Southern Christian University
Acts Class
Session 03
James A.
Turner
Hello students.
I hope you have given careful attention to what we went over in the last
Class Session about the throne of David.
It is my judgment that the average preacher in the church today does not
have a clear understanding about the throne of David. And when it comes to denominational people, I
doubt very seriously if you would find one out of a hundred that has a clear
understanding concerning the throne of David.
About twenty years ago, just about every denominational preacher around in
this part of the country was talking about the rapture or something that has to
do with that false teaching concerning the throne of David. I have not seen them doing it as much lately, but I am confident that
nearly all of the people still believe that false doctrine, that Christ is
going to come back to earth and set up an earthly throne and reign on earth for
a thousand years. Remember that doctrine
is based on a wrong interpretation of I Thessalonians 4:16-17 and Revelation 20:6.
Not only that, but it is contrary to and out of
harmony with many Old Testament and New Testament passages. Please remember
that the Bible is its own best interpreter, and when any passage is correctly interpreted
it is in harmony with the whole Bible. In I Corinthians 14:33 Paul affirms that “God is
not a God of confusion, but of peace”; therefore if he says one thing in one passage
and something contradictory in another that would make him a God of confusion.
Some brethren in Christ are not keeping those basic rules of interpretation in
mind, and they are coming to conclusions on some passages that are absolutely
out of harmony with many other passages!
I hope all of you will send me an e-mail, and let
me know what you think about what we did in the class last week. Have you gone back and highlighted all of
those Old Testament references? Have you made you a chain reference so that you
can sit down with your Bible and show a person what the Bible teaches on this
subject? In regard to so many preachers
preaching the false doctrine, I think it reflects in part upon us. If we had been doing our part in teaching the
gospel over television and radio and various periodicals and in the pulpit,
they could not have gotten by with that.
I believe there are many sincere denominational people, and if they had
been exposed to both sides of the questions, I do not believe they could have
gotten by with all of their false teachings.
I would appreciate it if you would let me know what you think about our
study on this subject. Do you have a
clear understanding now? If not, please
send me your questions. I do not see any
reason why you cannot have a clear understanding. With as many Old Testament
references that we called attention to that said that God would raise up Christ
to sit on David's throne, and then to have the announcement of the angel
Gabriel “that God shall give him the throne of
his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his
kingdom there shall be no end,” how can there be any room for doubt.
The Premillennial doctrine is absolutely
contrary to what Gabriel said, and as we have studied it is contrary to the
whole Bible. Every tenet of that doctrine is not only contrary to the
scriptures, but also contrary to common sense. Think of that tenet that Christ came to
establish his kingdom but because the Jews rejected him (John 1:11-12) he ushered in the
church age and the kingdom is yet to come.
Well, if Christ could not do what he came to do the first time, what
guarantee do we have that he can do it the second time? The scriptures teach very plainly that Christ
did what he came to do, that he established his kingdom, and that he is at the
right hand of God exalted as stated in Ephesians1:21, that Christ now
reigns “far above all rule and power and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only of this world, but also in
that which is to come.” Common sense should tell a person that Jesus
is not coming back to earth to reign on a pitiful earthly throne.
So Christ is at the right hand of God now. He is reigning on David's throne now, and he
is Lord and Christ now as stated here in Acts 2:36. "Let all of
the house of Israel
therefore know assuredly, that God hath made him both Lord and Christ,
this Jesus whom ye have crucified. Now
when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and they said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do?" Meaning, of course, what shall we do in order
to be saved? We know that we are
guilty. We have crucified the Lord of
glory, and what do we need to do? And
notice what Peter said that they needed to do.
Now they showed their faith when they said, what shall we do? Peter said to them, "Repent
ye, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins, and ye
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
So they were told to repent and be baptized for (KJV) or unto
(ASV) the remission of their sins. And
here is a verse that is a very important.
The most popular doctrine taught in America today is that when a
person just believes that he is saved, and then he is to be baptized because he
has been saved.
I want us to deal with verse thirty-eight in
such a way that you will have a clear understanding and know that that is false
teaching! Now, there are a lot of
sincere people out there that have been taught -- In fact, there are thousands
and thousands of people in American society that have been taught all their
lives that just as soon as a person believes that he is saved, and especially
if he prays a little prayer, Lord, Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, come into
my heart and save me. That is one of the
most popular doctrines in America today. And a lot of these preachers are telling the
people that for in the King James
Version or unto in the American Standard Version, for the
remission of sins means because of. It
absolutely does not mean because of.
Now, I do not know any Greek, and I am not posing to be any authority
whatever. I do not have enough
intelligence to learn the Hebrew language of the Old Testament and Greek of the
New Testament in such a way that I could speak with authority in regard to
those languages.
Frankly I do not believe there are many people,
if any that have such knowledge of those languages that warrants them coming with
an interpretation that is contrary to our best versions of the Bible like the
King James Version or the New King James Version or the American Standard Version
of 1901 or the New American Standard Version or even the New International
Version or some of the others. In other
words, I have read and heard some of our brethren give interpretations that are
just so contrary to what all the better versions say. I do not believe they have that understanding
of the Greek language. Any time you hear
a person making an argument based on Greek that is contrary to the reading, of
the better version you need to get skeptical of his interpretation. They do not have such authoritative knowledge
of the Greek Language. The Greek
language is very complex and difficult language.
Now, in regard to the Greek word for or unto
in Acts 2:38, Young's Analytical
Concordance gives forty-three Greek words where we use the English word
for. And the word for in Acts 2:38, for remission
of sins is E-I-S. And the Concordance
gives the meaning of that as being “with a view to”. And, of course, in the context it means with
a view to receiving remission of sins. There
are some Greek words that mean because.
I guess the primary one that they would be trying to base their argument
on would be the seventh as listed in Young's Analytical Concordance spelled
G-A-L-A-L, but they may not give the
Greek words. They may tell you that for
means because of like that man is serving twenty years for the crime that he
committed, meaning he is serving twenty years because he committed a
crime.
