WWUTT 1041 No Other Name By Which We Are Saved?

Over the book of Acts, we see a general pattern. A miracle is performed, the gospel is preached, and then the apostles are threatened for preaching that gospel.

But all of this is to teach us to be grounded in Christ when we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand the

Text, an online Bible ministry committed to teaching sound doctrine and exposing the faulty. Find videos and more at our website, www .utt

.com. Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of Acts, chapter four, and this is going to be the response to the sermon that Peter and John just preached in Solomon's portico.

I'm going to start in chapter four, verse one, and we'll read through verse 22. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the

Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about 5 ,000.

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 their 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.

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

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

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.

So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 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. 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. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

So we come back to the start of chapter four here. And as I had mentioned, when we opened our study of the book of Acts, what we'll regularly see here is some sort of miraculous sign being performed, a presentation of the gospel that follows that.

And then there will be some kind of persecution or threat that will then follow that. So that's that's kind of the pattern of the storytelling over the course of the book of Acts.

We saw the miracle performed in chapter three. The lame beggar healed in those first ten verses.

And then Peter spoke at Solomon's portico versus eleven to the end of the chapter of chapter three.

The sermon that he proclaimed there that it is by God that this man has been healed.

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers who glorified his servant

Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate. When he,

Pilate, the pagan ruler, had decided to release him instead, you called for a murderer instead of the giver of life, who is

Jesus Christ himself, who gave his life so that all who believe in him will live.

Jesus is the prophet that Moses had foretold would come so that every soul who believed in him would be forgiven their sins and have everlasting life.

Look at the last verse of chapter three, right at the end of Peter's sermon. This is Acts three twenty six.

God having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.

You have the doctrine of regeneration right there in that verse. God has blessed you.

Jesus has turned every one of you from your wickedness, that he would come to you first being the

Jews, being those who are in Jerusalem. The gospel would be preached to them first and then it would go out to the whole world, to even the

Gentiles. But God sent him to you first to bless you by doing what?

By turning every one of you from your wickedness. That work of God upon a person's life, not just to justify them before God, forgiving them of their sins, but even cleansing their hearts so that they would walk in uprightness and holiness before God.

This is the gracious work of God, not just justification, but also sanctification.

Those whom he justifies, he will also sanctify. And so now, after this sermon has been preached there in Jerusalem, you are being turned from your sins by faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, being preached there in the place of Solomon's portico.

So this, of course, attracts the attention of the temple priests, the captain of the temple also mentioned there in chapter four, verse one, and the

Sadducees who came upon them. Now, that's pretty significant because when you get to verse two, it says, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

See, that really irritates the Sadducees since the Sadducees do not believe in a resurrection of the dead.

So the fact that there's these two guys out there, they've done this miraculous thing.

People are starting to believe people are starting to follow what they say. And and this this dude over here is healed and all the people are are marveling at all of this.

Well, they're preaching the resurrection of the dead. We just simply cannot have that. Not only are they doing that, but they're preaching the resurrection of the dead in the name of Jesus Christ, whom we just put to death two months ago.

So we certainly can't have have them proclaiming this guy that we who's a little following.

We were trying to squash it. All of a sudden, the number of followers are growing. We can't have that. So they descended upon John and Peter and they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

But based on the sermon that Peter had just preached, the message that had gone out there in Jerusalem, we still have the

Holy Spirit working, affecting in people's hearts an understanding of the gospel that Peter had just preached, though he's not even with them anymore.

He's been put into custody, yet the people are continuing to reflect upon the gospel and believe in it.

That's what we have in verse four. But many of those who had heard the word believed and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

Now, there are some that would probably look at that number and they would remember, OK, back in chapter two at Pentecost, it says that three thousand souls were added were added to the church that day.

So here at Peter and John's preaching, there's another two thousand that have been added. So thus the number comes to five thousand.

That's likely not the way this math works. Likely the three thousand that was at Pentecost was its own number.

