Acts 4:1-22
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Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer, and I am one of the pastors here. We're going to be in Acts chapter 4 today, verses 1 through 22. That's going to be on page 1056 in those black Bibles, if you want to follow along there. That's where the text will be. As a kid, I appreciated stories that had a redemption arc of someone that went from being cowardly, fearful, timid, to courageous and bold.
I think it has to do a little bit with the fact that when I was growing up, I was always the smallest boy in my grade. I mean, just was small. And when you grow up in the 90s as the smallest boy in your grade, sometimes you face opposition. I got a lot of rules against bullying nowadays. I didn't exist in the 90s. It was fair game.
But I was a fiery kid. So I would stay on my ground and try to endure through all of that and figure out ways out of it and did a pretty good job of handling myself. But every now and then, there would be some bigger kid that would steal one on me. They would do something. And I would go, oh, I'd freeze. I'd shrink back.
And then after it all, I'd go through it all and just be like, all right, that's never going to happen again. And I'd plan and I'd plot and be like, I'm never going to be put in this position again. So I always appreciate stories where someone who stumbles, someone who shrinks back a little bit, finds some boldness. Like I love the Christmas story where Ralphie, you know, is getting bullied in the very beginning by Scut Farkus. And then all of a sudden in the end, he's tearing that kid up. It's like, let's go.
Like he just stood up for himself. Like I appreciate stories where people change into something like that. And there's a part of us that can identify with that. Like we know what it's like to fail. We know what it's like to cower. We know what it's like to hesitate.
Hesitate, that's to be human. So we know what that's like. Now, I'm an adult now. I'm no longer four feet tall. But there are moments where there are times to be bold and there's times to actually to be brave.
There's times to be courageous. And there are times where, you know, I'll hesitate. I'll shrink a little bit. It's like, oh, whoa, whoa. Like I can't be doing it. There are times where God has so clearly laid out an opportunity for the gospel to afford to press into something.
And I hesitate. It's, oh, no. I don't want to do that. I want to be bold. I want to be courageous. I want to do what God has called me to do.
And I think that many of us can identify with that. And that's what makes the story that we're looking at today so wonderful. Because what we're going to see is a redemption story. It's a redemption arc specifically for Peter. Because what we're going to read today. In the months before all of this, Peter, on the night that Jesus was betrayed, as Jesus was on trial in a kangaroo court style trial where it was just they were looking for ways just to make sure that he could go before Pontius Pilate and be crucified.
Peter's in the courtyard outside. And he denies that he knows Jesus Christ three times. He lies. A little girl says, aren't you with, aren't you one of his followers? And he shrinks and he cowers. And the third time Jesus looks at him and he runs away in tears.
It's the lowest moment for Peter. And today we get a dramatically different version of Peter. We're going to see Peter along with John empowered by the Spirit and compelled by a burden and the first major opposition that the church is going to face. And today we get to see Peter shine. So we're going to look at his redemption story and then we're going to zoom in on Peter on why he actually looks much different.
So let me pray for us and we'll walk this together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the good news of the gospel that we just sang about. That we just prayed in light of. I pray that you'd help us continue to understand more of who you are and what that means for us as a people that belong to you. May you open our eyes. To receive what you have to say this morning, we ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen. Okay, so last week Mike walked us through Acts chapter 3 when Peter and John heal a crippled man. It's a miraculous event. It stirs the city up and then they start sharing the gospel about why this happened. And that's where we pick up directly in chapter 4 in verse 1 when the religious leaders hear this and respond. Verse 1 it says, Okay, so as they're preaching the gospel, religious leadership shows up.
So it's the priest. This is going to be the Levitical priest who did their priestly duties in the temple. This is the captain of the temple. This is basically like Capitol Police. This is the enforcers that come in. And then it says the Sadducees came upon them.
