20231015 Acts 4:1-31 Healing of the Beggar Pt 2 - Christian Persecution
Paul writes, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12). Jesus said, “‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). Persecution comes with being part of God's people. In the OT, sometimes God raises up a nation to punish his people. Other times, innocent people suffer greatly like Job, Daniel, and Elijah. In the NT, Christ suffers. If we follow Jesus, Peter says that we should not consider it “strange” if we suffer as well (1 Pet 4:12). Acts portrays the history of the early Christian church. This history includes persecution. The book of Acts is about the witness to the resurrected king by the power of the Holy Spirit to spread the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth. In the narrative of Acts, persecution highlights the power of God. Nothing, not even powerful earthly governments can thwart God’s plans!
In Acts 3, God healed a lame man. This miracle stirred people up in the temple and Peter responded by proclaiming the resurrected Christ. This message affects everything. It is more than a philosophical debate about opinions. The implications go further than one's personal worldview. It is political. When Christ was raised from the dead, he showed that he is sovereign over all things. He demands the allegiance of all people. This leads to persecution. Any nation that demands their people’s highest allegiance will oppose Christians who cannot do this. Following Peter’s sermon in Acts 3, John and Peter are arrested.
The following day, they are asked about the miracle. Peter seizes the opportunity to show the absurdity of persecuting Christians. They are treated like criminals for having done a good deed. Peter connects the healing of the previously lame man to Jesus. He declares that he was healed by the power of Jesus. He then connects Jesus’ power to heal with his power to save a person from their sins. Peter says that salvation is found in no one else. The court prohibits the apostles from preaching and they are set free.In Acts 4:25-26, the church interprets persecution in light of Psalm 2. When faced with the Messiah, you have to choose. Either humble yourself, believe, and repent. You can ignore it and be indifferent. Or, attack, ridicule, silence, or ban Christianity. Acts shows that King Jesus will continue to expand his kingdom despite persecution.
SIOS: While the nations rage in opposition to the kingdom of God, we must press on with boldness proclaiming the kingdom of the resurrected Christ. We will look at (1) the folly of the nations, (2) the proclamation of the resurrection, and (3) bold Christian living.
In Acts 4, the Sadducees were behind the arrest (Acts 4:1). They were the ruling class of wealthy aristocrats. Politically, they integrated themselves with the Romans and followed a policy of collaboration. They had a lot to lose if the Romans felt the threat of an uprising in Jerusalem.[i] These Jews have made themselves Gentile nations in opposing Jesus and his church. This is an interesting twist of Psalm 2.
Acts 4:2 tells us the religious leaders "were annoyed because the apostles were proclaiming Christ’s resurrection." They arrested them. The next day at their hearing, Peter points out their folly. They arrested them for a good deed done to a lame man (Acts 4:9). The authorities let them go. The last attempt to control them is by prohibiting them from speaking about the resurrection (Acts 4:14).
Throughout history, Christians are threats to dictators or any government that infringes on its people’s freedom. Christianity is banned in North Korea. Communist Russia sought to destroy all religions and promote atheism. Christianity was controlled under Nazi Germany. Authoritarian regimes rule by fear. Christians always swear a higher allegiance to Christ than they do to the state. Christian zeal triumphs over the fear of government. The folly in persecuting Christians is that Christians are not a threat. They are devoted to loving even their enemies. It is folly, but we can still expect persecution.
Today, if you have not been persecuted for your faith, that is okay as well. We may wonder if this text is still relevant. The persecution of Christians is not equal across time and space. It is relatively easy to be a Christian in Belgium. Not the easiest, but easy. We can know that the universal church that we are part of is being persecuted.
