In our morning services, we've been studying the book of Acts. We come this morning to Acts chapter 4. We read verses 1 to 31. Acts chapter 4. Let us hear the word of God. The lame man has been healed at the beautiful gate of the temple. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests And the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, by what power or by what name did you do this? Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, By Him, this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, What shall we do with these men? for that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge. For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people. For all were praising God for what had happened. for the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old. When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth, the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. Amen. May God bless to us all the reading of His word. Let us turn in our Bibles to the fourth chapter of the book of the Acts. This morning we are going to be looking at the passage read, the first 31 verses. We are in the 21st century living in an age which prides itself on its tolerance, and in which tolerance is one of the most admired virtues. And our age is indeed a very tolerant age of all sorts of ideas, philosophies, religions, and teachings. The one exception, of course, is biblical Christianity, against which our age is profoundly and increasingly intolerant. Every voice is welcomed in our society except the voice of God in the Bible and the Christian gospel. Now, how do we respond to that intolerance against Christianity? Does it cause us to doubt? To say, well, perhaps all these people are right. And we are wrong. I hope not. Does it lead us to become silent? I think that may well be the case with many Christians and churches. The hostility is so intense, so monolithic, so all-encompassing that many Christians have decided It's easier to keep our heads down, to keep a low profile, to say very little. The Christian faith is becoming privatized, a matter just for you and me to have in our own hearts and in our own little meetings, but to say little or nothing about it outside. But the fact is, and this really is the point of the sermon this morning, We need to keep speaking out God's Word. That's really what I want to say. We need to keep speaking out God's Word. And we're going to learn from the inspired record of the very first persecution of the New Testament Church, recorded in chapter 4 of Acts. And to take as our theme text from this passage, part of the prayer of the believers in verse 29. This is our text this morning. Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. Grant to your servants. That's what they prayed and that's what we need to pray. Grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness. And I want to focus on three words in that text. Continue, speak, and boldness. And to do so in reverse order. So first of all then, why do we need all boldness? Why did the apostles and the early church need to pray for boldness? Well, the answer is clear, because of the opposition which they faced. Opposition to the gospel preaching of Peter and John in the courts of the temple. And that opposition didn't come from nobodies or nonentities, but from a very powerful elite from the big hitters in the society of that day, the opinion formers, the leaders. We're pointed to them in verse 1 and in verse 5. And the words pile up to show just how powerful this opposition was. The priests, the captain of the temple, the Sadducees, Then in verse 5, the rulers, elders, the scribes, Annas, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, all who were of the high priestly family. They were against them. They were opposed to them. This is a very imposing lineup. These are the religious leaders, the economic and business leaders, the wealthy people, the university teachers and professors, the educated people of the day, the leaders of society, the nobility, the aristocracy, and the men with political power. All of them opposing the preaching of the gospel. Now, the interesting thing is, of course, they hated each other. They couldn't stand each other. The Pharisees and the Sadducees, for example, were poles apart. But they were united in this. They were all against the Christians. So this is a very serious, intimidating opposition to these gospel creatures. All the important people in Jerusalem of that day were against them. Now, why were they against them? Well, partly they were against it because some of them just didn't believe their message. We're told in verse 2 that the Sadducees were greatly annoyed because they were proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. The Sadducees didn't believe in that. They were rationalists. They didn't believe in miracles. They didn't believe in life after death. They didn't believe in heaven or hell. To them, this was just incoherent, primitive nonsense. That's one reason why they were against it. But it's a lot more than that. Because that doesn't explain the anger, the nastiness, the vehemence, the lengths to which they were prepared to go. I'm not going to develop the point, but you might like yourselves to apply that to today. Why do people hate the Christian