Reformed & Expository Preaching

Can Piety Oppose the Gospel? (Acts 5:12-42)

Introduction: Beware the Pious Ones Introduction: Beware the Pious Ones My dad used to warn me, "Be careful of the pious ones." That puzzled me for years. Piety should be about loving God, pursuing God. So why would anyone warn you to be careful of pious people? Then, I noticed that the most pious in Christ’s day received His sharpest words. Christ warns the pious that they are shutting people out of the kingdom. In fact, in all their evangelistic zeal, they are only creating disciples of hell. That should make us pause and contemplate true piety. Acts 5 gives some insight into this problem. We discover that there are self-proclaimed pious people actively working against the work of Christ. So the real question is: how do we know what piety we're actually pursuing? The Community's Power (Acts 5:12–16) Word spreads about Ananias and Sapphira, and the healing of the disciples. The crowds do not discern the truth, but hold the apostles on some superstitious pedestal. They bring their sick to the disciples, hoping that at least a shadow will fall on the sick and bring healing. However, they don’t want to get too close because people die in this community. The problem is that people look to the apostles for healing rather than to Christ. We have seen this with the crippled man. He clung to the apostles, and not his savior. The apostles made it very clear that the Lord brings healing. So, the Apostles continue to preach the gospel. Tragically, the crowd misses the point of the signs. The signs are not self-promoting signs that the false prophets use to promote their own significance. Christ warned his disciples about these false prophets before going to the cross (Mt. 24:24; Mk 13:22; Luke 21:8). No, these are signs that gave the prophets credibility and authenticity to confirm their message. It was not to compete with the message. Unfortunately, they would rather watch for a miracle than find their wholeness in Christ. It takes time to be progressively transformed by His word. This helps us see true piety versus false piety. True piety looks to our God. False piety looks to the tangible in this world. God's Power Play (Acts 5:17–26) The high priest and the Sadducees move against the apostles out of jealousy. The Sadducees deny the supernatural. They claim that there is no resurrection, no miracle, nothing supernatural. They believe that Scripture is an ethical handbook rather than the living and abiding Word of God that confers life. They are jealous that the Apostles are gaining traction. They cannot tolerate a movement built on a risen Christ. A movement with credible healings and miracles. The apostles’ ministry is a radical existential threat to their power. So, they react by assuming that if you silence the messengers, then you silence the movement. So, they try to silence the apostles by locking them up in jail. An angel quietly opens the prison at night. There is no disturbance outside the prison, so the guards assume everything is fine. The Lord sends the apostles right back to the temple with a simple charge: go speak all the words of this Life. The next morning, the council sends for the prisoners and finds an empty locked cell. The word returns to the senate that the "prisoners" are already preaching at the temple. God dismantles the power play without raising his voice. The glorified and resurrected Jesus of Nazareth will be proclaimed. Who Really Holds the Power (Acts 5:27–42) The Apostles are escorted from the temple to the senate. The apostles are accused of trying to put "this man's blood" on them. Please keep in mind that this senate is the same group of people who once told Pilate, "his blood be on us." Peter's answer is direct: "We must obey God rather than men," and he pointedly calls God "the God of our fathers.” The Apostles are in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they embrace Christ. This means that the pious ones, who deny Christ, cannot claim the same historic identity. Where Pentecost's crowd was cut to the heart and repented, this council responds with rage. Gamaliel, a Pharisee, then offers a test: movements built on mere men collapse when their leader dies. This happened with Theudas. He rose up, and Rome executed him, silencing his mission. Judas the Galilean led a tax revolt, and Rome executed him, killing his movement. Two clear movements that were not from God rose up and died almost immediately. The movements had no power beyond the leaders. So, if the apostles are from God, there is no way that the Sanhedrin/council can stop it. However, if it is merely a man-made movement, then it will die. So, let history unfold. Praise be to God! We worship the same resurrected and