Now the Sadducees were basically the religious political aristocracy. So the religious political small group of leaders that ran the nation. They kind of worked with the Romans in ruling the people. And they filled up most of the seats in what's called the Sanhedrin. This is the elder body that put Jesus on trial. This is the elder body that helps rule the nation.
They're the biggest political. They take up more seats in the Sanhedrin. They're the power brokers in Jerusalem. Which means that these Sadducees that show up are the people that put Jesus on the cross. They were the main force behind the crucifixion of Jesus. Which means that they're the villains.
They're probably the ultimate villains of all time. I mean, you murder God. You end up top of the list. This is it. The Sadducees, they show up. And it says, verse 2, greatly annoyed.
Because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. So I appreciate the wording here. It says, greatly annoyed. That word for that only shows up twice in the New Testament. Both of them are in Acts. Conveys the idea that they hear about this.
And they're just like, I just kind of see them rolling their eyes. Like, are we serious? Didn't we deal with this movement already? Didn't we kill Jesus? Didn't we spread rumors about how they stole this body? How is this still happening?
How is this still a thing? And Peter and John are not going to stop. They're going to preach about the resurrection of Jesus. Which makes this doubly annoying for the Sadducees. Because one of the hallmark beliefs of the Sadducees. Is that they do not believe in the resurrection.
They believe that when you die, you die and you go into the ground. I remember years ago when I was in kids ministry. I was, we had this song that we would sing that would kind of explain some of these different people in the New Testament. And we got to the Sadducees. The kids would sing, I don't want to be a Sadducee. I don't want to be a Sadducee.
Because they're so sad, you see. I just want to be a sheep, blah, blah, blah, blah. And the whole point of that is to say they're a sad group of people. Because they don't believe in hope. They believe that when you die, you die. They don't believe in a resurrection.
So when they're preaching about the resurrection of Jesus, the person whom they killed. This is doubly annoying for them. Which, just to state the point. If you're going to use God, the name of God, to enforce power like they were. You better hope that there's no resurrection. You better hope that there's not judgment facing you when the resurrection comes.
But they're villains. They show up. And they're going to put this down. Verse 3.
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. (Acts 4:3-4 ESV)
So, they use their power. They arrest them. And then Luke takes a moment to kind of give a parenthetical, kind of a reference in time for what's happening. He says, at this point, 5,000 people have become followers of Jesus Christ.
At Pentecost, 3,000. And then they continue to day by day, meeting in homes. Sharing Christ with one another with the lost. Preaching out in public. And day by day. And now we're at 5,000.
The movement is starting to gain steam. And then verse 5. It says:
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. (Acts 4:5-6 ESV)
Okay. So, when they get together to figure out what they're going to do, we have some of the main leaders. And two of those names, if you've ever read the Gospels, should stand out.
Annas and Caiaphas. These are the two main ringleaders who made sure that Jesus was put before Pilate and put on the cross. These are two of the biggest villains in this. And John and Alexander are still part of the high priestly family. But they come together, and they're going to question Peter and John.
Verse 7. It says:
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." (Acts 4:7-10 ESV)
So this is an incredible moment for Peter. Remember this. Peter is being questioned by the same people who questioned Jesus.
By the same people who put Jesus on the cross. And they have some similar lines of questioning. By what name, by what power do you do this? Because they've got to settle this because they can't bury this story. They can't hide this. They can't make up a false story.
Because this is a person that, the people in Jerusalem, they knew this man was crippled. They knew he was disabled. And now they see it. So now they can't cover it up. They can't lie about this. They want to know, by what name?
How? And Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit. You see, since Pentecost, Peter has been filled with the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit. In his natural state, he's cowardly. He's scared. But supernaturally empowered by God.
He's bold. And he's courageous. And the Spirit of God is filling him in a way that gets him to declare the good news of what's actually happening here. And he says, rulers of the people, you want to know how this happened? You want to know how this man is standing now? You and everyone in Israel can know.
