Wednesday night we're going to continue our Through the Bible Study, verse by verse chapter by chapter, book by book right through the Bible and in our journey we're in the book of Acts right now so we draw our text on these Sunday mornings from our upcoming Wednesday study. So why don't you turn with me to Acts chapter 4. I'd like to pick up right where we left off in our Wednesday night study.
In Acts chapter 4 you kind of need to know the setup because it's sort of a response to what happened in chapter 3. But many of you know if you were here last Sunday we saw the man that was crippled sitting there at the gate beautiful as you go into the temple, people you know worshipers going into the temple they'd pass this guy crying out for alms, alms for the poor, alms for the poor.
He'd been crippled from his mother's womb but about three o'clock in the afternoon Peter and John went up to the temple to pray for the hour of prayer. And on the way they saw this crippled man who was crying out for alms and Peter stopped and looked at him and he said look at us and the man looked at him expecting to give you know that gets some money from Peter and John.
But Peter and John said silver and gold have I none but such as I have given into the in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk and Peter reaches with his right hand and pulls this guy up from his crippled condition crippled from his mother's womb. And the man stands up and then he's standing and then he starts walking and then leaping and praising God there's this guy busted a move on the temple mount.
Walking and leaping and everybody wondered the story says because they knew the guy was crippled they'd see them there for 40 years sitting at the same gate day after day and now he's walking and leaping and praising God and they wondered. It says well why they wondered some gave glory to God but there were others who saw what was going on here and they were grieved.
Have you ever met someone who is grieved at good things where they're grieved when they see things that maybe they don't like even though it's really good for someone else. Well oftentimes those are that are contrary to Jesus those that are contrary to people of faith even Christians. There's people grieved that you're here at church on a Sunday morning.
Some people are grieved that Christians are even on the earth saw bumper sticker that said Christians can't live with them can't throw them to the lions den anymore. It's like there's a kind of a thing where there's some people that are grieved and and their grieved that your life is doing so good and their life is not doing so well.
It's amazing how people are well in this story there's some people that are grieved why are they grieved well that's where chapter four picks up let's look at verse one of chapter four we're going to look at Acts chapter four verses one through 14. It says here in verse one and as they spaken to the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them.
Being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead and they laid hands on them and put them in hold until the next day for it was now even tied. These first three verses kind of set up the story where the main group here are the Sadducees now when Jesus walked on the earth and was ministering his probably his primary group that didn't like him was the Pharisees.
They're not fair you see because they are legalists and they were going around nitpicking and everything Jesus did and remember the Pharisees were keepers of the law legalists. In fact they were the ones who would promote the traditions of men you know there was the laws of Moses and Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law of Moses.
When it came to the dumb traditions that the Pharisees and the Jews had come up for centuries about about those laws of Moses Jesus didn't observe those traditions of man and he also corrected them all the time saying you guys have missed the whole thing by making your dumb rules I'm not going to follow those rules.
So they that was one of the reasons they condemned Jesus and his ministry and his disciples so those are the Pharisees but in this case it's the priest but it seems like the Sadducees are now at the leadership of this now the Sadducees didn't give Jesus as much trouble as he was walking on the earth and here's here's the reason why they're the liberal theologians if you would the Sadducees.
But they had a particular belief they believe that when you died you just cease to exist they did not believe in the resurrection that's why they were sad you see.
You would be sad if this is all there is in this life if this is all you have and when you die you just kick the bucket and cease to exist life could be pretty miserable for most of the world you think what's this all about when you're a Christian and you have the hope of the life after that's eternal with Christ in heaven then it makes you realize wow this is the truth.
It makes you realize wow there's something really to look forward to but the Sadducees. I hope you're not Sadducee because if you accept Christ and if you believe in Jesus and repent of your sins the Bible says you'll be saved and you'll have eternal life through him don't miss that.
That makes you glad you see you're glad you see not a Sadducee or a Pharisee anyway all that to say in this story the Sadducees are grieved isn't that something they're grieved and why it says because Peter and John and those guys taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
What does it mean they laid hands on them it just doesn't mean that they started praying for them some of you Christians are like oh they pray they laid hands that's that's a figure of speech or term we use but not in this case they laid hands on them grabbed them and dragged them through them into jail.
So Peter and John are in jail overnight and the next morning they're forced to sort of stand before this trial of these Sadducees but also there's a list of people that are there and these are the big wigs and I want you to kind of sense this is the same group of people who are in the same way as the Sadducees.
This is the same group that Jesus would be tried remember they apprehended Jesus in the Garden of Gisemini that night took him to Caiaphas's house had this weird kangaroo court at night with Caiaphas but the Jews tried Jesus in sort of this unfair trial. Now we're seeing sort of a repeat this is the same thing I just I want you to sense there's danger here these are the same people that ended up crucifying Jesus with their their kangaroo court they're dumb trial they did on Jesus.
It was totally unfair and not even real now Peter and John are in the exact same situation Jesus was with the exact same people that condemned Jesus to death. So the situation most people say man this is dire what do you think the disciples are going to do are they going to freak out are they going to panic are they be shaken in their sandals.
Well the story goes on in verse four says how be it many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about 5,000 so even though Peter and John get thrown into jail that night man the Lord is on the move people are being saved we went from in Acts chapter 2.
Now the group is up to 5,000 that says here and you know one of the things I think that's so cool about this that I want you to kind of note is this is a big church in Jerusalem you don't understand you know Jerusalem at that time was a big city for those times but it was really a pretty small city compared to our times you know Jerusalem during the time of Jesus is probably about the size of Newberg.
