“Obeying Men or God”
Acts 4:1-22
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Introduction: We just read about Peter and John getting arrested for speaking to the people about Jesus. But chapter 4 is actually a continuation of chapter 3, where they healed a cripples beggar. This teaching and healing in Jesus’ name, not only annoyed the Council, but put some fear into them, because they had hoped that after Jesus was killed, the whole Jesus movement would disappear. They are seeing here that this is not the case.
And so we see that they are taken to jail. In the midst of their being taken to jail, we see in verse four that “many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.” In trying to stop this movement by arresting Peter and John, the leaders actually helped the movement, by bringing attention to it and making it hard to ignore.
This morning, I want to use this passage to help us be challenged in our conviction for Jesus, and for us to become more determined to stand up for Jesus. If we want our faith to grow, and if we want to see others grow in faith, then we need to not hold back our speaking about what Jesus has done and is doing in and through us!
I. By the Name of Jesus- (Acts 4:5-12)
a. Peter and John stand strong- We see here the Council is observing the
confidence of Peter and John. Remember, this is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times. These are uneducated and untrained men (except for the training they received from Jesus). The Council recognizes Peter and John as having been with Jesus. And the man who had been healed was standing there with them. At first the Council didn’t know what to say. So they decided to send Peter and John out, and began to confer with each other what they could do. They felt like they had to do something, especially since they had arrested them.
Peter and John had told the Council that it was “by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene that they were teaching and healing. This was what concerned the Council. So when they brought them back in they commanded them not to speak or teach any more in the name of Jesus. Here we see the Council trying to put fear into Peter and John and the other followers. They believed that since they were the authority here in Jerusalem, the people would be guided by their commands. And normally this was true. People are often controlled by the fear that others put into them.
Peter and John’s response is very important for us, so let me read it again: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” On the one hand, God has set up authority around us, and wants us to be subject to this authority. But by Jesus’ example, we see that there are times when what is right to do might go against what others believe is the right thing to do. Peter and John knew that this was one of those times.
b. Brother Andrew- Example: You may have heard of Brother Andrew. As a young man Brother Andrew joined the Dutch Army
looking for adventure, and was severely wounded in Indonesia. He talks about his time in the hospital there in his book, God's Smuggler.
One day while at the hospital he asked the nun who came to bathe him how it was that she and the other sisters were always so cheerful. "Why Andrew, you ought to know the answer to that--a good Dutch boy like you. It's the love of Christ." When she said it, her eyes sparkled, and he knew without question that for her this was the whole answer: she could have talked all afternoon and said no more. "But you're teasing me, aren't you?" she continued, tapping the well-worn little Bible that lay on the bedside table. "You've got the answer right here." Brother Andrew says: “So now, when my restless hand struck it again, I picked it up. In the two and a half years since my mother had given it to me, I had never opened it. But I thought about the sisters, their joy, their tranquility and their saying: ‘You've got the answer right here...’ I propped the little book on my chest, and... moved the pages backward until I got to Genesis 1:1. I read the story of creation and of the entrance of sin into the world. It did not seem nearly as far-fetched to me now as it had when our schoolteacher read a chapter each afternoon, while outside canals waited to be jumped. I read on, skipping whole portions, flipping through to get to the story again. At last, many days later, I came to the New Testament. Lying there encased in autograph-covered plaster, I read straight through the Gospels, catching dimly their terrible significance. ‘Could all this really be true?’ I thought.”
Andrew returned to Holland and continued what he calls his "incredible voyage of discovery.