And five thousand here at Solomon's Portico is another number. So you're talking the total number of persons that have now become

Christian in Jerusalem is now up to ten thousand. Remember we had the three thousand at Pentecost and then at the end of Acts two, it was talking about how many others were being added.

The Lord added to their number day by day. Those who were being saved now, it could be that this number here in Solomon's Portico in chapter four, that could be a kind of a reflection upon those that are added to day by day.

Or we're getting a more specific number, whereas the other reference was general.

Now we have a specific number. So you take the general number, you take the three thousand, you take the five thousand, you add it together.

We're talking about ten thousand. That's probably the way the math works out here on the number of Christians now that are in Jerusalem.

So of course, the officials in the temple are going to get pretty alarmed over 10 percent or just about 10 percent, maybe a little under 10 percent of Jerusalem now has become

Christianized. So they're starting to get a little worried. Verse five, 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.

Few of those names we recognize or at least two of them we do right, Annas and Caiaphas.

They were behind the crucifixion of Jesus. So those very men who had put

Jesus to death have now taken Peter and John into custody and they're going to grill them.

They're going to interview them here and encourage them not to speak in the name of Christ. So then verse seven would kind of threaten them rather not to speak in the name of Christ.

Verse seven. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired by what power or by what name did you do this?

Now, the interesting thing about that question is they had asked that question of Jesus as well. But Jesus didn't answer their question.

By what power or what authority do you do the things you do or you say the things that you say?

Jesus wouldn't answer the question. And it was mostly because his time had not yet come. It was not yet his time to be crucified.

And had he answered the question, he surely would have been when he said, well, my authority comes from God. So instead of answering the question directly, he said to them,

I also will ask you one question. And if you tell me the answer, then I will tell you by what authority

I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? Was it from heaven or from man?

Now, Jesus is very, very smart, of course, that kind of goes without saying in what he's doing here, because they were trying to catch

Jesus. They were trying to catch him saying that his authority came from God. And so therefore, they could say before the people, ah, you see, blasphemy.

So Jesus is trying to catch them in a question, trying to put them on the spot in front of the people.

And they understood that because they discussed it among themselves, saying, if we say that the baptism of John came from heaven, he will say to us, why then did you not believe him?

But if we say from man, we're afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.

So they answered Jesus, we do not know. And then Jesus said to them, neither will

I tell you by what authority I do these things. So keep in mind here, they ask that question of Jesus already.

And now they're asking it of Peter and John. The difference being that Jesus has already been crucified, already risen from the grave and has ascended to the right hand of God.

So there's not a reason for them to not answer the question since they can't do anything to Jesus anymore.

And the they could surely do something to Peter and John, of course, but filled with the

Holy Spirit, as it says next in verse eight, Peter is going to proclaim the name of Christ and do so without fear.

This is Acts four eight. 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 same name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom

God raised from the dead by him, this man is standing before you.

Well, so there you go. They're saying, well, by what authority, by what name do we do these things? Jesus of Nazareth, they asked a question and Peter used the question being asked of them as an opportunity to share the gospel once again and convict these men of their sin.

You put the son of God to death. God raised him up. He is now sitting in judgment over you.

So you must repent. This Jesus, Peter goes on to say, verse 11 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.

So in order for these men to have forgiveness for their sins that they've committed against God, they, too, must repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

This statement that Peter makes here, Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you. Jesus said the same thing when he was teaching in the temple during what we call

Passion Week. He made the same reference. And Peter also talks about this in first Peter, chapter two.

This is starting in verse six, for it stands in scripture. Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

So the honor is for you who believe. But for those who do not believe the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling.

And a rock of offense, they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.

That's what Peter lays down there in first Peter, chapter two. So he makes the statement in the sermon here.

And then we have it in his first epistle. Also, Jesus is the cornerstone, the structure, the holy house, the spiritual house unto the

Lord that is being built, which is his church. Five thousand people have just been added to that based on the sermon that Peter preached there in their midst.

This spiritual house that's being built up is built on a foundation of the prophets and the apostles, with Christ himself being the cornerstone.

