Great Fear (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #8)

INTRODUCTION

We often think of boldness and courage as breaking the rules, but in a fallen world, it is often just the opposite. True boldness is submission to God’s rules when the world wants to rebel. Jesus was the courageous one who submitted to His Father in order to save the world.

THE TEXT

“And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead…” (Acts 4:1–22).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We pick up our text in the middle of the commotion over the healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple (Acts 3:2-8). After Peter concludes his sermon, inviting everyone to receive the forgiveness of sins through repentance and faith in the resurrection of Jesus, the leaders of the Jews lay hold of Peter and John and put them in jail (Acts 4:1-3). By this point the number of believers had swelled to five thousand (Acts 4:4). The next day, the rulers conducted a hearing, and asked the apostles how they had performed the healing (Acts 4:5-7). Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, began preaching Jesus, crucified and risen, the Messiah, and the only name under Heaven given for salvation (Acts 4:8-12).

This boldness was remarkable and reminded them all of Jesus, and given the fact that the healed man was right there with them, they privately conferred, agreeing that they couldn’t deny the miracle but they needed to squelch the message (Acts 4:13-17). When they called Peter and John back before them, they threatened them and commanded them that they should not speak or teach in Jesus’ name anymore (Acts 4:17-18). After Peter and John politely declined, pointing out that it was more important to obey God than them, they threatened them again, finding no way to punish them because of their popularity with the people, and because everyone knew what had happened to the man (Acts 4:19-22).

THE GIFT OF CONTROVERSY

Part of the point of the book of Acts is that God grows His church through controversy. This is fundamentally the case because in a dark, fallen world, the Light of salvation offends the sensibilities of fallen sinners. We have already seen the Pentecost commotion and immediately following that, the Holy Spirit has created another controversy. Part of this continues to confirm that Jesus is alive, and it is His Spirit at work because wherever Jesus went, there were crowds and commotions. Of course, it is not enough to create trouble and blame the Holy Spirit. Achan was a “troubler of Israel” for his disobedience and sin (Josh. 7:25). But Jesus taught His disciples that all who follow Him should expect trouble (Mt. 5:10-12, Lk. 6:22, Jn. 15:18). Taking up “your cross” and following Jesus is taking up the scorn and hatred of the world (Mt. 16:24). A cross implies a public spectacle and controversy. And here, we see that in the midst of controversy, the gospel goes forth, and thousands more are added the church (Acts 4:2-4).

THE BOLDNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Because it is the plan for the gospel to go forth in the context of controversy, boldness and courage are necessary. The word here for “boldness” is PARESSIA, which means plainness, clarity, and boldness. The idea isn’t loud or bombastic. The idea is simple, straightforward, and plain. And notice that Peter is mostly repeating himself: Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, God raised from the dead (Acts 4:10, cf. 2:23-24, 3:13-15). But also notice that Peter does not shy away from the collision and confrontation, and he identifies Psalm 118:22 as referring to the Jewish leaders who oversaw the execution of Jesus: the stone which the builders rejected. So the boldness of the Holy Spirit centers on talking about Jesus and Scripture.

OBEDIENCE TO MAN OR GOD?

This text is important for rightly understanding obedience and disobedience to authorities. When Peter and John are threatened and commanded to stop preaching the resurrection of Jesus, they say, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye” (Acts 4:19). First, notice that the apostles appeal to the “sight of God,” which relativizes all human authority. All human authority is under God and answers to God. Second, the apostles clearly state that the greater authority must have the greater obedience. The basic principle would be that we may obey human authorities so long as they do not command what God prohibits or forbid what God commands. Another area which requires real wisdom would be in matters where authorities are being disobedient to God. The Bible teaches that we may obey authorities in those circumstances if it isn’t requiring us to sin and it is often good to do so, but we don’t have to (Mt. 17:24-27, 1 Pet. 2:18ff, Acts 9:23-25, Acts 12:17).

APPLICATIONS

Controversy is a gift but only if we know what spirit we are of. Remember the apostles at one point wanted to call fire down on the Samaritans, who really were confused theologically, but Jesus said that was not His Spirit (Lk. 9:51-56). Jesus came not to destroy men’s lives but to save them. This means we are not revolutionaries; we are reformers. We are in favor of true life-saving surgery, and we hate all demented life-deforming surgery.

Practice your boldness on yourself first. Deal with your own sin plainly, directly, without excuses or compromises. This is what had to happen with Peter. Remember it was only a 6 weeks earlier that Peter was cursing and swearing about being associated with Jesus, and now it’s a badge of honor (Acts 4:13). But he only got there because he repented and was completely restored. Never wield a sword on anyone else you haven’t first practiced on yourself. This isn’t a ban on boldness; it’s an exhortation to true boldness.

Practice submission to lawful authority. Understood rightly, submission to true godly authority is the only path to true authority. This begins with submission to the exclusive claims of Jesus: There is no other name given under Heaven whereby we must be saved. We live in a land in desperate need of real leaders, and this is what happens when everyone “does what is right his own eyes,” when everyone is their own god/savior. But Jesus is the cornerstone that holds everything together. Submission to Him establishes you in your place.

