MEN WHO HAD BEEN WITH JESUS
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on July 6, 2022 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: July 6, 2022 from Acts 4:1-22
Theme: We will respond boldly and faithfully toward opposition to the gospel if we keep ourselves in Spirit-empowered fellowship with Jesus.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Back in Matthew 10—before He had gone to the cross for us—the Lord Jesus told His apostles that He was sending them out “as sheep in the midst of wolves”. He warned them that there would be challenging times ahead for them as they went out into the world as His representatives. He told them that men would bring them before councils and would scourge them in synagogues—that they would be brought before governors and kings for His name’s sake. But He also told them,
“But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:19-20).
In this morning’s passage from Acts 4, we see a remarkable example of how that promise from our Lord was fulfilled.
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The story from this morning’s passage has an immediate connection to the events that we read about in the previous chapter. A man who had been born lame—and who had been begging at the door of the temple in Jerusalem—had been healed in Jesus’ name through Peter and John. A large crowd of Jewish people gathered within the court of the temple because of this; and Peter and John preached the gospel to them. But it was then that the authorities came. They sought to silence the testimony of the risen Christ before it could spread any further among the people.
This passage shows us that, from the very earliest times of the history of the church, God’s people faced times of official opposition to the gospel. We ourselves will experience such times as we faithfully proclaim the gospel. How then did the apostles respond to such times? How did the Holy Spirit manifest Himself through them? And what can we learn from their experience?
We find a wonderful clue to the power of their response in Acts 4:13. The officials saw the boldness of the apostles and realized that “they had been with Jesus”. And so, as Acts 4:1-22 shows us, we—like them—will respond boldly and faithfully toward opposition to the gospel if we keep ourselves in Spirit-empowered fellowship with Jesus.
So; let’s look at this passage, and consider first …
1. THE ARREST OF THE PREACHERS (vv. 1-4).
Luke—the man through whom God gave us the Book of Acts—tells us what happened at the end of the apostles’ great sermon to the people in the temple. He wrote;
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 (Acts 4:1-2).
It’s important to notice that, among this group of agitated officials were the Sadducees. There were two great religious and political parties in dominance among the Jewish people at that time: the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Acts 23:8 tells us that these two groups had a strong division between them;
For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both (Acts 23:8).
So; it’s not surprising that the Sadducees would be upset that the apostles were preaching that Jesus had been raised. But it would have been upsetting to all the leadership of the people; because they had all been involved in Jesus’ crucifixion. It’s always a threat to ungodly earthly rulers whenever the resurrection of Jesus is proclaimed; because it’s a clear reminder from God that there is a power and authority greater and higher than their own to which they must, one day, give an account.
The apostles were preaching a message that threatened the autonomy of the leaders and that had the potential of disturbing their control over the people; and so, Luke tells us in verse 3,
And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening (v. 3).
Peter and John had entered the temple at the ninth hour of the day—which would have been around 3 pm. The day was considered over at 6 pm; and it would have been difficult to gather together a council of the leaders at that time of day. So, the apostles were put in prison until the following day. This shows you how serious these leaders were treating the message of the apostles. The leaders couldn’t merely break up the crowd. They had to try to stop this preaching dead in its tracks; and keep it from spreading any further.
But in a sense, it was already too late. As verse 4 tells us;
However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand (v. 4).
To the 3,000 that we read about in Chapter 2, we now find another 2,000 men had been added. But this doesn’t include the number of women and children who may have believed. In just a few days, the number may have grown into far more than just 5,000. No wonder the leaders were trying to stop it. What a display this was of the power of the gospel! Let’s not forget that, through the Holy Spirit, the gospel is just as powerful today as it was then—and that it will be just as much opposed by the enemy of our souls!
Now; God was sovereignly at work in all this. The night that the apostles spent in jail was allowing time for the Lord to gather the rulers together to hear the message of the gospel; so that it would become just as Jesus once said—“as a testimony to them” (Matthew 10:18). He was making sure that His gospel would be heard by a large number of the rulers.
And so, let’s now consider what Luke tells us in verses 5-12 about …
2. THE TESTIMONY TO THE LEADERS (vv. 5-12).
Quite a group of those leaders had been gathered. Luke wrote in verses 5-7;
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?” (vv. 5-7).
This group included the very same high priest and his father-in-law that had put Jesus on trial a few months earlier, convicted Him of blasphemy, and handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified. It also included John and Alexander, who were also apparently important members of the high priest’s family. In fact—in the providence of God—“as many as were of the family of the high priest” were present and gathered together. Perhaps they were all seated in a circle, with the apostles in the middle. And just think of what they asked the apostles: “By what power or by what name have you done this?” Only God could have brought about a high-level ‘testimony meeting’ like this!