Can you imagine can you imagine if newberg had a mega church of 5,000 people would that be something people probably know about that's what's going on in Jerusalem and it's all happening within a few months in a few months suddenly a mega church the reason I say that is because there's kind of this thing right now it's all against mega churches and I get it I understand there's what there are some mega churches out there that are kind of wacko and you know how do you tell a good church what what is a mega church they say 1500 people or more and you you might say you're so very defensive on this mega church is.
Well, I just want to say there is a difference between I'd say you know I don't even like the name mega church so I don't want to really that's never been our goal our goal was never to have you know tons of people piling into a building and stuff like that. I think the biggest differentiation of maybe a good mega churches versus some bad mega churches there's a lot of differences but maybe the way they get people to come is a big thing you can note.
First of all did a thick creek pastures and leadership sit around how can we get people to come to our church we never once did that not one time in the history of a thick creek now some churches I know the mega churches there was that there was a movement called the seeker friendly movement and that it was all about mega churches now it's funny all those people that were part of that movement back 30 years ago 20 years ago they're all the ones bashing the mega church today it's hilarious but they're the ones saying you know how do we get more people can we need to put them McDonald's in our church say say a fire.
And we need to have really flashy music and smoke and lights and we need to we need to really perform well and make this Christmas is going to be better than last Christmas and you know there's this thing of how we can just out do ourselves and here's the problem with that the way you catch them is the way you got to keep them.
If people come because wow look at all that flashy stuff you better be flashier next week and that pressure on these churches makes them do stupid things have you seen some of the crazy stuff mega churches do on a Sunday morning on Super Bowl Sunday they have a pre game game and they start kicking bibles for field goals and stuff like that actually happened like a couple years ago.
Waco just crazy stuff so maybe one way to discern how how a church is grown how do they do it that often will kind of give it away do you do you have mega church because Justin Bieber sitting in the front row. The celebrity pastor there are mega churches that are like that but this is a mega church here in the book of Acts would you agree 5000 people in Jerusalem that's a big church now and they meet in the temple in this big setting with lots of people.
But here's the difference here's the thing every time numbers are mentioned in the book of Acts about the church it always tells us why the church was growing and I think this is the key right here I wish pastors would just read this and catch this because it's a secret I think it's a secret if you really care about people and not just to grow a big church but care about people how do you get people to come to church well it says right here in our text where's for how be it many of them which heard the word believed.
And the number of the men was 5000 turn the page backward to chapter 2 if you would and let's go to the first numbering there when we came to the 3000 verse 41 chapter 2 verse 41. It says then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day there were added to them 3000 souls.
Every time in fact let me fast forward without taking look at Acts chapter 6 I'll put it up on the screen it says and the word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly and a great company of the priest or obedient to the faith.
If people care about church growth or even think about it it's really quite simple I believe people today particularly in America are starving for God's word and there's these churches trying to get people to come and the one thing they're leaving out is the word of God they're they might tack on a verse on the screen maybe once in a while.
And you know that's I guess that's better than not but but I would say go through the Bible read the word of God Paul told him to give attendance to the reading of scripture and that was his admonition as a pastor of a church at Ephesus when Timothy was pastored Ephesus so I think the key is just the word the word the word man it's so it's so key to make that our focus.
So in our text they gladly receive the word that 3000 people here in chapter of you know for we see a similar thing verse for how be it many of them which heard the word believed and now they're at 5000 people.
And if you ask people why do people come to a creek because it's a mega church nope it it because it's a large church because I think people are just really hungry for God's word I think they don't care as much about the pastor's opinions or what you know what the slickest tire is or how good looking the pastor is I know that's a draw here at a.
No no no no no it's like the thing that's actually but draws people I think is people are just really hungry for God's word and man I wish there were more churches around America that would catch the simple simple thing it's so simple it's almost profound but you know and that's that's one of the marks of a creek I think when you come to a creek you know you realize wow there's pretty long sermon that guy's teaching for a long time you know you're an a.
You know you're an a. Before the service because it's like you're preparing for a long road trip or something you know I heard the story of a pastor was preaching a particularly long Sunday and and this young guy gets up and kind of huffs out and and the pastor stops his service is young man where do you where you going and he said I'm going to get a haircut and he said why didn't you get a haircut before church he said I didn't need a haircut before church.
Why why are our services longer it's because we're getting work done we're going verse by verse chapter by chapter through the Bible and if you stick with us in about 15 years you'll go through the Bible with us and we've done it twice one or third lap now through the Bible so it's pretty exciting I think it's it's it's it's the way to go so the word increased well that's the good news but the bad news is now Peter and John they're in jail now they're
going to put in front of the court of this Sanhedrin it says here in verse five and it came to pass on the Marrow that their rulers and elders and scribes and anus the high priest and Caiaphas and John not John the Apostle different John and Alexander and as many as we're of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem.
This is like I said that same group so we've got you know the Sanhedrin which is a 71 member organization of religious leaders they needed 23 members to have a quorum so there's at least 23 members of the Sanhedrin here in this particular trial of Peter and John and in verse seven it says and when they had set them in the midst they asked by what power or by what name have you done this you know what are they asking they're asking the guy that was healed in the
previous chapter that was walking and leaping and praising God by what power have you done this miracle now these religious guys are doing something that is actually biblical if you would because in the books of Moses the Torah the law it says that you're to try those people they're doing miracles and make sure they're not doing it any other name than that of Jehovah the God of Moses there at the
Burning Bush the I am that I am the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob there's no other name people should do that under and so if you if somebody else does that if they you know they had to kind of a list of things if they do a miracle or if they have a dream or a vision by any other name or worshipping any other God of course or enticing others to to you know be drawn away from Jehovah to some other name then the law of Moses said you're to take those guys and stone them to death.
