Distractions and Persecutions

We know from chapter 3 that Peter and John are going up to the temple to pray that day, and we also know that along the way they saw the man that was lame from birth, and he was healed. Peter told him in the name of Jesus to rise up and walk, and that's exactly what happened. And of course all the people saw, and in verse 9 it says all the people saw him walking and praising God. And so it was a big deal, this was a huge deal, and so it grew a crowd because this man, they had known him from birth, and he was lame, and now all of a sudden he's praising God, so it was a huge thing. But you know what, Peter uses this opportunity to begin preaching a powerful message that proclaimed Jesus as Messiah. And as he was doing that, Peter got, you know, Peter was a man that told it like it is kind of guy, and he starts blasting them. If you'll look in verse 15, it says, you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead, to this we are witnesses. And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. So Peter doesn't hold anything back, he blasts them right out of the water. And then he tells them, okay, you know, this has happened, you murdered the author of life, but what can we do about it now? He tells them, he tells them in verse 19, he says, repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. So he's telling them that what they can do about it now is to repent and turn away from their sin and come to know Jesus, the author of life. Peter wasn't concerned about rejection, his status, he had no thought of what might happen to him at that point. And we see that that type of confrontation is the type that transforms. Now some of us don't, you know, we avoid confrontation at all costs. Others don't, you know, they deal in confrontation a little easier. But this is the type of confrontation that's born of the Spirit. Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, and he's speaking from a point of strength and power in Christ Jesus. So that brings us to our text today, and as he's talking to the men and women that are gathered there, and we also want to pay attention to where they're gathered. And if you look back at chapter 3, verse 11, it tells us that, you know, they had gone up to the temple, but they're out there in the portico called Solomon's. So it's the temple area, and we don't want to forget that. So we're going to begin reading in verse 1 of chapter 4.

Now we want to take a look at that phrase, that they came upon them, because in the original language that actually means that they came upon them with great anxiety and anger. Just from the tense and the voice of the Greek word, it means they literally grabbed them. So it's a violent act done with malice in their hearts. And now we want to take a look and see who exactly is involved in this scene. Is it crooks? Is it robbers? Is it the type of person that you would think would be intent on doing evil? No, it's the priests. It's the ones who were supposed to represent God. So in the middle of all this crowd, here comes the religious community, and they're getting ready to protect their territory. Now in our world, every day, somewhere, unless you have your head in the sand, you know this to be true, there are beheadings, there is crucifixion going on, there's rape and torture, and those are very, very vivid marks of persecution. And we have to ask ourselves, how would you and I respond if we were threatened like that? Indeed, how would we respond if we were under restriction and persecution? And we need to be answering those questions because persecution may be upon us in our lifetime. Now Sue gave an example in our lesson this week about a boy whose mother, I think it was at the end of day two, about a mother who had put some scriptures in the little boy's lunch, and when he got to school, all the other children were kind of curious, and he began sharing those with his friends, and the mother got in trouble for doing that. I have another example. You know, in August, you remember that the state of Louisiana was under siege once again, under water, and I came across this story at that time, and I actually, I don't know why, but I printed it out, and so I wanted to share. This law enforcement officer says he was asked to leave a Red Cross shelter in Lafayette, Louisiana, after he prayed with several flood victims. And he tells the interviewer, he said, I was not proselytizing, he told me. I was just there to thank volunteers and offer prayers and encouragement. He was dressed in uniform, and he was holding a Bible. At some point during the visit, the volunteer approached him and mentioned that there was a problem, and he said the Red Cross had an issue with me being there. So I asked him what the problem was. He looked down at my Bible, and he gestured and said, they have a problem with that. Meanwhile, a pastor in the town of Albany told me that four families left a Red Cross shelter after they were told they could not pray or read their Bibles at their cots. Because what they want to do is they want to accommodate all faiths while not offending anyone. And the point is that this officer wound up going outside the shelter and praying with people that needed prayer. But, you know, we need to be aware that this is happening all around us. And those are examples of persecution that are going on, but it's not, persecution isn't always that obvious. We need to be aware that the church is still persecuted in the same way that we see Peter and John being persecuted here, and that's through the religious community. And that happens through false teaching, half-truth, watered-down gospel, politically correct doctrine. And it's very, very subtle, but it's very effective. Why? Because it weakens the church. It weakens the body of Christ. So if we could be more like Peter and John in our everyday lives and lay down our lives for