ascended Christ that the Apostles proclaimed. The movement continues by the Lord’s continued providence and care. Conclusion: True Piety Points Away From Itself So, how do we know if we're pursuing the right piety? Luke 18 answers it: the Pharisee's sin wasn't effort, it was trusting in his own righteousness. There's nothing wrong with looking back and thanking God for how he's sanctified us. However, when it becomes look how good I am, Christ has quietly left the stage. The Pharisees make their own disciples (Matthew 23:19). They are not making disciples of Christ, but disciples of their theology. When Christ gives the great commission, the disciples are commanded to teach and disciple in all that I have commanded you. True piety asks, “How do I glorify Christ?” It is the assurance that I only draw near to God because I am in Christ. He has lived, died, been raised, and ascended to glory. He rules me/us by His Spirit from heaven. True piety seeks to glorify Christ rather than self. That's the whole difference between the pious ones my dad warned me about and the true pious. May we distinguish true piety and desire to please our Lord, who has redeemed us. Then,  I noticed whom Christ reserved his sharpest words for in the Gospels: the most pious people of his day.  Christ warns the pious that they are shutting people out of the kingdom. In fact, in all their evangelistic zeal, they are only creating disciples of hell. Acts 5 gives some insight into this problem. We discover that there are self-proclaimed pious people actively working against the work of Christ. So the real question is: how do we know what piety we're actually pursuing? The Community's Power (Acts 5:12–16) The Apostles continue to minister the Lord’s gospel.  The problem is that people look to the apostles rather than to Christ. We have seen this with the crippled man.  His attention was called to Christ as the crippled man clung to the apostles.  It is the Lord’s word that brings the healing. This is where we see the true piety versus the false piety.  The true piety looks to our God.  False piety looks to the tangible in this world. Word spreads about Ananias and Sapphira, and the healing of the disciples.  The crowds do not discern the truth, but hold the apostles on some sort of a superstitious pedestal.  They bring their sick to the disciples, hoping that at least a shadow would come into contact and bring healing.  However, they don’t want to get close because people die in this community. Tragically, they miss the point of the signs.  The signs are not self-promoting signs like the false prophets who use the signs to promote their own significance.  Christ warned his disciples about these false prophets before going to the cross (Mt. 24:24; Mk 13:22; Luke 21:8).  No, these are signs that gave Moses credibility and authenticity before Pharaoh.  Unfortunately, we see that the crowds are still the crowds who lurk rather than join.  They would rather watch for a miracle rather than find their wholeness in Christ, being progressively transformed by His word. God's Power Play (Acts 5:17–26) The high priest and the Sadducees move against the apostles out of jealousy.  The Sadducees deny the supernatural. They claim that there is no resurrection, no miracle, nothing supernatural.  Scripture is an ethical handbook rather than the living and abiding Word of God that confers life. They are jealous that the Apostles are gaining traction.  They really are not going to allow a movement built on a risen Christ.  A movement with credible healings and miracles.  This is not a competition for them, but a radical existential threat.  Their existence is about to be completely undermined.  So, they react by assuming if you silence the messengers, then you destroy the movement.  They lock up the apostles in jail. An angel quietly opens the prison at night.  There is no disturbance outside the prison, so the guards assume everything is fine.  The Lord sends the apostles right back to the temple with a simple charge: go speak all the words of this Life. The next morning, the council sends for the prisoners and finds an empty locked cell.  The word returns to the senate that the "prisoners" are already preaching at the temple. God dismantles the power play without raising his voice.  His life message will go forth.  The glorified and resurrected Jesus of Nazareth will be proclaimed. Who Really Holds the Power (Acts 5:27–42) The Apostles are escorted from the temple to the senate.  The apostles are accused of trying to put "this man's blood" on them.  Please keep in mind that this same group of people once told Pilate, "his blood be on us." Peter's answer is direct: "We must obey God rather than men," and he pointedly calls God "the God of our fathers.” The Apostles are in the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they embrace Christ.  