Gone Fishin’ September 2023 Newsletter

Hi Everyone

Here’s this month’s Gone Fishin’ Newsletter.

Every month a team from our fellowship at Calvary Wellington heads out to our regular fishing holes – the Naenae Market and Hillary Court shops, or the Hutt Riverbank Fruit and Vege Market. There we share the Gospel to those in our immediate community.

Once a month I publish a simple newsletter that is distributed to the fellowship (or for anyone else who stumbles across this website), as a way of encouragement, and as a tool to equip us to be better evangelists.

You can read the last Field Report from 19/8/23 here.

Enjoy!

Gone Fishin’ Monthly Newsletter – September 2023

“So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.” (Acts 4:18-21).

Hi Everyone

Isn’t it lovely to see that spring has finally sprung, and God is showing off all His glory in all the flowers, colours, smells, birds and bees!

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In Acts, Peter and John had been causing a ruckus. In most cases in the world this would be a bad thing – people who walk around causing mayhem and upsetting people is not a good thing. But doing something for the glory of God can never be detrimental – depending on how far you want to take it, and whether you can handle the consequences.

First, some backstory to our verses in Acts today:

Chapter 3:1-8 – Peter and John went up to the temple and found a lame man in front of the temple. He asked for money, but instead Peter healed him in the name of Jesus. He started walking and leaping around, praising God.

Chapter 3:9-26 – Lots of people saw the man who was lame walking again. They ran to Peter and John in amazement. Peter took advantage of the opportunity to preach the Gospel. Around 5000 men believed the Gospel (per chapter 4:4).

Chapter 4:1-12 – The Sadducees grabbed them and put them in custody. The next day the High Priest and other leaders joined them. They asked them by what power they were doing this. Peter again takes the opportunity to share the Gospel, leaving it in no certain terms who Jesus was and what they had done to Him.

Chapter 4:13-17 – The leaders were in a quandary, not knowing what to do. Peter and John were untrained, had been with Jesus, and standing by them was the lame man from the day before (and was probably still leaping and praising God!). They decided they would threaten them severely and let them go.

OK let’s pick it up from there, and look at the demand to desist, the demand denied, the threats issued, then ignored.

Desist Demanded

“So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” (v18)

The Sanhedrin, along with the High Priest and scribes, probably thought that because they held sway over all spiritual matters, that they had the right to tell Peter & John to stop what they were doing. They saw that they had been with Jesus, and a healed lame man was standing right next to them, so could not deny what had taken place. If the scribes had done their homework, they would have put two and two together when Peter quoted Ps 118:22 with regards to the stone that the builders rejected. Jesus also referenced the same verse in Matt 21:42. They were literally fulfilling scripture by rejecting Jesus as the cornerstone!

You can produce all the evidence in the world to an intelligent unbeliever, but they can still reject it. This can be so frustrating for an evangelist – how can someone so intelligent be so blind to the truth in front of their eyes? Like the spiritual leaders in our story, the problem isn’t the evidence, or the person delivering it. The problem lies in the heart of the receiver. A heart of stone will always reject truth. So the only recourse is to make you stop, in any way they can.

Desist Denied

“But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”” (v19-20).

Peter & John knew their rights. Not so much their human rights, but their spiritual right to do what Jesus had commissioned them to do – go into all the world and preach the Gospel. So Peter and John told them they weren’t going to stop. It may seem right for the leaders to demand them to stop doing what they were doing, but Christ had done such a wonderful work in their hearts and lives that a command from Jesus trumped anything that anyone else said. Imagine having a formula for the cure for cancer in your pocket and being commanded not to share it with anyone. That would be ludicrous!

So often we think that the reasons in favour of evangelising are outweighed by the reasons not to:

“It will ruin my career prospects!”. “My family will disown me!”. “My friends will unfriend me on Facebook!”. All this means is that the world has succeeded with its threats and put-downs. The cure for hell stays in your pocket, and everyone around you will die of the disease.

Disclaimer: You have every right to share the Gospel with whomever, whenever and wherever you please; but that means you must also own the consequences for doing so. For instance, your employer may have a contractual right to dismiss you for constantly sharing the Gospel with your colleagues. It’s a balance thing. As I mentioned earlier, it’s a matter of how far you want to take it. How far that extends is between you and God, coupled with wise Godly counsel.

Threats Issued

“So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them because of all the people…” (v21)

There was ample evidence of the work of God all around the leaders. But instead of embracing this, they do what all cowards do; they harden their hearts even more, and double-down. In true defiance and peacock-like display of arrogance, they threaten Peter and John. We are not told exactly what they said, but it must have been harsh. All this was done for one reason – they didn’t want them to share anything about Jesus. It’s always about Jesus. They can show everyone how religious and pious they were, but at the heart of it, they hated Jesus, and they loved their pride. To give in would be to admit that the scriptures, and the birth/death/burial/resurrection of Christ are all true!

That’s the same with the world. In the face of so much evidence of a Creator, and all the knowledge that God will send them to hell for what they have done – they too double-down. For to admit there is a God would mean that they will have to give up their pride and change their ways. Sin is so alluring, so satisfying, that it takes a healthy dose of humbleness, a contrite heart, and a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit to wake them up. If not, then all our pleading, all our arguments will fall on deaf ears. They may also threaten us too if we don’t stop. But that shouldn’t stop us.

Threats Ignored

“…since they all glorified God for what had been done.” (v21)

Peter and John didn’t walk away with their tails between their legs. They didn’t take on board the threats they were issued. There was a much more important reason to ignore the threats…that is, the glory of God. There is no other reason to risk it all, than to allow God to receive as much glory as He can for whatever they did. For the miracles, for the opportunity to witness, for the 5,000 that were cut to the heart, for being locked up overnight, for the opportunity to witness to the religious leaders, and for those leaders to threaten them. If God didn’t get any glory for it, then there was no point doing it in the first place.

When we evangelise, God gets all the glory regardless of the outcome. If 5,000 people are cut to the heart when we share the Gospel, then praise God! If everyone ignores you, then praise God! If everyone threatens you, then praise God! God is glorified when the Gospel is preached because it never returns void (Is 55:11). It always accomplishes exactly what He has ordained it to do. So, when we are threatened for sharing the Gospel, take heart, for God is receiving glory!

May this story of Gospel boldness give us courage to do the same, to the glory of God!

Reminder: Don’t forget to register for the Tell Me Conference Evangelism Training on the morning of 23 October (Labour Day), followed by an awesome opportunity to put it into practice in spots around the Wellington region for the rest of the week!

Glen Richards from Operation513 & needgod.net is a full time street evangelist in Christchurch, and has kindly offered to partner with Calvary Wellington for the week.

If God has been prompting you regarding putting the Great Commission into action, then this may be the opportunity for you! Visit www.tellmeconference.org.nz/training, or click on the link below for more. There is a video everyone needs to watch on the link in preparation for the training. It’s free, so don’t let this opportunity pass you by!