Acts Part 7
Notes
Transcript
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He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
Parents’ Commitment:
Parents, will you commit to trust God’s promises made to you and your children in His Word?
Will you commit to seek God, and seek gospel change in the way you live and parent your children?
Will you commit to discipline your children and show them grace?
Will you commit to teach God’s Word to them and live out the gospel in your home?
Will you commit to pray for them and teach them to pray?
Will you commit to partner with this church community, seek their help and accountability, and lead your children to do the same?
Community’s Commitment:
Mere, will you commit to seek God and seek gospel change in the way you live before these children?
Will you commit to pray for these children—that they will grow to love Jesus and trust in Him?
Will you commit to teach them the gospel through both your words and your example?
Will you commit to partner with these parents—holding them accountable and confronting their sin?
Will you commit to pray for them and encourage them as they face the trials of parenting?
With joy and thanksgiving,
As Christ’s church,
With God’s help,
We promise to love, encourage, and support you
As you follow Christ and train your children in the faith.
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 was a time when the church was very powerful—in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being ‘disturbers of the peace’ and ‘outside agitators.’ But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were ‘a colony of heaven,’ called to obey God rather than men. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be ‘astronomically intimidated.’..
Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure off the average community is consoled by the church’s silent- and often even vocal- sanction of things as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church [today] as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century.” Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail
Big Idea: Courage isn’t fearless, it is selfless.
I. The Gospel is a Threat to the Power of Men (v.1-7)
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
2 Timothy 2:9
for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Winston Churchill
for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
II. The Holy Spirit Empowers Cowards to Speak Boldly to Men (v.8-12)
And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
“The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure.... the new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect…
...The old cross is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-bye to his friends. He was not coming back. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try and keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.” A.W. Tozer
“In the name of not offending anyone, we are in danger of appealing to the virtue of tolerance to becoming more intolerant.” D.A. Carson
III. Jesus-Intoxication Overpowers Human-Intimidation (v.13-22)
Let brotherly love continue.
Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen! -Martin Luther
Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
If I say, “I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.
Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.
Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
But there are worse things than going to jail. After all, one can maintain freedom by simply accommodating to the spirit of the age. The prophet Daniel’s cohorts, those who prayed to the king’s statue, never saw the inside of a lion’s cave. Pontius Pilate lived to a relatively ripe old age, untroubled by the sort of state harassment that did away with the apostles. Judas Iscariot was never arrested for anything, collaborating as he did with the state to carry out their dark mission. Those who fell away from the early church escaped the Colosseum with their lives. All it cost them, was a momentary mumbling of ‘Caesar is Lord,’ and their souls....
it is better for our future generations to be willing to go to jail- for the right reasons- than to exchange the gospel of the kingdom for a mess of Esau’s pottage. Sometimes jails filled with hymn-singing, letter-writing, gospel-preaching Christians can do extraordinary things.” Russell Moore