Today, it is dangerous to be a Christian in North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, and India. The list goes on. Just to provide one number, in 2020, 3530 Nigerian Christians died for their faith.[ii]
In Acts 4:8-12, Peter is filled by the Holy Spirit to do what the Holy Spirit empowers him to do. He bears witness to the resurrection of Christ. They ask about the healing that took place so Peter talks about Jesus! He declares that Jesus healed the man. It is the Jesus whom they crucified and whom God raised from the dead! He quotes Ps 118:22, the stone that the builders rejected became the most important stone! Builders reject stones that they regard as unsuitable for their purposes. The cornerstone was the stone with which a building began. It fixes its site and determines its direction. The psalmist writes that the stone the builders rejected was the most important in a new building. Ps 118:22 uses the concept of a cornerstone metaphorically. A people doubted that the king would be victorious in battle, but he wins an overwhelming victory. Peter applies this statement to Jesus and the Jewish leaders. Jesus has become the “cornerstone,” which determined the location, direction, and size of the building. God is building a new building, a new spiritual temple in which God’s presence among his people is based on Jesus’ death and resurrection. Being part of the building rests on accepting Jesus as Israel’s Messiah.[iii] The application of Ps 118 to Jesus is a smooth transition for Peter to declare that, "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
A first point of application is that we must keep the resurrection central because to speak of the resurrection is to speak of salvation. Acts 4:4 tells us that it was after hearing this same word thousands more came to faith. The wage of sin is death (Gen 2:17; Rom 6:23). If Jesus was raised from the dead, it means that the wage has been paid for. There is no more sin to pay for. Therefore we can find the forgiveness of sins in Christ. Proclaiming the resurrection is announcing the message of salvation. This is the good news and the message the Holy Spirit uses to save and to edify Christians. Concretely, in worship, we want to keep this theme central in the different elements such as the songs we sing, the confession of sin and assurance, and in sermons. The resurrection is the message of salvation and also the basis for our Hope no matter what hardship we are enduring.
A second point of application concerns the exclusivity of the Christian message. Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” is like John 14:6, where Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” These verses claim the exclusivity of Jesus. Jesus is the only way to have a relationship with God, experience the forgiveness of sins, and hope to enjoy eternal bliss in the presence of God and to escape judgment and hell.
This has drawn some criticism. Not by religious people who believe their religion is also the only way, but by secular people. Some say that claiming Jesus is the only way is arrogant. They also claim that all religions are essentially the same and teach people how to get along with others. Unfortunately, those who make these statements, though well-intended claim accidently that they understand Islam better than Muslims, Judaism better that Jews, and Christianity better than Christians. We don’t believe the same things. Christianity explicitly teaches that Jesus is the only way (Acts 4:12). Either Christians are right or they are wrong. We believe Jesus is the only way because only he fully reflects the justice of God and the love of God. At the cross, we see the justice of God that punished sin, and the love of God that saved sinners. If Jesus is the only way, he is the world’s only hope, so nothing is a more worthy cause than making him known.
From the statement of Acts 4:19, “Whether it is right in the sign of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, …,” we get an important principle. Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Pet 2:13-14 teach us to submit to governments. Now, Acts 4:19 offers a caveat. Our ultimate allegiance is to God. In practice sometimes it can get complicated.
This theme of obeying God over man came up often during the Covid pandemic. God wants his people to gather to worship him, and governments limited religious gatherings to prevent the spread of the disease. I think Christians could want to meet and others also believed that God would want us to love our neighbor by trying not to spread the disease. I am not going to try to tell you who is right and who is wrong, so I’ll just tell you what Jesus would do!
Sometimes, it is less about what you believe and more about how you go about putting it in practice. I think Jesus would convict many of us for our pride and intolerance and gently remind us of the cross. A humble follower of Jesus would have understood that complex situation, prayed, and been a peacemaker, lovingly assumed everyone is doing the best they can… and promoted joy and unity rather than divides in the church that were just as bad as the outside world. Be bold, obey God rather than man, in the process, keep following Jesus when we disagree on faithfulness to God looks like!
