1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:04,680 Continuing on from where Jerry left us off the story in Acts 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:07,880 chapter 4. Now when the Sanhedrin saw the 3 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,240 boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were 4 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:16,520 uneducated common men, they were astonished, and they recognized 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:20,720 that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was 6 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:23,920 healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in 7 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:26,680 opposition. But when they had commanded them 8 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:28,800 to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,400 saying, What shall we do with these men? 10 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,400 For that a notable sign has been performed through them, as 11 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:38,200 evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny 12 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,040 it. But in order that it may spread 13 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:45,200 no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to 14 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,160 anyone in the name of in this name. 15 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:52,960 So they called them, and charged them not to speak or teach at 16 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,520 all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered 17 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:00,280 them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you 18 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,920 rather than to God, you must judge. 19 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,000 For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. 20 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,240 And when they had further threatened them, they let them 21 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,320 go, finding no way to punish them because of the people. 22 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,560 For all we're praising God for what had happened. 23 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:22,160 For the man on whom the sign of healing was performed was more 24 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:26,040 than 40 years old. And this is the word of the 25 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:30,400 Lord, Thanks be to God. This is the word that God speaks 26 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,400 to us for the grass Withers and the flowers fade, but the word 27 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,680 of our Lord stands forever. Amen. 28 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,080 Please be seated. If you would grab your Bibles, 29 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:41,640 you can turn to Acts chapter 4. We're working our way through 30 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,640 this chapter here today in different ways, different 31 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:50,040 readings. There's a a thin line between 32 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:56,720 boldness and foolishness, between being confident of 33 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:03,440 something and being foolhardy, between courage and immaturity. 34 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,160 I remember when I was about 12 years old or so, I wondered what 35 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:08,919 it was like to be kissed by a girl. 36 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,600 And I thought to myself, you know what, Henry, be bold. 37 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,880 So I went to a girl who was in my grade, and I said, hey, I 38 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:18,440 want to know what it's like to be kissed. 39 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,880 Would you kiss me and close my eyes, leaned in like whack, 40 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,040 slapping me across face. I will let you know that it took 41 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:27,400 about 12 years, but that technique actually did paying 42 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,520 off eventually for me and stuff. But that was boldness, not 43 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:33,360 really. That was an immaturity. 44 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:37,320 That was a foolishness. But the boldness comes through 45 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:42,000 very clearly in this passage. This is a passage that speaks of 46 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,480 the apostles boldness in proclaiming the word of God. 47 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,920 Perhaps, like me, there are times where you walk away from a 48 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:52,480 conversation and you sit and you think to yourself, boy, it's 49 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,840 hard to imagine that the Lord didn't want me to be more bold, 50 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:00,360 more faithful in that conversation than what I have 51 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,080 been. Perhaps there are times where 52 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:05,920 you fear that it would be foolish, that it'd be like 53 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:09,760 leaning in to get a slap. But we see the boldness. 54 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:14,040 We have outlined for us what boldness looks like in this text 55 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,760 before us. Now, we want to catch you up a 56 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,040 little bit just in case you weren't here last week or 57 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:20,760 haven't read the book of Acts for a while. 58 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:25,240 In Acts chapter 3, the apostles are on their way into Jerusalem, 59 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,560 sorry, into into the temple at the time in order to pray. 60 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,080 Peter and John are going in to pray in the temple and they pass 61 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,400 a lame man, a man who's been crippled since birth. 62 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,040 And they say silver, gold, we don't have anything but what we 63 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,960 have we will give you in the name of Jesus walk. 64 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:45,840 And so through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the man is 65 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,480 healed. And the man begins to praise 66 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,000 Lord, and the crowd gathers around him. 67 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:54,440 And Peter, doing what any good preacher does, takes advantage 68 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,880 of a crowd and begins to proclaim what Jesus Christ has 69 00:03:57,880 --> 00:03:59,600 done, the gospel of Jesus Christ. 