It was by the name of Jesus Christ. The Jesus Christ whom you crucified. I like to think, it's not in the text, but I like to think that he's talking to the people. And then kind of shifts and looks directly at the religious leaders and says, whom you crucified. Putting them on blast for what they've done. And then he says, whom God raised from the dead, which I know is a trigger word for the Sadducees, but they make it clear.
Whom God raised from the dead. And then Peter shifts and he goes Old Testament on them in verse 11. It says:
"This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone." (Acts 4:11 ESV)
I want to pause here for a bit. Because what Peter just did was brilliant. It was next level.
So, we just read that. That's a reference from Psalm 118. That was a part of our liturgy this morning. And Psalm 118 is a Psalm, it's a messianic Psalm, that points forward to the Messiah that is going to come and bring a new way and a new faith that's going to be built upon him. So Jesus Christ is the stone that's rejected that becomes the cornerstone of something new.
So that's part of what's happening here. It's an allusion. It's pointing back to that. But also, something else is happening here. And it's a little more subtle. And I want us to see what Peter's doing.
You see, after Jesus went into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, he had a lot of interactions and a lot of teachings in the temple that people saw. And I want to go to one of those to help us see what, the subtlety of what Peter's doing here. So, this will be on the screen. You can hold that place in Acts. We'll come back to that in a moment. But in Luke chapter 20, verses 1 and 2, we get a picture of one of those interactions after Palm Sunday and before Good Friday. It says:
One day, one day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up and said to him, "Tell us, by what authority do you do these things? Or who it is that gave you this authority?" (Luke 20:1-2 ESV)
So, they kind of had the same questioning. By what authority are you doing this, Jesus? How are you doing this? They question Jesus' authority and then Jesus tells what's known as the parable of the wicked tenants. And he's telling it, the audience, the main audience, is this religious leadership.
So, I want to read the parable of the wicked tenants. It starts down in verse 9 of chapter 20 of Luke.
And he began to tell the people this parable. Here's the story. A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. (Luke 20:9 ESV)
So, the setup of the story is this is a man that plants a vineyard.
And what you would do in that time is you hire people to take care of it. He's going to be out away in a far country so he hires tenants. And the deal that works usually in that situation is that he's going to get the majority of the harvest of the grapes when it's time. They're going to get some. Everybody wins. That's the setup.
When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty handed. (Luke 20:10 ESV)
So, when it's time to collect, he sends a servant. And it turns out these tenants are evil. They're thieves. They're violent. They beat his servant.
And it says:
He sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed. And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. (Luke 20:11-12 ESV)
Then, verse 13, the owner of the vineyard said:
"What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Perhaps they will respect him." (Luke 20:13 ESV)
So, the owner says, maybe it's just they don't respect the servants. Maybe I'll send my son. Then, they'll finally respect him. Verse 14:
But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, "This is the heir. Let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours." And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? (Luke 20:14-15 ESV)
So, Jesus finishes the story. They kill the son and he says, well, what will the owner do? Verse 16:
"He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others." (Luke 20:16 ESV)
When they heard this, they said, surely not.
But they there includes the religious leadership. They heard this and said, surely not. Verse 17:
But he, Jesus, looked directly at them and said, "What then is this that is written? The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone." (Luke 20:17 ESV)
Now, in that parable, God the Father clearly is the owner. Jesus Christ is the son.
And the wicked tenants, and they know this, that's why they get angry. The wicked tenants are the religious leadership. And Jesus is telling them, you're going to kill me. And guess what? What's going to happen is the fulfillment of Psalm 118. The stone me that you will reject, that you will be violent with, will become the cornerstone of a new faith.
And Peter references the exact same passage to the exact same people pointing to the exact same truth to their face. It's subtle, and it's brilliant, and it's bold, and it's wonderful all at the same time. I mean, just a few months ago, Jesus was teaching this, and Peter's watching it. And he quotes the same passage. What a brilliant moment. What a brilliant use of the gospel that Peter does in a defense of Jesus Christ.
