James Baldwin once said, “Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
As a young and naïve parent, I never understood the truth of that statement. However, I am coming to learn the prominence of imitation over instruction.
Through the years, I have watched our children with amazement. The little things that they pick up on are both incredible and scary at the same time.
Perhaps one of my favorite memories involves Kate and her attempt to mimic Mom and Dad at bed time. I am certain that the parents in this room understand the difficulty of that dreadful hour. It is that time when parents become completely and utterly exhausted and the kids catch a second wind. At our children's current ages, it involves at least five or six trips to the bedroom to place a child back in bed and it is typically followed by an instruction, or perhaps a borderline threat, that they WILL NOT get back out of their bed.
For our kids, bedtime is often mistaken for the allotted time of the day to trash the bedrooms. They drag out clothes while looking for pajamas, move entire libraries worth of books and then might even try bungee jumping off of the beds using suspenders.
Now, Emily and I have really tried to work with our children. We have repeatedly given instruction. We have repeatedly offered discipline and correction. And without fail, it reaches that point where Mom or Dad walk into the room and make the following statement: “What happened in here?! Wait, I don't want to hear it! Y'all get in bed and lay down. Do not make me come back here again or everyone is getting a spanking.”
Now, have any of you other parents ever had an experience similar to that?
A few weeks ago, we were going through the normal nightly routine. The kids were going to the bathroom before climbing in and Sarah's room looked like they had already performed their nightly duty of destruction. Sarah climbed into bed. Eli made a pallet on Sarah's floor and Kate walked through the door on her way to her bed. Suddenly, Kate stops, puts her hands on her hips and then begins gesturing and speaking in her foreign language Pappy calls Swahili. I am still not certain what Kate said to Sarah and Eli, but I'm pretty sure she was taking care of Mom and Dad's address to the inhabitants of the pink bedroom.
Her familiarity with Mom and Dad's bedtime speech led to her imitation.
We could share all kinds of examples of kids that imitate their parents or elders. But that is not my express purpose this morning. Rather, I want to ask the question: What would happen if we began to imitate Immanuel- if we imitated Christ with the same kind of passion and accuracy as young children? What would happen in our churches and communities is God's people were true imitators of Christ?
We are going to look at the early church this morning and discover what happens when God's people are faithful to imitate Him.
Read text. (Acts 4:1-13)
By this time in the ministries of Peter and John, the face of the Christian church is rapidly growing and changing. Peter and John have witnessed the ascension of Christ. They have been gifted with the Holy Spirit and participated in the Day of Pentecost. Then, in returning to their worship and ministries, they have healed a lame man at the temple gate. You might recall their famed words, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” For all practical purposes, they are faithfully and powerfully imitating the ministry of Jesus. They are doing the things that He did in their midst and instructed them to do as well. They are answering their call to ministry and evidencing God's power.
Yet, it is not received by all. Through their example, we come to understand an important truth. The first thing that we must grasp about imitating Christ is this: If we are faithful to walk in His ways and follow His example, we will find...
1.) Adversity
“As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands of them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.” (v. 1-3)
For Peter and John, and for the rest of the disciples at some point during their ministries, faithful imitation of Christ was going to produce adversity and strife.
At this point, Peter and John have only done good and proclaimed the name of Jesus. They have just bestowed the gift of new life to a lame beggar from the temple gates. However, it is not producing praise and adoration from all those around. In fact, the Sadducees, the priests and the temple guards immediately seize them. They determine that they must stop this madness and blasphemy before it can go any farther.
Now, can you see this? The disciples, those that were teaching the truth of God and declaring the name of Jesus as God's Son, were met by the religious elite and essentially told to be quiet.
Now, there adversity didn't even come from outside the religious establishment. Rather, it can from God's own people. It came from people that should have understood the person of Jesus. It came from people that had devoted their life to studying the Scriptures.
When God's people were faithful to imitate His Son, they found adversity.
And this should not surprise us. Look at Jesus. He has been labeled as the most controversial figure in world history.