This means that the pious ones, who deny Christ, cannot claim the same historic identity.  Where Pentecost's crowd was cut to the heart and repented, this council responds with rage instead. Gamaliel, a Pharisee, then offers a test: movements built on mere men collapse when their leader dies.  This happened with Theudas.  He rose up, and Rome executed him, silencing his mission.  Judas the Galilean led a tax revolt, and Rome executed him.  His movement died.  Two clear movements that were not from God.  We know that because the movement died.  It had no power beyond the leaders. So, if the apostles are from God, there is no way that they can stop it. If the movement is only in their power, then it will cease. So, let history unfold. Praise be to God!  We worship the same resurrected and ascended Christ that the Apostles proclaimed.  The movement continues by the Lord’s continued providence and care. Conclusion: True Piety Points Away From Itself So, how do we know if we're pursuing the right piety? Luke 18 answers it: the Pharisee's sin wasn't effort, it was trusting in his own righteousness. There's nothing wrong with looking back and thanking God for how he's sanctified us.  However, when it becomes look how good I am, Christ has quietly left the stage. The Pharisees make their own disciples (Matthew 23:19).  They are not making disciples of Christ, but disciples of their theology. When Christ gives the great commission, the disciples are commanded to teach and disciple in all that I have commanded you. True piety asks, “How do I glorify Christ?” It is the assurance that I only draw near to God because I am in Christ.  He has lived, died, been raised, and ascended to glory.  He rules me/us by His Spirit from heaven.  True piety seeks to glorify Christ rather than self.  That's the whole difference between the pious ones my dad warned me about and the true pious.  May we distinguish true piety and desire to please our Lord, who has redeemed us. Amen.

Better to Have an Ascended Priest? (LD 18; Hebrews 9:24)

ntroduction If we're honest, the ascension is something that we might want God to rethink. In our human understanding, we would love to have a visible priest on earth. Imagine if Christ stayed on earth like the disciples wanted? Imagine if we could walk through a set of giant doors, stand before him, and hear him answer our requests face-to-face. We might even think that waiting a month for an appointment to gain an audience would totally be worth it. Our natural desire likes this because it feels more tangible. We like this because we think that having our priest in front of us is better than having our priest concealed by heaven’s glory. But that instinct is exactly what the author of Hebrews is correcting. The early church, maybe Jerusalem, was asking the same question in a different form: how can this new covenant possibly be better than what we had in the past? We had visible priests, visible sacrifices, a temple where God's presence could be seen. It seemed superior in every way. Please remember that this is the 1st century, where Christians are asking about the tangible religion. Hebrews answers by pointing us to a priest who is with us. We have a priest who serves us in a way infinitely superior to anything the old order could offer. He serves in the true holy of holies and not a replica, prototype, or model. So, does this really make Christ’s priesthood superior? He Is Our Advocate Christ's entrance into heaven in Hebrews 9:24 is a one-time act, which distinguishes him from the old priesthood. This one-time event has everlasting results. The priests in the Old Testament died. They had to be replaced. They would need to sleep. They would need to eat. They would get fatigued. The most pious priest would still feel the effects of the common curse. Age would eventually hinder him from doing his task. Hebrews points out that our advocate has entered heaven. Christ never grows weary. Christ overcame death, meaning that sin’s curse has no effect on his performance. He did not have to offer blood for himself. Christ enters heaven once and continues forever as our priest. He perfectly and continually pleads our case. He represents us before the Father. There will never be a scandal to discredit our advocate. He dwells in us by His Spirit, and we dwell in him. The priests of old were never so close, never so competent, and never so effective. Thus, Christ’s advocacy is superior in every way. Our Flesh Is in Heaven Here, the catechism presses further into the consistency of Christ's two natures. Christ is the God-man. He has two natures joined together in one person. These natures are