Episode 131 – Authority Issues – Acts 4:1-22

Speaker 1:

It is time for a pause in your day. Welcome to a podcast where we press the pause button on our busy lives for a few moments, and we focus on God’s word with Sharon and Nicole. We pray this is a time of refreshing for you. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries.

Nicole:

Welcome to Sweet Selah Moments. This is episode 131, Authority Issues. Now there’s a topic, Sharon. Let’s start by defining the word authority. So authority is defined as the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. So, Sharon, I have to confess, I really struggle with respecting people and authority if they are not living what they’re asking or telling me to do, or if they’re unkind or belittle people, it really irks me and makes me not want to follow or listen to them.

Sharon:
I get it. I really do.

Nicole:
Yeah. So how about you? Have you ever had issues with authorities in your life?

Sharon:

You know what’s hard for me? It’s hard for me to listen to an authority that’s telling me to do something that I think is just plain silly, where I always think I have a better way, you know?

Nicole: Oh sure.

Sharon:

Like, really? You really want me to fill out this entire form? I don’t know why you need to know my mother’s maiden name to do whatever, you know?

Nicole:
Yes. Oh yes.

Sharon:

So I have struggled with authority for a long time in different ways, because I think too much of myself sometimes and think I know better and probably they have good reasons for what they’re asking me. (Nicole: Right) One time I struggled with authority was in high school when we wanted to run that Bible study after school, our high school bible study, and the principal let all kinds of student organizations use the classrooms after school, but did not let me. She said, you cannot bring religion onto campus. So I did respect her in that we didn’t try to secretly meet. (Sure) But I did take it to the superintendent and the school board. And so we little 15-year-old kiddos, are standing up before the school board saying, we just wanna do a Bible study, ’cause we all come from different places and it’s easier to meet at the school. And so we were granted it over the principal’s objection.

Nicole:
Wow. Oh, that’s wonderful.

Sharon:

Yeah. We had to pay, I think, 50 cents a week for covering the cost of electricity, ’cause the principal said, well, they’re using our electricity. So, so we paid for the electricity.

Nicole:

Isn’t that funny? But you did it in a respectful way. You didn’t talk down to her or belittle her or anything. That was really good.

Sharon:
Yeah. Although I don’t think she was pleased that I went over her head.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

And I was really all trembly about the thing. But, I was thankful that I had done that. So yes, sometimes we have problems with authorities, right? We just do. Well, the Bible tells us to respect authorities in almost every situation, Nicole, not all of them. And we’re gonna get to the exception. But let’s read a few verses that highlight the respective authorities before we get to the big exception clause we’re gonna talk about today. So why don’t you start.

Nicole:

All right. So I’m gonna read Ephesians 6:1-3 to start us off. It says, “Children obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise. If you honor your father and mother, things will go well for you and you will have a long life on earth”. Oh, how I loathed that verse as a child. That was the worst. But this one is nice. It’s a command, but it has a gift too. It comes with a promise. And I love that. Like, hey, if you honor your mother and father, things will go well for you and you’ll have a long life. This can be very difficult. But there are ways to honor our parents. Sometimes we have wonderful parents and it’s easy to honor and obey our parents. Sometimes it can be hard. It’s not easy for everyone. But there’s ways to honor that can still be beneficial to both people.

Sharon:

Absolutely, there can be. Yes. And children, if they don’t obey their parents, can stick forks into electric plugs, drop radios into bath water while they’re in them and run into the street to catch their ball and get run over by cars.

Nicole:
Yes. And do other terrible life threatening things.

Sharon:

Yes. So for the preservation of the child, (Nicole: Yes) the parent has to be an authority figure. (Absolutely) Yeah. And when we get to the exception clause, we can actually talk about when it’s okay for a child to not obey their parent. Because there’s this big exception clause. But by and large parents are the authority. And most parents actually love their children and are trying to raise them to do what is right and good, and to protect them. So.

Nicole:
Yes, God has equipped us with a larger vision of the world in our children’s safety.

Sharon:
Yes. We know a little more. Right.

