To God Be the Glory
“They realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, and they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13
Intro: In the text it is the first few months after the Resurrection.
I have skipped ahead to after the return of Jesus back up into heaven for this sermon.
Preaching this sermon today is a little bit out of place because
Jesus remained on earth for 40 days and appeared multiple times and locations
In the city of Jerusalem, on the road to Emmaus, by the Sea of Galilee, to as many as 500 at one time.
Between the Resurrection and Jesus returning back up into heaven
is 40 days of the Resurrected Jesus alive here on earth with his Disciples
and all the things that take place up until the Day of Ascension and Pentecost.
So I have skipped ahead in the order of chronology…,
in the timeline of when things took place with this text from Acts 4.
But I wanted to show the dramatic change…, that took place with the disciples
Who were hiding behind locked doors…, the day after Jesus was Crucified
and Peter and John risking their life to boldly give their testimony of the Gospel of the Risen Saviour.
So now that you know the timeline of how things took place
Jump ahead with me into today’s text.
Two of the apostles, Peter and John, have healed a man who could not walk.
They give all the credit to Jesus Christ.
They give all the credit to the One who conquered death and the grave.
This upsets the Leading Priest, the Captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees in that area.
What happens next is these authorities have Peter and John arrested and thrown into jail overnight.
The next morning they drag Peter and John out in front of all of the rulers and authorities
in front of Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, Alexander, and the rest of the royal family
You understand this is the same council of rulers and elders who had condemned Jesus to death.
So, when they bring Peter and John out they demanded
“By what power, or in whose name, had they done this?”
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It’s in that setting in Acts 4:13 that the Bible says this: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John
and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,
they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
It is important to note that everyone had seen the evidence of this healed man.
This was a man everyone knew could not walk.
Now he can walk.
The people in the city knew this man.
They knew that he could not walk,
and they saw the transformation of this cripple healed and restored .
I want to key in on that word “transformation” for a moment.
That has been woven throughout the fabric of First Methodist here over the past 153 years.
First United has seen many signs of God’s involvement as lives have been transformed,
physical and spiritual healings have occurred,
broken families have been saved.
People Helped…., Lives Changed.
How???
Was it the because of the stained glass windows?
Was it the bell tower and pipe organ?
Was it because we have a baby grand piano and an oak altar and pulpit?
Peter and John did not have any of these things
They did not even have a church building at all.
How then were so many people helped and so many lives changed???
Some discoveries have changed the course of history—like electricity.
We take electricity for granted until the power goes out.
When the lights don’t work, the air conditioning goes off, the refrigerator and stove don’t function,
the computer is shut down —then we’re almost helpless.
Electricity is such a necessary blessing to our lives, but electricity is extremely dangerous.
In its raw form it can shock, kill or burn a house down.
Before electricity can be used in a practical way, it has to go through a transformer.
The transformer cuts the power down and channels the electricity so that the room can be changed from darkness to light, cold to warm, boredom to excitement.
Jesus is The Great Transformer.
1 Timothy 2:5 says, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
God is so holy, so powerful, that his full presence cannot be tolerated by mere human beings.
Exodus 33 says that no man can look upon the face of God and live.
Revelation 6 says that in the last day when people fully see God’s power,
they will call for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them
and to hide them from the face of the one who sits on the throne.
But Jesus Christ brought God down to us.
He said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”
Jesus channels the truth of God so that we can safely see him, touch him, understand him and relate to him.
And when we allow Jesus Christ’s power into our lives, he transforms us
from the darkness of sin to the light of his holiness,
from the coldness of selfishness to the warmth of compassion,
from the vain activities of this world to the joy and excitement of the eternal.
2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “We are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord.”
Many people who heard Peter and John talk about the Risen Jesus believed them,
so that the number of believers totaled about five thousand men, not counting the women and children.
In Acts 4 we see the Early Church dealing with their first wave of persecution.
Here are three things we learn from Peter and James.
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I. Stay Filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 4:8 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,”
Remember we have jumped ahead quite a bit.
This is after Pentecost
After the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Disciples in Acts 2.
In Acts 2 Peter along with the other disciples and whole company of believers are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Now later in Acts 4 Peter is again filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let’s think about a few basics of the Holy Spirit.
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A. The Holy Spirit is a gift.
The Holy Spirit is given to everyone who repents of sin, believes and follows Christ as LORD and Saviour.
The Holy Spirit grows as your relationship with God grows.
Jesus must be your God, your Savior and your LORD.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.
Jesus told the disciples that he would leave, but would remain with them.
How could this be?
This Advocate combines the idea of both Counselor and Comforter.
The Holy Spirit is a powerful resource working for and with us.
Jesus promised to never leave us alone.
So the spirit of God lives with us and in us.
He teaches us by reminding us of Jesus’s words.
He guides us by revealing the dangers of sin and the joys of being a Christian
The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him, knows him, understands him or accepts him.
The world at large does not have the Holy Spirit living within them.
But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans;
I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.
Because I live, you also will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.
The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
John 14:15-21
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B. I must be willing to turn away from every sin in my life and turn to Christ.