That is the doctrine, that men are saved at the point of just believing. If that be the case, then men can be saved
without repentance, and without confession, and the Bible teaches that those
are necessary. Matthew 10:32, Jesus says, "He
that confesses me before man, him will I confess before my Father who is in
heaven. He that denies me before men,
him will I deny before my Father who is in heaven." And you remember according to the King James
reading, the Ethiopian eunuch made that confession, that “I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Timothy must have made a similar confession when he obeyed the
gospel. I Timothy 6:12 reads, "Fight the
good fight of faith, lay hold on the life eternal. Whereunto thou was called, and hast
confessed a good confession in the sight of many witnesses. I charge thee in the sight of God, who giveth
life to all things, and Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed
the good confession; that thou keep the commandment without spot, without
reapproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." So Timothy had made a good confession in the
sight of many witnesses, and that must be speaking of that confession that he
made when he obeyed the gospel. He must
have made a confession similar to what is recorded in the King James version,
that the Ethiopian eunuch made. Acts 2:38 shows that repentance
is necessary, but they are going to have a man saved just on the basis of
believing and saying, “Lord Jesus, come into my heart and save me”.
Remember also from the tenth chapter of the book
of Romans, that Paul quoted verse thirty-two , For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" from Joel 2:32. And again preachers will quote a passage like
this and take it completely out of context.
Any person that will do that is a false teacher, but you see how they
can get by with such a thing. "Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And then they pray, Lord Jesus, come into my
heart and save me. But this passage
shows that a person cannot call upon the name of the Lord in such a way as to
be saved until he knows how to call upon the name of the Lord. Romans 10:14, "How
then shall they call on him whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they
have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how
shall they preach, except they be sent?"
So the writer is showing that in order for a
person to call upon the name of the Lord in such a way as to be saved, he must
first be taught how. He must know what
the Lord has commanded him to do in order to be saved. And Jesus has commanded -- Well, that is Mark
16:16. Let us begin with Mark 16:15, “ And
he said unto them
(the apostles). Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to the whole creation, He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. And notice that believing and baptism
are joined together with and a coordinating conjunction, joining two
things of about equal rank together. Of
course, man is not saved by baptism only, just like he is not saved by faith
only. One must believe as given in John
8: 24. Jesus said, "Unless
ye believe that I am king, ye shall die in your sins, and where I go ye cannot
come." So there is no question about it, a person
must believe. Hebrews 11:6 reads, “For
without faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek him.”
In John 3:14, after Jesus had
talked to Nicodemus about the new birth, he then talked to him about his coming
death on the cross, and this was early during his ministry. He said, "As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have
everlasting life. For God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but the world through him might be saved. He that believeth is not judged: But he that believeth not is not judged
already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son
of God." So anyone that does not have real faith that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God cannot be saved.
And in Romans 10:10, "For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation." So a man must believe, and he must confess
that Jesus is the Christ. He must repent
as given here in Acts 2:38, and also Acts 17:30-31, and he must be
baptized for the remission of his sins.
The Greek word E-I-S used in Acts 2:38, be sure to remember
that this is the same Greek word used in Matthew 26:28. And you need to write that reference down if
you are not already acquainted with it.
You need to write down by Acts 2:38 in your Bible,
Matthew 26:28. When
Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, he said, "This
is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission
of sins." The
Greek word for is EIS the same word used in Acts 2:38. Now if for in
Acts 2:38 means because of, then
Jesus died in vain. He died because
men’s sins were already forgiven! Matthew 26:28 shows absolutely that
their teaching is false. Remember that basic rule, that there must be
harmony when scriptures are interpreted properly (I Corinthians 14:33).
I remember going to a church that many of my kin
people were members of when I was a teenager.
And I started to say a young man, but I guess a better term would be a
teenager. They would have their revival
meetings, and when they had a revival meeting, they usually announced that on a
certain night of this revival, we are going to open up the doors of this
church for membership. The doors of the church were opened wide on
Pentecost (Acts 2:40-41) and they have never
been closed, and will never be closed until Christ comes in his second advent
(Hebrews 9:28). When people went
forward for membership in that church, they would ask them this question: “Do you believe that God for Christ's sake has
pardoned your sins”? They would answer,
yes, and then usually it was at the close of their revival meeting, they would
have a baptismal service. I am confident
that they do not do that now, but that was the way it was back then. You see that baptism was not counted as very
important, because they thought that they were saved when they believed. Do you
remember that Saul of Tarsus was told by Jesus, “but
rise and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:6) and for three days he
did “neither eat nor drink” until after he was
baptized Acts 22:16; 9:18-19). The same was true
of all the conversions that are detailed. The eunuch (Acts 8:35-39) and the jailer
rejoiced (Acts 16:34) after baptism. From
these three cases of conversion, does not common sense tell us that baptism
is essential to salvation.
I want you to notice as we study the book of
Acts, that in every case of conversion where it tells the details, it always
ends in baptism. In regard to Saul of
Tarsus, in Acts 22:16, where Paul is
repeating the story about his seeing the light on the road to Damascus, and the
Lord appearing to him, and then Ananias went to him to tell him what to
do. And Ananias said to him, Why
tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized,
and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." And really calling on the name of the Lord
really means knowing how to call and then obeying. And, of course, Saul of Tarsus did as he was
commanded to do by Ananias.
Even the baptism of John, contrary to what a
number of our brethren taught in days past, that John’s baptism was a baptism
of repentance that it was not for the remission of sins, the baptism of John
was for the remission of sins. (Matthew 21:23-32; Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3), and those who
rejected John’s baptism remained in a lost condition (Luke 7:30). Please remember that
baptism is to be preceded by faith (John 8:24; Hebrews 11:6) repentance (Acts 2:38, 17:30) confession (Matthew 10:32; Romans 10:10; I Timothy 6:12) and then baptism puts
one into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:3-7) and into His
church ( I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:4-5). Do you think that
a person out of Christ and out of His church can be saved? If a
person can be saved outside of Christ and outside of His church he can be saved
with out scriptural baptism.
The gospel is something that must be obeyed, II
Thessalonians 1:7-8. When
Christ comes, he will take “vengeance on them that
know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.” It is obeyed in a form when one is baptized, in
the likeness of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Reading from Romans the sixth chapter, and I
will probably get the King James and the American Standard mixed up, and I may have
a little something different from either version.. I am trying to begin with Romans 6:3, "Know
ye not, that as many of us were baptized into Christ were baptized into
his death? Therefore we were buried
by baptism into his death: That like as Christ was raised up from the
dead, by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of
life. For if we have been planted
together in the likeness of his death, we shall be raised also in the likeness
of his resurrection: Knowing this, that the old man is
crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, for he that is
dead is free from sin." Now consider according to the doctrine of a
person being saved just on the basis of faith, they have a live person that
they bury when they baptize them. What
kind of person is to be buried? Would it
not it be that old man that is dead in sin (Romans 3:23, 6:23, Isaiah 59:1-2). that needs to be
buried in the likeness of Christ's death and burial? It is that man then that is raised to walk in
newness of life. The faith only doctrine has a person walking in newness
of life before baptism!