Nicole:
Yeah, so we can be good authorities in their life.

Sharon:

Yes. So, okay. Well the next section talks about submitting to secular authorities, government authorities. I’m gonna read it. It’s Romans 13:1-7. There’s a lot of verses Paul dedicates to obedience to authority, so let’s hear them. “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God. And those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So, anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right. They will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience. Pay your taxes too, for these same reasons, for government workers need to be paid. They’re serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them. Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.” So what’s fascinating to me is that Paul was under oppressive authority when he wrote this.

Nicole:
He was. Yes.

Sharon:

It wasn’t like the Roman government was thrilled with Christians. (Nicole: Right) You know, they were an oppressed nation underneath the thumb of Rome. And some of the taxes that were collected were of course for good things. They were for building the aqueducts that brought fresh water to the cities. They were paving roads. They were paying the officials that took care of the bad guys and got them off the roads. Right?

Nicole:
It made the roads safer for them to spread the gospel and work on the next roads.

Sharon:

Exactly. Yes, exactly. But those same taxes were used for bad things too. Some of them might’ve been used to pay for the lions that devoured Christians (Nicole: Oh goodness) in the Colosseum. What? And yet pretty clear here they were to pay their taxes. Jesus paid taxes too. Got ’em out of the mouth of a fish one time, which I thought was like,

Nicole:
I know. That’s a fun story.

Sharon:

I know. I’m like, maybe if I don’t have enough money for taxes, I could try that approach, I dunno how that would go. So, we are to live within the structures of the government placed over us. God has allowed that structure. Even when the Israelites were sent away to Babylon, they were captured and they were, you know, basically dragged away in chains to Babylon, they were told to pray for the peace of the city where they were living.

Nicole:
Isn’t that interesting?

Sharon:

They were told to plant gardens there. They were told to care for the welfare of where they were, because that would affect them.

Nicole: Wow.

Sharon:

So we are, except for the exception clause that we’ll get to, we are to obey the authorities placed over us. Even if they make really dumb rules we’re still supposed to do it.

Nicole:
Well, and this authority at the time was not a Christian authority either.

Sharon: No, no.

Nicole:

He wasn’t talking about, they didn’t even have a choice in who could rule over them. The Jewish people could not.

Sharon:
No, they did not. They were under oppressors.

Nicole:

Right. And they still said respect and obey. So that’s, we need to let that sink in for a little bit. I know I do. So we’re gonna read Hebrews 13:17 now, a different type of leadership. This one says, “Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls. And they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.”

Sharon:
That’s so cute. Don’t make them sad.

Nicole:

I know. This is hard work overseeing your soul. Let them have reason to do it with joy. So that’s really interesting. Again, it said this for the secular leaders as well, that they were, I don’t know if it said they were accountable to God, but God placed them (Sharon: Yes) in a place of authority. Here with the spiritual leaders, they’re placed in authority, but they’re accountable to God.

Sharon:
Oh, that’s an extra point. You’re right. Yeah, yeah.

Nicole:

Yeah, there’s a different level of authority and accountability for our spiritual leaders, so maybe cut them a little slack and be kind because they’re accountable to God for how (Sharon: Oh yeah) how we respond to them. So that’s interesting.

Sharon:
Yeah. They carry a large burden because of that.

Nicole: They do.

Sharon:

It’s like the verse in James that says don’t be eager to become a teacher. They’re judged more strictly. (Nicole: Yes) Right. So (It’s a little scary) you need to be careful about that. Exactly. So we’re to obey them too and submit to their authority. Now it’s funny because as I’m thinking about our church there’s not a lot that they tell me to obey. (That’s hard to follow) Basically, they just tell me to obey God. So I guess obeying my leaders in my particular situation is obeying God.

Nicole:
Yeah. We don’t have a very restrictive, repressive church or anything.

Sharon: No.

Nicole:

There’s not a lot that I struggle to obey. Like, oh, they want me to do this. This is really tough.That’s a good point.

Sharon:

Yeah. I’m trying to think of something that, I guess the closest I could come to it is if I went to a business meeting and I discussed an issue, but in the end, I didn’t like the decision being made.