gospel? You may say, well, it's because they don't believe it. Well, no, it's more than that. It must be more than that. They don't believe that there are fairies at the bottom of the garden, but they don't get angry about it. There's an anger. There's an intensity. There's a viciousness. against Christianity. It's more than unbelief. If you look at the passage here, you see that these people were opposed because this new movement was a challenge to them, to their prestige, and their power, and their position. Verse 2, they were greatly annoyed because the apostles were teaching the people. We're the teachers, they said. We're the people who write the editorials and the headlines and the articles and produce the documentaries and the programs. We're the opinion formers. We're the educated elite. And here these nobodies are saying, don't listen to them, listen to us. They bitterly resented their position as the opinion formers and the leaders being challenged. Not only so, they were jealous of them. We read in verse 4 that many of those who had heard the word believed. And the number of men, males, came to about 5,000. This movement was very popular. Thousands of people were listening to these gospel preachers. And they were believing in their Savior. And the movement was growing rapidly in a few weeks. And these leaders were jealous of the impact and of the success of these unauthorized preachers. By what name or by what authority did you do this, they asked. They're afraid of losing their influence, their position of leadership. Here's another voice. They don't accept that there is any other voice. But there's more to it than that even. They'd been responsible for the death of Jesus, hadn't they? These are the people who had condemned Him as an imposter and who'd called for Him to be crucified. And if it is true now, as we read in verse 10, that God raised him from the dead, then they had been wrong. They had been profoundly wrong. They had been anti-God instead of pro-God. They had murdered God's Messiah. Their whole position was collapsing in ruins. Everything they had taught, everything they'd worked for, everything they valued is suddenly destroyed. It's worthless. They can't face that possibility. They can't face that possibility. So here's this elite, and they're opposing the gospel because it's another voice. And it's a voice which condemns them and makes them feel guilty. And what's particularly interesting is that the facts are plain and they're not questioned by anybody. A miracle has taken place. A crippled man has been healed. They ask in verse 7, by what power or by what name Did you do this? They didn't say you didn't do it. It didn't happen. It never took place. It had been done. And they had done it. The apostles had done it. Verse 10, this man is standing before you. Well. Verse 14, seeing the man who was healed standing beside them. They had nothing to say. The facts are plain. It comes out most clearly in verse 16. Their own words, the words of the opponents of the gospel. That a notable miracle has been performed is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and we cannot deny it. You see how closed their minds are. They've got to admit that the miracle had taken place. And you would think that would lead them to say, well, then perhaps we were wrong. Perhaps we made a mistake. Here's the man. We can see him with our own eyes. He's been healed in the name of Jesus. But no, no, their minds are closed. The reality doesn't lead them to change their minds. They don't want to be bothered with the facts. They just want the gospel preachers to keep quiet. One commentator says, they couldn't deny it, but they wouldn't acknowledge it. They couldn't deny it, but they wouldn't acknowledge it. Reminds me of the little child years ago I saw had committed some great offense, and the child's mother wanted the child just to say sorry. Just say sorry. Wouldn't say it. He just stood there surrounded by the evidence of his crime. He couldn't deny it, but he wouldn't admit it. These people were like that. They couldn't deny it, but they wouldn't acknowledge it. And they tried to intimidate the apostles psychologically. They arrest them and they put them in custody overnight to soften them up by a night in prison. They bring them into the full Sanhedrin. They question them. Verse 18, they charged them. Not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Verse 21, they further threatened them. So there's immense pressure here, psychological intimidation, bullying, pressure. You're not to speak this message. You must keep quiet. And it's going to get worse. We read in chapter 5 of them beating them. Verse 40. We read in chapter 7 of them murdering Stephen. So here's the pressure. No wonder the Christians ask for boldness. For they need boldness. They're up against a very powerful group of people who do not want this message to be spoken. And friends, we're in a very similar position today. The gospel is opposed, generally speaking, by the elite of our country, by the powerful, the influential, the educated, the wealthy. They don't agree with each other. They don't like each other, but they agree on this. There's no place for the Word of God. There's no place for the gospel. It challenges their position. It's an alternative