Salvation Is Found In No Other Name! Series

SALVATION IS FOUND IN NO OTHER NAME!

Acts 4: 12-33

Dorn Ridge Church of Christ (Centennial Park July 20, 2014)

INTRODUCTION:

1.) This morning, I want to focus on what might be one of the greatest assertions of the Christian faith.

2.) In Acts 4: 12, the apostle Peter declared: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

3.) When we believe that declaration:

A.) It will result in a transformation of every part of our being,

B.) There will be a boldness to proclaim that message, and

C.) The resurrection of Christ will be proclaimed with power.

I. WHEN SALVATION IS FOUND IN NO OTHER NAME THERE IS A TRANSFORMATION OF EVERY PART OF OUR BEING.

1.) Peter and John were filled with courage.

A.) These men had just been ordered by the top religious authorities to not preach about Jesus Christ.

B.) These men had already demonstrated a powerful courage.

ba.) Acts 4:18-21

bb.) The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ had made a powerful impact on the lives of Peter and John.

bc.) The greatness of that event and the coming of the Holy Spirit of God had completely transformed these men into bold and courageous ambassadors for Jesus Christ.

bca.) The threats of men, even these leaders of the Jewish faith, could not persuade them from proclaiming the message of Christ.

bcb.) The transformation that had occurred in these men was of God.

.01) When Almighty God transforms the heart of man, it is more powerful than the threats of those who oppose the Plan and purpose of God.

2.) The religious leaders were astonished because these were unschooled, ordinary men.

A.) These were not men who had been trained by the Jewish leaders and rabbis.

aa.) In that day there were no Bible Colleges, or many of the institutes of higher learning we have available today.

ab.) The training to proclaim the Word of God came through an older experienced rabbi who would take younger men into his care, and train them in speaking and leadership.

ac.) This was the case with the man we call the Apostle Paul.

ad.) Paul had studied under the great Jewish rabbi Gamaliel.

ada.) To have studied under the direction of such an influential leader would today be an education on par with one studying in the halls of Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, or Oxford Universities.

B.) These Jewish leaders knew for a fact that Peter and John had not received such training from any of the Jewish leaders.

ba.) They knew this because in all likelihood the greatest of the Jewish rabbis and leaders would have been present at this time.

bb.) In fact they would likely have been the very ones questioning Peter and John for preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

C.) These were men who were described as unschooled, ordinary men.

ca.) These men had received no formal higher education.

cb.) Though it doesn’t come out in this passage of Scripture, these men would have also been from the area of Galilee.

D.) These men were fishermen.

da. I am not saying there anything wrong with fishermen, but they were not on the highest rungs of the social order of that day.

db.) They were looked at as very unlikely choices to be preaching and teaching.

dba.) Yet, be that as it may, I want you to notice one other fact of the passage of Scripture that made a big difference:

3.) They took note that these men had been with Jesus.

A.) Acts 4:13

B.) What a powerful statement that could be made of these Apostles.

ba.) Even though these men were not trained by the leading Jewish rabbis to be teachers, they had received over three years of teaching under the leadership of Jesus.

bb.) Yet as we look at these men, it was not just their training from Jesus.

bba.) It was not many weeks earlier these men were far more cowardly, and lacking in influence, even to the point of running and fleeing for their lives when Jesus was arrested.

bbb.) Now these men were bold in proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

bbc.) The difference was that now they knew and had witnessed the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

.01) They had been completely transformed because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

bbd.) The resurrection of Jesus Christ gave them confidence that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

C.) That is a statement that one should be able to be made of any Christian.

ca.) The world should be able to look at anyone of us and recognize that we have been with Jesus.