Nicole:
Yes. That’s where I went to too. That’s where my thoughts went to.

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah. Is okay, but these guys are advising it, and they know the situation better than I do. Or maybe like every year we choose a special thing to give our Christmas money to.

Nicole: Yes. Yeah.

Sharon:

Well, maybe I wanted it given somewhere else, but I’m gonna respect my leaders (Nicole: Yes) who have said, you know, we’ve seen all the issues out here and these are the people that really need it this year. So that would be where, and I do, I submit, I’ve never once gone up to them and said, hey, excuse you, why are you not giving money to whose-y what’s it over there?

Nicole:
You didn’t agree with my decision. Yeah. That’s a great point. There’s nothing,.

Sharon:
So maybe that’s it.

Nicole:

There’s nothing over God or the Bible that I feel like I have to really fight to obey, because they’re right on with that.

Sharon: They are.

Nicole:

But you’re right, in the everyday workings of how we work our church as a family, some of those things I don’t always, well, I think I’d rather see this flourish instead of this, but they’ve prayed over it and decided so I can obey and respect their decision.

Sharon:
Yes. We can respect that. They’re the ones that are in the weeds.

Nicole:

Right. They’re the ones that have been seeking God on this for weeks at end. So Yeah. That’s a good point. I like that.

Sharon:
Yeah. Well, I just figured that out, talking to you right now. So that’s good.

Nicole: Thanks, God.

Sharon:

Okay. Well the last one is from 1 Peter, our Peter that we’ve been dealing with, 2:13-14. “For the Lord’s sake (says Peter) submit to all human authority, whether the king as head of state or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.” For the Lord’s sake submit. Isn’t that an interesting thing? So that we bring honor to Jesus. And you know, Nicole, we can do just the opposite sometimes with our Christian offended-ness. (Nicole: Oh, sure) And

we can have people think the worst things about Christians. Like they’re never satisfied and they’re always judge-y and they hate everybody, (Right), all those things. And he’s saying, for the sake of Jesus, we should be doing this differently. I think that’s really interesting.

Nicole:

I’ve never seen the sake of Jesus part, ’cause I think we get so offended as Christians, or we’re really afraid to submit to and respect authority that is not a full blown follower of Christ. (Sharon: Yeah. Yeah) And I mean, very few of our actual leaders are, yes, our pastors are our spiritual leaders, and they are right on. But above our pastors, as far as authority in our culture and our world and our government, they’re not. (They’re not) They’re not men that we would naturally look to for spiritual guidance or good moral decisions. But, when we submit and honor and respect them, it is for God’s sake, like you said. So people don’t look at us as the Christians that are always hating and they’re never happy. And you know, sometimes God gives us a leader that we need and not the one that we want.

Sharon:
Oh, that’s true. That’s true.

Nicole:

There’s been kings that he’s appointed in Israel before that he’s used as a time of judgment or a time of bringing them back to God. (Sharon: Both) ‘Cause if everything’s glorious and happy, I’m not okay, God, what in my life is causing the sin that’s flourishing in my community. So when we have leaders that we may not be super pleased with, maybe that’s a time that I really dig into myself before God.

Sharon:
Yeah, teach me. Yeah.

Nicole:
Yes. Okay, God, what’s in me that needs to be?

Sharon:
So true. So true.

Nicole:
It’s tough. It’s a hard thing.

Sharon:

It is tough. Well, it makes me think of what Jesus said about carrying Roman soldier’s backpacks, back in the Sermon on the Mount, he’s like, if the soldier asks you to carry their pack for a mile,

Nicole: Oh wow.

Sharon:

Carry it two. Nobody likes that, ’cause it’s not fair that we should have to carry his backpack. They don’t care what I’m doing. I could be on my way to something important, and the soldier just stops me and says, Hey, carry my backpack and you want me to carry it an extra mile? So that is a prime example of how the

Lord Jesus views even being asked to do unreasonable, annoying things. Like, why am I driving 25 miles an hour here?

Nicole: Right.

Sharon: Well,

Nicole:
This makes no sense.