Baptism marks the point where the alien sinner applies
the blood of Christ, which is necessary for salvation (Romans 5:9; Ephesians 1:7). We still sing the good song based on Exodus
12:13, “when
I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you.” And back there, of course, it is talking
about the blood of the lamb. Exodus
twelve, the whole chapter is about the institution of the Passover Supper that
God instituted before the event that it was to commemorate. God was going to pass over and kill the
firstborn of man and beast in the houses of the Egyptians. Before that event he gave the people of Israel the Passover Supper to
keep. They were to take the blood of the
lamb and apply it to the lentils and the doorposts of their houses, Exodus 12:7. And then verse thirteen says, "When
I see the blood, I will pass over you." The
Passover feast continued to teach their children, that when the children asked
why, they were to tell them because God passed over us when he killed the
firstborn in the houses of the Egyptians.
Do you understand clearly now what I am talking about, their burying a
live man according to their doctrine?
Well, that is ridiculous!
It is that old man of sin that is to be put
off. He needs to be buried. He needs to apply the blood of “the
lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Remember how Paul
said, I have been crucified with Christ, it
is no longer I that live, but Christ
that liveth in me. And the life that I now live I live in the
Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me (Galatians 2:20-21).” And we are all to keep that old man of sin
under control. In regard to Christian
people, their sins must be covered by the blood of Christ. So how are those sins atoned for? Do you remember that second law of pardon as
given by Peter in Acts 8:14-24. Simon, who had
been a sorcerer had believed, but when he saw that by the laying on of the
apostle's hands, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit were given, he wanted
to buy that power with money. In former days he had really fooled the people by
his magical tricks, and he was evidently
thinking about the money that he could make if he had the power that the
apostles had. Peter refused him. He told
him he was in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity and that he
needed to repent and pray, that perhaps the thoughts of his heart would be
forgiven him. So that is the second law
of pardon for Christians. Remember that
John said, I John 1:7, "But
if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin." So just as long as the children of God walk
in the light, the blood of Christ continues to cleanse them from sin. But he goes on to say, "If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in us but if we confess our sins, he is just and righteous to forgive us
of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." So one who has been scripturally baptized,
never needs to be baptized again. When
he sins, he is to repent and pray to God to forgive him of his sins. And John says that he is “just
and righteous to forgive of us of our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
We got down to Acts 2:38, "Peter
said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ." The American Standard says unto, the
King James says for. "For
the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Now, the gift of the Holy Spirit that
believers receive is not a miraculous gift, it is a non miraculous gift of
God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit dwelling in the heart of Christians. Acts 5:32, Peter says that, “God
has given his Holy Spirit to all them that obey him.” So there is a non-miraculous gift that
believers receive when they are baptized.
Verse thirty-nine, "For to you
is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him." Peter is very definitely speaking by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. He evidently did not
understand at that time that the Gentiles were to have salvation. It took, as recorded in Acts ten, that sheet
let down from heaven with all manner of unclean animals on it to prepare him
for the Lord’s instruction. He was told to “arise, Peter
kill and eat”.
And Peter said, “not so, Lord, nothing common or unclean
has ever entered into my mouth.” But he was told to go
with those men that Cornelius had sent, “with
nothing doubting”. It took that vision from heaven to convince
him that the Gentile people were not to be counted as unclean. The latter part of Acts 2:39 is speaking of the
Gentiles. "For to you is the promise, and to
your children, (Jewish people) and to all
that are afar off." Those that were afar were, of course, are the
Gentile people. The same language is
used in Ephesians, that Christ “came and preached peace to them that were far off and
peace to them that were nigh.”
The Gentile people were those that were afar
off, the Old Testament was not given to them.
They had become so sinful back there as we see from Romans 1:18 through the rest of
the chapter that God gave them up to their vile passions, and he let them go
their own stubborn way. They, of course,
had gone the way of idolatry, and they were afar off. Let us read verse thirty-nine again, "For
you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.
And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, Save
yourselves from this crooked generation." I
have heard preachers say that the Lord saved some of us when we did not want to
be saved. A man has got to be sincere in
order to be saved. He must have that
spirit. Lord, I am lost and I need salvation. Now, I think there are a lot of people that
have gone to gospel meetings for some other purpose, but when they got there,
like these people on Pentecost, they were pricked in their hearts by the preaching
of the gospel and obeyed, but they were not saved when they did not want to be
saved, they wanted to be saved.
And here it says, "Save
yourselves from this crooked generation." There is something that each individual must
do on his part to save himself, and saving faith is always active faith. How
can anyone sit down and read the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews
without recognizing that all of those great people of faith back there showed
their faith by doing as the Lord instructed them to do. Hebrews 11:7 says, “By
faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved
with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, through which
he condemned the world, and became the heir of righteousness
which is according to faith.” Noah moved with godly
fear to do as God instructed him to do.
Evidently there had not ever been any rain on the earth, much less a
world wide flood. There is no mention of it raining on the earth until the
flood.(Genesis 2:6-7). But Noah moved with godly fear and prepared
an ark in the saving of his house by which he condemned the world
and became the heir of righteousness.
And so saving faith is always active faith.
If intellectual faith is all a man has to have,
the devils will be saved. James rebuked
his Jewish brethren because they were practicing a faith-only religion. And I would like for you to turn with me to
James the second chapter, beginning with verse fourteen, where James says,
"What doth it profit, my brethren, if a
man say he hath faith, and have not works?
Can that faith save him?" That is
a rhetorical question that the man who is not ready to do as God has instructed
him to, he does not have saving faith.
"If a brother or sister be naked, in a
lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and
filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it
profit? Even so faith, if it hath not
works is dead, in itself. Yea, a man may
say, Thou hast faith and I have works: Show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I
will by my works will show thee my faith. Thou believest that God is one thou doest well: The demons also believe, and shutter. Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
apart from works is dead? Was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he had offered Isaac his son upon
the altar? Thou seest that faith wrought with his works, and by
works was faith made perfect? And the
scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned
unto him for righteousness: And he was called the Friend of God."
In James 2:23, he is quoting from
Genesis 15:6 the first part of it. God appeared to Abraham after he had been in
the land of Canaan, about ten years, and God had promised him that through his seed
all nations of the earth would be blessed.
