Power in the Name

Acts 4:1-22

If you would open your Bible’s with me to Acts 4:1-22 - Page 911 in the pew Bibles.

Up until this point, the disciples are still fairly early on in their mission and there has been no or at least very little resistance to Christians from the jews. In fact, Acts 2:47 says that they were viewed pretty favorably, they had even just healed a man who couldn’t walk. The disciples were likely feeling pretty good at this point. They had so many things to reaffirm that what they were doing was ordained by God, not that they needed it, they had just witnessed Christ crucified and resurrected. But just in case, all the peaces were there.

Acts 4 is the turning point as they are about to face their first wave of persecution and they are going to have to have courage to move forward.

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Pray

If we rolled back the clock a few Years I was still in Pro sales a Home Depot. It as a job that had its ups and downs, there were many aspects that I loved to the job but once of the things that would bring me the most anxiety is when I had to create massive orders that required at times a week or two to work on. The reason being is that if you were working with someone who wasn’t really skilled in building you were expected to help them through the process and that required you to know a lot of information or at the very least know where to go for that information. The idea was never to upsell, or give them more than they needed, rather it was to give them exactly what they needed.

I can remember one client in particular who had just bought a new house to renovate and he had to replace just about everything. That meant that when it came time to buy flooring I had to know what it was we had to offer and had to know it well. When he was replacing light fixtures I had to show him all the different options that we had to offer. When he was looking to paint I had to make sure that I was selling him exactly what he needed. Because here’s the issue, if I had left out some information sold him the wrong product or said “I have no idea” it could cost him. For instance if I had told him to buy contractor paint over the best paint they have to offer, It would mean that he would be back in about 2 years and have to repaint again, costing him time and more money.

Now I know what you’re thinking, what does me and my Home Depot days have to do with evangelism or acts chapter 4? Is that both situations require confidence and courage to trust in everything that has been made known you. There is a cost to both.

While Home Depot, if I were wrong or didn’t have confidence and courage the worst thing that could happen is that I could lose a customer, and I did have that happen on one or two occasions. Its not fun but everything was fine in the end.

If we lack confidence and courage in the face of opposition in sharing the gospel it could cost everything.

And that idea is what is happening here in acts 4

The Apostles for the first time since the resurrection are facing opposition and they will need to have confidence in Christ and Courage that can only come from God.

I have broken this down into three different responses that we can observe.

The Response from the Religious Leaders (Acts 4:1-4)

The Response to the Religious Leaders (Acts 4:5-12)

The Response of the Gospel (Acts 4:13-22)

The Response from the Religious Leaders Acts 4:1-4

Here we have the disciples still preaching in the Temple when Luke tells us that as they, that is Peter and John, were in the process of speaking, that the Jewish leaders came upon the and interrupted their preaching to arrest them and there are two people to note.

The captain of the temple

they were considered to be the second in command, that is, right below the high priest,

If you wanted to get to the high priest, you had to go through the captain of the temple, He was sot of a stepping stone. Ultimately his job was to maintain order in the Temple and he had the power to arrest people like what was happening here.

His forces were the once who were in Gathsemane when they arrested Jesus.

Next, was the Sadducees.

This is not the first time we come across this group in scripture.

In Luke 20:27 we read this

They had attempted to trap Jesus in questioning and they had already been put to shame once. So here again confronting the disciples, why? Not because they were simply preaching but because they were preaching about the Resurrection. If we go back Acts 3:26 that God had raised his servant from the dead.

“They were the ruling class of wealthy aristocrats. Politically, they ingratiated themselves with the Romans, and followed a policy of collaboration, so that they feared the subversive implications of the apostles’ teaching. Theologically, they believed that the Messianic age had begun in the Maccabean period; so they were not looking for a Messiah. They also denied the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead” - Stott

It is no wonder that the leading priests and other Sadducees should be so upset with Peter and John’s preaching.

Act:4:2 in the ESV says that they were greatly annoyed another way you could translate the word used there is that they were greatly disturbed at their preaching at the fact that they were preaching the resurrection. They saw the apostles as both agitators and heretics, both disturbers of the peace and enemies of the truth. They were preaching the resurrection of the dead and not just any resurrection but the very same Jesus who had previously shamed them and who they had arrested and put to death had been raised from the dead by God.

And here these disciples were, stirring up the crowd, speaking of the risen messiah who had died for their sins and had been vindicated by God. Speaking of how all the Law and the Prophets find their fulfillment in Him and even in the name of that Messiah, a man is healed.

This enrages the Jewish leaders.

They’re the one’s that people are supposed to listen to not these “Heretics”

They’re the one’s with the formal education, they are supposed to be the experts in the law, in sacrifices, in the prophet and here were these fishermen from Galilee claiming that Jesus who had died 30 days earlier, is alive and is even the messiah, not only the messiah but God himself.

They’re going to do the only thing they know how to do and that is silence them right here in Acts 4:3

The idea was to bring them before the sanhedrin, the jewish council, but they council had already met for the day, so just arrest them until the next day.

They take hold of them or seize them. They arrest them is what they do until the next day with hopes that maybe it would set an example or at the very least cut off this movement at the source

At the end of the day that is the only play that the enemy has is to silence the gospel.

A situation like this might not apply to us directly, we may not know what its like to be arrested in the name of Christ, but this still happens today all around the world. Christians are arrested, churches are burnt down, people are martyred because that is all the enemy knows how to do.

And yet, Luke does not stay silent, God does not let the Jewish leaders get the last word.

