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Pastor Gabriel Hughes pauses in our series on the Sermon on the Mount to preach from Acts 4:1-31 about having boldness in Christ, especially within our present day. Visit fsbcjc.org for more info about our church!
You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a New Testament book.
On Thursday is a study in the Old Testament and then we answer questions from the listeners on Friday. Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series. Here's Pastor Gabe.
We were going to hold for a moment this week in our study of the Sermon on the Mount and come back to it next week. I had previously told Raymond and Jubilee that my last sermon before they leave was going to be Matthew 7, 1 through 5, where Jesus says, Judge not.
And as Raymond abbreviated that title, Judgent, he made it a contraction. But that's not going to be this sermon. That will be next week. So look for the sermon that is entitled Judgent to be preached on the first Sunday of the month of August.
Today, I've been led in a different direction and we're going to look at Acts chapter 4, verses 1 through 31. You may remain seated as we read this section together. Acts chapter 4, beginning in verse 1.
And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon Peter and John, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
And they, Peter and John, were arrested, put into 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 in the church there in Jerusalem came to about 5 ,000.
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. And when they had set Peter and John 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 whom they had healed, 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.
This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 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.
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. 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 as evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
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 to teach at all in the name of Jesus.
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. 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 forty years old. 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, 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. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, as we look into this section today and as we consider the charge that is given to us as your disciples even now, even in our current day and our present context, I pray that you fill us with boldness.
May we be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, less of ourselves, more of you. We die to ourselves, take up our cross daily and follow Christ. And it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me.
The life that I now live in the body, I live not to myself, but to God who raises the dead. Lead us in holiness, in righteousness, in wisdom to know how to respond rightly to the pressures and the trials that may come upon us here in this year regarding the things that happen even in 2020 and beyond.
May we live for Christ and desire to please God and not men. And it is in the name of Christ that we pray and all God's people said, amen. Here in Acts chapter 4, Peter and John were arrested for healing a man of his lameness and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
The two apostles were brought before the Jewish council who charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 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.
The council threatened the apostles, but with no wrong to charge them with, they had to let them go. My friends, we have seen and heard the good news as well. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins, rose again from the grave, is seated at the right hand of the throne of God, and is returning again to judge the living and the dead.
This is the message that we have heard. We have seen with our eyes the goodness of God in our lives, and we must stand firmly and boldly in the truth. Throughout the history of the church, from the first century to today, in every nation on earth, disciples of Jesus have shown great courage under the threat of persecution.
The boldness that they have had came not from themselves, but from the Holy Spirit of God. It is by the grace of God that the church has become as widespread as it is today. Under the influence of the church, the United States of America was founded, and we have enjoyed such wonderful freedoms not afforded to most throughout the centuries.
As I've heard Dr. Votie Bauckham say, America is an anomaly in world history. The liberty that we enjoy, rights protected by our Constitution, which so many have fought, bled, and died for, that we could enjoy these freedoms that we have.
But a time may soon be at hand, and is now here, when we must stand boldly against the threats of our own government, and even the ridicule of our own religious leaders. On March 11th, when the Wuhan COVID -19 coronavirus was declared a pandemic, and fear began to strip our nation.
Some of our state governors were beginning to declare the shutdown of churches. They were not prohibiting the operation of any other public establishment, not grocery stores or restaurants, not even filthier places like bars or casinos, and especially not strip clubs or abortion mills.
The first place targeted for closing was the church. For example, on that infamous day, 3 -11, the governor of the state of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, called on churches to cancel services for that coming weekend before he singled out any other place of patronage.
In response, one Southern Baptist minister stated online, why would the Kentucky governor recommend churches cease meeting in order to halt the spread of COVID -19, but not recommend other indoor assemblies cease meeting?
Dr. Albert Moeller, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary that's there in Louisville, Kentucky, affirmed, stating, churches were singled out and commercial businesses and athletic events were not even mentioned.
As we now know, other businesses meeting places and spectator events soon followed. But even during the shutdown and shelter in place orders, leftist leaders continued to exercise their totalitarian fantasies against places of worship.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio threatened that if churches and synagogues continued to meet, he would, quote, take additional action up to the point of fines and potentially closing the building permanently, unquote.
Surely you have also heard about the order in California by Governor Gavin Newsom that prohibits churches from singing on Sunday morning. Our own state of Kansas was listed among the states that still allowed worship gatherings on Sunday, but that was hardly true.
Governor Laura Kelly, who came to us from New York City, issued an executive order that limited our gatherings to no more than 10 people. Our sheriff here in Junction City made a statement on Facebook comparing churches that continue to hold services with murderous Muslim radicals he fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the face of these threats, I began making statements online that I will never cancel church on Sunday, nor will I turn anyone away or limit the size of our church body, not out of fear of a virus, nor out of fear of man.
