LAUGH 'N LEARN

An Encouragement Ministry of Verde Valley Christian Church Of Cottonwood Arizona
http://vvchristianchurch.net

Issue # 385 August 23,  2010

LAUGH

LEARN

Jim's Manuscript

August 22, 2010

"Infectious!"

"Acts" Series Chapter 4

Infectious!  When you think of something that is infectious, do you think of something good or something bad?

If something is infectious, it is something that spreads. 

Infectious diseases spread.  Evil spreads.  Sin spreads.  All of this is bad. 

Infectious laughter spreads.  Good News spreads.  Love spreads.  All of this is good. 

Good News can be contagious. 

Focus:  Authentic Christianity is truly infectious in a good way.  

Just because something is catching, and infectious does not mean everyone will appreciate it.  The interesting thing about our study today in Acts 4 is that it seems so very contemporary in its controversy. 

I want to begin our study from the middle, then back up. 

Acts 4:17 (NIV) But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."

I.  People Confuse Infectious Truth And Infectious Disease  (4:1-7)

Jesus predicted that it would be so.  He predicted that the thing that he started would be persecuted.  People hated him, and they will hate his followers.  People persecuted him, and they will persecute his followers.  

We are only to spread that which is good.  Christianity is about "loveism" not "terrorism."  Nevertheless, as Christianity spreads people oppose it.

Even in America, the land of the free, where religious liberty is protected, and free speech is protected, people try to silence Christians.   How free is our free speech?  Sometimes it is costly.   The hostilities are so strong that people are sometimes losing their jobs because of their outspokenness about Christianity.  Sometimes people are unable to get a fair shake on grades in school because their views offend the professors. 

Not much is changed.

Acts 4:1-7 (NIV) ^4:1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. ² They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. ⁴ But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand. ⁵ The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. ⁶ Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest's family. ⁷ They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"

Annas and Caiaphas Were NOT Happy!  Do you recognize those names?  These were the same officials who presided over Jesus' mockery of a trial just a couple of months earlier!!!  It is no wonder that they didn't appreciate Peter's preaching!  Peter said that the one they crucified, Jesus of Nazareth was God's man.  God proved it by vindicating him.  He was righteous.  He was the Christ.  He was raised from the dead.  Peter said he was a witness.  He saw the resurrected Jesus.  And it is through this same Jesus that this undeniable miracle of the healing of the lame man was done!!

No; Annas and Caiaphas are not happy.  Neither are the temple guards, or anyone of the Jewish ruling council!  They wanted these men silenced,  but what could they do?  The huge crowd believed them. 

Just when these rulers and authorities thought they had gotten rid of the problem, the problem is back, and it is larger than ever!  The name of Jesus is in nearly every conversation in Jerusalem.  The very Jesus they crucified. 

They thought that throwing Peter and John in jail over night would cool their jets!  They thought the intimidation tactics before the powerful Jerusalem council would cause them to cower.  Peter and John faced the 70 formed in semicircles before them who fired questions at them.  Everything failed to cause Peter to back down! 

II.  Spread Infectious Truth Anyway (4:8-12)

Acts 4:8-12 (NIV) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, ¹⁰ then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ He is "'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone'. ¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Peter does more than answer their question.  He does more than offer a self defense.  He goes on the offensive. 

A. Show and Tell Spreads It (4:12-13, 20; John 15:5)

Show and tell has been the pattern of Acts so far.

God shows himself in a miraculous way in Acts 2 and Peter tells about it.  In Acts 3, God shows himself through the miraculous healing of the cripple, and Peter explains that it was accomplished through the power and authority of Jesus of Nazareth, and explains that Jesus is the Christ.

Peter showed them the miracle God did, then talked about it. 

Being a witness is as easy as show and tell.  But then things get complicated.  Peter and John are not even finished "telling" and they are arrested.  But show and tell didn't stop.

Peter continued to Show and Tell and Peter begins to show things he himself is unaware he is showing.  He unconsciously shows the dramatic changes that have come over him.

Acts 4:13 (NIV) When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Being a witness doesn't just apply to what we say.  The very lives of Peter and John caused these leaders to take note.  What did they notice?  They SAW courage.  They saw change.  Their courage and the change astonished them.  Where did such courage come from?  These guys are nothing but regular nobodies!  Yet, their lives demonstrated a miraculous change.  Consider the wimpy denying Peter the last time these heavy weights encountered him.  But now look at them.  There is something familiar about them.  They sounded and acted just like Jesus!  This change was notable.  This change is something that showed through.  It wasn't something Peter was mustering up and trying to show.  He wasn't trying to put on a good show.  This wasn't a false front, or façade.  Something has happened.  And this is the conclusion the antagonistic powerful enemies of Jesus came to based on their observation.  They took note that it was very obvious that these men had been with Jesus. 