Here is another application. When Peter respectfully refuses to obey, his answer is “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” His fuel is his joy and zeal that is connected to the transformation that he himself has experienced and witnessed. It is hard for this to be true for us, if our lives look the same as those outside the church 6 days and a half days a week. If we practice Acts 2:41-47, devote ourselves to word, prayer, sacraments, meeting needs sacrificially, having meals together, we will see God at work and have much to be joyful and share about. It is in this context of extravagant and radical love and care that lives change. Witnessing God at work will increase our boldness as we desire to see him work even more wonders around us!
[i] John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: To the Ends of the Earth, Revised edition. (Downer’s Grove, IL, London: InterVaristy Press ; Inter-Varsity Press, 2020). Acts 4:1-22. .
[ii] https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/january/christian-persecution-2021-countries-open-doors-watch-list.html
[iii] Schnabel, Acts. Acts 4:11. .
[iv] In Acts, it refers to a “short outburst of spiritual power or inspiration,” so it is the Spirit who inspired Peter’s speech about the resurrection. Schnabel, Acts. Acts 2:4 and Acts 4:8. Turner, in Power from on High, 167, argues that these constructions (cf. Luke 1:41, 67; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31) do not suggest a more enduring endowment. According to Luke’s language, “a person might on many occasions be ‘filled with Holy Spirit’ while nevertheless remaining ‘full’ of the Spirit; the two types of metaphor make different but complementary assertions.” The verb “fill” (πίμπλημι) is a more intense form (compare with πληρόω). Luke uses the aorist indicative form (ἐπλήσθησαν) with genitive of divine Spirit to designate “short outbursts of spiritual power/inspiration, rather than the inception of long-term endowment of the Spirit.”
In Acts 3, God healed a lame man. This miracle stirred people up in the temple and Peter responded by proclaiming the resurrected Christ. This message affects everything. It is more than a philosophical debate about opinions. The implications go further than one's personal worldview. It is political. When Christ was raised from the dead, he showed that he is sovereign over all things. He demands the allegiance of all people. This leads to persecution. Any nation that demands their people’s highest allegiance will oppose Christians who cannot do this. Following Peter’s sermon in Acts 3, John and Peter are arrested.
The following day, they are asked about the miracle. Peter seizes the opportunity to show the absurdity of persecuting Christians. They are treated like criminals for having done a good deed. Peter connects the healing of the previously lame man to Jesus. He declares that he was healed by the power of Jesus. He then connects Jesus’ power to heal with his power to save a person from their sins. Peter says that salvation is found in no one else. The court prohibits the apostles from preaching and they are set free.In Acts 4:25-26, the church interprets persecution in light of Psalm 2. When faced with the Messiah, you have to choose. Either humble yourself, believe, and repent. You can ignore it and be indifferent. Or, attack, ridicule, silence, or ban Christianity. Acts shows that King Jesus will continue to expand his kingdom despite persecution.
SIOS: While the nations rage in opposition to the kingdom of God, we must press on with boldness proclaiming the kingdom of the resurrected Christ. We will look at (1) the folly of the nations, (2) the proclamation of the resurrection, and (3) bold Christian living.
1 Acts 4:1-9; 13-14 23-29; The nations rage!
Acts 4:25-26 quotes Psalm 2. It summarizes Acts 4. The Gentile nations rage and plot in vain. Psalm 2 is about the resistance to the Messiah's rule. The persecution of the church is a resistance to Christ’s rule today. The church faithful to Christ sacrificially loves their neighbor. Persecuting her is absolute folly!In Acts 4, the Sadducees were behind the arrest (Acts 4:1). They were the ruling class of wealthy aristocrats. Politically, they integrated themselves with the Romans and followed a policy of collaboration. They had a lot to lose if the Romans felt the threat of an uprising in Jerusalem.[i] These Jews have made themselves Gentile nations in opposing Jesus and his church. This is an interesting twist of Psalm 2.
Acts 4:2 tells us the religious leaders "were annoyed because the apostles were proclaiming Christ’s resurrection." They arrested them. The next day at their hearing, Peter points out their folly. They arrested them for a good deed done to a lame man (Acts 4:9). The authorities let them go. The last attempt to control them is by prohibiting them from speaking about the resurrection (Acts 4:14).
