The Cornerstone part 1

Introduction

In chapter 4 of Acts we will see a gathering of the religious leaders of Jerusalem who are questioning Peter and John about the healing that we will look at today, but more importantly, what or who is the power behind the healing.

Peter will have an opportunity to testify to the council about Jesus. In his testimony, Peter says:

Acts 4:11–12 ESV

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

This idea of Jesus as the cornerstone of the movement that would eventually become the Christian faith is by far the most important truth of the Christian faith. Jesus must be the cornerstone of the Christian faith, or no Christian faith exists.

In ancient building, the cornerstone was a stone that was laid at the corner to bind two walls together and strengthen them. The form and stability of the entire building depended on the proper laying of that cornerstone, particularly the first, or chief cornerstone.

This is why it is such an appropriate metaphor for Christ Jesus. If Jesus is not the cornerstone of your faith, then you are simply striving to be a good person in this life according to your own beliefs on virtue and goodness. If Jesus is not the cornerstone of your faith, then you are putting your hope in the mercy of God and your own righteousness to secure your eternity. If Jesus is not the cornerstone of your church, then you are simply part of a fraternal organization that tries to make the world a better place, cares for it’s members, or creates a country club for kind-hearted people without a golf course.

In these next two chapters we will not only look at the need for Jesus to be the cornerstone, but we will consider both the implications and applications of Jesus being the cornerstone of your faith and the church.

Body: Acts 3:1-10

Verses 1-5

Going up to the temple...

This is a reminder that the disciples remained observant Jews...

In fact, they believed that they were Judaism as it was meant to be, followers of the promised of the Messiah, Jesus. (They were right, of course!)

It wouldn’t be until the Jerusalem Council determined that Gentiles could be Christians as well without first becoming Jews that this began to change...

The hour of prayer, the ninth hour...

About 3 PM, in our reckoning…

A man lame from birth:

...being carried...

He would have depended on others to get him to the temple.

Additionally, we learn in Acts 4:22 that the man was more than 40 years old, so this was probably his life up to this point.

And, this man had also never been inside the temple as a person with defects was not allowed to enter.

...laid daily at the gate of the temple...

The gate called “Beautiful” was most likely the Nicanor (nye cane or) gate.

There were ten gates in the temple. Nine were overlaid with silver and gold; but the tenth, as Josephus said, “was of Corinthian bronze and far exceeded in value those plated with silver and set in gold.” It was so big that it, “could scarcely be moved by twenty men.”

...to ask alms...

The Jewish teachers taught three “pillars” for Jewish faith—the Torah, worship, and the showing of kindness or charity.

Alms giving was one of the main ways to show kindness. And people coming to worship were much more likely to be in a charitable mood, so the poor would set up outside the temple to receive alms.

“Look at us”

Peter asks this beggar to give him his full attention.

Most people would just simply flip a coin to him, paying him no real attention.

But one wonders if he was expecting Peter to give him a lot because he gladly gave Peter his full attention.

“...expecting to receive something from them...”

Funny how people are most responsive when they want something. Then even more so when they think they’re about to get it.

Verses 6-10

“I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

The man must have been disappointed at first when he heard he wasn’t going to receive money, but all that would change when he found out he was going to be completely healed.

The healing was done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

In that time, a name is an expression of a person’s very essence.

To call upon the name of Jesus is to invoke his power and authority.

“...he took him by the right hand and raise him up...”

The picking him up didn’t heal this man, obviously, it was the power of Christ Jesus.

Interesting, this is very similar to Jesus healings. Thus, the ministry of the apostles is truly Jesus healing ministry continued!

“...his feet and ankles were made strong...”

Never in his life had this man walked.

When someone experiences trauma to their legs or feet, it takes a long time to rehab...

That’s not the case here!

The man’s response:

...leaping up...

...he stood and began to walk...

...entered the temple...

Understand, this man had never actually entered the temple before because he was blemished. So he had not only received physical healing, but spiritual as well.

...walking and leaping and praising God...

The worshiper’s response:

They heard the commotion...

They recognized his identity...

They were filled with wonder and amazement...

This leads right into our text for next week, which is another of Peter’s great sermons in the book of Acts.

All the people were prepared to hear, i.e. Peter had their attention now. Now it was time to share.