voice. It speaks to their conscience. It's saying what you're saying is wrong, and you are wrong, and you are guilty. And like the opposition here, they're not interested in the facts. In the people who are changed. And how when people obey the Bible, they're happier. And their marriages are stronger. And their families are stronger. And their children are better brought up. And they're better citizens. And they're better people in every way. There's evidence for the Christian gospel. So the government says, what can we do about drug taking? What can we do about marriage? What can we do about laziness? Well, the answer is patently obvious. What you can do? Oh, no, we don't. No, no. We don't want to think about that. Anything but that. We'd spend billions of pounds. We'd have re-education programs. We'd appoint quangos and committees. Why don't you do what God says? No, no. They don't want to look at the facts or think of them at all. So we need boldness. We need boldness. The dictionary translates this Greek word as a frank, confident, open manner of speaking in the presence of persons of high rank. They need boldness. Then secondly, why have we a duty to speak Grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness. Why do we not just keep quiet? Let me suggest very briefly from the passage three reasons. We have a duty to speak because we are commanded by God to speak. That's the most important reason. Chapter 1, verse 8, Our Lord gave his commission not just to the apostles, but to the church to the end of the age, you will be my witnesses. That's who we are. That is what we are here for. We are on this earth to live and speak for Jesus Christ. That's our identity. And that has never been challenged. And that's what Peter and John fall back on when the Sanhedrin tries to intimidate them. They fall back, don't they, on the command of God? Chapter 4, verse 19. Here's their answer. Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge. You tell us to keep quiet. But there's someone else here. God's here and we're in his sight and his eyes upon us. He has told us to speak. You tell us to keep quiet. Now, what are we to do? Are we to listen to you or are we to listen to God? So that's the first reason, friends, why we've a duty to speak, because we are commanded by God to speak. The second reason is of our personal experience of Jesus Christ. Our personal experience of Jesus Christ. We read that the enemies of the gospel in verse 13, they recognized that these men had been with Jesus. They sounded like Him. They acted like Him. There was a real echo, there was a real fragrance of Jesus Christ about Peter and John. And they open their hearts so clearly in verse 20. We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. In other words, they are saying to the Sanhedrin, We have seen the Son of God come to earth, the Savior of mankind, the Lord of all. We have heard His teaching, heavenly words, the greatest words ever spoken on this earth, words of truth and life and joy. Do you want us not to talk about Him? and not to share his message. And my dear friends, we're Christians. We know in our hearts not only the truth of the gospel, but the reality of the living Savior and Lord. He's the most important person in our lives. Overwhelmingly the most important in our lives. He means everything to us. He is our life. He is our hope. He is our purpose. He is our Lord. How can we not speak about Him? How can we not speak about Him? And if you don't speak about Him, are you a Christian? Are you a Christian? When we're captured by the beauty and the grace of Jesus, we've got to speak about Him. We cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and heard. So the second reason why we have a duty to speak is the glory and the wonder of our own experience of Christ. But then there's a third reason. The need of the hearers. The need of the hearers. Verse 10, Jesus Christ, whom you crucified. We need to speak to you about Christ because you killed Him. Because you are involved. Because He has something to do with you. Verse 11, this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders. Note the word builders. You're the experts. You're the architects. You're the stonemasons. You're the people with all the knowledge. You're the builders. If anybody in the world should have recognized the cornerstone, who would you expect to recognize the cornerstone? You'd expect a builder to recognize the cornerstone. But the very builders. The people whose job it was. Whose calling it was. Whose task it was to build. The very builders were the ones who didn't recognize the cornerstone. The leaders of Israel. The people who knew most of the Bible. Who'd learned it off by heart. The teachers of religion. Who preached about the Messiah. They were the ones who didn't recognize Him. They should have known better. So here are people who have murdered the Son of God, who have crucified the Christ, who have rejected the cornerstone. And yet, verse 12, there is salvation. There is a name by which we must be saved. And say, Peter and John, we have the message which can take you from hell to heaven. which will bring you forgiveness, which you need above all. You don't want to hear about this, Jesus. But we have to tell you about Him, because you need to hear