70 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,120 And in the midst of that, what Jerry picked up the story at 71 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,800 when he read earlier, is that the crowd is attracted the 72 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,760 attention of the temple authorities and particularly the 73 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,000 Sanhedrin. This is a ruling body of Jewish 74 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,720 authorities, both overseeing political issues and also 75 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,640 religious issues. And they see that you've got a 76 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:21,720 gathering of people. And anytime you have a big 77 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,000 gathering of people at this time, the Roman authorities get 78 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,440 a little nervous. So the Jewish authorities are 79 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:29,840 nervous and they say we better figure out what's happening here 80 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:32,680 so that no, riot doesn't start and we have problems with the 81 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,520 Roman authorities. So they bring Peter and John and 82 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,800 the crippled man who is now healed into their meeting 83 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,640 council place, and they want to figure out what's going on. 84 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:45,040 They say what's going on? And Peter once again with the 85 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,680 opportunity to proclaim the name of Jesus, proclaims the name of 86 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,120 Jesus. And as he speaks and proclaims 87 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,680 it, then we hear at the beginning of the text that I 88 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,280 read now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they 89 00:04:57,280 --> 00:05:00,080 are taken by the boldness of Peter and John. 90 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,760 Everything that follows of this is they're trying to figure out 91 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:07,920 how it is that these men are so bold in their proclamation of 92 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,760 Jesus Christ. Realizing, or I should say 93 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:16,280 suspecting that even for the evangelists in this room, and I 94 00:05:16,280 --> 00:05:19,120 know there are a number of them, I'm impressed by the way in 95 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:21,840 which the Lord speaks in and through you to other people. 96 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,960 But even for the evangelists in this room, my guess is that 97 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:30,600 every one of us needs to capture more faithfully what it means to 98 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,160 be bold in the proclamation of the gospel. 99 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,600 So I want to take a look here at what it is that produced that 100 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,960 boldness in Peter and John. Verse 13. 101 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,320 We see now when they saw the boldness, when the Pharisees and 102 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,840 the Sadducees, the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish elders saw the 103 00:05:51,840 --> 00:05:54,920 boldness of Peter and John and perceive that they were 104 00:05:54,920 --> 00:06:00,160 uneducated common men, they were astounded, uneducated common 105 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:01,560 man. Now why is somebody bold? 106 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:03,760 Well, they're bold because they know all the answers. 107 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,400 They they know what's going on. They have all the solutions 108 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:08,800 ready in place. And so they can be bold in the 109 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:10,920 proclamation of the gospel because they can answer every 110 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,120 question. There was a man who came to the 111 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,840 campus where I worked. His name was Cliff Connectly. 112 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:17,640 He was in a traveling evangelist. 113 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,880 And what he would do, his shtick was he would answer any question 114 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:22,840 from the crowd. So the crowd would shout out 115 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:26,600 questions to him, challenges of the faith, and he would respond 116 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:28,000 very well. And the guy was very quick on 117 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:29,880 his feet. And he also, he had a script 118 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,680 that he knew how to turn every question into the gospel 119 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:34,520 message. It was, he was marvelous. 120 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:36,480 He was amazing. And you sit there and thought, 121 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,520 no wonder he's so bold. He's so bold because he knows 122 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:41,480 everything. He has an answer to every 123 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,360 question that enables him to be really bold out of the gate. 124 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,520 And now my guess is that for many of you, you don't feel like 125 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,760 you have every answer. You don't know what to say when 126 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,320 somebody says, does God really act like this? 127 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,840 Or how do we understand God when he does something like this? 128 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,680 Or is this really true? What evidence do you have for 129 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:01,280 this? My guess is in a number of you 130 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:06,800 feel uneducated, perhaps not academically, but perhaps in the 131 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,000 ways of responding well to the gospel. 132 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,040 And it'd be tempting then to temper your boldness, to say, 133 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,320 hey, I can't be bold anymore longer than the knowledge in 134 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,480 which I have. And then you read this passage 135 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,720 and you recognize that Peter and John are uneducated. 136 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,520 Their uneducated nature was evident, so much so that the 137 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,160 Sanhedrin is able to identify that just by being in the 138 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,800 presence for a few minutes. And yet he's realized that they 139 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,720 are bold. Nevertheless, they were also 140 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,440 common men. They weren't men of status. 141 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:46,960 They weren't men who had earned the right to be heard. 142 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,720 They were not men that had some kind of a high position, you 143 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,400 know, Well, I'm a pastor. Therefore my boldness comes from 144 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,120 my position and my authority. There were nothing like this. 145 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,320 They were uncommon men. Well, sorry, they were common 146 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:01,560 men. They were uneducated men. 147 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:06,720 In other words, they were in so many ways just like us. 148 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:12,160 And yet they were bold. But it was easy for them because 149 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:17,680 it was back then easy for them. Now one of the problems is that 150 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:20,720 we forget the time period that has taken place here. 151 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:25,120 We we take the Scripture in chunks often where we only hear 152 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:28,160 it on a Sunday morning or we read in our devotions a little 153 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,680 chunk at a time. We forget that the narrative, 154 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:34,679 the time period narrative that's going on two months ago, 8 155 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:40,280 weeks, just two months ago, the same Sanhedrin, the same 156 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:46,960 authority group dragged Jesus before them and within hours he 157 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:53,960 was crucified and Peter saw it happening, saw it happening. 