Sermon for MHBC (21 February 2021). You can listen on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or our website. Live at 11:00am on Sundays.
Would you agree that there are some disturbing verses in the Bible? Consider these words of Jesus in Matt 5:10–12: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Those should be unsettling. Blessed are you when you are persecuted.
Everything in our culture teaches exactly the opposite. You aren’t blessed when you are persecuted or when you have hardships. You are to be pitied. Our culture says, “You are blessed when everything is going well and no one is upset with you.” But Jesus teaches the opposite.
You might remember that in Acts 3 we saw Peter and John heal a crippled man in the name of Jesus. This gave Peter an opportunity to preach about Jesus. That’s still the situation as we pick up in Acts 4, but now the religious leaders have heard about this healing. And they are coming to stop the preaching of Jesus.
And what we are going to see is that the early church won’t be silent. They are so committed to preaching the gospel of Jesus that no challenge will stop them. As we are thinking about the future and revitalization, you have to know that it won’t be easy. There will be challenges. There will be obstacles. There will be moments of discomfort. But as we will learn in Acts 4, proclaiming Jesus is worth the challenges and God will provide exactly what we need to remain faithful.
Look at Acts 4 v. 1 with me. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them. Remember they are preaching at the temple. The religious leaders come to confront them. The mention of the Sadducees specifically is intentional because the Sadducees did not believe in any sort of resurrection. So it’s not just the name of Jesus that’s a problem. It’s saying Jesus is alive and he is the resurrection. Now why would that be a problem? That sounds like good news. Well it’s a problem if you’re in a position of power and everything you have been teaching is being challenged. It’s a problem, particularly if it’s true that Jesus is alive, because it means they won’t be able to maintain their authority or status. So v. 2 tells us why they are upset: greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. The key is that last phrase in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. That’s the claim. That Jesus makes resurrection possible and available. That phrase, by the way, is a wonderful snapshot of Christianity: in Jesus there is resurrection.
Peter and John have upset those in power. What happens? They are arrested. Verse 3: And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. Now I expect most us would be unhappy if we were arrested for telling someone about Jesus. If we lived in a context where that happens, it might be a strong deterrent for us. But this has been and is the experience of many faithful Christians, and yet it has not stopped them from preaching.
I believe I’ve told you a few months ago about John Bunyan who spent twelve years in prison for preaching. And his imprisonment was by other Christians. He was persecuted for being a Baptist and preaching against the established church. The same, of course, happened here in Virginia as Baptists refused to conform to the state-sanctioned Church of England. One was John Waller, also known as swearing Jack because prior to his conversion he was a fighter and an alcoholic. He was also a lawyer who had prosecuted at least one Baptist for illegal preaching. But this led to his conversion. He began preaching and was arrested for the first time in 1768. Three years later, while he was preaching, the sheriff and a mob dragged him into the street and whipped him. They left him lying in the street covered in blood and dust, Waller cleaned himself up and returned to preaching.[1] In spite of the persecution, these early Baptists persevered.
So Peter and John are arrested. That’s verse 3. What’s striking is the contrast in v. 4: But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. It’s striking because Peter and John are arrested, but yet people believe. In spite of the challenges, they become followers of Jesus. This is true throughout Christian history. In spite of severe suffering, the church has grown during times of persecution. There’s that famous line attributed to the early Christian Tertullian: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” He meant that the church grows under pressure. This isn’t always true of course, but it has been true many times. It’s true today in China as Christianity continues to explode. A professor of sociology at Perdue University estimates that by 2030 there will be more Christians in China than any other country in the world.[2]
The persecution in all these cases is because preaching in the name of Jesus is a threat to power. To say Jesus is king in an ancient Jewish context was to threaten the religious establishment. To say Jesus was king in ancient Rome was to say Caesar is not. To refuse to conform to a state-run church in 17th century England or Revolutionary era Virginia, or modern-day China, is to say that a pure and uncompromising commitment to Jesus is more important than anything in this life. As a church, the same commitment needs to characterize our lives. We won’t impress people with our traditions, programs, and events. The impression comes from the message of and the commitment to king Jesus.
Peter and John are tried before the religious leaders the next day. Jump down to v. 7: And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Here’s what they want to know. Who authorized you to heal a man? How did you do it? Peter is going to give the clearest answer conceivable, and I want you to pay attention to it. As a church, we should be absolutely clear on whose name we stand and on whose power we operate.
Look at v. 8: Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders. Just take note of the fact that he is filled with the Holy Spirit. The boldness to persevere in spite of the challenges is only possible through the Spirit. I’ll show you that at the end of the chapter. For now, let’s keep going with the next few verses:
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.
