Proof Positive
Series: Devoted
April 07, 2024
Frank Foreman
Acts 4:20, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” ————— Easter (Resurrection Sunday) has ended. The pictures have been taken to commemorate the day. Perhaps, families have gathered and now gone home. A week is passed and now we head back to church on Sunday. ————— Of course, the significance and impact of the Christ’s Resurrection has not diminished. The promise that was fulfilled in the empty tomb has not suddenly become nullified, nor has the miracle somehow lost its amazement. ————— But has anything changed for us? Admittedly, we would hope so, but that really truly depends on us. The aforementioned significance and impact on those first century Christians was obvious. They simply could not stop talking about it and telling others about it. Why? Because the power of the Resurrection was and is life-changing. The truth of it begs for testimony from those whose lives have been changes and for those whose eternity has been secured.
Episode Notes
Big Idea: Resurrection leads to testimony.
1. Experience the resurrected Jesus.
1st Corinthians 15:3-8, For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas (Paul), then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me.
2. Talk about what you’ve experienced.
Acts 4:17-20, But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this Name.” So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
MSG / CEV: We can’t keep quiet about what we’ve seen and heard.
The greatest proof: Nobody dies for what they know is a lie.
Acts 12:1-3a, About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.
2nd Corinthians 11:23b-28, I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Next Step: Make your story a testimony not a biography.
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