In light of what I heard from the meeting at Temple Baptist, my friend Jeff Gauss‘ Nov 8th post took on a new life for me. It’s a must read:

I’ve been meditating on Acts 4 today in preparation for my sermon on Sunday. Previously, in Acts 3 Peter & John healed a man who was crippled for 40 years. Peter then takes advantage of the crowd that has gathered in awe of this miracle and preaches the Gospel. Acts 4 starts this way:

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of believers now totaled about 5,000 men, not counting women and children.

Despite the awesome display of God’s power in their midst resulting in a rapidly growing Church, there are those who don’t approve. The religious leaders are threatened and oppose this new movement of the Spirit which has obviously produced good results (sharing with the poor, healing the lame, true community, etc.) and have Peter and John thrown in jail.

This is a good reminder to me that no matter how obviously good things are, there will always be opposition; that even if God speaks with a booming voice there will still be those who won’t hear; and even if Jesus Christ showed up in the flesh on Sunday, there would still be those who would not let him inside. Sadly, this opposition almost always comes from religious leaders - from those inside the church whose primary objective is maintaining the status quo and keeping God inside their hand-crafted box they designed specifically for Him. Whenever God tries to “escape” they scramble to get Him back inside so He doesn’t change things up too much. No matter how many people come to Christ; no matter how many are becoming devoted disciples; no matter how much the church grows and the miracles that are done in their midst - they will never be satisfied unless things are contained within their clammy grip.

Acts 4 has been a tremendous encouragement to me today, reminding me that there will always be opposition no matter what. Our job as disciples of Jesus Christ is to continue proclaiming the Truth of Christ boldly in the midst of opposition.

In verses 24-30, the believers pray a prayer that ends with this:

And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

I am struck that there is no “protect us, Lord” or “please make them stop.” Rather there is just a request for boldness in preaching and power in action.

Opposition will come no matter what.

“Lord, give me boldness in preaching your Word and validate your message with signs of your marvelous power.”