And then Peter finishes this teaching, this defense, in verse 12. This is Peter talking:
"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." (Acts 4:12 ESV)
So he makes the case to this religious leadership, he says, there's no other name by which anyone can be saved. To a people, to a group of religious leaders that put so much hope in the law, he tells them, there's no other name by which you're going to be saved. None. And we, reading this, 2,000 years later, we also should consider what he's saying.
There is no other name by which you will be saved. None. Not Allah through the prophet Muhammad, the false prophet Muhammad. This isn't through Buddha, this isn't through any of the thousands of Hindu gods, false idols, this isn't, no one will be saved through the false Jesus that Latter-day Saints preach. There's no religious system in which you can be saved. There's no economic system in which you can be saved, not capitalism, not communism.
There's no name. It's not you. It's not me. There's no other name in which you'll be saved. The only hope of salvation is found in Jesus Christ and Christ alone. And we should consider this because that means there's no pluralistic or universalistic reading of the scriptures at all.
There is no all paths lead to God that's found anywhere in the scriptures. And for years as Christians, as we've proclaimed the same truth that Peter's proclaiming right here, that there's no other name in which you'll be saved. The accusations have come in as we're narrow-minded and we're arrogant. And every label that can be thrown at us for preaching the same message that Peter was proclaiming here. And the reason that we proclaim this is because it's based in reality. There's no one else that's coming to save. There's no one else.
I've tried to teach my kids that when there's an emergency to dial 911. I was taught that as a kid. So it's an emergency, you dial 911. There's also a lot of other numbers you can dial. When I was a kid, you dialed 411. That was basically Google back in the day.
If you want an information, you dialed 411. That's where the phrase you get the 411 comes from. I don't even know if they say that anymore. But there you go. You can dial 811. That's still a number you can call.
If you want to dig and make sure that you don't hit a gas line and make everyone in your neighborhood hate you, you dial 811. They'll come and paint the lines for you. There are a lot of numbers you can call. Imagine that one night a fire starts in your home. And you quickly scramble. It's just you.
You get out. If you have family, you grab your family. You get out. And the flames are starting to take over. But you left your phone inside.
But your neighbor comes. And your neighbor says, oh, I'm here to help. Oh, do you have a phone? Yes. Can you dial 911? And your neighbor goes, 911.
All right? I mean, sure, but you can also dial any of the numbers. You can dial 811. You can dial 411. And you look at them, confused. And it's like, what?
No, no, no. We need the fire department. I'm going to lose everything. Call 911. And he looks at you and says, don't be so arrogant. Don't be so narrow-minded.
Any of these numbers will work. And I seem silly, but the reality is, is that that's what's being fed to us over and over again. You can dial any number. You can find hope anywhere. Just call it. You'll find it.
Create your own adventure. It's being sold to us over and over and over again. And the truth is that there's no other number, there's no other person who's coming to save you. There's no other person that's going to rescue us from the flames of judgment. That's found in Christ, in Christ alone. And the reason that matters is because that is the reality that we live in.
And if you're new, or you're filling this out, and maybe this is something that you've struggled with for years, I want you to hear very clearly the reason that this has to be said and stated is because there's no one else that came. That we, as broken sinners, have rebelled against a holy and perfect God. We regularly choose to reject His ways and what He wants and what He desires for us. And God looks at us and He has compassion and He sends Jesus Christ the Son. And Jesus Christ comes and He lives the perfect life that we could not live. And He goes to the cross because someone has to pay the penalty for our rebellion.
That you cannot sin and reject a holy and perfect God over and over and over again and think that you get to walk away like it's not a big deal. It is a big deal. And that's why Jesus came. And that's why Jesus bled. And that's why Jesus died. And that's why Jesus rose from the grave.
