Interesting question, what shall we do?
I have an answer. Believe in Jesus, that's what you should do. At this point, a dead dude is now alive. Repent. At this point, a lame man can now walk and leap and praise God. That should shake you guys to the core.
That's what you should do. But it's amazing how deep unbelief will go. Today on Connect with Skip Hiting, Pastor Skip shows you how deep unbelief can go, even in the face of miracles. But first, here's a resource that honors the heroific sacrifice of today's martyrs for Christian faith. We are witnessing an escalation in Christian persecution like we have rarely seen since the first century. Many people don't realize that today thousands of Christians are dying cruel deaths throughout much of the world. The New Book of Christian Martyrs commemorates these modern day heroes, highlighting key martyrs of past centuries and featuring stories of contemporary martyrs around the world. This compendium of heroes from the first century to the 21st century, from Europe to Africa and from Asia to the Americas, is sure to inspire you to courageously stand up for your Christian faith, just as they've done for countless Christians around the globe. The New Book of Christian Martyrs comes as our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to keep messages like this one today on the air for you and others, equipping you to know God's Word and follow His will with courage and conviction. So request your copy when you give today.
Call 800-922-1888 or give securely online at connectwithskip.com slash offer. Okay, now let's see what Skip has for us today. We'll be in Acts 4 as we begin. In the Old Testament, they were commanded when anybody comes in and does something notable like a miracle, a sign or a wonder, ask that person what name they do it in.
If that person is leading you away from the name of God and from worshiping God, that person is a false prophet and is to be extricated. Nice fancy way of saying stoned, killed, eliminated. So they're waiting for the answer.
By what name are you doing? They're waiting. By the name of Jesus. They are, I would say, rocked and loaded. They've got stone in hand.
They're like ready to stone these guys. By what power? By what name are you doing? Okay, so I want you to notice who is mentioned here. First on the list, besides the elders, Annas. He was a high priest.
Caiaphas. He was the residing high priest. Now, here's what's ironic. Peter and John, disciples of Jesus, are standing before the very same group that Jesus stood before when He was tried before the Jewish Sanhedrin.
Ironic. Peter was outside warming himself in the courtyard at a fire. Now he's face-to-face. Jesus faced this crowd, Annas, Caiaphas, and the rest, members of the Sanhedrin, and now the disciples.
Now, can I refresh your memory? Annas was not the current high priest. He was the one-time high priest. However, though he wasn't the current high priest, Caiaphas' son-in-law was, he had the power. He had the influence. It's interesting, I said that politically, the Sadducees lined up with the Romans, right?
So here's what happened. In 6 AD, Corinneus of Syria appointed Annas as the high priest of the Jewish nation. But Annas was deposed in 15 AD, so he was only serving for eight or nine years, and he was deposed by Valerius Gratis. The Romans, who controlled the land, had the power to put in and take out high priests of Judaism. Now, what makes that unusual is, as you know, in your Old Testament, if you're a high priest, you're a high priest for what? For life, because you're a son of Aaron, and you live out your life in that position, and when you die, you get replaced. But this is Roman-occupied Israel. So the Romans are pulling the strings, and although the Romans deposed Annas as the high priest, he's the older guy.
Caiaphas is the younger guy. He's the son-in-law of Annas. All the Jews still revered Annas, almost like a king of the Jews. He had the power.
And one of the reasons he had the power is he had the purse strings. It was Annas that was in control of the business of the temple. This is why Annas really got greatly ticked off when Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple.
It hit him in his pocketbook. Now the same Annas, and Caiaphas, and group are meeting with the disciples. And they ask this question. By what power, or by what name have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, I'm going slow because I really want that filled with the Holy Spirit part to sink in. We discussed it for three solid weeks before the book of Acts, but now just be refreshed by this. Here's Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, and Peter is bold. Now do you remember?
Let's go back. The night that Jesus stood trial before Annas and Caiaphas, Peter was outside in the courtyard warming himself at a fire in the house outside in the courtyard, warming himself at a fire, denying Christ to a servant girl. Now Peter is an outside in the courtyard of the high priest. He's inside on fire being bold, not timid, not denying, but being declarative of his Lord.
It's a different man. It's Peter filled with the Holy Spirit. And Peter, having seen the resurrected Lord and filled with the Holy Spirit, he's going to get all up in his grill. He said to them, rulers of the people and elders of Israel. Boy, it sounds like he's ready to go. You know why?
He is. Jesus had made Peter and the other disciples a promise. He said, don't worry about how or what you're going to speak when you get taken before these rulers, these elders, for it will be given to you in that hour what to say for the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, will give you the words. So Peter's ready because the Holy Spirit is filling Peter, so he just pours forth.
Rulers of the people, elders of Israel, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, that's bold, whom God raised from the dead by him, this man stands before you whole. Peter does something very interesting. He turns the tables of accusation back on them. By what power, by what name are you doing this? And Peter shows the absurdity of this whole mock trial.
You say, now let me get this straight. We're being accused of doing something good to a lame dude. Here's a guy who couldn't walk. Now he can.
