Conflict with the Authorities
Acts 4:21-37
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
The Believers Pray
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.[b]’[c]
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
We are seeing a pattern to how God is working in the New Covenant time here. First, God does something to get people’s attention. First it was the physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Here our story follows a miraculous healing that everyone can obviously see.
Next comes a public explanation of what God is doing by Peter.
Then comes the Jewish authorities. They do not accept Peter’s message. He is, after all, proclaiming a new Covenant established by God with all people in Christ. The Jewish people are “losing their special status” in this covenant. At least that is how it seems they are responding. I don’t think that is actually true. To be in Christ is to have salvation, a secure relationship with God fully forgiven of their sin.
The interaction with the authorities, and the response toward God and man is the focus of this passage. And in this passage, we see a practical approach to how to manage conflict because of our faith.
- Conflict with Authorities
- Conflict in the past
You will notice that Peter quotes from Psalms 2. This is a foundational Psalm, setting major themes for the Psalms. And it highlights this idea of conflict with authorities.
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.
Let’s go back even further. Genesis 3:
We think of The Curse as it relates to Adam and Eve, but it also applies to the Serpent. The Serpent is cursed!
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
The enmity is between Jesus and Satan and their followers. Jesus will crush Satan’s head. And Satan will strike Jesus’ heal. This is a reference to the same event!
Matthew 12: 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
We see rooted in the history of all of Scripture, conflict between the people of God and those who are not followers. And so it continues.
- Conflict in the present passage
The trouble comes from the Romans, from the Jewish leadership in all of their different factions. Pharisees, they aren’t legalistic enough or in the right way. Sadducees, they teach the Resurrection from the dead. Zealots: they view the kingdom of God in a non-literal earthly way so far.
Return to the question of Psalms 2. Why do the nations rage against God and against His anointed one? As I said last week, Who Jesus is and What Jesus did is a separator of people.
- Conflict in the future
I can’t read all of Revelation 12 and 13 but it plays out this very same drama. The dragon seeks to destroy the woman and the child (seed) of the woman. The dragon is flung form heaven and creates trouble on earth. And at every stage he is defeated but continues to create trouble. So, Revelation 12, Satan is a loser! He is utterly defeated by God.
In the next chapter we have the Anti-Christ and the False prophet introduced. They are called Beasts. That word is loaded with meaning from the Book of Daniel.
The Beast of Daniel represents authorities. It is so here as well. The followers of Jesus will encounter trouble with authorities in the political realm. (Like Herod or Nero) The followers of Jesus will encounter trouble with authorities in the religious realm. (Stephen will be killed in Acts 7). Jewish leaders in our story here and in the future.
Many NT books are written because of trouble with religious folks.
Around the world today, Muslim, Hindu, even “Christian” folks can create trouble for Jesus followers. God allows this as He waits patiently for people to repent. One day there will be no longer any opportunity for people to voluntarily submit to Jesus as the Authority of their lives. And then judgement.
So, we see that conflict with authorities is not uncommon for those who follow Christ. Jesus separates people into groups who follow Him and see His teachings and example as the proper lens through which to live their lives. What can we learn about how to respond to this conflict?
- In Response to Conflict, Pray!
Look at how the Apostles resond to being in trouble because of Jesus! They pray. And they pray and ask God to give them specific things here! This focus on prayer is the bulk of what is in the passage!
- Pray for boldness
Verse 24: You are the Sovereign Creator: Ultimate authority. We have to submit to you.
Verse 25: You communicate. You tell us things in Your Word.
Verse 29: Make us bold in our speech!
Look also at Ephesians 6: 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Conflict is not fun, especially when your life or health is on the line.
- Pray for Power
Verse 30
They are asking God to work through them in such a way that they are able to perform signs that will stir faith in people so that they will follow Jesus. God has done this already in their lives.
Do we pray for God to do these things for us? We should. But don’t just limit the signs to “supernatural” things. They will know that we are Christians by our love for one another!!
I John 4: 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
King James: Love is perfected in us.
They can’t see God. They CAN see God’s love in us!!!
- Pray to be Filled by the Holy Spirit
This experience of the Holy Spirit empowering Jesus followers for obedient service is repeated. This is like the third time that it has happened for the Apostles in three chapters!
The command in Ephesians 5:18 is to be continually filled by the Holy Spirit. Something is going to enliven us, to give us power for living, to motivate our day. Let it be the Spirit of God!! And as we grow in the knowledge of God, we will learn things to not feed on and things to feed on!
After they pray, things happen. What is the result of their praying?
- What the Holy Spirit Inspires
- Bold faith
God is at work and we are doing His will, serving in His kingdom! Scripture tells us that without faith we cannot please God. We must believe that He is there. We must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. I can imagine the Apostles saying, to each other: “This opposition to us is actually opposition to Jesus. They are raging against the Anointed of the Lord.” We must not stop speaking about Jesus or else His ministry will be thwarted. And so, their faith produces action.
- Bold speech
Perhaps the most common evidence of being filled by the Holy Spirit, expressed here in Acts, is boldness in speaking about Jesus. What does boldness produce? It produces actions. It produces peaceful confidence. It encourages boldness in others.
- Bold unity and service
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Back in chapter 2: 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
Again, we see the church with their eyes outward, looking out for their fellow man. If people have a need and they have the opportunity to meet that need, then they act! It’s amazing really. They are not hung up on their investments in the present, instead they are investing in the kingdom of God.
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