So these guys sound pious by asking the it actually comes from Deuteronomy chapter 13 for you note takers that's where that law was and they're actually doing something that's kind of biblical but have you ever known someone to do something biblical but for
you know they're not just a little ulterior motives their motive was not to seek righteousness their motive was to try to free out a way to stone these guys to death and this is why this is why they're doing this they're going to they realize they're going to probably say something that's going to get them into trouble so they ask them this powerful question they're not concerned about righteousness or correct things they're actually just using the scriptures for their own means I hope you don't do that
but that's what's going on here they're just trying to figure out a way to get these guys in trouble so by what name they said have you done this well I love this verse eight it says then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost would you mark that filled with the Holy Ghost that's huge this is big Peter filled with Holy Ghost said into them you rulers of the people and elders of Israel
if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he has made whole be it 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 even by him that this man stand here before you whole this Peter sound timid here is he shaken in this andals man we see such a different Peter here what what
what's the deal you know Peter in chapter you know 20 of the book of John we saw him shaken in this andals with the other disciples in the upper room for fear of the Jews what Jews these very Jews the ones that crucified Jesus they were freaked out up in the upper room and if you remember what happened there Jesus
appears to them in that upper room in the resurrection and then he's any breathes on them and says receive you the Holy Ghost and so they receive the Holy Ghost that was the Holy Spirit now is in them and then Jesus said I want you to go and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit not only going to be in you but he will come upon you and so there in Acts chapter 1 Jesus said you'll have power do
them is remember that and power will come upon you by the spirit so there in Acts chapter 2 they're up in an upper room just waiting on the Holy Spirit and then the rushing wind and the tongues of fire and all that stuff that we saw in Acts
chapter 2 now these disciples they're just not your ordinary disciples they're filled with the Holy Spirit this is the disciple we're seeing right now is the Holy Ghost is upon Peter I love that filled with the Holy Ghost he says the the by what name do you do this it's by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified
God is raised this man up now the danger here is that they're thinking ha ha we got him because he said Jesus Christ of Nazareth and that's not the name of Jehovah so we're going to be able to stone him to death but Peter goes on check out what he says in verse 11 it says
this is the stone which was set at not of you builders which has become the head of the corner now what I love about this is Peter is doing a good Bible teaching technique if you're a Bible teacher you teach a Bible study one of the greatest things you can do is when you're teaching in the New Testament reach back into the Old Testament the Bible is just such a beautiful integrated message system and that's why when we go through the Bible even though when the New Testament what we're going to do is we're going to have a Bible teacher
the Bible even though when the New Testament will spend time in the Old Testament referring back the Old Testament is all these mysteries and pictures and stories but they're all revealed in the New Testament Old Testament pictures New Testament truths Peter's doing the technique that's right on the money says remember the prophecy of the solmest is what he's saying and in your margin if you have a margin reference Bible it probably says what scripture Psalm 118 verse 22 is where he's quoting this idea
now now before we get into that this boldness we I just can't you know admire Peter enough for he's just so different he's not a foot in the mouth Peter he's not stumbling bumbling Peter he's a spirit filled powerful preacher Peter and you just see a very different guy and and how we all need that it's not by my nor by power but by the spirit say it Lord of hosts and that's what we're seeing here with our own eyes and how much do you and I need the power of Holy Spirit we live in a time where to be a Christian who's bold in their
faith can get you into trouble if you're a bold Christian that some of your workplaces you might just get fired if you're a bold Christian and you don't bow down to the demands of the world today they're cramming that stuff down your throat but if you're bold you're considered a hate or even I'm not saying boldness means meanness or disrespect but at the same time boldness you know if you're at your work you must use these pronouns of this person
a bold Christian well but that's not loving if you don't use the proper pronouns no the Bible tells us in first Corinthians 13 that love love actually rejoices in the truth and does not stand with aniquity we don't do that that's not that's not real love to just use
somebody's pronouns that's actually not loving even the world is cramming that down our throat be nice and use the proper pronouns not really that's not truth so it's not loving to use those pronouns here's the thing that we have to remember the world's doing the same thing the San
Heedrins do and to Peter James and John but I like the boldness here boldness doesn't mean meanness it doesn't mean weirdness for some of you you need to know that I'm going to be bold for Jesus and you run around crazy and do stupid stuff
there's a lot of Christians that do that around the world please don't do that don't be bold in weird way also bold in a mean way don't do that but here Peter's being bold I worry that there's too many Christians today that were shaken in our sandals we're like the disciples of Acts chapter 20 not the disciple of Acts chapter 4 you know it's it's the the proverb that says this in Proverbs chapter 28 verse 1 it says the wicked flee when no man pursue it but the righteous are as bold as a lion
don't just see Peter here he's like a more like a lion he's he's going kind of going after these guys he's not you know bulking back or freaked out he's just declaring the truth but the wicked flee when no one's chasing them I feel like that's where Christianity largely is today we're afraid and we don't want to
and everybody's told us be quiet be you know don't don't don't shake things up too much but but I love that Peter speaks the truth but he's not just you know going off on a on a on a rampage he's actually saying this is that what you see in the scriptures from the Psalms and and and that's this whole sermon is backed up with scripture that's kind of the key thing what you're doing is backed up with scripture what
scripture is he referring to already showed you in your margin it says Psalm 118 but here's what it says in Psalm 118 if we go back to the scripture in Psalm 118 verse 22 it says the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner this is the Lord's doing it is marvelous in our eyes this is the day which the Lord
