{"id":642,"date":"2018-01-17T11:25:38","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T16:25:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/?p=642"},"modified":"2018-01-17T11:26:47","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T16:26:47","slug":"the-apostles-non-identity-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/?p=642","title":{"rendered":"The Apostles’ Non-Identity Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lesson 8<\/h3>\n

The Apostles’ Non-Identity Crisis<\/h3>\n

Acts 4:13-31<\/h3>\n

As I think back on all the places I have been and the people I have met I do not remember if ever someone asking me, who are you? To be honest I have not been very good at going any deeper than the superficial questions dealing with weather, etc. I usually ask where do you work or what do you do for a living? From where do you come? What is the origin of your name?, etc. It is as I equate who they are with what they do etc. which has nothing to do with who they really are or what they believe.<\/p>\n

In the church we have tendency to do exactly the same thing. We seem to assume that because a person has been attending for a long time that he or she is a member and have been saved. Very seldom do we ask the question, who are you in Christ? What is your true identity?<\/p>\n

We have social security cards, driver licenses, credit cards, birth certificates, and passports that are use to identify us in this world system.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. How does this compare to how we are viewed as followers of Christ?<\/li>\n
  2. Who is perceptive enough in the body to recognize that we belong to Christ?<\/li>\n
  3. What does this say about how well we know those in our church community?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This lesson could have also titled, \u201cWho is on trial anyway?\u201d It is clear that the council was on the defense. They did not know what to do with these men who closely identified themselves with Jesus. It was not long in the discussion before the Jewish leaders recognized this fact.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. 13<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Three things confronted the council concerning the events that had just occurred.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. It says in vs. 13 they observed the confidence of Peter and John. If it was so obvious to them what was the source of this boldness? How did this differ from the picture we get of the Pharisees and Sadducees who initiated the inquiry?<\/li>\n
      2. The leaders based their lifestyle on salvation based on the law. Of course the Pharisees prided themselves on trying to keep the law perfectly.<\/li>\n
      3. Paul explained it in 2 Timothy 1:12 where he says, \u201cI am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.\u201d With this kind of guarantee it should not surprise us that these men displayed such confidence in the face of possible persecution.<\/li>\n
      4. The second thing we see in this verse is that the Jewish leaders determined that the two were uneducated and untrained. What did they mean by drawing this conclusion?<\/li>\n
      5. Their mannerisms and speech would have given them away. There certainly were not in leadership roles in Judea.<\/li>\n
      6. Although every Jewish boy would have had at least and elementary education and would have been taught the law, these men obviously had not gone through the Rabbinic system.<\/li>\n
      7. The final piece of the puzzle that they \u201cbegan to recognize them as having been with Jesus.\u201d What were the characteristics that would have identified them as disciples and apostles of Christ?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Some questions that we might ask based on the above:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. How did Jesus and His followers teach? Matthew 7:29, Mark 6:2 and Luke 2:47 are just three verses that may give us a clue? If all teaching was done as having authority what was the basis for that authority?<\/li>\n
        2. What would the Rabbinic system have taught them?<\/li>\n
        3. In what ways was the time spent with Jesus superior to the teaching of Rabbis?<\/li>\n
        4. What usually brought on the confrontation in most of the discussions between the religious leaders and Jesus?<\/li>\n
        5. How did this differ from what Jesus shared with the common people?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Vs. 14<\/p>\n

          Whatever case council may have thought they had against the apostles unraveled with the presence of the man who had been healed. Why was he there in the first place? Remember this trial occurred the following day. Two possible ideas might be put forth<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. The man had been arrested at the same time. What would have been justification for such an act?<\/li>\n
          2. They assumed that he was one of the apostles since he was clinging to them as they entered the temple grounds.<\/li>\n
          3. It was done in order to keep the man quiet.<\/li>\n
          4. He came early the next morning to once again to be with Peter and John. What does this say about the man?<\/li>\n
          5. He did not lack courage.<\/li>\n
          6. He was truly thankful for what God had done in his life.<\/li>\n
          7. He wanted to be identified with the men and their message.<\/li>\n
          8. He would be willing to come to their defense if necessary.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            What we do know that his presence caused the Jews to change their plans. They must have seen him at the temple gate and could not deny that the man had been healed. Rather than being on the offensive they were now on the defensive. What do people do when they are backed into a corner as these men were?<\/p>\n

