The sermon 'Refusing to Be Silent' by Trent Moody, based on Acts 4:5-22, focuses on the boldness of Peter and John in proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ despite threats from religious leaders. The sermon begins with the context of Acts 4, where Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, declares the healing of a man was done in the name of Jesus Christ. The religious leaders, astonished by the boldness of these uneducated men, realized they had been with Jesus but sought to silence them. Moody draws parallels between the first-century context and today's society, emphasizing the need to speak the truth boldly in a morally relativistic and intolerant culture. He highlights that true boldness comes from confidence in God's Word, not personal arrogance, and urges believers to proclaim the gospel with humility, recognizing their own need for salvation. The sermon critiques pride, ignorance, and insanity in contemporary culture and calls Christians to refuse to be silent in the face of evil, echoing the sentiment of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Moody concludes by charging believers to preach the Word of God boldly, emphasizing that God's authority supersedes earthly commands and that the ultimate goal is the glorification of Jesus Christ.

Acts chapter 4, I would like to begin with a little bit more context. So we'll back up to verse 5. Acts chapter 4 verse 5. My primary text this morning will be verses 13 through 22. Acts 5, or excuse me, Acts 4 verse 5.

Thus says the word of the Lord, And it came to pass on the next day that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power or by what name have you done this? And then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by What means he has been made well? Let it be known to you all and to all of the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go outside, to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? For indeed that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.

So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether is it right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God you judge? For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people since they all glorified God for what had been done. For the man was over 40 years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.

For faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Let us pray. Our gracious most holy father, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we have come this morning to worship Jesus Christ And Father through the reading and the preaching of your Word we pray that you would answer the prayer that we sang only moments ago. Show us Christ. Lord till every heart be converted till all of the world bows their knee and confesses with their tongue that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

And Lord today I pray that you would show us Lord what was behind these Apostles, what was in them, What was it about them that gave them such boldness to stand before rulers and proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord? And Lord may you grant us the same spirit that we would also without shame and without fear that we would stand boldly and confidently before all men to tell them that Jesus Christ is Lord because Lord there is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved. And so Lord help us to preach the light in the darkness and we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated.

Refusing to be silent. Refusing to be silent. This is my title for this this morning and I believe it really captures the heart and the spirit of the apostles here, Peter and John. They refused to be silent in the face of those who would look at them in the eyes and tell them to sit down and shut up. They would not.

The only thing not tolerated in our tolerant society is the intolerance of not tolerating tolerance. Think on that one. We live in a time not so different from the first century. There's really nothing new under the sun. The most hated speech in a morally relativistic society is to speak the truth boldly.

There is no greater hatred than that. And at the same time, the most hated speech in a group of highly educated elites is any speech that crushes their narrative, especially when that narrative crusher does not have the right credentials. We have here this morning two men without the right credentials, according to man's standards, standing before these highly educated men and telling them you're dead wrong. There are three words that I believe that describe our culture and this one that we are reading about. There may be more but this is what comes to my mind.

Proud, ignorant, and insane. We actually have parades to promote pride. We have more access to the word of God than any other time in history, and yet we are the most biblically illiterate. And we have turned mental illness into a virtue and seek to put the sane in asylums. We are proud, we are ignorant, and we are insane.

Brothers and sisters we live in such a time however this morning I want to encourage you to never be afraid to speak the truth of God's Word. What we possess in The Word of God is the truth that this world needs to hear. We're not here just to proclaim our own proudness. We're not just here to proclaim that we are smarter than you. We're here to proclaim that Jesus Christ has come to save sinners of whom we are the chief.

We are the ones that needed Christ. We are just the beggars who have found that bread and we want to give them the living bread. We have found the living waters and we want them to have the living waters. And so as we stand boldly to proclaim the gospel, we must do it with the humility of realizing that we need it just as much as they. I want to encourage you to never back down and never be silent when the truth is in your mouth.

In the face of threats, whether they be empty or whether they be real, refuse to be silent. Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said, silence in the face of evil is evil itself. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.

You see there is an evil in our day and we must speak the truth in the face of lies. We cannot remain silent. Too many Christians who possess the truth refuse to speak the truth. We need to be as bold as lions and at the same time compassionate as our Lord Jesus Christ was compassionate. But unfortunately too many interpret the words speaking the truth in love as meaning sit down and be quiet.