What is the obvious point for us? If we want our lives to count for eternity, we had better spend time with Jesus.  We need to spend so much time with him that it shows.  What shows?  Our lives look different!  Our lives must look like, sound like, and even smell like Jesus!  That's what shows.  It comes through in our attitude.  It comes through in our speech.  It shows up in so many ways we have now idea how it shows. 

It was obvious to the council that these men were just like Jesus. These men were hard to stop.  How do you stop them when they perform miracles that sway the crowd and all the evidence points in their favor?  How do you stop them when they no longer fear death?!

Why do they want to stop them in spite of the obvious Evidence?

Why weren't they asking,  "what does God think?"  Why weren't they asking, "Could this be true?"  These men are men pleasers.  For them, it was all about power and control, and guarding their own interests.  It certainly was not about the evidence!  All the evidence was stacked against them.  The evidence didn't matter.  They just want to stomp out what was getting in their way.  And yet they knew they had to be careful, because of the crowd.

What could they do?  Peter accused them in front of a huge crowd at the temple.  He accused them of killing their messiah.  Statements like these have to be stopped or soon their own leadership and credibility will be shot!  That's why in spite of the evidence, these men want to silence Peter and John!  But they can't just get rid of them, there will be a rebellion!  They give an official warning, a mandate.  This is now law, "you must no longer speak to anyone about Jesus".

When Should I Tell The Controversial Truths? (4:12, 20;)

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

A good rule of thumb as to when you should speak an unpopular truth is to ...

Speak it out of faith when the Spirit prompts you to do so. 

We are told here that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit (4:8), and he is speaking as the Spirit prompts him to do so.  This is an important guideline particularly for people who like to debate.  You can't argue anyone into the faith.  Being a witness is not effective in the flesh. 

John 15:5 (NIV) "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus told us we can do nothing apart from abiding in him.  And by that, he doesn't mean we can do nothing at all.  There are lots of things we do apart from him.  We sin.  We get ahead of him.  We get behind him.  What Jesus means is we can do nothing of eternal consequence apart from him. 

I'm guessing that in our church, there are probably more people in the category of maintaining too much silence and less people who are speaking too frequently about Christ.  The answer for either category is the same.  We need to abide in Christ. 

Whether you as a witness tend to speak too much or not enough, the correcting factor to make your witness more effective is "being with Jesus" (4:13)

We need to "be with him."  Others can tell something from our lives even if they don't know what it is, when we practice the lifestyle of being with Jesus.  We must make it a habit to be in constant relational connection with the person of Jesus.

Now let's talk for a moment about the specific unpopular truth Peter speaks!  It is still UNPOPULAR today!

The Infectious Truth:  There Is Only One Way To Heaven

People Still Consider This TRUTH AS A Spreading Disease That Needs To Be Eradicated

Is this truth:  Is there more than one way to heaven?

Is what you believe infectious?

If you believe what is popularly crammed down our throats in culture today that there is more than one way, your faith will not be infectious, but dead.  Let me explain. 

You won't be an effective infectious witness until you get the right answer on this one.  You wont' feel the need to spread this truth about Jesus if you don't believe he is necessary for salvation.  If you believe there are many ways to heaven, why teach Jesus?  You have your way, and they have theirs.  But if you believe that Jesus is the only way, and you don't teach it--suddenly you are in this dilemma.  If you don't tell you friends, it is like you know their house is burning and you are refusing to say anything or call the fire department, or wake them up and you know they are inside sleeping.  What kind of friend is that?  What kind of neighbor is that?

Many react negatively to the truth that Jesus is the only way to heaven.  But we didn't make it up.  All the apostles taught it.  They got it from Jesus.  Jesus taught it.  And it makes sense.

What if it is true?  What if Jesus was right, that there isn't any other way for our sins to be "wiped out".  Remember Acts 3:19 last week?  

Christianity doesn't make any sense if this unpopular truth- Salvation is found in no one else--is false.  Christianity is not one way among many ways to heaven.  It makes no sense if that is how you see it.  Let me try to explain this.  You might be thinking, "Might there be more than one way to heaven?"   I do not believe it, and here is why.

