a persecution of the ego where we’re mocked, misunderstood, maligned and looked down upon.

o It’s still legitimate persecution but it pales to what is happening to our brothers and sisters in the middle east, north Africa and in the early church.

- As Christian’s, and I say this to myself too, we need to stop trying to get the world to love us, and instead get comfortable with persecution.

- Jesus said in John 15:18-20 - 18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you.[2]

- 2 Timothy 3:12 – All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Not ‘may’ be persecuted but ‘will’ be persecuted. If you’re not experiencing any persecution, the question is, are you living Godly in Christ Jesus?

- If you are preaching the Gospel, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and standing for biblical truth you will experience persecution because the Gospel and are Christian worldview goes against the status quo and society at large. It is definitive, it is exclusive, and it takes the broad opinions of people, and presents a singular, narrow truth.

o It declares we are all sinners in need of a Saviour.

o It declares that there is a righteous way to live, and we must die to ourselves to walk in it.

o It declares that there is only one way to be saved and one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ alone.

Paul says in Romans 1:16 – I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation… May we be unashamed of the Gospel!

Let’s look again specifically at Acts 4:

3 The Sadducees laid hands on them and put themin custody until the next day, because it was already evening (PERSECUTION). 4 But many of those who listened to the message believed, and the number of the men was approximately five thousand (GROWTH).

Notice that the early Church was both attractive and growing yet faced persecution. This is exactly how we should see the Church today; however, this isn’t often the case.

Instead:

1) Some of the Church face no persecution for their faith. This often looks like seeker-sensitivity, underlying cowardice, lack of risk taking and not being bold in our witness to others. It ultimately leads to a lukewarm lifestyle and develops false disciples.

2) Then there is some of the Church that will experience persecution, but there will be no fruit of the Spirit and no attractiveness. For these Christian’s persecution will often come simply due to being harsh, insensitive, and rude. If we find ourselves receiving a lot of persecution with no affirmation, it’s likely that the persecution is not based on our faith, but our lack of Christian character.

3) There’s then a third group, those who receive neither praise nor persecution. If this is you, it’s likely that your walk with God is weak or non-existent. To be a Christian who is winsome and attractive, yet also receives persecution for righteousness’ sake, you must become a biblical disciple of Jesus and His ways.

POINT ONE – CHRISTIAN’S SHOULD EXPECT MIRACLES

POINT TWO – CHRISTIAN’S SHOULD EXPECT PERSECUTION

3) CHRISTIAN’S SHOULD EXPECT TO STAND OUT

As Christian’s we shouldn’t become secret agents for God, doing our utmost to blend in, but we should stand out!

ACTS 4 TELLS US THAT PETER AND JOHN STOOD OUT.

12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

13 The members of the council were AMAZED when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

Peter and John stood out for three reasons:

1) THEY WERE BOLD (boldness given by the Holy Spirit (previously brash not bold, you may not feel bold, but you can be)

2) THEY WERE ORDINARY - God doesn’t called the qualified, He qualifies the called.

3) THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS. If you want to stand out for God in the midst of persecution, make it your aim to know God!

Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16 –

14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. [3]

To conclude, can anyone help me? What was my first point? (ask them to shout out each point)

1. Christian’s Should Expect Miracles… Remember God was a miracle worker then and He is a miracle worker now. Let us guard our hearts from becoming spiritual Sadducee’s.

2. Christian’s Should Expect Persecution… May we be winsome in our witness, but be wise enough as Christian’s to know that persecution is inevitable.

3. Christian’s Should Stand Out… May we be a people that stand out amid our persecution – that people would be amazed at our boldness and witness for Jesus and in turn, come to receive Jesus for themselves.

PRAY – Father I thank you that you are the miracle worker… and not only did you speak forth creation, but you rose from the dead so that we could experience fullness of life in you. I pray that we would be a body of people who would be winsome in our desire to share your message, growing in Christian character, but also aware that persecution is inevitable for those who choose to follow you. Help us to stand out, like a city on a hill, and may we never be ashamed of the Gospel. We pray this all in your precious name. Amen.

- If you’re here and you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, I want to encourage you to take that step today.

- The Bible teaches that without faith in Jesus we are dead in our sin and far from God. But through putting our faith in Christ, that He died for the forgiveness of our sins and rose again, we can experience freedom, forgiveness and relationship with your creator for now and all eternity.

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Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness.

I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead.

I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life.

I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior.

Billy GRAHAM SAID HE HAS NEVER KNOWN A PERSON TO RECEIVE CHRIST AND LIVE TO REGRET IT…