The outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave the disciples exceptional courage to bear witness to Christ.
• They showed unwavering faith in Jesus, despite the danger and opposition.
• They were strong because of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter did not mince his words. The people did wrong when they crucified Jesus.
• They needed to repent and believe in Jesus, their Messiah, and receive God’s forgiveness.
• This is the truth, and Peter preached it as it is. They got to tell the world what they have seen and heard.
The religious ones among them did not like what they were hearing.
• The truth can hurt, particularly if we are brought up believing otherwise. It is uncomfortable when confronted by the truth.
• But the truth stands. Truth cannot change. Our belief does not make it true; we believe because it is true. We have to change and align ourselves to the truth.
It is not easy; especially we have gotten to believe in something for many years.
• It wasn’t easy for the religious ones in Acts 4, especially the Sadducees (4:1).
• They do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, and Peter was preaching about the risen Christ and the need to trust Him as their Saviour.
This was unfortunate. If they have trusted Christ, they would have experienced the forgiveness of sin and a new life in Christ.
(1) SEEK THE TRUTH and stand strong
JESUS: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)
We go by what is true, not what is popular, what is trendy, what is the latest…
• Peter challenged the gathering of the rulers, elders and scribes in the Sanhedrin Council to put away their false belief and trust in the risen Christ.
• He was not trying to be unreasonable. He was simply presenting the truth of “what we have seen and heard” (4:20), attested by the miraculous healing of this crippled man.
Yet the Council chose to ignore what they saw and heard. Their resolution was to silence Peter and John – “speak no longer to anyone in this name” (4:17).
• They have chosen to ignore the truth. Not that they were not given the chance, they have decided not to take it up.
• It is not that God has not revealed. Rather, man has chosen to ignore.
• It is so easy to keep to what I used to think, to keep to the status quo, to keep to what I LIKE to believe.
We want to SEEK the truth, KNOW the truth, and ALIGN ourselves to the truth of God’s Word.
• We cannot change the truth. We can only change our thinking, our behaviour, our attitudes, our choices - and align them with God’s truth.
• When we do that, we experience life in its fullest, according to God’s original intent and plan.
Unfortunately, the religious ones felt that they know best. The Sanhedrin Council wanted to silence the truth.
• The Sanhedrin is like a religious Supreme Court, comprising over 70 religious elites, among them rulers (former high priests), elders (leading seniors in the society) and the scribes (mainly Pharisees, experts in the Jewish law).
• You can understand why they felt that they know best – they were the educated lot, the wisest ones among the people.
• Imagine this scene, we have 2 ex-fishermen standing in the presence of people with authority, status and scholarship, and the elites were stunned by their courage and the clarity of their message.
Their courage was clearly noticeable because they were unschooled and ordinary men (4:13).
• Unschooled as in not educated in the Law, unlike the Pharisees and priests.
• Yet Peter spoke with great confidence. It was as if he has some authority backing him up – like some scholarships or credentials.
• The truth is he has some form of authority - the authority of Jesus Christ!
(2) KNOW YOUR IDENTITY and be strong
Confidence comes from his relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Peter says he cannot stop speaking about Christ. 4:20 “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
• The disciples knew Him. They saw Him. They heard Him. They are witnesses.
• The Council saw that too, and “took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (4:13)
Their confidence comes from their relationship with Christ. This relationship emboldens them. They know which side they are on.
• It actually took Peter quite a while to get here. Remember, after Jesus was arrested, Peter was questioned by a girl in the temple courts, and he was so frightened he denied knowing Christ.
• Now the same Peter was being questioned by the Council, and he was able to challenge them to put their trust in Christ.
Our relationship with Christ will give us the confidence we need in life.
• If we are on the Lord’s side, we have nothing to fear. He is on our side.
• Peter was able to be so daring because the Holy Spirit is aiding him. Luke wanted to highlight that in 4:8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…”
• Why? This was what Jesus promised them in Luke 12:11-12, “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
Jesus will be your courage. Our relationship with Jesus makes us strong.
• Frankly, it does not matter if we feel that we are “unschooled and ordinary” because the courage we need will not come from our wisdom, knowledge or skill.
• It will come from our communion with Jesus, your time with Jesus.
Are you facing a frightening situation? The way to overcoming fear is not to run away from frightening situations (you cannot), but to focus on God, the One who is there FOR you.
(3) EXERCISE YOUR AUTHORITY and stay strong
Every challenge is surmountable in Christ. We just need to know that His power is available when we pray.
• Look at the response of the fellow believers when they heard of what Peter and John shared - Acts 4:23-31.
• They were not paralysed by intimidation. In fact, they prayed for GREATER boldness and MORE miracles.
• They knew God to be sovereign and still in control.
• They are not going to back down under threat nor are they planning to cut back on expansion. God will enable them to do more.
Take our eyes off the circumstances and look to God. We exercise God-given authority and pray.
• Hardships will come. Persecutions will come. But don’t let these scares us into giving in.
I will to close with a look at Apostle Paul’s experience:
2 Cor 1:8-11 8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Paul mentioned how he was helped by their prayers (2 Cor 1:8:11).
• Our ability to withstand hardships comes from prayer. God will answer our prayer by granting us gracious favours, Paul says.
There will be problems and difficulties that we are called to face, even as Christians. Sometimes, even “far beyond our ability to endure”.
• So I realise that the saying “God will not give you more than you can handle” is not very correct.
• Trials can really stretch us, beyond what we by ourselves can bear.
What God did promise us is that He will HELP us overcome.
• Moses said to the Israelites (Deut 31:5-6): “The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
• Joshua said to them (Josh 10:25-26): “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous. This is what the LORD will do to all the enemies you are going to fight.”
The promise is not, “You don’t have to fight anything, just walk in.”
• These difficult circumstances force us to RELY on God and not self. We are forced to recognize our NEED of God.
• If you’re obeying the Lord and you wind up in a mess, you can be sure that God has a purpose in that trial. God don’t waste a trial.
• Daniel’s friends might have preferred not to be thrown into the furnace, but they found the Lord’s presence IN the furnace.
John Bevere: "What separates those who are defeated by life from those who rule in life is the knowledge that battles and conflicts are inevitable, and that - unlike the natural person - we have power over whatever may come against us. So we can, and must, fight relentlessly until the battle is won." [in RELENTLESS p.86]
Paul assured us, speaking from experience, that God WILL DELIVER us.
• He HAS and He WILL CONTINUE to deliver us from these painful ordeals. The God who raises the dead will surely deliver.
Let us stand strong and remain faithful to the call of God upon our lives.
• We are blessed today because the first disciples have been faithful, despite the persecutions and hardships.
• Stay faithful. You can stand strong in Christ, always.
