BOLD OBEDIENCE
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on August 23, 2020 under 2020 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; August 23, 2020 from Acts 4:5-31
Theme: The people of God must be faithful to God in the way that they obey God rather than man.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
Click HERE for the live-stream archive of this sermon.
Many of us have been paying attention lately to what has been happening to Grace Community Church in Southern California. This church has chosen to hold large, in-person worship services in defiance of California state restrictions during the pandemic—in spite of the threats of large fines or possible jail time. Many in the nation are watching carefully to see what the results of all of this will be.
Now; I’m not planning to speak to that specific matter this morning. Personally, I am quite satisfied with the idea that each individual church needs to make its own decisions on when and how to hold public services. But watching what has been going on has raised a very important question: What do we do when the ordinances of government seem to collide with the commands that the Lord Jesus gave to His church? There’s no doubt that we will be facing such situations often in the future; and as followers of Jesus, it’s important that we handle such situations rightly. We absolutely must remain faithful followers of Jesus in the way that we respond to official challenges to our obedience to Christ our Lord.
And as I was thinking of that whole issue recently, I just happened—in my daily reading of the Bible—to encounter a passage that gives us a great deal of instruction on this matter. It’s found in Acts 4. This morning, I ask that we explore the story of what happened; and then draw out some principle that will help us know how we—as the people of God—are to be faithful to God in the way that we face such challenges.
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Now; this passage tells us about what happened shortly after the church had been born. After Pentecost, the apostles Peter and John had entered the temple to worship; and on the way in, the Lord performed a remarkable miracle through them. A man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was made whole by the power of Jesus; and he began leaping for joy, and praising God, and clinging to Peter and John. And as a great crowd of Jewish people drew around them, Peter took the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. Around two thousand Jewish people believed on Jesus that day—right there in the temple.
But it was then that the authorities stepped in. Acts 4 tells us that as Peter and John spoke, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came and arrested them—“being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” They put them under custody. Acts 4:5-7 says;
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?” (Acts 4:5-7).
This was obviously a very official assembly of civil leaders. But notice Peter’s brave response to these leaders of the people:
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).
The boldness with which Peter spoke was from the Holy Spirit. The leaders could not help but recognize this. What a problem this presented to them!
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” (vv. 13-17).
Those last words are particularly important to notice. The leaders were preparing to tell the apostles to no longer speak or teach about Jesus. But just a little while after the Lord Jesus was raised from the tomb, He had told the apostles that they would receive power after the Holy Spirit had come upon them, and they would be Jesus witnesses “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. He had given them the Great Commission to go forth and preach about Him to the world. These leaders, then, were preparing to command the apostles to cease doing what Jesus had specifically told them to do.
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 (vv. 18-22).
So, there was the situation. The Lord had given His followers the Great Commission. They were to go forth into all the world and proclaim Him—making disciples of all nations—baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—teaching everyone all that Jesus had said. And the civic and religious leaders of the people issued an official command to them to cease and desist from doing what Jesus commanded. This is a kind of conflict that has happened often in history. And we can be very sure that it will happen again.
And what did the disciples do about it? We’re told in verses 23-30;
And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:
‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’“For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus” (vv. 23-30).
Now; that’s what the disciples did about it. And what did God do in response to what they did? Verse 31 tells us;
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness (v. 31).
That tells us that the followers of Jesus did the right thing in response to official opposition to the command of Jesus. God had put His seal of approval upon their response.
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It is vital then, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that—whenever we are faced with a similar challenge—we learn from this example of the early disciples. The way that we respond to official opposition to the commands of our Lord is very important—particularly if we want the Lord’s blessing upon our response, and if we want to be His effective witnesses in this world.
If we respond to such things in the ‘flesh’—that is, in a manner that is based on human wisdom and human resources—then we are really doing nothing different from those who oppose our faith. They operate in the ‘flesh’ too. But we are not to behave like everyone else. We are the people of God—redeemed by the blood of Jesus—empowered by the Holy Spirit to be Jesus’ mighty witnesses in this world. As the apostle Paul once put it; “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [that is, not based on fleshly principles], 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). The way we respond must be consistent with who we are—and who our God is. We must bear witness to Him in how we do so.
So then; let’s look back through this story again and learn some of the principles it teaches us—so that we are careful, as the people of God, to respond to official opposition against God in a way that is truly faithful to God.
A first principle I would suggest to you is not necessarily one that we see in an obvious way in this passage. It’s something, however, that is implied to us through it. And that is that we must …
1. MAKE SURE THAT IT IS TRULY OPPOSITION TO THE FAITH.
Now, in the apostles case, it was a clear conflict with the command of our Lord. But we are sometimes too quick to think, in our day, of some edict from the civil authorities as if it is an attack on the faith; when it really isn’t. And before we take stand against what we think is a conflict to our God’s commands, we must make sure it really is a genuine conflict. This takes great discernment and leading from the Holy Spirit; and we should conclude that it an actual challenge to God’s commands only when we have no other choice than to see it as such.
I have often looked to a command from Paul in Romans 12:17-18 for help in this. He said;
Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:17-18).
If we can—at all—submit to the ordinances of civil government without compromising the direct commandments of God, then we should by all means do so. We should only resist the commandments of civil authorities when faithfulness to the commands of our Lord absolutely demands that we must.
Another principle that suggests itself from this passage is that—even when we find that a commandment from human authority conflicts with the commandment of God—we must …
2. BE AS RESPECTFUL AS POSSIBLE TO HUMAN AUTHORITY.
Human civil authority can command us wrongly; and when it does, we must obey God rather than men. But we must make sure we do so in such a way as to maintain a reverent respect for civil authority. Peter did this. He withstood the command of the leaders to stop preaching Christ; but he did not speak disrespectfully toward them in the process. He spoke in a way that respected their authority. He referred to them as “rulers of the people and elders of Israel” (Acts 4:8).