158 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:58,320 The same people that are now accusing Peter now will pointing 159 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,640 their finger at Peter were the same ones that pointed their 160 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,920 finger at Jesus and LED Christ right to the cross. 161 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:07,680 There is no way that Peter was not well aware, not of the shame 162 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:10,160 that might come from answering a bad question or the 163 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,840 embarrassment of being a Christian these days or anything 164 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,480 like this, but the very self-evident persecution that he 165 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,640 was facing. That's what Peter think of the 166 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,120 evolution of Peter in two months. 167 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:23,640 Again, please grab a hold of this. 168 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:28,400 This is 2 months. A servant girl just asking him, 169 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:32,040 Hey, didn't you know Jesus? And what was Peter's response? 170 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,960 No, no, not me. And then the servant girl 171 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:37,480 prodding him a little bit. Sure, I think it is you. 172 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,320 No, no, not me. And denying Jesus just two 173 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:46,680 months ago in front of a servant girl, Peter doesn't have the 174 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:50,160 courage to own up to his faith in Jesus Christ. 175 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,360 And yet now, just two months later, Peter is seen with a 176 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:59,640 boldness that shocks even the Sanhedrin. 177 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:05,760 How does that boldness happen? How can we reflect that kind of 178 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:12,200 a boldness in what we do? They were common, uneducated 179 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:16,080 men. But look at the next line. 180 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:22,280 What makes a boldness in faith? They recognized the Sanhedrin, 181 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:29,440 recognized that the disciples had been with Jesus. 182 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,080 That's the source of their boldness. 183 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:40,280 The disciples are radiating the fact that they're uneducated. 184 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,600 They're radiating the fact that they're common people, folks. 185 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,440 They're radiating that their boldness is out of character 186 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:50,040 with everything that they appear. 187 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:54,320 Why are these guys not cowering in fear before the authorities, 188 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,720 before those who really can do them damage? 189 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:02,320 Why do we cower in fear behind people that largely can't hurt 190 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,000 us? Why are we not bold with our 191 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,560 neighbors? Why are we not bold with our 192 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:11,280 coworkers? OK, there's some situations 193 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,920 where you can't be because of the political situation or your 194 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,200 home situation. I understand all that, I'm not 195 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,280 downplaying that. I'm just saying that by and 196 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:23,840 large, in general, why are we not nearly as bold as we can be 197 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,160 and should be? We common uneducated folk. 198 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:33,440 Could it possibly be that our bold lack of boldness comes from 199 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:42,120 a lack of being with Jesus? That's the source of their 200 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,680 boldness. And it was evident to the 201 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:49,960 Sanhedrin, to the opponents of Jesus Christ. 202 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:54,040 As they're watching these two guys, Peter and John, as they're 203 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,120 watching them, they're able to look at them and say, wow, 204 00:11:57,360 --> 00:11:59,760 there's something about them. They must be. 205 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:04,520 They have been with. Have you ever seen an interview 206 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:09,120 with somebody, a favorite athlete or a, or a track star? 207 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:10,320 I don't know where that one came from. 208 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:13,880 A, a movie star. There you go, one of those guys 209 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:18,080 or, or something along those lines and you find out you 210 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,600 there's there's somebody you really enjoy and then you find 211 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:22,480 out somewhere down the line that they're a Christian. 212 00:12:22,680 --> 00:12:24,880 OK, there's a political commentator that I like and you 213 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:26,920 find out that they're a Christian down the line and you 214 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:32,600 go, Oh yeah, that makes sense. It it connects, it's evident 215 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:40,440 that they have been with Jesus. The boldness that Peter and John 216 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:47,840 demonstrate is so evident of their being with Jesus. 217 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:55,160 If God calls you to be more bold than what you are right now, and 218 00:12:55,160 --> 00:13:01,680 you're wondering how, I beg you spend time with Jesus. 219 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:07,240 The more time you spend with Jesus, the more bold you will 220 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,800 find yourself being. It happened automatically here 221 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:14,000 within two months when they're threatened with death. 222 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:17,360 And nevertheless there is this great boldness. 