Should We Obey You or God?
Tom Shrader walks through Acts 4:13-31, where the Sanhedrin commands Peter and John to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, and the apostles refuse, declaring they must obey God rather than men. Shrader addresses civil disobedience, arguing from Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 that Christians are called to submit to governing authorities in nearly all circumstances, with rare exceptions reserved for cases where government commands what God forbids or forbids what God commands. The teaching closes with the early church's prayer in Acts 4:24-31, using it to call believers to respond to trials by focusing on the sovereignty of God rather than their circumstances.
“There's no greater service done for the devil's kingdom than the silencing of the faithful men of God — so there are few things we can do more powerful for the kingdom of God than speak the truth boldly.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Acts
Recorded: 1999 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 1 hr 14 min
Themes: obedience, civil disobedience, authority, suffering, boldness, prayer, persecution, sovereignty, facing government pressure, navigating conflict, questioning authority, new believer, feeling afraid to speak up, young adult, struggling with cultural pressure, pastor
Scripture: Acts 3:6, Acts 4:7, Acts 4:12, Acts 4:13, Acts 4:15, Acts 4:22, Acts 4:23, Acts 4:27-28, Acts 4:29-30, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28, Romans 13, 1 Peter 2:13, 1 Peter 3, Psalm 2:1-2, Psalm 2:4, Psalm 2:10, Exodus 1, Romans 8:28
Theological Themes: civil authority, romans 13, biblical submission, divine sovereignty, apostolic witness, soteriology, salvation exclusivity, ecclesiology
Full Transcript
Opening Context and Background
Open your Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter four. The last four or five weeks, we have been looking at an incident that occurs early in the third chapter of the book of Acts. Peter and John are on their way to the temple to pray, and they see a man who we discover has been lame all of his life. He asks for money. Peter says, "I don't have any silver, I don't have any gold, but I will give you what I do have." Acts chapter 3, verse 6: "In the name" — and that becomes the operative phrase. The name speaks of the authority of all that He is. Whatever follows the idea of the name speaks of all of the attributes, all of the power. In the name of Jesus Christ, he says to the lame man, stand and walk.
And indeed he does. He doesn't just stand and walk — he begins to leap for joy, and the word spreads all over of what has happened. The Jewish leaders, by their own law, are obligated to investigate this. They ask in Acts chapter 4, verse 7, "By what power or in what name have you done this?" And Peter responds: in the name of Jesus Christ.
Peter says, let me remind you about Him. You killed Him. God raised Him from the dead. It is in His name that this man stands. It is because of His authority. Peter goes on to say in Acts chapter 4, verse 12, there is no other name by which a person can be saved. In an all-inclusive society that says there are lots of ways to God and lots of ways to truth, Christianity comes along and it is very exclusive in an inclusive world. It says, no — this is the way, the only way.
The Sanhedrin Confronts Peter and John
In Acts chapter 4, verse 13, we find the context of where we are. The Jewish leaders are following up on this investigation, and for all practical purposes it is done. When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they saw how strong they were, the authority that they had. At the same time, they saw they were uneducated, untrained men, and they marveled at this. They said, normally this power, this boldness, this authority, we only see in people who have been trained. These men do not have any formal training or formal preparation for what they are doing.
But they understood what had happened. These men had been with Jesus. They had Jesus' fingerprints all over them. They were talking like Jesus, beginning to act like Him, and in the midst of confrontation they stood firm just like Jesus. And the Sanhedrin has to figure out: what are we going to do? Our authority is being challenged. What about all that we have said and all we have taught?
Here are the facts they cannot get away from. The lame man is standing right there in the center of it all — healed, and proud to be a part of it. They see this man who has been healed standing before them. They could not say anything against it. Verse 15 says they commanded Peter and John to leave so the council could hold a private conference.