So that we might have our sin paid for and that He might create for us a new and better way built on Him that is the cornerstone. That we might not live to ourselves but surrender to Him in faith. Jesus is the only line of salvation that we have. And I just so clearly want you to see that this morning as we walk through this passage. That our hope is in Christ and Christ alone. And Peter is trying to impress that upon them in this defense of the gospel.
That Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. And then He finishes. And then it's time for the religious leadership to respond. Verse 13.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. 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." (Acts 4:13-16 ESV)
So they recognize, oh, these are uneducated men, these are common men.
They're not a part of our elite classes of religious leadership. And they put two and two together. These must definitely be disciples and followers of Jesus. This is what Jesus did. He trained uneducated, common fishermen. So they tie those two together.
And what I want in that kind of accusation for a moment to consider is that Peter and John don't have the credentials of the Sadducees at all. They don't have the religious education that they were given. And I think sometimes we can get in our heads about, I just don't, I know you're a preacher man like the professional here and you can do this, but I don't really know if I can go and share this with people. And I just want to say very clearly, yes you can. You absolutely can. And I'm not anti-education, I'm not anti-seminary, I've like done the most seminary I can do.
Like I just, there's not much left I can keep going back, but it's just, I'm not against it, I'm pro-seminary. But if you get the mindset that I'm, well I'm just not, I'm not on your level, it's like, no, you have the Spirit of God inside of you. You can. When I was 17 years old, I became a Christian. I placed my faith in Jesus Christ. He radically transformed me.
And then my senior year of high school, I was like, I want people to know the same Jesus. So we started a ministry. And it was once a week in the cafeteria before school started, we were teaching the Bible. Y'all, and if I had to go back and witness some of the teachings that I gave, my senior year of high school, they, I would cringe. I'm sure that they were bad. I'm sure that they were all over the place.
It didn't make a lot of sense. I think I preached in bare feet. Like I just, it was, it just, it, but I had the gospel. And I had the Bible. And when I was a senior, Kenny Shelton, who's one of our group leaders, was an eighth grader. And he'd come to those meetings.
And I stumbled my way through and shared Jesus. And by the end of the year, God had transformed Kenny's life. And what makes this season so sweet for me, and as they're getting ready to send out Oak Ridge, is I get to watch the Sheltons go out and start something new. And I get to see God use them to do wonderful things. And realize that at 17 and 18, I didn't have all the training that I had now, but I had Jesus Christ. And I had the word.
And that's all I needed. And that's all you need. That's all you need is the gospel to proclaim. So don't, don't kid yourself that you have nothing to say because you don't have all the credentials. You do. And they did.
And they preached Christ. And a notable sign was done that cannot be ignored. And I appreciate about this passage that notable sign is also a bit of a reference to the fact that this same religious leadership in Jesus' ministry were demanding for a sign. They wanted Jesus to step to their tune. We want you to do a sign for us. And Jesus says, they blasphemously accuse him of doing power by the work of demons.
And he says, the only sign you're getting is the sign of Jonah, which is the future, which is the resurrection, according to when he will rise from the grave. And now, they're preaching after a notable sign has been done in front of these Pharisees, these Sadducees, this religious leadership. And they're preaching the resurrection. They still, they can't see it. Can't see it. But they've got to do something, because it's starting to gain steam.
And verse 17, the religious leadership says:
"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. (Acts 4:17-18 ESV)
So, they understand the threat of this miraculous sign. They're not going to punish them, but they issue a warning. They say, okay, free to go, but don't speak the name of Jesus. Don't teach in the name of Jesus.
And then Peter and John respond with one of my favorite verses and the book of Acts. Verse 19:
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." (Acts 4:19-20 ESV)
Man. They say, okay, you can judge for yourselves whether we're going to listen to you or to God, but we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. That means we must speak. We must proclaim.
We will speak of what we have seen and heard. The same people that put Jesus on the cross looks at them and says, you won't say his name. You're going to shut up. And they say, no, we won't. We will but speak of what we've seen. We will not be silenced. We will tell everyone about this Jesus.
