You can't stop Jesus

“The Annoyance of Christian Preaching”

(Acts 4:1-4, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, April 3, 2011)

4:1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,

2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

And as they were speaking... (1)

It has always been dangerous to speak for God. There are some in any era who are true “sons of the prophets.” They want to hear the Word of God. But there are also those who are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. In the days of Jesus' suffering, those authorities who wanted to see the prophetic Word in the Christian movement snuffed out, thought that they had achieved a decisive victory in the death of Jesus of Nazareth on the cross. But now here we are centuries later boasting in the cross of Christ. You be the judge. Who won that fight?

Some of the very same men that were against the Lord who died on that cross, were now expressing their dissatisfaction with Peter and John. It did not take centuries for the priests and those who were in charge of the temple, the Sadducees, to see that they had not achieved their goal in the death of Christ. The spread of the Christian movement in Jerusalem was notable, and now with the healing of a man who was lame from birth right within the temple precinct, it appeared that the followers of Jesus were about to experience another influx of hundreds of Jews who had changed their minds about Jesus.

You may remember that this priestly party, the ones in charge of temple operations, known as the Sadducees, had sent people to Jesus during His ministry attempting to embarrass him. They were the ones who asked Christ the question about the woman who had been married to several brothers, each one dying and being replaced by the next brother in accord with the Law of Moses. Their question: “In the resurrection, whose wife will the woman be?” His answer: “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.”

Greatly annoyed... (2)

These same men who tried to make Jesus look foolish, were greatly annoyed by the fact of Christian preaching. It had to be annoying that these unlearned men, these two fishermen, Peter and John, were preaching at all. They may have been amused by the simple belief of these unsophisticated men in the doctrine of the resurrection of dead. But even their colleagues and co-belligerents among the competing party, the Pharisees, believed in a coming day of resurrection.

The Sadducees were not greatly annoyed just because Peter and John were preaching, or just because they held to the teaching of a coming resurrection from the dead. There was something else that was most especially annoying to them. The resurrection preaching of Peter and John was Messianic preaching, Christian preaching, and the specific Messiah or Christ that they were preaching was the man that the Sadducees thought they had defeated, Jesus of Nazareth. What greatly annoyed them was that these two men were proclaiming IN JESUS, the resurrection from the dead. It is this one man, Jesus, who makes Christian preaching greatly annoying to those who are against God's singular provision of a Substitute to take away the sins of the world.

Preaching in Jesus the resurrection draws attention to the cross of Christ and his empty tomb. It is in Him, in His death, and in His resurrection, that God has given true hope for all who call upon His Name. To have a theory of life after death is not particularly offensive. To believe that resurrection blessings are found in Jesus alone is a doctrine that some people are not willing to tolerate. The authorities among the Sadducees were unwilling to tolerate those who were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. They found this kind of Christian preaching very annoying, and they got worked up about it.

And they arrested them... (3)

What to do? They were not without weapons, since they were in charge, within limits, of the temple district. They arrested these men. But would this work?

It did not stop the Word of God from reaching His people in the days of Jeremiah and beyond when the prophet was lowered down into a muddy pit. More recently, the enemies of Jesus did not stop the progress of the gospel by turning Jesus over to the Romans to be killed on a cross. No one can stop the annoyance of Christian preaching by arresting the apostles or their followers. God has His ways of making His salvation known to the ends of the earth.

This is not a lesson that the proud easily embrace. The enemies of the Galilean Savior want to express their annoyance. They also want to believe, along with Pilate, that they have the ultimate authority over life and death in their time and place. But like Pilate, they should seriously consider these words: “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” They would soon find out that there were severe limits to their ability to stop the progress of the Christian movement.

But many of those who had heard... (4)

They arrested two men. Maybe they thought that through those detentions they would show everyone who was in charge. But look at verse 4: “Many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.” Two put out of the way... Many more raised up to take their places. Kill one martyr... How many more will hear and believe before the day is even over? And what happens to that one that intolerant oppressors kill? He is now reigning with Christ in heaven. What impact will he have there?

No weapon formed against the Lord and His people will prosper. Here is what the Lord says through Isaiah: “Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy.” He is in charge of that. But hear this: “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

Jesus shall reign. Christian preaching may be annoying, but it cannot be stopped. And no one can keep the Lord from returning to rescue His people in their hour of greatest need.

1. Who were the authorities who came against the apostles?

2. Why were they greatly annoyed by the teaching and preaching of Peter?

3. Was it reasonable to arrest Peter and John?

4. Was great annoyance the only reaction to Peter's preaching?

OT Passage: Jeremiah 38:1-6