From
Acts to Revelation
Part
9 – Persecution of the Church
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House
of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
Last week we talked about Peter and John
and their daily trips to the temple, where they would preach and teach what
they had seen and heard while with Jesus.
There was a man, lame from birth, who asked
for alms, and Peter healed him in the name of Jesus.
This aroused the attention of many,
including the sanhedrin, the religious leaders.
Today we will see how the religious leaders
begin to struggle with control, and acting in fear of losing this control, they
try to put a stop to Peter and John preaching and teaching about Jesus and the
resurrection.
In the world we live in, persecution is
different in the US than in other parts of the world, where it is closer to
biblical persecution we read about.
But we are still faced with decisions we
must make when it concerns the teachings of Jesus and the Word of God.
On what do you base your decisions in everyday
life? You may say God...but is that
true?
Does favor of men control how you act? Or
perhaps money is the basis for your decisions?
When you vote for a leader, does what God
says is important, important in your decision making?
Are God's values reflected in your choices?
Today we see that the religious leaders are
beginning to lose their control...as God is reclaiming it.
Today's scriptures will make us ask
ourselves, is it better to listen to man, or God?
SCRIPTURE READING
Acts 4:1-22
1 The
priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter
and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed
because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the
resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John, and
because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But
many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five
thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met
in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John,
Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family. 7 They
had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what
power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them:
“Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to
account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he
was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised
from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He
is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the capstone.’”
which has become the capstone.’”
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other
name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized
that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took
note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the
man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could
say. 15 So
they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred
together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked.
“Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and
we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the
people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to
speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied,
“Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather
than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and
heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not
decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what
had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty
years old.
I. PERSECUTION
BY THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS
1. Apostles
were bringing attention to themselves
1. In Acts
2 we see they healed a man who was lame from birth on the way to the temple
2. This
man told everyone what had happened, including the Temple priests
3. Everyone
in Jerusalem knew this man because he had lived here his entire life of 40
years, lame, a beggar in from of the Temple gates.
4. After
asking Peter and John for alms, Peter healed the lame man in the name of Jesus.
2. Daily
the Apostles taught of Jesus and the resurrection in front of the Temple
1. This
created animosity in the priests.
2. These
men were winning converts from Judaism to this new Church faith, referred to as
Christianity.
3. By this
time, over 5,000 had accepted to the teachings about Christ and the resurrection,
and had devoted themselves to Jesus, becoming His followers.
3. Preaching
the Truth has consequences
1. When
you preach the truth, two things will happen;
1.
People will come to Christ
2.
People will hate you
2. When I
began to preach at the First Baptist Church, immediately, people loved my
preaching because it was the truth of God's Word, and immediately, people hated
me for the very same reason.
3. After
two years preaching there, the church became divided into two groups, those who
loved the Word of God and His Spirit working in the Church, and those who hated
it, because God was gaining control...and they were losing it.
4. I too
was taken aside by the leaders of the church
1.
At first, encouraged by them to continue leading the church
2.
After those who hated wrote enough letters, I was asked by
leadership to “play nice” with the handful of self-elected people who truly ran
that church.
3.
When I refused to to stop preaching and teaching the scriptures,
such as allowing people to come forward for the Elders of the church to pray
and lay hands on them, the leaders once again called me for a meeting.
4.
This time, offering me my choice between three other churches to
lead.
5.
To which I refused, as I told them, God had already told me years
before that my ministry for Him would be here in Tawas, not another city.
5. Animosity,
anger and hate, all because of the Word of God.
4. The
Sanhedrin hated the Gospel for the same reason...
1. The
high priests were no longer high priests when Jesus came.
2. The
people no longer needed the priests for seeking God
3. The
religious leaders no longer were the top-dogs with the Apostles around
4. So they
beg, and threaten to hold on to their control of God's people, not wanting to
hand it over to the Holy Spirit.
II.
THE APOSTLES RESPONSE TO THE PERSECUTION
1. The
Sanhedrin asked “By what authority do you do this?”
1. Peter
and John make it clear, the healing, teaching and preaching was all done in the
name of Jesus.
2. The
lame man was healed in front of the Temple so that ALL the people of Israel
should know the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
3. Remember:
this is one of the signs that the Apostles were speaking for God, signs,
wonders and miracles.
2. Peter
then reminds them who Jesus is
1. You
know, the one whom you crucified, but God brought back to life!
2. The one
you tried to silence, but could not.
3. The one
you tried to rid yourselves of, so that you would stay in control of God's
people, but weren't able to.
3. By the
way...
1. Salvation
is found in no one else.
2. For
there is no other name under heaven given to men by which you can be saved.
III. ACTIONS
TAKEN BY THE SANHEDRIN AND APOSTLES
1. The
Sanhedrin had a problem
1. They
asked that Peter and John be taken away so they could talk
2. They
knew these men were unschooled, and ordinary men, yet, they spoke with courage,
and they realized that they had been with Jesus.
3. They
also knew that an outstanding miracle had taken place in this name they were
operating in. The man had been lame for forty years, yet stood before them
now. Lame from birth, yet walked as if
never lame.
4. All of
Jerusalem knew this man because he begged in front of the temple his entire
life. All those coming to the Temple saw
him, and see him now. They could not deny he was healed.
2. Questions
they asked themselves
1. They
asked each other, “What are we going to do with these men?”
2. “Everybody
in Jerusalem know about this miracle.”
3. “We
cannot deny the man was healed, BUT, to stop the spreading of this Jesus, we
must warn these men to speak no more to anyone in His name.”
3. The
Sanhedrin's Command
1. Bringing
Peter and John back into the room, they give their command, “Speak no more in
the name of Jesus!”
2. “Do
nothing else in His name.”
3. “Stop
preaching and teaching what Jesus taught you.”
4. The
Apostles Response
1. “Judge
for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God.”
2. “For we
cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
5. More
threats and release
1. The
scriptures tell us the Sanhedrin threatened Peter and John more before
releasing them.
2. They
could not decide how to punish them because all the people were praising God
for what happened, because the lame man who was healed was forty years old, and
everyone knew him.
CONCLUSION
The religious leaders hated the
teachings of Jesus, because they were losing their control and power over the people.
They tried to put a stop to
what the Apostles were teaching about Jesus and the resurrection, but the
signs, wonders and miracles that followed the Apostles proved that they were
speaking the Truth, and were speaking for God.
Neither the leaders, nor the
people could deny that these signs, wonders and miracles were taking place,
therefore, the Sanhedrin could only threaten the Apostles.
But Peter asked them to judge
for themselves if it were better to listen to men, or God?
Do we ask ourselves the same
question on a daily basis? We should.
