When Should You Reject Spiritual Authority? (Acts 4:1-22)
Today we’ll answer the question: When should you reject spiritual authority? It was required a few times in Christian history, and it all started with Peter and John in Acts 4.
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Here’s a question: When Should You Reject Spiritual Authority?
- Some of you may say, Always
- No one wants to submit these days…
- Judges era: “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes”
- General lack of respect for spiritual authority
- So much hopping around from church to church
- Not a “sense of awe” that we saw at the end of book of Acts
- But see Is Spiritual Authority a Thing Anymore?
- Quick answer: Yes!
- Spiritual leadership in the church flows from Jesus’ authority, and obedience to godly leaders benefits the soul.
- Hebrews 13:17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
- So I’ll ask again: When should you reject spiritual authority?
- Because you shouldn’t blindly follow it
- There are times you should reject it, as we’ll see in the text today
- We’re covering Acts 4:1-22
- We’ll get there in a minute, but first…
Examples from History
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
- 1507: Ordained as a priest.
- 1517: On October 31, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, challenging the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences and other corruptions. This event is often marked as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
- 1520: Published three key works: "To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation," "On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church," and "On the Freedom of a Christian," outlining his theological views and criticisms of the Church.
- 1521: Excommunicated by Pope Leo X in January. In April, he was summoned to the Diet of Worms, where he famously refused to recant his writings, saying, "Here I stand, I can do no other." Declared an outlaw by the Edict of Worms.
William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536)
- 1523: Sought permission to translate the Bible into English, but was denied by the Bishop of London. Fled the next year to Germany to work on his translation.
- 1525: Completed the New Testament in English, printed in 1526 in Cologne and Worms.
- 1526: The first printed copies of Tyndale’s New Testament were smuggled into England, where they were banned and burned by the Church.
- 1536: William Tyndale was executed by strangulation and then burned at the stake on October 6.
Jan Hus (c. 1372-1415)
- 1400: Ordained as a priest.
- 1411: Excommunicated by Pope John XXIII for his opposition to indulgences.
- 1415: Jan Hus was burned at the stake on July 6 for his teachings and refusal to recant.
John Wycliffe (c. 1330-1384)
- 1376: Began criticizing the wealth and corruption of the Church, calling for reform.
- 1377: Pope Gregory XI condemned Wycliffe’s teachings, issuing five papal bulls against him.
- 1380: Wycliffe started translating the Bible into English, believing that scripture should be accessible to all believers. His translation was completed by his followers after his death.
- Wycliffe is often called the "Morning Star of the Reformation" for his early calls for reform within the Catholic Church.
But 1300 years earlier, the ragtag followers of Jesus were the first Christian reformers. And that story begins in Acts chapter 4
- the first clash between the apostles and the Jewish religious authority.
- In the Gospels, Jesus was the one clashing with the spiritual leaders. but now in the church age the battle will be waged between the followers of Jesus and the religious establishment.
- Chapter 4 gives us our first glimpse at the changing of the guard. the church has been born, but in its infancy it's unclear to the apostles how they will relate to the temple and its leaders. This chapter begins to reveal the answer…
The Showdown
Acts 4:1-2 (NLT) 1 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. 2 These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead.
- Who did these guys think they were? Uneducated!!
Acts 4:3-4 (NLT) 3 They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. 4 But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000.
- Jesus: “I will build my church….”
Acts 4:5-7 (NLT) 5 The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. 7 They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?”
- Same as Jesus’ trial: Luke 20:2 (NLT) 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”
Acts 4:8-10 (NLT) 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, 9 are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? 10 Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.
- Boldness to point people to Jesus
- But it gets even more bold…
Acts 4:11-12 (NLT) 11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ 12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
- Last chapter: Acts 3:22-23 (NLT) 22 Moses said, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’ 23 Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’
- We’re about to see this prophecy fulfilled in the religious leaders. They would be cut off, not the disciples!
- Notice the exclusive claim: salvation in no one else
- This would have been offensive to Jewish ears
- Blasphemous to the leaders’ ears
- (Pillar New Testament Commentary) Members of the Sanhedrin would have agreed that the God of Israel is humanity's only true saviour (cf. Ex. 15:1-11; Is. 43:11-12; 45:22; Ps. 96:1-5). But Peter now insists that the name of Jesus is the exclusive means by which God's saving power can be invoked and experienced.
Changing of the Guard
Acts 4:13 (NLT) 13 The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.
- Irony: these guys were nobodies, and the educated guys were blown away by their understanding of the OT
- They had “been with Jesus”. That’s all the training they needed
Acts 4:16-18 (NLT) 16 “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. 17 But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.” 18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
- This was their exercise of spiritual authority
Acts 4:19-20 (NLT) 19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”
- This was the changing of the guard. Old Israel was done. New Israel had begun, led by a bunch of misfits and nobodies.
- Peter and John rejected their religious authorities, because those authorities rejected Jesus.
Close
So, When Should You Reject Spiritual Authority?
- Not talking about the Reformation, because the evangelical church at large doesn’t need that
- But it’s a “mini-reformation” question: when should you find a new church?
- The answer is easy: when it corrupts any of the core teachings of the early church:
- Jesus is Lord (do they get Jesus right?)
- We are saved by grace (do they get salvation right?)
- We’re on a mission (do they get disciple-making right?)
Close with a challenge: think twice before you reject authority
- Too many people hop from church to church and lack authority
- Hebrews 13:17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
