Confident Witnesses
One thing strikes us as we read Acts 4:1-22, and that is the transformation of Peter. Gone was the disciple who denied Christ three times (John 19). Now we see a confident witness, able to offer healing to a crippled man, preach before the crowds, explain himself before religious authorities and stand up to intimidation, threat and opposition. That’s the difference the Holy Spirit can make to a person!
We may well feel we can never have the confidence of Peter or Paul in witnessing, asserting that they were more outgoing than we are or had more training and education. But this passage reminds us forcibly that Peter and John were ‘ordinary, unschooled men’ (Acts 4:13) and that it was the fact they had been with Jesus which made the difference. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit as he spoke. (Acts 4:8) This made the difference. If we want to be confident witnesses, we need to understand that these two factors are more important than our temperament, personality, education or anything else. As we spend time with Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit, we too can know the confidence, boldness and courage that Peter and John displayed.
In our witness, we need to know whom we have believed and be clear about what we have witnessed in God (‘we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard’ Acts 4:20) Peter spoke fervently about the death and resurrection of Jesus at every opportunity (Acts 2:22-24, Acts 3:13-16, Acts 4:10-12) and was given words by the Holy Spirit as Jesus has promised. (Luke 21:12-19)
How gripped are we by the story of Jesus? How grateful are we for His life, death and resurrection? How much do we long to be with Him and to be filled with His Spirit? These are key questions which can open the door to a transformed life for us even as we are studying the transformed lives of the early apostles.
Life Begins At Forty!
The world has a saying ‘life begins at forty’, and if we look at some Biblical characters, we might agree! Forty seems to be a significant biblical number. Moses lived forty years in Egypt and forty years in the desert before God chose him to lead his people out of slavery. He spent forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai on two occasions (Ex 24:18, Ex 34:1-18). The Israelites were forty years wandering in the wilderness. Elijah went forty days without food or water at Mount Horeb and the prophet Ezekiel laid on his right side for forty days to symbolise Judah’s sins (Ezek 4:6). Jesus was forty days in the desert when he was tempted by Satan prior to the commencement of his ministry. So forty seems to be quite a significant number!
The lame man healed in Acts 3 was, we are told, ‘over forty years old.’ (Acts 4:22) Given that he was lame from birth (Acts 3:2), that was a significant amount of time to be crippled. It’s a vivid reminder, however, that what we have experienced for a long time does not have to last a lifetime. When God moves in power and might, things change. As Chris Tomlin puts it,
‘One word, and the walls start crumbling,
One word, and the blind will see.
One word, and the sinner’s forgiven,
‘Cause You do impossible things.’ (‘Impossible Things’, Chris Tomlin)
We need to have the faith to see that the long term can change when God steps into our situations. Long-term hurts, injuries, illnesses and situations can be turned around by a God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph 3:18-20).
For this man, it truly was as if life began at over forty. Suddenly he could walk and leap and praise God. Suddenly he was no longer a beggar, no longer dependent on others to carry him around, no longer an outcast of society. He wasn’t necessarily expecting life to change that day when he went to the temple as usual. But change it surely did… and life can change for us too when God steps into our situations.
In The Name of Jesus
To act in someone’s name means to act with their authority. An ambassador, for example, acts with the authority of the government of the country he or she represents; the ‘status’ and ‘authority’ of the ambassador is invested in him by someone greater than himself.
Peter’s response to the question ‘By what power or what name did you do this?’ (Acts 4:7) is unequivocal: ’It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.’ (Acts 4:10) When the religious leaders later command them NOT to preach in this name (Acts 4:18), Peter and John are adamant that they must obey God before men: ‘Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’ (Acts 4:19-20) The apostles acted not on their own authority but by all the authority invested in Jesus’ name – and therefore in Jesus Himself.
Peter was clear that the man’s healing had not resulted from his own goodness or power (Acts 3:12). He was acting in the name of Jesus, just as Jesus encouraged His disciples to pray in that name (John 14:12-14). When we do so, as Matt Slick says, ‘The action is accomplished by someone, but the power and the right to accomplish it is not one’s own. Instead, it is that which belongs to Christ and is associated with the individual who performs the action.’
Praying and acting in the name of Jesus (whether that involves healing, exorcism or forgiveness) depends on a relationship with Jesus and the infilling of the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8). It’s not a ‘magic mantra’ or phrase that can simply be tacked on to a prayer or action (see Acts 19:13-16).
For the Christian, everything we think, say, pray or do should be in Jesus’ name. Paul tells the Colossians, ‘whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father (Col 3:17) As we learn to do this, we can be confident that Jesus is with us. Jesus said, ‘all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me’ (Matt 28:18) and it is from that vantage point of Christ’s authority we are urged to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19-20). Peter and John had grasped something of the power and authority of the name of Jesus. Have we?
Repercussions!