God ultimately led Andrew into a lifetime of adventures. During the height of the Cold War, communist countries were keeping a tight control on their borders. But Brother Andrew knew he had to get Bibles to the countries behind the iron curtain. He did this on a regular basis, risking his life to get God’s word to people who needed it. Here’s a sample of one of the experiences Brother Andrew had:
“When I pulled up to the checkpoint on the other side of the Danube, I said to myself, ‘Well, I'm in luck. Only half a dozen cars. This Romanian border crossing should go swiftly.’ But when it took forty minutes to inspect the first car, I began to worry...literally everything that family was carrying had to be taken out and spread on the ground. Every car in line was put through the same routine. The fourth inspection lasted well over an hour. The guards took the driver inside and kept him there while they removed hub caps, took his engine apart, removed seats. ‘Dear Lord,’ I said, as at last there was just one car ahead of me, ‘what am I going to do?’ Any serious inspection will show up these Romanian Bibles right away. ‘Lord,’ I went on, ‘I know that no amount of cleverness on my part can get me through this border search. Dare I ask for a miracle? Let me take some of the Bibles out and leave them in the open where they will be seen. Then, Lord I cannot possibly be depending on my own stratagems, can I? I will be depending utterly upon You.’ While the last car was going through its chilling inspection, I managed to take several Bibles from their hiding places and pile them on the seat beside me. It was my turn. I put the little VW in low gear, inched up to the officer standing at the left side of the road, handed him my papers, and started to get out. But his knee was against the door, holding it closed. He looked at my photograph in the passport, scribbled something down, shoved the papers back under my nose, and abruptly waved me on. Surely thirty seconds had not passed. I started the engine and inched forward. Was I supposed to pull over, out of the way where the car could be taken apart? Was I ... surely I wasn’t...I coasted forward, my foot poised above the brake. Nothing happened. I looked out the rear mirror. The guard was waving the next car to a stop, indicating to the driver that he had to get out. On I drove a few more yards. The guard was having the driver behind me open the hood of his car. And then I was too far away to doubt that indeed I had made it through that incredible checkpoint in the space of thirty seconds. My heart was racing. Not with the excitement of the crossing, but with the excitement of having caught such a spectacular glimpse of God at work!"
Brother Andrew could have been controlled by fear. He could have decided that it was against the law to smuggle Bibles. But he did like Peter and John said: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” They were guided by the name of Jesus Christ!!
II. By What Authority- (Acts 4:13-22)
a. Worldly authority- The Council was a formal body of Jewish leaders
that met in Jerusalem. It was made up of 72 members consisting of Pharisees and Sadducees who were priests, elders, rulers, and scribes. They had the most power, authority, wealth, and status. These are the men before whom Peter and John stand. It would be easy to have great fear in this circumstance.
The Council members should remind us of the Wizard of Oz. Remember how Dorothy and her companions came before the throne of the great Oz. A terrible voice thunders: “I AM OZ THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE.” Smoke shoots up, and they are all afraid; all except Toto, Dorothy’s dog. Toto goes over and pulls the curtain aside to reveal a man standing behind a contraption. They then hear, still in the thunderous voice: “PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN.” And they discover that the wizard is a fake.
In this situation, there was a sense that the Council was a fake, at least in regards to having authority over God. They issued threats, but the people knew that what they were accusing Peter and John of was not deserving of any real punishment. If we were to follow the story, we would see that the punishment would get worse, more jailings, hearings, and even an execution. But none of this produced obedience from the followers of Jesus.
Those who have earthly authority are often fooled. They believe that the power and authority they have, they have for themselves. Their pride comes in and controls them, and they use their authority often times for harm, instead of for good. Even if they started out letting God lead them, there comes a time when their own sinfulness starts to control them; the powers of this world controls them; their anger and fear begins to control them. And that is what we see happening to the Council. Instead of making decisions based on what God would have them do, they start to make choices based on what Rome and the other worldly powers would have them to do.
They really get blind to the truth. Blindness is a tricky business. We read in Mark 2:22- Jesus says, “No one puts new wine into old wineskins.” This is where it was tough for the Council. Jesus had come along and brought a new order, and a new authority. But they couldn’t comprehend this in their old wineskins. Only those who gave up the old wineskins could accept this teaching and authority from Jesus.
b. Godly authority- We see here that Peter and John are challenging the
authority of the Council. And they are bold in this challenge. Toss them in jail? No problem. Threaten them? Still no problem. Eventually they will be jailed again and beaten. No problem. Later in the book of Acts we see Stephen stoned to death for preaching about Jesus. They all knew that their authority came first and foremost from Jesus. Their authority was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene.
So what can we learn from their strength?
