“…For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Act 4:20)
I love the story of Acts 4-5, where the apostles faced escalating opposition from the Jews regarding their “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” Stern questions turned into threats, which led to arrest, which ended in a sound beating. At the end of it all, the apostles went away, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name (5:41).
In the middle of that progression, just before their arrest, John and Peter were sternly warned to put a proverbial cork in it: “they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (4:18). Consider the response of the two apostles: "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" (4:19-20).
We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. We may read this as just another way of saying what they said in 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.” In other words, we may understand John and Peter to be saying, “we’d love to stop talking about Jesus, but we’re bound by a command to do otherwise.” That’s not the sense in either instance, but I would argue that in 4:20, the sense is “we are incapable of not speaking about what we’ve seen and heard.” I think that’s what it means because that’s the most literal way to translate it. The New English Translation captures it well: “for it is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
“Stop speaking about the risen Christ? That’s impossible.”
But what would make it impossible? That’s an important question for those of us who find it quite possible. It’s an important question for those of us who find it seemingly impossible to do the opposite – open our mouths to share the good news. How is it that the apostles found it beyond the realm of the possible to keep their mouths closed about the gospel?
We might distance ourselves from them a bit by saying, “well, they saw Jesus and they heard Jesus. If I had seen and heard exactly what they did, I might be just like them.” Certainly, seeing the risen Christ would compel one to speak, but I don’t think that’s it.
And I certainly don’t think it’s the typical modern motive for evangelism – guilt. Some ministry leaders seek to prod the church into sharing the gospel by heaping guilt on them for being quiet. But guilt is not nearly as strong a motivator as fear, which is why so many people don’t share their faith. That is, they don’t feel guilty enough to overcome their fear of evangelism.
So what is it? Paul tells us in 2 Cor 5:14: For the love of Christ controls us…
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (2Co 5:14-15).
The love of Christ controls us. The apostles, the early saints, and most passionate evangelists I know have been/are controlled by the love of Christ in the sense that their hearts have been captured by Christ’s love for them as displayed in the gospel. They are mesmerized by the deep love of God in Jesus. They are amazed at the wonder of it. And here is the key: it creates in their hearts great love for Him. And love is the great motivation that makes silence impossible.
This is why Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments,” rather than, “if you feel sufficiently guilty, you’ll keep my commandments.” Love bursts forth in obedience. In the case of evangelism, love bursts forth in speaking of this amazing love of Christ that saves sinners. The love of Christ transforms sinners so that they love Him and others (“we love because He first loved us” 1John 4:19), and they can’t help but talk about it.
As I mentioned our first week in the new sermon series, for some of us our problem is that our love for the Lord has grown cold. What’s the remedy? Here’s that great quote from Richard Sibbes I shared with you then:
“As when things are cold we bring them to the fire to heat and melt, so bring we our hearts to the fire of the love of Christ; consider we of our sins against Christ, and of Christ’s love towards us… Think what great love Christ hath showed unto us, and how little we have deserved, and this will make our hearts to melt, and be as pliable as wax before the sun.”
This heart work must become our principle occupation. It is not a minor, peripheral thing to consider daily, hourly the cross and tomb and their personal ramifications. It is essential fuel for the fire. As we continue to gaze at the love of Christ in John 13-17 on Sunday mornings, one of my prayers is that our love for Him will grow with the result that we, like the saints in Acts 4-5, will find it impossible not to speak of so great a salvation.