When Jesus spoke, taught, or demonstrated his power, He was attacked and threatened because of it. There was the time that He was led to a high place on a hill so that they could throw Him off. (Luke 4:29) Multiple times the Jews picked up stones to attempt to stone him. (John 8:59, John 10:31) He eventually surrendered His life on Calvary- as a direct result of the opposition and adversity of God's own people.
Jesus Himself promised the disciples that they were going to face adversity. John 7:7 says, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify that what it does is evil.” And then in John 15:18 we find Jesus saying, “If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first.” While it might seem that these passages are contradictory, they are actually complimentary. The overall picture is simple. If we love Jesus and seek to imitate Him, the world is going to hate us. We are not going to be well-received.
As we are talking about imitating Immanuel this morning, we need to understand from the start that our imitation is not going to be without adversity. In fact, the more accurately you imitate Christ, the more severe the adversity is going to become.
While many view Christianity as a way to gain respect and good-standing in the community, true and complete imitation of Christ is going to cause some problems. It is going to produce a lack of understanding. If we truly and completely imitate Christ, there are those, even within the church, that are going to think that we are charismatic and crazy.
If Jesus was rejected, what makes us believe that we should be accepted and loved by all?
There will be adversity. However, while some don't understand our imitation of Christ, there will also be those that see its...
2.) Attraction
“But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.” (v. 4)
Peter and John were taken into custody because of their faithful imitation of Christ. However, while some didn't understand, others noted the attraction of their message and lifestyles.
While Peter and John were facing reprecussions for their faithful service and declaration, God was using them to build the church and further His kingdom.
We are told that the number of men came to be about five thousand. Now, there is some debate as to what this means. Some suggest that there were five thousand that were saved as a result of the miracle and Peter's declaration, while others contend that there were less than that.
If you recall, in Acts 2 through the Day of Pentecost, there were three thousand souls added to the number. Some might suggest that there were two thousand more added while others would argue that there were another five thousand. I don't know if the number is really that relevant. Rather, there is a promise that we find.
Because Peter and John were faithful to imitate Christ and serve Him faithfully, regardless of the immediate adversity they faced from some, there were those that were drawn to the hope and message of Christ.
I believe they perfectly illustrate the fact that loving imitation of Christ will produce results. Where some will view the message of Christ and His followers as threatening or even foolishness, there will be those that come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because of the faithful imitation of God's people.
Just consider how effective they were without a thirty minute sermon. Their lifestyles- their imitation of Jesus when coupled with the power of the Holy Spirit led either two thousand or five thousand to be converted that day. Either way, when was the last time that you heard of a mass conversion such as that?
Imitation of Christ will produce adversity with some. Its attraction will be noted by others. While imitation of Jesus will produce a wide array of responses, our actions must also be coupled with...
3.) Attestation
“When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, 'By what power, or in what name, have you done this?' Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead- by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.'” (v. 7-12)
We must remember, even while there were multitudes that responded to the message and demonstration of Peter and John, they are still in the custody of the religious leadership. They are still going to face accusation and questioning from those that don't agree with their testimony or cause.
They are held in protective custody- like criminals to face the accusation of the rulers. However, we do not find men that shrink from the opportunity. They do not abandon their responsibility when they are put in a difficult situation.
Rather, while looking the accusing, condemning audience in the eye- in a vulnerable place, Peter became overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and declared the truth.
Now, I love Peter's address to the Council that he is facing. Peter begins by questioning what they are on trial for. He says, “if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man...” Peter basically calls into question the purpose and motivation of this trial. I am certain that he is trying to get this audience to question their own hearts.
But in typical Peter fashion, he follows this question with a rather bold declaration. He essentially says, “If we are on trial for a benefit done to a sick man... then just know that it was Jesus' name and power that performed this miracle. If you want someone to blame, keep on blaming Jesus.”
And while Peter was bold in his declaration, he continues to move into more dangerous territory. When standing before this council- probably the Sanhedrin that was made up of the high priest and seventy others- both Sadducee and Pharisee, Peter turns the finger of accusation.
He makes an exceedingly bold statement in the light of the company he was in. He assures them that this miracle was not done in the name of Satan or a demon- which is ironic considering the Sadducees on the council wouldn't have believed in them anyway! Instead, it was done in the name and power of Jesus Christ- the man that they had put to death. He is declaring Jesus' true messiahship here. And then to add a couple of exclamation points, he adds that it was “by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead...”