And he still did not have a single child, and he was reasoning that
Eleazar, a servant born in his house, would be his heir. God said, “he
shall not be thine heir, but he that
cometh forth from thine own bowels shall be thine heir.” He told him to number the stars, if he could,
and he said, “so shall thy seed be”. And then Genesis 15:6, "And
Abraham believed God; and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness." But you see that James joins his faith and
his works together and says verse 22, “thou seest
that faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect” "Ye
see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith." Now, James is not trying to discredit faith,
but he is showing there is more than just an intellectual faith when he says in
like manner, “you see that by works man is justified
and not only by faith.” And that is the only
time we have only by faith (ASV) or by faith only (KJV) in the
scripture, not only by faith. Have you looked at the outline on Things By Which
We Are Saved? In that outline I believe
that I listed about twenty different things that the Bible says that have a
part in our salvation. And again when we
read in I Peter 3:21, "The
like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us; not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience
toward God."
Acts 2:41"Then
they that received his word were baptized: And there
were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls." Notice that in The American Standard Version
and in the King James Version and the New King James Version has unto them
in different print, which means that the translators thought that that would help
to better understand what it is saying.
The New American Standard Bible reads, “and
there, were added that day about three thousand souls”. But it actually carries the same meaning
there were added that day about three thousand souls. Added to what? They were added to those charter members of the
church. All of those who had been baptized
by John and by Christ and his apostles under the limited commission and remained
faithful, they were charter members in the kingdom of God. They were added unto them that day about
three thousand souls. I can remember the
day when some of our brethren taught that those people had to be baptized again
when the baptism of the great commission was given. That is not the case. In I Corinthians chapter fifteen Paul
was giving some of the appearances that Christ made during that forty-day
period before his ascension. I Corinthians 15:6 reads, “then
he appeared
to above five hundred brethren at once of
whom the greater part remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Well, who do you suppose the five hundred
brethren that Jesus appeared to during that forty-day period were? He had told the apostles that he would be put
to death, and on the third day he would be raised up, and he would go before
them into Galilee. And then after he was raised he gave
instruction to the women to tell the apostles that he was going before them into
Galilee. It must have been that Galilee meeting that verse six
is speaking of., So those who had been baptized by John or Christ and his
apostles under the limited commission were not baptized again. The only
time we read of disciples being baptized again is Acts 19:1-6, and they needed to
be baptized again because they had been baptized by Apollos with John’s baptism (Acts 18:24-26) after Pentecost.
John’s baptism was valid until the baptism of the great commission on that
first Pentecost after the ascension of Christ. If you think that others were
baptized please answer this question, Who baptized the apostles after
Pentecost?
Acts 2:42, And
they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, and in the
breaking of bread and prayers." And I think surely he is talking about items of
worship there, that they continued in the apostles' teaching, and the
fellowship and partnership which includes giving and working together in the
service of the Lord. And the breaking of
bread (the Lord's Supper) and prayer.
"And fear came upon every soul, and many
wonders and signs were done through the apostles."
I want you to notice that no wonders and signs,
no miracles were done by anyone except the apostles until they laid their hands
on those seven men that were selected, as recorded in Acts six, to take care of
the distribution of food to the Grecian widows.
And then we see that Stephen and Philip had miraculous abilities after
that, and I presume all the others must have had miraculous ability as
well. But we know definitely that those
two did. "And
fear came upon every soul: And many wonders and signs were done through
the apostles." The primary purpose of the wonders and signs was
to confirm their teaching that they were from God and that they were speaking
from God. Hebrews 2:3-4 reads, “how
shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation (salvation in Christ) which
having at the first been spoken by the Lord was confirmed unto us by them that
heard; God also bearing witness with them by signs and wonders, and by
manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own
will.” Acts 2:46,
"And
all that believed were together, and had all things common; and they sold their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according to as any man had
need." Here we see the wonderful liberality on the
part of those believers in Jerusalem and Judaea, selling their possessions and goods,
making it possible that all of those Jews that had come from great distances
and had heard the gospel, that they could continue to stay and participate in
the teaching and evangelizing of the people during those early days of the
church, They sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all according
as any man had need.
They were converting people every day. "And day by
day continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple." During those early days of the church, it
looks like they had such favor with the people that there was no big
persecution. But it was not long until
persecution came against the church. But
notice that they were meeting daily in the temple. "And day by
day continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread
at home (eating their meals at home.) they
took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having
favor with all the people. And the Lord
added to the them day by day those that were saved." Another reference that we need to call
attention to is I Corinthians 12:13, "For
by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Greeks,
or bond or free; and all made to drink into one Spirit." The same steps that put one into Christ puts
one into Christ's church or the church of God. Our brethren usually speak
and refer to the church as the church of Christ. We may sometimes leave the impression that
that is the only name that it can be called by.
But Paul addressed two epistles to the church of God which is at Corinth. The church of God as far as the name is concerned
is just as scriptural and right as the church of Christ. Now I am not advocating that we take down our
sign because it would cause confusion because there are those that have the
right name, but do not teach the right doctrine. But nothing is wrong with the name, the church of God. "And the
Lord added to them day by day those that were saved."
Chapter
Three
In the first part of this chapter Peter, by
miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, healed a man who had been lame from his
mother's womb. I believe it states that
he was about forty years of age, and never had walked. And he healed him, and this then brought
another great audience together, and gave Peter an opportunity to speak to the
Jewish people again. One of the primary purposes
of miracles was to aid in giving and confirmation of the word of God. This
is a very interesting account to me of the healing of this lame man. “Now, Peter
and John were going up into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth
hour (3 p.m.) And a
certain man that was lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid
daily at the door of the temple which is called Beautiful." Note the details, He was lame from his
mother’s womb and he could not walk. He was carried by others and laid at the
Beautiful gate of the temple so that he could receive alms from the people. He
was begging for a living. "A
certain man was lame from his mother's womb." So-called miraculous healers today do not want
anybody in their audience like that to be healed, and if there are, they go
away unhealed.
A number of years ago these people had a big
healing service in Gadsden, Alabama. A person was brought
in a wheel chair, and was supposedly healed. The case was checked out and it
was learned that there was nothing wrong with the person that was brought in a
wheel chair. It was a fake! Now they can convince a lot of people that they
have been healed because maybe they are troubled with something that was
temporary or with something that comes and goes, like back trouble with a lot
of us, or a lot of people think they
have something wrong with them when there is nothing really wrong with
them. And a lot of people can go away,
convinced that they are healed. Please mark it down; no one today has any
miraculous power. We will probably get
around to discussing that sometime later.
"And a certain man that was lame from
his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the door of the temple
which is called Beautiful." There were a number of doors to the temple,
and this one is called Beautiful. "To
ask alms of them that entered into the temple; who seeing Peter and John about
to go into the temple." The temple and other buildings of the complex
were on nineteen acres of land. Verse
three, "Who seeing Peter and John about to go
into the temple asked to receive an alms.