Acts 4:1-22 tells the story of the repercussions which Peter and John faced following the healing of the crippled man at the gates of the temple. The response of the crowds to this miraculous healing was positive and favourable; another two thousand men believed as a result of this miracle and Peter’s preaching (Acts 4:4). Unfortunately, the response of the religious ruling classes (the priests, captain of the temple guard, Sadducees and Sanhedrin) was not as favourable. They were greatly disturbed by the idea of lay people (‘non-professionals’) teaching in the temple courts, especially since they were ‘proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.’ (Acts 4:2) The Sadducees in particular did not believe in the resurrection (see Matt 22:23-33) and thus they saw ‘the apostles as both agitators and heretics, both disturbers of the peace and enemies of the truth.’ (John Stott)
It is a sobering fact that opposition to the Christian message often comes from within the church as much as from without, that religious rulers can be the greatest barrier to change. Jesus reserved his most scathing rebukes for the religious rulers (see Matt 23:13-39, Matt 16:1-6). He faced great opposition from religious leaders (see John 8:58-59, John 10:31-33) and indeed, it was this opposition which had led to his trial and execution (Matt 26:57-66). The popular people loved Jesus and he was often attacked because he ate with tax collectors and sinners. (Luke 15:1)
Why should this be so? These people were those who knew the law, who studied the law, who were trained in God’s ways. Why should they be so hostile to the Son of God and to his followers?
It’s a frightening fact that religion is not the same as a relationship with God. The dictionary defines religion as ‘the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods’, but so often, this becomes a ‘particular system of faith and worship’, where forms and rituals hold more sway than listening to God and responding to Him. It’s very easy for ‘religious’ people to become self-righteous and to place more weight on rituals than on relationships. Jesus reminded the Pharisees that they needed to understand mercy not sacrifice (see Matt 12:1-14), something that is always at the heart of our walk with God.
The religious rulers thought they were obeying God by opposing the apostles, and we see this most clearly in the person of Saul of Tarsus, who would go from house to house, searching for Christians to imprison (Acts 8:1-2), before being confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:1-19) We need to be on our guard constantly against hypocrisy, pride, self-righteousness and inflexible rigidity, because these are the characteristics which led the religious rulers to oppose the truth of the gospel.
Peter’s challenge to the opposition was that they were opposing an act of kindness shown to a lame man, something they grudgingly had to accept (Acts 4:9, 16). It’s very easy for us reading this account to identify with the lame man or the apostles or even the admiring crowd, but the fact remains that much opposition to the gospel comes from within churches. When we resist change because we can’t handle it, oppose new things because they disturb the status quo, look down on people because we think they’re not ‘nice’ enough to be saved, we are acting more like the Pharisees and Sadducees than followers of Jesus. We need sensitivity to the Holy Spirit to the wind of change He breathes on us and an ability to bend with Him as we seek to preach the gospel to a world desperately in need of the power and presence of God – not the empty form of religion (see 2 Tim 3:5).
Mosaic mess
I’ve been continuing to take mosaic workshops this week with a kids’ club in Thurnscoe and in two primary schools. As always, making a mosaic is a messy process. The grout seems to get everywhere and even at the end of a session, the finished product is in desperate need of cleaning and polishing. We’ve also done collage mosaics this week, and those have involved lots of bits of material which seem to get everywhere!
Despite the mess, every mosaic we do acts as a parable of life to me. Life so often looks to us messy and it’s hard to see the picture! We don’t always understand what God is doing or see how His plans can be worked out in the chaos and mess of illness, bereavement, unhappiness and misery. Yet God promises us His plans are to prosper us (Jer 29:11) and that He is working for our good in all situations (Rom 8:28). I have every confidence that our artist and designer, Ruth Waterworth, will be able to polish up our mosaics and turn them into something beautiful to behold when we get to the arts’ festival on 28th September. We need the same confidence in our heavenly Father’s ability to turn the mess of our lives into something beautiful in its time.
Dearne Kids
Carrfield Primary School
Sacred Heart Primary School
If you want to be involved in the ‘Churches Together’ mosaic, we’ll be doing this at the Salvation Army on Friday 21st June at 11.30 a.m. All welcome; no previous experience necessary.
Goal or Gaol?
Sometimes when I’m typing quickly, letters are transposed. This often renders a word unintelligible (e.g. hte), which the spellchecker instantly picks up. Sometimes, however, transposition of certain letters creates a valid word which is not what is meant in those circumstances.’Goal’ and ‘gaol‘ is one such example.
A goal is often a laudable ambition, something to aim for in life. We all need goals; they give purpose to our lives. An aimless, purposeless life will leave us frustrated and drifting.
A gaol is the old-fashioned spelling for a place of imprisonment (the more usual spelling these days is ‘jail’.) This is hardly something sensible people should aspire to. Yet if we are not careful, our goals can very easily become gaols. We can become prisoners of our own success as much as of our failures, allowing our aims and ambitions to become things which drive us beyond that which is healthy or prudent.
Oxford castle & gaol