Why would God send his son to die for the sins of the world if there were some other way to have our sins forgiven? 

If there were some other way to get to heaven, then Jesus would not have had to die. 

You need to understand that Jesus asked God the Father, the question from his agonizing prayer in Gethsemane.  Is there any other way?  Actually, he pleaded with his father, "If there is any other way, then take this cup from me."  What he was referring to was the cup of suffering, the agony of the cross.  He was asking if there could be some other way to save people.   What was the Father's answer?  There was no other way. 

It was God the Father's will that a way be made for you and me.  It is a miracle that ANY way at all was made possible for sinful people to be included in a Holy, perfect, eternal relationship with a Holy and perfect God.  It is a miracle that God came up with ONE way.  People don't seem to understand this.  People have the wrong idea when they think it is humanly possible to get to heaven on the basis of achievement.  God doesn't grade on a curve.  None of us can achieve perfection.  None of us bats a thousand.  How do you expect that we would be allowed to enter the presence of a Holy God and enter a perfect heaven.  If the world fell because of only one sin that corrupted everything, how do you think our many sins makes us qualified to get in?  

The miracle of sending his son, as the actual atonement for our sins is the ONE way.  And so, the Father's answer to Jesus was there is no other way.  That is why the cup of suffering was not taken from Jesus.

Remember this, God isn't being exclusive.  He has opened wide the door. 

John 3:16 (NIV) "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

So many people accuse Christians of being narrow.  That is a skewed way of looking at what God has done.  What God has done is made a way for anyone to enter.   He was not excluding people.  He was making it as inclusive as is Godly possible!  Get that, Godly possible, rather than humanly possible.  God's holy standard is moral perfection. 

So many people say we are harsh and wrong to proclaim that a majority of people in the world are going the broad way to destruction and hell.  They get mad at us when we claim only a minority make it.  This isn't OUR idea.

Matthew 7:13 (NIV) ¹³ "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

These are Jesus' words.  But he isn't being narrow.  He's being honest!  He knows.  He isn't saying it to condemn people.  He is saying it to save people.  He is saying it to save anyone, "whoever" will believe.  God loved us that much.  AND he isn't picking and choosing based on how good we are.  He is saying you are never so sinful that my sacrifice cannot save you.  Believe me.  Turn to me.  Trust me and you will see. I can save you.  I've paid your debt. 

It seems strange that the enemies of Christianity will turn the love message into a hate message.  God loves enough to save.  That is the Good News.  It's not bad news.  But people do not want to change.  People who do not want to acknowledge that there is a God, and there will be a judgment.  Such a notion sounds like bad news when you don't want to change.  People don't want God.  They want to be their own boss, call their own shots, do their own thing, make their own rules.  So what do they do?  They call any absolute truth, false. 

So, our message, which we got from God, is perceived in an upside down way.  The good news is viewed as bad news.  The love message is viewed as a hate message.  I submit to you, that if there is a God, and if there is a judgment, the Gospel is GREAT NEWS.  And this is the greatest love message ever!  

I also submit to you that it is not hatred when we love someone enough to warn them about a danger unknown to them.  Just because you don't believe something to be true, does not mean it is NOT True. 

God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only son, that WHOEVER believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life

B.      Get So Close To Jesus You Can't Help It! (4:13, 20; Luke 6:45)

You Will Talk About What Is Important To You (4:20; Luke 6:45)

Acts 4:20 (NIV) For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

You Can't Help It!  You cannot help talking about what is really important to you! 

Jesus said what is in a heart comes out of our mouths. 

Luke 6:45 (NIV) The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

If you are listening to, and watching bad stuff, you are storing it up, and your mouth will overflow with the garbage you have stored.  You can't help but see this happen.  Not just the swear words, but also the attitudes.  Your mouth reveals your feelings, and emotions.  Your mouth also reveals to others what you consider to be important.  That is why it is so important to guard our hearts.

What Do You Love To Talk About?

You can't help but talk about what you consider to be important.  For some of us, it is really easy to talk about our grandchildren. 

