Episode 7

Good morning everyone…I am so happy to see you all again this morning. Thank you all for joining together in worship. I love so much that we get to worship together and enjoy each others time and enjoy seeing each other in our relationship with the Lord. I love how we can sit here in person as well as online, while sometimes being apart physically, we can together spiritually and be part of a family together…I cannot tell you how much I love that.

Hey, those of you that are joining us online this morning I want to welcome you into our family this morning. I also want to welcome you to join us in person anytime. If you are in Ogle County and searching for a Spiritual home that is focused on growing in our relationship with the Lord, then you will be right at home here on any given Sunday. We are here every Sunday at 9:30am with worship, prayer, fellowship as well as a time to dive into the Word and discover new ways to apply the truth of Scripture into our own lives. That truly is the most important aspect of our time together is learning to apply what the Scripture says and leaving with the courage to live for Christ.

Now, we are currently into the middle of a series called The Book of Acts, an origin story. While we are looking at the first few chapters of Acts we are looking at how the church got to be where we are today. How we got to be here as in the large eternal church, but also maybe a little of how we got to be here as in Leaf River Baptist Church. As a matter of fact did you know that this little church was first gathered together in 1984 and this little church was so engrained in the community that we actually began meeting in the Bertolet Building right in the middle of Leaf River. I mean, the town could pretty much walk to the church and as a church the Gospel was truly the priority. Well, that is really the reality of the early church as well.

You see, as we have been in this series we have seen a couple of very important details about the beginning of the church. First of all we saw that Jesus gave a job to the church. Then we also saw that the first Christians devoted themselves to Spiritual growth and fellowship. Then last week we actually saw that the natural result of discipleship was to share the Gospel. This week we are entering into Episode 7 of our series looking at the origins of the church. This week we will see something pretty powerful, we will actually get to see this idea of sharing the Gospel under pressure...

Actually, I would like to remind you of something that has happened in modern history, as well as something that has happened many many times throughout the history of Christianity. You see, on October 1, 2015 at Umpqua Community College, Chris Harper-Mercer, asked people about their religion, telling them if they were Christian they would go to heaven now…He then proceeded to shoot and kill 10 people, including himself. This is a terrible moment in history and it is reminiscent of the incident in Columbine Texas back in 1999. Every mass shooting is horrific, including what took place earlier this week in Arlington, Texas. However, for believers, these particular instances heighten our awareness that persecution is not always across the ocean. There is an organization called The Voice of the Martyrs that follows various instances of Christian persecution worldwide. I promise you it is more than we would feel comfortable with. Here is the question though…in the face of this persecution, and in the face of the question, “Are you a Christian?”, I imagine, for many of us, we start to wonder if we would have the courage to stand and say “Yes, I am a Christian.”

I hope that we would, but that is a question that many people across the globe are faced with everyday. As a matter of fact, today we are going to look at the first recorded act of persecution the Christian community faced. Will they fold…will they run and deny Jesus like Peter did the night Jesus was arrested? What will the response of this clear persecution be? What will be the natural result of discipleship in the face of persecution?

prayer

Lets read together and discover what this persecution actually looked like.

Acts 4:1–22 ESV

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.

Ok, so I think after reading this, I think you will agree that in this encounter we see

The Boldness of the Gospel

Now, what does that statement mean? You see, the major theme throughout this section of Scripture seems to be boldness. I mean, look at how Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin and did not back away from telling the truth. Even those in the Sanhedrin recognized this and were confused about how these uneducated men were so bold in what they were saying. We’ve actually already seen this boldness if you think back to what we have read previously.

We had Peter who on the night Jesus was arrested ran away and then followed Jesus from afar. Staying just far enough away that he could follow what was going on, but not to close that he would not be seen…At least that was his hope. However, what happened on that night is that he was in fact recognized and he was questioned about his connection with this man named Jesus. Instead of boldly standing with Jesus, Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was. Now we have something else going on…Now as we have seen so far Peter has not just once, but twice stood up in a crowd and explained who Jesus is. Not only did he explain who Jesus is, he explained how sinful everyone listening was. That takes some guts to be honest. I mean, when is the last time you looked someone in the eyes and told them that they were sinning and told them of their need to repent? Thats not always an easy thing to do…especially in the face of a hostile crowd like Peter has experienced.