never mixed or separated, and each nature retains its own properties. This means that when Christ is seated in the glory of heaven, his glorified human body is truly there. His divine nature is also united to his human nature in the one person of Christ. These two natures are forever joined together without losing their distinct properties. According to his human nature, the glorified Christ is bodily present in heaven. According to his divine nature, he is not confined to one place but fills heaven and earth. This guarantees that we will dwell in glory as glorified human beings. Our flesh will be fit to enter into the Lord’s glorious presence. What our fallen and sinful flesh is incapable of experiencing, Christ guarantees that we will have this full benefit. Christ never has to renew his work. There is no expiration. Christ’s glorious seating in heaven guarantees that we will also dwell in heaven’s full glory in the Lord’s presence. This also means that, according to his divine nature, Christ is everywhere present with us, even while his human nature remains bodily in heaven. Christ is not merely praying for us from a distance; he is with us, in us, interceding in the very moments when we don't even know what to pray for ourselves. A human priest, however wise, could only guess or speculate about our need. Christ knows it fully and never stops praying it before the Father. Thus, Christ, being the God-Man, establishes a better priesthood in heaven. Our Orientation Is Heaven-Bound Hebrews draws a sharp contrast between the earthly tabernacle, which is merely a copy of the heavenly glory, and the true sanctuary. The earthly tabernacle is “made with hands.” The true sanctuary in heaven is the reality that casts a shadow on the type. This is the place where Christ now serves. The old sacrifices had to be repeated endlessly, proof that they never fully accomplished what they pictured. They did serve a purpose to cleanse the earthly vessels for usage in heaven’s glory. Christ's one-time sacrifice cleanses the heavenly reality itself, securing forever what the old system could only picture. Christ’s sacrifice is not because heaven is imperfect, but because we are. We would defile the true sanctuary. However, now that Christ’s blood has been shed, his once-for-all offering guarantees that we can draw near today. Christ’s provision is permanent rather than temporary. Hebrews 11 goes on to communicate the sojourn of God’s people, like in Hebrews 3 to 4. Hebrews 11 ends in chapter 12, where we assemble on Mount Zion. There is a great cloud of witnesses testifying to the successful mission of God’s people. How did they find success? Only in the priestly work of Christ. If they found success under a promise, how much more now that the sacrifice has been completed? How much more than the word that is “spoken to us by his Son” (Heb 1:2). His speech is the action of God. Christ confirms the Old Testament provisional models and brings us to sojourn in light of the reality. He is our priest interceding on our behalf, so we pass through the wilderness time of testing to the arrival of heaven’s full glory. What Israel recounted in Psalms 93-100, we possess in Christ. We like Israel long to recite Psalms, but not in the earthly Jerusalem. We long for the heavenly Jerusalem. Our priest is leading us there as the pioneer who has gone before us. Thus, our priest is bringing us to the full vision of peace. Conclusion So, when we honestly consider that we think an ascended Christ is an inferior Christ, we really need to rethink our struggle. If we keep Christ on this earth, we will never arrive at glory. Our problem is that we think that because we did not visibly see Christ, he is absent. The honest truth is that Christ is everywhere. He knows what to pray on our behalf when we are too weak and broken to pray. His work is not set in a calendar and limited to one-hour slots. He is continually praying for you and for me. He never grows tired. He never grows weary. He can care for all his people as if he were leading only one person through the wilderness at a time. However, he does this for all his people. So, why would you want an earthly priest? Yes, it is true that walking by faith is difficult. The dust of the wilderness can get very dry. We might thirst for the living waters. However, we must always see that our Lord is near and dear to each and every one of us. We can call out to him in bouts of joy or bouts of sorrow. He is there listening to us. We wanted chaos in the fall, but he is bringing us order by overcoming Adam’s failure. It was pictured in Israel. Christ moves us beyond the prototype to the reality. Let us seek to walk in him, believing that he has not forsaken us despite our forsaking him in the fall.