As God's prophet said in 1 Samuel chapter 12, verses 23 and 24, I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the Lord and serve Him faithfully with all of your heart, for consider what great things He has done for you.
Within a couple of days, I began to scale back such public statements, but it was not out of fear of retaliation. I curtailed my speech for two reasons. The first reason, I did so out of respect for my fellow pastors.
I visited with pastors in Chicago and Seattle, from Florida to Texas to California, and they helped me to see that they had some difficult decisions that they had to make. They lived in areas where COVID -19 was a real threat to the lives of people in their church.
The wise option for them was to encourage their people to stay home, especially those with pre-existing conditions. Stay home for a while, and they would move their services online. For their sake, I curbed the expression, the public expression of my convictions.
I had to recognize that I do hold some influence through my online ministries. I did not want others to get the impression that by stating, I will never close my church, I was condemning other pastors who were not holding in-person services.
There are many faithful ministers of God's Word who in various ways have had to be tough in the time of corona, and they do so in wisdom and in the fear of the Lord. Yes, there are many spineless ministers who are canceling church for no reason, but there are also courageous shepherds defending the flock.
I want to encourage these brothers, not discourage them. So that's the first reason why I scaled back some of my public proclamations. The second reason that I pulled back on publicly declaring my commitment to weekly services was for your sake.
My heart's desire was to honor Christ, not be in defiance of Caesar. I wanted to continue preaching the gospel every Sunday, especially during a time of uncertainty and fear. Jesus, the sovereign Lord, is our hope and our peace.
The people of God need to hear the Word of God. If making open statements against the governor's orders did not help you, then there was no reason for me to make such statements. Now, I still declared to you that no matter what the governor said, I would preach on Sunday, and if you came to church, the doors would be open for you.
I said so in emails that I sent to the church. I said so in the introduction to sermon videos. I said so in the occasional podcast episode. If someone called the church, even the answering machine message said, we're still having church, please come and join us.
But today, a bolder stand is needed, and this is not to please myself. It is to honor Christ. I do not draw attention to me, but I desire to direct your attention to Him. The pressure still mounts against churches to shut their doors and to keep them shut.
It is coming not only from the government. Sadly, it is coming even from our fellow Southern Baptists. On June 6th, a Southern Baptist pastor wrote in Christianity Today about his participation in several social justice marches and protests.
On July 16th, that same minister wrote, a lot of people aren't coming back to church. Maybe 15 to 20 percent will return. Why not just stay online? The president of the Southern Baptist Convention, J .D. Greer, and the son of a former Southern Baptist president, Andy Stanley, have announced that their churches will not be reopening for the rest of 2020.
Many evangelical leaders have encouraged Christians to attend public protests, but those same Christians cannot attend their own church. We are being told that loving your neighbor means joining the social justice movement, not to go to church.
Destroying property has become socially acceptable, but going to church has become downright illegal. On Friday, the Supreme Court of the United States announced their decision in the case Calvary Chapel-Dayton Valley v. Steve Sisolak, governor of Nevada.
The church had sued the governor for doing as our own governor had done here in the state of Kansas. He had issued an executive order that limited the number of people who could attend church. Yet, casinos were allowed a higher patronage of persons than churches were, a clear violation of the First Amendment.
But the Supreme Court announced on Friday that they chose to discriminate against the church and they upheld the governor's order in a 5 -4 decision. The government has declared that it is safe for you to join the flood of debauchery at a casino, but it is not safe for you to join the flock of God at a church.
My brothers and sisters, we've been had. We were told that this lockdown was to flatten the curve. What happened to that? We've been assured over and over again from spineless elected officials to gullible evangelical leaders that the government is treating everyone equally.
Churches are being treated the same as similar activities, spaces, or businesses. Clearly, we are not being treated the same. And we never have been from the first day COVID -19 was declared a pandemic.
This has been a political battle, not one for the lives of American citizens. Maybe some pastors are willing to go along with this, but I am not. The First Amendment offers clear and special protections for the free exercise of religion.
It does not offer special protections for going shopping at the grocery store, and it especially does not offer special protections for throwing dice at the craps tables. But even without the Constitution that protects our God-given rights, the Church of Jesus Christ must still stand boldly on the Word of God and declare, we must obey God rather than men, Acts 5 29.
I believe that First Southern Baptist Church of Junction City has been doing that the entire time, and I believe that we've been doing that respectfully and without desire for conflict. I wanted to state it more plainly to you today, so that you know my heart.
But I also want you to have a clear conscience in this matter. The Bible does instruct us to be subject to the governing authorities, Romans 13 1, and we do so for the sake of conscience. We are subject to those authorities which God has established insofar as those authorities do not require us to go against God.