Sharon:
Right. Yeah. I can go 50 here safely. Right?

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

So, because it says to go 25 miles. That’s why you do it. So things like that where, there are annoying rules. We don’t like the rules, but for the Lord’s sake.

Nicole:
For the Lord’s sake. Yeah.

Sharon:
For the Lord’s sake, we ought to be known as a gentle people.

Nicole:
We really should. Yeah.

Sharon:
We really should. And we’re not a lot of times.

Nicole: No.

Sharon:

Okay. So we’ve kind of established that there are authorities and most of the time we’re supposed to obey them. (Nicole: Yes) There is an exception.(Ooh) And we’re gonna now read about that time. (Alright). When Peter and John, Peter, who just wrote, for the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority. Peter, who just wrote that. Peter writes in his letter that Peter and John chose not to obey authorities in this part of Acts. So we’re gonna keep this in mind, as we’re reading it. So Acts 4:1-22, let’s hear the story where they bucked authority. I’ll start with verse one. “While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple Guard and some of the Sadducees.”

Nicole:

“These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.”

Sharon:
“They arrested them. And since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning.”

Nicole:

“But many of the people who heard their message believed it. So the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.”

Sharon: Wow.

Nicole:
That’s amazing.

Sharon:
“The next day, the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem.”

Nicole:

“Annas, the high priest, was there along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander and other relatives of the high priest.”

Sharon:
“They brought in the two disciples and demanded, by what power, or in whose name have you done this?”

Nicole:
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers and elders of our people”

Sharon:

“Are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed?”

Nicole:

“Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.”

Sharon:

“For Jesus is the one referred to in the scriptures where it says, the stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”

Nicole:

“There is salvation in no one else. God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

Sharon:

“The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see they were ordinary men with no special training in the scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.”

Nicole:

But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say.”

Sharon:
“So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.”

Nicole:

“What should we do with these men, they asked each other? We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it.”

Sharon:

“But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”

Nicole:

“So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.”

Sharon:
“But Peter and John replied, do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?”

Nicole:
“We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”

Sharon:

“The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot, for everyone was praising God.”

Nicole:
“For this miraculous sign, the healing of a man who had been lame for more than 40 years.”

Sharon:
Oh my goodness. What a story.

Nicole:
Oh, this is so fun.

Sharon:
Oh, so what had the religious leaders so upset, Nicole?

Nicole:

I think they couldn’t control this at all. There was no way they could squash this. There was no way they could brush it aside. The healed man was standing there on his heeled ankles and feet. Everyone had seen it. They couldn’t even punish Peter and John without causing a riot. They couldn’t control this anymore.

Sharon:
Yes. I think it got them freaked out.

Nicole:
Right. No one’s listening. We’ve lost our authority and our control over the people.

Sharon:

Yes. And then when they bring Peter and John in, what does Peter do? Tell the same thing again, right? Yeah. There’s no other name except Jesus’ name.

Nicole:
There’s no name. Yep. So, I think that’s kind of neat.

Sharon:
Yeah. They’re pretty unhappy about it.

Nicole: They are.

Sharon:

I love that these, quote, untrained men spoke with such confidence. They weren’t intimidated at all. Peter’s like, let me just keep witnessing here. Okay, I was talking to the people over in the colonnade that were all excited about the healing of the lame man. Cool. You arrested me. Now I got more people to tell. So let me tell you too, oh my goodness.

Nicole:
He doesn’t miss a beat. And again, it’s with so much boldness and confidence. He’s just bursting.

Sharon:
He can’t not talk about it.

Nicole:

No, with talking about the greatness of God and what he has done. It’s so neat to watch him just like, okay, (Sharon: It’s so neat) I’ll tell you guys too, guess what just happened? (Exactly) Like they said, we can’t stop telling about everything we’ve seen and heard. We can’t.

Sharon:

They can’t. They knew they had seen Jesus alive again, and they also knew that they’d been called as witnesses. That was Jesus’ direct command to them. You are to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world. That’s their mission and commission. So.

Nicole:
So they were doing it.