Throughout history, Christians are threats to dictators or any government that infringes on its people’s freedom. Christianity is banned in North Korea. Communist Russia sought to destroy all religions and promote atheism. Christianity was controlled under Nazi Germany. Authoritarian regimes rule by fear. Christians always swear a higher allegiance to Christ than they do to the state. Christian zeal triumphs over the fear of government. The folly in persecuting Christians is that Christians are not a threat. They are devoted to loving even their enemies. It is folly, but we can still expect persecution.
Today, if you have not been persecuted for your faith, that is okay as well. We may wonder if this text is still relevant. The persecution of Christians is not equal across time and space. It is relatively easy to be a Christian in Belgium. Not the easiest, but easy. We can know that the universal church that we are part of is being persecuted.
Today, it is dangerous to be a Christian in North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, Nigeria, and India. The list goes on. Just to provide one number, in 2020, 3530 Nigerian Christians died for their faith.[ii]
2 Acts 4:2, 7-12 The proclamation of the Resurrection
The nations rage against the church, but the church is on a mission. It proclaims the resurrection of Christ. Persecution does not change that. Despite persecution, the central theme of Acts 4 is the resurrection. In Acts 4:2, the resurrection is the reason given for the arrest. The resurrection is what Peter speaks of when he is on trial. It is the preaching of the resurrection that the Sanhedrin (Supreme court headed by the High Priest) try to ban.In Acts 4:8-12, Peter is filled by the Holy Spirit to do what the Holy Spirit empowers him to do. He bears witness to the resurrection of Christ. They ask about the healing that took place so Peter talks about Jesus! He declares that Jesus healed the man. It is the Jesus whom they crucified and whom God raised from the dead! He quotes Ps 118:22, the stone that the builders rejected became the most important stone! Builders reject stones that they regard as unsuitable for their purposes. The cornerstone was the stone with which a building began. It fixes its site and determines its direction. The psalmist writes that the stone the builders rejected was the most important in a new building. Ps 118:22 uses the concept of a cornerstone metaphorically. A people doubted that the king would be victorious in battle, but he wins an overwhelming victory. Peter applies this statement to Jesus and the Jewish leaders. Jesus has become the “cornerstone,” which determined the location, direction, and size of the building. God is building a new building, a new spiritual temple in which God’s presence among his people is based on Jesus’ death and resurrection. Being part of the building rests on accepting Jesus as Israel’s Messiah.[iii] The application of Ps 118 to Jesus is a smooth transition for Peter to declare that, "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
A first point of application is that we must keep the resurrection central because to speak of the resurrection is to speak of salvation. Acts 4:4 tells us that it was after hearing this same word thousands more came to faith. The wage of sin is death (Gen 2:17; Rom 6:23). If Jesus was raised from the dead, it means that the wage has been paid for. There is no more sin to pay for. Therefore we can find the forgiveness of sins in Christ. Proclaiming the resurrection is announcing the message of salvation. This is the good news and the message the Holy Spirit uses to save and to edify Christians. Concretely, in worship, we want to keep this theme central in the different elements such as the songs we sing, the confession of sin and assurance, and in sermons. The resurrection is the message of salvation and also the basis for our Hope no matter what hardship we are enduring.
A second point of application concerns the exclusivity of the Christian message. Acts 4:12, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” is like John 14:6, where Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” These verses claim the exclusivity of Jesus. Jesus is the only way to have a relationship with God, experience the forgiveness of sins, and hope to enjoy eternal bliss in the presence of God and to escape judgment and hell.
This has drawn some criticism. Not by religious people who believe their religion is also the only way, but by secular people. Some say that claiming Jesus is the only way is arrogant. They also claim that all religions are essentially the same and teach people how to get along with others. Unfortunately, those who make these statements, though well-intended claim accidently that they understand Islam better than Muslims, Judaism better that Jews, and Christianity better than Christians. We don’t believe the same things. Christianity explicitly teaches that Jesus is the only way (Acts 4:12). Either Christians are right or they are wrong. We believe Jesus is the only way because only he fully reflects the justice of God and the love of God. At the cross, we see the justice of God that punished sin, and the love of God that saved sinners. If Jesus is the only way, he is the world’s only hope, so nothing is a more worthy cause than making him known.
