Acts 4

I’ll start by just saying I love this chapter of Acts. It is incredible to see the faith and faithfulness of Peter and John and to see their response to what happens, to see their reaction to the circumstances they are faced with. Some of the things they do and say and have said about them are things I would love to have others say about me someday as well. Truly Godly people.

Fear motivates me; it motivates a lot of people. I am afraid of snakes, so I avoid snakes at all costs. I was afraid of our dark basement when I was little, so I would run up the stairs when there were no lights on downstairs; fear motivates me. Fear didn’t motivate thousands of people in Acts chapter 4. The message and the redemption that the gospel offers was not going to be lost or run away from due to fear. The religious leaders come in “as they were speaking to the people” and seized them and took them off to jail. If I was in that crowd I would be running away, I would be hiding behind the sheep that were about to be sacrificed, I’d be doing whatever I could to not get thrown in jail as well. Not these believers, they weren’t hiding and running away, they were running towards the freedom offered by Christ, and hundreds and even thousands more believed that day. Would I have been so bold?

Peter and John go in front of all the religious leaders and they give a perfect example of how we should face our accusers and what we should do in the midst of suffering and trial. In verse 8, before Peter spoke a word, the text says that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to pray to be filled with the Spirit on all occasions, but especially when faced with a situation like this. Without a doubt Peter had been praying for the Spirit, and the Spirit showed up in a mighty way. Peter, using a lot of words, words of reminder, convicting words, piercing words, lets them know that it was by the power of Christ alone that this man was healed. He then reminds them that they rejected this Jesus, and that salvation is only available through the name, power, and sacrifice of Jesus. Peter speaks truth and he speaks it with incredible confidence. I don’t picture Peter stuttering as he speaks these words, avoiding eye contact with the leaders for fear of making them mad and receiving more punishment. No, I believe Peter stood up tall and looked each of them in the eye as he reminded them that they killed Jesus but God raised Him from the grave.

Verse 13 is one of those verses that I can’t read by too quickly. It’s one of those verses that I read and say wow I desire for someone to be able to say that about me. Not for the recognition, not out of some sort of pride or seeking praise, but because it’s true! The leaders realized that these were unschooled and ordinary men, in other words none of this, the healing, the bold preaching, none of what they displayed could have been done on their own. Oh for that to be said of me. Peter and John had talents, without a doubt. But the influence and impact that Jesus had on their lives was so much bigger and so much greater that those talents were completely overshadowed, to the point that it was incredibly obvious to everyone around that what happened was not from them. God has given me talents, for which I am incredibly thankful. But whenever I write or whenever I speak or in whatever I do, I don’t want people to see or hear those things and give me praise because they can see how my talents were utilized, I want them to stand back and say I see and hear what I see and hear because Ryan has been with Jesus! I desire for His wisdom and His truth and His relational ability and His words to shine through, making anything that is of me disappear. I can’t describe in words how much I long for my life to reflect the fact that I’ve been with Jesus, that I am with Jesus now.

Lord I want it to be obvious, blatantly obvious, that I am with you. For that to happen, I need to be with you more often. I need to walk with you hour by hour and minute by minute rather than just a few times a day. Draw me into that deep and that constant of a relationship, because I need it desperately. I am unschooled and ordinary, but I want people to see you through me, I want to be able to confidently speak the words of Paul, “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” I need help in that because I’m a long ways off.

Over the next several verses as the leaders confer and decide what to do, we again see the stupidity and selfishness of men. These leaders admit that something has happened that is only from God, they know that there is merit and truth in this message that Peter and John are preaching, but they made the decision to threaten them because they feared it would spread further. God moves, everybody knows it, yet the leaders plot to do whatever they can to make sure it doesn’t spread. Whatever the motives, whether it was because they weren’t all the way there in believing the message, whether it was to protect the “members” of their faith from leaving and following where God was moving, whatever the reason, they get harsh with Peter and John and begin to threaten them. Should believers ever act this way? I mean is there ever a situation in the life of a church or in a relationship between believers that this sort of treatment is justified, where one threatens and gets angry and begins to make accusations? We are instructed to restore a brother in Christ who has sinned with a gentle spirit, in a loving manner. So, even when one of our fellow believers sins, and even more so when there has been no sin, we need to examine what we say and how we react to things and how we treat people. It pains me to see supposed believers in Christ angry with other believers, saying things that are ungodly with an attitude and a spirit that is just plain ugly. That’s not what God calls us to and it’s sure not what is going to attract other believers to come join in the fellowship.

