As you’re grabbing a seat, go ahead and grab your Bibles as well. Open them to Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. And as you’re doing that, I just kind of want to take a straw poll in the room this morning. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been a part of a jury; you’ve gotten called for jury duty? Man, that’s a lot of people.
Yeah, ok so here’s the story that I was remembering this week. I had just recently turned 18 and this piece of mail showed up, and I thought it was junk mail. I almost just threw it away. But I opened it up and realized this is like an official thing. And I was being summoned for jury duty.
And what was interesting to me as I started asking around with my friends and even some of my family. And like none of them had ever been summoned for jury duty. Here I am like fresh adult and instantly one of the greatest joys in life, jury duty.
And so I call the number, right, and they’re like, “Yep, we need you here at the courthouse this week.” And so I show up and I’m kind of actually a little bit excited. I had watched way too much Law and Order at this point and courtroom drama. And so I have this whole idea in my head. And as you can guess, I was sorely disappointed with what I walked into.
And so I’m sitting in this stuffy basement courtroom and Jack McCoy is nowhere to be found. And um, I’m like, well maybe a lot of people get dismissed and so maybe I’ll just get dismissed. I mean, I’m very much the youngest person here. It was some sort of medical case and they’re throwing out words that I have no idea what any of this means. And so I’m like surely they want someone more knowledgeable and a little bit more proper on this jury team.
And no. They say, “You.” And so the next week of my life is dedicated to this case. And you know, I am just all the hopes and dreams I had of like of any type of riveting evidence that was going to come forth. They’re presenting the facts of the case and I’m like, “Is there going to be a surprise witness at the end?” No. Like all that out the proverbial window because again, we were in a basement. And again I just sat there for a week.
And then eventually after a few like grueling days, we get in the room and within ten minutes we’re like, “Yep, we’ve got a verdict.” And we get out and we get on with our lives.
I was reminded of that this week because what we’re going to see here this morning is another courtroom experience. This one is far more interesting and way more controversial. There’s a lot more at stake. And our good friend Peter, who we have read a lot about already in the first few chapters of Acts, is going to be on trial with his friend John.
And what I want to do- I’m no lawyer, but what I hope to do this morning- is to kind of defend Peter and John and actually flip the case. Because they’re going to be on trial for one thing. And I want to flip the case and say that the only thing they’re guilty of is gospel boldness. And so I have summoned all of you here to serve as the jury, to arrive at that verdict. That’s my hope today.
But you yourself are also on trial. I want you yourself to take the stand as boht witness but also look at your life and say, “Do I match this? Do I have gospel boldness? Am I guilty of that?”
And so let me just remind you where we’ve been. Acts chapter 3- the lame beggar has been healed when Peter and John were on their way to church. And the crowd gathers, and through the power of the Holy Spirit Peter preaches again and he preaches his good news/bad news sermon, right?
Bad news, you killed Jesus. Good news, God raised Him from the dead. Bad news, you’re all sinners. But good news, there’s repentance and refreshing in the Lord. You’ve rejected this message for years, bad news. But God has brought this message to you first and foremost so that you can accept it today, good news. And thousands of people respond.
And so they close their message and Peter and John are talking with people and probably helping them know what it looks like to actually repent and follow Jesus. And we pick it up in Acts 4:1.
And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those that had heard the word believed and the number of the men came to about five thousand. (Acts 4:1-4)
So ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the first evidence is in these first few verses. Our first evidence this morning is that the world is annoyed by the message. If you’re looking for evidence of gospel boldness, you will see that the word is annoyed by the message.
Now notice who is annoyed and why. The Sadducees. They were a religious sect that ran the temple and it was a very lucrative business for them. They had kind of worked the system to a point that they could line their own pockets with donations toward sacrifices and offerings to the Lord And they were in relationship with the Roman government to a point that they helped enforce Roman rule. And so they were kind of in a high position of authority. They were living the good life.
