Same Threat, Different Day.

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and discovered that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. And because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this. But when they had ordered them to go outside the council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign has come about through them, and we cannot deny it. But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” And they called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God, you decide, for it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:13-20, NET)

In this past Sunday’s sermon Pastor Andy noted that the response of Peter and John was critically important in the development of the early church. By refusing to keep silent regarding the way in which a miraculous healing occurred, Peter and John demonstrated the importance of faithfulness to God. They set a standard: Obey God rather than men.

As we go through our day today, let us consider this question: What does it mean to obey God? For Peter and John, obedience was demonstrated in their assertion: We will not stop speaking about the great things God has done in and through Jesus Christ.

Pastor Andy shared an important point with us that bears repeating. There are sometimes instances in which Christians, because of their relationship with God, assume that all of their personal/material desires are sanctioned by God (and that such desires make it "okay" to defy persons in leadership who they perceive as being hindrances to the desires being met) —but this is not what we find in the narrative. What we find in the narrative is an instance where God has permitted two men to participate in the miraculous, a rebuke in which religious leaders urged the men not to credit Jesus as the source of the miraculous, and a response in which the men described their testimony of Christ as an act of obedience to God. It is not a context of "name and claim"; it is a context of "proclaim the Name".

Perhaps this is our biggest challenge in modern Christendom. The temptation is to stay quiet, keep our faith "under wraps", or otherwise deny the works of God that have had a profound impact on our lives and/or the lives of others, while at the same time using the name of the Lord as a cosmic vending machine. Why? Because we don't like to suffer. Peter and John, when asked to shut up, chose to speak up. They suffered.

If you were in Peter and John's situation, what would you have done?

There is a perpetual lion’s den

Where Christians face the threats of men

And pressures to recant abound;

But in the face of threats, the faithful trust

The Lord who died for them, for us,

And through all Time our praise resounds.

We will not change our testimony:

“Jesus worked the miracle you see.”

(G.A.R.)