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to
receive something from them." He was
expecting money from them, he was begging for a living. "But Peter
said, Silver and gold have I none; but what I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth
walk.
And he took him by the right hand, and raised him up." Peter must have done that in order to
convince him that he had been healed. “and
he took
him by the right hand and raised him up,
and immediately
his feet and his ankle bones received strength. and
leaping up he stood, and began to walk, and he entered with them into the
temple, walking, and leaping and praising God." I really like the latter part there of verse
eight, can't you just see him he is so happy about being able to do this. He walks awhile, he leaps awhile, and praises
God all the time. He entered with them
into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. "And all
the people saw him walking and praising God: And they took knowledge of him that it was
he that sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and
amazement at that which had happened unto him."
He was not like the person that was brought to the Gadsden service, a person that
the people did not know. Do you guess that some of them had given alms to him a
number of times?
Would not there be wonder and amazement today if
a certain person had been lame from his mother's womb and was forty years old
and was actually healed? That news would
be carried immediately over all the major networks. How many thousands of
people do you suppose would be there to be healed in only a few hours? "And as he
held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch
that is called Solomon's greatly wondering."
So you see the great miracle of healing brought a great audience
together. I think if you give careful attention
to all the great miraculous things that were done during the Old Testament
period, that there was something up and beyond the person that was healed or
what ever the miraculous event it was, something else involved besides the
healing, and here the healing of this impotent man brings a great audience of people
together. And as he held Peter and John,
all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's
greatly wondering.
Acts 3:12, "And
when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel,
why marvel ye at this man? Or why fast
ye eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to
walk?" So Peter wants the
people to know this is not done by our power, but done by the Holy Spirit. "The God of
Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified his
Son Jesus; whom ye have delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate,
when he was determined to release him."
Notice Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God first
told Abraham that Eleazar, that servant born in your house shall not be your
heir. And then Genesis chapter
twenty-one when Isaac was weaned, Abraham gave a great feast, and on that day
Ishmael the son of the handmaiden mocked Isaac,
and Sarah saw him mocking her son, and she said to Abraham, “cast
out the handmaiden and her son, for he is not going to inherit with my son.” Ishmael was at that
time about seventeen years of age. And
evidently Abraham had great concern, and great love for Ishmael, and he did not
want to cast him out. But God appeared
to him and told him to do as his wife had said, and he would make a great
nation of Ishmael, but he said “in Isaac
shall thy seed be called.” And then Isaac married Rebekah,
in the twenty-fifth chapter of Genesis, Rebekah was barren and Isaac prayed
that she might have a child. And God
answered his prayer, and she conceived with twins, and God made a choice before
those twins were born that the Jewish people would be called through Jacob and
not through Esau (Genesis 25:21-23; Romans 9:10-12). Also in Genesis 25:1-6 after the death of
Sarah, Abraham married Keturah and had six sons by her. But notice that the Jewish people are spoken
of as descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in more than one reference
because the Jewish people came through Isaac and Jacob. The other people were Gentile people that
came also from Abraham's seed, Ishmael, and the six sons of Keturah. “The God of
Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified his servant
Jesus.” That is the way Jesus is spoken of in more than
one reference in Isaiah as God's servant.
"Whom
ye delivered up and denied before the face of Pilate when he had determined
to release him." The gospel of John shows the effort that
Pilate put forth to try to release Jesus.
But they did not want Jesus released.
They were ready for him to release Barabbas. He had chosen probably the
worst criminal of that time, thinking that they would surely say release Jesus
rather than Barabbas. Barabbas was a
criminal. He was a murderer as Peter
speaks of him in this second gospel sermon.
Let us read a little bit from John
nineteen. When Pilate questioned him, he
saw that Jesus had done nothing worthy of death. And when he learned that he was of Herod's
jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, and Herod sent him back to Pilate. Herod did not find anything wrong with
him. Remember the reference there in
John 18:36, he told Pilate my
kingdom is not of this world. Let us
pick up with John 18:38, "Pilate
saith unto him what is truth?" That makes a
great subject, what is truth? "And
when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews and saith unto them, I
find no crime in him. But ye have a
custom, that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release unto you the
King of the Jews? They cried out
therefore again, saying, Not this man but Barabbas." Now Barabbas was a robber, and more than a
robber. "Then
Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him." A scourging was a brutal and terrible ordeal. If you will think of being whipped with a
buggy-whip having metal or bones in the tip ends of each part of that whip, you
will have some understanding of how brutal it was. Sometimes they would beat a man to the point
that he would die from the scourging, and sometimes a man’s bowels would be
protruding because of all the cuts that they made on his body. "And the
soldiers planted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in
purple garment, and they come unto him and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck him with their hands. And Pilate went out again, and saith unto
them, Behold, I bring him out to you, that ye may know that I find no crime in
him. Jesus therefore came out, wearing
the crown of thorns, and the purple garment.
And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!" I think that means, do you not think that he
has suffered enough already? The man
was beaten, and they had mocked him by arraying him with the kingly
garment. He came out wearing the crown
of thorns and the purple garment mocking him.
"When therefore the chief priests and
the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take him yourselves,
and crucify him: For I find no crime in him. The Jews answered, We have a law, and by the
law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he
was the more afraid; and he went into the praetorium again, and saith unto
Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave
him no answer. Pilate therefore saith unto
him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest
thou not that I have power to release thee, and power to crucify thee? And Jesus answered, Thou wouldest have no
power against me, except it were given thee from above: Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath
greater sin." Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen
to him. And remember as Peter said in
that first gospel sermon “by the hand of lawless
men, you did crucify and slay.”
"And upon
this Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, If
thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend: Every one that maketh himself a king speaketh
against Caesar. When Pilate therefore
heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at
the place called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation of the Passover, it
was about the sixth hour: And he saith unto the Jews Behold your
King! They therefore cried out, Away
with him, away with him, crucify him.
Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king
but Caesar. Then therefore he delivered
him unto them to be crucified." Pilate knew
that Jesus was not guilty, but he yielded to the voice of the chief priests of
the Jewish people and delivered Jesus to be crucified. And remember that John is writing a long time
after the destruction of Jerusalem, and evidently Jewish
time has gone by the wayside, and in
John 19:14, he uses Roman
time. And Mark tells us that it was the third
hour and they crucified him. Mark is using Jewish time, and John is using Roman
time. The sixth hour Roman time is the same as ours today 6A.M., and the third
hour Jewish time was 9 A. M.