And then it says in verse 21, we'll finish it out. It says:
And 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. (Acts 4:21-22 ESV)
So after hearing this, they realized they have no choice to let them go.
They threatened them further to no avail. But they got to let them go because these are political leaders and they can't risk political capital. The people are on their side right now. Things could get out of hand. So they let them go.
Because the people, as Mike said last week, he's crippled since birth. And he's 40 years old. So this is well documented. The people are excited and they have to let them go. Unscathed, which will not always be the case for these disciples. So, taking a step back, Peter went from cowardly to courageous.
In not a long period of time. We're talking months. So what changed? How did he do it? How did he do it? Did he read a bunch of self-help books on how to seize the moment?
How to face his giants? Did he listen to a bunch of podcasts from bros talking about how to calm yourself down and under pressure? be ready? What did he do? How did he go from standing in a courtyard where a little girl accuses him to standing before the very same people boldly declaring Jesus Christ? And the difference is quite simple. Peter was empowered by the Spirit and compelled to obey Jesus, whom he witnessed, resurrected, from the grave.
Peter, in his natural state, was cowardly. Peter, supernaturally empowered, is courageous because the Spirit is at work within him and he was compelled to obey what Jesus commanded of him. That he was going to declare the gospel. That he was going to be his witness in Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. So Peter, empowered by the Spirit, being told to shut up, he says, no, I will not.
I will speak the name of Jesus Christ over and over again. I will not be silenced. What a beautiful redemption story that we have here. Brothers and sisters, the same Holy Spirit that empowered Peter to stand firm in the gospel and to speak of what he had seen and heard, the same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead empowers us, empowers you. The same commands that were given to Peter are the same commands that are given to us, that if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, we're told to make disciples of all nations, we're told to proclaim the gospel, we're told to be his witnesses, we're told to preach Christ, we're told to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into marvelous light.
That we have a real message. We have the emergency lifeline that is Jesus Christ to declare to those whose houses are on fire and who desperately need a Savior. We have this message and we have the Spirit at work in us. So friends, consider the moments that you have to speak of what you've seen and heard, to speak of all of what you've read in the scriptures. Consider your friend that asks you, how was your weekend on a Monday? What a setup!
Because I could post up in how sad Saturday night was and how sad every Saturday night is going to be for the rest of this football season. And I can talk about how miserable the Gamecocks are going to be. Or, second option, you can talk about what happens right here on a Sunday morning. What a setup! What did I do? Let me tell you what I learned yesterday.
I thought it was really cool for me. Consider the co-worker that you see that's just struggling and distressed. And they're sad. They're hiding the sadness behind a face, but you see it. And you can go up and just look at them and just say, hey, how are you doing? What's really going on?
And you get a moment to practice gospel fluency where you get to apply the gospel to the everyday broken parts of life. Consider the guys that you work with who just say, you know, you don't really talk like the rest of us. Like, we kind of joke, maybe a little too vulgar and stuff. That's kind of how we are, but like, you're different. Like, what's up with that? It's like, oh.
You get a moment to point to Jesus and not yourself, which would make you self-righteous. You get to point to Jesus. Consider the family member that is spiraling out of control. And they reach out to you asking for help. And what better person could they have called? Better than 9-1-1, because you have the hope that it's Christ to share with them.
The same Spirit that empowered Peter empowers you. You get to speak of what you've seen and heard. Now, you might be thinking, but listen, but I work at a place that I'll get fired. Like, there's HR policies on what I can and cannot say. I'm not supposed to talk about religion. I'm not saying that this passage means that tomorrow you kick down the door with a Bible and post up and say, listen up!
I'm not... Maybe. That's where you get... I mean, maybe. I'm trying to restrict you, but I'm not saying that's prescribed. But I think, though, listen, if you're in a workplace where you actually are restricted from speaking about Jesus, let me give you something to consider.
