Lesson Notes

Introduction

• Studying the Book of Acts to see how the Holy Spirit empowered and propelled the early church out into a hostile world that it turned “upside down”
  • I pray that will happen again now and that we’d be part of it!
  • Last week we looked at chapters 1-2, the Ascension of Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, with a glimpse at the community life of the early church
• Key verse – Acts 1: 8 – the structure and plot of the book of Acts
• Key Background: Read Acts 3: 1-10
• There’s an excellent sermon by Peter in the rest of chapter 3. I encourage reading it.

Apostles Before the Council, Part 1

Read Acts 4: 1-22

• As they were preaching priests, captain of the temple (#2 official at temple), and Sadducees had Peter and John arrested
• For teaching and proclaiming resurrection from the dead in Jesus
• Sadducees, who were the priestly leadership, didn’t believe in resurrection
• To teach that resurrection had happened seriously threatened their credibility
• Thousands heard and believed despite their arrest – 5,000 men, so perhaps 10,000 or more came to faith – by the Spirit and Peter’s preaching validated by miracles
• Verses 5-7- A hearing the next morning before the Sanhedrin and high priestly family
  • High priests were extremely political and were an entrenched nobility
  • “By what power or by what name did you do this?” – the healing miracle
• Verse 8 – Peter – filled with the Holy Spirit – that’s the key to what he says!
• Verses 9-12 – Peter’s Spirit-filled response
  • Note the boldness and confidence the Spirit gives – these are national leaders, essentially the Supreme Court, and Peter’s a fisherman who spent time with Jesus
  • Very direct preaching – healed by Jesus – whom YOU crucified and God raised
  • Salvation in Jesus – call to faith in Christ
  • Using this opportunity to preach the gospel boldly – are we ready to do that?
• Verse 13 – Incredibly important
  • They saw boldness (courage to speak amidst danger and threat), lack of training in rhetoric and/or formal rabbinic education, and that they’d been with Jesus
    • These are resources available to every believer – when we’re filled with the Spirit and spend time with Jesus daily
    • We want to nurture a relationship with Christ where people see that in us
    • And we can – but it requires intentional devotion and commitment
    • They didn’t notice that Peter and John spent time with Jesus just on Sunday mornings. Constant presence of Christ for life change!
• Verse 14 – Hard for the leaders to say anything because they’d plainly worked a miracle
  • They’re afraid of the people rather than of God
  • Peter and John, as they’ll say, are driven by God alone
• Verses 15-20
  • Warned not to speak in the name of Jesus to anyone
  • Verses 19-20 – Needs to dramatically define our life commitments
  • We must speak of what we have seen and heard!!!
  • While the Bible commands obedience to leaders, that obedience mustn’t lead us to disobey God’s commands
    • An interesting issue right ow as churches wrestle with stay-at-home
    • We must navigate the relationship between commands to worship, obey leaders, and love neighbors
    • Fortunately we’re blessed with temporary alternatives that let us proclaim the gospel farther than we did before – we haven’t been silenced
  • We have that same Spirit in us – we need to let Him really control us
• Verses 21-22 – Threats without punishment because people were praising God because of the miracle plainly done

Best Prayer Meeting Ever!

Read Acts 4: 23-31

• Amazing prayer – I want us to compare this to our typical prayers
• Opens with praise and adoration
• Prays Scripture (Psalm 2)
• Applies Scripture – verses 27 and 28 represent fulfillment of 25-26
• Affirms God’s sovereign will and mankind’s responsibility
• Verse 29 – Key verse – not a prayer for protection
  • For faithfulness and boldness
  • For miracles to continue to validate their message about Jesus
  • Praying for more encounters like they just had in chapters 3 and 4
• Verse 31 – their prayer is answered with a physical manifestation from God and from the work of the Spirit in their lives
  • Filling with the Spirit – the Spirit never leaves us, but He definitely fills us more or less, and in response to our prayer and faithfulness in walking by the Spirit
  • Every Christian has the Spirit but many don’t really let Him fill them – and if we did, I think we’d be a different church in North America right now!