Sharon:
Yeah. How could they be silent then?

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:

They could not be. So what’s the guiding principle here? When do we obey God? Even if it means conflicting with an earthly authority figure.

Nicole:

That’s so tough, isn’t it? I think if someone in authority over us has us directly disobey God and directly disobey the call and command on our life from God, we can’t obey that. If they have us do something that is against God’s word or something that would hurt somebody, or in this case it would stop spreading what God said, you are my witnesses. Go and tell everyone about me. (Sharon: Right. Right) If they said, no, you can’t do it anymore, they can’t stop telling, God directly commanded them to do this.

Sharon: Exactly so.

Nicole:

We are committed to love. We are committed to be kind. We are committed to speak the truth. We can’t stop doing that.

Sharon: No.

Nicole:

If our country suddenly had a decree that Christianity is outlawed and we can’t speak about God anymore, we would have to disobey that.

Sharon:

We would, we absolutely would. And here’s, that’s our exception clause. If we’re forbidden to speak about Jesus. Well, we’re gonna speak about Jesus to our death.

Nicole:

Yes. Because if we don’t speak about him, others will die without knowing him. And that’s a worse crime than us speaking Jesus’ name and possibly getting killed for it.

Sharon:
Yes. Exactly.

Nicole:

Not pleasant.

Sharon:
Not pleasant.

Nicole:

Not easy. But it’s true. If you weigh it in light of eternity, is what I’m punished for or I’m doing now, going to affect someone else’s eternity.

Sharon:

Yeah. Yeah. And the death of the martyrs brought more people to faith in Christ because they (Nicole: Amazing) wouldn’t stop talking. (Right) Because they knew Jesus was alive and well. (Yes) And they knew that the only name by which people could be saved was his beautiful name.

Nicole:
And that gave so much validation and so much power to what Jesus had done through their death.

Sharon: Exactly.

Nicole:

Because like you have said, people won’t die, like they’ll hold onto a lie for a little bit or to a fun story, but they won’t give up their lives for anything less than the absolute truth.

Sharon:

Right. Absolutely. So that’s really cool. And other places where I think disobedience is allowed, I think if a child even was told by a parent to murder someone they shouldn’t obey that.

Nicole: True.

Sharon:
Right. I mean, that’s a command from God. Thou shalt not murder.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

And I think there are limits to obedience, and they are when they directly conflict with what God’s word said. I remember telling a relative of Ray’s who will remain nameless, that I declared all my piano earnings.

Nicole: Oh, yeah.

Sharon:

And she said, that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. They would never know how much piano you taught. That’s just stupid. And I sat there looking at her thinking, well, oh, well, that’s what’s right to do.

Nicole:
Right, right. It’s what I’ve been asked to do. Yeah.

Sharon:

And I need to do it. Right. So, you know, people are not always gonna agree with our choices. If we’re asked to lie for an employer?

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
I don’t think that even if they’re our authority as our employer, we don’t lie.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:
Things like that, you know. Obey God over man.

Nicole:

Yes. And I think even in a marriage or in friendship, if a marriage, if your husband asks you to do something (Sharon: Yes) that is against God’s commands and against the Bible, you don’t do it.

Sharon:
You don’t do it.

Nicole:

You don’t steal for him. You don’t lie for him. (Sharon: No) Whatever it is. (Right) Whatever God has commanded us. The Ten Commandments, starting with those. (Yeah) If it goes against God’s Ten Commandments. (Right) We definitely should not obey earthly authorities over that.

Sharon:
Right. We must obey God over man.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

Now, when you’re asked to carry a backpack a mile, there’s no law about, no command against doing that, then we are kind and we carry it too.

Nicole:

Yes.

Sharon:

You know, a lot of times we submit to silly things because it’s not violating a law of God. We may not like it. We may think it’s silly, but we still do it.

