Tremors of Trouble Acts 4:1-22

Tremors of Trouble: In the world you will have tribulation

Acts 4:1-22

Introduction:  Last week in California they had a small earthquake near Los Angeles. You may have seen the clip where the tremor happened while a news report was on the air live, and the news anchors dove under their desk – they were afraid, and I can’t say that I blame them!  The Haitian earthquake, and the tsunamis in Indonesia and Japan remind us how devastating these kinds of things can be. By California standards, thankfully, this one was just a “tremor”, 4.4 I think. But with the fault lines that run through the state the potential for another devastating earthquake is always there. They’ve had them in the past and they will have them again.  This section of the Book of Acts is going to show the church going through some tremors, and some pretty serious earthquakes, at least spiritually speaking.  Some of the trials come from outside, like we’ll see here in the form of persecution, others come from within as we’ll see with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 and the complaints with respect to the neglected Greek-speaking widows in chapter 6.

       It all starts with the healing of the lame man (3:1-11) which leads into a series of tests, alternating between problems from within and trouble from outside the church:

•      External test: The first arrest, the disciples are threatened (4:3ff.)

RESULT: “…all the believers were of one heart and mind…” v.32

•      Internal test: Ananias and Sapphira lie about their gift and die (5:1-11)

RESULT: “…more and more men and women believed…” v.14

•      External test: The second arrest, the disciples are beaten (5:25ff.)

RESULT: “…they never stopped preaching the good news…” v.42

•      Internal test: The hellenistic widows (6:1-7)

RESULT: “…the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased…”

•      External test: Stephen arrested, and killed (6:12, 7:54 ff).

RESULT: “…those who were scattered preached the Word…” 8:4

One theme that resonates through these chapters is that though the times of trial and testing come, God is faithful, and the church grows through the times of testing. Are you passing through a time of testing right now? Remember how James opens his letter, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance…” (James 1:2,3).  Be assured that Jesus is working, and He will grow you through it, and His good purposes will not be frustrated.

The Big Idea: As we seek to carry out the mission that has been entrusted to us we will encounter opposition. Even so, empowered by the Spirit, we must speak the truth in love.

The Setting for this part of the story is laid out in Acts 4:1-4.  The Lord is building His church, even so, trouble comes. First, the disciples are arrested.  The root problem the Jewish leaders had with the preaching of the disciples was theological. We read, “And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,  ² greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

       The Sadducees were a wealthy and aristocratic group that controlled the Sanhedrin. They were also working with the Romans and were interested in maintaining the status quo. So they did have a problem with the attention the message was receiving, and the response it was getting.  Theologically, the Sadducees denied the doctrine of the resurrection. It was a case of their theological presuppositions trumping the evidence that stood there before them. They were “annoyed” that the disciples were preaching the resurrection of Jesus, and by implication, the future resurrection of believers.  This is a good reminder that we had better be certain that our theology is resting on the sure foundation of the revealed Word of God, and not on what we heard, or what someone told us, or what we always believed. I love the story of the Bereans in Acts 17, on the second missionary journey of Paul. They received the word with eagerness, and then went home to search the Scriptures daily to see if those things were so (17:11).  Whether it’s a Sunday School class, a small group, a preacher you hear on the radio, or what is preached in this pulpit, be discerning, search the Scriptures, test the doctrine against the revealed Word.

       Verses 3, 4 present a summary of this entire section of Acts. Human opposition to the Christ is not able to stifle the growth of the church. “And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.”  The scene is reminiscent of the mob that came to arrest Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane. Considering what happened then, what might you have thought as this story was unfolding? Witnesses to the arrest, and perhaps the disciples themselves, might have wondered if the experience of Jesus was about to be repeated in the lives of his followers.  They had been warned by the Master after all, “Do not be surprised if the world hates you, remember that it hated me first…” (paraphrase, John 15:18).