Is God Greedy? (Acts 4:32-5:11)

Introduction If there's one passage that makes American Christians squirm a little, it's this one. "Held everything in common"? "No needy person among them?” Sell the house, sell the land, drop it at the apostles' feet? Our first instinct is to wonder if private property itself is the problem. It certainly appears to be the case, considering that Ananias and Sapphira drop dead after deceiving the apostles about their land sale. Why is it such a big deal that they did not give the whole amount to the apostles? Sharing Burdens The apostles had just prayed for boldness, and Luke shows us that prayer answered as they give the testimony of Christ’s resurrection. This leads the community to also seek to share one another’s burdens. The Jerusalem church was poor. Scripture tells us that the church was poor. The widows live on the church (Acts 6),Paul explicitly calls attention to the poverty of the Jerusalem church (Romans 15). Paul lays out the procedure and defense of the offering for the Jerusalem church (1 Corinthians 16). So when Luke says there was "no needy person among them," he is summarizing how well the church joins together to bear one another’s burdens. Acts tells us how they did this: Christians sold land and houses and laid the proceeds at the apostles' feet. This is a demonstration of submission. The Apostles would distribute the funds as needed by individuals. Barnabas, literally meaning “son of a prophet”, but Luke names him "son of encouragement.” This tells us that the word of God is encouragement. Barnabas is a Levite who technically should not own land under the old case laws, and yet he does, and he's never rebuked for it. This is puzzling: is it okay for a priest to own land if he gives it to the church? Does this mean that the call for Christians is not to have private property? Being a Burden Ananias (grace of the Lord) and Sapphira (beautiful) enter the scene. Unfortunately, they do not live up to their names. They sell land, keep back part of the proceeds, and present their offering as if it were the whole. Peter's word for what they did is "pilfered.” This is a word that Luke borrows from Joshua 7 with the Achan story. Achan stole from the Lord, and so Luke is drawing the correlation to this couple in the context of the church. It is important to understand that this is not something they did as an absent-minded oversight. Acts 5:2 makes it very clear that they conspired together as a couple. We might think that the problem is that they wanted private property. However, Peter is explicit in verse 4: the land was theirs; they were never obligated to sell it, and even after selling it, the money was still theirs to keep or give as they chose. This tells us that the gifts were still voluntary, but people gave generously to share one another’s burdens. So, the sin was not withholding money. It was staging a performance to gain a better place in the community. They are pretending to give everything for the praise of the church. They want to have a prestigious place in the community rather than seeking to serve their fellow Christians. Peter calls attention to the heinousness of this sin, “Why has Satan filled your heart?” We might think that Peter is a hypocrite in asking this question. Christ himself says to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” However, Peter knows that one cannot blame satan. He knows that Ananias could have and should have stood up to Satan. However, his desire to be significant in the community without Christ is his downfall. The devil did not make him do it, but he did it himself. So, Peter is not condemning them for having land. He's exposing a heart that wanted to look sacrificial without actually being sacrificial. They lie to the Holy Spirit as they deceive the church. They use the church to prop themselves up rather than being used by the church. Conclusion Is it wrong to own private property? Is that why this couple dies? No! Scripture elsewhere defends both generosity and private land ownership, and this passage does too, if we read it honestly. We are reminded that Christians may have to radically share one another’s burdens. Some might ask if Ananias and Saphira are in heaven? This is the wrong question, isn’t it? This is a question that distracts us from the real issue: where do we find our significance? We are called to find it in Christ. This narrative reminds us that God is not pleased when people come into his community and use his community for their self-promotion and advancement. God does not praise those who exploit others for their own advancement. God cares about the poor, the widow, and those who are unjustly treated in this age. The severity of God's judgment here isn't really about money at all. No, it's a warning not to play games with the Lord, not to use the church's generosity as a stage for our own significance. This whole account only makes sense in light of Philippians 2. How does Christ care for the sinful and exploited? He does more than just share their burdens, but he emptied himself of significance so that the sinful and broken can have life in him. This church is emulating Christ’s model as they voluntarily share one another’s burdens for the glory of Christ. No, God is not greedy! In fact, he is abundantly generous. May his generosity impact our desire to share one another’s burdens.