Nicole:

Right. And doing it, so a silly kind of side note, the school we go to, we drive through a neighborhood where there’s another school right there, and some of the parents have been complaining, I think I’ve mentioned this before about this, the PCA parents speeding through. Well now some of us PCA moms are trying to go even like right exactly at the speed limit and stop for every crosswalk and let extra people out. (Sharon: Aw) Because it’s going that extra mile. (Yes, exactly) Like sometimes there’s nobody there, and I’m driving through at 20 going, I could easily do 35. (Right) And no one would see me, (Right, right) but I will go 20 because God calls us to do the extra silly thing sometimes.

Sharon:
That’s the extra sillies.

Nicole:

Because they’ll see that one mom with my PCA sticker on my trunk going slow and no one else is there. Maybe that changes her heart toward Christians.

Sharon:
Exactly. Exactly.

Nicole:
And that’s why we do the extra mile with the soldier.

Sharon:
Exactly, for the Lord’s sake.

Nicole:

For the Lord’s sake. Not for our own. I get nothing for going 20 miles an hour. No one’s watching me except

Sharon:
Except irritated.

Nicole:

Except irritated and a little bit late. But what does it do for God’s kingdom? And it does do something for me actually, because it teaches me to obey.

Sharon: Exactly.

Nicole:

And get over myself.

Sharon:
I have to get over myself daily. It’s so sad

Nicole:
All the time.

Sharon:

Okay. Well, what was my favorite verse this time? My favorite verse was verse 10. It says this, “Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, the man you crucified by whom God raised from the dead”. I feel like that said it all.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

In that one verse, Peter said all the things. And he said it clearly and he said it boldly and he was gonna continue saying it. And we can never not say that ourselves.

Nicole:
No, we can’t. I love it.

Sharon:
How about you?

Nicole:
I know, that whole section was so exciting. I love when Peter just got all—,

Sharon:
Oh man, I know it.

Nicole:

So 12. “There is salvation in no one else. God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” So I think that it’s just kind of neat proclaiming too, the leaders too. The ones that thought they were so special and they were called and set apart by God. (Sharon: Right, right) To testify in front of them. There’s salvation in no one else. You can’t save yourself, spiritual leaders.

Sharon:
The law can’t save you.

Nicole:
The law can’t save you trying to appear good. It’s only through God’s wonderful name.

Sharon:

Yes. So clear. Yeah. So clear and so simple.

Nicole:
And so simple. Yep. I just love his boldness there.

Sharon:
I do too. Well, what did you learn about God from this passage, Nicole?

Nicole:
God gives us what we need when we need it.

Sharon:
Yes, he does.

Nicole:

How did their day start out? Going to a prayer meeting? It was interrupted by miracles in crowds and an impromptu sermon, and then dragged to a council meeting to be prosecuted.

Sharon:
After being in prison overnight.

Nicole:

After being in prison. Like this was quite an episode for these two guys. They were ready and their words came and this wasn’t just Peter, this was God speaking through him. (Sharon: Yes) And what an impact and what a beautiful message we have today to read. God equips them. And I love that He never abandons them on, you know? They didn’t get to where they were going that day, but God had a whole other side adventure and he was with them through it all.

Sharon:

And it was an adventure that lasted a day. (Nicole: Yes) Really, I guess. Right. They were kept overnight. So that’s so cool.

Nicole:
That’s true. I love that he prevails over all of the silly nonsense.

Sharon: He does.

Nicole:

the authorities and some of the rules, that through all God’s word still gets out. Like you have to stop talking about God. No, we can’t.

Sharon: We can’t.

Nicole:

We can’t stop talking.

Sharon:
Yep. Yep. And they didn’t lie. They didn’t say they would stop and then go out and talk about ’em.

Nicole:
Right. They were honest.

Sharon:

They said, no, actually we can’t do that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So cool. Yeah.I added, there’s only one name, one Savior, Jesus.

Nicole: Yes.

Sharon:

And we cannot deny his name. And that is repeated. Jesus would say that he who denies me, I will deny him before my Heavenly Father.

Nicole:
Yes. That is sort of an ironclad thing. Christians aren’t allowed to lie about loving Jesus.

Nicole: No.

Sharon:
We have to say it.

Nicole:

Yeah. That’s a black part of the Bible, the black and white part. That’s very clear. We do not deny his name.

