Sermon Tone Analysis

The power of Jesus’ name...

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

15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another,

16 saying, "What shall we do with these men?

For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name."

18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

19 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,

20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened.

22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.”

What triggered the Sanhedrin’s recognition and realization of the power of Jesus’s name was what the apostles have been empower to do in this instance.

Both Peter and John had fearlessly confronted the Jewish leaders with and through the power of Jesus’ name, through its authority and through its truth.

This attempt by the Sanhedrin to suppress the apostles’ teaching about Jesus’ name gave them a priceless opportunity.

They boldly seized it and proclaimed the gospel to the highest officials of the nation and it was their belief in the gospel that strengthens them in the time of persecution.

But where did that faultless faith come from?

Where did that certainly of cause come from?

Where did that sense of total protection and provision come from?

I believed it came from God’s Word and I believed it came from one particular source of the Scripture found in the Psalms.

for instance seems to explained their great resolve, that in Jesus’s name there is power that cannot be denied, power that cannot be deterred, and power that cannot be defeated.

Along with our passage this morning I think it sets the stage for their victory here in .

Let us pray...

The power of Jesus’ name ...cannot be denied.

14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.15

But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another,16 saying, "What shall we do with these men?

For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.”

The unexpected boldness of Peter and John, and the presence of the healed man standing with them, put the Sanhedrin in an impossible position.

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

The Sanhedrin was taken aback for the moment and for the moment they were caught flat -footed and could not maneuver around the sheer fact that the power of the name of Jesus’ had deliver an awesome miracle before the very eyes of many in Jerusalem.

Peter’s convincing defense show that he was not leading the people away from God but he was leading them to a closer, fully, and more intimate and intense walk with God through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, whom as risen from the death.

Having ordered Peter and John to go outside of the Council meeting so that they might talk amongst themselves.

The members of the Sanhedrin began to confer with one another.

Peter had completely turned the tables on them, and now the court was in recessed while they considered what to do with these two men.

The question was not an easy one to answer.

Peter and John had broken no laws, they had not broken anything Jewish customs, and they had ably defended themselves from the Old Testament Scriptures based on God’s Word.

For the Sanhedrin to punish them further would be incredibly risky, in light to the fact that a true and noteworthy miracle had been done in the eyes of many and was easily verifiable and apparent to all who live in Jerusalem.

The reality of the power of Jesus’ name as becoming self-evident and was spreading through the city.

The power of Jesus’ name could no longer be denied, though they could not deny it, they did not accept it.

But they became a living illustration of the words of

, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”

Such are the blinding affects of sin, they knew the truth but they suppressed the truth, refused to accept the truth and rejected the truth of the power of Jesus’ name and His resurrection.

They even when to great links to further their deceit, they did all that they could to conceal the truth of the resurrection of Christ our Lord look at this passage.

, 11While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.12

And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers

13 and said, "Tell people, 'His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.'14

And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble."

15 So they took the money and did as they were directed.

And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.”

So right now in this instance, The Sanhedrin was in the middle of their worst nightmare, they had executed Jesus for claiming to be the Messiah.

And all the facts at hand seem to prove that He was the Messiah and all the people were repeating those claims.

The Sanhedrin had no other choice other than to take some overt action to stop, to slow down, to shudder, to salvage, and to silence the knowledge of the power of the name of Jesus, this truth and this knowledge had to be denied.

So what do they do, look at verses 16-17, “ ...What shall we do with these men” For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name” This was their plan to stop the incriminating truth from going forward, this was their plan to deflect the indisputable knowledge of their direct involvement in the execution of Jesus for claiming to be who He truly was.

This was their plan to try to intimidate Peter and John into silence by warning them to speak no more to anyone in this name.

It is ironic, that the early believers had to be commanded to be quiet concerning Jesus and we modern believers must be commanded to qualitatively come forth proclaiming the power in the name of Jesus.

This is a important fork in the road in the very history of the Church of Jesus Christ.

If the apostles accepted this deal, if the apostles agreed with this deceit and if the apostles acquiesced to their demands, all subsequent church history would have been radically different.

Napoleon wrote said concerning the concept of history, “History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.”

Everything hinged on their willingness to obey God at all costs and to go all in, leaving the consequences to God.

They understood that the power of Jesus’ name couldn’t be deterred.

The power of Jesus’s name...cannot be deterred.

18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.19

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, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

We do not see any fear, any fret, and any faulting here; the two men answered the request with a rebellious righteousness.

Saying this, “... Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather then to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

The question for me here is where did this focused, foundational and firm faith come from?

This level of faith did not exist in John14:1, when Jesus says to them “…let no your heart be troubled, believe in God, also believe in me...” This level of faith did not exist in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus asks them, you cannot even pray with me for an hour?

This level of faith did not exist in them prior the crucifixion, when Jesus tells them, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.

But if I go, I will send him to you”().

I believe what brought them to this new level of faith was the fact that they we filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit had made good on the promise given by Jesus when He said in

, “ These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

I believed that Jesus is the ultimate author of all Scripture, that He is the word make flesh.

Could not the apostles here have be thinking a passage in the Psalms during their imprisonment, seeking comfort but receiving clarity for what challenges which laid ahead for them.

Turn the , for a moment; this psalm really explains what it means to trust in God and to learn to live in that trust.

We must always remember that God is worthy of our trust in everything, I said God is worthy of your trust in everything, in things little and things big, in things trivial and in things tremendous, in things we fear and in things in which we walk by faith.

David wrote this psalm; when David was on the run from Saul.

We can embrace this text as a text of refuge at any time and from any place in our Christian journey and I think this would be true of Peter and John if indeed they were looking to this Psalm for strength for their journey.

Bishop James Hannington who lived in Africa and was beginning held in prison because of his witness for Christ.

Found himself in Oct of 1885, being tortured and beaten in prison and was said to be delirious with pain, as he wrote in his journal these words.

I am being brought low, and I am broken, but I am also comforted by the words of .

Again just maybe Peter and John appealed to this for comfort and clarity.

Because they knew that God was worthy of their trust in every situation.

Do you know that God is worthy of your trust?

When should you trust God? Trust God in the good days, and you should trust God in the bad days.

First, we find an affirmation of trust in God people, seen in our confidence that can be surely placed in God.

Verses and 1-6 is a song of affirmation of the security of God’s people, an affirmation of God’s ability to provide protection and provision and affirmation of our undying trust in a Holy God.

There are two questions that set the very foundation for our trust in God, remember, trust lives in confidence in God, look at the first question in , The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?

Look at the second question, The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?

These rhetoric questions tells us that David was tempt by circumstances at the time to live in fear in this moment.

And if David a man after God’s on heart was tempted to live in fear.

Who do we think we are?

Fear comes but fear also flees if we maintain our confidence in God.

When a believer lives in fear, there are only two reasons, (1) a guilty conscience produces fear, you are fearful because you know you are not living right and it’s only a matter of time before it catches up with you.

A guilty conscience produces fear.

, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

This is incredible, wicked people run even when no one is chasing them.

What can you do if you are a wicked person?

What can you do to escape such a plight?