Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Acts 4:1-12: Understanding Unbelief and Rejection of Christianity

What was the specific incident that led to the first persecution of the Christian church?

According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the first persecution of the Christian church arose after Peter and John healed a lame man at the temple gate. This miracle led to a crowd gathering, and Peter preached a sermon explaining what had happened. The authorities - the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees - were grieved that they "taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." As a result, they arrested Peter and John and put them on trial. This incident, recorded in Acts 4:1-12, represents the first persecution in Christian church history, showing that persecution always arises as a result of unbelief and rejection of the gospel.

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones identify as the three main things that unbelief rejects?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones identifies three main things that unbelief rejects:

1. The messengers - People reject the apostles and all subsequent Christian witnesses throughout history, including great figures like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Cromwell.

2. The message - People reject the actual content of the gospel: Jesus Christ of Nazareth, his birth, life, teachings, miracles, death on the cross, and resurrection. They reject God's offer of reconciliation through Christ.

3. The results of the message - As Peter says in verse 9, they were being examined about "the good deed done to the impotent man." Unbelief rejects the positive results and blessings that come from the gospel: forgiveness of sins, new life, peace, hospitals, education, relief for the poor and suffering, liberty, and moral improvement in society.

Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones believe the rejection of Christianity is tragically illogical?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones finds the rejection of Christianity tragically illogical because the authorities witnessed undeniable evidence but still refused to believe. They saw "unlearned and ignorant men" (Peter and John) speaking with extraordinary power and authority. They witnessed the healed man "walking, leaping, and praising God" - a miracle they couldn't explain away. They even "marveled" at Peter and John's boldness despite recognizing them as uneducated fishermen.

The preacher argues that unbelief fails to think logically about what makes these ordinary men so powerful, or what causes such extraordinary transformations in people's lives. He states: "That's where the blindness of unbelief comes in. Why do they arrest them? Why do they put them into prison? Why don't they allow their own sense of marvel and of amazement to lead them on in clear, inevitable, logical thinking?" In rejecting Christianity, people are irrationally dismissing the very solution to humanity's deepest problems.

What does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say is the true relevance of the gospel for the modern world?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that the gospel is supremely relevant to the modern world because it addresses humanity's fundamental problems that no other solution can fix. He states: "I say there's only one thing that can even touch the problems of the human race. It's this."

The gospel offers: - The solution to international conflict: "If only every man and woman in the world tonight lived the Sermon on the Mount, all our problems would be solved, every one of them." - Personal transformation: The gospel can take people who were "fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, covetous, drunkards" and transform them completely - "but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified." - Rest for troubled minds: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Light in intellectual confusion: "I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness." - Forgiveness and reconciliation with God - A new start in life: "You'll have a new start. Here's a gospel that can say this."

The preacher contends that modern rejection of Christianity is pushing society back into "the cult of softness and all the immorality and the vice and the dishonesty of life."

How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones explain the historical impact of Christianity?

Dr. Lloyd-Jones argues that Christianity has been responsible for the greatest benefits mankind has known throughout history. He lists several major contributions:

1. Healthcare: "Where did your hospitals come from? Christian church."
2. Education: "Where did education come from? Christian Church."
3. Social welfare: "Where did relief of the poor and the suffering come from? Christian church."
4. Liberty and human rights: "Do you know where our modern liberty has really come from? I can tell you it came through the Puritans of the 17th century. Oliver Cromwell and the rest."
5. The founding of the United States: "Where did your United States come from? From the same place. The Pilgrim, the Puritan fathers."
6. Labor rights: "Do you know that your trade unions were a direct outcome of the evangelical revival of 200 years ago?"
7. Moral improvement: "Where has your morality come from? Where have your noblest periods in the history of this country come from? And the answer is they've always come in the wake of religious revivals."

He argues that rejecting Christianity means rejecting the source of these historical benefits and improvements to human society.