And while they were religious, they were very liberal in their beliefs to the truest sense of what that word means. They only believed that the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, were inspired Scripture and everything else wasn’t. They didn’t believe in any sort of resurrection, afterlife, spiritual realm. They had no hope after death. Insert preacher joke about that’s why they were so “sad you see.” Right?
And so these are these people. They’re in a good spot and they’re annoyed with Peter and John because they are threatening everything that they value. They’re proclaiming a message that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. So their very well off business of selling animals to people to give sacrifice and offering to the Lord, that’s being threatened. They’re preaching that Jesus not only was the perfect sacrifice, but He was resurrected from the dead. And so now there’s an affront on their worldview, the very way they see religious things.
And not only that, they’re saying these things, people are listening to the common men. Them, the high power, they run the temple. This is our ground. And here comes Peter and John and thousands of people are responding.
This is the point. The world is annoyed by the gospel boldness because it is a threat to everything they value. Gospel boldness, the message, confronts our idolatry and demands we become a living sacrifice, leaving behind everything that our fleshly desires crave and picking up the cross of Jesus. Living for others, living a life of servant leadership rather than just hierarchy dominant leadership.
And when people respond to this in the world in a positive way and we see revival, the enemy is greatly annoyed by that message that there would be people who would live this way. See, I think the world would tolerate Christians a lot more if we just preached the love and the grace of a God who just wants them to have an amazing life and has died for their sins so that they can go to heaven. But the minute we say, “But you have to confess that you are wrong, you’re a sinner,” that message starts to be offensive and the world is annoyed.
I was, a number of years ago, with our good friend Pastor Micah Klutinoty and some other friends down in Nashville for a conference. And when you’re in Nashville, you have to have Nashville hot chicken. And it’s like, amen, it’s kind of the thing you’ve got to do. And so Hattie B’s is famous for Nashville hot chicken. And we go, and you know, you stand in line. It’s a whole experience. It’s basically just a trailer shack type thing but people pay a bunch of money for chicken there.
And so you go through the line. And we get out and there’s just a porch sitting with like picnic tables everywhere. So you’re kind of just sitting with a whole bunch of people. And we sit down and we’re right next to this woman probably in her late 40’s/early 50’s. And Micah, being who he is, just strikes up a conversation with her. And they start talking about chicken and Nashville and all this stuff. And I can just, you know, I’ve known him long enough he’s looking for his opening that he can just like, let’s shift this conversation.
And so he asks something around like, “Hey, do you go to church? Or what do you think about God and Jesus?” And the woman’s face just instantly, she had been very cordial to this point. The woman’s face just changes and she kind of is looking down at her chicken.
She looks up and she goes, “No, and we’re not going to talk about that. We’re going to enjoy our chicken.”
And Micah is like super gracious. He’s like, “Oh, ok, yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m so sorry. You know, I didn’t mean to offend you.”
And she’s like, “I’m not offended. We’re just going to eat chicken.”
And it’s funny in the moment but we get out and I remember just being like, man, it’s so sad because there’s obviously some like hurt and a lot of feelings she has toward anybody. But the minute we shifted the conversation towards, hey, let’s talk about who God is, she was just so annoyed. Like don’t even come at me with this. I’m just trying to enjoy my chicken.
The gospel message, the gospel boldness, is when the world is annoyed at the message. We know it’s happening. And here’s what happens next in verse 5.
It says, On the next day the rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphus and John and Alexander and all who were of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they enquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:5-7)
They know what name was used. And they don’t even want to acknowledge the miracle. By what name did you do this? See, the second evidence we’re going to see is when gospel boldness is present, the opposition is strong against Jesus. The opposition will be strong against Jesus in gospel boldness.
See, this is not just any assembly of rulers. This is the assembly of rulers. This is what is known as the Sanhedrin, which is equivalent to our Supreme Court. but there’s no separation of church and state. They ruled all. And we read some names here that give us an understanding authority and power is in that room. See, Annas hadn’t been the acting high priest for decades at this point. But in total disregard to God’s Word and how it was supposed to be, he just kept passing that office down to his family.