Apostles Before the Council, Part 2

Acts 5: 17-42

• Background: Acts 4: 32-37
• The extremely interesting episode involving Ananias and Sapphira
• Background: Acts 5: 12-16
• Read Acts 5: 17-42
• Verses 17-18 – Religious leaders are angry and arrest seemingly all the Apostles – this is a larger and more intense conflict than we just discussed
• Verses 19-20 – Angel frees them to go back to what they were doing – public preaching in defiance of temple leadership
• Verse 21 – They obey the angel which sets up the confrontation
• Verses 22-25 – Surprised to find they’ve escaped – and up in the temple preaching
• Verses 26 – the guards carefully and fearfully bring the apostles in – to avoid a riot
• Verses 27-32
  • Dramatic exchange between leadership and apostles
  • We must obey God rather than men
    • This is a life principle, but one we need to be careful with – are we truly obeying God or just doing whatever we feel like?
    • If we’re obeying God, move forward without hesitation!
  • Verse 32 – we are witnesses and so is the Holy Spirit – given to those who obey
    • Thousands have come to faith – and received the Spirit
    • Without the dramatic manifestation of the Spirit as we discussed last week
  • Verse 33 – Leadership wants to kill them!
  • Verses 34-39 – Gamaliel, Paul’s teacher and most-respected Pharisee, suggests a way forward
    • Others have risen up, started a movement, died, and the movement fell apart
    • Verse 38- If this is a human movement, it will likewise die, so leave it alone
  • Verse 39 – If from God, you won’t be able to stop it and will be opposing God
  • The book of Acts is ultimately the testimony that this is from God and is a dynamic and lasting movement!
  • Gamaliel’s words are similar to what Jesus says to Saul/Paul – that he was persecuting Him
• Verse 40 – Beat them, repeated order not to speak of Jesus, and let them go
• Verse 41 – Key verse – they rejoiced in their beating – counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Jesus
• Verse 42 – the happily ever after – teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus (that Jesus is the anointed Messiah) – in the temple and house to house – public and private

Challenges of an Ethnically Diverse Church

Acts 6: 1-7

• Verse 1 – Church was rapidly growing and some ethnic tensions arose
  
  • There was a daily distribution of food to widows as a ministry
  • Greek-speaking Jewish widows who had settled in Jerusalem were being neglected by native Hebrew-speaking leaders
• Verse 2 – Apostles summon the whole church – it’s a business meeting!
  • You can make a case that this is an example of congregational church structure
  • The leaders lead, but the congregation makes decisions
  • Apostolic priorities – can’t both serve tables and preach the Word!
  • Not being insensitive – being aware they can’t do everything and need to be obedient to what they’ re specifically called to
• Verse 3 – They tell the congregation to pick 7 men to serve
  • Good reputation, full of the Spirit, and wise -high standards
  • People already leading and serving – by definition
  • We’ll see next week that these men did more than simply serve bread
• Verse 4 – So apostles can devote themselves to prayer and preaching
  • The importance of lay leadership and congregational ministry – because pastors can’t do it all
  • And it we can’t focus on what we’re called and gifted to do, the who church and the advance of the gospel suffers
• Verse 5 – They chose 7 Greek-speaking men to handle this ministry
  • Remember, there was a threat to the unity of the chart; a split along ethnic lines
  • Rather than pretend it didn’t exist, they leaned into it to resolve it
  • Appointing people from that ethnic group to minister equitably
• Verse 6 – Prayed and laid hands on them
  • An ordination – many of us interpret this as a prototype of deacon ministry
• Verse 7 – what happens when we get this stuff right!
  • Word increased; disciples multiplied in Jerusalem;
  • A great many priests believed – because of the compassion care ministry – these most hardened opponents converted

Homework

Read Acts 6: 8 – 8: 40 in preparation for Samaria: Stephen & Philip