223 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:19,960 But that's not the only thing. If you can go back to verse 2 224 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:24,200 for a second, verse 2, you can see that they are proclaiming in 225 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,560 Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 226 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:30,040 Their boldness arises not just from their message that they're 227 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:33,160 proclaiming the resurrection from the dead, but a recognition 228 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,800 of what that resurrection is, that resurrection has. 229 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,560 Now, again, you have to, you have to do justice to the text. 230 00:13:40,560 --> 00:13:43,920 And the text says that two months ago Peter was a coward, 231 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,720 the greatest of cowards, to deny his Lord in a way that would 232 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:51,480 shame every single one of us. None of us would want to do 233 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:53,080 that. We all convince ourselves that 234 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,080 we wouldn't be like Peter in that situation just two months 235 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,120 ago. And yet now he's got a boldness 236 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,920 that is out of character, out of kilter. 237 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,400 Where did that come from? It came from the resurrection of 238 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:06,520 the dead. He's proclaiming the 239 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:07,680 resurrection of the dead. What? 240 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:11,360 What do I mean by that? Peter is acknowledging that 241 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:16,320 everything is different now. In the past two months, 242 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,200 everything has changed. What has changed? 243 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:28,320 Death has been conquered. Sin has been paid for. 244 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,840 Life has come upon the scene, burst upon the scene. 245 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,920 We are no longer living in a World of Darkness. 246 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,080 We now live in a world that is shining the brightness on the in 247 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,680 the light of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 248 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:44,680 What has changed between Peter shaking like a coward and him 249 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,200 being bull before the authority? The times have changed. 250 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,120 The whole world is different. A new era has turned into this 251 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:54,040 world. Yes, the old era is still 252 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:57,960 present. Yes, we today still live in a 253 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:02,320 world where sin dominates, where death is a terror, where hatred 254 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,520 is present. It's why in a situation like 255 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:09,240 today, we find ourselves as Christians, by necessity, 256 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:14,880 praying for this world, praying for the war that is happening, 257 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,600 praying for the innocents, praying for the leaders of the 258 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:21,880 countries, praying for safety and security for the military, 259 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,000 praying for the blessings of justice and righteousness to 260 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,080 rain down, praying in the midst of a dark and dreary world. 261 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:34,760 We live in a dark and dreary world, and yet as Christians we 262 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:38,080 also live in the resurrection. The new light has come. 263 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:40,560 The light of Christ is shine upon our life. 264 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:44,320 And as Peter now is standing before the Sanhedrin, what is he 265 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:46,480 to fear? The resurrection is here. 266 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:51,840 What is what is before me if the Sanhedrin comes down upon me and 267 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,040 leads me just like they led my Lord two months ago. 268 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,160 Two months ago I didn't know what happened after death. 269 00:15:57,360 --> 00:16:01,600 Now I know. Now I know because the 270 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,720 resurrection of the dead has taken place. 271 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:06,440 And that produces within Peter a boldness. 272 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:11,960 If you don't share that, why not? 273 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:15,920 Are you really convinced of the resurrection? 274 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,560 If you are, how is it reflective in your boldness? 275 00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:27,360 If you're not, how is that reflected in your shyness, your 276 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:30,760 shame, your hesitancy when it comes to the gospel 277 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,440 proclamation? But that's not the only source 278 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,480 of the boldness by which they have look. 279 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:42,160 In verse 14, the Sanhedrin sees the man who was healed standing 280 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,680 beside them. OK, so they want to say, look, 281 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,320 we we don't like what you're doing, but standing right next 282 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,440 to you is a guy who's been lame for 40 years and now he's 283 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,320 standing there. It's kind of hard. 284 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,680 You can read it in the text. That does a wonderful job here. 285 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:01,280 The author does of like noting the confusion of the opposition 286 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,240 to Jesus Christ. What do you do when the guy 287 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:06,200 who's healed is standing right there? 288 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:10,200 The evidence is so self-evident that you know, to say, Gee, you 289 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:12,400 need to stop doing that. Hello, the guy's just been 290 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:13,839 healed and he's standing right there. 291 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,359 The evidence is right now, wouldn't it be great if you had 292 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:19,960 the power to heal people? You could heal somebody and then 293 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,480 say to everybody around, look, this is or you didn't heal them, 294 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,960 God heals them through you. OK, look, look, this is what 295 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:27,760 Jesus does. Jesus heals people. 