You, who were the teachers of Israel, were the builders and you were supposed to build upon that stone, but you have not done so.

And so the stone that is the cornerstone has to you become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

And again, as Peter says in first Peter to eight, they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to disobey.

Once again, the sovereignty of God that works in the hearts to bring a person to repentance.

That was chapter three, verse twenty six, and will even work in the heart to harden it unto judgment, as Peter talks about in first Peter chapter two.

We continue on here in Acts four thirteen. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, we've seen that before when they were preaching at Pentecost, when the

Holy Spirit had come upon them and they had gone throughout Jerusalem speaking in tongues, the people marveled because they recognized they were

Galileans. These were not educated men. How can they speak in these languages when we're looking at a group of guys that are mostly fishermen here?

So they recognize them as uneducated, common men. And they were astonished and they recognized that these men had been with Jesus.

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

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

For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all of 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, the name of Jesus.

Jesus preaching was was swaying all the people away from us when he was around.

And now his disciples are still around and they're influencing us to or they're influencing the people to follow in Jesus name instead of following the

Sadducees. So they greatly are distressed by this and tell them, don't preach in this name anymore.

And so then, verse 18, they called them and charged them not to speak or to teach at all in the name of Jesus.

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.

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 for the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old, meaning that he had been lame and crippled for a long time.

There was no disputing the fact that there was a real genuine miracle that had performed in this particular man.

Notice something about the the priests, the Sadducees. Notice something about their response.

They didn't harm Peter and John because they were afraid of the people. So it looks like for the time being, they're doing the right thing, but it's not genuine in their hearts.

When the opportunity presents itself to be able to afflict Peter and John with harm, they will take that opportunity.

So here's the the exhortation that I want to put before you here. We've seen many churches stumble and fall for a period of time.

They look like the church looks like it truly loves

God. It truly loves Christ, truly loves his word and is preaching that word.

But is the reason why they're doing that only because it's popular at that time?

So sound doctrine is popular among the crowd. But when once the opinion of the crowd starts moving, like maybe the attraction of more people from the outside bringing them in and therefore swaying the opinions of the members of that church, when they start loving and attracting the numbers, does therefore the teaching of that church change?

So we might recognize the genuineness we thought they had never really was all that genuine in the first place because it was being moved by the opinion of the people.

And so we must be very, very careful when it comes to our Christian faith that we don't believe what we believe simply because it's the popular opinion in the circles in which we run.

Once the climate or the attitude of that circle changes, maybe the doctrine gets a little bit softer and they start to welcome in some things you wouldn't consider to be wonky at first glance.

But once you kind of start stepping in that direction, it's really hard to stop. It's the slippery slope.

You start on that slope. You just start sliding down it. You'll start getting into worse and worse stuff. So how can you know that the faith that you have right now is truly genuine in God and is not going to be something that will be changed or swayed by opinion?

You must be built upon that foundation of Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.

Martin Lloyd Jones said this, I'm not asking whether you know things about God, but do you know

God? Are you enjoying God? Is God the center of your life, the soul of your being, the source of your greatest joy?

He is meant to be. You give your whole life over to Christ, not simply as a lifestyle, but you love

Jesus. You cling to him. You love his word. You you abide in it.

As Jesus said, whoever abides in my word, I will abide with him when his word is our foundation.

We protect ourselves from being swayed, from moving one direction or the other by the shifting winds of doctrine.

Stay firmly grounded upon the true doctrine of Jesus Christ, our

Savior, and never move, never move from that. If you are truly in Christ, he won't let you move.

You will be firmly in his hand. Let us pray. Our heavenly father, we thank you for the gloriousness of this day.

Another day that we can praise you and grow in you. We're growing in our sanctification.

We're growing to know you more. And I pray that you would ground us and keep us rooted in Christ Jesus, our savior.

We praise him today for all things that come our way, good or bad. We know that God is in control and these circumstances are for us to place our trust in you and rely upon you more fully.

We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. This has been When We Understand the

Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. For all of our podcasts, episodes, videos, books, and more, visit our website at www .utt

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