[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 20th of September, 2015, concluding our revival series at Pilgrim Reformed Church. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
At some point not too long after Jesus had ascended into heaven, His Apostles Peter and John went up to the Temple in Jerusalem at the time of prayer. Entering through the “Beautiful Gate”, they came upon a lame man who had been placed there by his family or friends so he could beg. The man had been crippled since his birth 40 years earlier, and had no other means of earning a living. Seeing Peter and John, he asked for any money they might could spare, just as he asked everyone entering the Temple by that gate. After gaining the beggar’s full attention, Peter responded as recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts, chapter 3 verse 6…
6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
--Acts 3:6 (NKJV)
And the man got up and walked - for the first time in his life, he walked! Peter performed a miracle of healing by invoking the name of Jesus. When the religious leaders of the day - the Sadducees and the high priests – caught word of this, they had Peter and John arrested and brought before them. Listen and follow along to how this story plays out, as I read from Luke’s Book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 4, verses 18 through 31, from the New King James Version of our Bible…
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, we come before You this morning to worship You and to learn from what You would tell us. Speak to us through Your Holy Spirit and show us what You would will for our lives. In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.
When he was the pastor of the Methodist church in Scarborough, England, William Sangster had a rather eccentric member who tried to be a zealous Christian. Unfortunately, the man often had problems communicating his ideas and usually did the wrong thing. While working as a barber the man lathered up a customer for a shave one day, came at him with the poised razor, and asked, "Are you prepared to meet your God?" The frightened man fled with the lather still on his face!
I believe this little story points out that sometimes we need to be as concerned with how we say something as with what we say. This misguided member obviously wanted to share his relationship with Jesus with his customer, but his approach could stand a little improvement. He was definitely bold, which Peter and John would surely have approved of, but he probably should have spoken without the razor in his hand.
In a similar vein, have you ever heard someone make a comment and then afterwards say, “I just tell it like I see it”? Many times I hear this right after the person said something that was… well… hurtful, either to me or to someone else, and more than likely about someone or some group of people not even present.
“He’s a really nice person but he needs to lose weight! I just tell it like I see it.” “This country would be a lot better off without all these illegal immigrants running around all over the place taking our jobs. I’m just telling it like I see it.”
Now, these and others like them might be true and accurate statements, but couldn’t they be expressed in a more loving way? It isn’t always what we say, as how we say it.
Today I wanted to wrap up our revival series with some thoughts about what comes next. If we have indeed been revived and refreshed, if the Holy Spirit is dancing around inside of us, giving us renewed vigor and strength, what do we do with it?
The cornerstone of today’s scripture comes at the very end, the last phrase of the last verse, the 31st. “…and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
To put this text into proper perspective, just a short time before this little prayer meeting, the disciples were practically cowering in fear. Their Teacher, their Master, the One they had been following for three years had been arrested on trumped-up charges, beaten, abused, and nailed to a cross where He died. Sure, by this time Jesus had risen from the grave, appeared to them again, and ascended into heaven. But if the Son of Man could be treated like this, what chance did they have? Many fled Jerusalem altogether, fearing for their lives. The rest hid behind locked doors for days on end.
But then came the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And Peter found his voice – loudly, strongly, confidently proclaiming Jesus as the true Son of God. He and others of Jesus’ closest followers soon began healing the sick and the infirm and performing other miracles, all in the name of Jesus.
And that leads us to the events of today’s scripture. Peter and John and their brothers and companions gathered together and prayed to God for the strength to continue speaking for Jesus in the face of adversity and under threat of arrest and persecution. And all of them spoke the word of God with boldness.
Interestingly, some of the fruits of this boldness can be seen just a little before their prayer. Still in Acts chapter 4, but earlier, in verse 4, we can see the results of Peter’s boldness…
18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done. 22 For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said:
‘Why did the nations rage,
And the people plot vain things?