296 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,080 Look right here. I just, we just did this here, 297 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:32,440 Watch, we'll do it again. And you grab another guy and you 298 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:33,840 do it again. And then you say, hey, look, 299 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,080 everybody, you know, who wouldn't be bold if we could do 300 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:42,080 something like that? The healing is a sign. 301 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:46,760 That's specifically the way the Texas articulates it at the end 302 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,000 and verse. What is that last verse 22 and 303 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,200 verse 22. It is a sign of what it is a 304 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:56,040 sign of the spiritual. The physical healing is it's 305 00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:00,240 marvelous and it's wonderful and it's distracting to our eyes 306 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:05,560 because what is really present is a transformation of our lives 307 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:07,360 is the change that happens in here. 308 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:13,440 It's the transformation where we go from being embedded in our 309 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,080 sin to rather to be embracing the resurrection of our Lord 310 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,280 Jesus Christ. That's the transformation. 311 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,720 That's what needs to be said. We should be bold in the same 312 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,280 reason that Peter was bold. Peter was bold saying, well, you 313 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,920 can't deny this. And every one of us can say, 314 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:32,480 well, you can't deny this, you can't deny this. 315 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:38,640 And yet we don't believe in the transformation. 316 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,640 One of the things that the Puritans used to do is hold on 317 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:43,480 to a pastor for a long period at a time. 318 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,120 Now we have a history here at Hebburn holding on to pastors 319 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:50,320 for a long period of time. Sorry about that, but but we 320 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,000 have but nothing like the Puritans. 321 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:55,000 Puritans would have the same pastor for their entire he'd 322 00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:58,440 become a pastor in the age of 20s or in his 20s and he would 323 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:00,800 be in that church until he died. And that was just the way they 324 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:02,520 did things. They did that why? 325 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,440 For a particular reason. So the congregation would see 326 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,680 the lifelong transformation that takes place in the pastor's 327 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,280 life. This is a guy that we watch 328 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:16,440 every Sunday and we see that he's no longer. 329 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:19,240 You guys have met me much later in life. 330 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,040 You don't realize the transformation that has taken 331 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,240 place in my life. I don't realize and see the 332 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,160 transformation that has taken place in your life. 333 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:32,720 But by golly, if the Bible is true at all, it really has 334 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,960 happened. The greatest evidence that 335 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,560 should make me bold in proclamation and proclaiming the 336 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:41,760 gospel is look at this transformed life. 337 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,800 And if I'm too shy to say that too, because by the by the way, 338 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:47,680 there's plenty yet to be transformed. 339 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:50,080 There's plenty yet to be transformed. 340 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:51,960 I'm not trying to say look at how wonderful I am. 341 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,600 What I'm trying to say is look at what the Lord has done so far 342 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:58,320 in my life And if he if I'm too shy to say that about me, I 343 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,240 should be able to bring somebody here and say look out over here. 344 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:04,680 Every Christian in this room is evidence of Christ's 345 00:20:04,680 --> 00:20:08,480 transforming work and you can't deny it, just like the Sanhedrin 346 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:11,080 couldn't deny it. And it forces a boldness for me 347 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:13,640 to be able to say man if. Who got to know some of these 348 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:15,440 people? If you really got to know some 349 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,520 of these people, you'd see the transformation that God has done 350 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,080 in their life. The evidence is there. 351 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,600 The evidence is there. It's screaming at us all the 352 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:26,840 time. If we take the time and energy 353 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:30,400 to acknowledge it and bring it to light so that we can have 354 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:34,120 that kind of boldness that Peter and John had in this situation. 355 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:39,120 But that's just not all. Look in verse 19, verse 19, 356 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:43,000 Peter and John answer there, there's the Sanhedrin says no, 357 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,560 OK, we can't deny what you're doing, but kind of take it easy, 358 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,240 would you don't don't talk anymore about Jesus when you do 359 00:20:50,240 --> 00:20:53,240 this kind of things. And Peter and John then say, you 360 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,000 know, Peter says, well, you decide if we should listen to 361 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,680 you or listen to God. In other words, you know, should 362 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,160 we listen to God or should we listen to man and everybody? 363 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,800 That's a hypothetical question. Everybody knows that we what do 364 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,960 you mean we listen to God? I worked with the land surveyor 365 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,960 for a while, my father, and he would send me on, you know, I'd 366 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,200 have a range pull in the middle of the woods that I'd be 367 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:14,560 standing there holding the range pull. 368 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:16,440 And every once in a while, people would come up to me, 369 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:19,400 people who thought the land was theirs or something like that. 370 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:23,200 And I, you know, I was a teenage kid sitting in the middle of the 371 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,360 woods holding a range pole. And they'd come up to me and 372 00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:28,280 they'd say, you know, hey, what are you doing? 373 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:29,560 Why are you here? What are you doing? 374 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,000 You know, why are you all that kind of stuff? 