We are being told to keep our religion out of the public square, but this is not what the apostles did. This is not what John the Baptist did. This is not what the prophets of old did, and this is not what Jesus Christ did. We have been called to be witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ not only in this town but in every town and in every country and nation around this world that we would boldly proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ And I pray and I tell you we must speak. May God give us the boldness of Peter and John to proclaim the truth wherever we go.

We pick up our text this morning in verse 13 right in the middle of these apostles bold witness of Jesus Christ in the face of those Jewish people Jewish leaders in the public square this was Solomon's porch this was the place of activity among the Jews and this is what would not be tolerated. So let's pick up with verses 13 and 14 and let us read. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. You see what we have here first is we see these religious leaders' assessment of Peter and John.

They are looking, they're engaging into what they had just witnessed. They had arrested these men and now they're assessing what they had seen and this is what they saw. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, you see the boldness of Peter and John was one of the first things that struck these religious leaders. It was their their boldness to speak the truth. But what was this boldness?

I do not believe that it was the arrogance of their own wisdom. I do not believe that it was the arrogance of their own wisdom. I do not believe that it was some form of pride in which they were boasting in themselves because in fact we just saw that they would not take the credit of healing this lame man but they said this is the work of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And as we proclaim the truth, brothers and sisters, we have nothing in which to boast. We boast in Christ.

We will tell them that Christ has done this. Christ has saved me. Christ has redeemed me. Christ has forgiven me of my sin, and He will forgive you if you will repent and believe in the gospel. And we must be bold.

So this boldness that they had was again not in their own arrogance or in their own wisdom but it was in their confidence in the truth of the Word of God. That's not being proud. The Bible actually tells us to come boldly before the throne of grace and we are to preach boldly the Word of God. Not because we are something, but because He is everything. He is Christ.

He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of lords. Notice what they said. Here is in which I believe that they saw the boldness of Peter and John so strongly. Back in verses 11 and 12, they look at these religious leaders and they say, this is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.

Think about this just for a moment. These two fishermen stood in front of these well-educated religious leaders and they told them the meaning of Psalm 118. So often what was noted about religious leaders during these days was not their certainty and was not their confidence in the Word of God and not their authority in the Word of God. They had all the different teachings of the rabbis, this rabbi says this and this teacher says that, and now you have two fishermen coming to say this is the stone which you builders rejected. Can you imagine what these highly educated religious elites must have felt it like?

Who are you? Have you even studied the original languages? Have you gone to seminary? Have you done all of these things? No, but we're fishermen and we've been with Jesus.

You see, I'm not against well-educated people unless all of that education goes to their head and their head becomes so big that they're basically useless when it comes to ministering of the gospel and preaching the gospel and ministering to people. We need to take these truths and we need to bring them into such a format in such a way that edifies the body of Christ and exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, it's not what they felt it meant. These religious leaders did not understand that the stone which was rejected was Jesus Christ. But here we have Peter and John, they told them who the stone was.

They told them that you are the builders and you rejected the chief cornerstone. Can you imagine how they must have felt when they realized and were being accused that Jesus Christ was the chief cornerstone and that they are the ones who crucified the Messiah? Then they said that every other way of salvation including their way was wrong and would not lead to deliverance and salvation. How intolerant and arrogant is that? Well, It's not intolerant and it's not arrogant if it's true.

And it is. How close-minded and intolerant they must have thought. These people here think they have the only way. How could they presume to say such things? They said it because it was true.

They said it because Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by me. They said it because Jesus is God. They said it because all authority in heaven and on earth is his. And then they said that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the great I Am.

Now where did I get this? Remember what the question that these religious leaders had asked Peter and John back in verse 7. Look with me in verse 7. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked them by what power or by what name have you done this? Where did you get your authority?

This is reminiscent of what was said to Moses back in Exodus 3 and verse 13. Moses said to God, indeed when I come to the children of Israel and say to them the God of your fathers has sent me to you and they say to me what is his name? What shall I say to them? Now in other words they wanted to know who it was that gave them the authority to say this and to lead these people out of bondage from Egypt. The most powerful people on the face of the earth held them captive so who was it that was going to command them to leave.