We have kept the Word of the Kingdom, and we have also kept the laws of this nation. We have never been in violation of the law. I would never lead you into such activity without telling you. After Governor Kelly limited attendance in church gatherings to less than 10, the Kansas State Legislature overturned her executive order.
On April 9, she retaliated by suing the legislature, claiming that they were unconstitutional. On the contrary, it was Governor Kelly's action that was unconstitutional. The First Amendment of the Constitution of these United States says, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
But that says Congress shall make no law. What about state governors? Well, that's just it. The governors don't have that authority. Congress makes laws, and Congress is prohibited from making a law prohibiting the free exercise of our Christian faith.
Governor Kelly was abusing her authority by issuing the executive order in the first place. In the Constitution of the State of Kansas, the Second Amendment of our state Constitution says all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and are instituted for their equal protection and benefit.
No special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted by the legislature which may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by the same body. And this power shall be exercised by no other tribunal or agency.
It was unconstitutional for the governor to make the executive order limiting our religious freedom for any reason. It was constitutional for the legislature or any other citizen in the state of Kansas to respectfully tell the governor no.
The Seventh Amendment of our state's Constitution says the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed. It is our right to worship God in obedience to His Word, and our own state's laws agree.
The Constitution does not become null and void because of a pandemic, especially one that has hardly been a threat to our way of life here in the state of Kansas. Now I point this out to you, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, so your conscience may be clear, so that you know that neither I nor this church have ever been in violation of the law.
It is not my desire to lead you in lawlessness, but in love. I will not bow before the throne of tyranny, but before the throne of grace. My only judge is Christ. For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption.
Psalm 130, verse 7. And as we've read this morning from Psalm 118, verse 6, the Lord is on my side. What can man do to me? My friends, I have the Constitution on my side, but most importantly, I have the Lord on my side.
And for all who are in Christ, so do you. Just as the Jewish council could find no guilt in any of the disciples, so no judicial council will be able to find any guilt in any of us. We have kept the law, and we have kept the faith.
Caesar is not the head of this church, nor will he ever be. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, yesterday, today, and forever. So, whenever the state says to the church, we recommend that you take this course of action, we must respectfully reply, thank you for your recommendation, and we will consider it.
If we do not believe that it is good for our church, then we must reject it, for we must obey God rather than men. Whenever the state says to the church, we order you to take this course of action, and that action goes against what God has explicitly commanded us to do in Christ, we must reply, we respectfully decline, for we must obey God rather than men.
My friends, it is not about being in compliance with the government. As long as the government is treating everyone fairly, that is an absurd metric, and one that you will not find in Scripture. The church doesn't have to be singled out for the church to be persecuted.
I think we would all agree even private business owners have had their rights infringed upon, but so has the church. Our standard is the Bible, the word of Christ our King, and it is on this word that we stand, and it is this word that governs us.
Jesus has called us out from the world to be His church. He has redeemed us, and He has purchased us by His blood. Whoever believes in Him will not perish, not under the judgment of man, but most especially not under the judgment of God.
In Him, we have everlasting life and an everlasting kingdom of which we are a part even now. We live in this world as citizens of that kingdom, with boldness as granted to us by Christ and as modeled by His apostles.
Look with me again at Acts 4, and we'll consider beginning in verse 23. It says, My friends, it is very quickly for us as Christians living in our American context, for us to run to the First Amendment.
Whenever we are persecuted or ridiculed because of our faith, we might turn around and point to the First Amendment and say, ah, look here, I have the freedom of religion. But what did the disciples do when they were persecuted?
In Acts 4, and we see again in Acts 5, the first thing that they did when they were persecuted is they rejoiced. They rejoiced in God for having been considered worthy to suffer for the name. And we as Christians should behave in that same way.
We rejoice in God that we would be persecuted for the cause of Christ. The passage goes on, Let's stop there. What do we mean when we read that the Lord is sovereign? Many will interpret this word sovereignty to mean that God is able to take various trials and circumstances and whatever events that happen, and He's able to use them for His benefit and for our benefit and for His glory.
That's not exactly sovereignty. There's another word for that. That's called providence. That is God working in the midst of circumstances for our good and for His glory. Sovereignty is this. Sovereignty is that God has absolute rule and authority over everything.
That's sovereignty. And here, when the disciples raise their voices to God, they address Him as Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. How can God be anything but sovereign if He is the creator of all things?
And that is important for us to remember no matter what trial we may face, that we worship the sovereign God who reigns over all things. So you may take comfort then when we read a verse like Psalm 118, verse 6, which says, As the Lord is on my side, what can man do to me?
Who through the mouth of our father David, this is verse 25, our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and why did the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against your anointed.
This is quoting out of Psalm 2. And truly, even in our American context, though we enjoy the freedom of religion that we have here in this country and by the grace of God still protects us even now, yet we are seeing various rulers setting themselves against the Lord and against Christ.