If I have a relationship with Him,
then there is a constant process of searching my heart for sin
(and asking God to search my heart for sin) and being willing to get rid of it.
Any sin has to go.
No matter how precious sin is to you.
Do you know most people really love their sin.
If they did not love their sin they would get rid of it.
But most people who are bitter and angry
They thrive off drama and attention they get during a crisis.
The people who gossip.
They love to talk about other people
Because it takes the attention off of them and off their own sin and shines light onto someone else.
So, if they can tear down and destroy the reputation of someone else they love it. They love their sin.
People who are unforgiving they love their unforgiveness.
I used to think that people who would not forgive me
Did not forgive me because they did not love me. (as love as a brother or sister in Christ should)
But through years of experience with unforgiving people
I have discovered they don’t forgive because deep down in their mind and heart they are secretly and subconsciously don’t love themselves.
Who are you helping most when you forgive the person who offended or hurt you?
Actually, you're helping yourself more than the other person.
I always looked at forgiving people who hurt me as being really hard.
I thought it seemed so unfair for them to receive forgiveness when I had gotten hurt.
I got pain, and they got freedom without having to pay for the pain they caused.
Now I realize that I'm helping myself when I choose to forgive.
I'm also helping the other person by releasing them so God can do what only He can do.
If I'm in the way—still holding a grudge then I am not trusting in God to handle the situation.
The act of forgiving is our seed of obedience to His Word.
Once we've sown our seed, He is faithful to bring a harvest of blessing to us one way or another.
But some people had rather hold on to unforgiveness than let it go.
When you don’t forgive someone you are the one who remains in bondage
But believe or not some people like to live in bondage.
Israel was in bondage in Egypt 430 years
When God delivered them from bondage through Moses
But we read time and time again
How they would rather return to slavery in Egypt than face new challenges in the dessert.
That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Numbers 14
So, they sow the seeds of hatred and they cherish it, they love it. They love their sin.
This is why you cannot hold anything from God.
You have to be willing to lay your entire heart and soul on the altar before God.
You have to allow God to search the darkest corners of your mind and soul with the flaming light of His Holy Spirit.
If He places His finger on something and says it cannot stay,
You have to be willing to get rid of it right then and there.
If I hold on to sin,
I forfeit the power of God’s Holy Spirit.
If I hold on to sin,
I grieve His Spirit and cannot be filled to overflowing with His power again until I repent.
(I have to turn 180 degrees from my wrong doing and turn to Christ). I cannot have both sin and God.
When I cherished the sin in my heart, the Lord does not listen. (Psalm 66:18)
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:30-32
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Search me, God,
know my heart God;
test me God.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24
There is a difference between . . .
Being around Jesus and being with Jesus.
Being around Christians and being with Jesus.
Being around Christian events and being with Jesus.
Being around the church and being with Jesus
These verses are all about repenting of our sin and being with Jesus.
I must be willing to praise God, thank God, give God the Glory.
II. Stay Faithful to the Message and the Mission.
So these rulers threaten Peter and John and command them not to “speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” All you have to do is comply with that one rule and we’ll let you go on about your business.
But Peter again is very straightforward.
Is it right for us to listen to you more than God? You decide.
This is the High Priest and rulers in Israel.
If they were honest, they would have to acknowledge that Peter is right.
But they are not seeking the truth.
They are busy preserving their own place of power and prosperity.
Later they give this command to Peter again.
In Acts 5:28 the High Priest says, “…Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name?
And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!
But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’”
Let that answer sink deeply into your heart for you may have to use it yourself.
“We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Our mandate is to go into the world and preach the gospel.
The devil will do everything he can think of to keep us from doing that.
You better bet the devil aims his big gun at us.
We must allow nothing to stop us.
III. Stay Prayerful.
If we don’t pray, we will not prevail!
We will not thrive in an environment of persecution if don’t draw upon the grace of God.
It is time to seek the Lord.
Look with me at the prayer made to God in Acts 4.
(1) It was passionate and fervent. Acts 4:24 says they “raised their voice to God”
—not just a few moments of somber silence, but they raised their voices unto God in prayer.
(2) It was public, united prayer, for verse 24 says they prayed in one accord.
(3) It declared faith in the sovereignty of God. Verse 24 again, “You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them.” Ultimately, God, you’re the One in charge here.
The Sanhedrin may think they are in charge.
But God made them and God made the air they breathe.
(4) Their prayer was answered this way. Acts 4:31 “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
Some of these were the same people filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
For them it was not a one-time experience that you had 40 years ago.
For them it was something they needed in the now.
What you and I need more than anything else for this time and hour is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Maybe you were filled 20, 30, 40 years ago.
That was good for then, but are you full of the Holy Spirit now—because that is what will equip us for the now.
They did not get delivered from persecution. I don’t even see them asking for that.
What they got was a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what God wants to give His people today.
He may have to allow persecution to get our attention so that we will pray.
In was in a persecuting, hostile culture that this church in Acts thrived.
The laws were against them, but the God of all the earth was for them.
And if God be for you, who can be against you?