has made we will rejoice and be glad in it now this this is the prophecy given by the psalmist that says that there's a there's a stone is going to be rejected by the builders but that rejected stones going to become the the headstone or the chief stone or the cornerstone is it's called in the Bible and this is a marvelous thing well what's so marvelous about that well the psalmist here is giving a prophecy and the Jews kind of
wonder will wonder what this is about but there's an oral tradition of the Jews it's kind of interesting when when they were building Solomon's temple the rule was they didn't want to hear a hammer or chisel queuing out stones for the temple in Jerusalem they wanted to be perfectly silent and worshipful so when they got the stones
they did that miles away they got the they quarried the Jerusalem limestone there miles away these huge stones that they were chiseling and hammering and they basically prefabbed the whole thing several miles away and got it all done
and then they took it all apart and then they moved these and to this day they don't know how they moved these stones back you know 2000 years ago how did they move these giant some of the stones are as big as a 40 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet they're like a big as a school bus
how did they move them and put them in place and not only that how did they set them in place and they were so perfectly tuned you can't even get a knife blade to squeeze between the stones it's an amazing feat of architecture and engineering but all that to say they brought all these stones in and and stack them and built Solomon's temple but here's the thing there's a legend that's a myth or whether it's true or not we don't really know but it's it's oral tradition of the Jews
though in Solomon's builders were building the temple they got all the stones there and they found this one stone like what's this stone we don't even know where this what's this stone all about and and it was a big stone but they just yeah whatever and they tossed it
aside saying this must have just snuck in the the mix it's not even supposed to be here so they rejected that first stone and then they went to try to build the temple but when they did that it was all not working out and they're like what's wrong with
this and then they realized they hadn't found the proper cornerstone the chief stone and they thought where's our chief stone they're like hey that's the one we just threw out and they had to go back and get the the stone that they rejected bring it back in and set it in place and and by the way like the picture behind me here as is an example of a chief cornerstone and they would put it in the corner and it would set everything you set that stone perfectly because it would set the rest of the
building based on its being plumb and in the proper trajectory and lines and it was important to have the the perfect chief cornerstone otherwise all buildings going to be a mess so they finally put the chief cornerstone where it was supposed to be okay so that's the story
and the start the psalmist is saying the stone which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner this is the Lord's doing so there's the prophecy what's that Peter's connecting all the dots he's saying this is you he said Sanhedrin chaiophys anus John Alexander all you guys Sanhedrin you guys have fulfilled this prophecy you're the fulfillment of Psalm 118 you're the builders and you've rejected the chief cornerstone Jesus Christ you see what he's doing there you know they're
saying what name are you doing this and he says the name of Jesus Christ which by the way is the chief cornerstone that you guys rejected and it's the story it's a it's a fulfillment of the Messiah he's saying to the these Jews he's the Messiah the cornerstone
that you rejected and I love this you know when I go to Jerusalem I think it's one of the funnest things is you know there's there's all kinds of stones in Jerusalem and when we went there these are some of the video shots we get this is a cool tunnel you go under at night time
under the western wailing wall you know where the wall is where everybody's wailing and praying you go in these tunnels you know 30 40 feet down or even deeper now these are Ottoman Turk stones right here uh era but as you go deeper you get to these giant stones behind Steve the tour guide here
note that one stone behind him that's a Solomon era stone that's 40 feet long 10 feet tall 10 feet wide and these were the stones hewn see how you can see the gaps there they're perfectly sat up one upon the other and the reason they're underground by the way is because of
2000 years the women go down and pray against the western wall only underground this is the same wall just to go down under further and further not because women have to go underground the women believe this is the holiest place because it's the
Solomon era strata of where that wall was they feel like they're closer to where the holiab holies would be and that's why they pray under that's what those little papers are it's not trash they write prayers and then drop them in the hole that goes even deeper to the deeper stones because that's closer to the Solomon era stones it's really fascinating and so this idea of the stones of Jerusalem
the chief cornerstone this is something that was very familiar to them they lived with these Jerusalem stones and Peter saying remember the little story about the chief cornerstone that was rejected that's exactly what you guys just did now Peter would jump on this even more in his epistle for example he writes all about this in first Peter chapter 2 verse 4 when he says Jesus to whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men that's rejected by the San
Adrian and those guys but chosen of God and precious you also as lively or living stones he's speaking to the church now are built up a spiritual house as an holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ wherefore also it is contained in the scripture behold I lay in Zion that's true of a chief cornerstone
he leapt precious and he that believe it on him shall not be confounded this is Peter articulating beautifully that that whole picture of the chief cornerstone that would be rejected but it's really the whole enchilada you got
that stone and guess what who are the other stones that are going to be built around the cornerstone us the church of Jesus Christ you are living stones that says here built up a spiritual house you know this is a beautiful picture of what we as Christians we get to connect to the perfect chief cornerstone
and that's what sets things straight and then as we're built or a house where the church of God which is such a beautiful thing and it's acceptable to God by Jesus Christ so this is this is Peter kind of articulating something that would be a theme but he goes on in verse 7 of the same section he says unto you therefore which believe he the stone is precious but unto them which be a disobedient the stone which the builders just allowed the same is made the head of the
corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient where to also they were appointed there's two kinds of people there's the people that love and think the precious cornerstone is awesome those are the people love Jesus and then there's the people who do not like that and do not
appreciate the chief cornerstone and in Peter's case he's talking about the Sanhedrin the chaiophys and anus and all these guys who rejected Jesus and by the way this is true of everyone there after who rejects Jesus Christ as the Messiah they're in big trouble because the stone that's supposed to be precious to you becomes a stumbling stone and it even becomes a real problem this is where it gets really interesting because even Jesus said something more powerful than what Peter said in a way
Jesus talking about himself of course these are red letters in the gospel of Matthew Jesus said these words about the stone verse 21 chapter 21 verse 44 he said and whomever shall fall on this stone shall be broken but on whomever it shall fall it will grind him to powder question
which one would you rather be the first person in this or the second you say Brad I don't know if I want to be either well whoever shall fall on a stone and be broken that sounds better to me does this how better to you then to be having the stone fall on you and be ground to powder well what's Jesus talking about it's really this simple you will either be broken before him humbled recognizing your flaw and your failures and your sin that's a word called repentance
when you are a repentant sinner and you come to the stone and you fall on that stone and say oh Lord I'm a sinner guess what that stone becomes precious to you and he becomes the chief cornerstone and you're the living stone that gets to be built back upon that I'd rather be that first one who's broken before him rather than the person who's crushed by him
and Jesus is offering anybody that you can choose you'll either be broken before him or you'll be crushed see people don't like to talk about this but don't forget Jesus in his second coming he's coming not as a carpenter but as a conqueror his first coming he came you know to be judged by men but the second time he comes he's coming to be the judge overall men
you know he's coming with wrath and judgment and if you're a Christian you're not appointed under wrath first us onions chapter five tells us but to obtain salvation through Jesus you're saved but if you're not saved by Jesus you will be appointed to wrath it'll be a stumbling stone a rock of offense and as Jesus said eventually it will grind you to powder well I don't know if I like that and I reject that then you're the one who's going to be ground to powder
it's just a decision you have to make or you can say no I'm thankful that Jesus died on the cross for my sins I'm thankful that he rose from the grave I'm going to believe and accept that and when you do that guess what you're part of the team you're saved
why would you not do that only if you have a stubborn heart and you say I reject what Jesus Christ did and what he claimed you know this is something that I think we have to kind of keep in mind by the way the theme of the stone is all throughout the Bible of Jesus the Messiah
in chapter two nebukinus has a dream a stone that was cut without hands was cut out of the mountain without hands meaning it's not a men but of God cut and it's stone rolls down the mountain and smashes all the nations of the world and grinds them to powder just like the scripture and and then after those nations are ground to powder in Daniel chapter two that stone starts to grow and it becomes a mighty mountain and an everlasting kingdom
that that dream of Daniel chapter two of nebukinus was talking about when Christ comes is second coming and when he's going to crush the nations and then he's going to set up his own kingdom that's an everlasting kingdom it's all about the stone that's threaded throughout the whole Bible you know for those that believe it's precious for those who don't believe it's frightening and it should be frightening
you know this is something that's kind of I think for us we need to remember you know Jesus also said in Matthew 724 therefore who's over here these sayings of mine and do with them I will liken him into a wise man which built his house upon a rock and that's something we have to remember that's the rock of Christ we need to build our house upon the rock
the foolish man as he says builds his house on the sand and that's the one's going to be ground to powder it's all throughout the Bible this is quite a theme that we come across throughout the scripture so basically Peter here in actually out before is telling them you guys are the fulfillment of this you're the ones who are the builders who reject the cornerstone which is going to still be the cornerstone whether you like it or not
and this is all the imagery of the story now the problem it begins here in verse 12 where it says Peter says after all of this he says neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved
by what name do you do this name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified who's the chief cornerstone of the Old Testament okay and by the way this name Jesus Christ there's no other no salvation by any other name than that of Jesus Christ this is a radical I marked this in my Bible because this is one of the things that sadly people today we we don't really acknowledge in fact the American church has gotten away from just Jesus is the only way
which is really sad how did that happen you know I think that there's a large group of evangelical Christians who don't even really necessarily know what true salvation is there's people that call themselves Christians but you know I'm not sure they know there's only one way to be a Christian and that's through Jesus Christ
Jesus said it I am the way the truth in the life no man comes to the father but by me Jesus at that Peter hearing that in John chapter 14 now he's articulating it in Acts chapter 4 to the San Edron saying there's no other name under heaven by what given by which men can be saved than that of Jesus
see one of the basic tenets of secular culture that we live in here in America particularly as we believe we used to believe more in religious tolerance it's kind of about how we were sort of founded our country was based on the principle that you know people of all religions creeds backgrounds were welcomed to our shores
and you know basically would be given the freedoms to express their religion and that you know all religions would be equally tolerated under the law that was sort of how we were founded now whether that's a good or bad thing you know we could actually debate that and talk about it but that's just what was
what we did with that notion that it's sort of evolved over the last couple hundred years what it used to be was you know religious tolerance now the assumption jammed down our throats by secularists is that all religions are not only equally tolerated under the law but that they are equally valid or equally invalid