Sometimes our idea of evil and villainy comes from the movies where the villain explicitly states his plot. Sometimes it's right before he does the hero in. And if he would have just gone ahead and pulled the trigger instead of standing there doing a monologue explaining his entire diabolical plan, maybe he could have won by the end of the film.
But in the real world, evil dictators don't explain their entire plan. And we must judge the intentions of men by what God's word says, not by what those men say. We must deal with these things in wisdom.
A person doesn't have to explicitly say, I hate God and His church and here's what I'm going to do about it. But we see that in their actions they have set themselves against the Lord and against His anointed.
The disciples go on in verse 27, For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Pontius Pilate and Herod, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
And what is that event that we're reading about here, that God had predestined to take place? But the death of His own Son, the greatest evil act that was ever perpetrated by man, was killing the Son of God.
And Peter said at Pentecost back in Acts chapter 2, and we saw him say in front of the council here even in Acts chapter 4, Christ was put to death by the hands of lawless men. He pointed right at the Sanhedrin here and said, You crucified, the name of Jesus of Nazareth whom you crucified, but God has raised from the dead.
So God had predestined that these things would take place, but man is not in any way declared innocent of his actions. And this is why we must declare the gospel. Everything that is taking place here in our present context is happening by the sovereign hand of God.
As it says in Lamentations chapter 3, nothing happens, good or bad, except that God has ordained it. But we know that there are sinful men that are acting now contrary to God and will be judged by Him.
If they do not repent of their sin and put their faith and trust in Jesus and so be saved. And that's why we must be a light as a church in the midst of this dark culture, holding out the word of life so that many others may hear and be saved from the judgment that is to come.
My friends, maybe your life will be taken by COVID -19. Maybe you will live to a ripe old age. But no matter how you die, all of us will stand before God in judgment. And it is only those who are in Christ Jesus who will be saved from that judgment that is to come.
This is the good news of the gospel, that Christ has died for our sins. And God did this for our sake. He even predestined that this evil act would take place so that you and I could be saved. If God so predestined the death of His Son for our salvation, don't you know that He is ordaining even the events that are happening in our world at the present for our good and for His glory?
So we must put our faith and trust in Him and worship Him as sovereign and good. So the disciples pray in verse 29,. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants 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.
Now, we may not see the kind of apostolic miracles that were performed at this particular time, but we do still see healing that takes place and a wonderful, marvelous healing that is beyond what we can even fathom is taking place.
What I'm talking about is the healing of the sinful man from being a wretch worthy of judgment to being a saint worthy of the love of God. And this is a transformation that happens by the power of the Holy Spirit upon a person's life when they hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and turn from sin and put their faith in Him.
Healing has taken place. It is a healing that has happened by the power of God. May He continue to perform these signs and wonders even through us, a faithful church, in the face of persecution. Verse 31, When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
We must also have boldness. And it is a boldness that comes not from ourselves. It's a boldness that's not because, hoorah, Gabe, you preached great today, and now I'm filled with all kinds of energy as I go from this place.
The boldness that we have must come not from our flesh. It is a boldness that comes from the Holy Spirit of God. And it is a boldness that we have because of what the word of God says to us, for us, in the name of Christ.
I was so motivated and encouraged to preach this way to you this morning for several reasons. First of all, because of the way things are going in our culture at the present and words that I've heard even from my own evangelical leaders that I have looked up to, who have spoken toward closing a church rather than standing boldly in the midst of a difficult time.
I was motivated to speak this way to you today because of the ruling that was made by the Supreme Court on Friday. But I was also motivated to speak to you this way because of a bold stance that was taken by John MacArthur and Grace Community Church out in California, where this morning as we gather here for worship, the governor of California is shutting off the power and water to Grace Community Church so they are not allowed to meet.
That's what's happening in our country at the present. And we should not think that it happens only in California and it does not happen to us here. Sometimes I think when we read the stories Kim had talked about in Sunday School today about reading a story of persecution that happens in China, sometimes when we read those stories we think of them as being so far removed from us.
It doesn't always move our hearts the way that it should, but maybe this will. As these things creep closer and closer to our home territory, may we realize what standing in the name of Jesus Christ can cost us.
It might cost you your job. It might cost me mine. But we must stand with the disciples. In the example that was set by the disciples when we read here in Acts 4, verse 18, Peter and John answering them, sorry, verse 19, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge.
But we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And may that be the courage that is in our hearts in these days.
Thank you for listening to our weekly sermon presented by First Southern Baptist Church of Junction City, Kansas. For more information about our church, visit fsbcjc .org. On behalf of our church family, my name is Becky, inviting you to join us again this week, Growing Together in Christ, when we understand the text.