about Him. And He's the only one through whom you can be saved. So here are three powerful motives leading us to speak. One in relation to God. God's command. One in relation to ourselves, our own experience and love for Christ. And one in relation to others. They're going to hell without Christ. They'll never be saved without Him. And if we love them, no matter how much they hate us, we have to keep telling them about Jesus. Why do we need boldness? Why have we a duty to speak And then thirdly and lastly, how can we be encouraged to continue? How can we be encouraged to continue? Grant to your servants to continue to keep on speaking your word with all boldness. And we will be looking here particularly at verses 28 to 31. But really from verse 23 to 31. How do we resolve the tension here between the opposition and the duty? People saying don't speak the gospel and our sense that we must speak the gospel. How can we overcome the opposition? Well, in this passage I think we can find five helps. which will enable us to continue to speak and to keep on speaking the word with all boldness. The first is the fellowship of believers. The fellowship of believers. Verse 23. When they were released, they went to their friends and they reported what the chief priests and elders said to them. They went to the prayer meeting. That was their first destination when they got out of prison. To their brothers and sisters. To the people who also loved Jesus. Who also spoke the word of Jesus. Who were committed. Who were, some of them, to lay down their lives for Jesus. These men, they've been lonely, they've been isolated, they've been pressured. And their first reaction is, we need the people of God. We need to surround ourselves with our brothers and sisters. My dear friends, we're not individual soldiers. We're an army. And that's the place of the church and the function of the church. It's like you see a team going on to the pitch to play a game of rugby and at the beginning they'll stand round in a circle and they'll put their arms round each other for a minute or two in the middle of the pitch. They're reminding themselves that they're for each other, that they're together, that they're a team. We're not individuals. We could depend on each other. As a church, we need to encourage each other. We're not little, lonely, isolated witnesses, stranded and vulnerable. And we need to talk together about our witnessing experience in the world. and in our midweek meetings to talk together about work and the people at work and the tensions and the difficulties and our families and our neighbors and share together and pray together and to support each other. And then next week, how did you get on in the office? How did you get on in the factory? Were you able to speak to that person? What did they say? And if somebody gets a bad time, we pray for them. We support them. Then Sabbath day, I've been thinking about you. How did it go? I was praying for you every day. And there's enormous support in the fellowship of believers. There's something very touching to me here in that Peter and John head straight for the fellowship meeting of the people. That helps us to continue. But then secondly, of course, there's prayer. Verse 24, when they heard it, They lifted their voices together to God. The whole people. Beautiful expression for prayer. They lifted their voices to God. They brought everything into God's presence and laid it before Him. And that's how we can be enabled to continue. To take all these things and to open them out before the Lord and to tell Him about everything and lay it before Him. But then there's a third help to continuing. Their view of God. Or their doctrine of God, if you like. They call Him, in verse 24, and it's a rare Greek word in the New Testament, Sovereign Lord. Sovereign Lord. Our word despot comes from that Greek word. It means a mighty one of unchallengeable power. Now, they could have called him Father, and that would have been true. They could have called him Lord, Covenant God, and that would have been true. But in this crisis, as the opposition boils up, what do they lay hold on most of all? Sovereign Lord. Sovereign Lord. The mighty God on the throne, as they say in verse 28, to do whatever your hand and your plan predestined to take place. That's the strong, virile, biblical doctrine of God that these people have. They believe in predestination. They believe in providence which governs everything. They believe in a God who is absolutely sovereign and nothing happens apart from the plan of God. The God who rules over all. And I think here they're reflecting on Psalm 146. The Psalm with which we began our service. Look at how they describe God in verse 24. Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. Note that phrase. And then in Psalm 146, verse 5, we read the same phrase. Blessed is he whose hope is in the Lord his God. Here's the same phrase. Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. It's exactly the same phrase. The same God. But here's the point. We know the rest of the Psalm, don't we? I think they're referring to the thought world of the wholesome. They're drawing on the wholesome. You remember it. Who executes justice for the oppressed. The Lord sets the prisoners free. Put not your trust in princes. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth. On that day, his thoughts perish. of earthly power. And this is the third encouragement to continue. We believe in a mighty, sovereign God who controls all things, including all the forces of evil and the opponents of the gospel. Then the fourth thing, the fourth encouragement is the witness of Scripture. The witness of Scripture. The prayer and the preaching of this chapter are soaked and saturated in the Word of God, especially the book of Psalms. These Christians live on the Psalms. They feed on the Psalms. They say they are for us. They are for now. They are about Jesus. We have already thought of Psalm 146. When Peter is preaching to the Sanhedrin, he quotes Psalm 118. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. Now, in prayer, they turn instinctively to Psalm 2, verse 25 following. Who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the people's plot in vain Kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together. And see how they apply the psalm against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel. Psalm 2 is about Jesus, and it's about Herod, and it's about Pontius Pilate, and it's about the Sanhedrin. And then they go further. They say, now, Lord, look upon their threats. We're still in the Son. Now, it's about us, and it's about the Sanhedrin, and it's about the high priests, and they're still doing it. It's the same pattern. It's predicted in the Word of God. And when we open our Bibles, friends, what do we find? In this world, you will have trouble. Again and again, we're told, we're warned, there will be hostility to the gospel, there will be opposition, people will hate it, they will persecute us, they will oppress us. And that's a tremendous encouragement. Nothing's going wrong. It's not because we've made mistakes. Here it all is in the Word of God. This is what God said would happen, and it is happening. It is happening. And we're the people of the Messiah. And then one fifth ground for encouragement. The enabling of the Spirit. The enabling of the Spirit. Verse 31, And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the Word of God with boldness. You may remember the first or second sermon I preached in the book of Acts. I pointed out, I think it was the second sermon, that throughout Acts, the chief evidence of the filling of the Spirit is speaking God's Word with boldness. That's a major theme in this book. When people are filled with the Spirit, they speak God's Word with boldness. There are other things. But this is the main thing. Richard Gavin from Westminster Seminary writes this. Being filled with the Spirit is not a matter of unusual or spectacular experiences, although something of that may at times be involved. Instead, it is Spirit-worked obedience to Christ. in the basic everyday relationships and responsibilities of life. Being filled with the Spirit, Dr. Gaffin says, is not ecstasy. It's not mystical experiences, although such experiences sometimes come to obedience. It's conscientious, consistent, daily obedience, as he puts it, in the everyday relationships and responsibilities of life. The mother caring for her family is filled with the Spirit. The man doing his daily work diligently to God's glory is filled with the Spirit. And above all, the mark of being filled with the Spirit is to speak the Word of God with boldness. Are you doing this? Are you asking for this? We may feel inadequate. And the Sanhedrin thought that Peter and John were inadequate. They described them in verse 13 as common, uneducated men. Who are these men? But they weren't intimidated. They weren't frightened. So, my friends, let us not fear opposition. Let us welcome it as a wonderful opportunity. Look at this passage from another angle. Peter and John are being given the opportunity to tell the most important people in Jerusalem about Jesus. What a fantastic witnessing opportunity. The high priests there, all the priests, all the Sadducees, All the important people, how could they ever have got an audience with those people? God gives them an audience. God gives them an audience. To fulfillment of Luke 21, 12, our Lord says, They will lay their hands on you and persecute you. You will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. I will give you a mouth and wisdom. which none of your adversaries will be able to understand or contradict. This will be your opportunity. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. They continued to speak the Word of God with boldness. Amen. Let us bow in prayer. Father, you have commanded us to speak for Jesus Christ and the world. Most of us know Him as Savior and Lord. He means everything to us. We know also that those whom we meet need Him desperately. So we pray, give us new boldness to continue to speak the Word, to be strengthened by the fellowship of this church, to bring for each one of us our witness to you into the place of prayer, to trust in you the sovereign God, to be confirmed in our faith as we read of opposition prophesied in Scripture, and to be so filled with your Holy Spirit that we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And while the opportunities may be daunting, may we see them as opportunities nonetheless, and seize them for Christ's glory. Amen.