As we go through\u00a0the\u00a0Book of Acts, I keep thinking about the beggar that Peter and John healed in Acts 3, and how that one act draws a greater and greater crowd with increasing levels of influence and resistance culminating with the\u00a0believers\u00a0praying for boldness before the nations.<\/p>\n
Here are 2 observations from chapters 3 and 4:<\/span><\/p>\n It starts with a beggar at the\u00a0beautiful\u00a0gate. Isn’t that an image–a man crippled for 40 years sitting at the gate called beautiful. He is about to be physically restored, and it is done in the name of Jesus. (Acts 3:6) He is about to be a living, breathing, walking, and talking illustration of Jesus’s power and provision. Think back to Luke 5:17-26 for a very similar event, but that time it was Jesus performing the miracle.<\/p>\n Miracles make news travel fast, and a crowd gathers and they see this man who they pass by daily\u00a0walking\u00a0around. They stare at Peter and John (3:12), but Peter and John want them to see who is responsible. “The God of Abraham, Isaac and\u00a0Jacob, The God of our Fathers who has glorified His servant Jesus” (3:13).<\/strong><\/p>\n Just in case there was any doubt where the focus should be, the name of\u00a0Jesus\u00a0is referenced 9 times in these two chapters (3:6, 16, 4:7, 8, 12, 17, 18, 30), and this is exactly what got the apostles into trouble.<\/p>\n The guards and Sadducees came, and then the apostles were put in jail. They were brought before the rulers, the elders, and the teachers of the law as well as the high priest. The leaders were not upset that Peter and John were\u00a0doing\u00a0miracles and\u00a0healing\u00a0people; they just didn’t want it done in the name of\u00a0Jesus and\u00a0referencing\u00a0the resurrection of the dead (4:2, 17)<\/p>\n It started with a lame\u00a0beggar\u00a0at the beautiful gate\u00a0healed\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0name of Jesus. Crowds gathered, and now the apostles are\u00a0speaking\u00a0the name of Jesus before the high priests. Peter’s words cut to the core of the issue:<\/p>\n “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (4:12)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Everyone, including the high priest, must wrestle with the name of\u00a0Jesus\u00a0and see their\u00a0need for him.<\/p>\n This\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to speak about the name of\u00a0Jesus\u00a0started with Peter healing the\u00a0beggar, but it quickly escalated to speaking before the people and\u00a0the\u00a0leaders. Now after Peter and John return to the the\u00a0other\u00a0believers and tell them what they had gone through, and the\u00a0resistance\u00a0from the leaders, the people pray.<\/p>\n When God’s people meet\u00a0resistance, the first\u00a0response\u00a0should be to pray–not to rally the\u00a0troops, not to give an impassioned motivational speech, not to brainstorm human solutions, but to pray.<\/p>\n It is interesting how the\u00a0believers\u00a0start that prayer by appealing to the\u00a0sovereignty\u00a0of the Lord (4:24). They quote David\u00a0speaking\u00a0about how the nations gather together against the Lord, and how Herod and Pontius Pilot conspired against the Lord, but at the end of the day God is in control. Luke records,\u00a0“<\/strong>They did what your power and will had\u00a0decided\u00a0beforehand should happen” (4:28).<\/em><\/p>\n When there is\u00a0resistance\u00a0to the name of Christ, a recognition of the\u00a0sovereignty\u00a0of God and His plan is of utmost importance. Furthermore,\u00a0that\u00a0sovereignty\u00a0is to be the motivation for God’s people to act and to “speak God’s word with great boldness” (4:29).<\/em><\/p>\n1. The name of Jesus is brought before more and more people so that they\u00a0might see the\u00a0significance\u00a0of who He is and what He has done.<\/h2>\n
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2.God’s\u00a0sovereignty\u00a0is the basis for\u00a0believers\u00a0to ask for boldness<\/h2>\n