26 The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
27 “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. 29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, 30 by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
--Acts 4:18-31 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, we come before You this morning to worship You and to learn from what You would tell us. Speak to us through Your Holy Spirit and show us what You would will for our lives. In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus we pray. Amen.
When he was the pastor of the Methodist church in Scarborough, England, William Sangster had a rather eccentric member who tried to be a zealous Christian. Unfortunately, the man often had problems communicating his ideas and usually did the wrong thing. While working as a barber the man lathered up a customer for a shave one day, came at him with the poised razor, and asked, "Are you prepared to meet your God?" The frightened man fled with the lather still on his face!
I believe this little story points out that sometimes we need to be as concerned with how we say something as with what we say. This misguided member obviously wanted to share his relationship with Jesus with his customer, but his approach could stand a little improvement. He was definitely bold, which Peter and John would surely have approved of, but he probably should have spoken without the razor in his hand.
In a similar vein, have you ever heard someone make a comment and then afterwards say, “I just tell it like I see it”? Many times I hear this right after the person said something that was… well… hurtful, either to me or to someone else, and more than likely about someone or some group of people not even present.
“He’s a really nice person but he needs to lose weight! I just tell it like I see it.” “This country would be a lot better off without all these illegal immigrants running around all over the place taking our jobs. I’m just telling it like I see it.”
Now, these and others like them might be true and accurate statements, but couldn’t they be expressed in a more loving way? It isn’t always what we say, as how we say it.
Today I wanted to wrap up our revival series with some thoughts about what comes next. If we have indeed been revived and refreshed, if the Holy Spirit is dancing around inside of us, giving us renewed vigor and strength, what do we do with it?
The cornerstone of today’s scripture comes at the very end, the last phrase of the last verse, the 31st. “…and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
To put this text into proper perspective, just a short time before this little prayer meeting, the disciples were practically cowering in fear. Their Teacher, their Master, the One they had been following for three years had been arrested on trumped-up charges, beaten, abused, and nailed to a cross where He died. Sure, by this time Jesus had risen from the grave, appeared to them again, and ascended into heaven. But if the Son of Man could be treated like this, what chance did they have? Many fled Jerusalem altogether, fearing for their lives. The rest hid behind locked doors for days on end.
But then came the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And Peter found his voice – loudly, strongly, confidently proclaiming Jesus as the true Son of God. He and others of Jesus’ closest followers soon began healing the sick and the infirm and performing other miracles, all in the name of Jesus.
And that leads us to the events of today’s scripture. Peter and John and their brothers and companions gathered together and prayed to God for the strength to continue speaking for Jesus in the face of adversity and under threat of arrest and persecution. And all of them spoke the word of God with boldness.
Interestingly, some of the fruits of this boldness can be seen just a little before their prayer. Still in Acts chapter 4, but earlier, in verse 4, we can see the results of Peter’s boldness…
4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children.
--Acts 4:4 (NLT)
Remember: this is not long after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, in an age without instantaneous communications and round the clock news coverage. Yet the number of believers in Jesus as the Christ had risen to around 5000 men, and we don’t know how many women and children. I believe that is more the effect of God’s will at work than of Peter’s eloquence, but we can be sure that the impact of Peter’s bold approach in speaking God’s word had a tremendous effect.
What about today? We don’t have to worry about the threat of arrest or persecution here in the good ol’ U. S. of A., do we? We have freedom of religion written right into our Constitution, right?
Yes, but all across the US, the people – American citizens – normal folks that make up boards and groups and organizations associated in any way with a governmental body are told they cannot speak the name of Jesus or pray in His name. So kids can’t pray in school. We can’t have a prayer before a high school football game. Our town councils and county commissions can’t open their meetings with prayer before deliberating issues that directly impact their constituents. They are not allowed to speak God’s Word.
And this all started with a few people speaking with boldness against the word of God! Small groups get together and bring lawsuits against anyone who tries to speak the name of Jesus outside their church or their homes, lawsuits that most believers simply cannot afford to fight.