375 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:35,160 I quickly learned just to say the, the guy over there told me 376 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,960 to do it. You know, the guy over there 377 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,480 told me to do it. I never had anybody get mad at 378 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,400 me after that. They were always mad at the guy 379 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,080 over there, but they weren't mad at me. 380 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:45,640 Why? Because I was just doing what I 381 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,800 was supposed to do. Guess what we're supposed to do? 382 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,240 We're supposed to be bold with the gospel. 383 00:21:53,120 --> 00:21:55,680 We are to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. 384 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,240 The boldness comes. I guarantee you that if you get 385 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:03,120 get with a Co worker or a family member or a neighbor or a loved 386 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:05,960 one and you sit there and say, you know what my pastor told me 387 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:07,960 today that I'm supposed to be bold about the gospel. 388 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:09,560 Therefore, I'm going to share the gospel with you. 389 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,640 You can hide behind that. You can get cover behind that. 390 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,560 Why? Because we are commanded to do 391 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:18,080 so. We act. 392 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,720 Our boldness comes from an obedience to Jesus Christ. 393 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:27,240 And finally, in the verse that follows that verse 24, we cannot 394 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,200 but speak of what we have seen and heard. 395 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:31,880 What does your boldness come from? 396 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,040 Your boldness comes from your experience, from what you have 397 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:41,040 seen, from what you have heard. That's what we're asking you to 398 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,240 share. You don't need to know all the 399 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:48,000 answers about the dating of creation or about, you know, how 400 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,120 we best think through thorny political issues or the 401 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:57,440 questions about social struggles or the answer to every Bible. 402 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,560 You get to share what you have seen and what you have heard. 403 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,680 In other words, you get to say, look, this is what's happened to 404 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,440 me. That produces A boldness. 405 00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,520 That evokes A boldness because you're not being told that you 406 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,240 have to do all the work. Guess who does all the work? 407 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:23,320 God does all the work. You get to simply share that 408 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:25,520 which you heard or what you believe. 409 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:31,440 You get to simply obey the Lord. You get to simply say there's a 410 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:36,040 transformed life out there in here or out here that you cannot 411 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:40,480 deny the evidence of because we are in a new world now, a world 412 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,760 of life, a world built around the resurrection of Jesus 413 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,760 Christ. And I know it because I've spent 414 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:52,640 time with Jesus. Lord God, we do ask for your 415 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,800 great blessing once again upon us as we seek to be bold as 416 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,240 Peter and John were bold, faithful to the message that 417 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,280 they have been communicated to Lord. 418 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,760 We want to do this in a reflection of our love and our 419 00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:08,240 grace, which was, which is ours in Jesus Christ, who taught his 420 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:12,080 disciples to pray together, saying, Our Father, who art in 421 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:17,120 heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, Thy will be 422 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:19,560 done on earth as it is in heaven. 423 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:24,280 Give us this day Our Daily Bread, and forgive us our debts, 424 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:29,280 as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not in temptation, but 425 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,840 deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and 426 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,000 the glory forever. Amen. 427 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:44,040 Acts 423 through 31. When they were released, they 428 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,680 went to their friends and reported what the chief priests 429 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,760 and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they 430 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,840 lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, 431 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,320 who made the heaven and the sea and the earth and the sea and 432 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,480 everything in them, Who through the mouth of our Father David, 433 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,320 Your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles 434 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,120 rage and the people's plot in vain? 435 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,120 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were 436 00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:14,880 gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. 437 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:19,160 For truly in this city they were gathered together against your 438 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:23,520 holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius 439 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:27,960 Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do 440 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,800 whatever Your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 441 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,960 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your 442 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,840 servant to continue to speak Your word with all boldness, 443 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,480 while you stretch out your hand to heal. 444 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,560 And signs and wonders are performed through the name of 445 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:50,760 your holy servant Jesus. And when they had prayed, and 446 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:55,400 when they had prayed, and when they had prayed, the place in 447 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:58,560 which they were gathered together was shaken, and they 448 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:00,720 were all filled with the Holy Spirit. 449 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:05,160 And continue to speak the Word of God with boldness. 450 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:10,000 And continue to speak the word of God with boldness.