And so Caiaphas is actually his son-in-law and is just kind of a puppet to Annas. And then John and Alexander are family members as well. So in that family he just kind of ran it. It was kind of like a mafia-type situation. He was in complete control.
And all the other rulers of the Sanhedrin (there were about 71 people in all) all together had the final say in Israel. Most of these men would have been the ones who just a short time ago put before them another man who they were greatly annoyed by- Jesus- and sentenced Him to death.
And these powerful people were gathered together in opposition to even the name of Jesus. Again, they don’t even mention the miracle. What they want to know is, what name did you use? Peter and John are nothing to them. They pose no real threat. But the threat that these men sensed and the things they want to snuff out and silence first and foremost is anything that has to do with the name of Jesus Christ.
This is one of the first examples we see of just evil, malicious prosecution not against a certain person but just against anyone who identifies with the name of Jesus. What have Peter and John done at this point? They’re on trial not for healing that man. They’re on trial because they used the name of Jesus.
What this means for you and me is that the opposition we will face when we have gospel boldness is going to be less about us as people and more about Jesus. What I mean by that is we can quickly assume that we’re being opposed because we’ve identified ourselves as Christians. But I’ve just got to tell you, church, sometimes you might be opposed because your idea of gospel boldness is more like gospel obnoxiousness.
What I mean when I say that is maybe you’re kind of like the person who’s like, “Hey man, look how amazing I am. Look how much better my life is because I have accepted Christ. I’m a Christian now so that means I have this great life. And man, I would never live that way. I would never stoop to that level. I could never be caught sinning like that because I’m a Christian. I have the gospel. And man, thanks guys for praying for me. The thing I need prayer for the most is I’m just such a servant. I serve people way too much. I need to take more time for me. Can you guys pray for me about that?
Listen, I will be your opposer if this is how you are with the gospel. The gospel is so much more about Jesus pulling you out of the pit you were in rather than you using yourself to prop up. Gospel boldness is more about Jesus. If the gospel to you is more about you then it’s not the gospel. It has to be about Jesus.
But it is a guarantee. So just know this. It is a guarantee that as we proclaim the name of Jesus, we will be opposed. Here’s Jesus talking to His disciples in Luke chapter 21 and He just gives them an idea of what’s coming.
He says, There will be great earthquakes and in some places famine and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. And you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up, even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. (Luke 21:11-17)
You won’t be hated because you’re a certain way and you live your life a certain way. You will be hated because you identify with Jesus. This is Jesus talking and here we see Peter and John experiencing what He promised them. The opposition is strong against Jesus, and we see Peter take Jesus’ words to heart and live them out here starting in verse 8.
It says, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead- by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you the builders, which has become the cornerstone, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:8-12)
Come on Peter. I don’t think Peter was in his cell like scribbling out notes beforehand. I think he stood before them and the Holy Spirit filled him and this is what came out of his mouth. And so the third evidence for gospel boldness is the Holy Spirit is speaking through the witness. Gospel boldness is not just what you can come up with and your crafty little speech that you bring to people. No. This is the Holy Spirit speaking through you.
See, you’ve got to think a little bit about Peter and his life. To say that his answer here is bold is an understatement. Remember this is Peter a few weeks ago is out warming himself by a fire while a trail just like this is going on, and a servant girl asks him, “Hey, weren’t you with Jesus?” and he cowers and denies even knowing Christ.
Now here he is knowing death is probably likely on the other end of this answer and he responds with boldness about the only name that has the power to save. What’s the difference? What’s the difference? It’s the Holy Spirit. No, this is not a common fisherman anymore. This is a spirit-filled fisher of men. He is ready to go to death for the name of His Savior. And it’s not coming from a sort of place that he had beforehand. This Is the Holy Spirit speaking through his witness.
