The Cornerstone part 3

Introduction

Polycarp was a bishop of the early church during the latter half of the first century to the mid-second century and a disciple of the Apostle John.

He lived in a time when Christians were often arrested and the Romans attempted to get them to recant their faith in Jesus and make a sacrifice to Caesar in order to show their devotion to Rome. Polycarp, while serving as bishop of Smyrna, was also arrested. He was promised release if he would just blaspheme Christ and say, “Caesar is Lord.” To this, Polycarp responded, “Eighty six years I have served Christ and He has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” Then they threatened to expose him to attacks by wild beasts. He replied, “It is well for me to be speedily released from this life of misery.” Finally, he was threatened with being burned alive. He said, “I fear not that fire burns for a moment: You do not know that which burns forever and ever.”

Throughout the centuries, Christians have faced various forms of persecution for their faith. Even today, in parts of the world, Christians are still killed for their testimony that Christ Jesus is Lord.

And yet, in the face of this, thousands upon thousands of Christians like Polycarp refused to turn from their faith in Christ. They were bold in the face of the worst forms of opposition. They were willing to sacrifice it all, even their lives, for their faith in Jesus.

In most of the Western world, we don’t face these severe forms for persecution. We face a more subtle form of persecution, to be sure, but this kind of life or death stance is foreign to most of us. And, unfortunately, I wonder if this kind of boldness is foreign to most of us as well?

I often wonder this about myself. It’s relatively easy to be a Christian in America today, in comparison with what my brothers and sisters in Christ have faced throughout our history. Would I truly be bold in the face of extreme opposition? I’d like to think so, but I really don’t know. However, to prepare for this possibility, I think we can learn a lot from Peter and John and their boldness when faced with the opposition that arose after Peter healed the man born lame. And, even if not preparing for persecution, I believe that we live in a time when Christian boldness is as necessary as it has ever been, so there’s a lesson for us all here this morning.

Body: Acts 4:1-22

Verses 1-7

The Church’s First Opposition: The religious authorities of the temple.

Priests

These served the temple through administering the morning and evening sacrifices. At this point, many of them were from wealthy, influential families.

Captain of the temple

This was the commander of the temple police force and a member of one of the important priestly families; i.e. a Levite.

He was second only to the high priest, and this position was often a stepping stone to becoming high priest.

Sadducees

This was one of the major religious groups within Judaism (along with the Pharisees and the Essenes). They were predominately in Jerusalem and held prominent positions on the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council.

Sadducees believed the Torah was the only authority and rejected teachings like a Messiah, demons, angels, immortality and bodily resurrection.

Politically they were dependent on Rome, because they were part of the aristocracy. So they’re greatest concern was not theology, but keeping the status quo and thus keeping their financial holdings and political clout. This is what is behind their reaction to both Jesus, and now Peter and John.

Sanhedrin

The Jewish ruling council. It was made of up the high priest, members of his family, Sadducees and Pharisees.

The high priest, Annas and family

Annas was the ‘high priest’ whom Jesus had first been taken too. He was no longer the active high priest, yet he would have been held in esteem because of the position he held. Not unlike a former president. Plus, it is widely believed that he was the real power behind to high priest, since 5 of his sons and one grandson became high priest in his lifetime

Caiaphas was the son-in-law of Annas, and the current high priest. He presided over the trial of Jesus.

John & Alexander were part of Annas’ family, though nothing else is known of them.

Don’t miss the fact that these were the same men involved in the sham trials against Jesus. They probably thought they’d dealt with the “Jesus problem.” How wrong they were!

The reason they confronted Peter and John:

“greatly annoyed” = to be or become greatly irritated or vexed.

“...because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

They weren’t approved teachers...

In fact, they were “uneducated, common men”

They were proclaiming the resurrection of the dead in the name of Jesus...

The Sadducees had much to lose, because if Jesus rose from the dead, they would be discredited because they were instrumental in crucifying Him, but also because they rejected any form of resurrection of the dead.

They were a threat to the status quo, thus a threat to their position and wealth...

This was likely their biggest concern. They served at the good pleasure of Rome, but if Rome was no longer pleased with them they would lose their status, money, and Israel would potentially lose even more (which they eventually did in the war that took place from AD 66-70).

They were successfully convincing people to become followers of Jesus...

We see here that 2000 men came to believe in Jesus, taking the number from 3000 believers to over 5000!

Remember, how the religious leaders tried to cover up the resurrection:

Matthew 28:12–14 ESV

And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”

So clearly they saw that their plan wasn’t working and the Jesus movement they feared was growing.

Thus, they arrested them and held them overnight in order for the Sanhedrin to convene the next day.

This would make Peter and John the first Christians arrested for the faith. They would certainly not be the last, nor the last time these two men would spend time in prison for preaching of Jesus.

When the were brought before the Sanhedrin, the key question they are asked is: “By what power or by what name did you do this [the healing of the man born lame]?”

Clearly, they already knew what power and name they did this in, see verse 2!

Thus, they were really attempting to get Peter and John to commit blasphemy or some other perceived sin so they could rid themselves of these annoyances.

Verses 8-12

“The Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said to them...”

Luke insists here that the reader is reminded that it is not Peter’s own power, but the filling of the Holy Spirit and Peter’s willingness to be filled that allows him speak boldly in the face of this great opposition.

Peter’s answer the their question: Jesus, that’s the power and the name!