He was a fixture in the temple for years, since his birth, 40 years. He begged alms. Now he can walk. And we're on trial for that.
You're accusing us about that. And so he turns the tables when he says, if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, God raised from the dead by him, by Jesus, this man stands before you whole. Now I can't prove what I'm about to say, but I just have sort of a hunch. I'm just trying to put myself in the situation of Annas and Caiaphas, who had stared Jesus in the eye and heard him speak the words he did. And I'm sure when Jesus spoke to them, they must have felt some conviction. Like there's something different about this man. This is an unusual presence.
I'm standing before he's standing in front of us. And I can't help but think that they're feeling some of that conviction again. As they listen to Peter and John speak to them, and Peter is so bold and articulate, that probably some of the feeling they had in looking at Jesus and hearing at the trial of Jesus, what Jesus said, they're feeling that all over again. It's like Jesus was speaking again to them and he was. He was speaking through Peter and John to them.
It must have been an eerie feeling as they felt that conviction. See, they have a problem. The problem is they don't believe in Jesus. They don't believe in the resurrection. They don't believe in miracles.
Can you see what the problem is? A miracle just happened. There's a dude who was lame for 40 years who can now walk and leap and praise God. So they have the evidence, the living proof right in front of them. That's a problem for them. They don't believe in miracles.
One just happened. Deal with that. You know, sort of like Lazarus. When Lazarus wasn't lame, he was dead.
And now he's alive again. When Lazarus was raised from the dead, it says, some believed having seen Lazarus raised from the dead, but others went and told the chief priests. And the chief priests conferred together and said, what shall we do? Because they all knew Lazarus had risen from the dead.
Interesting question. What shall we do? I have an answer. Believe in Jesus.
That's what you should do. At this point, a dead dude is now alive. Repent. At this point, a lame man can now walk and leap and praise God. That should shake you guys to the core.
That's what you should do. But it's amazing how deep unbelief will go. You know, have you ever heard people say, well, if I could only see a miracle, then I'd believe. And when I hear that, I immediately go, no, you won't. Oh, I would believe.
No, you won't. Remember the story of rich man and Lazarus in Luke chapter 16? Jesus tells a story about a rich man and Lazarus.
Both die. One is taken to Abraham's bosom. That's Lazarus, a different Lazarus than the friend of Jesus in John 11.
And a rich man who was suffering in Hades. And the rich man said to Abraham, Abraham, send this man, Lazarus, to my five brothers and my father's house, lest they come to this place of torment. And Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. In other words, they have the testimony of scripture.
That's enough. And immediately the rich man says, no, but if somebody rises from the dead, they'll believe. And Abraham said, no, they won't. If they won't listen to the testimony of scripture, they will not believe, even though someone rises from the dead. And that can be proven. A different Lazarus rose from the dead, and a whole group of people in Jerusalem refused to believe the evidence.
Here's a lame man. A miracle has happened. A whole group of people refused to believe the evidence. So they have a problem. And the problem is by him, this man, verse 10, stands before you whole.
Now here's the principle. The greatest argument for the power of Christ is a changed life. Here's the changed life. A cripple can now walk.
Now walk. The greatest ad that God can ever take out, the greatest advertisement God could ever take out is to have a life changed by the gospel. And you know, people can say, well, I can argue this Christian in circles. I know so much more intellectually than he or she does. Come on, let's have an argument. I can argue you Christian out the door. But you can't argue with I once was blind, but now I see. I once was lame, but now I walk. Or this is who I was before I met Jesus Christ. This is what I believe now and who I am now.
And as people who knew you now watch you in a renewed changed life, it'll make an impact on them. The personal testimony of a changed life, greatest argument for the validity of the gospel is a changed human life. Peter continues, verse 11.
Notice again, he's a lean, mean preaching machine. This guy can just quote scripture. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone, nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. He's quoting Psalm 118, which says the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Now, along with that scripture comes an old story.
Some call it a legend, some believe it was an actual story. And the story or legend goes like this, that in the days when the temple of Solomon was being built, we know from what it says in the scripture that they didn't quarry the stones at the temple site because they didn't want to have the sound of a hammer or chisel going on at the building of the temple in Jerusalem. So they quarried it at a quarry site and they moved the pre-hewn stones to the temple and they placed them and they were so accurate in cutting them that you were unable to put a knife blade between the stones, there was no gap. No mortar was used, no cement was used and they were so precise that you couldn't put a knife blade between one course and a second course of stone. But the stones were hewn at the quarry and they were brought to the building site of the temple.
They were laid out, the builders would follow the schematic and they would put them one on top of the other. But one of the stones was sent over from the quarry that had an odd shape and none of the builders knew where it fit. So they sort of didn't know what to do with it and they pushed it aside to the rubbish heap.
Some say they rolled it down into the Kidron Valley to be taken up later and because they rejected it. It was a stone that didn't fit anywhere until the temple was almost done and they were missing the capstone, the cornerstone. And they say, you know, we have every stone but go tell the quarry that they need to send the cornerstone, the capstone. And the quarry said, what do you mean send the capstone?