See, sometimes the argument for not living a life of boldness is, “That’s just not my personality; like that’s not just how God made me. Look at Peter. He was always bold, right? He’s cutting off ears and he’s always speaking up. He’s got something dumb to say. He was just that.” Listen, listen. Don’t confuse boldness with obstinance. They’re not the same. Peter may have been a kind of stubborn, obstinate guy who just spek up a lot, but that does not define him as bold.
I read this quote this week about boldness. It says, “Boldness doesn’t mean rude, obnoxious, loud or disrespectful. Being bold is being firm, sure, confident, fearless, daring, strong, resilient and not easily intimidated. It means you’re willing to go where you’ve never been, willing to try what you’ve never tried, and willing to trust what you’ve never trusted. Boldness is quiet; it’s not noisy.”
Gospel boldness is a dependence on the Holy Spirit to give you the resolve to speak out and to stand firm when there is opposition against the name of Jesus. It’s not a personality trait. In fact people with a personality perceived as bold struggle on the opposite end where they might have a false boldness for Christ.
Jonathan Edwards describes it as this: “There’s a false boldness for Christ that only comes from pride. A man may rationally expose himself to the world’s dislike and even deliberately provoke its displeasure and yet do so out of pride. True boldness for Christ transcends all. It is indifferent to the displeasure of either friends or foes. Boldness enables Christians to forsake all rather than Christ and to prefer to offend all rather than to offend Him.”
That is boldness. Most of Peter’s perceived boldness that we read in the gospels is out of pride. And then Peter the bold cowers away three separate times when asked if he even knew Jesus. And here he is, a faithful witness speaking through the power of the Holy Spirit about the saving power that comes from Jesus’ name alone to a counsel of men who in an instant could take his life.
And then verse 10. Look at that. He gives them that indictment they’re looking for. Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead by him that is standing before you well. (Acts 4:8)
I can imagine that the Sanhedrin, they’re like looking for rocks to pick up to start stoning this guy. But before they can, he gives them a rock analogy that they would’ve known very well.
He says in verse 11, This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you the builders which has become the cornerstone. He’s quoting Psalm 118:22 which says that the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Right from Psalm 118.
Now you might have heard this language of Jesus as the cornerstone, and building analogies would have made a lot of sense to them in that age. They would see a lot of stones being laid and buildings being put up. And there’s a story I heard this week. Some believe it’s a real story; some believe it’s just a legend about Solomon’s temple.
See, the story goes that they didn’t want to hewn the stones at the site of the temple so that the sound of hammers and all of that were going on at a place where they deemed as sacred and holy. And so they would hewn rocks down at the quarry and then the quarry workers would send it to the builders. And everything had to be so precise and so pristine that you would put the stones next to each other and you couldn’t even fit a knife blade in between them because they were so perfect.
And so everything that happened at the quarry had to be done exactly right, in the right order, in the right measurements. And so they send the stones over and the builders start laying everything out. And the first stone they would’ve laid would’ve been the cornerstone. And it would go down and it would kind of determine where every other stone was laid. It would be the foundation for the rest of the temple.
And so they’re looking around and part of the process was they would look for any imperfections in the stones and if it didn’t meet the qualifications they would throw it into a rubble heap. And as they’re looking around they realize that the quarry never sent over the cornerstone. So they’re like, “We can’t even start the project.”
And so they send word and the quarry people are like, “We already sent it. It was one fhte first things we did is we sent you the cornerstone.” And so they go back and they look and they actually go to check the rubble heap. And someone had discarded the cornerstone by mistake. And so they pull it out and they’re able to build the temple.
And so you think about that illustration. They’re saying that the most important stone is the stone that you rejected. And God has pulled it out of the rubble heap and set it as the cornerstone, the foundation, for which everything else is built. What he’s communicating to this whole counsel of religious leaders is that it’s not that you just killed some guy who was a good man who loved God. You killed the Author of life. You killed the Way, the Truth and the Life. You put to death the only thing that could give you eternal life. To the most powerful men in the religious system, Peter has the boldness to say, “You’ve missed it. Jesus wasn’t your enemy. He is your Savior. He’s the cornerstone.”
