Controversy and jail time! Acts 4:1-22
Throughout their training under the personal ministry of Christ, the disciples had experienced something of the hostility of the wicked men who filled the leadership positions in the religious establishment of the day. Now as their Apostolic ministry begins in real earnest that hostility and opposition is directed at them.
It might have been tempting to think that the recent extraordinary events of Pentecost and the evident working of the Holy Ghost in great power, would have laid that opposition to rest. But no! In fact the reverse was true. Because the hostility they faced was energized by the power of hell, the more God worked through these Apostles, the more and fierce the opposition would become.
The wonderful healing of the lame man in the Temple, because it became a platform for preaching Christ, became a controversial event.
I HOW PETER’S SERMON ENDED.
- Resurrection hope, v2. Peter’s sermon on this occasion is condensed and summarized. The glorious hope of the gospel is a resurrection to glory through Christ. Peter presented Christ as the means of eternal life. Cp 1Pet 1:3-5, Rom 6:23.
- The ire of the Sadducees, v1-3. Peter’s message and its theme specially stirred these men up. Their theology was very different! Cp Acts 23:8. The men in religious authority denied the plain teaching of the word of God and declared themselves at war with those who preached the truth. They were ‘worried’ and ‘pained’ by the truth. So they determine to launch an attack on the Apostles and seize them. Arresting them, they were confined over night for trial the next day. It is not possible to declare the truth of Christ without antagonizing those opposed to it. The lame man seems to have been caught up in this situation as well—3:11, 4:10, 14. Seems he spent his first night as a believer in jail!
- The power of God, v4. The word of God cannot be bound! An even greater display of saving power was seen than at Pentecost! The success of the word is not directly linked to the temporal success of the preachers! God’s power was not employed at this time in making sure they didn’t face trouble or trial.
II ON TRIAL!
- Intimidating scene, v6. There is a great gathering of the Levitical hierarchy. The Apostles and the man who had been healed are set in the midst.
- The root issue, v7. The question is raised as to the source of the power that had, undeniably, been at work to heal.
- The Holy Spirit gives an answer, v8-12. This was simply according to the promise of the Saviour, Luke 12:11-12. The Spirit gave Peter the ability to speak forcefully and present the simple truth to his accusers.
Simple, v10. The source of the power was ‘Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth’. He who had been killed had been raised and as a result was transforming lives. The words Peter used are so loaded with concentrated truth! There is no embarrassment on his part to speak of things that his hearers despised and dismissed as impossible fantasies!
A powerful text, v11. Peter cites the words of Ps 118:22. These men stand condemned by Scripture. They find themselves ‘building’ in opposition to God and consequently unable to stop the advance of God’s building.
The pressing need to be saved, v12. Peter presses this gospel truth upon these men. The Christ they despised is the only means of salvation. His defence is evangelistic. He speaks for the welfare of their souls rather than for his own temporal advantage. God in mercy has given this name to be believed on for salvation. Cp Is 28:16.
III THEIR OPPONENTS WERE POWERLESS TO HARM THE WORK OF GOD.
- Bold and undaunted, v13-14. Men who have the experience of Christ’s presence and power cannot be cowed by their opponents. This is no effectual opposition to such men as these apostles and the healed man. The measure of how easily we are cowed is the measure of our real experience of Christ.
- Determined enemies, v15-18. These men are ready to confess their powerlessness—yet they still persist in opposing the cause of Christ! The most they can do is threaten and they do so, v17-18, 21.
- Defiance!, v19-20. Peter and John felt the weight and power of the call of God combined with their experience of Christ at this moment. They could therefore do nothing but continue in this course, no matter what their enemies did. A consciousness of this enabled them to shrug off the threats.
- God is glorified, v21-22. There was a grass-roots work of grace. Many had been converted and there was a joyful groundswell of support for the Apostles and their ministry. This is always what stymies those who oppose God’s cause. Real conversions, instances of Christ’s power at work in the lives of sinners, rob the words and actions of the enemies of Christ of any real impact.