Jesus' sake, not be concerned about what might happen or what someone might think of us, it would be a good thing. Now we want to take a look at verse 1. And I did do quite a bit of research on the Sadducees because I really knew, I have known for a long time that they didn't believe in the resurrection, but I didn't know a whole lot more about them. And so I did some research, and I found out that the captain of the temple was actually kind of a policeman. And we also want to make note that, you know, if you read the Gospels, you see that the main opposition came from the Pharisees. And their name kind of dominates in the Gospels. But here in the book of Acts, we see the Sadducees are the opposition. Now the Sadducees, both groups were wealthy, but the Sadducees were filthy rich. I mean, they were extremely wealthy. And they liked to scratch Rome's back, and they really didn't care about the people. They were a small group, but they were very dominant in political influence. And religion was a social institution, nothing more. The Sadducees believed that only the written law was binding, none of the oral tradition that the Pharisees loved. They loved that, but they didn't care that much about that. So they also did believe there was no resurrection of the body, no future reward, and no future punishment. And they also believed that the spirit world was a myth. That man was a master of his own destiny, and there's no such thing as God's sovereignty. So basically, I don't even know, what did they believe in? But in any case, it says in verse 2 that they're greatly annoyed. And that word means that they were in a terrible, terrible mental anguish over what was going on here. It was the kind of anguish that's based on indignation and wrath. And they were extremely, extremely uptight and angry. Verse 2 also tells us why they were furious. It says because they were teaching the people. Because they thought they alone had that right. No one else had it. And here these guys were doing it right in the middle of the temple area. They believed they had a corner on the truth and no one else. They thought they were right and no one else. The other reason they were so annoyed is because they were preaching Jesus and the resurrection. They were claiming that Jesus is alive. Now, you might want to stop and think about that. These men are claiming to be eyewitnesses and that must have been kind of fearful for the Sadducees because after all they are the ones who helped crucify him. Then over in verse 13 we see another reason they were furious and that's simply because they were uneducated and common. Those words mean that they were ignorant of the rabbinic law. They haven't been to the right schools. They were just commoners. They're not professionals. They weren't priests and so we want to make sure that we understand why they were annoyed. Now in verse 4 it says that even beyond this persecution, many came to know Jesus as their Savior and it says that the men numbered 5,000 and that men doesn't mean mankind like you and I are part of the men that way, but it strictly does mean the gender. So we know from that verse that many, many more because ultimately the women and children weren't counted. Lots of people came to know Jesus under this persecution. We see that that's the fruit of that healing of the lame man there and even though the persecution was right there in front of them, people were getting saved because they saw what God had done through the lame man. Now persecution always brings growth in the church and we want to we want to examine why and the simple reason of it is when persecution comes upon the church, those who aren't really serious about their faith, they're going to fall away. They're going to just drop off like flies because persecution is tough and so what you have left are just those who are willing to suffer for the name of Jesus. Okay so in verse 5 it says,

Now some of the names are familiar here. We know that Annas and Caiaphas were involved in the business with Jesus there in his trial but we do see a couple of names we're not familiar with and that would be John and Alexander and from what I read and studied on it seems like the high possibility are these are some sons of Annas. So it doesn't really matter who they are but you know I just thought I'd throw that in but we do know here that these people, all these that are named, they made up the Sanhedrin and the Sanhedrin had 70 members and then you would add the high priest so there were at least 71 here and we want to, that's you know quite a crowd that came upon Peter and John. You got to realize that this is a tough thing for the Sanhedrin to swallow because they're still, after all of this, they're still not rid of Jesus. Now I want to point out one thing here just so you can get it fixed in your mind in verse 7. It says that they had set them in in their midst and what I learned is that in the Sanhedrin had a place where they usually assembled and it was called the place of the Hall of Hewn Stone. So it was a place where they carved out a big room and they would all gather in one spot like up here. They would put the those on trial in the middle and then the high priest would stand behind them. So the Sanhedrin would be looking at the accused and also at the high priest and so it was in this room and they would gather in a semi-circle and you know and go after it. So that kind of gives us a picture of what it was like. Now think about it. This is so exciting because God has done something amazing when you when you picture that scene. He has just given Peter and John an amazing opportunity to reach those in the Sanhedrin and that's cool. You know sometimes those that oppose us think they have us backed into a corner but there's always under persecution avenues are opened up that wouldn't ordinarily ever happen and we need to see this that that's not