Show Your Love For The Lord

Show Your Love for the Lord

Acts 4:1-13

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - April 26, 2015

BACKGROUND:

*In Acts 3, Peter and John were on their way to pray at the Temple. But they were stopped by a beggar who had been lame for all of his life. The man asked for money, but:

6. . . Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.''

7. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking, leaping, and praising God.

*The large crowd of people in the Temple was filled with wonder over this miracle, and Peter began to preach about the Lord Jesus Christ. He talked about the cross and the wonderful good news of Christ's resurrection.

*Acts 4:4 will tell us that 5,000 men were saved that day, when they believed in the Lord! But these things caused such a stir that the Temple rulers had Peter and John arrested. Today we will look at part of their trial. Let's begin by reading Acts 4:1-13.

INTRODUCTION:

*Our Katie is 28 years old, but I still keep this note she gave me when she was 8. On the outside it says, "Keep forever." And on the inside it says, "I love Dad. I love Dad. I love Dad. I love Dad." Twenty-four times! -- "I love Dad!" Then "P.S. -- It's true."

*Katie wanted to show her love for me, and God wants us to show our love for Him. How can we do that? How can we show our love for the Lord Jesus Christ? Peter and John show us right here in the Word of God.

1. First: Give glory to the Lord.

*Give God the glory for the good things in your life. That's what Peter did during their trial. Something fantastic had happened to that beggar who was born lame. Acts 4:22 tells us that he was over 40-years-old, and he had never been able to take a step his whole life.

*Think about that for a minute: That man was never able to run as a child, never able to take a step, never able to take care of himself. He was reduced to begging outside the Temple, and he tried to beg from Peter and John.

*But God used Peter to give that man more than he ever dreamed possible. Again from Acts 3:6-8:

6. . . Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.''

7. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking, leaping, and praising God.

*With that astonishing display of power, it would have been easy for Peter and John to take the credit. But they didn't brag on themselves. They bragged on the Lord. They gave all the glory for that miracle to Jesus Christ.

*We see this happening in vs. 7-11:

7. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?''

8. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:

9. If we this day are judged for a good deed done to the helpless man, by what means he has been made well,

10. 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.

11. This is the 'stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.'"

*Peter and John gave all the glory to the Lord, and that's what we should do. Too much of the time we focus on what people have done and what they can do. That's okay up to a point, but we need to give glory to God.

*Years ago, some geography students were studying the Seven Wonders of the World, and the teacher asked their opinions about the wonders of the world. Almost everybody agreed on places like the Great Pyramids in Egypt, the Taj Mahal, the Panama Canal and the Great Wall of China.

*Then the teacher noticed that one girl hadn't turned in her list yet. The girl told her teacher she couldn't quite make up her mind, because there were so many possibilities. So the teacher said, "Tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated and then said, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are to touch, to taste, to see, to hear, to hope, to laugh, and to love."