Acts 4:1-22
Time to stand strong. The dominoes are falling in place now. If I'm Peter and John, I've probably got a pit in my stomach. I'm looking around and seeing the faces of the priest and Sadducees. They grab these guys and toss them in jail, but I love what happens next. God does the work. It says even after they were put away, 5,000 became believers (not counting children and women) We stand firm, we do what God calls us to do, we act bodly, and when we still can't do anything God does. It's a lasting effect. A ripple effect. They made a splash among the people there that day, and their ripple caused many to believe.
So let's look at our main characters... Annas, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other high priests. I don't know the timeline here, but it couldn't have been much longer ago that these same men were coming down hard on another "rebel", Jesus Christ. They thought they had gotten rid of one guy, but his ripple effect caused a much bigger wave! He multiplied himself. They got rid of one, only to have many more pop up in his place.
(verses 5-12) Can you imagine the look on their faces? They ask by what power they healed this man. Deep down inside they are probably dreading the answer. They thought they had gotten rid of this man. Little do they know, he lives inside of the ones they are know questioning. They couldn't get rid of God, sorry. (insert Romans 8:38-39)
(verses 13-18) Then comes the next part. They were ordinary men. Men with no training. Men of lesser educational intellect. Men of lesser value than them. Yet despite all of this, the leaders had nothing they could say. They were amazed. Amazed. I'm ordinary. I have no special training. So what can God do with me? How can I start a ripple effect like this?
Have you ever been proved wrong? It sucks doesn't it. You don't know what to say, so sometimes you just say "Oh shut up" or "ahhh just leave me alone" "whatever". It feels like this too. Almost like your hands are tied, and so they just say to the men. "Just shut up". Don't tell anyone. Could this be more opposite? God says go make disciples, and the world says shut up. Maybe if we were told to shut up once in a while we wouldn't be so quiet. Have you ever been told to shut up. What's the first thing you do? It's not to shut up.
(verses 19-22) But who are we here to please? Ok maybe their threats were a bit scary. Maybe when they said shut up, you were intimidated. So who are we here to please? Do you ever have the desire to please someone? Maybe its a friend, maybe its a parent, or a cute girl or boy. It's a strong desire. Deep down inside we know that if we can please so and so, we'll feel like we've accomplished something. It'll give us some pride and meaning. A son might play hard because he wants to please his dad. A disciple of Christ might not shut up because he wants to please his Father.
"For everyone was praising God for the miraculous sign" Ripple Effect. Dominoes are falling over as God is recieving the Glory for it all.
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