3 Acts 4:15-22, 29-31 Boldness to obey God and not man.
In response to the preaching, the authorities attempt to ban Peter and John from speaking (Acts 4:15-22). The problem is that Acts 4:8 notes that Peter gave his speech being “filled with the Holy Spirit.”[iv] In effect, the authorities are trying to ban God from doing his work. Peter responds, “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.” When God’s commands clash with human demands, Peter follows God. Beyond this, Peter declares that what he has witnessed, the resurrection of Christ, the healing of the lame man, and all these people coming to faith, is too wonderful to keep a secret!From the statement of Acts 4:19, “Whether it is right in the sign of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, …,” we get an important principle. Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Pet 2:13-14 teach us to submit to governments. Now, Acts 4:19 offers a caveat. Our ultimate allegiance is to God. In practice sometimes it can get complicated.
This theme of obeying God over man came up often during the Covid pandemic. God wants his people to gather to worship him, and governments limited religious gatherings to prevent the spread of the disease. I think Christians could want to meet and others also believed that God would want us to love our neighbor by trying not to spread the disease. I am not going to try to tell you who is right and who is wrong, so I’ll just tell you what Jesus would do!
Sometimes, it is less about what you believe and more about how you go about putting it in practice. I think Jesus would convict many of us for our pride and intolerance and gently remind us of the cross. A humble follower of Jesus would have understood that complex situation, prayed, and been a peacemaker, lovingly assumed everyone is doing the best they can… and promoted joy and unity rather than divides in the church that were just as bad as the outside world. Be bold, obey God rather than man, in the process, keep following Jesus when we disagree on faithfulness to God looks like!
Here is another application. When Peter respectfully refuses to obey, his answer is “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” His fuel is his joy and zeal that is connected to the transformation that he himself has experienced and witnessed. It is hard for this to be true for us, if our lives look the same as those outside the church 6 days and a half days a week. If we practice Acts 2:41-47, devote ourselves to word, prayer, sacraments, meeting needs sacrificially, having meals together, we will see God at work and have much to be joyful and share about. It is in this context of extravagant and radical love and care that lives change. Witnessing God at work will increase our boldness as we desire to see him work even more wonders around us!
4 Conclusion
The church has been, is, and will be persecuted. Because God is God, he demands all people’s allegiance. Rebellion against God will necessarily mean hostility towards those who proclaim Christ’s Lordship. This text teaches us, no matter what comes our way, proclaim the death, burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins, and submit to his reign by obeying God, rather than man.[i] John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: To the Ends of the Earth, Revised edition. (Downer’s Grove, IL, London: InterVaristy Press ; Inter-Varsity Press, 2020). Acts 4:1-22. .
[ii] https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/january/christian-persecution-2021-countries-open-doors-watch-list.html
[iii] Schnabel, Acts. Acts 4:11. .
[iv] In Acts, it refers to a “short outburst of spiritual power or inspiration,” so it is the Spirit who inspired Peter’s speech about the resurrection. Schnabel, Acts. Acts 2:4 and Acts 4:8. Turner, in Power from on High, 167, argues that these constructions (cf. Luke 1:41, 67; Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31) do not suggest a more enduring endowment. According to Luke’s language, “a person might on many occasions be ‘filled with Holy Spirit’ while nevertheless remaining ‘full’ of the Spirit; the two types of metaphor make different but complementary assertions.” The verb “fill” (πίμπλημι) is a more intense form (compare with πληρόω). Luke uses the aorist indicative form (ἐπλήσθησαν) with genitive of divine Spirit to designate “short outbursts of spiritual power/inspiration, rather than the inception of long-term endowment of the Spirit.”
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