Let me suggest three things: First, when Peter is accused, it says in verse 8: “Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter said to them…” We see here that Peter doesn’t fight back with the weapons the Council is using. The Council had wealth and political connections, and prominence on their side. Peter could not match that in worldly terms. Peter knew that the cause of Christ would be better served by fighting with the truth and the power of the Holy Spirit. By doing this, Peter confounded his enemies and they released him with a stern warning.
Second, verse 13 says that they had been with Jesus. Peter and John had listened to Jesus, traveled with Jesus, and watched Jesus die. By the witness of the Spirit they had now come to understand the things Jesus taught. Being with Jesus can make a person courageous, wise, humble, sensitive, and strong. We have this option as well of being with Jesus like they were. We find Jesus in Scripture, and we find Jesus in the hearts of other believers. We can be attentive to Jesus by spending time in prayer and in the word. We can listen, and learn from Him, and then apply these lessons that we are taught. If we are companions of Jesus, we will become as the disciples were, changed people as a result. This change will make us bolder.
Third, they acknowledged what they had heard from the Council, but then told them that even though the Council thought it was wrong, they had to follow the voice of the Lord. They had to make a choice of who to obey, and they were going to obey God. The priority in their life was to obey God when it differed from what the religious authorities commanded. And we too need to have this philosophy: “I will obey God rather than men.” When we have this thinking, it will make us bolder, wiser, more influential spiritually, and more authoritative in our speaking and our teaching.
Conclusion: Life has many choices. These choices can cause much confusion. But some of this confusion comes because we don’t know who to follow. Sometimes we follow God, other times we follow the world. And oftentimes it is our fear that leads us away from God to make choices God would not support. As we have looked at this passage in Acts 4, I want to encourage you to make a decision today; choose to obey God. This is not always easy. It will set us apart from our friends, our family, our co-workers. But the alternative is to continue to make the wrong decisions. It is about trusting God.
Example. There is a story of a mother who is baking a cake. As she is baking the cake she asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely, Mom, I love your cake." "Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers. "Yuck,"says her daughter. "How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!"
"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!"To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!"
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why God would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful! When we are obedient to God, God can take each event, and turn it into something wonderful. Let’s make that commitment today, and every day. Amen.
Acts 4:1-22
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Introduction: We just read about Peter and John getting arrested for speaking to the people about Jesus. But chapter 4 is actually a continuation of chapter 3, where they healed a cripples beggar. This teaching and healing in Jesus’ name, not only annoyed the Council, but put some fear into them, because they had hoped that after Jesus was killed, the whole Jesus movement would disappear. They are seeing here that this is not the case.
And so we see that they are taken to jail. In the midst of their being taken to jail, we see in verse four that “many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.” In trying to stop this movement by arresting Peter and John, the leaders actually helped the movement, by bringing attention to it and making it hard to ignore.
This morning, I want to use this passage to help us be challenged in our conviction for Jesus, and for us to become more determined to stand up for Jesus. If we want our faith to grow, and if we want to see others grow in faith, then we need to not hold back our speaking about what Jesus has done and is doing in and through us!
I. By the Name of Jesus- (Acts 4:5-12)
a. Peter and John stand strong- We see here the Council is observing the
confidence of Peter and John. Remember, this is the same Peter who denied Jesus three times. These are uneducated and untrained men (except for the training they received from Jesus). The Council recognizes Peter and John as having been with Jesus. And the man who had been healed was standing there with them. At first the Council didn’t know what to say. So they decided to send Peter and John out, and began to confer with each other what they could do. They felt like they had to do something, especially since they had arrested them.
Peter and John had told the Council that it was “by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene that they were teaching and healing. This was what concerned the Council. So when they brought them back in they commanded them not to speak or teach any more in the name of Jesus. Here we see the Council trying to put fear into Peter and John and the other followers. They believed that since they were the authority here in Jerusalem, the people would be guided by their commands. And normally this was true. People are often controlled by the fear that others put into them.
Peter and John’s response is very important for us, so let me read it again: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” On the one hand, God has set up authority around us, and wants us to be subject to this authority. But by Jesus’ example, we see that there are times when what is right to do might go against what others believe is the right thing to do. Peter and John knew that this was one of those times.
b. Brother Andrew- Example: You may have heard of Brother Andrew. As a young man Brother Andrew joined the Dutch Army
looking for adventure, and was severely wounded in Indonesia. He talks about his time in the hospital there in his book, God's Smuggler.