Well in verse 14, and God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I am has sent me to you. Moreover, God said to Moses, thus you shall say to the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever and this is my memorial to all generations." This is very reminiscent of what Peter had just been preaching to them. The God and Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

This is the one who has come to you, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and you have crucified him." They were declaring to the Jews that Jesus is the great I Am. They did this miracle in the name of the covenant God whom these Jewish leaders thought that they worshiped but in fact did not. They needed to turn their focus and attention and faith upon the person of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God-man who has come into the flesh to save them from their sins. And I do want to note that in this whole passage, I don't want you to lose it because this is a pretty much refusing to be quiet. This is a motivational pow, you know, that we really want to go out and preach the gospel, but I want you to realize something.

They did not neglect to actually preach the gospel. You think, yeah, you say we're going to preach the gospel, but sometimes we can get so wound up in things that we forget that this person is not our enemy. The person that we're speaking to is actually not the enemy of our souls. They're the ones that actually need the gospel. They're the ones that need to hear that if you repent and turn from your sins and trust in Jesus Christ, you too can be saved.

That if you will call upon the name of the Lord, you can be saved and delivered from your sins. You see these people need to be saved and these religious leaders, I want you to notice that they were amazed at the authority or the boldness in which they spoke, Peter and John, much like their Lord. Jesus spoke with this same type of authority. We see this in Luke chapter 4 verse 31, and he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority." That is much like what Peter and John are doing here.

Remember Peter and John are those who didn't really have a whole lot of boldness before the Spirit of God came. We've talked about this, but now that the Holy Spirit of God, remember in verse 8, then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, it was the power of the Holy Spirit working in their hearts that gave them such boldness to be able to proclaim such truth in the face of these religious leaders. Not only did they perceive their boldness, but they perceived something else, that they were uneducated and untrained men. The first word used here means that they had not been educated as a scribe and had not studied the law and other sacred writings. They were not well learned.

The second word means one without office or calling. So in other words, what was they were a common man. The idea is the meaning of ignorance and incapacity and it is where we get our word idiot from. This is how they looked at Peter and John, untrained and idiotic. They had no office, they had no authority to speak, so that's why they ask him, by what authority do you do this?

Because you have no credentials. Matthew Poole makes this very interesting statement. He says, they were unlearned, not wholly unlearned, but such as were without any polite learning, or more than ordinary education, such as everyone amongst them had. Ignorant men, idiots, so the Greek word, from whence ours come, signifying such as were brought up at home, may I add they were homeschooled, and never acted in a larger sphere than the walls of their own house. Listen, having never been magistrates or teachers of the law or any way public persons and spake only their mother's tongue.

Can I just say, praise God? They had not been confused and they have not been warped by the higher education of their day. They did not see any credentials and therefore did not see any authority of what they had said. But what they did realize was this. These people were, these religious leaders, they were not perfectly ignorant in their assessment.

They were very concerned and they saw that they were very bold to speak the truth publicly and even in their face. Now I want you to remember something, this group or these religious leaders, we're talking about seventy plus people. Peter and John and the healed man. I don't call him the lame man because he's healed. He's the healed man standing in front of them.

And here they are boldly proclaiming the truth, but they did notice something else. You see they noticed that these men did not have the credentials, but one thing that they did not realize is that they were sent ones. They were apostles. See Paul in 1st Corinthians 2.13 says, these things we also speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.

But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. At this, uneducated and untrained men they marveled, because though they were uneducated and untrained, yet they spoke with boldness, being filled with the Holy Spirit, but the thing that they noticed was this, that these religious elites noticed that these men had been with Jesus. They had been with Jesus. That's what he says, and they realized they had been with Jesus.

The difference is not about how much education that a man has or what position that a man holds. You may have so many degrees that you can have a fever, but if you've not been with Jesus, you have nothing. You need more than anything else to be with Jesus. Peter and John had been with Jesus. They had been trained by Jesus.

They ate with Jesus. They slept beside Jesus. They walked with Jesus. They had heard the preaching of Jesus. And now they were filled with the Spirit of the living God because Jesus Christ sent him, verse 8, and Peter being filled with the Holy Spirit spoke to these men.

That's what made the difference. It was not that they were not educated enough. They just needed a little bit more training. It was that they were filled with the Spirit of God and they were preaching the word of God under the authority of the Son of God. And when they did that the things begin to happen and the religious leaders took note.

These men have been with Jesus. The religious and educated elite could not withstand them. This is in somewhat of a prophecy of what Jesus had told them earlier in Luke 21. He says, but before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake, but it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.

Therefore, settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all of your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist." This is the fulfillment of what Jesus is saying here. Here we have Peter and John and they're standing there and they're speaking these truths and these religious elites cannot resist them. They can threaten them but they have no logical reasonable excuses for what has just happened. They can't explain it.

