Good morning! Today we begin a new sermon series called “Living without Fear!”  I’ve got a little video to get us started….

 

A few things about fear before we get started.  First, not all aspects of fear are negative. Fear is a God given emotion that alerts us to danger. It focuses our attention and heightens our awareness.  But fear can cause us a lot of problems, too.  Fear is stressful and living too long in a fearful state can destroy our health, hinder our relationships, hold us back, stifle our productivity.  Fear can cause us to react in destructive and abusive ways.

 

Our text will is the Book of Acts.  We’ll see how God’s perfect love and truth can drive out fear and replace it with faith.  Open your Bibles to Acts 3. Its a few weeks after Pentecost, maybe 3 months after the resurrection. Peter and John are on there way to the temple in Jerusalem for the 3 pm prayer time.  At the gate to the temple courtyard, they encounter a crippled beggar.

 

The friends and families of the blind, the crippled brought them to places like this to beg. When the crippled man saw Peter and John enter the temple, he asked them for money. He got more than he expected.

 

Look at verse 4, “Peter looked straight at him as did John.”   I’m told one of the first rules of the city is never look a stranger in the eye because it can be read as aggression. The crippled man was used to people throwing money at him, maybe even nodding to him, but stopping and looking at him?  What happened in his heart when Peter said, “Look at us!”  What would you think if a stranger stopped you and the street and said, “Look at me!”  

 

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold, I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”   And taking him by the hand, Peter pulled him to his feet and the guy started jumping and running and praising God. Needless to say, it caused quite a commotion!

 

Remember a crowd was already gathering for the 3pm prayer service!  Now people are running from all over the place to see what’s going on.  The former cripple is hanging on to Peter and refusing to let go. The priests who were all prepared to lead the prayer service have been abandoned. Everyone is running to see what’s happening out in the courtyard.

 

 

Is Peter telling the truth?  Yes, he is. If you want to overcome fear, you begin by telling the truth!  Remember the city is still buzzing with stories about Jesus. His trial, crucifixion, and the stories of his resurrection and ascension as still fresh in people’s minds. The events of Pentecost when over 3,000 people were baptized are still in the news.

 

Pilate, and Herod, and the religious leaders have done their best at damage control. They’ve even paid the soldiers to spread the rumor that the disciples stole the body, but their spin is so lame no one really believes it. So they do the next best thing, they pretend it never happened. We call it denial. If we ignore it, maybe it will go away. Does it work?  No. Their lies breed fear!

 

To say that Peter and John broke up the prayer service at the temple that day is an understatement.  It doesn’t take long for the priests and the guards to join the crowd. Up to this point Peter hasn’t said anything to blame the priests for Jesus’ crucifixion. He says the blame belongs to us all.  Is he telling the truth? His words are so powerful and convicting that the number of men who repented and believed in Jesus grew to about 5,000 that day.

 

But note how the fear and guilt of the religious leaders cause them to assume Peter is blaming them! Instead of repenting, their fear causes them to throw Peter and John in the temple jail.  Since when do temples need jails? Since fear entered the human heart in the Garden of Eden.

 

Fear causes us to behave badly. Fear causes the thief to steal, the murderer to kill, the liar to fib, the gossip to speculate. Fear causes us to hide from God and from each other.  Fear motivates the bully, the compromiser, and the co-dependent. Fear is rooted in exchanging the truth for a lie. It’s listening to Satan rather than God.  Fear grows and multiplies in the dark; it evaporates in the light of God’s truth and grace.

 

4:5 The next morning, the priests and religious leaders bring Peter and John out of the jail and question them. “By what power or what name did you do this thing?”  Did they know the answer to that question?  Of course they did!  But they were afraid to face the truth!  They were doing everything in their power to avoid it! Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set your free!”  Free from what?  Let’s begin with fear!

 

Peter and John didn’t accuse the rulers and elders of being any more sinful than the rest of the people. They didn’t condemn them, they simply told the truth. You, together with the rest of the people, crucified Jesus, but God raised him from the dead and he is the only source of salvation, the only name given through which we can be saved. It’s by his name that this man was healed.

 

Look at verse 13, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John (courage is another word for fearlessness) and they realized they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”  Acts 4:13

 

Several of you, last Sunday, said that one of your greatest fears was the sinful trajectory of our nation. What’s God’s answer for that problem? How about a few ordinary men, women and children who have been with Jesus!  People who are no longer afraid of the truth, about themselves or others.  Imagine an army of ordinary people whose fear has been driven out by the love of God and who have been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim God’s truth, love, and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. That’s who we are called and empowered to be!

 

Luke tells us that the religious leaders refused to respond to Peter’s words. They chose fear over faith. They refused to repent and trust Jesus. Why were they so stubborn? They couldn’t deny what had taken place, they man who was healed was standing right beside them.

 

Look at vs 16. The religious leaders ask themselves, “What are we going to do with these men? Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, we cannot deny it!  But to stop this thing from spreading any further, we must warn them to speak no more to anyone in the name of Jesus.”

 

Fear and truth cannot co-exist. Dysfunctional family systems all have the same 3 rules. Don’t trust, don’t feel, don’t tell the truth. Fear cannot survive in a culture of truth and transparency. Monsters live in the dark, they disappear in the light. Coming into God’s light is frightening because our sin is exposed. But at the same time, that’s where healing takes place and fear is driven out.

 

The religious leaders wanted to handle their problem by hiding it, covering it up. Fear is always the fruit of a cover-up. Peter and John had both failed Jesus, but they were willing to bring their failure into the light. Jesus forgave them and his truth and love drove out their fear. He promised that he would never leave or abandon them and he filled them with the Holy Spirit.

 

Look at the disciples response to the threats of the religious leaders! “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard!” Acts 4:19

After the religious leaders threatened them further, they let them go. It was the first shot across the bow. The battle was just beginning. As soon as they were released Peter and John went back to the church and reported what happened.  Now notice what happens next.

 

The disciples didn’t pray that the Lord would protect from further persecution, even though they had no idea how tough things were going to get. Instead they prayed for power to remain faithful, to speak the truth!  Let’s pray their prayer together: “Vs 28 “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” Acts 4:28

 

The story ends with these words. “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” Acts 4:31