We've sent it already, we sent it months ago. Then somebody remembered, I think I know what happened. That was the stone we marginalized because we said it doesn't fit anywhere and we pushed it out and rejected it.
They found that stone, brought it back up and put it in place. This messianic Psalm and he is quoting a messianic Psalm, he's going to quote Psalm 2 later on in chapter 4, now he's quoting Psalm 18. There are 16 of the 150 Psalms in the Old Testament that were regarded as messianic Psalms and this is one of them. Psalm 118. Nor is there salvation in any other, verse 12, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Now, verse 13. Here goes, this is one of my favorite verses. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus. Notice the verbs in that verse. They saw, they perceived, they realized. What's the first one? They saw.
What did they see? The boldness of Peter and John. Now, you might say, well, you know, Peter was always bold by nature. No, he wasn't. Peter was always impetuous by nature.
Peter wanted to cut off ears of high pre-servants. He always made impetuous moves, but he had a hard time telling a servant girl, admitting to her that he was a follower of Jesus. That's not boldness.
That's timidity. He was impetuous, but he was not bold. Now he's bold. Now there's a holy boldness as he stands and gives his testimony and preaches using the scripture.
So they saw the boldness of Peter and John. Second, and they perceived, notice this, what did they perceive? That they were uneducated and untrained men. Don't get the wrong idea that they're being accused of being idiots or illiterate. When they say they're uneducated or untrained, it simply means they didn't have a rabbinical background. They didn't have a higher education. They were not trained in the seminaries of the rabbis of the day.
They didn't have the schooling. They looked at these fishermen, these simple guys, and they go, I don't get it. They're so good at quoting the scripture and interpreting the meaning of this messianic text. They marveled. And then third, and they realized that they had been with Jesus.
Ah, that's the secret. You can tell when a person has been hanging around Jesus. And let me just put it this way. There are people who know the word of God. Then there are those who know the God of the word. You can just tell.
There's something different, man. These people have a relationship with this God. Now, you can have both. You can know the word of God and know the God of the word. You don't have to have one or the other, but sometimes people just know the word but don't really know the Lord that well. They realize they have been with Jesus. They gave something off that identified them with Him.
I'm going to jog your memory. In 1 John, I think it's chapter 1. I know it's chapter 1.
John writes to three different groups. He goes, I write unto you, children, because your sins have been forgiven. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write unto you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. Levels of spiritual maturity. There's the young children, new men, the young men, the young children, new members in the household of faith. All they know is their sins are forgiven. Then there are those who are maturing and growing and overcoming the evil of the wicked one, but then there are those spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers who know the Lord. They're with Jesus.
I love that. I love that verse. They realize they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, talk about evidence, talk about proof, he's not like on the ground anymore begging. He's standing with them. Remember, he's been leaping and praising.
So just to get this guy standing is kind of miraculous. They could say nothing against it. But when they commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves saying, what shall we do to these men?
For indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, here's what we'll do. We'll severely threaten them. That's all they could do. Well, I guess they could have killed them.
They'll do that later. But they severely threatened them that from now on, they speak to no man in this name, the name of Jesus. There's something powerful about the name of Jesus Christ that Satan fears that the world hates. It brings up all sorts of emotion.
Now, you could do a little experiment if you're so inclined. Next time you're in a room with a group of people at work, relatives, unbelievers, you're talking about, just talk about stuff, just drop in a conversation the name of Jesus Christ, not as they drop the name of Jesus Christ as an expletive, but in a friendly manner, drop the name Jesus and just watch the reaction. You'll see at the very minimum, heads turn, you'll see at the very minimum, heads turn, like, who's getting religious around here?
They get uncomfortable with that. If you talk about my faith or my church or my religion, they're okay. If you talk about Jesus Christ, the person with whom I love and have a relationship with, they get really weird, really quick, sort of fun to do. There's power in the name of Jesus. That's Skip Hyten with a message about the power of a changed life and the depth of some people's unbelief from his series, Expound Acts. Find the full message as well as books, booklets, and full teaching series at connectwithskip.com. Right now, listen as Skip shares how you can share life-changing teaching from God's Word with more people around the world. Believers need to study God's Word in order to understand what he desires of us and for us. And this broadcast ministry exists to connect you and others around the world to God's Word so you can enjoy his presence and do his will. I want to invite you to join in that important work today. Through your support, you can expand this ministry into more major U.S. cities and help more people respond to the life-changing truth of the Bible.
Plus, you'll keep these teachings that you love available to you wherever you listen. Would you partner with me in this effort? Here's how you can give a gift now. Visit connectwithskip.com slash donate to give a gift. That's connectwithskip.com slash donate or call 800-922-1888. 800-922-1888.
Thank you for your generosity. Come back and join us tomorrow as Skip examines how the first Christians pray in the face of persecution. They get threatened. What do they do? They lift their voice to God. You know what some people do? They lift their voice to the government and pick it and riot. No, their first instinct wasn't to go pick it and riot and have a formal complaint written down, names on a list. They took it to God in prayer. Connect with Skip Hyten is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