Good ordinary Christian men and women who happen to be serving in a public capacity must leave Jesus on the doorstep when they enter the public arena! If not, then they face the threat of arrest and persecution, just like Peter and John and those original followers of Jesus faced.
Sometimes what we don’t say speaks more clearly than what we do say. Jesus put it like this, in Luke’s Gospel account, chapter 6, verses 45 and 46…
What about today? We don’t have to worry about the threat of arrest or persecution here in the good ol’ U. S. of A., do we? We have freedom of religion written right into our Constitution, right?
Yes, but all across the US, the people – American citizens – normal folks that make up boards and groups and organizations associated in any way with a governmental body are told they cannot speak the name of Jesus or pray in His name. So kids can’t pray in school. We can’t have a prayer before a high school football game. Our town councils and county commissions can’t open their meetings with prayer before deliberating issues that directly impact their constituents. They are not allowed to speak God’s Word.
And this all started with a few people speaking with boldness against the word of God! Small groups get together and bring lawsuits against anyone who tries to speak the name of Jesus outside their church or their homes, lawsuits that most believers simply cannot afford to fight.
Good ordinary Christian men and women who happen to be serving in a public capacity must leave Jesus on the doorstep when they enter the public arena! If not, then they face the threat of arrest and persecution, just like Peter and John and those original followers of Jesus faced.
Sometimes what we don’t say speaks more clearly than what we do say. Jesus put it like this, in Luke’s Gospel account, chapter 6, verses 45 and 46…
45 “Good people do good things because of the good in their hearts. Bad people do bad things because of the evil in their hearts. Your words show what is in your heart.
46 Why do you keep on saying that I am your Lord, when you refuse to do what I say?”
--Luke 6:45-46 (CEV)
Ouch! That stings, doesn’t it? Do our words show what is in our heart? Do we speak out for Jesus with boldness, or are we too afraid of hurting someone else’s feelings? As a society, we seem more concerned with not wanting to upset the Muslims or the Hindus or the Buddhist’s, and especially not the agnostics and atheists.
How can we continue to call Jesus our Lord when we refuse to do what He tells us to do? What does He tell us to do? Well, first off, to love God and to love each other. But then we have our commission: to go into the world making disciples and spreading the Gospel.
It’s easier to sit here in this beautiful building and wait for the world to come to us. It’s safer to make a disciple of someone who comes to us and shows an interest in following Jesus. It’s more comfortable to spread the Gospel among ourselves and other believers.
Of course, I feel a huge part of our hesitation in reaching out to others is that we just don’t know what to say to them. We don’t know how to approach someone that may not want to hear what we might say. And we especially don’t know how we could ever possibly face a challenge from someone openly and forcefully opposed to anything to do with Jesus.
Those are natural concerns. But do they form a sufficient basis for our refusal to do as Jesus tells us? In the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 10, verses 18 through 20, Jesus tells us not to worry about what to say in any of these situations…
How can we continue to call Jesus our Lord when we refuse to do what He tells us to do? What does He tell us to do? Well, first off, to love God and to love each other. But then we have our commission: to go into the world making disciples and spreading the Gospel.
It’s easier to sit here in this beautiful building and wait for the world to come to us. It’s safer to make a disciple of someone who comes to us and shows an interest in following Jesus. It’s more comfortable to spread the Gospel among ourselves and other believers.
Of course, I feel a huge part of our hesitation in reaching out to others is that we just don’t know what to say to them. We don’t know how to approach someone that may not want to hear what we might say. And we especially don’t know how we could ever possibly face a challenge from someone openly and forcefully opposed to anything to do with Jesus.
Those are natural concerns. But do they form a sufficient basis for our refusal to do as Jesus tells us? In the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 10, verses 18 through 20, Jesus tells us not to worry about what to say in any of these situations…
18 “You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
--Matthew 10:18-20 (NKJV)
Look again in today’s scripture at verse 31… “and they were filled with the Holy Spirit”. Peter was an uneducated fisherman, not some eloquent orator. Yet the message he delivered struck a chord with the people and the ranks of believers swelled each day. Why?