In a sense, it was a silly inquisition. They were demanding that the apostles account for who it was that gave them the authority to do a good deed. But since that’s what they were asking, Peter—who always seemed to serve as the spokesman for the apostles—gave them the answer. We find it in verses 8-12:
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” (vv. 8-12).
Jesus had told the apostles earlier that the Holy Spirit would give them words to speak at such times. And when Peter gave this answer, he was speaking under the empowerment and guidance of the Holy Spirit. This would mean that he didn’t speak disrespectfully or harshly. But because they asked by what name and power this thing was done, he unhesitatingly told them that it was in the name and power of the very Jesus Whom they had crucified—and Whom God also raised from the dead. He even went on to quote the Scripture to them. He pointed to Psalm 118:22-24. It’s a passage that the Lord Jesus even used in His own encounter with the religious leaders (see Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10-11, and Luke 20:17). What a convicting passage this would have been to quote to them! They had rejected the Messiah—the Lord Jesus Christ! They had handed Him over to be crucified! And yet, God raised Him and made Him the chief cornerstone of the grace of God over which they were supposed to be the stewards!
But this wasn’t all just a ‘condemnation’ of the religious leaders. It was also an ‘invitation’. Peter—with perhaps a subtle reference to Psalm 118:14 and 21—was telling them that there isn’t salvation in anyone else but in Jesus; for Jesus is the only one, given under heaven, by which people must be saved. This was proven to all by Jesus’ resurrection. Peter’s Spirit-inspired example teaches us that, when God opens the door for the gospel, we shouldn’t hesitate to boldly and graciously speak the truth—and should always speak with the goal of the redemption of all who hear.
Sadly, however, the leaders didn’t accept the invitation. They hardened themselves even further into more opposition. That leads us next to verses 13-18; and to consider …
3. THE PROHIBITION AGAINST THE GOSPEL (vv. 13-18).
Obviously, the rulers of the people were beginning to realize what they were up against. We’re told in verses 13-16;
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” (vv. 13-16).
There are some situations that the unbelieving world cannot successfully argue against. It might be able to argue with some believers who are powerfully convinced. They might be able to argue against the empirical evidence of a miracle here or there. They might even be able to argue against how the crowds themselves are persuaded that a thing is true. But when someone has truly ‘been’ with Jesus—and when they display the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to declare the gospel in it all—then the combination of all these things becomes unconquerable. It’s like what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5;
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
It all should have been enough to cause these leaders to repent and believe. But they wouldn’t do so. And so, there really wasn’t anything left for them to resort to but raw prohibition against the gospel. In verse 18, we read;
So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus (v. 18).
When unbelieving earthly powers hear the true message of the life-changing gospel of Jesus, and they resort to this, then perhaps we should be encouraged. It may be a sign that God is at work; bringing conviction to human hearts through His gospel.
And that leads us to notice one more thing; and that’s what we find in verses 19-22;
4. THE FAITHFUL STAND UPON THE TRUTH (vv. 19-22).
Luke tells us, in verses 19-20,
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” (vv. 19-22).
Now; it’s important to understand that this was not a vague act of rebellion against leadership. Peter, after all, taught in one of his letters that we are to submit ourselves to every ordinance of man “for the Lord’s sake” (1 Peter 2:13). What was at stake, however, in this case, was very plain. These leaders were ordering the apostles to disobey the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:18-20). They were being told to suppress and resist the work of the Holy Spirit through them (see Acts 1:8). They were being commanded to cease from proclaiming the very message that their Lord and Master had commanded them to proclaim. Perhaps in saying what they said, Peter and John were even declaring that they would accept whatever punishment the leaders may have seen fit to deal out to them for their faithful stand. But for their part, they would not stop proclaiming the good news about Jesus.
Whenever we’re commanded to disobey God, the standard example for us to follow is found in what Peter later proclaimed in Acts 5:29; “We ought to obey God rather than men.” We ought to always obey the commandments of rulers and authorities—so long as those commandments do not conflict with the commandments of God. But as this passage shows us, in times of official opposition, we are to graciously and boldly speak the truth of the gospel at any cost, accept whatever the consequences may be, and leave the results to the hand of God.
And so; what could be done in the face of such confident boldness? The strong command to stop preaching and teaching wasn’t going to work. Luke goes on to tell us, in verses 21-22;
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 (vv. 21-22).
Now; the fact that the crowds saw what had happened, and were praising God for it, could have easily caused the apostles to stay and cause a great deal of trouble for the leaders. But they displayed a gracious submission to the leaders in the fact that they left. They were, after all, under the orders of their Lord who told them to depart from whatever place they were not welcome.
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So then, let’s learn the lesson from their example. In times of opposition, we should recognize that God’s sovereign hand is at work—expanding the message of the gospel in ways that we would never have imagined. But we ourselves will respond to that opposition as we should when we keep ourselves in Spirit-empowered fellowship with Jesus.
AE