The Holy Spirit is speaking through the witness is an evidence of gospel boldness right here in this story and it should be an evidence in our own lives as well. Sometimes this will look like, yes, being bold with the gospel message to people who do not believe. But can I tell you what else it might look like? It will look like being bold with the family of God.
Sometimes the hardest places to be bold is in your own family with brothers and sisters, and the same is true in the church. We’ve been on this idea of God has established the church to be our family. And so brothers and sisters, one with another, we must be willing to be bold by calling out another brother and sister when their life doesn’t match up to the Word of God.
I heard a story this week about some guys in our church. We’ll say their names are Tyler Holder and KJ, because that’s their names. And he said I could use this, and he’ll look bad and I’ll look great. It’ll be awesome. But so KJ plays drums; great, awesome guy in our church, and Tyler Holder are hanging out. Kind of the first few months that they’re hanging out and KJ is over at Pastor Tyler’s house and Pastor Tyler is stressed out for various reasons, maybe just because it’s Tyler. And so he’s kind of stressed and there’s a moment where he snaps kind of at Jax, his son Jax, about something Jax did. And he kind of snaps.
And KJ, you know, goes, “Hey, what was that about?”
And Tyler is like,, “Aw, I’m stressed out and you know, I snapped.”
And KJ is like, “Do you think that’s fair to your family that they get the short end, you know the short straw, because you’re kind of stressed and so they have to pay the consequences for that?”
And if you know Pastor Tyler Holder, you know that he was just instantly like, “You’re so right. Like thank you; I receive that.”
And so they’re telling me this story and I”m like thanks to KJ for the boldness in a moment to call out a pastor of the church that he just started attending to say like, “Hey man, that doesn’t match up with what you preach.”
That should be happening all over our church. That should be like a staple in our small groups that we’re willing to say something to a brother or a sister when we see something. “That doesn’t match up, man. Can we just talk about this for a minute? I read this in God’s Word and you’re saying that and you’re living that way. Can I just be bold and tell you that I don’t think that’s what God has for your life?”
And we should be bold in receiving it and asking for it again and again. That should not offput us that another family member can see things in our life that we can’t see that we’re blind to. Stuff like this should happen all the time, understanding that the Holy Spirit is speaking through us and maybe to us through another family member.
Unfortunately the members of the Sanhedrin did not receive Peter’s message. They didn’t receive it as the Lord speaking to them. Look at verse 13.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)
They first recognized the transformation of Peter and John. They recognized that this isn’t normal. This isn’t how guys who grow up and are fishermen act. This is different, and the only factor that we can see is Jesus.
Verse 14. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. (Acts 4:14)
So they recognized the truth of Peter and John’s transformation and they recognized the truth of the lame beggar’s transformation.
But when they had commanded them to leave the counsel, they conferred with one another saying, “What shall we do with these men?” For that the notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. (Acts 4:15-16)
Now I believe that this is the same spot that 5,000 men had just gotten to, that they were face-to-face with the truth and they couldn’t deny it. And their next words in that moment were, “I repent.” The Sanhedrin’s next word?
Verse 15. But when they had commanded them to leave the counsel, they conferred with one another. “What shall we do with these men?” (Acts 4:15-16)
And then verse 17. In order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or to teach at all in the name of Jesus. (Acts 4:17-18)
They just admitted that they couldn’t deny the truth. But they also could not accept it. Unfortunately for many people, this is another evidence of gospel boldness that the truth is undeniable yet still unacceptable. That’s the fourth evidence.
As we are bold in our witness, people will have to come face-to-face with the truth. And when I say the truth, you might think like apologetics, like us proving that this is real. And while that has a place in our faith and in our bold gospel witness, the one truth people can’t deny or argue with is a changed life. The Sanhedrin was amazed at the miracle given to the man who couldn’t walk and they’re amazed at the boldness and the transformation of these common, untrained men.