just true of Peter and John but it's true of you as well and you need to grab on to that that that any time there's any sort of persecution there's an opportunity. God is giving you an opportunity. We see you know if you look back in verse 3 of chapter 4 you know when they were first arrested did they fight back? Did they utter you know did they try to defend themselves? No they didn't. They submitted to what God was about to do. They trusted that God knows what he's doing here and they they didn't know what it was but they submitted and so he got in this verse is showing us I mean he puts us right where he wants us to be right in front of the Sanhedrin and that's why we too need to be be submissive. So isn't it really cool when we see in verse 7 that then when the Sanhedrin addresses the accused they open up with just exactly the right question just exactly a lead-in perfect lead-in for Peter and they say by what power and what is what they're saying is by what what magic are you using? They didn't believe in the power remember they don't believe in that and so they're saying what magic are you using to have made this man well and then the second question is saying by what who's authority who gave you the authority to do what you just did who who gives you the authority to heal people and to teach the way you do they ask that very simple question and it was exactly what was needed to open the door for Peter to preach. But I want you to see that Peter and John's submission back in the beginning was key to everything. Okay so in verse 8 it says

What powerful powerful words. Here we see that that they are filled with the Holy Spirit and they begin to make their point that an injustice has been done here for doing a good deed for for allowing God's spirit and power to heal this man. They are establishing that we've really done nothing wrong and but remember in saying these things who they're talking to who Peter is addressing because their their belief system the Sanhedrin's belief system is you know in total opposition to what Peter is saying. So the name of Jesus no other name and that's an unpopular thing for them and for you and I to say there is no other way to God except through the name of Jesus. Now we've just seen here that some ways that we need to respond to persecution is to be submissive and to be spirit filled and to boldly use it as an opportunity and to to be obedient. We're going to see that. Okay in verse 13 it says 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. Now I want to just say that is something that we need to to focus on and we Sue focused on it in our lesson material is that you know can can I can I be recognized as such as someone who has been with Jesus? Does he have his does he have his mark on you? Can you you know are you shining that light and we need to we need to answer that question. Now they had no respect Sanhedrin had no respect for these men because they were uneducated, they weren't priests and all of those things. But even worse, they were from Galilee. They were just, they were considered trash from Galilee. But the scripture says, but seeing the man, so we know that the healed man is still with them. Says, but seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. So this is a tough problem for them, a real tough problem. So it says that they know that they still have Jesus in their midst. They haven't gotten rid of him. They couldn't argue that it had happened. They couldn't deny it, but they wouldn't accept it. And that is what we run up against sometimes. And maybe that describes you at one point in your life, where you couldn't argue with the facts. You couldn't deny the facts, but you had a hard time accepting it. But we need to recognize that that's the blindness of sin that does that. And that's what is going on here with the Sanhedrin. So it says that, in verse 15, it says, when they had commanded them to leave the council, so in other words, they kicked them out of the hall of Hewnstone for a while. And then it says they began to confer 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, it says in verse 18, they called them, so they brought them back in. And they charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. They wanted to be rid of Jesus, you see. 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. So we wanna see here that they've been bold, they've used this opportunity to share Jesus Christ with anyone within hearing. And now, Peter is saying, no, we're gonna be obedient no matter the cost. Now, some of you might say, well, yeah, but doesn't the scripture also say in Romans 13 that we're supposed to submit to those in authority over us? Yes, it does, but not when it's in conflict with the commands of God. And so, Peter's reply is within the commands of God. And isn't it interesting, as we reflect on the church universal, the church in general today, is that the early church had to be told to be quiet with their boldness, but the modern church has to be told to speak up. Because we're so intimidated by other people, we're so fearful of what the truth might, the hardship that might come on us. And as a whole, that is true of the church. It says that they brought them back in and they reiterated they were going to be obedient. And then it says in verse 21, when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people. See, there was a crowd of people out there, and they were all praising God for what had happened. And it reminds us that this man was more than 40 years old. I mean, this was a big deal, like I said. And so it says when they were released, they went to their friends. They were bound to those who were like-minded. They went to receive report, to give a report, and to receive encouragement from their friends. And so they went to there, and the thing that we wanna see is that persecution draws the church together. It emboldens