This is important; because even when human government commands wrongly, it is still an institution established by God. It is still ‘a minister of God’ within the sphere of life for which He established it. The apostle Paul wrote about this in Romans 13. He said;
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil (Romans 13:1-4).
Governing authorities are human; and therefore, they are capable of error or sin. And when it commands us to disobey God, we must obey God rather than men. But we must never do so in a way that disrespects authority in its proper God-appointed realm. All human government—even bad government; and even a government that threatens the people of God—remains an institution established by God and worthy of respect in its proper sphere.
And so; what happens when civil government threatens the people of God if they obey the command of Christ? The answer is not to resort to hostile rebellion or derisive name-calling. Instead, a proper response begins with—believe it or not—worship. That’s what the Christians did after they were told by the government to cease preaching or speaking about Jesus. They gathered together and reviewed who God is—and they praised Him for it. They praised God that He is the maker of all things. They praised Him that He was sovereign over all the leaders who crucified the Lord Jesus—that the leaders even fulfilled the will of God in doing so. They worshiped the sovereign God—and thus gained God’s perspective in the face of the challenges.
This teaches us that we must …
3. TURN OPPOSITION FROM MEN INTO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR WORSHIP.
We must not look immediately to the men who threaten us; but instead, to the God who reigns over the affairs of even hostile men. In our passage, the disciples quoted from Psalm 2. That whole psalm is a great ‘victory declaration’ of God’s sovereignty over all kingdoms and nations that oppose the gospel of Jesus Christ. It says;
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,“Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:“Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”“I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him (Psalm 2:1-12).
That really puts things in perspective; doesn’t it? We should always remember and review this psalm whenever we are opposed in our faith by the authorities. The first place we should go to is not the Alliance Defending Freedom, or to the ACLJ—as helpful as those organizations may be. Instead, the very first place to go should be to the place of worship—where we regain a vision of our God’s great sovereignty over the affairs of men.
And then, because of how sovereign we see that He is, we should …
4. PASS ALL OF THE THREATS OVER TO GOD.
I love what the disciples said in our passage. They simply said, “Now, Lord, look on their threats …” (v. 29a). I love that; because the moment they turned the threats over to God, those threats became His concern. And when that happens, the battle is basically over!
This is something that the great saints of the Bible often did when faced with official challenges to their faith in God. Think of the three friends of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar threatened them with death if they did not bow down and worship the idol that he made. He warned them that he would throw them into the fiery furnace. But they said;
“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Daniel 3:16-18).
They simply dealt with the threats by passing them on to God. It is completely right for us to do this; because when we are threatened for obeying the commands of our Lord, it is not against us that the opposition is focused, but against the Lord Himself who gave the commands. As the Lord Jesus once told His disciples; “He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me” (Luke 10:16). So; let’s deal with the threats against Him by passing them on to Him directly. He can deal with them much better than we can.
And then, we should …
5. PRAY FOR THE BOLDNESS TO KEEP ON PROCLAIMING JESUS.
After turning the threats over to the Lord, that’s what the disciples did. They prayed, “… and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (v. 29b). The Lord had given them the command to preach. And in the face of the commands from men to cease preaching in the name of Jesus, they responded by asking for the boldness to continue to do exactly what the Lord commanded them to do.
It’s important that we pray for such boldness in those times. Otherwise, we would be relying on our own fleshly power. Even the apostle Paul sought prayer for boldness to preach in the face of opposition. Near the end of his Ephesians letter, he told his brethren to pray; and added,
and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. (Ephesians 6:19-20).
When Jesus commands us to proclaim Him, we ought to speak. And we ought to pray for the boldness to do so.
And then; having prayed—and having faithfully done as our Lord tells us—we should …
6. TRUST GOD TO VALIDATE HIS OWN WORD.
As we saw in our passage in Acts 4, the disciples also did this. After they prayed for boldness to faithfully proclaim the word about Jesus, they expressed their trust that God would confirm His word “by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus” (v. 30).
It’s not up to us to prove God’s word to the world. It’s not up to us to convince the unbelieving world that the gospel is the truth. It’s just our job to boldly proclaim it—trusting God to do the work of bringing the truth of it to bear in the human hearts that hear it. This was the confidence of the apostle Paul. He was imprisoned for preaching the gospel. But he wrote;
Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained. (2 Timothy 2:8-9).
We are to pray for boldness to keep on obeying our Lord’s command to us—trusting Him to validate the truth of His own word.
And let me add one more thing. Again, this is not found directly in our passage; but it is strongly implied in it. And that’s that we should …
7. ALWAYS REJOICE WHEN CALLED UPON TO SUFFER FOR JESUS’ SAKE.
Those early disciples didn’t walk around with a defeated attitude when commanded not to preach, or when threatened with punishment for having done so. They didn’t express anger and rage. They didn’t complain. They didn’t speak derisively of their leaders and call them bitter names. Instead, they rejoiced! In Chapter 5—after the officials called the disciples to task for continuing to preach; and after Peter even declared, “We must obey God rather than men”—we’re told;
… and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (Acts 5:40-42).
When the civil authorities command us not to obey our Lord, and when they actually threaten us or harm us for obeying Him, it is actually a cause for rejoicing. The apostle Peter—who was among those who were beaten in the presence of the council for preaching—once wrote these words:
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy (1 Peter 4:12-13).
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So; whatever the situation may end up being for the large church in California, we can be sure that there will be many challenges to our obedience to Christ. Many of those challenges will come from official and governmental sources; and they will be directed at the commands of our Lord.
But when they come, let’s by God’s grace remember to faithfully be the people of God in how we respond. By doing so, we bear a great and powerful witness to this world.
EA