MAC

Some people are natural "evangelists" for Mac.  I'm a PC guy.  Now my son has gone to Mac, and he has convinced my son in law.  They get all fired up about how it works.  I came late this morning, and the Mac was running the PowerPoint.  I'm uncomfortable with how it was set up.  It is supposedly easier.  David was explaining it all and showing me how it worked.  But when there was a problem, I was unable to solve it.  Notice how easy it is for some people to "witness" to others about their interests.  The problem for me was not the computer, but the fact that I am unfamiliar with its applications.  

So, if you are not excited about talking about your faith, it is probably because you need to go deeper into it, learn more of its applications and become excited about how it works.   You will soon be spilling over with excitement just as these Mac enthusiasts were.

If you are too silent about your faith, and the Spirit never seems to be prompting you to speak about your faith, you probably need to focus on growing deeper in your faith so that it is something that is hard for you to keep quiet about. 

Acts 4:20 (NIV) For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

Acts 4 gives us practical help than this.  It isn't just that people tend to be silent.  People tend to be silent especially when we feel threatened by hostility and antagonism toward our faith!  In such a hostile environment, Acts 4 gives us solutions!  It explains how to really make a difference!

III.       How To Handle A Hostile Environment (4:24-31)

Do you realize Acts gives us a formula that works?  This is another pattern we should be following.  This is a formula for how we can move Heaven and Shake up the Earth (4:24-31).  This is what works even in a hostile environment!

A.  Pray Together (4:24)

Acts 4:24 (NIV) When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.

When they heard this, they prayed together.  When they heard what?

Acts 4:23 (NIV) On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

They heard the threats from the highest earthly powers in their world and community.  Their lives were in jeopardy.  Their jobs were in jeopardy.  Their standing in the community was in jeopardy?  There were huge risks here.  What did they do when they faced these fears and risks?  They came together to pray!

Our Care Groups provide a place for us to come together to pray also!  But you've heard that before.  I want to understand how important this can be for your faith.  Besides the fact that the gathered community is the biblical pattern, consider how and why it works. 

Kindling!

You need to understand something about your own faith and the power of community.  I've experienced this a number of times.  When I am struggling with a problem or some obstacles, I need the faith of others to help carry me and my burdens before God.  The prayers of others, and the faith of others is like kindling thrown into a flickering flame.  When the flames of my faith are small, my prayers seem to be with little faith, and little hope.  Discouragement can set in.  But watch out when we come together to pray.  Others begin to pray.  They are placing kindling on my faltering fire.  Their flames of faith are not dampened by my circumstances, and their faith and fire help fan into flame my faith and fire.  The prayers of faith grow and grow, and soon we not only have more praying, we have reasons to celebrate what we see God doing.  It is a wonderful thing to have the connecting cords of community, and Care Group, and Comrades all placing kindling on a faltering fire, my personal faltering fire as I continue to connect personally in my Closet.  The private personal relationship in "the closet" is important, but it is not enough.

B.  Ask For Boldness (4:29)

Acts 4:29 (NIV) Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Now I want you to notice something important.  Notice what they were NOT praying for.  They did not ask God to remove their enemies. They did not ask God to keep them safe and to save from persecution.  They did not ask God to remove obstacles.  They asked God instead, to help them be bold in the midst of these conflicts and problems.  They asked God for boldness!

C.  Ask For Miracles (4:30)

Acts 4:30 (NIV) Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

They didn't ONLY ask God for boldness.  They also asked God for his help; His miraculous help.  The pattern we have seen in acts continues.  Ask God to do something. Ask God to show up.  Yes, ask God for miracles!!   Show and Tell is easy stuff when we are excited about what God has done.

D.  Boldly Speak the Word of God (4:31)

Acts 4:31 (NIV) 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.

You will gladly speak the truth when you have important stories to tell.  The stories of what God has done in his Word in the past, and the stories of what God has done with YOU!!!   Boldly speak the Word of God. 

Do you think the risks might be worth it? 

If you knew that you'd be arrested for telling a crowd of 5,000, and you knew their lives would be changed for eternity, would you risk it?

If you knew that you'd be persecuted for telling one if you knew that you had the answer that would change that one person's life forever, would you risk that?

Your job is not to win them.  Your job is to be a witness.  Your job is not to be a prosecuting attorney.  Your job is to be a witness.  You are not the judge.  You are the witness.  Go deeper, get more apps, let it become so real to you that it is obvious to others you have been with Jesus.  It shows.  Your life is different.  Contagious Good News is just going to seep out of your life whether you know it or not.  Pray, follow God's lead and boldly speak the word of God.

(C) Jim Hammond

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