Christ’s Necessary Glory (Romans 4:23-25; LD 17)

Introduction The Heidelberg Catechism spends some time reminding us that Christ really did suffer.  His suffering is not some sort of unnecessary drama. It testifies to our sin, and it atones for our sin.  His suffering makes satisfaction for our sin. But suffering and death alone aren't the whole story. If Christ were merely dead and "bounced back" the way a sacrificial animal might return to the herd, the sacrifice would prove insufficient. On the other side of this discussion is that Christ cannot remain in the grave.  If Christ is dead, then we might as well go home and conclude life is absurd. Romans 4:25 reminds us that Christ “… was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.  So the question presses in: why must Christ be raised from the dead? Christ Was Delivered for Our Sins We have to understand the deeper meaning of death.  Death is not merely the cessation of breath or heartbeat.  Death is separation from communion and fellowship with God. A person can be fully alive by every biological measure and still be dead in a very real way. So when Christ is "delivered up for our sins" and overcomes death, he is overcoming that broken fellowship that was lost in the fall. His resurrection guarantees that our union with him by the Spirit and faith establishes us in communion with our Lord. Christ's Resurrection Vindicates Him Romans 4 gives us rich assurance of our standing before God and Christ’s resurrection. Paul builds his argument on Abraham: justified by faith apart from works (vv. 1–8), a promise extending to Jew and Gentile alike (vv. 9–17), and the "absurdity" of Abraham's faith.  Abraham is trusting God to bring life out of two bodies as good as dead (vv. 18–22). Then Paul pulls the camera back: this was written not for Abraham's sake alone, but for ours (vv. 23–25). Christ's resurrection is heaven's declaration that his work is complete.  Abraham cannot add anything; Isaac, child of the promise, cannot add anything, and we cannot add anything to Christ’s work. It's the fulfillment of the same pattern of "life from death" that Abraham himself experienced in type. Paul says this in other places. 1 Corinthians 15 insists that if Christ is not raised from the dead, then we are still in our sins and ought to be pitied.  Paul says in Romans 1:3–4 that the resurrection declares him Son of God.  Paul states in Romans 6:4 and 1 Timothy 3:16 that resurrection to vindication by the Spirit. Christ’s resurrection is not only the basis of us legally being restored to God, but the resurrection is also the power that conforms us to God. The bodily, physical nature of that resurrection matters too.  Christ's ascension into heaven means that glorified human flesh is there.  It means that not only are we declared righteous, but we are conforming in the Spirit’s power as we walk by faith, and we will be glorified. Christ’s resurrection guarantees our glorification, and it proves it.  Christ’s glorified human flesh is in heaven right now, guaranteeing our glorified flesh will be there too. Christ's Resurrection Vindicates Us This is the legal, courtroom weight of "raised for our justification." Justification is a one-time declaration of righteousness before the heavenly court.  This is a higher court than even our Supreme Court in the USA. This blessing is distinct from sanctification.  Justification is a one-time declaration of righteousness in the heavenly courtroom, while sanctification is our progressive conforming to the Lord’s holiness. We also say that sanctification and justification are inseparable.  These blessings are both given to us by the Spirit, our union with Christ, and our consciousness of this relationship when we have faith in Christ. It is by the Spirit through Faith that we take hold of Christ and all his distinct blessings. We are united to the risen and victorious Christ.  It is because Christ was raised that our sins are objectively taken away, our standing before the Father is secure, and Christ's ongoing intercession in the heavenly temple guarantees that our relationship with our God is not impersonal.  Our justification is a one-time transaction.  However, as we are united to our savior, this is where we have the privilege and joy of growing in conformity to our heavenly call as we walk in the Spirit by faith out of gratitude. Conclusion The reality is: Christ's resurrection is true whether or not I believe it. It's not my faith, or the church's faith, that makes it so.  It is not even the Apostle Paul who makes it so.  Christ’s resurrection is an objective, historical event that God accomplished. I could deny it, and it would still be true.  That's actually the comfort. My assurance doesn't rest on the strength or the quality of my faith.  My redemption, our redemption, rests on what God has already done in raising Christ from the dead. His resurrection testifies that my sins are taken away, my standing before God is secure, and I will be raised bodily to dwell in his presence in full glory. Let us not root our hope in ourselves.  Let us hope in the God who accomplishes his promise.  He does not overstate, and he does not overpromise.  He fulfills His word. May we live in the certainty of Christ’s resurrection as we take hold of our redeemer by Faith.  Let us be a people who walk in the Spirit, tasting the goodness of our redemption as we live as living sacrifices unto him out of gratitude.