One day while at the hospital he asked the nun who came to bathe him how it was that she and the other sisters were always so cheerful. "Why Andrew, you ought to know the answer to that--a good Dutch boy like you. It's the love of Christ." When she said it, her eyes sparkled, and he knew without question that for her this was the whole answer: she could have talked all afternoon and said no more. "But you're teasing me, aren't you?" she continued, tapping the well-worn little Bible that lay on the bedside table. "You've got the answer right here." Brother Andrew says: “So now, when my restless hand struck it again, I picked it up. In the two and a half years since my mother had given it to me, I had never opened it. But I thought about the sisters, their joy, their tranquility and their saying: ‘You've got the answer right here...’ I propped the little book on my chest, and... moved the pages backward until I got to Genesis 1:1. I read the story of creation and of the entrance of sin into the world. It did not seem nearly as far-fetched to me now as it had when our schoolteacher read a chapter each afternoon, while outside canals waited to be jumped. I read on, skipping whole portions, flipping through to get to the story again. At last, many days later, I came to the New Testament. Lying there encased in autograph-covered plaster, I read straight through the Gospels, catching dimly their terrible significance. ‘Could all this really be true?’ I thought.”
Andrew returned to Holland and continued what he calls his "incredible voyage of discovery.
God ultimately led Andrew into a lifetime of adventures. During the height of the Cold War, communist countries were keeping a tight control on their borders. But Brother Andrew knew he had to get Bibles to the countries behind the iron curtain. He did this on a regular basis, risking his life to get God’s word to people who needed it. Here’s a sample of one of the experiences Brother Andrew had:
“When I pulled up to the checkpoint on the other side of the Danube, I said to myself, ‘Well, I'm in luck. Only half a dozen cars. This Romanian border crossing should go swiftly.’ But when it took forty minutes to inspect the first car, I began to worry...literally everything that family was carrying had to be taken out and spread on the ground. Every car in line was put through the same routine. The fourth inspection lasted well over an hour. The guards took the driver inside and kept him there while they removed hub caps, took his engine apart, removed seats. ‘Dear Lord,’ I said, as at last there was just one car ahead of me, ‘what am I going to do?’ Any serious inspection will show up these Romanian Bibles right away. ‘Lord,’ I went on, ‘I know that no amount of cleverness on my part can get me through this border search. Dare I ask for a miracle? Let me take some of the Bibles out and leave them in the open where they will be seen. Then, Lord I cannot possibly be depending on my own stratagems, can I? I will be depending utterly upon You.’ While the last car was going through its chilling inspection, I managed to take several Bibles from their hiding places and pile them on the seat beside me. It was my turn. I put the little VW in low gear, inched up to the officer standing at the left side of the road, handed him my papers, and started to get out. But his knee was against the door, holding it closed. He looked at my photograph in the passport, scribbled something down, shoved the papers back under my nose, and abruptly waved me on. Surely thirty seconds had not passed. I started the engine and inched forward. Was I supposed to pull over, out of the way where the car could be taken apart? Was I ... surely I wasn’t...I coasted forward, my foot poised above the brake. Nothing happened. I looked out the rear mirror. The guard was waving the next car to a stop, indicating to the driver that he had to get out. On I drove a few more yards. The guard was having the driver behind me open the hood of his car. And then I was too far away to doubt that indeed I had made it through that incredible checkpoint in the space of thirty seconds. My heart was racing. Not with the excitement of the crossing, but with the excitement of having caught such a spectacular glimpse of God at work!"
Brother Andrew could have been controlled by fear. He could have decided that it was against the law to smuggle Bibles. But he did like Peter and John said: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” They were guided by the name of Jesus Christ!!
II. By What Authority- (Acts 4:13-22)
a. Worldly authority- The Council was a formal body of Jewish leaders
that met in Jerusalem. It was made up of 72 members consisting of Pharisees and Sadducees who were priests, elders, rulers, and scribes. They had the most power, authority, wealth, and status. These are the men before whom Peter and John stand. It would be easy to have great fear in this circumstance.