Back to Acts 3:13, The God of
Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified his
Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him before the face of Pilate, when
he was determined to release him." You
see from the reading in John how Pilate had determined to release Jesus and
took a lot of steps to try to get that done.
"But when they cried out, crucify
him, crucify him, we have no king but Caesar, he yielded to the voice of those
who were ready to murder the Son of God.” Acts 3:14, But ye denied the holy and righteous one and
asked for a murderer to be granted unto you." The other reference says the robber; he probably
committed a murder in the process of his robbing. "And killed
the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead; whereof we are
witnesses." And remember that all the apostles were to be
witnesses of the ministry of Christ and especially of the resurrection of
Christ. "And
by faith in his name hath his name made this man strong, whom ye beheld and
know: Yea, the faith which is through him hath
given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I know that in
ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But the
things, which God foreshadowed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ
should suffer, he thus fulfilled."
There are a number of references in the Psalms about how that Christ
would suffer. And, of course, Isaiah
fifty-three, details so many things about Christ's death, it is the great
chapter of the Old Testament about the death of Christ. I think we will have plenty of time to do a
lot of reading in this class in Acts. Let us turn to Isaiah chapter fifty-three and
read from that great chapter. And Isaiah
is writing about 750 years before Christ was born of the virgin Mary, and he
tells about the death of Christ. Let us
pick up with Isaiah chapter 52:13, another reference
where Christ is called God's servant. "Behold
my servant shall deal wisely. He shall
be exalted and lifted up and shall be very high. Like as many were astonished at thee. His visage was so marred more than any
man, and his form more than the sons of men: So shall
he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: For that which he had been told them shall
they see; and that which they had not heard shall they understand." So his body was so marred. Would it be by that scourging that we read about in the nineteenth chapter
of John? The twenty-second Psalm also talks about that his body was
marred.
Isaiah fifty-three, "Who
hath believed our message? And to whom
hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?
For he grew up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry
ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief." Think
of how Isaiah by the Holy Spirit speaks in past tense when it was more than
seven hundred years before Christ was born of the virgin Mary. "He was
despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: As one from whom men hide their face; he was
despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions." Think how that
statement parallels II Corinthians 5:21, "Him
who knew no sin; him he made to be sin in our behalf; that we might become the
righteousness of God in him.” Verse
five, “He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we
are healed. We all like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and
Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
Do you remember back there in early days of the
New England states how that they taught that doctrine that man is born in sin,
holy inclined to all evil. They had
their children to write on their writing slates, “In Adam’s fall, we sinned
all.” Man is not born in sin. Think of verse six there. "All we
like sheep have gone astray." Not born
astray, but gone astray. "We
have turned every one to his own way."
Anytime men turn to their own way, they do that which is contrary to
God's way. "And
Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted,
he opened not his mouth: As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. By oppression and judgment: He was taken away. And as for his generation, who among them considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living: For the transgression of my people to whom
their stroke was due. And they made
his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had
done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him." One of the seven statements that Jesus made
on the cross was: My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me. And he prayed so
earnestly in the garden of Gethsemane that, “if
it be thy will let this cup pass, but not my will, but thine be done.” It was the Father's will that Jesus should
die as that sin offering for man. "Yet
it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure
of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He
shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." It took a perfect sacrifice to make atonement
for the sins of man. Think of verse
eleven there, "He shall see the travail of his soul." Christ's death on the cross satisfied the
righteousness of God’s justice. God’s righteousness demanded that a perfect man had to die as a sin
offering for sinful men. "And
shall be satisfied." According to Romans 3:26 that is the way that God
could “be just, and the justifier of him that
faith in Jesus.” That
is the way that God could uphold his justice and righteousness on one hand and
grant mercy for sinners on the other. The righteousness and holiness of God
would not allow animal blood to make atonement for sin (Hebrews 10:4)! "By the
knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he
shall bear their iniquities. Therefore
will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with
the strong; because he poured out his soul unto death: And was numbered with the transgressors." Remember that two malefactors were crucified
with him one on each side of him..
"Yet he bore the sins of many, and made
intercession for the transgressions."
Again, one of the seven statements that Christ made while he was on the
cross was, “Father, forgive them for they know not
what they do.” And that is the meaning of that last part
there of that verse, made intercession for the transgressions. So more than seven hundred years before
Christ was born of the virgin Mary, Isaiah through the Holy Spirit gave many
details about the death of Christ. We
may began our next class period with reading from the 22nd Psalm. Our time is up. A brief recess was taken.
Let us pick up with Acts 3:19, "Repent
ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there
may become seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; and that he may
send the Christ, who hath been appointed for you: Even Jesus whom the heaven must receive until
the times of restoration of all things.
Where God hath spaken by the mouth of all his holy prophets that have
been from of old. Moses indeed saith." And he begins and quotes from the eighteenth
chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, I believe beginning with verse
fifteen. "For
Moses indeed said, A prophet shall the Lord raise up unto you from among your
brethren, like unto me." Moses was a great leader of the people of Israel. God gave the law through him, and the New
Testament was given by Christ. "A
prophet shall the Lord raise up unto you from among your brethren, like unto
me; him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you."
Please remember that everything that the
apostles wrote is as authoritative as what Jesus said during his personal
ministry. In John 16:7-14, Jesus said
concerning the Holy Spirit, he shall not speak of himself, the Holy Spirit, but
he shall take of mine and shall declare it unto you. So every message of the inspired men is the
word of Christ. "And
it shall be that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be
utterly destroyed from among the people.
Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as
many as have spoken they also told of these days. Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the
covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy
seed shall all of the members of the earth be blessed." The latter part is a quotation of Genesis 12:3, that God promised
Abraham through his descendants that all families or nations of the earth would
be blessed. And that meant that Christ
would come from the seed of Abraham through the descendants of Isaac and Jacob. Verse 26, "Unto
you first God, having raised up his Servant, sent him to bless you, in turning
away every one of you from your iniquities.
Chapter Four
And as
they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and
the Sadducees, came upon them." The
Sadducees did not believe the resurrection of the dead or spirits. The Pharisees believed in both. "Being sore
trouble." Later on we will see how that Paul divided
the Jewish council, by saying, “for the
hope of the resurrection of the dead I am called in question.” Acts 4:2, "Being
sore troubled because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection
from the dead. And they laid hands
on them, and put them in ward unto the morrow: For it was now eventide." So they put Peter and John in prison because
they are teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the
dead. "But
many of them that heard the word believed; and the number of men came to be
about five thousand." We have already mentioned, that usually if
there is any difference, there are more women that obey the gospel than
men. On the basis of Acts 4:4, would not the Jewish
Christians at this time number at least ten thousand? "Many
of them that heard the word believed; and the number of men came to be about
five thousand."
