What does Acts 5 teach us about courage to speak the gospel?

In this expository sermon on Acts 5, Dr. Toby Holt shows that the enemies of Christ did not fear church buildings, programs, or reputation nearly as much as they feared the clear preaching of the gospel. The apostles are arrested and warned, yet God sends them back to speak the words of life. This sermon presses the church to recover confidence that the gospel itself is the power of God.

Questions this sermon answers:

1. Why were the apostles arrested in Acts 5?

2. Why did God free them and send them back to speak publicly?

3. How should Christians respond when they are pressured to be silent?

Acts 5 reminds us that the church's courage rests in obeying God rather than men and in trusting Christ to use His Word.

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.

Why does the gospel stir up so much trouble?

In Acts 17:1-15, the message of Jesus turns whole cities upside down. Dr. Toby Holt explains why the good news unsettles the world — and why that is exactly what it is meant to do. In Thessalonica, Paul reasoned from the Scriptures for three Sabbaths that Jesus is the Christ who had to die and rise. Some believed, but jealous opponents stirred up a mob, accusing the missionaries of proclaiming "another king — Jesus." Holt notes the real opposition is spiritual, and contrasts the angry crowd with the fair-minded Bereans, who searched the Scriptures daily.

Questions this study answers:

1. Why did the gospel cause such an uproar? Because it announces "another king, Jesus," and challenges the world's idols and power. A message calling for full allegiance to Christ always unsettles the way things are.

2. What was the real source of the opposition? Holt points beyond the angry crowd to a spiritual enemy. The struggle over the gospel is ultimately not against people but against spiritual darkness.

3. What made the Bereans different? Instead of reacting with anger, they searched the Scriptures daily to test whether Paul's teaching was true — showing us how to weigh everything by God's Word.

"These who have turned the world upside down have come here too." — Acts 17:6 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.

What does Acts 4:12 teach us in The One Name That Saves?

In this expository sermon on Acts 4:12, Dr. Toby Holt of New Geneva Theological Seminary teaches that salvation is found in no one but Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Preaching from Peter's defense before the Jewish Sanhedrin, he expounds the exclusivity of Christ: Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified and risen Messiah and rejected chief cornerstone, is the singular means of salvation, a claim the world rejected then and rejects now. The sermon presses hearers to trust in the one name by which they must be saved.

Questions this sermon answers:

1. What is the main issue in this passage? In this expository sermon on Acts 4:12, Dr.

2. How does this text point us to Christ? It shows the need for God's grace and the hope fulfilled in the gospel.

3. How should Christians respond? With faith, repentance, and renewed trust in the Lord's Word.

"Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole." - Acts 4:8-10 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.