Peter and John are threatened by the leaders, and their response is simply we will continue to follow God and let him decide if that’s the right thing to do. In other words, I know what I am speaking is truth and anything else is not, so I’ll stand on it. To be that confident you must be speaking and acting in truth and truth only, because anything other than that leaves you on shaky ground. Living my life in any way other than above reproach and according to what God tells me to do leaves me nervous and shaky when standing in front of my accusers. Speaking and living in truth does not. I have to be willing to live by the truth and let it defend me, let it silence my accusers when I so badly want to lash out and fight back. Peter and John were unable to stop speaking about what they had seen and heard. Again, to be able to say that about my approach to sharing the message of the gospel, what I have seen and heard of Jesus, it’s a very high standard to live by.

Peter and John go report the events to the other believers and again, rather than being motivated by fear and backing off like I likely would have done, their response is praise and adoration of their Savior. Their response, rather than wallowing in the tough times they are facing, is to look to Scripture and put things into perspective. They look back into the Psalms and see well yeah, of course this would happen because God told us it would. No, this isn’t that big of a deal because God told us it would happen, just like you told us Jesus would be crucified, and, oh yeah, just like you told us Jesus would get up and walk out of the tomb. God you told us all this would happen and you told us you would see us through. Knowing that, understanding that, Lord give us even more boldness. Their approach towards conflict and suffering is incredible, and is an example we should all try to follow. Assess the situation, read the Scriptures and find where God told us it would happen, read the Scriptures and see what else God told us would happen that He would see us through and help us out with, remember where God did, in fact, step in and carry us when He told us He would, and lean on Him to carry us through this time. It seems simple and easy but it is so far from simple or easy. Life stinks sometimes, and it is so easy to wallow and whine and mope around, boldness is much tougher.

They prayed for boldness, not for opportunities because they knew opportunities were all around them, but they prayed for boldness in the midst of opportunities to spread His message. How true is that today that opportunities abound all around us, but I don’t pray for boldness nearly enough. When they prayed, the whole place shook. My place has shaken before. Not my house or my car or something that has physically moved back and forth, but my Spirit has been shaken before, my heart has been shaken before as I’ve poured out my heart to God. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t shake near enough, and I believe it hasn’t shaken enough because I am not approaching God’s throne with confidence, praying for boldness, nearly enough. The result: they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s message with boldness. That’s what I want too.

 
The last section again talks about the believers sharing possessions, but the part that jumped out at me the most was in verse 32. The large group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, there was a unity among the believers. Oh how much I desire and long for unity among believers. And I’m not talking about a false sense of unity among believers where we all hold hands around a campfire and sing kumbaya, I’m talking about really being of one heart and mind. People of one heart and mind talk positively about and with one another, encouraging and lifting each other up, not tearing each other down. People of one heart and mind pray for and with one another constantly, lifting up each other’s needs and hearts before God. People of one heart and mind keep their focus where it should be, on Jesus and the spread of His gospel, rather than the ancillary things that don’t matter that much but often get in the way. Focusing on those other things, those traditions and rules and even theological disputes leads to discord and disunity, which is incredibly dangerous. The New Testament isn’t littered with condemnation for disunity for nothing, the negative effects of church splits and fights among believers aren’t just coincidence, it’s a big deal. I fully believe Satan has a huge impact inside the church; he isn’t locked outside like we would like him to be. Once someone decides to follow Christ he doesn’t throw in the towel and give up, no often he goes to work even harder. And, I believe, one of the hardest areas in which he tries to come after Christians is in their relationships with other believers and other churches. And, I really wish this wasn’t true but I believe it is, he is winning this battle in a lot of hearts and a lot of churches. This large group of believers would absolutely have had differences of opinion on doctrine, on philosophy, on the practical aspects of ministry, but they were all committed to the cause of Christ and they didn’t let those differences divide them. We do, all the time, and I am convinced that it is one of those things we do as humans that God just flat despises. I need to do everything I can to make sure I’m not causing or furthering disunity and divisiveness, and Lord forgive me if I am.