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INTRODUCTION

This passage is about the power of Jesus to completely forgive sinners. Jesus did not die and rise again in order to make forgiveness a possibility. He did not die and rise again in order that if you do your part, He will do His. No, He died and rose again in order to raise powerless-lame sinners from their guilt and shame, in order to guarantee that times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord.

The Text: “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful…” (Acts 3:1-26)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

As Peter and John go to the temple for prayers, Peter heals a lame man begging, who immediately begins walking and leaping and praising God (Acts 3:1-8). This causes quite a commotion, and Peter sees another opportunity to preach the death and resurrection of Jesus and the power of faith in His name (Acts 3:9-16). Peter says that while the Jews and their leaders crucified Jesus in ignorance, it was all part of God’s plan to bring times of refreshing from His presence (Acts 3:17-21). Jesus is the Prophet that Moses foretold would come, along with Samuel and all the prophets, whom God promised Abraham by covenant would come for the blessing of all the families of the earth (Acts 3:22-26).

APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY

Remember that Jesus told the apostles that they would receive power to be His authoritative witnesses of the resurrection to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8, cf. 3:15). We believe that God still performs wonders and miracles, but the apostles had the unique authority to command it as proof of that authority, as we see here when Peter heals the lame man (Acts 3:6). This particular miracle echoes one of the early healings of Jesus when the lame man was let down through a roof and Jesus proved that He had the authority to forgive sins by commanding him to rise and walk (Lk. 5:18-26). This miracle is not merely a generic power; it is the personal power of Jesus at work (Acts 3:12), which is why Peter commands “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth” (Acts 3:6) and preaches that it was “through faith in his name” that healed the man (Acts 3:16). But Peter insists that the point of the power is the same as what Jesus insisted on: the forgiveness of sins (Acts 3:19, 26).

REPENTANCE & TIMES OF REFRESHING

The specific command that Peter gives in conjunction with the testimony of the resurrection is: repent and be converted (Acts 3:19). “Repent” literally means to change your mind and “convert” means to turn or turn around. Biblically, when we describe Christian repentance, we mean both of these actions. In Ephesians 4, Paul describes this in terms of putting off and putting on: putting off the old man and putting on the new man, putting away lying and telling the truth, etc. (Eph. 4:22-29). One puritan summarized biblical repentance as sight of sin, sorrow for sin, confession of sin, shame for sin, hatred for sin, and turning from sin, and he said: “If any one is left out it loses its virtue.” Many people feel sorry for sin (at least its consequences), maybe they even feel some shame, but they frequently stop short of hatred, confession, and real change, and so they have not really repented and this is why they have not experienced “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Often the temptation is to do just enough towards repentance to start feeling better or get others to leave you alone but not enough to actually finish the job.

THE POTENCY OF JESUS

Do not misunderstand: the gospel is not that you must turn over a new leaf, try harder, or make some lifestyle changes. Nor is it that if you do your part, God will do His. The gospel is that Jesus suffered for sinners and rose from the dead in order to raise sinners from the dead. In your sins, you are the lame man begging at the temple gate, from your mother’s womb. You were conceived in iniquity; you cannot lift yourself up to God or please Him. But God sent His Son to be wounded for our transgressions, to be bruised for our iniquities, so that by His stripes we might be healed (Is. 53:5). And the point is that the command to “repent” is the same as the command given to the lame man to rise up and walk. You can’t unless you have believed in His name. But even that faith is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8). So this is why the Bible describes this power of conversion like God’s command “let there be light.” It is what is sometimes called a performative command: God’s power is resident in the command: “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6).

While the apostles had the unique power to do miracles, proving that they were authorized witnesses, the gospel continues to be “the power of God unto salvation” for everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16). God “sends” Jesus in the preaching of the gospel (Acts 3:20), and Jesus blesses those who receive Him in turning you from your iniquities (Acts 3:26). The power to turn, the power to repent is all in Jesus. We proclaim Jesus crucified for sin and raised from the dead and command everyone everywhere to repent that their sins may be blotted out, and everyone who does, does so by the power of Jesus.

CONCLUSION

In the Old Covenant, the priests came from Aaron’s family, but anyone who was lame was not allowed to go into the Most Holy Place or offer anything on the altar to the Lord (Lev. 21:18-23). Part of what is signified here in this healing is the access to God that has been won by Jesus. By His wounds we are healed, and by His blood, we may draw near into the Holy of Holies; we may enter that Beautiful Gate with complete confidence and joy, walking and leaping and praising God, with hearts washed completely clean.

So what is in your file? When God pulls up your file in Heaven, what’s in there? Is it all your filth? All your evil thoughts, words, actions? Or does it say, “Holy One, Completely Righteous, Well-beloved Son, Blessed of God?” If you have been turned away from your sin, than you have only done so by the power that turns you completely toward Christ. To be turned toward Christ is to have His light shining full blast on your heart. So that your file is now filled with praise.

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INTRODUCTION

In this famous text, Jesus pours out His Spirit on His people, and the apostles, led by Peter, begin to testify boldly that Jesus is risen from the dead and is Lord and Christ of the world.