What calls these leaders to be so upset and to put them in custody was that they brought their teaching, the Sadducees teaching, into disrepute. In other words, Peter and John were taking what the world tells us, you keep this religion of yours in the four walls of the church and you will be just fine. We like you there. You can be if you will, and I mean this in the most appropriate way possible, you would be in your little religious ghetto. We will keep you where your word does not go outside of the walls.

That's where the world is very comfortable with us being Christians. We need to be willing to speak the word of God in the public square. That's what really got these religious leaders upset. In verse 2 we read, and being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. They were upset because they were teaching the people and They were upset because they were teaching the people.

And they were upset because they were contradicting their doctrine that there is a resurrection from the dead and Jesus Christ is the first fruit of the resurrection of the dead. And we stand here to show you that this man who was laying, who is now healed is because of Jesus Christ of Nazareth who raised from the dead. And they did not know what to do with this. These religious leaders didn't have much to say. The healed man was standing before them.

Basically, they were standing in Solomon's porch, the Jewish public square, and they preached that Jesus was the authority that healed him. They could not deny it because the healed man was there. They could say nothing against it. Verse 14 tells us what could they say? There he stood.

They could not deny it. He's standing before them. How do they deny what was standing before them? But they would deny by what power this man was made whole. Brothers and sisters, we need to understand something, that this world may not deny that your life looks different from what it used to look to where it is now, But what they will deny is the power by which you were made different.

You must boldly proclaim to them that it is the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth that made all the difference. It was not a 12-step program that took me out of this thing. It was Jesus Christ who delivered me from the kingdom of darkness, and he picked me up and translated me into the kingdom of light. This is what made the difference, and they would not hear it. They cannot tolerate it because they hate God and they want to live outside of his laws and this is what Psalm 2 tells us very clearly.

Why do the nations rage and the people plot vain things? They want to cast off his bonds. But let me tell you something, you better kiss the son lest he be angry with you and you perish in the way. You see these people what they needed they thought was a good plan. We see their plan in verse 15, but when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves saying, what shall we do with these men?

Do you get the picture here? These men, these three men standing before these 70 plus men and these 70 plus religious and well-educated elite had nothing that they could come up with. Tell them to leave and let's brainstorm a little bit and figure out what are we going to do with these guys. How is that? Because Jesus Christ, through the Spirit of God, gave them wisdom that was greater than their enemies.

They needed not to plan out everything that they would say because the Spirit of God gave them wisdom when they needed it. You see again just picture this they're standing there and yet they think they have them right where they want them. They've got Peter and John and the healed man cornered. But what they didn't realize was is that they were the ones who were being cornered. The one who had the authority was now found to be the one who was under judgment.

The judges became the judged. They were in an unwinnable situation. So they cleared the council room, they put their heads together and they tried to figure out what to do to keep this from spreading any further because that's the main thing. We don't want their message getting out. Brothers and sisters we see the same things happening today.

It doesn't happen exactly in the same format. There are other formats that this is taking place with different algorithms to shut you down if you're trying to speak the truth. Oh you might put it on somewhere but it's not getting anywhere. That's why you need to use this thing. God gave you a mouth for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

He gave you a mouth to boldly proclaim the truth and to use these other means as well. But you must refuse to be silent. They don't know what to do with Peter and John. What shall we do with these men? Peter and John had not broken any laws.

It was undeniable that a miracle had been done, but they did not like what they said. They didn't mind as much the man being healed as much as who healed him. They could not tolerate that Peter and John were destroying the doctrine of the Sanhedrin by preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and that this Jesus whom they crucified was the Messiah. He was the stone that was rejected and had become the chief cornerstone. He had come to save them from their sins.

You remember what Jesus prayed as he was being crucified, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. You know pride is a terrible blinder. I don't know if you've ever been really overcome with pride. I think we all probably have in some form or fashion, but it is a terrible blinder to reality. Pride is a is a hardener of the heart towards the truth and it never ceases to amaze me at the links at which the human heart will go in order to hold on to its own opinions of reality.

A proud man cannot be saved. Yes, I said cannot. A proud man cannot be saved and I say it upon the authority of God's Word, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. James 4.6. Get this, these religious leaders acknowledge the miracle.