you know like if you found your path it's really relativism where our culture is said and this is what they really pushed down our throats until recently it's got a little bit of change but they say man it's all paths lead to the same place and that that's been that's been the mantra for years it's been furthered by powerful spiritual leaders like Oprah Winfrey I don't really believe that Jesus is the only way there are many paths that lead to you know heaven and eternity you know no
that's just wrong but that's the notion of a lot of people and I think it came started with religious tolerance and then it became I know here's our president remember when George W said that peace loving religion is long and they celebrated Ramadan in the White House that's just loony tunes right there crazy to celebrate Ramadan and if you're a fundamentalist Muslim you're not a peace loving person and you say we'll breath there's only like they say
only like they say only like 16% of Islamic people around the globe only 16% is fundamentalist Muslims do you know at 16% of 2 billion is because that's how many Muslims are around the world 16% there's more of those than there are people in America
and the fundamentalist Muslim is jihadists like wall walk bar blow themselves up kind of Muslims that's 16% death to the Jews death to Americans death to the big Satan and the little Satan like that's fundamentalist Islam and what's so strange about that is we had teachers at to all of them high school with my kids going to those classes saying you know Islam is peace loving and really Christianity is worse than Islam because Christians blow up abortion clinics
they taught that at to all of them that higher education bastion of beautiful information now I know there's good teachers at to all of them but there's some wacky ones too be careful will bring my my kids go to Christian schools be extra careful there you think you're in friendly territory sometimes but you're kind of not sometimes I'm just being honest with you
but but there's no other name that's what Peter says not Buddha not Muhammad not Krishna not Kamala not Trump there's no other name under heaven by which men can be saved in that of Jesus Christ to trade his beautiful glorious name for some other name is a sorry exchange and it will get you nowhere Jesus Christ Peter nails it when he says there's no other name under heaven by which men can be saved
the only other insult that comes close is to mention the name of Jesus his holy name the only begotten of God in the same breath as Muhammad and Buddha and Krishna like like some of these new ages are opera does it's all as many paths
do you realize why is that so offensive to us Christians or at least it should be I'll tell you why what do you think God thinks about when if you kind of think about the thing in the beginning God created heavens and earth and then he creates man in his own image gives man free will
man uses their free will and sins against God and ends up in a fallen doomed state but God so love the world he comes up with a plan to save to doomed humanity from going to hell for eternity God love the world so much he says I'm not going to I don't want everybody to go to hell in fact the Bible says God with it
is a very rare wish so God comes up with this plan of salvation it but it's it's a radical plan because somewhere I guess in God's cosmos and universe there's actually a requirement of sin when sin happens there's a penalty and it turns out that that penalty penalty is eternal death unless an innocent person is willing to die for those sins of someone else so what happens God becomes a man well you know the way the
God sent his only begotten son who comes lives the perfect life and dies on the cross for the sins of the world and you get a sense that this is heavy that God's only begotten who over and over the Bible says this is a son whom he loves his beloved son and then God sends the son he dies a torturous brutal death and now anybody who wants to be saved they can be saved through him
but if you show up at the pearly gates and God is there and you stand before God and you say oh God I just I just don't like to think that narrow through your son I'd like to think there's other paths so I chose other paths what you mean I gave my only begotten son as the way the truth the life no man comes to the father which is right here in heaven but by me the son of God and you're saying and no I'm going to do it
through Buddha Krishna do you see how offensive that is to God if you think you're going to pull that off I think Sunday you're going to stand ashamed before God at the great white throne judgment see this is something you know our culture doesn't really like the narrow path that Jesus laid out you guys are so narrow my I was kind of crack up when people say you Christians are narrow and I say yeah that's right you're getting it right Jesus said that
yes the Pope Pope Francis said just a few weeks ago all religions are path to God during a visit to Singapore in September of 2024 if you're a Catholic you need to reject this Pope because he said something that is horrifically totally wacko even the Catholics are saying it because that's just not in line with the scriptures at all when someone says all religions are the same or their God is the same as the our God they know nothing about world religions and the notion that all religions are
equally valid is logically impossible do you understand that how's it logically impossible well think about it for a second if you take that you know most loving and you know tolerant all paths lead to heaven many paths that lead if you take that then your your logic goes like this you're saying that all paths lead to the same place so you're saying Christianity is one of those paths yes I do believe that okay so you're saying the Christianity is a true path yes but Jesus if it's
true path Jesus said I am the only way to have and no one comes to heaven but by me so Jesus by his declaration says it's the only path so how can it be one of the many paths if that path says it's the only way do you see the problem there so you're in a predicament you need to either reject Jesus's way and say I don't believe it I believe all the other paths that are kind of ridiculous or you choose to accept the work of Jesus dying on the cross with the
sensual world his resurrection which he's the only one who proved his claims as a religious leader by dying and then raising up on the third day and everybody saw it and eyewitness accounts affirmed it by the hundreds and that's the one you can believe or you can choose to reject that but Peter's making it clear there's no other name under heaven by which
man can be saved but there's no logic that allows you to allow Christianity along with Buddhism and Hinduism and Baha'i or Jovus witness or any of these others there's no there's no allowance for that if you're going to either believe Jesus you'll be saved but if you reject Jesus as the way the truth
is in the life then you're you're going to be crushed by the rock that's what the Bible says so you know it's kind of something I wonder if you're a Christian I wonder if you should perhaps be prepared to die for that affirmation but did you just say I need to be ready to die for something yep I think it's big enough deal that for us to say Jesus what Peter's saying here do you notice that Peter's