But instead of letting that wonder- man, this is amazing- instead of letting that take them past what they knew to consider maybe I’m wrong, maybe this is true, they couldn’t see past their own position and their own authority to recognize the position and authority of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savoir. When the opposition can no longer refute the truth, the only option they have is to silence it.
And Peter has a choice right here as many of us do when we’re faced with that type of threat or opposition. No more. Speak no more in the name of Jesus. Again, Peter, he doesn’t have any chips here. There’s no power. There’s no authority he holds in this room. He might be right in our eyes.
Like we’re reading the story and we’re like, “Oh he’s so justified.” But all the Sanhedrin saw was an enemy of their religious system. He was guilty in their minds already. And he could have cowered right here. He could have agreed. He could have even lied. Like, “You got it guys (wink). I’ll never say Jesus ever again,” and just try to get out of there as fast as possible.”
And for a guy who we know as we read has focused a lot on self-preservation in the past, this is an astounding answer he gives in verse 19.
Both he and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God you must judge. For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19)
That’s bold. And I love that they use it like a law language and throw it back at them. Like you’re sitting here and you’re trying to judge us for what we have done in the name of Jesus. What you really need to do is judge whether or not you’re actually following God. I’ve got my orders. I’ve got my mission. I know what I’m supposed to do. I know who my authority is, but do you?
Now I hope you don’t read these verses here and think, “Yeah! America! Freedom! Government, bad. Freedom, good. I can do whatever I want.” This is not like a Philippians 4:13 where you just slap it on like I can do whatever I want because I need to, you know, whether it’s right to listen to you rather than God.
In fact, it’s so far away from that. You could try to cram this type of ideology into every type of situation that suited your preferences. Like, oh, gospel boldness. But the only time Scripture shows us people disobeying their authority, not even disobeying just going against what they have ordained, is when the authority asks people to directly disobey God.
You see, Hebrew midwives disobey Pharoah when told to kill the male babies, because their God said you shall not murder. Daniel refuses to eat the king’s meat and prays even when prayer to God is prohibited because it says you shall have no other gods before me. The same is true for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They refuse to bow down to a statue of Nebuchadnezzar. And Paul is jailed numerous times for preaching a religion in violation of Rome’s law.
I read a blog post this week and it’s just these helpful insights on how to approach this type of gospel boldness in 2021. The government of every nation is legitimized and even ordained by God. It is there because He has allowed it to be there, but God is our ultimate authority. Go read Romans 13 to see that.
Secondly, there’s no Christian nation or government. Therefore, as Christians we should expect opposition and understand that we are living in exile. We’re in Babylon no matter where you find yourself in the world.
The default position of the Christian is to live in obedience to their government, to live quiet and peaceful lives so as not to stir up the government against us. Don’t believe me? Go read 1 Timothy 2:2 and 1 Thessalonians 4:11.
And then lastly this. This just helped me so much in my own processing this week. Christians are not called to stand up in protest against every law that allows sin but must wrestle with the response to laws that compels sin. See, Peter here is being compelled to sin. He’s being demanded that he sin. He’s being threatened to sin. The sin of denying the power of Jesus and the mission he has to go into all the world and preach the gospel, that’s what Jesus said to him. So for him to do anything different was sin.
And in the filling of the Holy Spirit he has the boldness to stand against the opposition and proclaim the truth. You are not my highest authority; God is. And the counsel responds in verse 21.
And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people. For all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom the son of healing was performed was more than 40 years old. (Acts 4:21-22)
The truth is undeniable. These men have the opportunity to join in the family of God through the power of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, but they just can’t get there. And Paul speaks of this in 2 Corinthians. Look at this verse. He says, For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one a fragrance from death to death, and to the other a fragrance from life to life, who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)
Peter and John were the aroma of death to the Sanhedrin. They could not accept it. An evidence of gospel boldness will result in people unable to deny the truth but still unable to accept it themselves. And they’ll do everything in their power to silence it.