God, don’t deliver us from persecution; deliver us through persecution.
Anoint us like you anointed the Early Church.
Empower us to turn the world upside down with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Peter preached that there was a reason this crippled man could walk… and that reason was Jesus.
This was Jesus, the Messiah that Israel had waited so long for… AND THEY HAD KILLED HIM.
The Death and Resurrection of Jesus had been prophesied 1000s of years before Jesus came.
But NOW (Peter tells them) they need to “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” Acts 3:19-20
Do you think Peter was being mean-spirited here?
Was he insulting the crowd?
Was he being harsh or rude to them?
Of course not - Peter was simply telling the crowd what they needed to hear.
• They had crucified the Messiah.
• IF they continued to reject Christ… they’d go to hell.
• Therefore… REPENT and don’t do that – don’t reject Jesus anymore.
And if they embraced Christ God would forgive their sins and give them refreshment and peace.
As Acts:4 telling “… as (Peter and John) were speaking to the people,
the priests and the captain of the temple and the SADDUCEES came upon them,
greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.” Acts 4:1-3
I’m pretty sure that was NOT the plan when they went to the Temple that morning.
Peter tells the Sanhedrin EXACTLY what he told the crowd at the Temple: You crucified the Messiah.
You rejected the One sent by God.
And you need to understand that the only way you can undo what you’ve done is to appeal to the name of Jesus - the only name that can save you from your sins.
Now, these were not Peter’s words… these were words inspired by the Holy Spirit.
And it was the same message Peter repeats over and over again.
He said it at Pentecost when 3000 repented and were baptized into Christ,
he said it at the Temple when he healed the lame man,
and now he says EXACTLY the same thing as he addresses the Sanhedrin.
He’s not being harsh or rude.
He’s not trying to insult them.
He’s telling them the Gospel – they crucified Jesus…they’re guilty…and they need to repent.
It’s the same message we needed to hear when we became Christians:
Our sins put Jesus on the cross.
We were guilty and we needed to repent
and be buried in the waters of baptism and to rise up to a new life.
Well what is it that we need to share?
That WE were sinners but WE decided to turn it over to Jesus.
WE believed, repented and were baptized into Christ.
And now WE’RE saved by grace.
We try to live a good life… But our good deeds can’t buy God’s grace,
but we do the good deeds now because God gave His gift freely.
And now we approach others with the same message:
YOU have sinned - and you need to repent and you need to turn to Jesus.
Someone once noted: “If there was a fire in your house and you had 6 family members inside,
how many would you have to get out of the house before you'd be satisfied?”
All of them… all of them….
Someone told me about a terrible nightmare.
They were standing before God on Judgment Day in a line and they were standing behind Mother Teresa. (Laughter)
Wouldn’t you hate to be next in line if eternal life was determined by good works?
But Ephesians 2:8 and 9 says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Salvation is not dependent upon keeping the commandments; it’s dependent upon trusting Jesus Christ.
A little eight-year-old girl became fascinated with a cheap string of pearls at a store.
She took all of her savings of about two dollars bought these pearls.
She wore them everywhere because she thought they made her grown up and dressed up.
Her mother insisted she take them off when she took a bath, so they wouldn’t turn her neck green.
One night her daddy asked her to take the pearls off and give them to him.
She said, “Oh, no, Daddy. I couldn’t give you the string of pearls.
I’ll give you my little, white horse in my collection.”
He said, “No, that’s okay.” And he kissed her goodnight.
A few nights later she was still wearing the string of pearls.
Her father said, “Jennie, do you love me?”
“Ya, Dad.”
“I want you to give me the string of pearls.”
“Oh, no, Daddy. I can’t give you the string of pearls,
but I’ll give you my favorite doll and a blanket.”
He said, “No, that’s okay.” And he kissed her goodnight.
Several nights later she sat on the bed waiting for him, fighting back the tears.
She reached out her fist and handed him the pearls.
She said, “Here, Daddy. I give them to you.”
And he took his hand, put it in his pocket as he received those pearls,
He handed to her a velvet case that contained genuine pearls that he’d had for her all along.
He was just waiting for her to give the dollar store stuff up, so he could give her the genuine article.
So it is with the Heavenly Father.
He’s waiting sometimes for us to give up the cheap things in our lives
so he can give us the eternal treasure in their place.
Are you holding on to things that God wants you to let go of?
Maybe it’s possessions.
Maybe it’s a habit.
Maybe it’s a relationship.
Maybe it’s an activity.
God will never take something away from you that he won’t give you something better in return.
The Lord has the power to transform a tadpole into a frog,
a caterpillar into a butterfly,
a hard brown seed into white fluffy popcorn,
and black coal into beautiful diamonds…
and he can change your life from a worthless sinner to a valuable saint.
He’ll change your focus from shallow insignificant complaints and grumbling
to deep spiritual compassion and your attitude from one of discontentment to joy.
But he doesn’t force himself on you.
He asks you, “will you give it up to Him?”
As we sing our invitation song, if you want to give your life to Jesus Christ, he gives it back to you abundantly.
