4 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the. Sadducees: Pre-resurrection opposition was from the Pharisees.

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1 Acts 4:1-22 Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. P a g e 1 Hughes summarizes First, there had been the 120 in the Upper Room, then the wind of the Spirit, then flames dancing above the Twelve, then supernatural utterances as they began to speak in other languages, then a huge crowd. Finally, there was Peter s greatest sermon, 3,000 saved and the pools of Jerusalem were clogged with converts waiting to be baptized. Now Peter and John on their way in for afternoon prayers encounter a regular at the gate beautiful. A lame beggar asking for money gets something much better Jesus! Peter preaches to all who were amazed at the healed beggar. With exhibit A doing jumping jacks next to him, Peter hits them with both barrels. Using their favorite prophet Moses and the second most revered Samuel Finishing verse 22 God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. He gives them Jesus. Not everyone wants to hear the good news of the gospel. Remember their response is not our responsibility our responsibility is to tell them. They will learn that, Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. If you want the rainbow, you have got to put up with the rain. 4 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, refers to the "police force" of the temple precincts: and the Sadducees came upon them, Sadducees: Pre-resurrection opposition was from the Pharisees. Post-resurrection opposition was from the Sadducees.

2 P a g e 2 Note the Sadducees leading role in the incarceration. Little good can be said about this bunch. The Pharisees opposed Jesus for religious reasons (misguided conviction). The Sadducees opposition, however, came largely from political motivations. This is why the Sadducees were not as involved in early persecutions against Christ. But as they saw the present threat to their political structure, they became aggressive enemies. In the book of Acts persecution was largely Sadducean. They were the materialistic rationalists of their day denying the supernatural, denying evil spirits, denying angels (see Acts 23:8). Above all, they denied the Resurrection (see Mark 12:18). One commentator said of them, Sadducees highly sophisticated, twitty bluebloods who had come to take care of the Galilean hayseeds. They were educated, wealthy elite who would sell their mothers to stay in power. 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. From the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4.1: "Judgments about money may be commenced in the day and concluded in the night, but judgments about life must be begun in the day and concluded in the day" There were undoubtedly some unhappy words between the crowds and the authorities. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. Opposition did not slow the church down at all. It is interesting that many of Pharisees (legalists) came to faith in Jesus; however, nowhere can we find a record of a Sadducee (liberal) coming to faith in Jesus. 5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, Same guys that Jesus stood before 6 as well as Annas the

3 P a g e 3 high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. Annas was of the priesthood of Aaron, but he was deposed by the Romans, and Caiaphas was put in his place. Caiaphas was the acting high priest, but appointed by the Romans; he was not of the line of Aaron. Caiaphas was in power for the Romans, but not really accepted by the Jews. Annas is still of powerful influence, although not officially in power. Annas and Caiaphas are two men who condemned Jesus to die. The Sanhedrin had 71 members; 24 was a quorum. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power or by what name have you done this? Trying to trap them Found in Deuteronomy chapter 13 verses 1-5 the Old Testament Scriptures declare he who did a miracle in the name of any other besides Jehovah was to be stoned. Here, Caiaphas, Annas, and the boys perhaps with rocks in hand were hoping Peter would say, We did it in the Name of Jesus. 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, The filling of the Holy Spirit Peter experienced in Acts 2:4 (along with other disciples) was not a one-time event; it was something God wanted to keep doing in their lives. Paul in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18 says, And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. Be ye being filled continuously not a one time experience because we LEAK! By the enemy s fire, Peter was burned. Touched with fire, he s hot.

4 P a g e 4 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, 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, Though most of the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and did not want to hear of the Resurrection, Peter hurled it at them like a flaming spear. by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Tradition has it that in the days of the construction of Solomon s temple, although the engineers at the temple mount searched and searched, they couldn t find the cornerstone. A message was sent to the quarry: Where is the cornerstone? Word came back to the mount: We sent it to you months ago. Then someone remembered: Oh, maybe it was that stone we didn t know what to do with. It didn t fit anywhere, so we rolled it down the hill into the Valley of Gehenna. The Valley of Gehenna was the place of burning, the place of rubbish, the place where babies were sacrificed in the days of Ahaz, the place of weeping and sorrow, refuse and stench. And the rejected stone was indeed found in the Valley of Gehenna. Thus, Peter makes application, saying, The Chief Cornerstone is Jesus Christ. This One rejected by you, this One who went to hell for you is the Rock of Deuteronomy 32 (verse 4), the Cornerstone of Psalm 118 (verse 22), the Smiting Stone of Daniel 2 (verse 35), 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