The Leaders Choose Self-Interest Over Truth
Here is what they say to one another: what are we going to do? A miracle has taken place. It is evident to everyone in Jerusalem. We cannot deny it. That is the indisputable fact. Now logic and reason and common sense would dictate what they should do — they should follow the evidence. But they are not interested in doing what is right. They have a vested interest. They are protecting their own turf, watching out for themselves. They feel threatened. Their positions are at stake.
And so they said, if this spreads among the people we have problems. Let it spread no further. Let us severely threaten them. From now on, they shall not speak in the name of Jesus. They commanded Peter and John not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus. These leaders are so self-absorbed in the whole process that even though it was the name of Jesus that carried the power and authority by which this was done, even though they had followed their own law and investigated, and even though there is an indisputable conclusion that this is a result of God's work in the lives of these men, they refused to see it. In fact, they not only refused to see it — they said there is no way they would allow the preaching to continue.
The Perversity of Self-Deception
This is a remarkable picture of the perversity of human hearts. These high priests and rulers of the city would have prided themselves on being logical, reasonable, consistent men acting on the basis of facts. We always think of ourselves that way. But this account makes it very clear that they were utterly self-deceived. Though they thought they were acting from reason, they were actually operating contrary to reason.
I see this all week long. Somebody will come and say, "Do you have a book to recommend? I have this friend, and he's a very intelligent, skeptical guy. He likes facts." So they go off with all these books they give to this guy that he's never going to read. Even if he does, it doesn't matter.
It reminds me of a toy. Actually, there were three toys my kids had that bugged me. There was a jack-in-the-box, and they discovered that if you lean on it, it won't pop out — which rather defeats the purpose. Then someone who never had kids bought a popcorn popper that you push, which pops the balls against the hard plastic and makes noise. And then somebody gave them this toy with pegs that you pound to the other side with a hammer. It's actually a perfect metaphor for life: you flip it over, and there are the pegs again, and you pound them back to the other side. You just keep pounding and flipping the rest of your life.
So many people I meet are exactly like that. It is not a matter of intelligence. It is not a matter of arguing somebody into the kingdom or proving anything to them. They don't believe because they don't want to believe. It is as simple as that. No matter what question you answer, they are just going to ask another one.
What the Evidence Demanded
What did these men need to see? They saw it right there. These are their own words: nobody can deny that this thing took place. The only conclusion they could possibly reach was that this is of God. But rather than accept it, here is what they say: don't do it anymore.
So the ball is back in the court of our heroes. How are they going to respond? Peter and John answered and said, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you go try to figure that out, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." There is no wavering here. For them, this was apparently a very easy choice.
Wouldn't you love to be at a point in your life where, when faced with a choice that carries enormous consequences, you could make that decision without hesitation? How did they do it? They knew what God had told them.
Obedience Rooted in Knowing God's Word
They knew from the Great Commission in Matthew 28 that they were to go and make disciples. They knew they were to go and baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. They were also present for the moment recorded in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, when Jesus said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and when He does, you will be My witnesses." They knew.
When what God says comes into conflict with what men demand, it is not a hard thing to figure out. You do what God tells you to do. Peter and John said, in effect, "We are not going to waste a lot of time thinking about this. You go ahead and think about it — whether we should listen to you or listen to God. For us, it is a very easy thing. We are going to do what God tells us to do."
That is how you make these decisions. You understand what God says, and then you just do it. All of those difficult choices you have to wrestle through become clearer when you anchor them there.
The Practical Test of Obedience
I suspect there are people in this room right now who are planning sins for the week. I know how that goes — maneuvering, arranging circumstances just so, in order to sin. Perhaps there is a big deal coming down this week, and the person making the decision has made it plain that he will get you that deal if you will just do this one thing. Whatever that thing is, even if it is technically legal, it is unethical and it is not right. What do you do? There is a great wrestle.
But the wrestle has an answer: God said it. That is what you do. Peter and John understood what God said, they understood what was being demanded of them on the other side, and they said, this is not even a real decision for us. We have been with Jesus. What would Jesus do? That is exactly the thought process they are going through in this whole equation.
