Acts 4:13-22 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. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another,16 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. 17 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.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 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, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 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. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
Pastor Kyle continues that in the alleged charge that Peter and John preached about the Messiah Christ Jesus, they unapologetically confessed that they were guilty. When order to cease speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus, Peter and John, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed boldly that they must listen to God, not man on the matter for as witnesses, they cannot but speak of what they have undeniably seen and heard. All authority is given ultimately by Almighty God. The Greek word for “Go therefore” in Jesus’ Great Commission Divine Commandment of Matthew 28:19 is “poreuō”, which means to depart from a life of avoiding evangelizing your fallen fellow man, to become Christ’s adherent to the Lord’s mission of “seeking and saving the lost”, to pursue the journey of witnessing for Jesus in this world of sin’s darkness and unbelief, and to lead people to salvation through the Gospel. The Greek word for “teaching” in the Great Commission Divine Commandment of Matthew 28:20 is "mathēteuō", meaning to make a disciple (pupil / follower), teaching and instructing to follow the Lord Christ’s precepts and instructions; this is “the Cultural Mandate” of Christ, their King. Keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which Father God will display at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
Acts 4:23-31 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 and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,[d] 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.
Praying for boldness is asking God to put you into situations where confronting unbelief and arguing the faith through the unapologetic bold message of the Gospel, that there is salvation from sin in no other name than Jesus Christ takes place. Today, it is bold to even believe in the exclusivity of the Gospel of Salvation. You cannot believe whatever you want and still go to Heaven. Correct. That the biblical God created all of creation and the Cosmos by speaking it into existence and sustains the Universe, which He alone made and it was perfect. Correct. That there is a real devil, Satan, a fallen archangel who tempted and deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to doubt God, bring sin and death into the world. Correct. That the Bible teaches that there is a literal Hell where there is eternal conscious punishment for sin, with weeping and gnashing of teeth in pain and agony for those who do not repent and receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord on this side of eternity. Correct. To become a Christian, we have to believe and follow some ancient and archaic set of rules, laws, statutes and commands that were made in a religious book as standards established and communicated by our Creator God, that we are to willfully obey, gladly follow and are both responsible for and accountable to in life. Correct. The Lord Jesus prayed in John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” The light of truth is bold in a fallen in sin world.
Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on boldly proclaiming the Gospel in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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