Why Gospel Preaching?

INTRODUCTION If you want a story to die, you drop it out of the news cycle, then you work to silence the story. You make sure that the story is not front and center for everyone to discuss. This is the mindset of the leaders as they tell the apostles to be silent. “Just don’t talk about Christ-story, and it goes away!” The thought is that the story is only as big as the messenger. So, if you silence the messenger, then the story is done. This is the dynamic that shapes the story in Acts 4. Peter and John are released from custody but warned to stop speaking of "this Christ guy.” Peter and John return to their friends and give their report to Jewish converts. The Jewish leaders have admonished them to remain silent. This raises a question that casts a dark cloud over this narrative: when the world demands your silence, what will the church do? Will the message get softened, made more digestible, stripped of resurrection and lordship to keep the peace? Or will something else happen? The text gives us three things to consider: the triggering event, the Old Testament application within the prayer itself, and the prayer's substance regarding what it teaches us. THE TRIGGERING EVENT The setting is the healing of the crippled man at the temple gate. Ironically, this is a sign that became a scandal the moment the apostles attached a name to it: Jesus of Nazareth. The Apostles make sure that the leaders know the specific Jesus of Nazareth by identifying him as the one the religious leaders sent to death. Remember that the leaders released Peter and John because they were afraid of the people. This healing and resurrection is a very inconvenient truth. The Lord gave Moses signs to establish his credibility before Pharaoh. The apostles' signs function the same way. The signs validate or confirm the message of the resurrection. That's precisely the danger: if the people believe the apostles carry this kind of divine authority, the leaders' entire system collapses. Christ’s resurrection is the defining moment. Believing that Christ is raised from the dead is the new division in humanity rather than bloodline. It is not about Jew and Gentile anymore. It is about who believes that Christ has been raised and who does not believe it. This means that as the Gospel goes out, the issue is: who bows to Christ as Messiah, and who doesn't. THE OLD TESTAMENT APPLICATION IN THE PRAYER When the believers gather, they pray in one accord. The point is that they are unified in heart and conviction. And notice how they address God: not primarily as Father, but as Sovereign Master, the absolute Ruler of all things. This is the posture of servants before a king of immense authority. They call to mind in their prayer David’s inspired words in Psalm 2. They apply the Psalm to their current situation: the kings of the earth gather against the Lord and his Anointed. The gentile kings are not necessarily the only problem. It is also the leaders of Israel. This means that Jewish people see Christ as the Lord’s messiah. This also means that Jewish people take the role of conspirators against the Lord. This underscores what we said: it is not about genealogy, but about how one views Christ. He is either Lord and Savior or an unnecessary inconvenience at best. The men conspire, but the prayer professes something about God’s rule. They affirm that this is done by the Lord’s predestined plan (v. 28). Reformed theology holds both truths without flinching. The men who handed Christ over to death acted according to their desire. It is also true that God predestined this to happen, as the early Christians affirmed in their prayer. God does not coerce sin; he ordains the outcome while men act out their own desires. The cross stands as the supreme proof that God's purposes are never derailed by human rebellion. We affirm human responsibility, they sinned, and God’s sovereignty, he ordained Christ to go to the cross. WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THIS PRAYER? Given everything they've just declared about God's sovereignty, what do they actually ask for? Not safety. Not vindication. Not the removal of opposition. They ask for boldness to keep preaching the word. This is an affirmation that they are weak, but their strength will come in Christ. They are tempted to water down the Gospel, but the One Triune God must be proclaimed in all his glory. The ground shakes in response, not because every generation should expect earthquakes