So What?

Jesus, the cornerstone of our faith, has power over man’s weakness and infirmity.

Implication: The power does not come from us.

Today the church in America can’t often say, “silver and gold we have not”, because many churches are prospering...

But, Lord help us not allow our financial wealth hinder our ministry!

Story: While counting a large sum of money, Pope Innocent II said to Thomas Aquinas, “You see, Thomas the Church can no longer say, ‘Silver and gold I have none.” Thomas Aquinas responded, “True, holy father, and neither can she now say ‘Arise and walk.”

I’ve often challenged other pastors and church leaders with something that I believe is both true and tragic: Today, there are enough resources, seminars, books, skilled leaders, and strategies out there that a church can be successful (at least in the eyes of the world) without the Holy Spirit, without God’s leadership, and without Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.

In a society that tends to follow personalities, popular trends, well-placed marketing gimmicks, and is often asking “what’s in it for me?”, it’s not shocking that too often we can function without the divine presence of God.

What’s worse, is the same people who do these things often want to give credit to God, when I imagine God saying, “Um, excuse me? When again was I needed?”

This passage should be a great challenge to every Christian today, particularly those of us in the Western church. The power is not ours. The power is Christ Jesus.

Application: As followers of Jesus we point people to Jesus, not to ourselves.

Our churches and our lives should point people to Jesus. Too often they don’t, but they need to.

Peter and John could have gained quite the following if they were able to heal without invoking the name of Jesus.

In fact, as we see later, the religious leaders didn’t really care about the healing. They cared that it was done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

That’s the difference!

I’m convinced that the church today is pretty terrible at telling people about Jesus because we are terrified how people will react.

Many people are okay today if we talk about God, particularly in a generic sense. But, talking about Jesus is different.

My sociology of religion class...

See, we need to understand something: the power of the church is Jesus.

Philippians 2:8–11 ESV

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Revelation 5:9–13 ESV

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

Jesus is the power within His church.

Implication: It is only when we recognize our great need that we will praise God greatly.

I’m convinced of a couple of things when I read about the man’s response to being healed.

First, he praises God greatly because he knows what it’s like to have nothing.

Think about it: he woke up that morning with the same thoughts he always had...

He had no idea that he’d walk himself home that night!

Now, he was able to work...able to worship...able to marry and raise a family...able to not be treated like a beggar...able to tell others of God’s goodness to him!

All of this, and more, is why he praises God without any concern of judgment or shame.

Second, it’s exceedingly hard for us to understand this kind of praise.

Most of us have never or will never experience anything close to what he experienced.

And in those few instances when we do experience hard things, we often come up with schemes and plans, or depend on the federal government, or the kindness of others, or any other number of things (most of which aren’t bad, by the way). We are blessed to live in a country, founded on Judeo-Christian values that puts a high priority on taking care of others. That isn’t a bad thing.

But, it also means that we rarely find ourselves truly desperate for a movement of God.

And (now for the meddling part), as believers, we tend to honor in our hearts comfort, leisure and pleasure above making big leaps of faith where depending on a movement of God is our only option.

And because of this, we don’t see God move in big ways and we don’t find ourselves “walking and leaping and praising God.”

Application: As followers of Jesus, we must learn the depth of our need for Christ Jesus.

It was June is 1872. A woman named Annie Hawks, overwhelmed with the presence of God in her life experiences this:

“One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words, ‘I Need Thee Every Hour,’ were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me.”

That morning she wrote the words to that great hymn; a hymn we still sing to this day.

Seventeen years later, after her husband Charles died, she found that this hymn was of great comfort to her in the midst of her greatest pain.

She wrote: “I did not understand at first why this hymn had touched the great throbbing heart of humanity. It was not until long after, when the shadow fell over my way, the shadow of a great loss, that I understood something of the comforting power in the words which I had been permitted to give out to others in my hour of sweet serenity and peace.”

I want you to now grab one of the hymnals in the pew in front of you and turn to Hymn #450.

Follow along as I read the words. But, I really want you to consider the words that Annie Hawks wrote and ask the question, “Do I really live like I believe these words?”

Jesus, come quickly and abide, or life is vain. Is that the cry of your heart this morning?