Jesus Christ of Nazareth...

...whom you crucified...

...whom God raised from the dead...

By Jesus name this man is healed!

Jesus is the one spoken of in Psalm 118:22:

Psalm 118:22 ESV

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

He was rejected by you, but is in fact, the cornerstone. How so?

Because, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There it is! The Gospel truth that everyone needs to know!

This is the message of the church from these early days of the Christian movement, throughout church history, today, and into the future.

((Read verse 12 again...))

Verses 13-22

“...when they saw the boldness of Peter and John...”

This boldness is a key, particularly when it comes to facing opposition.

“...and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished...”

The Greek words used are αγπαμματος, meaning “unschooled; illiterate or uneducated & ιδιωται, which you can probably tell which word we get from that! But it means ordinary or a layperson, a nonprofessional.

Throughout church history it is so often the laypeople who have set the church in motion. When we depend on “professional” clergy to do all the work of ministry, we find the church stagnate and ineffective.

You know what they means? The church desperately needs more ιδιωταιs!

“...they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

Notice what, to the religious elites, the apostles shared with their Master; he was uneducated to their standards, yet spoke boldly. He was also ordinary to them. And he was a disturber of their peace.

They couldn’t deny the healing, but they could threaten Peter and John not speak or teach the name of Jesus anymore to the people.

Interesting tidbit: Saul may have been present for this meeting…we don’t know. That would explain how Luke knew what the religious leaders talked about when they were by themselves.

Notice the irony here: The accused speaks boldly, while the accusers are timid. Why? Because the accused had been with Jesus!

Peter and John’s answer: “Uh, no!”

“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.”

It’s between you and God if you think listening to you is more important than listening to God!

As for us, how could we do anything but tell everyone what we’ve seen and heard?!?!

So What?

In our last two messages from this section we’ve looked at four foundational truths for the church for all times, in all locations, regardless of the specific mission of the church:

As the church, we point people to Jesus;

We tell people about their greatest need: that their sins need to be forgiven.

We teach people about the Resurrected Savior.

We proclaim the truth that God is restoring all things, as He promised.

But the part that’s missing from this is the reality that when these foundational truths are in place in the church, opposition will arise. In my experience, this opposition can come from inside the church or from outside the church, or from both.

In this passage we looked at this morning we see the first real opposition the early church faced, but certainly not the last. So, what do we see in Peter and John’s bold response to opposition that we can apply to our modern context as we face opposition?

The disciples were bold because they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they were willing to obey the call of God.

Both are absolutely vital:

We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. How?

Receive forgiveness of your sins and become a follower of Jesus...

Spend time in prayer, in studying God’s Word, and with God’s people...

Don’t resist or ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit by giving in to the temptation to obey the world, the flesh and/or the devil...

We must be willing to obey the call of God.

A professed Christian isn’t always necessarily an obedient Christian. But we should be.

Peter was willing to be used of God to proclaim Christ, even though it would bring opposition.

For many believers today, we choose comfort, leisure, perceived safety and pleasure over obedience...

The disciples were bold because their message was more important than their comfort and safety.

Look at verse 12 again...

There is only one way to be saved from our sin guilt: the Cornerstone, Christ Jesus.

The head of NPR was grilled this week in front of congress...Something she said some time before this grilling is so modern and so reflective of our society today. She said: “In fact, our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that is getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done...I’m certain that the truth exists for you. And probably for the person sitting next to you. But this may not be the same truth. That is because the truth of the matter is very often for many people what happens when we merge facts about the world with our beliefs about the world. So we all have different truths. They are based on things like where we come from, how we were raised, and how other people perceive us.”

Now, for a great many people today there is nothing wrong with that statement, as she reflects the view of a growing number of people today that truth is relative and something we discover inside of ourselves.

And yet, this view not only doesn’t make logical or ethical sense when truly explored (for example, if all truth is relative, then there is no real standard for right and wrong outside of majority rules), but more important it clashes with God’s view. In God’s view, truth is something outside of humans. Something we discover outside of ourselves and find in Him, not in ourselves. We seek God’s truth, not our own.

I point this out because for a modern reader, Peter’s statement in verse 12 is close-minded, judgmental, and dogmatic. It is a statement that if proclaimed today will bring opposition. And yet, it is God’s truth.

It is vital today that we teach this, because it’s not politically correct. An increasingly dominate view with many people today is that all road lead to the same place and truth is relative…

Yet there is only one hope! Jesus.

The disciples were bold because their lives were forever altered by their time with Jesus.

I love the end of verse 13: “And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

You see, when a person comes to know Jesus as both Lord and Savior, they don’t walk away the same as when they started.

And the more time we spend with Jesus, the more like Jesus we become.

This shouldn’t be surprising. As we spend time with other humans we tend to pick up things they do or say.

I was laughing at myself the other day...I took a wrong turn somewhere and I said, “Stink!” Why did I say that? Because my wife says it. April doesn’t curse. But, when she’s frustrated about something she’ll say, “Stink!” I wasn’t even thinking about it when I said it, it just came out.

We do that!

It’s true of behaviors as well. It’s why it’s wise for us to consider who we spend time with. If we spend time with people who will influence our walk with Christ is good ways, guess what will happen? And, how about people who will influence us away from Christ’s example?

The point is, when we spend time with Jesus others will see it in our actions.

Part of those actions will be an increasing boldness in our faith. Like Polycarp said, “