Because he was filled with the Holy Spirit who gave him the words to say! Just as Jesus said, the Spirit of our Father spoke in and through Peter, and He will speak in and through us as well! We just need to let Him work within us as He did within Peter. We need to trust the words of Jesus and obey His commands. We need to ask God for boldness in the face of opposition. We need to be speaking God’s word to a world that desperately needs to hear it.
Don’t hesitate. Don’t be timid or shy or afraid. Our Father’s Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. Speak the word of God… with boldness.
Amen.
Let us pray… Lord, You are God. You made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them. And just as Your servant David prophesied for You, the rulers of this world are gathered against You and Your Christ. The people plot against Jesus and His followers, using the courts to silence His Gospel. Hear us now, Lord God, as we pray to You! Look at these mounting threats we face and please grant to us the boldness of our personal convictions, that we may speak Your word. Use us, Lord, to do Your will, to manifest Your great plan for all of mankind, all through the name of Your Son Jesus.
Lord Jesus, we come up with a multitude of excuses for not doing what You tell us to do. Rather than go into the world, we invite the world to come to us. Rather than spread Your Gospel to all nations, we wait for them to ask us about You. And Lord, a lot of our hesitation and inaction is a direct result of fear. We are afraid of legal action that may be taken against us, whether warranted or not. We are afraid of how others will react to what we might say. We are afraid we won’t be able to come up with the right words to say to them, words to sway them rather than send them away in disgust.
Hear us now, Lord, as we seek Your forgiveness and Your help, silently from our hearts…
Father God, we pray that this place where we have assembled be shaken and that we all be filled with Your Holy Spirit! Grant us the courage and strength of conviction that You gave Peter and John. Reward our efforts by enlarging the body of believers, the church of our Savior Jesus, more and more every day. Use us, Lord, to carry out Your will on this earth, and to speak Your word with boldness. This we pray in the name of Him who gave His all for us, the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
Because he was filled with the Holy Spirit who gave him the words to say! Just as Jesus said, the Spirit of our Father spoke in and through Peter, and He will speak in and through us as well! We just need to let Him work within us as He did within Peter. We need to trust the words of Jesus and obey His commands. We need to ask God for boldness in the face of opposition. We need to be speaking God’s word to a world that desperately needs to hear it.
Don’t hesitate. Don’t be timid or shy or afraid. Our Father’s Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. Speak the word of God… with boldness.
Amen.
Let us pray… Lord, You are God. You made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them. And just as Your servant David prophesied for You, the rulers of this world are gathered against You and Your Christ. The people plot against Jesus and His followers, using the courts to silence His Gospel. Hear us now, Lord God, as we pray to You! Look at these mounting threats we face and please grant to us the boldness of our personal convictions, that we may speak Your word. Use us, Lord, to do Your will, to manifest Your great plan for all of mankind, all through the name of Your Son Jesus.
Lord Jesus, we come up with a multitude of excuses for not doing what You tell us to do. Rather than go into the world, we invite the world to come to us. Rather than spread Your Gospel to all nations, we wait for them to ask us about You. And Lord, a lot of our hesitation and inaction is a direct result of fear. We are afraid of legal action that may be taken against us, whether warranted or not. We are afraid of how others will react to what we might say. We are afraid we won’t be able to come up with the right words to say to them, words to sway them rather than send them away in disgust.
Hear us now, Lord, as we seek Your forgiveness and Your help, silently from our hearts…
Father God, we pray that this place where we have assembled be shaken and that we all be filled with Your Holy Spirit! Grant us the courage and strength of conviction that You gave Peter and John. Reward our efforts by enlarging the body of believers, the church of our Savior Jesus, more and more every day. Use us, Lord, to carry out Your will on this earth, and to speak Your word with boldness. This we pray in the name of Him who gave His all for us, the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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