THE TEXT

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled the house…” (Acts 2:1-36)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

On the day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Passover (Lev. 23:16), the sound of a great wind filled the place where the disciples were meeting and flames of fire appeared over each of them, and they began speaking in other languages (Acts 2:1-4). Since it was one of the great feasts of Israel, there many visitors in Jerusalem from at least 13 regions, “out of every nation under heaven,” and they were amazed and bewildered to hear these Galileans speaking about the mighty works of God in their native languages (Acts 2:5-12).

Some mocked them as being drunk, but Peter stood up with the other apostles, and said that they were not drunk but what they were witnessing had been foretold by the Prophet Joel concerning God’s Spirit and the Day of the Lord (Acts 2:13-21). This pouring out of the Spirit is proof that the man Jesus of Nazareth whom they had recently killed was alive from the dead (Acts 2:22-24).

David had foretold both that the Messiah would not remain in the grave/Hades, and that his descendant would be the Messiah who would sit on his throne (Acts 2:25-30). Peter says that these are prophesies of the resurrection: the apostles are witnesses that Jesus rose from the dead and the Spirit is proof that He is at God’s right hand and therefore, God has made Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:31-36).

THE DAY OF PENTECOST

The day of Pentecost is full of imagery that communicates what God is up to. The rushing wind is reminiscent of the original creation when the “wind/Spirit” of God hovered over the darkness (Gen. 1:2). It is reminiscent of the wind that blew over the earth after the flood, preparing a new world for Noah (Gen. 8:1). It reminds us of the rushing mighty wind that blew all night long, causing the waters of the Red Sea to pile up like walls and create dry ground for Israel to pass through (Ex. 14:21). In Ezekiel, it’s the mighty Spirit-wind that causes the dry bones to become a living army (Ez. 37:9-10). Or we might remember that the Lord finally spoke to Job out of the whirlwind (Job 38:1). All of these signal to us themes of new creation.

But the fire is also part of the messaging: God’s presence was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night for Israel as they left Egypt and passed through the wilderness (Ex. 13:21-22, Num. 14:14). It was that same fire presence that came down on Mt. Sinai, and then rested above the tabernacle and later filled the temple at its dedication by Solomon (Ex. 19:18, 40:34-38, 1 Kgs. 8:10-11). A whirlwind and chariots and horses of fire that took Elijah into Heaven (2 Kgs. 2:11). And finally, the different languages signify both a sort of overcoming of Babel as well as a similar sort of judgment (Is. 28:11, Joel 2:28-30, 1 Cor. 14:21-22). The fire proclaims the fierceness of God’s presence: His holiness, His righteousness and justice. Think of the burning bush, but now people are His holy ground.

THE TESTIMONY OF THE SPIRIT

Remember Jesus had quoted John who said He was going to baptize the apostles with the Spirit and fire (Mt. 3:11) in order to give the apostles the particular power of being His witnesses – particularly of His resurrection – beginning in Jerusalem all the way to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:4-5, 8). And so Peter’s sermon begins to do just that, beginning by citing the Prophet Joel who foretold the Day of the Lord, describing the end of a nation/era using apocalyptic, world-ending language like other prophets and marked by the Spirit speaking through visions and dreams and prophesying (Joel 2:28-30, cf. Is. 13, Ez. 32).

Peter turns immediately to preaching Jesus, whom he says was “delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). It’s worth noting that Peter proclaims what we believe, which is that God has ordained and predestined every single detail of whatsoever comes to pass (cf. Eph. 1:11, Mt. 10:29-30) and yet God does no evil and human beings are fully responsible for their own choices (cf. Js. 1:13, 1 Jn. 1:5). It’s also worth noting that Peter says that all the Jews gathered in front of him collectively, covenantally crucified Christ, even though some of them were no doubt not personally present or directly involved.

For the rest of the message Peter cites three Psalms of David as additional support for what is happening: first, David prophesied of One who would die but not see any decay in the grave (Ps. 16:8-11), second, God’s promise that One from David’s line would sit on David’s throne forever (Ps. 132:11-12), and finally, since David had died and all of his descendants, he must have been talking about a descendant who was his superior, David’s own “Lord” and that Lord was offered a seat at God’s own right hand (Ps. 110:1). Peter musters these texts to proclaim that by His resurrection, God has proclaimed Jesus to be Lord and Messiah of Israel (Acts 2:36).

APPLICATIONS

It really is striking to read this sermon from Peter, who only a few weeks previous had denied the Lord Jesus. Jesus had restored Peter (Jn. 21), but what accounts for this sudden “boldness?” The answer of course is the Holy Spirit, but notice what the Spirit of Jesus is driving and empowering Peter with: Scripture. The Word of God is the flammable material that the Spirit loves to ignite. And when it goes up, it goes up with boldness and courage.

If Peter can drive this message right into the midst of the Jews, then this message can be driven right into the center of every human heart. Even if we are not part of that covenant people, we have our own covenantal allegiances, and our covenant people would have done the same thing as the house of Israel. But God has raised Jesus from the dead and made Him both Lord and Christ. So what will you do with this? Whose side are you on?

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