          Luke immediately gives the readers of Acts assurance that God’s plan will not be hindered by the hard hearts of the leaders: “BUT many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand” (Acts 4:4). This explosive growth itself was also a problem for the Sadducees. It drew attention, and put at risk the alliance they had formed with the Roman authorities. Political expediency for them was more important than an honest seeking after truth. Not surprising when we consider what the Bible says about fallen humans. There is none righteous, no not one. There is none who does good, none who seeks after God. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God and he cannot understand them, for they are spiritually discerned. Paul told the Ephesians they were formerly dead in their trespasses and sins. You get the picture? Deaf, blind, and dead (Rom 3:10,23; I Cor 2:14; Eph 2:1-4)!  It’s no wonder then that as we seek to carry out the mission that has been entrusted to us we encounter opposition!  Even so, empowered by the Spirit, we must speak the truth in love.

I. The disciples stand firm and speak the truth about Jesus (5-12). They could have backed down. They could have been more diplomatic. But they told the truth, not knowing what the personal cost might be.  Remember the story of James Calvert, going out as a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji islands, the Captain of the ship that carried him tried to talk him out of it: “You’ll lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages!” But in their minds, they had already counted the cost. His reply, “We died before we came here!” The disciples in Acts could not be deterred from the mission Christ had entrusted to them.

 The religious authorities, including the family of the high priest gathered to question the disciples (5,6).  The context makes it clear that this was not an investigation into truth, they certainly knew in whose name the disciples were acting!  "By what power or by what name did you do this?"  (7). As if they didn’t know! They were trying to find a basis for condemning them, their actions, and their message.

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…” (v.8). The theological foundation of the book of Acts, indeed the foundation of the missionary activity of the church is revealed in this verse. It’s exactly what was alluded to in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses for Me…”  That language is so familiar we could read over it quickly, without much more than a passing thought. Peter spoke, not out of his own strength or wisdom, but “filled with the Holy Spirit…”  We see this idea of being filled with the Holy Spirit repeatedly in the Book of Acts. It happened on Pentecost in Acts 2, it happens here as the apostles present their defense, it will happen in the prayer room later in this chapter as the believers gather together later in this chapter and it will happen repeatedly thoughout the book of Acts. Paul will say in Ephesians 5:22, “…Be filled with the Spirit…” The language indicates exactly what we see happening in Acts, a repeated ongoing process of “being filled.”  Remember the acrostic: We got RIBS when we believed: Reborn, indwelt, baptized, and sealed!  We are permanently indwelt by the Spirit. He has sealed us and baptized and regenerated us. But the admonition to “be filled” indicates that we need to repeatedly recognize His presence and yield to His guidance, trusting in His power to carry out the mission. Remember the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6).That’s a key point in Acts: this filling of the Spirit is linked to empowerment to speak the truth and carry out the mission.

 Peter then goes on to say,

Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, ¹⁰let 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. 

So Peter makes it clear that this confrontation is really about Jesus, He is the one that healed the lame man, and he says essentially, “Yes, I am talking about the same Jesus who you crucified!”  Now that is getting to the point!

He then points to the Scriptures, alluding to Psalm 118:22,  “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone” (4:11).  They claimed to believe the Scriptures, but unwittingly in their rejection of Jesus they fulfilled the Scriptures and proved He was the Messiah!

Peter then makes a bold and exclusive claim:  “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" (Acts 4:12).  This message was offensive then, and to many it is offensive now. There are not many equally valid paths that lead to God.  There is only one way: through faith in Jesus. Some will take offense at such an exclusive claim, so as we seek to carry out the mission that has been entrusted to us we shouldn’t be surprised when we encounter opposition. Even so, empowered by the Spirit, we must speak the truth in love.