One author writes these words, which I found striking: "There is no greater service done for the devil's kingdom than the silencing of faithful men of God." If that is true, then here is the other side: there are few things we can do that are more powerful for the kingdom of God than to speak the truth boldly. That is the challenge. Peter and John say this really is not a choice — they have to do this.
The Question of Civil Disobedience
Now there is no way to discuss this without being fairly pulled into a discussion on civil disobedience. Here are the authorities, the duly appointed rulers, telling Peter and John to do one thing — and Peter and John are saying no, they are going to do something else.
Submission to Authority
I was raised with the little bumper sticker: "Question Authority." That was simply the environment I was raised in. I was in college right in the heart of the Vietnam issue, where civil disobedience was a live question. Many Christians still work through what our response to the government should be as it deals with abortion. And then there is the tax issue — these taxes aren't fair, and worse than that, my tax dollar is going for things I don't support.
Peter and John wouldn't put up with it. It's a classic story. A fellow came to me and said, "Will you read a book if I give it to you?" And I said, "No." He said, "Are you kidding?" And I said, "No. People give me books all the time. I don't have time to read all these books everybody gives me to read." He looked at me and said, "You're kidding, aren't you?" And I said, "No, I'm not kidding. I'm not going to read this book." He said, "It's a little book — please read it." I told him to bring it in and let me look at it.
So he brought it in, and I said, "You know what? I think I will read this." What he was wrestling with was his desire to justify his disobedience to the federal government, specifically on the issue of taxes. The book was titled *God and the IRS*. The cover was red and blue — where it said "God," there was a crucifix, and where it said "the IRS," there was a hammer and sickle. I sensed perhaps a bias on the part of the author.
I did read it, just because I knew I could get through it quickly. He asked what I thought, and I said, "It's just awful." He said, "But all those Bible verses." I told him they were all taken out of context and used to support the author's argument. Then I said, "Let me guess — are you struggling in the area of taxes?" And he said yes. He told me he was going to court, that they were suing him for — I remember the number — $267,000 in back taxes. This man was trying to find a way to have God bless his illegal, unethical behavior.
What Paul and Peter Actually Say
Here is what Paul writes: "Let every soul be in subjection — or submission — to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God. And all the authorities that exist are appointed by God." Peter — the very Peter who said, "No, we're going to go ahead and preach" — writes in 1 Peter 2:13, "Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king, as supreme, or to governors."
I can see someone reading that from Peter and saying, "Hey, pal — what about you? What about you back there in Acts chapter 4? You didn't do it. Why should I have to?" Let's take just a second on that. Paul writes: be subject, be in submission to. It is a military term. It means to line up under. Be in submission to those governing authorities. Why? Because they're good? No.
I point out to you what many of you already know. As Paul writes these words, Nero is the king — Nero is in control. Nero was one of the most vile, evil, godless men who ever lived, and Paul says submit to him. Why? Because he is worthy of it? No. Because God has given him the authority to rule.
The Real Problem with Submission
Here is the problem — it is the word "submission." The first time I ever taught on why a wife should submit to her husband, I was moving along pretty well and getting mixed signals. The guys were very receptive, but the body language from the ladies told a different story. We were driving home afterward, and I said to Susan, "I don't understand this. I mean, that's what it says, isn't it?"
That same week I was teaching Romans 13, and I got the same response to Romans 13 from the men that I had gotten to Ephesians from the ladies. Respond to the government? What if it's not good government? That is the problem — we don't want to be in submission to anybody for anything.
Here is what Paul says: you submit to government because all government derives its authority from God. And when you submit to that government, you are submitting to God. That is the principle — even if it is bad government, even if it is lousy government.