willing to die here he's talking to the same people who crucified Jesus and he's getting in their face saying you crucified Jesus and by the way Jesus is the only way there's no other name under heaven by which men can be saved man he's just laying it all out on the line here sadly there's a lot of people that are making up their religious trajectory by themselves that's a new religion I call God to me God to me is more of a well I don't think God is a man I think it's a woman
and the God to me is not mad at the world and he's not going to judge what he's loving so he's he loves everybody's going to make it heaven God to me it's a dumb religion it's it's only as big as your brain but the Bible and the scriptures of the word of God tells us the truth
now what's going to happen to Peter with this all this you know kind of getting in their grill just a little bit I think he's he's he's doing it powerfully but this is going to get him in trouble but check out what happens we're almost done look at verse verse 13 it says now when they the Sanhedrin and the religious leaders when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men
they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus don't you love I love that verse for so many reasons first of all you always love it when the high and mighty are a little bit stumped you know these are the these are the brainiacs of the day the smartest people lived in Jerusalem and they knew it they were the Sanhedrin
you're part of the the sadducees of the Pharisees of the Sanhedrin you're like the you know the pipe puffing cardigan sweater wearing intellectuals pontificating in Jerusalem about all these things that's who these guys were they were the smarty pants now who were Peter and John they were fishermen from Galilee and we got to remember this I've told you about some of Josephus' writings and others where they talk about how Galilee and they were sort of the equivalent of what we might call hillbillies
even their dialect gave them away remember when Peter was there warming himself and and this little girl says he's one of them he was one of the disciples and Peter says I am not blank any blank blank he's casting out this little girl that's the Peter of a few months ago
now we have this bold Peter is on what a different thing but that was before he was filled with the spirit what did he do he denied Jesus three times but one of the things that they said of him hey he's a Galilee and his speech betrays him what was the Galilee and sound like well to you and me it'd be sound like tell you what darn titan pertinere that's what we're going to you tell you like it's a total Hickville that's the way they thought of Galilee and they were dumb well it says right here they marveled that they were unlearned and he was like what's the way they thought of Galilee and they were dumb well it says right here they marveled that they were unlearned and they were
ignorant and ignorant men this funny because in our country we have that you know the guys down there with the alligator country in there and they're both shooting with 22's you know that you know those guys that's that's sort of like those guys are dumb as bricks now but they're not I remember when I was a kid, I was listed as a Bible teaching radio on one of our local stations when I was a kid and this guy gets on, nearly 11, turn to Matthew, chapter five and I'm like, who is this guy?
What a weirdo. This guy's as dumb as a prick, I thought, because there's accent. I think whatever. And I listened for a little while as a teenager and I'm like, okay, yeah, click, I turned them off. Well, a few years later I was in an old bookstore and I found this really cool commentary set that I was going to buy and it was called Through the Bible by Dr. J. Vernon McKee. And I thought, oh man, this guy and I read Dr. J. Vernon McKee and I thought, what a great scholar.
To this day, it's one of my favorite Bible commentaries. I love Dr. J. Vernon McKee. I pictured the guy, you know, one of the intellectual, maybe with a little British accent, you know, turn in your bottles to chapter four, you know, whatever. Intellectual, chini, you know, whatever. But what's funny is, I was loving this commentary and then I turned on the radio again and I said, now through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McKee and I'm like, oh great, here he is.
And he's like, man, I'm a teenager, I'm a teenager, I'm like, what? It was the same guy. Same guy. I love that. And, you know, now if you know, you know, like J. his voice is endearing now. Of course, he's been in heaven for what? 30 years now? 40 years? He's been in heaven for a long time and he's still preaching on the radio. In fact, he's right after me on KPDQ. I love that. You know, I have buddies now. And next door, I love that.
Now, now the reason I say that is, you know, that's kind of what's going on here. The intellectuals are looking down their pious noses at these guys that, and marveling, well, these are the unlearned as a nice way of saying stupid. Ignorant, well the word, the word ignorant in the Latin is ignoramus. That's what they're saying. They're marveling. They're stupid and ignoramus. That's what they're saying. That's how disrespectful they are of Peter. But they can't get a buy it.
They can't get away with it. What does it say? They marvel that they're unlearned and ignorant men, but took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Man, that's the key. I don't care who you are. You might be as dumb as a brick as most of us. But if you spend time with Jesus, that ups your game. Suddenly, that gives you some authority. It actually gives your life meaning. And it actually makes what you're saying and talking about matter. That's what happens.
See, the Peter of the gospel message, he was always putting his foot in his mouth, saying stupid stuff, doing stupid things. But now we see this guy who's saying powerful things. And he's shaking up the smartest guys in the building. And it's this guy who's unlearned and ingrate. I love this. What a beautiful picture of you and me. The Lord wants to use you no matter who you are. Even if you're not a smartest person, but I don't know all the gospel. I don't know how to preach like that.
We'll read the Bible enough and pretty soon the Lord will start by the Spirit speaking through you like he does Peter. I don't know, Brett. I think I'll never be a smartest peeper. Peter, maybe not. But some of you fall into the next category. And that's the final verse of our lesson here. Check out verse 14. Then they turn from Peter and it says verse 14, and beholding the man which was healed, standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
What shut the mouths of this Sanhedrin, where they couldn't say another word? It wasn't even Peter's powerful Holy Spirit words. It was the dude that was once crippled for 40 years, sitting at the temple gate beautiful. Now he's just standing there. Listen to this. I want to check out this DVD because it just cracks me up. There's Peter. You crucified. Oh, and then there's the stand over here. But there's nothing they could say about him because he was once crippled.