Again, please highlight those verses about how many
of the Jewish people obeyed and how rapidly the church grew among the Jewish
people during the early days of the kingdom of Christ and of God the Father. Go back to Acts 2:41, "There
was added unto them that day about three thousand souls." Be careful and do not highlight more than you
need to highlight. And then the latter
part of Acts 2:47, "And
the Lord added to them day by day those that were being saved. And Acts 4:4, "Many
of them that heard the word believed; and the number of men came to be about
five thousand." And then after the death of Ananias and
Sapphira, Acts 5:14, "And
believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women." So take ten thousand people, and then add
multitudes of people to that, and you surely got a great number of people. And then chapter 6:1," And
in those days, when the number of disciples were multiplied." And 6:7, "And
the word of God increased; and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem
exceedingly; and a great company of priests
were obedient to the faith." It looks like to me that
the least estimate that we ought to come with on the basis of the reading of
all those references would be that twenty thousand Jewish people had obeyed the
gospel.
Back now to Acts 4:5, "And
it came to pass on the morrow that the rulers and elders and scribes were
gathered together in Jerusalem. And Annas the high priest was there." Now he is the father-in-law to Caiaphas. According to the Old Testament scriptures,
the high priests were to serve a lifetime, but the Romans had put Annas out of
office and put his son-in-law Caiaphas in his office. John tells us how that when Christ was
arrested, that he was carried first to Annas and then to Caiaphas,
Does that not show that the Jewish people still recognized Annas as being the
rightful high priest and Caiaphas the legal high priest from the standpoint of
their being under Roman authority. Verse
six, "And Annas the high priest was there,
and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of
the high priest. And when they had set
them in the midst, they inquired, By what power, or by what name, have ye done
this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy
Spirit said unto them."
When I think of Peter's answer here, there is
not any doubt in my mind that he is being directly given answer by the Holy
Spirit. Turn to chapter 10 of Matthew. Reading from Matthew ten about the numbering
of the twelve apostles and Jesus sending them forth under that limited
commission. Let us begin with Matthew 10:16, "Behold,
I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and
harmless as doves. But beware of men: For they will deliver you up to their
councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; ye and before
governors and kings shall ye be wrought for my sake, for a testimony to them
and to the Gentiles." "But when
they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye shall speak: For it shall be given you in that hour
what ye shall speak. For it is not
ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. And brother shall deliver up brother to
death, and father his child: And the children shall rise up against their
parents, and cause them to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: But he that endureth to the end the same
shall be saved. And when they persecuted
you in this city, flee ye to the next: For verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have
gone through the cities of Israel,
till the Son of man be come." So Jesus
said be not anxious about what are you going to speak when you are brought
before councils, before various courts, for it shall be given you in that same
hour. Peter and John are brought before at least a part of the highest court of
the Jews, at least all of those that are of kindred of the high priests.
Back to Acts 4:7, "And
when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what
name, have ye done this? Then Peter, filled
with the Holy Spirit." Does not that, with what
we read there from Matthew, tell us that his answer is being given him. "Then
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and
elders." So he is before the ruling authorities of the
Jewish people, if not the whole Sanhedrin court, at least the primary ruling
part of it, to say the least of it.
"Ye rulers of the people and elders, if
we this day are examined concerning a good deed done to an impotent man, by
what means this man is made whole; be it known unto you and to all the people
of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, even to him doth this man stand here before
you whole."
Do you think that Peter was speaking bold words
to that court, the same court that had Jesus crucified? But he has that
boldness to speak that message from the Holy Spirit. " He is the
stone which was set at nought of you the builders, which was made the
head of the corner. And in none other: Is there salvation: For neither is there any name under heaven
that is given among men, whereby we must be saved." Think how that verse would parallel John 14:6, where Jesus said, "I
am the way, the truth, and the light. No
man cometh unto the Father except by me."
And Peter said, ye have crucified him.
You rejected him as the head of the corner. He is the stone, which was set at nought of you builders, which is also the
head of the corner. The quotation is Psalms
118:22. That is the same passage that Jesus called
attention to when he gave the parable about the wicked husbandman? Please turn to Matthew chapter twenty-one,
and let us see if that is not the case.
Picking up with verse thirty-three of Matthew twenty-one, "Hear
another parable: There was a man that was a householder who
planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a winepress in it, and
built atower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country." In the fifth chapter of Isaiah, the vineyard
is spoken of as God's people, and these Jewish rulers are the husbandmen in charge of his vineyard,
but they are wicked. "And
when the season of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen,
to receive his fruits. And the
husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned
another. Again, he sent other servants
more than the first:
And they did unto them in like manner.
But after he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my
son." Jesus came to die on the cross, and he knew
that they were going to kill him. And so
he is speaking to Pharisees who rejected the baptism of John, and they led in
seeing to it that Christ was put to death.
And Jesus knows that they will do it.
And so he is saying to them very plainly, "He
sent other servants more than the first: And they
did in like manner. But after he sent
unto them his son." "But
the husbandmen when they saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the
heir: Come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance. And they took him, and cast forth out of the
vineyard, and killed him. When therefore
the Lord of the vineyard shall come, what shall he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably
destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other
husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in
the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the
head of the corner: This was from the Lord, and it is marvelous in their eyes?"
So you see Jesus quoted to them this reference
here that the apostle Peter is using or the Holy Spirit is using. "Therefore
say I unto you, The kingdom of God
shall be taken away from you." It would
be taken away from the Jewish people as a people. "And
shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
And he that falleth on this stone shall be broken in pieces: But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will
scatter him as dust. And when the chief
priests and Pharisees heard his parable, they perceived that he spake of
them. And when they sought to lay
hold on him, they feared the multitudes, because they took him for a prophet."
Back to Acts 4:11, he
is the stone
that was set at nought of you builders, which was made the
head of the corner. And in none other
is there salvation:
For neither is there any other name under heaven that is given among men,
wherein we must be saved. Now when they beheld
the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned
and ignorant men, they marveled and took knowledge of them, that they had
been with Jesus." Men who have real faith will be ready to give
courageous answers. People today should
also be able to take knowledge of us, all
members of the church, who have been Christians for a considerable length of
time, others should take knowledge of them
that they have been with Jesus. The
Jewish court here took knowledge that Peter
and John had been with Jesus.