as confirmation, but because in that unique apostolic moment. In this open canon situation God affirms that he has not abandoned his church. In our age, with the canon complete (1 Cor 13:8), our confirmation comes through meditating on the settled promises of Scripture itself, not extraordinary signs. We can fall into a mindset of an “us” versus “them.” Peter, a man who seems rather bold and impulsive, prays for boldness. The reality is that the church will face persecution in various ways. I wanted to know: what would be the best way to undermine the work of Christ? Clearly, when the church is persecuted, it grows and prays for conviction. We have it pretty easy in America. So, what can come against the church today? I asked Chat GPT [https://chatgpt.com] and Grok [https://grok.com] to answer: “If you were the devil, how would you destroy the work of Christ?” I got a long list from both. So I took both their lists and put them into Venice.ai [https://venice.ai]. I asked Venice to compile the top five from the list I just inserted. The result is below: 1. Dilute the gospel — Replace the scandal of the cross with a palatable counterfeit. Turn Jesus into a life coach or affirmation buddy. Promote prosperity, self-esteem, and therapeutic religion while removing demands for repentance, sacrifice, and lordship. Keep the Christian brand but empty it of power, making it a weak vaccine that inoculates people against real conversion. 2. Weaponize distraction — Flood lives with comfort, endless scrolling, status anxiety, and material abundance. Keep believers busy with good things so communion with Christ becomes secondary. Make the soul too numb or preoccupied to consider eternity. When life is comfortable enough, who needs resurrection? 3. Subvert truth — Elevate "my truth" and personal authenticity over revealed truth. Promote scientism and deconstruction—endless questioning without answers. Frame biblical ethics as the real sin while making skepticism of Christianity the only "critical thinking" allowed. Turn doctrine into a buffet where nothing is mandatory. 4. Sow division and despair — Turn disagreements into factions and church splits over secondary issues while papering over real heresy. Encourage bitterness and unforgiveness to poison relationships. Highlight every failure of Christians (real and exaggerated) to make the visible Church look either boring or actively evil. Convince believers that "I like Jesus but not the Church" is a virtue. 5. Replace mission with comfort — Make the church content with safety, prosperity, and self-preservation rather than costly discipleship. Normalize nominal Christianity as a vague cultural or political identity. Let believers seek recognition and influence rather than humility and service—doing much of the adversary's work themselves while feeling righteous. The application is significant: we are tempted to major in the minors. We can elevate small disagreements to be the Gospel. We can also water down the Gospel so the message has no resurrection or redemptive message. Ultimately, we can be tempted to lose sight of what glorifies Christ. CONCLUSION The church does not control the cultural narrative. The church has never controlled the narrative. Outsiders will embrace the gospel, come under the yoke of Christ, or they will not. It is God who opens and closes the kingdom through the Gospel message. The church’s mission is to preach that Gospel message clearly, proclaiming the whole counsel of God. Our call is to know the gospel and live it out with boldness. The apostles' prayer is not a relic of an extraordinary age we can no longer access; it's a pattern for every age. We are reminded that we are sinful, frail people asking the sovereign God for courage to preach Christ boldly. If Peter, of all people, needed to pray for boldness, so do we. Let us find our contentment not in comfort or cultural approval, but in the sufficiency of being in communion with the one triune God because of Christ’s work, the Father’s will, and the Spirit’s continuing power. We are redeemed people of the living God. We are called to live out the Gospel for his honor and glory. Let us see the dignity and majesty of our Christian calling, no matter our station in life. Amen. Why Gospel Preaching? (Acts 4:23-31) Pastor Paul Lindemulder Download [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/53dd2688e4b0219ea2c81007/t/6a43fa9058b0bf46731be888/1782840029814/09+Why+Gospel+Preaching_+%28Acts+4_23-31%29.m4a]