I think sometimes when you're in those settings, because of HR policies, you turn off that part of your brain, as opposed to walking in step with the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, prayerfully considering, and then waiting for the moments where God lines something up for you to actually be able to speak the name of Jesus. And I hope that if you will walk in step with the Spirit and be led by Him, that you will seize those opportunities, because I don't want you to stand before the Lord and say, well, HR. No. No, I took a risk, and I shared Jesus Christ, and in eternity, there with me forever, praising Jesus, because I was obedient to the Great Commission.
Y'all, sometimes, what we're talking about is evangelism here. And sometimes, we can never think this. I think evangelism is a little bit like surfing. When you surf, you get out in the waves, and you're just kind of waiting for a wave to develop, and then finally you see it. And if you've been surfing before, you know when you see it. And all you've got to do is just paddle a little bit, get into its wave, and then stand up.
And the wave, the water, the ocean does all the power for you. It does all the work for you. You just ride it. And there are times where you just, you're just led by the Spirit, or just, you're waiting for opportunities. And then you see one. And you've got to paddle and get into it.
You've got to find your way into it. And then you just let the Lord take over. And then He does. And He works through you. And He saves sinners. And you might be thinking, okay, but what does that even mean?
What do you mean led by the Spirit? What do you mean walking with the Spirit? What does that even mean? And I mean very nuts and bolts. This is what I practically mean. We should be the kind of Christians that pray unceasingly.
We shouldn't stop talking with God. We should pray, and we should live our everyday life praying to the Lord, asking God, what do you want me to do? And sometimes, that's going to mean that your phone has got to be away. Because we'll fill up all that space by looking at a phone. We're doing a technology podcast on that right now. You should listen to it.
But we've got to put that away so we can actually be praying, asking the Lord, and then when you do this, God is going to at times go, you know what? I think I need you to turn the car around and you need to go talk to that person. You see that person in your office? You see that person in your workplace? I think you need to press in right there. And then you courageously take the steps that He's laid up before you and you ride the wave and you let God do His work and you watch God save sinners.
We need to be a people that don't quench the Spirit, but walk in step with the Spirit and are Spirit-led and filled just as Peter was. We need to be that kind of people. Sometimes we'll get in our heads and we'll think, ah, I just, but I'm going to mess it up. Like I don't have a clear like gospel presentation and I'm not the kind of person that's going to use the tract. So like I don't, I don't even, I don't, I don't want to say and I just, if that's you, what I just want to say is just speak.
Just open your mouth. The gospel is a message that is spoken. We don't friendship people into the kingdom of God. We speak and declare the message of who Jesus is. You've got something to say. Just say it.
You've got a testimony. Share it. Are you reading the Bible? Share what you're reading in the Bible. Speak about the cross, the importance of the resurrection. Just speak of what you've seen and heard and then watch God do the rest.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that you might empower us to be a people, a people that our hearts break for the lost, that we would not hear this and leave this room and live lives that are quiet to ourselves, unwilling to disturb others with the good news of salvation, but that we would be a people that the main beating heart and conviction of our lives is to get in the way of people that are sprinting into an eternity of destruction so that we could stand in the gap and say, Jesus is enough. Jesus is Lord. Can I tell you about my Savior? May you empower us to be a people with that type of zeal and obedience to live to not ourselves, but for your glory and the good of those who need to hear the gospel.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The band's going to come up and we're going to sing one last song. I hope that we can be a people that as we consider this in our groups this week, we'd be the kind of people that are ready to grow and sharing and declaring who Jesus Christ is, but hear this as well. After all of this, you're in a place where it's like, actually, I'm not going to share this because I don't believe this. I don't know the Savior that you speak of.
My hope today, as they're getting ready to sing one last song, is that you'd sit and you'd listen and you'd consider and you'd pray and you'd ask God to reveal Himself to you so that you can experience the same Jesus that Peter was proclaiming about 2,000 years ago. So, let's stand and worship. Amen. Amen.