II. The truth is evident, yet the unsaved refuse to believe (13-17).

            “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.”  This was one evidence that should have convinced the leaders something supernatural was going on. These men hadn’t gone to Bible College or seminary, they hadn’t been trained by the scribes or by one of the prominent rabbis of the time. They were “untrained” in terms of their education, and “common” in terms of their natural giftedness.  In other words, they were regular people, yet they spoke with extraordinary boldness.  God is pleased to use ordinary people to bring the extraordinary message of His grace to the world. They could see a difference in these men, and it was connected in some way with their relationship with Jesus.  Are we different because of Him? Have you ever heard the question: “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence for a conviction?” When I see the faith of these disciples in the book of Acts, when I hear of the faithfulness of believers living under persecution, I am convicted, are you?  

“But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.  ¹⁵ But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another,  ¹⁶ saying, "What shall we do with these men? …”  (Acts 4:14-16).

The healed man was right there—what could they say? Incredibly, though they couldn’t deny the evidence, they still refused to repent and believe.  We read in 4:17, despite the evidence, the decision is made to silence the witness: ^“…let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name." Don’t take it personally if your invitation to your neighbor to come to church is rejected or if your attempt to witness to a friend is rebuffed. We plant, another waters, but only God can cause the growth.  As we seek to carry out the mission that has been entrusted to us we will encounter opposition. Even so, empowered by the Spirit, we must speak the truth in love.

III. The authority of God trumps all human authorities (18-22).

And so the decision of the leaders is passed to the disciples, “So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (4:18).  Despite the evidence, they do what they had decided, and order the disciples to stop preaching about Jesus.  What would you or I do if we received such an order? It will never happen, we live in America, right? Can we be so sure?

In verse 19 they answer: ^“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,  ²⁰ for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." YOU tell US, should we listen to you instead of God? We don’t have a choice!   This highlights an ethical dilemma that we will sometimes face as believers. God has ordained authorities, and placed them over us. Romans 13 and other passages make it clear that we are to respect and submit ourselves to those authorities. It is only in those rare moments when delegated authorities are clearly telling us to act contrary to the revealed Word of God that we must choose to obey God rather than men.

 “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.  ²² For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.”  The age of the healed man is given here for the first time. For over 40 years he had been lame and now he stood there, healed. Still, though they had to see the evidence, they would not believe. Why? To believe they would have to bow, and their hearts were still hardened against God.

 The disciples could have taken a safer path. But being a follower of Jesus has never promised to result in a trouble free and “safe” life.  When Jesus called his disciples He warned them to count the cost: “If anyone would be my disciple let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”  We’ve heard that language so much it hardly strikes us as it must have the disciples. To take up your cross was not to bear a hardship. It meant to give up your life.  Against that background we are responsible to be faithful witnesses. We are called to proclaim the truth, and not to whitewash the truth that apart from Jesus, humans are on a highway to hell.  If you knew there was a bridge out, and that someone was in a car heading toward disaster at breakneck speed, wouldn’t you do anything possible to warn them? Of course you would.

What is God saying to me in this passage? As we seek to carry out the mission that has been entrusted to us we will encounter opposition. Even so, empowered by the Spirit, we must speak the truth in love.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? We’ve not had any major earthquakes here in Maine, in recent history. A couple of little tremors. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation…”  We certainly haven’t seen firsthand the kind of persecution that is beginning to develop in this part of Acts and that has occurred throughout the world at different moments in history. But dare we ignore the “tremors” as our society gets increasingly secular and as our evangelical faith is increasingly ridiculed and singled out?  The church in Acts faces a serious of tests, some from within and others from without, but the good news is that Jesus continued building His church.  We may be at a transitional moment in our history. Do we hide under our desk or do we seize the opportunity that we still have to share the Word with boldness. One simple, low stress way of “witnessing” is to invite someone to your home to watch the “cross” video from the My Hope website of the Billy Graham association, or a movie like the passion of Christ, or the Jesus film, and to be ready to talk about what it means to you. Another possibility would be to invite someone to come to church for a special event. Fay Christy will be doing a concert to start off our Missions Conference. Invite someone! Easter is coming, and our Good Friday service. If we embrace our mission, “to know Christ, and to make Him known,” we will look for opportunities to give a reason for the hope that is in us.   Think about that. Better yet, pray about it.         AMEN.