            Vs. 15-22<\/p>\n

            In these verses we see the strategy of the leaders and the response of the apostles. First let\u2019s look at the actions taken by the council<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. They went into a closed door section.<\/li>\n
            2. Why could they not just make a decision based on the facts before them?<\/li>\n
            3. What did they hope to accomplish by further discussion?<\/li>\n
            4. They came up with a plan. It was composed of the same old ideas that result when man refuse to listen to the truth. What was the strategy they planned to use? What was their ultimate goal?<\/li>\n
            5. There was to be first a warning given to them.<\/li>\n
            6. When they confronted the apostles a command was given for them to no longer talk about Jesus.<\/li>\n
            7. Finally they threatened them but let them go. They could do no more at this time because everyone was praising and worshipping God having seen the healing of the cripple.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Why did the strategy of the council fail? How could it have succeeded? We need only to look at the answer the apostles gave. During this whole session before the council there is only the record of Peter and John speaking one time. It is found in vs. 19-20. What they had to say cause further threats to be spoken but also led to their release. Upon hearing these uneducated men speak the so called men of God were left with no answer. Should not the words spoken been from their mouths? How is it that it was left to Peter and John to utter what they needed to say? These two verses should set the standard of how the church should deal with the accusations and threats of the world. The apostles could not stop speaking because they had a message to share.<\/p>\n

              Vs. 23-31<\/p>\n

              Upon their release the apostles shared the news with the church.<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. What was the response as they reported all that had happened?<\/li>\n
              2. How did they see what had just taken place as a fulfillment of Scripture? See vs. 25-29<\/li>\n
              3. Instead of shrinking from the task ahead of them what did they ask as they prayed?<\/li>\n
              4. What was the result?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                When placed in circumstances that may lead to a ridicule of your faith how do you respond? There may be more but two different options have been described for you. You can either submit out of fear to the innuendos or outright threats or you can respond as the apostles did to the council. It is important not only for the strengthening of your faith to be able to answer but also to say I indentify with the Savior of the world and therefore cannot be intimidated.<\/p>\n

                How can we go about making sure that know who has authority over our lives and with whom we identify? One way is for to be aware of what others believe. It is not possible to live in a cocoon and be able to give an answer for the hope that is in us. We must understand that the world is hostile to Christianity. How many of us know how to refute the smallest argument of a non-believer. The apostles spent three years with Jesus. We can only become strong as we spend daily time in God\u2019s word, truly seeking to hear what He has to say to us. Each of us waste at least a few minutes each day that could be used in meditating on God\u2019s word.\u00a0\u00a0 They knew that what was happening was a part of God\u2019s plan. In what ways do we see the events going on around us in the same light?<\/p>\n

                We see in the lesson for today that upon their release that desired to share the good news with fellow believers to strengthen them. In what ways have we spoken positive life-changing words to someone in our fellowship?<\/p>\n

                Finally, we need to ask, is our prayer life like what we see in our study today? In their prayer what are some of the things that we might pray about that would give us a new perspective of what God would have us to do? In our prayer time this week we might work on one element of their prayer whether it is for confidence, healing or boldness in witnessing and just wait to see how God might answer.<\/p>\n

                All of these are needed if we are to be identified as belonging to Christ. Others must see our confidence, likeness to Him and the knowledge of Him that confounds the world.<\/p>\n

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                Lesson 8 The Apostles’ Non-Identity Crisis Acts 4:13-31 As I think back on all the places I have been and the people I have met I do not remember if ever someone asking me, who are you? To be honest I have not been very good at going any deeper than the superficial questions dealing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642\/revisions\/643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalmastery.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}