Title: Thrown in Jail with the Key
Book: 44
Verses: 3:11-4:4
Subject: Freedom From Sin
Series:
Author: Mark A. Wood
Dr. Wood uses this message to encourage believers that whatever their circumstances they are freed by Jesus and to introduce non believers to grasp hold of the key of salvation who is Jesus Christ. Dr. Wood Encourages those who are held captive by circumstances to be released by the saving power of the real savior Jesus Christ.
This scripture tells of what happened after the lame man was healed by God through Peter and John. This same man had been at the gate for untold years. People passing him on the way into the temple would give money to him-they knew who he was and what his condition was. After the healing, the people were amazed and mistakenly looked to Peter and John as the ONES who healed the man. Peter quickly tells the people that it was not them but HIM, Jesus Christ. In verse 13, Peter reminds them that this Jesus Christ was the same one they had crucifixion just a short while before. He goes on telling them of the requirement of repentance of their sins and belief in Jesus Christ to open the doors to heaven to them.
Chapter 4 tells of the reaction of the priest, and the Sadducees. They were disturbed by the teaching and preaching of Jesus and his resurrection from the dead. They laid hands on him. This by no means that they were “laying on hands” to pray for healing. They laid hands on them to throw them in jail. The priests and Sadducees thought that would stop Peter and John from spreading the Gospel; however, they failed to realize that Peter and John had the KEY with them. We too, have the KEY if we have a relationship with Christ.
Four Characteristics of being thrown in jail with the KEY
I. We are captured by the cause v15
We must realize that Peter and John were witnesses to the Life of Jesus. Beyond that they were witnesses to His death burial and resurrection. Nothing could ever steal this witness away from them. They were completely captured by the reality of who Jesus is. Even Judas himself understood who Jesus was. Unfortunately, he chose suicide rather than reconciliation with Jesus Christ.
A. Every person is captured by a cause. Let us reflect on the life of Peter. His occupation was that of a fisherman. One would wander if he was not capture by his occupation before he was called by Jesus to be a disciple. Think for just a moment would Peter have left the banks on his boat and thought to himself, “I do not care much for fishing today, I believe I want to just catch 2 maybe three fish.” This is very doubtful, he most likely left the banks with the desire to catch a boat full of fish. Why? Because he was captured by the cause of his occupation. Today people have a purpose set forth in their lives. Children cannot wait until they become a teenager they are captured by the cause of getting older. Teens are captured by the idea that they may be able to graduate from high School. Adults are capture by their occupation and the goal of retirement. Often these things we are captured by becomes our cause. The word cause is used as if to say we set a goal or principle served with dedication or zeal. These guys, Peter and John were no doubt captured by the cause of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
II. Arrested by the Faith v16
Peter quickly set the record straight. He told the gathering crowd that it was not man that had done a great act by healing this lame man it was the very person in which just days earlier they had killed by crucifixion. More than anything man could do it was simple faith in God that had healed the man. Not only was Peter and John arrested by faith the man to whom they had shared their faith with became arrested as well.
A. Because of this arresting faith Peter and John was able to stand boldly and proclaim who was ultimately responsible for this great miracle. These two guys new that it would be destructive to claim this miracle for themselves. Because of the arresting faith in Jesus Christ they gave credit where credit was due. A key point to remember here is that faith in yourself will only lead to self destruction. Total faith in Jesus Christ will lead to total reconstruction. Jim Law the Sr. Associate pastor at First Baptist Woodstock recently said during a sermon while filling the pulpit there made this comment, “We must move out of the sense world and into the world of faith, God is the God of impossibility.” This is an incredible statement. He further stated that when we move into the faith world we will then be a people who will, “receive more to give more to do more to love more….” He repeated this statement many times. How true that is to be arrested by faith we will accomplish much than to be arrested by self.
III. Detained by the word v18
Peter began to point those in attendance that day to all the prophesies of the Old Testament about the predicted coming of the Messiah. Peter knew that those in attendance would cling to the words of the prophets of yesteryear. He gave them proof tat Jesus is exactly who He said He is. Today we can cling to that very promise. Lee Strobel so eloquently gave us many well calculated facts about the proof of Jesus being the Savior in his book the Case for Christ. Strobel made this statement, “The chance of 1 man fulfilling just 8 Old Testament prophecies has been calculated at 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000” To help a little with that phenomenal number it is a one with 17 zero’s behind it. To help better understand how great just one man could fulfill 8 prophecies Strobel helps illustrate it this way he says, “If you took this number of silver dollars , they would cover the state of Texas 2 feet deep. If you marked one silver dollar among them then had a blindfolded person wander the whole state and bend down to pick up 1 coin, what would be the odds he’d choose the one that was marked? This is the same odds that anyone in history could have fulfilled just 8 of the prophecies.” The best we know there were 60 Old Testament Prophecies having 270 ramifications pointing to the life of Christ. Being detained by the word meant that Peter john and the crowd could not and would not run from the fact that God had been speaking for many years about the day the these people were actually living out. Jesus pointed out in Luke 24:44 the very principle of being captured by the word will point to Him as the savior. When people are captured by the word of god they cannot put is down. The bible is the greatest love story ever told. When we become captured by the word is becomes more than words it becomes life.
IV. Paroled by Repentance
Peter took his listeners back to the message of John the Baptist. That message was Repent. One thing that we can make clear is a road toward destruction will no doubt lead to destruction. If this be the case a life toward destruction will produce a destroyed life. This can be illustrated this way, As I travel down a road and realize that I am going the wrong way I make a U-turn. And then I travel in the opposite direction. Will I travel back over the same hills and valley’s? Will I hit the same pot holes? Yes! but I am no longer heading in the direction of destruction. When we change our life and follow Jesus will we have bumps and hurdles along the way? Yes! Often we will be faced and need to get out of a situation that we were once in. The difference, one we have crossed this path before but in a different direction. Two, we now have a guide to help us get over life’s difficult situations.
A. Our sins are blotted out
Verse 19 shows us two beautiful things. The first is that our sins are blotted out when we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and repent or our sins. The word blotted out can find it roots from the Greek translation ἐîáëåßöù exaleipho /ex•al•i•fo. When reading this word we can trace this word through the Latin and find the word exfoliate. Exfoliate means to remove or discard. Initially the word was used as a term for removing all leaves from a tree as if to say that virtue of our seasons fall will exfoliate the leaves from the trees. Ladies today spend millions on products to exfoliate their skin. The question is when a person exfoliates their skin, that is to remove all old and dead skin from their body, what do they do with it. They throw it away!!! Who would want to save it? As strange a s this analogy is who would want to save any sin that has been discarded? No One!! One could further ponder this aspect of blotting out while looking into Revelation 3:5 The second beautiful aspect of this verse is the word refreshing. There is peace in the refreshing comfort of knowing that you are completely reconciled to Jesus Christ. Look to Revelation 7:17 and hold to the refreshing aspects of eternity, “for the Lamb” that is Jesus “who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters” note the refreshing elements of the throne of God “And God will wipe away” this is the same word as blotted out or exolifo “every tear from their eyes.” Peter and John gave those in attendance that day a life changing message We all have a choice which life to choose that of being poisoned by the world of to be freed by the key of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
