Acts 4:23-37 - The Spirit gives us boldness

There are things in this life that are difficult to define. For instance, this morning we are going to consider boldness.

Well, I found some things that might help us define boldness…

For instance, did you know that potato chips can be bold, or Chex Mix could be bold?

Did you know that a variety of sodas and drinks can all be bold?

Did you know that water, yes even water, can be bold.

Did you know that Chevy Corollas are bold?

I bet you didn’t know that Manwich's could be bold.

“Bold” was a catchy advertising word in the 90s.

But what does scriptural boldness look like?

Context:

Peter and John arrested for healing a crippled man in Jesus’s name.

The church practiced empathy and were driven by the mission of God.

They respond by praying.

Prayer is the reflex of the church.

This is their first instinct in everything they do!

The theme of their prayer is God’s sovereignty and power.

This reveals how they understood the character of God.

They understood regardless of what influence/authority stood against them that our God is the ultimate sovereign and that it’s through His power and authority they would be delivered.

This understanding of the character of God gives us the big idea:

Big Idea: The Spirit gives us boldness.

Stand to read

Acts 4:23–28 ESV

23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 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, 25 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? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 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 plan had predestined to take place.

Leader: This is God’s Word

Everyone: Thanks be to God.

They structure their prayer in a particular way.

They begin by praising God for His matchless character!

Before Jesus came, God spoke through David to predict the gospel.

The kings of the earth and rulers who’d come against the Lord?

Pilot and Herod—The guys who put Jesus on trial and had Him murdered.

All of this according to the plan of God to redeem His people.

They’re praying to the God who has triumphed over the greatest opposition—Death itself!

They open their prayer by declaring how amazing and wise God is to redeem His people through Jesus Christ.

They begin with an awe of God!

They recognize the divine power and sovereign control God has!

“When we pray to God, we pray to the One who is in complete control!”

This is the foundational driving force of the rest of their prayer!

Acts 4:29–30 ESV

29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Their prayer isn’t to be spared from persecution or hardship.

They’re not asking to be spared from further confrontation or suffering.

Their prayer isn’t inward-driven, it’s outward.

They are praying for mission above comfort.

The threats/hostility are only going to intensify

But they believe that God is sovereign and having more boldness means more gospel preaching!

This reveals a little bit about their treasure.

These Christians knew Jesus was worth more than their comfort, their reputation, and their lives.

They are praying for God’s glory to be displayed!

They’re asking God to advance the gospel because of the struggle!

“Lord, in the face of opposition, don’t let us weaken, compromise, or buckle.”

What if we prayed like this?

Lord, don’t take the struggle, but help me trust you and see you as glorious.

Peter and John were told not to preach the good news of Jesus, but they fired back

Acts 4:19–20 ESV

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.”

They were on trial for preaching Christ.

If we were in a courtroom and we answered like they did, we could be held in contempt of court!

That could mean jail time!

That didn’t sway them— They were resolute! ”We can’t but speak.”

When we realize the weight and the power of the gospel, it has this exact same impact on our lives.

Gospel presentation

I’m a mess! I’m a terrible person! I do my best to be good, but I still fail!

Yet, God was patient with us.

Though we sinned against God in every way.

God sent His Son to live perfectly according to the law of God and gave Him up for us all!

Jesus took the wrath of God for us!

He was crucified and suffered on the cross.

It’s through the death of Jesus Christ that we can be forgiven!

More than that, God raised Jesus from the dead showing Jesus’s victory over death!

We have all rejected God, but now through faith in Christ, we can have life with God again!

This gospel is still available! You can believe in Jesus and be saved today!

This is the lifeblood of our faith.

This is the bedrock of our lives.

These guys prayed like they believed this gospel.

Acts 4:31 ESV

31 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.

They trusted God to given them the boldness to proclaim His gospel.

God is faithful to fill us with His Spirit and empower us to share this message.

Church,

The Spirit gives us boldness to Share the Hope of Jesus

When I first became a Christian, I was convinced everyone was going to become a Christian.

Chris Stevens

“I want you to know and love Jesus.”

Mission statement: We put Jesus first in our lives for our neighbors

Who is my neighbor?

Who do you have a relationship with that doesn’t know Jesus?

Who do you have influence with that doesn’t have a relationship with God?

My neighbor at that time was a kid in my Digital Media class.

Who has the Lord put in your life to share your Hope in Jesus with?

Don’t be disobedient to what the Spirit has for you.

Each of us have been saved to serve.

Well I’m not skilled with the Bible—I’m not a preacher

It’s important for you to know we don’t speak the Word from our knowledge and power!

Look at how they prayed!

God gives us confidence to proclaim

God is the one who stretches out His hand and heals people’s souls and gives them new life in Jesus.

You have a roll to play in this!

God has sovereignly placed you where you live, work, and play to display and declare His glory to the world!

How about we pray for the boldness to step out and be faithful with what we know about Jesus?

This was how the early church operated and it changed everything!

Acts 4:32–35 ESV

32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

The gospel had changed how they lived.

They lived in a unity that was unnatural to culture.

To be a Christian means to live in community with God through Jesus Christ and in unity with God’s people, the church!

They were unified by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

These believers were of “one heart and soul” (v. 32)

They were marked by unity.

This is the ideal portrait of the church.

Although they were perfect strangers, when they met in Christ, they were more intimately acquainted as if they had known one another for many years.

This is how the family of God works.

The gospel makes natural enemies into family.

I love community groups.

In my house on Wednesday there are people who would not hang out on their own.

We did a game called either/or

We do not share common hobbies, trades, preferences.

We don’t think the same, talk the same, act the same.

Yet, we all gather together because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

None of us are alike, yet we’re unified, loved, and adored.

Church,

The Spirit gives us boldness to be together

This is the central building block for the church.

Notice who Peter and John went to when they were released!

Their friends! The church!

This was the central building block for the believers!

They were so unified that it drove them to action.

They were sharing the gospel and even willingly, voluntarily selling their possessions and providing for those in need.

They didn’t need luxury, money, toys, and things.

Together had found infinite value in the gospel of Jesus Christ, so they loved one another freely.

They were marked by unity, mission, generosity.

This is a new kind of life—One we’re not used to.

Some of us may think, “I could never live that way”

This is what life in the Kingdom looks like.

This is what heaven will be like.

Notice how they didn’t brag about what they had given—They’d brag about what they have received—Jesus (v. 33)

They told and retold the story of what they had seen Jesus do.

The Spirit of God was moving through the church out of an overflow of their love for Jesus and one another.

This is a bold way of living.

The church’s life was marked by their absolute trust and dependence on the sovereignty of God and their bold love for one another.

To the outside world, this is crazy, but this is how Jesus said people would know us.

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Concl.

Perhaps you’re struggling.

“Dude, I’m having a hard time. Believing and being.”

You’ve got your hands full of worries, stress, anxiety.

There’s sin you’re not letting go of.

It’s hard to receive grace and boldness when your hands are full.

I want to invite you to let go/surrender.

This lets us step into the boldness the Spirit gives us.

“Bold” isn’t a flavor of chips or water or soda, BUT that boldness should be characteristic of Christians - and that our boldness comes from the Holy Spirit.

Lay everything at the feet of Jesus and trade it for life in Jesus with the church.

There’s so much grace and life to be had in Christ

When we let go of everything that keeps us from Jesus, the Spirit of God will give us boldness to share the hope of Jesus and be together as God’s family.