HAPPENSTANCE AND HOWBEIT
#843 HAPPENSTANCE AND HOWBEIT
Scripture Acts 4:1-22 Orig. 1/6/79
Rewr. 1/17/87
Passage: The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand. 5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: 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. 11 Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’[a] 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” 13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Purpose: Continuing with the Acts study for Adult Church Training, here showing the emergence of a full-blown persecution of the early church leaders.
Keywords: Opportunity Proclamation Opposition Persecution
Timeline/Series: Acts
Introduction
Most of us know very little about persecution in any form, much less about religious persecution. There are many places, however, that it is being experienced today.
The struggle between Jew and Arab is, at its heart, a religious confrontation. The full-scale hostility in Lebanon is drawn with Muslim, Christian, and Jew; and divergent sects within these major religions are opposing their own people. The struggle in Ireland is a struggle between Protestant and Catholic. Many people are being persecuted because they are of one religious leaning rather than some other.
In the early days of our own history, there was serious restriction placed on some religious groups by other religions. You may remember that the Maryland charter had to do with settling Catholic people where they would not be an infringement on non-Catholics. Baptists had great difficulty settling into many of the early land grants. The holders of the grants were wealthy Englishmen. They were of the Church of England. Therefore, preachers of a more fundamentalist persuasion were simply not welcomed.
Even in Virginia this was so. The state is strongly Baptist, home, by the way, of our Foreign Mission Board. But some early Baptist preachers--including Jeremiah Moore, Aaron Bledsoe, and Lewis and Joseph Craig--began to preach Christ. Because they had no Episcopal license, they were arrested. Patrick Henry came to the Court House to defend these men. He stood before the gathered crowd, held up the indictment, and said, “What is the indictment against these men? Preaching the glorious gospel of God! Great God! That is the indictment. Are there no thieves going around unarrested and unconvicted? Are there no murderers upon whom to visit the vengeance of the law, that you must indict and try these men for preaching the gospel?” (S25p49-Fcrd).
Opposition. V3 “And they laid hands on them and put them in hold.” Take a moment to re-examine what was happening among the disciples. Notice the strong link with the temple. A woman in New Orleans spoke of the new-found charismatic faith of her son, studying for the ministry. “Well,” she said, “I’m not much into church.” They take opportunities where they find them, not attracting wealthy, learned, influential people. Every one is a ticket to others. The onlookers are the ones to whom Simon Peter spoke after the healing, and their friends and family who were not present.
Those opportunities were to be occasions where they magnify the Lord. The crucifixion marked their sin. They could not sweep it under the rug. Jesus has given them proof of resurrection. They can no longer evade the question. Acts 3:13 “The God of our fathers hath glorified His Son, Jesus. 3:16 “And His name, faith in His name, hath made this man strong.”
We are no more than a matter of weeks since the crucifixion. The one essential difference now is that Jesus is known to be alive. They were instructed in Acts 1:4 to “wait for the promise of the Father.” They started with 120 (Acts 1:15). They added 3,000 after Pentecost (2:41) and another 5,000 after this healing (4:4).
Notice “howbeit” in 4:4 KJV. Things are beginning to tighten up, but the Holy Spirit more than compensated for their disadvantage. From here on, the pressure mounts, but they will suffer no lack of God’s promise. The officials who gather quickly here, are the same ones who brought sentence on Jesus. They thought that what was done to Jesus would bring His followers to their knees. It did, but not in submission: rather, in prayer.
Suddenly, the fear of dealing with Jesus again is causing them anguish. In 2:22, 3:6, and 4:10, Jesus Christ is referred to as “the Nazarene” or “of Nazareth.” Priests were the religious power structure. They were men of wealth and learning. Many of the Sadducees were priests, wealthy landowners with the most to lose if Rome was forced to intercede. The high priests rejected resurrection to keep order in the temple.
Then Comes the Oration. V8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them.” Those already mentioned were joined by others. It is the court called the “Sanhedrin.” Most of you have been to Eureka Springs to see the Passion Play, or Calhoun. The Sanhedrin were the officials. 71 high priests were ex officio members of the Sanhedrin. The rulers were high priests’ families. At first the position was hereditary. Between 37BC and 67AD there were twenty-eight high priests, all but six came from four families. (A50p36)
The elders were respected leaders. Of this oration, understand that when the Word is faithfully proclaimed, God blesses it. Acts 6:4 “We will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the Word.” 2 Corinthians “God . . . hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word, be instant in season.” 5,000 men became believers. Women may or may not have been present. These went home to families who likewise would believe.
We must not overlook the jailing. Peter, with the gift of speaking out of turn and regretting it, and John, who had the great gift of loving people: These two are suddenly locked away, remembering their Lord’s night of trial and passion; remembering, also, that Jesus prepared them for this. Luke 21:12 “they shall lay their hands on you, and bring you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. . . . I will give you a mouth, and wisdom.” Luke 12:12 “For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what to say.”
Simon will be the spokesman, and his message will not change. He concentrates on ”the Sent One.” Fifteen times in John, Jesus so uses “pempantos.” Again, meaning that the Jewish fathers crucified Jesus, and that He arose for the dead, that faith in the Jesus of this victory—crucifixion and resurrection—resolves the sin problem.
The actuality of the oration is that Christ is seen in the life of the proclaimer. V13 “They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” William Barclay (A50p38) gives us the three salient points of Christian defense: (1) Defense of unanswerable fact—the healed man; (2) defense of utter loyalty to God (obedience); and defense of a personal experience.” H.G. Wells said “The trouble with so many people is that the voice of their neighbors sounds louder in their ears than the voice of God.”
Thus, Opposition Becomes Oppression. V18 “and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” Here is the first instance of the satanic determination to silence the message of salvation in Christ. We see it in the commercial world’s interest in Santa Claus rather than Jesus.
The political world silences the gospel because it is controversial. Remember the news item from Jackson about the lighted windows in a state office building in the shape of a cross. Some universalist could see it from her home and was offended. A Christian businessman turned on his lights.
The ACLU says “It’s okay to smoke pot, or to jeopardize industry, but don’t talk about Jesus anywhere but at home and church.”
Madeleine Murray O’Hare says, “I want to be free to teach people atheism, but teaching about God should be restricted.”
And for all these years, the song goes on. Peter and John couldn’t be squelched. V20 “We cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.” History’s clearest mandate is in the resiliency of the word.
Ken Chafin wrote The Reluctant Witness, about learning to apply the word (R33p14): the need for simple basic (related) Bible study; the need for spiritual growth; the need for some basic skills; and the need for practical experience, under supervision.
***THE CONCLUSION TO THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***