The Council members should remind us of the Wizard of Oz. Remember how Dorothy and her companions came before the throne of the great Oz. A terrible voice thunders: “I AM OZ THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE.” Smoke shoots up, and they are all afraid; all except Toto, Dorothy’s dog. Toto goes over and pulls the curtain aside to reveal a man standing behind a contraption. They then hear, still in the thunderous voice: “PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN.” And they discover that the wizard is a fake.
In this situation, there was a sense that the Council was a fake, at least in regards to having authority over God. They issued threats, but the people knew that what they were accusing Peter and John of was not deserving of any real punishment. If we were to follow the story, we would see that the punishment would get worse, more jailings, hearings, and even an execution. But none of this produced obedience from the followers of Jesus.
Those who have earthly authority are often fooled. They believe that the power and authority they have, they have for themselves. Their pride comes in and controls them, and they use their authority often times for harm, instead of for good. Even if they started out letting God lead them, there comes a time when their own sinfulness starts to control them; the powers of this world controls them; their anger and fear begins to control them. And that is what we see happening to the Council. Instead of making decisions based on what God would have them do, they start to make choices based on what Rome and the other worldly powers would have them to do.
They really get blind to the truth. Blindness is a tricky business. We read in Mark 2:22- Jesus says, “No one puts new wine into old wineskins.” This is where it was tough for the Council. Jesus had come along and brought a new order, and a new authority. But they couldn’t comprehend this in their old wineskins. Only those who gave up the old wineskins could accept this teaching and authority from Jesus.
b. Godly authority- We see here that Peter and John are challenging the
authority of the Council. And they are bold in this challenge. Toss them in jail? No problem. Threaten them? Still no problem. Eventually they will be jailed again and beaten. No problem. Later in the book of Acts we see Stephen stoned to death for preaching about Jesus. They all knew that their authority came first and foremost from Jesus. Their authority was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene.
So what can we learn from their strength?
Let me suggest three things: First, when Peter is accused, it says in verse 8: “Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter said to them…” We see here that Peter doesn’t fight back with the weapons the Council is using. The Council had wealth and political connections, and prominence on their side. Peter could not match that in worldly terms. Peter knew that the cause of Christ would be better served by fighting with the truth and the power of the Holy Spirit. By doing this, Peter confounded his enemies and they released him with a stern warning.
Second, verse 13 says that they had been with Jesus. Peter and John had listened to Jesus, traveled with Jesus, and watched Jesus die. By the witness of the Spirit they had now come to understand the things Jesus taught. Being with Jesus can make a person courageous, wise, humble, sensitive, and strong. We have this option as well of being with Jesus like they were. We find Jesus in Scripture, and we find Jesus in the hearts of other believers. We can be attentive to Jesus by spending time in prayer and in the word. We can listen, and learn from Him, and then apply these lessons that we are taught. If we are companions of Jesus, we will become as the disciples were, changed people as a result. This change will make us bolder.
Third, they acknowledged what they had heard from the Council, but then told them that even though the Council thought it was wrong, they had to follow the voice of the Lord. They had to make a choice of who to obey, and they were going to obey God. The priority in their life was to obey God when it differed from what the religious authorities commanded. And we too need to have this philosophy: “I will obey God rather than men.” When we have this thinking, it will make us bolder, wiser, more influential spiritually, and more authoritative in our speaking and our teaching.
Conclusion: Life has many choices. These choices can cause much confusion. But some of this confusion comes because we don’t know who to follow. Sometimes we follow God, other times we follow the world. And oftentimes it is our fear that leads us away from God to make choices God would not support. As we have looked at this passage in Acts 4, I want to encourage you to make a decision today; choose to obey God. This is not always easy. It will set us apart from our friends, our family, our co-workers. But the alternative is to continue to make the wrong decisions. It is about trusting God.
Example. There is a story of a mother who is baking a cake. As she is baking the cake she asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely, Mom, I love your cake." "Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers. "Yuck,"says her daughter. "How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!"
"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!"To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!"
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why God would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful! When we are obedient to God, God can take each event, and turn it into something wonderful. Let’s make that commitment today, and every day. Amen.
posted by Logan's Blog at 9:47 AM
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