However, something changed with Peter between the night he denied knowing Jesus to these times of boldly proclaiming the Gospel…What happened? Well, the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to the beleivers and they were empowered with boldness. Actually, another pastor says it this way,

The Holy Spirit provides boldness to proclaim the gospel in the face of persecution—Brad Mills

However, this boldness does not mean that they did not experience fear…No, it simply means their courage is bigger than their fear. Mark Twain tells us that courage is not absence of fear, but mastery of fear. That is the concept that we see in Peter and John throughout this encounter. We know that they still experienced fear becuase next week we are going to look at how they prayed for boldness. They were scared, you and I are scared…however, they did not allow their fear of others control them, instead they relied on the boldness of the Gospel.

This morning we are goin to look at three times they relied on this boldness. First, lets take a look at

Their Arrest (1-4)

Acts 4:1–4 ESV

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.

I want you to notice what is happening here. You see, while Peter and John are still preaching the sermon that we looked at last week, these men walk up and begin to stare at him. We see in verse 2 that they were “greatly annoyed”. Now, I don’t know if you have ever seen anyone greatly annoyed, but they typically do not look super calm…No, I would imagine that these men walked up staring at Peter and John with contempt in their eyes. Peter and John did not stop talking at this point. They did not run away to find a place to hide…no, they stood firm with the boldness of the Gospel.

The Sanhedrin was a court that was made up of 71 people including the high priest and 70 elders. This court was mostly Sadducees with some Pharisees. The Sadducees rejected the doctrine of the resurrection, any idea of an afterlife, they only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament. Actually, this was the same corrupt court that had falsely condemned Jesus to death.

Now, this court was upset for a couple of reasons. First of all, these men were teaching people and that job was reserved for the elite that were qualified…Second, they were proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. You see, it wasn’t the healing of the man that this group cared about…it was the idea of the resurrection. This was upsetting to them becuase they were preaching about the Messiah. You see, Messianic ideas to the Jews meant revolt, it meant overthrowing the foreign overlords…this was not acceptable to the Sadducees becuase they benefited from Roman rule.

Luke takes a moment here to point out something pretty amazing. You see, Luke points out that in the midst of this arrest, people are coming to faith in Christ. Remember how we started this journey with about 120 people…Well, now this says that the number of the men of faith is around 5,000....that means that likely the number of beleivers has grown to over 10,000 people from the beginning of 120 people not long before. Talk about amazing growth. What we are seeing here is the boldness of the Gospel that comes through the Holy Spirit.

Actually, Jesus tells us about this in

Matthew 10:17–20 ESV

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

You know, when we hear about these various stories of Christian persecution we often will begin to question our own faith, right? I mean, if you are anything like me, you will wonder what you would do in a similar situation. Would I be able to say “Yes, I am a Christian.” knowing it would result in my death? That is a question that can keep us up at night occasionally. However, it doesn’t need to does it. Jesus has already promised the Holy Spirit will speak through us when that time comes…and that is exactly what we see happening here at

Their Trial (5-12)

Acts 4:5–12 ESV

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.”

When we read about this trial, what do we notice? Was peter more focused on his defense, or on the Gospel? This was not strategic for Peter. He did not prepare. You see, Peter had been so devoted to discipleship and the habit of reading and praying, but that alone doesn’t explain his boldness here. The text specifically tells us that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit.

He begins in amazement and maybe a little confusion that they were standing on trial for doing something good (9). It was completely ridiculous for them to have been arrested. He doesn’t stay there thought…He transitions to explain that Jesus Christ—whom you crucified, but God raised from the dead—healed this man (v.10). You rejected Jesus, but God has made him the cornerstone (v.11). This is a quote of Psalm 118:22 with one change—he adds “you”, identifying his audience as the builders. Then he finishes by saying that the only way to be saved is faith in Jesus Christ (v.12). Even the Sanhedrin, this great and powerful group must call upon Christ to be saved. There is salvation is no one else…not your rules, not your deals, not your authority…no one else!