Once again, Peter is taking another jab at the Sadducee presence. The Sadducees were convinced that there were no angels or demons. Yet they questioned the disciples under what power they operated. Then the Sadducees also refused to believe in the idea of resurrection or eternal life- and so Peter adds for good measure that the person that grants them power is He that God raised from the dead.
But even still, the Holy Spirit is not done with Peter. Rather, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter argues with the very authority that the Sadducees and Pharisees claimed. He went forward further and quotes Psalm 118:22 speaking about the the stone the builders rejected.
Essentially, Peter was faithful with the message he was given and tells them, “You know, you are the religious elite. You are supposed to dedicate your life to understanding the intracacies of the law. You should know, better than anyone else, the message of Word of God (which was the Old Testament at this point). However, even you fail to realize that you are fulfilling prophecy. You are the foolish builders that are refusing to accept the cornerstone. Even still you are questioning the stability and strength of Jesus. Why can't you wake up and see that the Word of God is true, and it is speaking about you?”
Peter couples his imitation of Christian lifestyle with faithful declaration of the truth of God. After pointing out the errancies and inconsistencies in their own arguments, he gives them the plain and simple truth. He declares that there is no other name but Jesus, by which we must be saved.
While we don't have modern-day Sanhedrin councils, we must still be prepared to give an account of the one that grants us life. We still face those that refuse to accept the plain truth that is right in front of them. Especially in our modern religious atmosphere, we must stand firm in our declaration of Jesus as the only way to be saved.
Our actions must be coupled with attestation. We cannot refuse to speak.
Peter and John found adversity in their attempt to imitate Christ. They also found those that were attracted to the hope of the gospel. They were faithful in their attestation before the council. And lastly we find a certainty or an...
4.) Assurance
“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” (v. 13)
Because of their actions and declaration, even the unbelieving council understood a very important truth. They were certain that these men had been with Jesus.
When the Sadducees and the Pharisees look on and heard Peter's declaration, they were certain of two things. They first noticed that these men were uneducated and untrained.
Now, this did not mean that they were illiterate or ignorant. It does not mean that they were completely uneducated. Rather, they were not formally educated in a rabbinical school like those that were serving on the council. They should not have been as steeped in the Word of God as they were.
However, because of their time with Jesus, and because of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, they responded and defended the faith in a manner that was not expected.
When faced with two ordinary men that presented such an extraordinary argument and declaration, there was only one way they could explain this occasion. They recognized the boldness, clarity, and directness from one other person. This was the same power that they saw in Jesus Christ.
Now, think about what that must have been like for these “religious” men. These were probably the same men that had met to hear and sentence Jesus Himself. These were the same leaders that thought they had succeeded in silencing this “blasphemous” message. However, they are discovering the truth of the power of God.
Even those that refused to accept the message of Christ could see and understand the source of the disciples' power.
That is my favorite part of this entire story. While I loved Peter's argument, while we celebrate the addition of lives to the kingdom of God, there is something about that statement that causes me to marvel.
Of all of the things that could have been said, of all of the explanations that could have been made, even the unbelieving council knew that their power came from Jesus.
Let me ask the question: what would this community look like if those around us- even the unbelievers saw the power that was present in our lives and knew that we had been with Jesus?
What would happen, what would our services be like if it was obvious that God's people had been fellowshipping with Christ?
The disciples knew how to imitate Christ- they presented an accurate picture of His power and gospel, not because they spent years in a fancy school learning all the right answers, but because they had simply spent time with Jesus.
I am firmly convinced that as a Christian people- as “little Christs,” we are expected to imitate our Master. We should love with His love. We should serve with His heart. We should declare the truth with His passion. We should live with His standard.
However, we are never going to accurately imitate Christ if we fail to spend time with Him.
As we come to our time of invitation this morning, I want to ask you: Are you accurately imitating my Jesus? Does your life resemble His? Do people see His power in your life and marvel? Do even the unbelievers around you know that there is something special and different in your life?
If not, why not? What is it that needs to change for you to be found like Peter and John? What must you do for someone else to know that you have been with Jesus?
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