We see extreme examples of this like the beheading of Christians in the middle east. But in America it looks a little bit more like social persecution. You might be labeled narrow minded or a bigot or you might be mocked, rejected, by friends or even your own family. And if I’m being honest and I’m putting myself into that camp right now, we let that be enough to silence us. I believe that the enemy is winning the war on silencing the truth and he’s not having to fight very hard.
Oh Lord, that we would have the gospel boldness of Peter and John to look into the face of the very people who could take our lives and declare the name of Jesus above all else. And again, because of the miracle that occurred and the speed at which the news is spreading throughout this region, the people are all over the place praising God and worshiping God and declaring that there’s salvation in Jesus’ name.
And so the Sanhedin is kind of stuck. They’re like, “We can’t twist this. We can’t turn this in a way to like punish these men. Like the people are going to freak out. So they just, “no more,” and they have to send them on their way. It’s amazing. And Peter and John get back to their friends in verse 23 and we just see an awesome moment of prayer.
When they were released they went to their friends and reported what the chief priest and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David your servant said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain?’
The kings of the earth set themselves and were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly, in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever your hands and your plan had predestined to take place. And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal. And signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, Jesus.
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:23-31)
The last evidence for gospel boldness that I want to present to you is the way the church is praying. The church is praying for power, not just protection. They’re praying for power because they acknowledge the sovereignty of God that He is in control of everything, including opposition and will use it for His glory. They’re quoting in their prayers Psalm 2, believing that God’s Word is still applicable to their situation, that the sovereignty of God in His Word is being lived out in their day.
And what I find so interesting is they don’t pray for God’s wrath to be poured out on the Sanhedrin. They don’t pray for revenge against the men who persecuted them. They don’t even pray that God would protect them from ever having something so traumatizing happen again. They don’t even pray, “God, protect us from death.” They pray, “Keep doing miracles and keep giving us an opportunity to stand in front of people asking about the miracle, and give us the boldness to declare that it’s Jesus’ name.”
So often I’m praying for God to protect me with His shield when I need to be playing for the power to pick up the sword and defend the name of Jesus. I need to be willing to put myself in harm’s way for the name of Jesus. See, God’s mission of making disciples is not fought from a bunker. It’s fought on the frontlines. If you’re not a problem to the enemy, then you’re not a problem for the enemy.
Our boldness should be identified as people who are praying, “God, give us power to do what you’ve called us to do.” See, Peter and John, they could have come back, they could have collapsed in their goat skin armchairs or whatever and eaten their feelings, vented about how traumatizing that was and say, “We’re just going to take the rest of the week off. That was a lot.”
Instead they just instantly they praised God and then they asked for Him to do it again. And I was so convicted this week at how easily I’m rattled and shaken when I practice gospel boldness, how easily I think that, “This is the end. This is it. I’m going to lose everything. I’m going to be ostracized or they’re not going to like me. I’m going to lose my influence. I’m going to lose my position.”
I love that Peter quotes Psalm 118 in the face of the Sanhedrin when he was referencing Jesus as the cornerstone. Because it’s not hard to believe to me that he was meditating on Psalm 118 in the jail cell the night before. Psalm 118 says this in verse 5. Out of my distress I called on the Lord. the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper. I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. (Psalm 118:5-7)
If God for us church, then who can be against us? Let’s live a life of gospel boldness and see God’s power work in and through us for His glory. So you’ve been on the stand this morning. You’ve been called as a witness to the jury as the jury in the trial of Peter and John. and I think it’s pretty clear. I don’t even need to hear your verdict. These guys exemplified gospel boldness.
But can I ask you what’s your verdict for yourself? So as we go out and we try to live sent in this world, here’s what I want us to do. Can we just stand in this moment and declare that no matter what situation we might face this morning, that we serve a God who is greater? That no matter what opposition we might face this week, we serve a God who is greater. And if our God is for us church, who can be against us? That’s a rhetorical question, but the answer is no one. No one can be against us. So let’s sing with faith and believe and declare that our God is greater than anything you would face in this world. C’mon.