The End of the Honeymoon for the Early Church

The End of the Honeymoon for the Early Church
(Acts 4:1-22)
Rev. Sara Pyon

 I. The work of the Holy Spirit resulted in persecution from the religious leaders
The religious leaders were greatly disturbed that(4:2)
The apostles were teaching the resurrection of the dead in Jesus (3:15, 26)
A great number of people were responding to the apostles’ teaching (4:4)
They came to a crisis of belief that required faith and action
The  apostles were unschooled, ordinary men (4:13)
They could not deny the miraculous healing of the crippled man (4:16)
They decided to issue a gag order  (4:17)
More concerned about maintain their position of power & reputation than the truth

 II. Persecution served as an opportunity to strengthen the church (4:7-9)
Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit in the face of persecution (4:8)
Peter testified about the power in the name of Jesus (4:10 -12; John 14:6; Phil. 2:5-11)
Salvation through Jesus only
The apostles chose to obey God rather than man (4:19)
They remained true to their calling of being true witnesses for Christ (1:8, 4:20)

 

III. Reflection
Have you ever faced any opposition or persecution due to your testimony? How did you handle it?
How comfortable are you in accepting and/or defending the exclusivity of the Gospel message (i.e. salvation through Jesus only)?  Why does it have to be that way?
When have you been confronted with the hard choice of whether to obey God rather than submit to the pressure of man?