Acts 4

You know guys, in our lives, there are a lot of things that we are willing to speak with boldness about. In Wisconsin, we are really bold about our sports, and we are willing to defend the Packers to the death. We are really bold about our favorite movies and tv shows. We are willing to tell anyone who will listen about what this show we watched. We are really bold about our favorite food and restaurants. I’m bold about the fact that taco bell is the greatest restaurant of all time. There are a lot of things that we are willing to go out of our way to bring up just so we can talk about them. When we bring these things up, we are willing to be super bold about them, argue with others about them, and stand up for our opinions and what we think is true.

But my question for you all is, are we willing to be that bold about what we believe in when it comes to our faith? Are we willing to be as bold about sharing the gospel as we are about telling people what show they should watch and who the best sports team is? Like I’ve said before, we’re often not bold about these things because we’re afraid of getting rejected and afraid that we don’t know enough to have gospel conversations. We’re so bold about so much, but when it comes to the gospel, satan often has us frozen in fear, right where he wants us. But because of some people 2,000 years ago who weren’t afraid, and were bold about their faith, you and I are here today, eating nachos, worshipping God and spending time learning from his word.

Let’s all grab a bible and open up to Acts 4:1–4 Where we see this boldness for the gospel on full display.

“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.”

Nothing can stop the gospel

Here we see the priests and Sadducees getting annoyed because Peter and John were proclaiming that Jesus had risen from the dead. Now the Sadducees were a group that rejected the idea of a resurrection from the dead, so in their eyes, Peter and John were preaching a false gospel. They say to themselves, we’ve gotta do something with these guys, they’re causing problems with that they’re teaching, so they arrest Peter and John and throw them in prison. In the minds of the religious leaders, they might have thought they were solving their problem, except we know that’s not the case because of what happens next.

We’re told But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.”

Even though Peter and John faced being thrown in prison, it didn’t stop the gospel. Nothing can stop the gospel from advancing. If you try and share with a friend and they aren’t open to it, guess what, that’s not going to stop the gospel from advancing. All we can do, like Peter and John, is to be faithful to what God has called us to, which is to go and make disciples.

We see that faithfulness in Peter as we continue through the scriptures.

Acts 4:5–12 “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.””

Persecution leads to boldness

I love these sets of verses, because Peter and John were just arrested for preaching Jesus, and when they are asked the next day by what power they healed the lame beggar, they double down on their answer. Peter says,

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.

Instead of backing down because he was thrown in prison for preaching Jesus, he just preaches Jesus even harder. I love this because this is so opposite from what we tend to do today. When we get rejected, we tend to say, okay they don’t want to hear it, I better just stop talking about it. We close up and we become afraid that if that person didn’t want to hear it, then maybe no one will want to hear it. But Peter and John do just the opposite, the persecution faced of being thrown in prison just led them to be even more bold about the gospel. In these last few verses, we see why.

Acts 4:11–12 “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.””

Why was Peter bold?

Salvation is found in Jesus alone

There is no other way to be saved except for Jesus. Our sins separate us from God, but paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. Do we believe that? Do we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life? If we believe that, it should completely change the way we go about sharing our faith. Rejection shouldn’t stop us from sharing, it should fuel us even more. If we believe that anyone who dies apart from putting their faith in Jesus alone will be separated from God in hell for all eternity, that should lead us to a sense of gospel urgency. We can’t back down, because we have the only hope for all humanity, and we have been entrusted to share that. Every single day people are dying and going to hell because we have been too afraid to share the good news of Jesus with them. You don’t have to be a pastor, you don’t have to have a bible degree to do this, you simply have to rely on Jesus.

Acts 4:13 “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.”

Do people recognize that you have been with Jesus?

Peter and John did not have a formal education. They hadn’t sat and learned at the temple under the rabbis and teachers. Yet, they spoke with more boldness than those who had. The religious leaders were astonished at this. They couldn’t believe that someone “uneducated” could speak so boldly about the scriptures and about messiah. Let this be an encouragement to you all today. You don’t have to be a pastor who has a formal education and a degree to speak boldly for Jesus. You also don’t have to be a Christian for fifty years to know the Bible and be bold for Jesus. Peter and John were with Jesus for three years, and it changed their life. They didn’t have a formal education, but it was recognized that they had been with Jesus. Is that the case for your life? Do you make time with Jesus a priority in your life? Have you spent the time reading the bible, talking to God in prayer, being encouraged by your small group, so when you do share the gospel, you can do it with boldness? Peter and John had spent three years learning from Jesus and were now putting into action. That’s exactly what we want for you guys here. We want this to be part of your training. When you leave here, we want you to be able to go in boldness, and confidence that you can share the good news of Jesus with the same power that Peter and John were able to.

What made Peter and John different wasn’t that they had all the answers.

It wasn’t that they had the perfect words.

It wasn’t that they were naturally fearless.

What changed everything was that they had been with Jesus.

And when you have been with Jesus, you can’t stay silent forever.

So here’s the question I want you to leave with tonight:

Who has God placed in your life that needs to hear about Jesus?

Maybe it’s a friend. Maybe it’s a teammate. Maybe it’s somebody you sit next to in class every day.

You do not have to know everything.

You do not have to have a perfect speech ready.

You just have to be willing to be faithful.

Because nothing can stop the gospel.

Not rejection. Not awkwardness. Not fear. Not the fact that you feel unqualified.

God has already chosen to use ordinary people—people like Peter and John, and people like you.

So this week, don’t just pray for boldness—step into it.

Start the conversation. Ask the question. Share your story. Tell someone who Jesus is and what he has done for you.

Because there is no greater news in the world.

And one day, somebody’s eternity could be different because you were willing to speak.