the church, it strengthens the church, and that's what we see here. It says in verse 24, when they heard all that the chief priests and elders, what the Sanhedrin had said, what they had done, it says that they all lifted their voices together to God. In other words, they blessed the Lord. They came back with praise. And they didn't have a laundry list of more requests from God. God was doing this work in their midst. And so they offered up this prayer of thanksgiving and praise. And then it says in verse 29 that as they're praying, they say, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. You see, they're asking God for boldness, continue, keep us faithful, Lord. And he says, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus. So it says, 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. So they continued to evangelize, they continued to minister to the crowd. And that's the point, ladies, is that when we ask God for power, he delivers, he delivers. And then we see that in verse 32, to the end of the chapter, we get a picture of what true unity looks like. We get to see the innocence of the early church, because it says that the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. And we already know that there are thousands already, don't we? And so we see that beauty right there of how they cared for one another and how they loved one another. But I also wanna just remind you that those of us that have given birth, and the first time you lay eyes on that baby, that first baby especially, because we all come into motherhood not really knowing what it is. And so you've given birth and you hold that precious little one. And you can't imagine the sweetness of this little one. But it doesn't take you very long to see that they're just little sinners. You know, really. And we're gonna see that next week, is that it doesn't take, and we see this beautiful picture. But it isn't gonna take long before sin enters the church, before they're not of one accord. And so we need to think about that, not belabor the fact, but continue with boldness with the time and place that God has placed us in. We have work to do, ladies. We have work to do. His work, not ours. His agenda, not ours. But we wanna look at this and know how to handle persecution when it comes. And so I just wanna reiterate, you wanna be submissive. You want to ask God to be spirit-filled. You wanna boldly take that opportunity. You wanna take it and use it. You wanna be obedient to God no matter the cost, no matter the threats upon you. You wanna bind yourself with other believers. You wanna hang out with those who are like-minded. And that's what we all are here in this room, is like-minded, or we wouldn't be here. And during persecution, you wanna continue to lift the name. The name that is above all names. And bless the Lord for what he's doing, what he's doing. Now, I wanna close with this. Probably, I don't know, 25 years ago, when I had kids at home and I was teaching them. And we used to have a big bulletin board in our kitchen. And I had a great big huge map up there of the world. And I followed along. I was a member, I guess, of Voice of the Martyrs. I got their newsletter and their magazine and stuff. And so we would look at that and we would pray over some of those nations that God's word would flourish there. And the thing about it is when I started studying for this, I decided I wanted, I got on their website just to check it out. And I was astonished because I'm a saving Sammy. I went to my file cabinet and I actually still have a map with that on there. The map of the world and the different colors indicate the severity of the persecution in that country. And so I got on Voice of the Martyrs and looked and it's very sad because there are more countries that are being persecuted now. And those that were kind of a certain color are now red. And that's troubling, but that also means that the church is flourishing. It's flourishing. It's gonna grow. When it dies is when we're just on easy street here. And it might surprise you to know that I discovered on the website there that, I did check out a couple websites on persecution. But Iran is the fastest growing church. On the planet, isn't that cool? But they're being persecuted. And this is their message to us, and I printed it out. So I wanna finish with this. It says, there are many American Christians who look at what's happening in our country. They look at the presidential elections. They look at the Supreme Court decisions. And they say, oh, no. The government is turning against Christianity. Christian principles are no longer being honored in Washington, DC. What's going to happen to us? We can take a cue from our Iranian brothers and sisters in Christ. The people of Iran would say, hang on, serve the Lord, and see what he does. We're not dependent on the government. We're dependent on Christ. To be clear, persecution is not something to be sought after for the sake of persecution. Religious freedom is an ideal to be sought after and advocated for. But when persecution does enter our lives, we can respond as Paul did in 1 Corinthians 4, 12. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. Therein lies our witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therein lies our opportunity to share our eternal hope with others who see us responding to hurt and shame in a way that doesn't make sense to the world. So let's not make sense to the world. Let's be different than the world. Let's pray. Father God, we worship you. Father, for who you are, we lift your name. Father, I pray that your spirit would move among us as we discuss this passage. Lord, we pray that you would help us to walk it out in our daily lives, that we not be fearful, but that we look boldly to you. Empower us, God, to be your people and to walk with you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.