Exceptions to the Rule
Are there exceptions? Clearly there have to be some, or we would not even be talking about this. But Paul says, generally speaking, here is the principle: render — that is, pay back, give what is due — render taxes to those to whom taxes are due. In this context, that was a foreign authority levying income and property tax on them. Customs refers to the tax on goods and services paid to local authorities. Fear here probably means respect, and honor means a genuine esteem. That should be your posture toward government: give them what they are due, and if that is the tax level, that is the tax level.
Are there exceptions? There are. They are extraordinarily rare, and they are reserved for those instances where we understand that the government is commanding us to do something God prohibits, or prohibiting something God commands. Those are the rules.
Conscience Is Not Enough
I realize this is hard. I realize how much you want to argue against it. Again, I was born and raised in the midst of this question of authority — we want to follow our conscience. I came across something this week that I think is really helpful. One author writes this:
"Conscience is not intended to tell us right from wrong. Consciences can be wrong as well as right. In fact, apart from the help of revealed truth, everyone's conscience would be wrong and would lead us astray. Conscience is not given to man to instruct him in what is right, but to prompt him to choose right instead of wrong when he has been instructed as to what is right. Conscience tells a man he ought to do right, but it doesn't tell him what is right."
Obeying God Over Government
My heart is wicked. Your heart is wicked. If we just look at some circumstance — here is a government, they have a bad law, I am not going to follow them, I am a holy person, I only follow God — we end up out there on our own saying, here is this tax and it is not fair, I am not going to pay it, they are a pagan government, my conscience tells me it is wrong. That would be a perfect example of what Paul is talking about, because Paul says, pay the tax. How serious is this? At the risk of offending some, last time we talked about this, I had a man come up afterwards and say, if you apply these principles to the founding of this nation, then the American Revolution was not biblical. Well, obviously. Clearly. Can God bless it, and has He, and has He used it? Sure. But they say pay the tax, and you pay the tax.
Why? Because our mission is to seek first His kingdom and His glory. Our conscience does not tell us what is right on its own. Our conscience tells us to do the things we know to be true and right, and we know them only from God's Word. You and I have a dual passport. We are citizens of the United States of America, and we are citizens of the kingdom of God. They coexist — for us, God and Caesar coexist — but God is in the dominant position.
When we look through Scripture, we find another example in Exodus chapter 1. The Egyptians said to the Israeli midwives, kill these young Israelites at birth. The midwives said they could not do that, that it would be wrong, that it would be a violation of what God has to say. They came up with an interesting excuse — they said these Jewish women are a hearty bunch and deliver before they can get there. But they were fully justified in refusing to do something that God prohibits but the government commands. The same principle works in Daniel's situation as well. Yet for the vast majority — 99.9999999% of our time — we submit to the government. We ought to be model citizens.
Peter and John Return to the Church
It is interesting what happens here. Peter and John are threatened and then released. The authorities would love to do something about them but cannot. The people are in an uproar. Verse 22 tells us the man who was healed is forty years old and is with them. Then in verse 23, the moment Peter and John are free, out they go. They go to their companions, back to the church, back to those they know are concerned about them. They tell them everything that happened. They go for comfort, and they go to encourage.
I believe that when Peter writes the words of 1 Peter 3, he cannot help but think back to this moment. Listen to what Peter writes: *"And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? Even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed, and do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord your God, and always be ready to make a defense to everyone who asks for the reason of the hope in you."*
How could he not talk about this? He had to be ready for this. He had to proclaim this truth. And the same thing is true of you — to head out from here ready to make a defense. What is the hope in you? It is the person of Christ. It means being ready to share with a lost world what it means to have meaning and purpose.
I only saw the headline this week, but it said Arizona ranks seventh in suicide in the country and fourth among teenagers. Suicide — that ultimate act of helplessness and hopelessness. What is the antidote? Someone will no doubt have an after-school program. But here is the answer: people need hope. You have a world full of people who need hope, and you are the instruments God has decided to use to communicate that hope to your world.