By what power or name do you do this? The name of Jesus. All who call upon his name will be saved. He is the only hope of humanity. We live in a deeply flawed world. One where people have illnesses. One where people are crippled like this man. One where terrible, unspeakable things happen. One where we all face the great enemy of death. But there is a name given for our salvation. And salvation, as is clear in this passage, doesn’t just mean going to heaven when we die. Salvation means God’s work in all aspects of his creation. Salvation includes physical, social, and spiritual deliverance. That’s why we are talking about a resurrection of the body. That’s not just spiritual. It’s not just enlightenment. And Jesus has and is disrupting the powers of this world that oppress and harm, and when he returns there won’t be a king or president or celebrity or CEO who will stand in his presence. We will all bow. There is no comparable name. He owns the name that is above every other name.
Before we move on, I want you to see one thing in v. 13: 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. I want you to see that Peter and John aren’t some sort of super humans. They are just common men. But look what stands out—their boldness. That boldness is a direct result of being filled with the Spirit. For us at Monument Heights to be bold, we need the Holy Spirit.
The plan of the religious leaders is to silence them. Jump down to v. 17: 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. See the name of Jesus is still the central concern. Pay attention to that language of warning. It can also mean threatening. And we will see that term again later in the chapter. A threat is a challenge. It’s an obstacle. Verse 18: So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. That’s the threat.
Let’s look at Peter and John’s answer: 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. They are committed to serve God in spite of the obstacles. They are compelled to speak about Jesus because they are absolutely convinced. Let me ask you: Are you convinced about who Jesus is and what’s capable of doing? This is the work of the Holy Spirit: to point to Jesus. And for Peter and John, Jesus isn’t a nice thought. He’s a reality. We are compelled to tell what we’ve seen. The religious leaders might not recognize it, but that won’t stop them. Our prayer should be for the compulsion and conviction to speak in spite of the challenges we might face.
Peter and John are released and they return to the other believers and share what had happened. Now let’s look at the response of the church. What do they do when they meet obstacles? Verse 24: And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. What do they do? They unite in a spirit of prayer. And the content of their prayer is so instructive for us. First, notice it’s rooted in who God is and in Scripture. In the next verse, they are going to quote Psalm 2. That starts in v. 25: who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed.’” Then they apply these passages to their present situation. So for them, Scripture isn’t some sort of ancient text. It is a book that informs their present life. Likewise, we must take up and read, and that Scripture must saturate our lives, it must color how we see the world.
Verses 27–28: for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. So that’s the first piece of instruction. To endure the challenges, we must be people steeped in the words of Scripture so that like actors in a play we know the lines and script so well that we can improvise from moment to moment.[3]
The second piece of instruction is what they ask for. Look at v. 29: And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. Now what would we ask for? Deliverance? An end to persecution? They recognize the threats and they ask for boldness to continue speaking. What if we quit praying for our comfort and our success and instead prayed for boldness to be faithful?
They also ask God to show himself in mighty ways. Verse 30: while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. They realize that they need God to move. They realize they are powerless. We must come to the same conclusion. Unless the Spirit moves, our best preaching is lifeless. Without the Spirit and a determined focus on Jesus, we are mere religious folks like the Sadducees, denying the resurrection if not with our words then with our lives.
But notice how God responds to this prayer. Verse 31: And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. God moves. The place is shaken. They are filled with the Holy Spirit. And they receive the boldness they asked for. Here’s a third piece of instruction for us. When the church gathers for united prayer to seek the glory of the Lord, we can expect God to move. That means we at Monument Heights need to unite in asking God to make us bold.
Church revitalization is full of challenges. We are facing a huge task. We are talking about major changes. We are seeking to reach a culture that, according to recent research, is rapidly moving away from Christianity.[4] The task ahead of us is truly massive. Then, there are practical challenges as well. For example, we’ve had a year of a pandemic and three weeks of bad weather. What about the budget? Let me suggest that we learn from the early church, and rather than employing our ingenuity to fix the problems, rather than turning up everyone and shaking them to empty their pockets, we ask God to move. God is calling us to move forward in spite of the challenges. He is calling us to be faithful to his Word, to be committed to gospel community, to walk by the Spirit. What we must resolve in our hearts is that we are compelled to take that path. It will not be easy, but we won’t be alone. I would ask you to go home and pray through this question: Am I willing to move forward in spite of the challenges? Is the gospel of Jesus so compelling in my life that the challenges are worth it? That is the question that we must answer as a church.
[1] https://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/1501/index.php?id=936173
[2] https://time.com/5757591/wang-yi-prison-sentence-china-christianity/
[3] See https://ntwrightpage.com/2016/07/12/how-can-the-bible-be-authoritative/
[4] https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/