Sharon:
We don’t so that’s just it.

Nicole:
And it’s a very powerful name. Look at all the things it can do in this message.

Sharon:
Yes. I know it. So what did you learn about the early church and how can we apply that today?

Nicole:

The early church had a lot of movement, a lot of adventure still. I feel like our daily walk with God is not quite so tumultuous and quite so adventurous.

Sharon:
I’m actually okay with that.

Nicole:

Yeah. We have a more predictable, kind of like a steadier path with God now. Like this is, wow, what a two days for these guys? So I think what I learned from them is that flexibility and that willingness to go where God leads them. This was definitely not the path they set out in, but they went with it. They spoke boldly. And you’d mentioned this earlier. They were honest. They didn’t tell the leaders, oh no, yeah, we’ll stop talking about God.

Sharon: Wink, wink.

Nicole:

Right. And then sneak out and do it. They were honest. They honored God in everything they did, even if it could have gotten them in some serious trouble. (Sharon: Yeah) They didn’t know that by saying, actually, we can’t stop talking about God, that their lives wouldn’t end today.

Sharon: Exactly.

Nicole:

They didn’t know. And they could have kind of justified the lie, like, well, maybe we should tell a lie so we can still keep getting God’s word out because you can see it’s easy to justify that.

Sharon: Yes.

Nicole:
But they didn’t.

Sharon:
They didn’t. They just said, Nope, we can’t stop talking about him.

Nicole:
They stuck to the truth and what God had told them.

Sharon:
That would be such a fun song. You should write it. Can’t stop talking about him.

Nicole:
Oh, I like that. And I do like to talk. So it’d be very fitting.

Sharon:
That’s so good. Yeah.

Nicole:
What did you learn about the early church?

Sharon:
Well, that their focus was to bear witness, that testimonies matter.

Nicole: Oh yeah.

Sharon:

And you know, that’s one thing I do love about our church home is that we often have people get up and testify and give testimonies.

Nicole:
I love that.

Sharon:
The personal story. And you know, Peter’s like, we saw him live after he was dead. We can’t unsee that.

Nicole: Right.

Sharon:

And he told us to do this, and we can’t not do what a dead man who lives told us to do. Testimonies matter. And their testimony and their rigid decision to stand by what happened and not be swayed no matter what people said to them is what built the church. And my goodness, they went from 3000 at Pentecost now to 5,000.

Nicole: I know.

Sharon:
It’s just exponentially growing.

Nicole:
It’s growing so much. I know it’s so exciting.

Sharon:
It’s so fun to see.

Nicole:

They all believed. And they believed ’cause they were arrested in there. Like they were able to bring more people to Jesus. (Sharon: Yes( Because again, they just faithfully kept to their path.

Sharon:

They kept to the path that they were told to do. So we have to always testify to our Jesus. So, oh, so good. Well, let us pray. Oh, heavenly Father, thank you just for the excitement of reading about the early church, the wow factor as Peter and John get arrested, and yet still say, we will speak of you, Jesus. We will speak of your fame and your name and your saving power. Oh Lord God, forgive us when we just get hum drum. Help us to have that same enthusiasm that we want to proclaim. That you are King, you are Savior, you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Use us this week, Lord. Give us a willingness to speak boldly and opportunities to do so. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Nicole:

Amen. Have you ever had to go against authority legitimately because they ask you to do something you knew Jesus would not want you to do? Write us and tell us about it. Or if you’re in a difficult situation now and would like prayer, we’d be honored to pray for you. You can contact us by email at sharon@sweetselah.org. If you’d like to support this ministry and the work we do to share the Bible and practical application each week, please consider donating even a tiny bit a month. Every bit helps, and it’s so valued by all of us at Sweet Selah Ministries. You can donate at sweetselah.org/donations. We hope you’ll come back next week for episode 132, United in Christ. Have a great week.

Speaker 1:

We are so glad you stopped for a while with us. The Sweet Selah Moments Podcast is a cooperative production of Word Radio and Sweet Selah Ministries. More information about this podcast can be found @sweetselah.org. Thank you for joining us.