One Accord in the Face of Opposition
When Peter and John returned and told the church everything the authorities said and everything they said in response, I believe the church was filled with encouragement. They saw their leaders stand firm in the midst of being challenged. Many of them must have said, if Peter can do it, I know I can do it. They had seen Peter fold like a cheap suit before a servant girl just a couple of months earlier, and now he was standing up to the Sanhedrin. How did that happen? It was the person of Christ.
So when they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one accord. Remember, the Jewish leaders had feared that this movement would spread, and so they issued warnings and threats — but those warnings and threats had exactly the opposite effect. The church was now knit together in heart. They were of one accord, and they raised their voice to God.
Praying to the Sovereign Lord
They address God as "Lord" — a unique address that appears only five other times in the New Testament. It denotes the absolute Master, the supreme authority, the Sovereign One. They pray, *"You are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David said,"* and then they quote from Psalm 2, verses 1 and 2: *"Why did the nations rage and the people plot vain things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ."*
Here is how the New Living Bible paraphrases those two verses: *"Why did the nations rage? Why did the people waste their time in futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle. The rulers plot together against the Lord and against His Anointed One."* They quote from Psalm 2. They look at all that is going on, they look at this challenge, and they reflect back on the words of the psalmist.
Let me read a little more from that psalm, beyond what Peter quotes here. Verse 4: *"But the One who rules in heaven laughs and scoffs at them."* Verse 10: *"Now then, you kings, act wisely. Be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with reverent fear."*
Rejoicing in God's Sovereignty
"Rejoice with trembling. Submit to God's royal Son or He will become angry and you will be destroyed in the midst of your pursuit, for His anger can flare up in an instant." The moment these early believers looked at their own situation, they looked back at Psalm 2, which reminds us of the sovereignty of God. What do you do in the face of your daily struggle? Life is tough. There is hardship, and there are things that come into your life — some of them a consequence of your own sin and your own bad decisions, and some that just come in and you cannot stop them.
What do you do when challenges come? What do you do when temptation comes, when persecution comes, when trials come? You focus immediately on God and who He is — that is the answer. These men were not swept away by anything except the power and the grace and the majesty of God. They looked at their circumstances, they thought about Psalm 2, and then here is what they say.
Psalm 2 Fulfilled in Christ
Verse 27: "For truly your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed..." Not only did Psalm 2 apply to mankind of all types, all kinds, and all ages — but consider how it applied to them directly. Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together, and they thought they were going to destroy Jesus. Yet verse 28 tells us they ended up doing whatever was God's desire — His purpose, determined beforehand.
That, by the way, is predetermination. God is God. It is the mystery of history. Here is man wanting to destroy, wanting to act in rebellion against God, and God says, "I am going to take these very actions and use them for My own purpose." Here is man in rebellion, and God says it does not matter — My will will be done.
God's Sovereignty Over Evil
I once had a boss who hated God, and he likely hated me for a variety of reasons, including that one. One day he called me into his office, got up from behind his desk, and started pacing — a bigger man, visibly upset, his whole face red with anger. He had been watching *War and Remembrance* and reading about the Holocaust, and he demanded: "Why would your God allow the Holocaust? Why would this God who cares so much about you, who has the hairs on your head numbered, why would He allow the Holocaust?"
I said, "How would I know? Why are you asking me? I don't have a clue." Then I said, "Think about this — maybe He allowed six million people to be killed so that you and I would have this conversation about His Son Jesus." Here is what I know: He could have stopped it. He is God.
Let me give you a real tip for making life easier: let Him be God. Why do you have to figure all of that out anyway? Nothing in the history of mankind has happened that God did not either cause or allow. He is God. And rather than that becoming a reason to say, "Well, then I am just a robot" — who cares what it makes you? It makes Him God. That is the whole point. He is the sovereign God.
The Danger of Diminishing God
Years ago, not long after I had become a Christian, someone gave me a book that had been endorsed by Christians and that many of my Christian friends said was really helpful. I started reading it and thought, "This is awful." It was called *Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?* I could see why people were comforted by it — because it exalted man and diminished God. That is always what happens when we try to protect God. Something bad happens and we feel we need to defend Him, and in doing so we take away from His attributes.