Acts 4:4

Would of actually been more than 5000

It’s also interesting to note that each time more people convert up to this point in Acts, the number proceeds to get bigger and bigger. In Acts 1:15 the number of converts is 120, in 2:41 the number is 3,000, here the number is 5000 and soon Luke is going to stop giving a number and just say thousands.

The point is this, that the Leaders tried to silence the gospel message but the gospel cannot be silenced.

This is always the case with the gospel, that’s why if you read the happenings this past week, I wrote about Polycarp and why I often like to reference the martyrs of the early church. The enemy has tried and tried again to us the same tactic and each and every time he loses. With the Martyrs their martyrdom actually caused the Church to grow. With Peter and John the damage in a sense had already been done, Christ has already gotten the victory.

The Response to the Religious Leaders Acts 4:5-12

The next morning the disciples are put on trial, though also from the context the man that they had healed was also present. We see some names that we should immediately recognize, those Are Annas the High Priest and Caiaphas, we’re not quite sure who John and Alexander are but the whole high priestly family is present for this ordeal.

Again, these are the exact same people who would have put Jesus on trial and by their verdict and influence had Jesus crucified. If we remember we know that at least Peter and likely John were present for Jesus’ trial. Last time Peter was here he had denied Jesus. But now he was here for proclaiming Jesus.

Isn’t that really cool how God works? he takes the broken and the wretched, redeems them. He takes the denier and makes them a proclaimer. But as we will see He’s going to do even more than that.

So here they are on trial.

The Religious leaders want to know by what power or authority they are doing these things?

this essentially amounts to “who do you think you are?”

The Religious leaders were the ones who were supposed to have authority

Yet here were these “nobodies” who were proclaiming the resurrection of the Messiah and not only that but healing a man in the name of that Messiah.

There is a matter of accreditation here, they specifically omit the fact that a man has been healed in the name of Jesus, as well as the preaching of salvation in Jesus’ name. It was obvious and they were trying to skirt around the issue.

Peter doesn’t let them get away with that. He doesn’t let them try to pull a power move or “flex” on him in any way. Rather than being on the defensive, Peter goes on the offensive.

If the Sanhedrin wanted to know about the name by which they do all of these things he was going to tell them about the name.

He’s actually doing what he would later write about in 1 Peter 3:14-15

But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.

They wanted a defense, Peter is ready to give a defense.

But what’s even cooler is that what is about to take place is actually a fulfillment of what Christ had promised earlier in Luke 12:11-12.

Acts 4:8 begins like this… Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit.

He brings up the fact that the man standing with them has been healed.

The word healed is actually from the Greek word “σῴζω” Which is the same word that translates into salvation, which we will see a total of 3 times in this passage.

He is using the healing of this man to speak of salvation to the religious leaders. He takes this opportunity to share the gospel with the Leaders and anyone who will listen.

He says: in Acts 4:10 “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 the way, this is the 3rd time this has been said in this whole narrative since they got to the temple. “By him this man standing before you well”.

The very people who should know of things Jesus, that is the Religious leaders, to them it should have been obvious, all the signs were there, the entire Old testament speaks of Jesus, even if you just look at the pentateuch like the sadducees did, speaks of Jesus. The very builders should have recognized him and instead all they did was rejected the messiah as if there were another way to salvation.

Peter is basically telling them “hey you attempted to kill the messiah, you rejected him and now God has put you to open shame because he has raised him from the dead and made him the cornerstone by which he builds his church.

It would have been undeniable because the numbers are growing each and every day. This wasn’t another street preacher, there was something very different about Christ, he is the author of life he is the once that all of scripture has spoken of and he’s alive.

Peter homes in on the main point, Acts 4:12

Right here are your other two uses of salvation

The repetition the most important part

3 times Salvation is mentioned

3 times is the death and resurrection of Christ mentions

3 times is salvation by the Name of Jesus Mentioned

That is the short and simple gospel message.

Peter makes it simple here, partly because he knows his audience and partly because at the end of the day That is the ultimate message.

We are broken like the lame beggar and need healing, we are limping along and need to walk and only Christ can do that and that is what we are called to share. That is the answer for the hope that is within us.

You are not called to be a theologian

You are not called to get a doctorate or a masters or even a bachelor’s

All those are good, don’t get me wrong, but at the end of the day it is very clear what is at stake.

There is no other name in heaven or on earth or below the earth by which we are saved.

No legalism, like the Jewish leaders, not other faith, like the pagans of their time and ours, nothing outside of Christ will save you that is the simple message we are called and commanded to share.

The Response of the Gospel Acts 4:13-22

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. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

They were astonished that they were preaching boldly.

They were common men who were uneducated but more importantly they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Maybe they physically recognized them but more importantly they recognized the threat that they had posed just like the threat Christ had posed them. Who they then crucified… whom God then raised from the dead.

They had nothing to say in response, no argument could be held against the disciples, let alone the fact that the guy who had been healed in the name of Jesus was standing there with them.

The evidence was stacked against the.

All they could do at the end of the day was what verse 18 said. Tell them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. That was their only play.

Again, that is the enemies only play.

Peter ends with saying that they listen to and obey God not men. That it is up to them to decide what is right or wrong.

So what do we do with this?

We are called to share the simple gospel message to anyone and everyone

At times it will be difficult, and thats a fact

But take heart, for we are never alone in this mission. So share with confidence, knowing that Christ is within you.

Proclaim Christ and the enemy will run.

Let’s pray.