They Had Been with Jesus
Acts (EMPOWERED TO WITNESS) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you 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 is standing before you well. 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.”
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
INTRO
When I was about 12 years old, I had a friend named Joey who would get into all kinds of uneasy situations.
See, Joey had a kind of fearlessness and confidence about him, but it was not because of himself. Joey was a scrawny and meek kid, but he had an older brother named Ricky, who was the strongest guy we knew.
One time in particular we were playing ball just outside of the old Hall Middle School and Joey got into an altercation with a young kid who had quite an attitude named Matt.
Matt and Joey were getting pretty heated, and then all of a sudden Matt left, at which point I figured it was all over. But Matt came back with his dad, who had a way bigger attitude than his son, and he began threatening Joey, a scrawny 12 year old. It was about this time that Ricky showed up.
Whatever fear I was feeling, began to wain when Ricky got out of his car and told Joey, “I got this.” He then preceded to talk to Matt’s dad for about 5 minutes, when all of a sudden he left, and Ricky came over and said to Joey, “you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
To this day, I don’t know what was said, but it made a grown man with a big attitude tuck tail and run.
And I remember understanding the fearlessness of Joey, because whenever Ricky was around, I just knew we were gonna be ok. When the strongest person you know has your back, you have a confidence about you that you might not have otherwise.
Why do I tell you this?
Because within the context of our passage, Peter and John keep putting themselves into situations that most people would avoid.
They have a fearlessness and confidence about them, but not because of their power, but because of God’s. The strongest person they know has their back, and no one and no thing is going to deter their direction.
CHUNK #1
Last week we we saw Peter preach the gospel, and it greatly disturbed the religious authorities, so they threw him and John in jail for a night to shut them up.
And here they are, the next day, in front of even greater authorities. Look at
On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
They were put in jail to scare them, to silence them, to shut down their disturbing message of Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. And so here they are given a chance to change their story. Will they give in to these greater worldly authorities?
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,
Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit of the living God! So he is filled with confidence. The strongest dude he knows has his back.
So his message isn’t changing.
He’s much more afraid of the power of God than he is the power of men.
So he speaks…
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.”
Look at the boldness of these brothers.
Look at their confidence.
They will not be silenced. They cannot be silenced.
They cannot help but let everybody know that there is salvation in no one else. This is our greatest need.
We don’t need self-improvement or self-esteem or self-renovation. We need salvation. And it only comes through Christ. No one else.
There are not multiple paths to get to God. There is but one, and Jesus says it is a narrow path.
We are only delivered from sin’s power and freed from sin’s penalty in Christ. He is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.
As gospel believing Christians, you have no need to be ashamed of this.
You don’t need to worry about sounding exclusive with this claim. Jesus was not worried about sounding exclusive.
He told His message to everyone. He didn’t limit who He told this too. Scripture says that God desires all men to be saved.
But there is salvation in no one else.
If we tell people otherwise we are denying the word of God for the comfort of man. Fear the power of God, not the power of men!
CHUNK #2
And look what happens as a result.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
God is not looking for academics, but for people of action.
And our actions must be an overflow of our time spent with Him. Just keeping showing up.
We do not need seminary degrees. We do not need to have whole books of the Bible memorized. We do not need to be able to preach the word flawlessly. We just need to be people who consistently and confidently spend time with Jesus.
All the things I mentioned are good things, but we can have all the seminary degrees in the world, all of the books of the Bible memorized and the ability to preach with great skill, but if we don’t have Jesus we have nothing.
In His grace and mercy He teaches us this plainly in John 15:4-5
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Apart from Him, we can do nothing.
Do you believe that?
Do you begin your day in the power of Jesus, or do you begin your day, in your own power?
People will know. Our lives will be vivid testimonies of our time spent with Him.
And we can do this in any number of ways.
But our rhythms are a really great tool for measuring our time with Jesus.
Devotion - are we committed to time in His Word? This can be done through a Bible plan, reading a chapter or verse a day, and memorizing Scripture. Are you seeking His Word before sharing your own?
Prayer - are we talking with God? Sharing our hearts with Him, and listening to His voice? I do this by myself, with my family and with my community. But I intentionally spend time talking to God and listening to God, after I have engaged with His word. I know others who do it before, but I find interacting first with His word, sets a good course for my prayer.
Fellowship - You can spend time with Jesus within His church. Outside of the Sunday service, we do Vine Groups on Wednesdays with one another, which we are going to pause over the summer.
Also, James Kay hosts a men’s breakfast each Wednesday morning at IHOP from 6-7am.
There are other groups we are moving towards developing as well, but the point of them all is practicing the presence of Jesus with each other.
We could go on and on with our rhythms, but they are worth your time and consideration when you are wondering, how you can spend time being with Jesus.
Ask yourself often, Do people talk with me and say, he has been with Jesus?
If not, why not? He is the well that never runs dry. He is the bread of life that satisfies forever. Anything else we are settling for will ultimately fail us.