I believe when you get it settled in your head that God is sovereign, life takes on a sense of confidence, comfort, and boldness — exactly like these men had. So often we see people obsessed with their own hurt and their own pain, asking, "What does it mean to me? What does it mean to me?" And in doing so they miss who God is. They miss the fact that whatever problem they have, God is bigger than that problem. He either caused it or allowed it, and now that it is there, the right response is to submit to Him and yield to Him and let Him work it out.
Simple Faith Over Complicated Comfort
We so easily rush to offer comfort — comfort here, comfort there, twelve steps here, fifteen steps over there — when all people needed to do was say, "God is on the throne. God is in control. It is going to be remarkable to see what He does." Has He ever failed you? No. Do you think God can fix this if He wanted to? Yes. "Why so downcast, O my soul?" Here is an idea: put your hope in God.
It is so simple that these uneducated, untrained fishermen figured it out. Here is the challenge, here is the tension, here is the trial — and look at how this ends.
The Prayer That Shook the Place
As they prayed this prayer, what they said in verses 29 and 30 was essentially: God, just as You were in control then, be in control again — do it again. They prayed, and the place where they were gathered began to shake, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. As we have seen throughout the book of Acts, whenever we encounter the filling of the Holy Spirit, we see the bold proclamation of the gospel message in the person of Christ.
The Spirit of a Church That Has Seen God Work
It is a beautiful picture. Everything humanly speaking would say you ought to be able to stop this thing. Just turn the screws a little tighter. Just raise the level of rage. Just threaten them a little harder, and they will stop. Yet exactly the opposite takes place. Rather than stop, rather than cower, rather than be filled with discouragement, they say: we just saw God do a mighty thing that we would have never even dreamt of a week ago. Look what God has done. What else do you think He is going to do?
That ought to be our spirit, and that ought to be our attitude. Do we get discouraged? Sure — there is a lot of tough stuff that comes in life. But when we stop and think about it, we realize this: we call Him Master, we call Him Lord. He raises up, He puts down. He brought Nero onto the throne, and He knocks him off in a heartbeat. He is sovereign, and we are under His protection.
God Works All Things Together for Good
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Are you here today hurting? Are you here today suffering? Perhaps life almost appears like a wave — we are getting ready to go to the ocean, and those waves just come rolling in, one after another, and you cannot stop them.
Your circumstances appear like those waves in the ocean, just coming and coming, and you cannot stop them. But God causes all things to work together for good. Do you love Him? What is going to separate you from His love? As Paul says, if God is for you, who is against you?
The Danger of Getting Your Eyes Off God
Consider this: is it possible that what has taken place is that you have gotten your eyes off God and onto those waves? You have gotten your eyes off God and off His Word and onto your circumstances, onto the things swirling around you, and you are just getting swept away with them. You start thinking more and more about yourself — what is going to happen, and then this will happen, and then this will happen. When you start thinking that way, you become self-absorbed.
Look at the members of the Sanhedrin. They had the miracle right there in front of them, but what were they thinking about? Not who God is, not what is true. They were thinking about their own authority, their own power, and that is what they were protecting.
The Mission That Closes the Loop
Peter and John close that loop, and this launches the church into another time of growth. They say they are not going to stop talking. They will be model citizens — they are not out leading protests or getting people stirred up about taxes or anything else. They are getting people stirred up about Christ and who He is, and they will not let anything distract them from that mission.
Let us pray that God does that same work in our hearts. Father, would You let us be filled with Your Spirit so that we would have the bold proclamation of Your Word? God, we love You. Help us see that when we read these extraordinary stories, they are about ordinary people who have simply yielded to Your truth. God, let us do that. We do not need to figure it all out — You are God, and You have got to figure it out. Let us rest in the peace and comfort that comes from knowing who You are. We pray it to You in Jesus' name, amen.