They acknowledge the miracle. What shall we do with these men for indeed a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it. You would think at that point in time they would humble themselves and say I need to find out who this stone is, the chief cornerstone. I need to learn who Jesus Christ is. I need to sit at the feet of these unlearned men so that they can tell me who Jesus is.

A notable miracle has been done, the whole city cannot deny it, but I'm going to deny the power of it. We're going to try to shut it down, we're going to try to turn it off, we're going to try to twist the algorithm. They tested these men and they found that they were better than they because they had been filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Do you see, I hope you see, that miracles do not have the power to convert a soul. They acknowledged it.

It's undeniable. They testified that a notable miracle had been done and that was ever evident to everyone. Now how do we stop them? Do you see how blinding pride can be? How about this?

Humble yourselves and repent and believe what the Apostles were preaching. There's a path forward. But they were more concerned about the story spreading than they were about their eternal souls. Verse 17, but so that it spreads no further among the people. More concerned about losing face than losing souls.

They came up with with a not so great plan. Worldly authorities, listen, they always do the same things. They're always going to come after you in the same ways. There's nothing new under the sun. Worldly authorities always try the same things.

They try to shut you up. And then if they can't shut you up, they will put you up. And if they can't put you up they will put you down. They will try to kill you. But guess what?

Fear not them who can kill the body, but rather fear Him who after He has killed the body can cast your soul into hell. We have no need of fear. You see their plan was to threaten them not to speak in the name of Jesus. That forbidden name It is still that forbidden name today. Let us severely threaten them They said and from now on that they speak to no man in this name verse 18 so they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor to teach in the name of Jesus.

I'm going to tell you it is the name of Jesus that causes the world to foment rage. When you attribute the power of the gospel and then you when you say that Jesus Christ is the Lord of Lords They cannot tolerate that They hate what that name stands for They hate that he is the ultimate authority. They reject it and they want to silence it, but as I have said probably a million times in Philippians 2 9, therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And in Acts 4 12, nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Brothers and sisters, this is our intolerant message. This is our exclusive message that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man will come to the Father except through him.

That is our message. The proud cannot accept this reality. That is why when our men go down to town councils in Wake Forest and they speak against pride parades in the name of Jesus, that they are seen as intolerant bigots because they call sin sin. This cannot be tolerated by the tolerant. And as I said earlier the only thing not tolerated in our tolerant society is the intolerance of not tolerating tolerance.

It makes perfect sense. God's people cannot and we will not be silent when it comes to the truth of God's Word. I refuse to be silent. Do you refuse to be silent? And I want to encourage every one of you to refuse to be silent in the face of tyranny and in the face of lying and in the face of false reality.

I want you to be willing to stand up boldly and compassionately and with great love in your heart for the desire to see a soul turn from darkness to light and be able to proclaim the truth of the gospel. That's my desire for you. But look at this, what a difference between the reasoning of these religious elite compared to the bold and reasonable response of Peter and John. You see, it's unreasonable to see a miracle and deny its power. But what Peter and John say is very reasonable.

Peter and John turned the tables on them. And they're standing there before their examiners and they ask them a question. Peter and John answered and said to them, whether is it right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge. If there was a mic, it would have been dropped. Here they are, they stood as judges over the apostles and now the accused ask the judges to judge for themselves.

Is it right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God? I wonder at this point, was there anyone amongst that group of religious leaders whose conscience began to prick them at that statement? Silently in the recesses of their own hearts did they know that these men were right. And yet because of pride or fear of man they refused to admit it. Peter's words were like a knife.

And I want you to know that they are the first statements of a long line throughout history of the church and in fact it helps to encourage and embolden Christians throughout church history to stand on this truth. They appeal to the conscience that has been informed by the reality of God. Their question, is it right in the sight of God? That's your question. Brothers and sisters, when you stand before the enemy, you need to ask yourself the question are they commanding you to disobey God and then you ask yourself Is this right in the sight of God?

Or are they forbidding you to obey God and you ask yourself the same question, would that be right in the sight of God? Because remember, these religious leaders are commanding them not to speak. In Acts chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus commanded them to speak. What are you going to do? What are you going to do?

We're getting real close to when the games are going to be over and you're going to have to ask yourself this question. What are you going to do? Will you stand for righteousness sake? Will you speak in the face of evil? Will you call out lies with the truth?

Will you stand for Jesus Christ alone when they will not tolerate that name? When it actually cost you something? And we'll see as we go through the book of Acts. In this first part, they didn't have a whole lot to go with their threats but later on they did. They had more that they were going to begin to pressure them with.