He tells us what will happen if we make Him a priority.
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
If we confess Christ with our voices and lives, He will confess us as His.
What an incredible picture!
But if we deny Him in front of others, He will do the same.
What a terrifying thought.
He tells us this plainly a few verses earlier.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Fear the power of God, not the power of men.
Find your confidence in King Jesus, He is the strongest guy in the room and He promises to have your back. But we need to be with Him, if we will ever become like Him and do what He did.
CHUNK #3
After recognizing that these men had been with Jesus there was nothing that these religious authorities could say in opposition.
So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
There was nothing they could say in opposition to Peter and John.
But what they could do was use their authority, to charge them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
Lifeway research recently published an article about the most persecuted places in the world for Christianity.
Topping the list are 13 nations where persecution levels are classified as “extreme.” You could be killed or imprisoned if the authorities found you speaking or preaching in the name of Jesus.
Yet Christianity is growing in number and influence in these very same places. Churches are being planted, and they are even sending missionaries back to America to encourage and edify the brethren.
Where people are being told not to speak in His name, they can’t be quiet, regardless of the punishment they might face.
Peter and John respond in the same way,
But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
You can threaten us, you can throw us in jail, and you can beat us, but we cannot stop speaking of what we have seen and heard.
This all fulfills Jesus’ words in Luke 21:12-15
But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.
The invitation here is to continually share your story. It really matters.
God can effectively use anyone who will listen to and follow Jesus. Your story can change the minds of Kings, or others in high positions, you just need to be confident in His power, not your own.
Boldly tell them who He is. The strongest person you know has your back.
CHUNK #4
And I love how this scene ends.
Peter and John were just imprisoned for healing a man and preaching the gospel, but they do not wish to remain on their own.
They go back to the church to witness to, encourage and pray with their fellow brothers and sisters. They don’t just use this moment to strengthen their own names and their own confidence, but to strengthen the name of Jesus and the confidence of His body.
They pray to the sovereign Lord. They know that God is the one who orchestrated all of the hardships they just faced, and they didn’t go back to the church to complain about their circumstances, but to praise His name.
Let’s read Acts 4:27-31
for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
They knew that God was using their hard moments to strengthen their confidence, and the confidence of the church. He was making them look more like Jesus through hard circumstances.
This is for our encouragement.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
You are going to face trials in this world church. You can complain about them or consider them joy.
And I’m not telling you not to mourn the bad things in this world. Mourn with those who mourn. Grieve with those who grieve. But do it with the confidence that He is who He says He is. The difference between complaining and lamenting is belief. And we believe.
We do not have to justify the bad things that happen in our life, the Bible does not sentimentalize bad things, it says they are bad.
But the Bible tells us that we can confidently know that those bad things aren’t happening because God doesn’t love us. In fact, it is just the opposite.
Scripture tells us that God stepped into those bad things, stepped into our suffering, he did not separate Himself from it.
Peter tells this to the church later in his life through a letter that he wrote.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
What an invitation. Be with Jesus. Become like Jesus. Do what Jesus did. Continue entrusting yourself to him who judges justly.
When you trust Him, you’ll want to spend your time with Him in your trials and tribulations, you will not seek the elementary things of this world. You will seek Him.
And people will know that you’ve been with Him. Through your actions, your words, and your boldness.
Don’t trust in your education, or your position in life. Trust in Him. Find your confidence in Him. And when you do you will always remember that the strongest dude you know has your back.
Let’s Pray
With that, I want us to prepare our hearts to receive The Lord’s Supper by coming to His table.
This is for believers to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. If you are not sure whether you believe not, or parents, if you are concerned about if your kids should be taking this, an easy measurement would be baptism.
If you have not proclaimed your love and faith for King Jesus through the ordinance of baptism, it is ok to pause today and observe, rather than partake. Scripture says that we eat and drink judgment on ourselves when we take it in a manner unworthy of the Lord. We share this to honor the Lord and to honor you.
And in this moment as we prepare to receive the Lord’s supper, we ask you Holy Spirit, to bring to mind any unconfessed sins, or unresolved conflicts, so may we lay those at your feet this morning. For you tell us to examine ourselves before we eat the bread and drink the cup so that we do not eat and drink judgment on ourselves.
So give us a moment to do just that (pause).
Before we rise and come to the table let us remember what our Lord said.
On the night He was betrayed, He took bread and when He had broken it He said, “This is my body, which is for you, Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way, He took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat the bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
So Father, meet us here this morning through the power of the Holy Spirit. We remember you. We remember our baptism. And we celebrate with your church.
COMMUNION & SONG
Church read this text with me,
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
READ ACTS 4:5-31
What does abiding in Christ mean, and how can this impact our daily lives?
How can we fear the power of God more than the power of men in our own lives?
What does it mean to 'acknowledge' Christ before others?
What are some personal experiences where you felt the power of God supporting you during tough times?
In what ways can we cultivate a culture of prayer and encouragement in our church community?