5 P a g e 5 marvelous, gracious aggression! And Peter had just begun! What Hughes in his commentary on Acts shares this story, Frederick the Great once called all his generals together. One of them, Hans Von Zieten, had duties to perform at his church that night and Communion to participate in, so he refused to come. Later he was again invited to dine with all the generals and Frederick the Great. On that occasion they all made light of him and joked about his religious duties and about the Lords Supper. Von Zieten stood and said to his intimidating ruler, My lord, there is a greater king than you, a king to whom I have sworn allegiance, even unto death. I am a Christian man, and I cannot sit quietly as the Lord s name is dishonored, his character belittled, and his cause subject to ridicule. With your permission I shall withdraw. There was silence because the generals knew such a daring act could mean death. But Frederick the Great was so struck by Von Zieten s courage that he begged him to stay and promised him he would never again demean those sacred things. Long live the tribe of Hans Von Zieten! 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. uneducated and untrained...ignorant : (the same root word for idiots, unschooled ). rather common, of the street. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. Being with Jesus trumps education One man states, Their Lord was saturating their emotions, compelling their wills, energizing their bodies, so that the Sanhedrin was not seeing not only them, but Christ. Not only that, but Peter and John, filled with the Holy Spirit, were in constant communication with their Lord. As Alexander Maclaren said, A soul habitually in contact with Jesus will imbibe sweetness from him, just as the garments laid away in a drawer with some perfume absorb fragrance from that beside which they lie. Seeing Peter and John,

6 P a g e 6 the Jewish leaders were seeing Jesus. Later in Acts, when the apostles had been flogged at the orders of the same Sanhedrin, The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name (Acts 5:41). When confronted by their enemies, they responded with amazing confidence, daring aggressiveness, and no compromise! Why? Because they had been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. How did Luke ever find out what the Sanhedrin discussed among themselves? Undoubtedly, because a member of that Sanhedrin later became a Christian: Saul of Tarsus. Saul was most likely present seeds are being planted. Our responsibility is to share... it s their responsibility what they do with it. 17 But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name. 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

7 P a g e 7 seen and heard. John Courson says, Do you have a hard time speaking about the Lord? Perhaps it s because you haven t seen or heard much from Him lately. I find that my witness is proportional to what I am presently seeing and hearing from the Lord in my own life. If I am not seeing or hearing from Him, I find I don t speak as boldly, as quickly, or as readily as during those times when I am hearing His Word and seeing His work. The apostles ministered past their natural abilities. They had a fear of God not of man Peter would eventually be crucified upside down for not feeling worthy to die the same way His Lord had. Peter Cartwright was a great circuit-riding Methodist preacher in Illinois. An uncompromising man, he had come north from Tennessee because of his opposition to slavery. One Sunday morning when he was scheduled to preach, his deacons told him that President Andrew Jackson was in the congregation. Knowing Cartwright was used to saying whatever he felt God wanted him to say, regardless of how people might react, they warned him not to say anything that would offend the chief executive. He stood up to preach and said, I understand President Andrew Jackson is here. I have been requested to be guarded in my remarks. Andrew Jackson will go to Hell if he does not repent. The audience was shocked. They wondered how the President would respond to this, but after the service he told Cartwright, Sir, if I had a regiment of men like you, I could whip the world. Verse 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.

8 P a g e 8 Persecution is an inevitable element of genuine Christian faith. In John 15:18-20 Jesus told his disciples: 18 If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. The martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from his Flossenberg cell in 1937: Suffering is the badge of a true Christian. The disciple is not above his master Luther reckoned suffering among the marks of the true church, and one of the memoranda drawn up in preparation for the Augsburg Confession similarly defines the church as the community of those who were persecuted and martyred for the gospel s sake. Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer. Blessed [happy, blissful] are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10).

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