But now he's just standing there. Some of you, that's all you need to do. Some of you were alcoholics and you were ragers and your life was a mess and your marriages were failing and your job was being in trouble. Some of you were in big trouble, but guess what? Christ found you. You were lost, but you've been found. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch just like you.
And one of the greatest things you have going for you is all you got to do is just stand there and people go, man, what happened? What's the deal? And all you have to do is point back to Jesus. It's Christ who saved me. It's Christ who got me. We have so many great stories in this church. I wish I could number all the stories that we've got people that were once in prison, drug dealers did some hard time in prison. Now they're one of our pastors at church here, one of our best pastors.
It's so cool. How the Lord, what a testimony that the Lord does. We've had people that were depressed, deeply depressed, and suicidal, even attempted suicide, but came out and found Jesus and the Lord has changed their lives radically. My story after story, people who were once lost, once blind, but now they see, like that amazing grace song really is many people's story because Jesus changes our lives. Not only does He save us, but He changes us.
And some of you might not be sitting on a stool, teaching a bunch of people, the Bible, and stuff like that. That is fun. I have to admit, I like sharing the Bible with people. But some of you don't even have to open your mouth. You just kind of say, look, look what the Lord has done in my life. And nobody can say anything about that. They might have their intellectual arguments, but guess what? They're not going to be able to refute what God has done in your life.
I'd like to conclude with this, you know, be bold. Let's get back to that proverb scripture. Remember, they're wicked flee when no one's pursuing, but the righteous or as bold as a lion. And so, as the Lord says, the Lord says, the Lord says, through Peter, in the last days, I will pour out my spirit upon all men. That's us. I think we're living in the last days. And depending on how election goes to Tuesday, it could be even closer than we know. But this is the time for you to be bold.
Not quiet, you know, cowering, shaking in your tenies, like Peter of John chapter 20. But Peter of Acts chapter 4, who's filled with the spirit, oh, we need you to, how do you get the spirit we talked about this last week? You know, you father's know, being evil, not to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the father which is in heaven give the Holy Ghost to them that ask? Just ask, Lord, fill me with your spirit like you did, Peter.
And let me speak the words of power and words of life and point people to Jesus. Pray for that. Be bold. Don't be the weirdo that's running when nobody's chasing you. We're in a time where we can talk, even though people threaten us today, we're still in a pretty safe place where we can share the gospel of Jesus. And I hope you do that.
Lastly, if you're not saved, if you haven't accepted and been broken before the stone, the rock Jesus and said, I am a sinner and I know that I need you to be my savior. If you've not done that, this is a great time to accept Christ and be saved. You just repent and say, what's repentant? I acknowledge that I'm a sinner, that I've done stuff that's contrary to what God wants me to do, and the penalty of that is death.
But if you repent and say, I accept Jesus who died on the cross in my place, rose from the grave and I confess and believe that the Bible says you'll be saved. And guess what? He becomes not a rock of offense, a stone of crushing, but he becomes your precious cornerstone, that you can build your life on. And then you become part of the church, and more than that, you'll be saved. It doesn't mean your life's going to be perfect or rosy or you won't go through troubles.
It just means you're saved and you're headed for heaven, which will be perfect and will be wonderful. You need to be born again. You need to be saved. You're born in sin and death, but accepting Christ is where you have new life through Jesus. There's no other name under heaven where a person can be saved than Jesus Christ. Would you bow your heads, please, as we close? And Christians being prayer, I'd like to invite anybody who'd like to accept Christ.
Maybe there's a couple of people who've never really accepted Jesus. Maybe you've never really heard the gospel presentation. And that's really what it is. You're a sinner doomed, but God loved you so much that He sent His only begotten son to die on the cross for your sins. And if you accept that free gift of salvation and believe in your heart that He died, that He rose again. Guess what? You will be saved. That's what the Bible says.
I'd like to pray that prayer of confession with you before we get up and walk away today. Less than anybody, miss that. I just want to invite you to do that. I want to embarrass you or you know, point you out or make you stand up in front of everybody or anything like that. But right where you sit, you can accept Jesus. Would you acknowledge that though?
Between you, me and the Lord, if that's you, would you just look up and give me a quick wave and let me just acknowledge you before we pack it up? I'm just going to look around and I want to just acknowledge anybody at all who would say yes. That's so cool. I'm going to pray this prayer of confession and let's just pray this all together as a church, getting behind these seven or eight people right now. Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven.
I believe in your Son Jesus that he died on the cross for my sins, that he rose up from the grave and that I'm forgiven. Help me to walk with you. Thank you for saving me in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Lord as these confessions have been made, I pray that you bless these folks as they've just expressed that bit of faith even right now.
You tell us Lord we just need a little tiny speck of faith to move a mountain and our sin was a big mountain but you moved our sin and you've taken the burden off our shoulders. I pray that they would know their sins are forgiven. I pray that they just sense your love and your goodness. May they grow to know you more. May they be connected with other good Christian people who can really strengthen their faith. But Lord, just bless them, I pray.
And bless everyone here Lord, may we all rejoice that we get to be connected to the rock of our salvation. The cornerstone, the chief cornerstone, use us Lord as part of your building and help us to be blessed as we, even as we go through difficult times and tough things in life, but having that hope of heaven Lord, we're thankful for that. So we go our way on this beautiful Sunday morning thanking you and rejoicing you in you in Jesus' name. Amen.