Here is the truth though...The gospel of Jesus Christ is not something we should be ashamed of. There will always be those who mock faith in Jesus. Just this week we saw Stephen Colbert mocked Jesus by using a section of Scripture and a picture of Jesus to promote his ideology. Christians will never be without opposition in this world. As much as we long for spiritual renewal, there are others will desire for Christianity to be outlawed. But the courageous preaching of the gospel is as threatening to the kingdom of darkness now as it was then.

The thing is that the gospel’s exclusive claims will always offend people. We see it in Hollywood, we see it in Washington, we see it online…acceptance above truth…acceptance at all cost. What was once seen as sin, later was seen as mental illness is now celebrated as the new normal. We are told that we need to be inclusive in everything meaning that everyone needs to find their own pathway. However, Jesus himself said,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” —Jesus (John 14:6).

To say anything else, is to proclaim a false gospel. Let me say that again…To say ANYTHING ELSE…is a false gospel.

Ok, I want to point something out to you real quick. Maybe you saw this, maybe you missed this. If you will recall then thing that the Sanhedrin was most nervous about was how they were teaching and the resurrection of the dead. Did you notice what Peter boldly proclaimed to their face! He knew what these members of the Sanhedrin believed. Therefore, he knew that his statements could land him permanently imprisoned or dead. You see, the Sanhedrin did not like what Peter said much like our culture doesn’t like it today. They answered by giving

Their Warning (13-22)

Acts 4:13–22 ESV

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.

First the Sanhedrin has a private conversation, and then they will give a formal warning to the Apostles.

They were amazed that these men were bold even though they were uneducated (v.13). They recognized that their teaching was influenced by Jesus—Jesus also left people amazed at his lack of education. Now, we view that positively, having Peter reflecting Jesus, but for the Sanhedrin—who had just played a roll in having Jesus crucified—this was a very bad association.

Now, I want to be very clear here for a moment. It would have been very easy for them to stop Peter and John in their tracks. I mean, all they have to do is go over to Jesus’ tomb and open it showing everyone that these men were in fact frauds…The problem is, at least the problem for the Sanhedrin, is that they were telling the truth. So, instead of silencing these men by showing that Jesus had not in fact resurrected from the dead...It is pretty telling that they just give a warning.

What is amazing…what really shows the boldness of the Gospel is that before the apostles even leave the custody of the Sanhedrin they talk about their commitment to God—effectively saying that they won’t be paying any attention to this warning.

What about you? Later in the book of Acts Luke introduces us to a man named Paul. Paul is a man who started him journey as someone who approved of the persecution of those that follow this man Jesus. Paul was a man who was specifically sent to hunt down followers of this new belief system called “The Way”. However, something happened to Paul…Paul had an encounter with this man Jesus who had himself raised from the dead. This changed everything for Paul. However, Paul experienced both sides of this persecution. Having later himself been arrested and faced with persecution, Paul wrote these words,

Ephesians 6:19–20 (ESV)

and [pray] also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

You see, even if Christians are thrown into prison, or killed for their beliefs, the Kingdom of God will continue to increase. The gospel is inevitably offensive, we read about this throughout the New Testament, we see it every day in our own lives. However, had the apostles taken a less offensive approach—had they attempted to cater to the sensitivities of the culture—had they attempted to couch sin in easy to hear terms, or made excuses for the sinfulness of man—they would have stripped the gospel of its truth and power. Instead, they proclaimed the truth without shame.

Peter and John were not able to speak boldly of the Gospel becuase they are well trained and well spoken. No, Peter and John were able to stand firm in the Gospel becuase The Holy Spirit provides boldness to proclaim the gospel in the face of persecution.

This morning as we close out our worship together, let me encourage you to look for the ways that you can speak boldly for the Gospel. Look for ways that you can impact the community around you with the truth of the Gospel. Look for ways that you can be unashamed of the Gospel at home, in your neighborhood, and maybe most importantly…at work. Let us go to God and ask that he will empower us with a Spirit of boldness for that purpose right now.