At first it's empty idle threats but later on it became much more serious even to the point of death. What will you do? We need to understand what Peter began with this great appeal to conscience before God. Their question, is it right in the sight of God? What do you think?

Would God judge as righteous a man who would disobey his commands? The answer is obviously no. It's never been right to disobey an order that God gives. In order to obey man. These apostles were under divine decree and divine command to testify of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And brothers and sisters, so are we. We are commanded. We are commanded to go. We are never to listen to any earthly authority when they either command what God forbids or forbid what God commands. That is illegitimate authority.

It is never right in the sight of God to disobey God. These religious leaders knew this, but they suppressed the truth and unrighteousness and they threatened them anyway. The apostles told them that they would continue to speak. Here again we see the boldness of the apostles. Look at what he says in verse 20.

For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. We cannot but speak. We cannot be silent. We refuse to be silent. We will speak the truth of God.

It reminds me much of Jeremiah back in Jeremiah 20. Jeremiah says, for when I spoke I cried out, I shouted violence and plunder because the word of the Lord was made to me a reproach and a derision daily. Everyone was mocking him because of the word of God. Jeremiah had a plan. Then I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name.

The plans of man do not always go the way they think they will. But his word was in my heart like a burning fire. Shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back and I could not. I could not hold it back.

Jeremiah tried not to speak but his message was a hard one but he could not hold it back. He could not refrain and just like the Apostles here they were telling them for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. My question to all of us is, Why are we so silent? Not everyone is silent and I don't mean you're always silent. But why are we so silent?

Why are we not like Peter and John more? For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. You see our God has put his word in our hearts and I pray that it will be like a fire shut up in every one of your bones. I pray that you cannot sleep unless you speak and I pray that God would that you would not be able but that you would be weary of holding it back and that you burst forth because you cannot hold it anymore. And that the commission of God would be Go, go, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them to observe all things that he has commanded you.

And to you men who have been called of God, I'm speaking to you men, who have been called of God to preach the gospel. This is God's word to you. I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season.

Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables but you be watchful in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry If God has called you to preach the Word, then preach the Word. Do not turn aside from the Word of God to lick your finger and stick it into the wind of popular opinion to see what you should say based upon what people think you should say. Speak the word of God and preach the word of God and may no other opinion matter to you than the opinion of God whether is it right in the sight of God. That is the question that you must ask yourself.

These religious leaders had nothing to say except to threaten them. And so when they had further threatened them, They let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of the people. They feared the people. Thanks be to God the people were right this time. Wasn't that long ago the people were saying, crucify him, crucify him.

But now, by the grace of God, they all glorified God for what had been done. And that's the miracle of the gospel. That's the miracle of the working of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word. That people would be converted and changed from one who says crucify him to saying praise God from whom all blessings come. That's what we need is men who will boldly proclaim I am so sick and tired of so many professing preachers who are so handi-pandy that will not stand on the Word of God and preach it like it is.

Speak the truth brothers. They have no way of punishing them. They feared the people because public opinion was more of a powerful influence than the opinions of God. They had nothing to say because the man stood in front of them who had been healed by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. They had idle threats.

They were like a pit bulldog that's had his teeth pulled. Lots of bark and lots of slobber, but no pain, yet. So brothers and sisters, as we go forth from here, three things I want you to remember. I want you and want to encourage you to be as bold as a lion when you stand on the truth of God's Word. You have no need of fear.

By what authority do you say these things? The authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Number two, will it be said of you? They have been with Jesus. I don't know about their education, I don't know about their titles and their credentials, and I don't care.

That man, that woman has been with Jesus. And Lastly, refuse to be silent when the threats of men contradict the commandments of God and speak the truth. Speak the truth. Refuse to be silent. Let's pray.

Our gracious God and Father, oh Lord, would you grant us such a feeling of the Holy Spirit and such boldness to proclaim the truth of your word in the face of the enemies of God. Lord, I pray that your word would go forth and cover the earth as the oceans cover the sea, and I pray, oh God, that the glory of God would fill the earth. And I pray that every tribe and tongue and nation will hear of this glorious gospel and that many millions, Lord, as we see in Revelation chapter 5, many millions and millions of millions would be around your throne giving you the glory and honor that you so rightly deserve. And may Jesus Christ be praised from now and to forever. And we ask it in His holy and worthy name.

Amen.