The unstoppable Church

31

A Person with a testimony is never at the mercy of one with a argument

Acts 4:1-22

Acts 4:1–22 NKJV

Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, 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 stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, 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 and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, “What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

By sharing ones Testimony they have the opportunity to lead the lost to the bridge of the Gospel and to that of Jesus Christ

When one see’s a radically changed life this demonstrates to everyone and to anyone who speaks about a theory of change vs actual change

And so contends in

This is the same day when a man who had been lame forty years had been suddenly and dramatically made completely whole in the name and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ

The testimony of This lame man of over 40 years was so powerful that thousands came to hear the Bold proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ thousands were saved

Living Death Vs Lifeless Religious

In this passage I will show you this morning the living faith verses the lifeless religious

We will look to the identification of the parties, look at their reaction of the dead religion

We must refrain from their ways of thought not to get caught up in Religion but in a relationship with Jesus Christ

I want you to consider the precaution The saducees took that was to no avail

These lifeless, these dead, self righteous, religious people confront Peter and John these two Galileans. After their confrontation , we read their reaction, The were “Greatly disturbed” or “Greatly annoyed” in the ESV or Grieved in KJV VS 2

The Greek word here is A vivid word which literally means one who had picked up and moved heavy stones

Something heavy was in their Way the Cornerstone of Christ

These men were dead weight to the Priests, to the temple guards, all the materialistic rationalistic Sadducees Who were the Key religious element in Jerusalem at that time. They were pained , annoyed, grieved

What were they to do with these men who risked turning their way of thought, their authority their power on its head?

In every generation of the church God has been at work powerfully somewhere, However at the same time there have been those involved in a lifeless religion that did not recognise the living faith and at worst opposes it with Lifeless religion

During the early 1500’s William Tyndale who was a extraordinary man of God who was a serious Scholar being fluent in over 7 languages as well in ancient Hebrew and Greek

Tyndale was A Priest in the Catholic Church who began to study on the Justification of Faith alone by scripture alone This was at the forefront of the reformation

At the Time there was not a mass publication of the Word Of God for people to read on their own. The people were subject to the teachings of the Church

This proved to be a difficult situation for tyndale as he recognized many of the church traditions were not in accordance to that of the Word of God. He struggled with the traditions of the church which taught Faith plus works as he saw it was justification by faith alone and that the word was the ultimate authority.

Tyndale said,

“ Christ desires his mysteries to be published abroad as widely as possible. I would that all were translated into all languages, of all Christian people, and that they might be read and known."

He believed in Sola Scripturra which is Latin for by scripture alone. The the people had a right and a duty to study the scriptures for themselves not following the traditions of men through the false teachings of the church

He was Arrested shortly after for translating the Bible into English and was given a chance to recant when He refused he said

"Let it not make thee despair, neither yet discourage thee, O reader, that it is forbidden thee in pain of life and goods, or that it is made breaking of the king's peace, or treason unto his highness, to read the Word of thy soul's health—for if God be on our side, what matter maketh it who be against us, be they bishops, cardinals, popes."

Finally, in early August 1536, Tyndale was condemned as a heretic, degraded from the priesthood, and delivered to the secular authorities for punishment.

On Friday, October 6, after local officials took their seats, Tyndale was brought to the cross in the middle of the town square and given a chance to recant. That refused, he was given a moment to pray. English historian John Foxe said he cried out, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes!"

The lifeless religiousness of the Catholic church set out to stop what they deemed as a threat to their power, authority

Back in acts the very thing the priest tried to stop failed number of men grew to about 5000 that were were saved

acts the very thing the priest tried to stop failed number of med grew to about 5000

And in Tydales time the Word of God came to us through King James just a little less than 100 years later The Sadducees The Church could not stop God and His will through His sovereign nature There attempt to derail may have been the very thing God used to move the Gospel

Looking st The unexplainable Acts of God Vs the explainable accusations of men

Looking back to our text

vs 5

The Next Day the rulers the elders the teachers of the law met

When Jesus teaching in the synagogues he confronted the conservative hypocrites named Pharisees

however in Jerusalem it was the ultra librel Sadducees that encounter the Gospel of Jesus Christ

These were the ultra materialistic rationalistic and religious liberals

Who tried to stand in the way of Gods plan through His people

The Conquest of God vs The Pitiful opposition of Man

In the aftermath Peter and John were Confronted

the overwhelming undeniable when they saw their courage, They stood in Awe

Their Speech was A Kind of natural Boldness as a friend would use when speaking to a good friend without fear but out of Love

These unschooled Men These ordinary men They belonged to the mass of the people, They were not accredited teachers they were not of the right religious groups and teachers. How could they Speak such things

They must had remembered what people said about Jesus,

John 7:45–46 NKJV

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

John 7:46–48 NKJV

The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?

John 7:46 NKJV

The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

John

They Spoke with the Authority of the Holy Spirit by the strength of Christ Himself

God is at work in living faith when people hear the message of Jesus Christ and believe

When the Church Stands in the Boldness of their faith through Christ Never compromising, speaking truth The Church becomes unstoppable

Romans 8:31 NKJV

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?