They had not been trained in those foremost schools of the Jewish
rulers, and thus they are spoken of as unlearned and ignorant men. But, of course, they were not unlearned
because Jesus had taught them. He is the master teacher! They were not ignorant
men, they were brave, intelligent men. "And seeing
the man that was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it." Talk about real evidence before the court,
there is the man. It says that he was
about forty years of age and never had walked?
The Court knew that he had been lame, because he was carried daily, and set at the Beautiful gate
of the temple to beg alms from the people.
Come down to verse fourteen, The man that was healed was standing with them,
they could say nothing against him. That man must have showed boldness to be
present, or do you reckon that they had put him in prison or jail overnight? " When they
commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,
Saying, What shall we do to these men?
For that indeed a notable miracle hath been wrought through them
is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem;
and we cannot deny it." That is
implying that they would have tried to deny it if they thought they could have
been successful in denying it, but they recognized that such a notable miracle –that
there was no way that they could successfully deny it. Surely it was the talk
of all the people, the healing of that man who had been lame from his mother's womb, and was about forty years
old. So they dared not try to deny that
that man had been healed. If anyone could heal like that James Turner nor
anyone else could successfully deny it! In fact that would prove that some men
today have miraculous power!
Acts 4:17, "But
that it spread no further among the people, let us threaten them, that they
speak henceforth to no man in his name.
And they called them, and charged them not to speak at all or teach in
the name of Jesus." Now, let us recognize very clearly that when
a government, or legal authorities give instruction that is contrary to God's
instruction, then we are to do as Peter and John did. They charged them not to speak at all or
teach in the name of Jesus. So they were
trying stop them from giving God’s message to the people. But notice how bold they are. "But Peter and
John answered and said unto them, Whether it is right in the sight of God to
hearken unto you rather than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak of things which we saw
and heard." Those apostles had real faith. In substance, they are saying, we are not
going to listen to you at all. We are
going to continue to speak and teach like we have been doing. It is not right for us to hearken unto you
rather than unto God. Men of real faith
are going to speak for the Lord. "For
we cannot but speak the things which we saw and heard. And when they had further threatened them,
let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them." Does not that tell us that they really wanted
to find something? "Finding
nothing how they might punish them."
Why? "Because
of the people: For all men glorified God for that which was
done." I thought that was in chapter three, here it
is. "For
the man was more than forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing
was brought"
Think of all the people that must have known that man over a period of many
years. They had been carrying him daily
to that beautiful gate of the temple. The most important thing about this
miracle was that it brought that great multitude together, and gave Peter another
opportunity to speak again, proclaiming the name of Jesus, and the resurrection
of the dead. So the miracle had eternal effects!
Acts 4:23, "And
being let go, they came unto their own company, and reported all that the chief
priests and the elders had said unto them."
That great body of believers, and they when they heard it, lifted up
their voice to God with one accord, and said, Oh
Lord, thou that did make the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and all that
in them is:
Who by the mouth of the Holy Spirit by the mouth of our father David thy
servant did say, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the people imagine vain
things? The kings of the earth set
themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord,
and against his anointed. For in truth
in this city, against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel,
were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council
foreordained to come to pass."
Now, notice that when Peter and John went back to their company and told
them about what the chief priests and the elders had commanded them and
threatened them, that that company of believers prayed unto the Lord with one
accord. They did the good and proper
thing. And we are living in a time right
now when many people need to meet together and pray for the Lord's help, and
that is what they are asking for in this prayer.
Notice that they ask for some definite things in
regard to what they wanted the Lord to do to them. But coming back to verse twenty-eight. Verse twenty-eight is another one of those
references about how God had foreordained some things. And he said these Gentile rulers have risen
up against your anointed to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel foreordained
to come to pass. In other words, they
had risen up against Christ and crucified him, but it was foreordained of
God to come to pass. God had
foreordained and predestined before he made man that Christ would be the sin
offering, and that all who would accept
and obey Christ, all those who would apply the blood of Christ would be saved
from sin.
Notice the Psalm that they are quoting from is
the second Psalms. And let us turn and
read from that second Psalm. There are a
number of Psalms that have at least portions about the Christ to come. And Peter in that first sermon quoted from
the sixteenth Psalms about the promise that God gave David, about he was going
to raise up of the fruit of his loins one to sit upon his throne, and that had
reference to Christ. But reading from
Psalms two, "Why do the nations rage?" And so they are quoting the first part of the
second Psalms. "And
the people imagine a vain thing? And the
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against
Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying, let us break their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us." So those
believers knew that this had reference to Christ, and thus they said in this
city this has been fulfilled. "He
that sitteth in the heavens will laugh: The Lord
will have them in derision. Then will he
speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of
Zion." Of course, that may have reference to David
first. But if so, it has that second
reference in Christ. "I
will tell the decree: Jehovah said unto me, thou art my Son;
this day have I begotten thee."
Paul
interpreted, “thou art my Son, this day have I
begotten thee”,
when he was speaking to the Jewish people in the synagogue at Antioch of
Pisidia, and he applied it to the resurrection of Christ. I can remember when I thought that had reference
to the birth of Christ, but it is about the resurrection of Christ. "And
Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations,
for thine inheritance." And surely that is about Christ and not
David. "And
the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now, therefore, Be wise O ye kings: Be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with
trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he
be angry, and ye perish in the way for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are they that take refuge in him." So it looks like to me that the whole Psalms
is about Christ, David speaking in the Spirit about Christ, the anointed one
from God the Father.
These believers knew that the Psalm was about
Christ, and they quoted a part of that
Psalm in their prayer. Have you ever
heard brethren criticize a brother that would do a little quoting in his
prayer? I have. But if you read the prayers of the Old
Testament and the New Testament, you will find that there is a considerable
amount of quoting the scriptures in some
of the prayers. Back now to verse
twenty-eight, "That that they had done whatsoever thy
hand and thy counsel foreordained to come to pass." When we get over to chapter thirteen about
when those Jews in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia began to speak out
against what was spoken by Paul and Barnabas, they spoke out against them, and
said that it was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to
you. "But
seeing ye thrust it from you, judge yourselves worthy of eternal life, lo we
turn to the Gentiles." And the Gentiles were
glad. I believe it states that, “as
many as were ordained to eternal life and believed”. At least we will have that foreordination
passage coming up in Acts thirteen.
Verse 29, "And
now, Lord, look upon their threatenings: And grant."
Notice, they ask for some specific things. "Look on
their threatenings, Lord
consider what these rulers are doing. and
grant unto thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness." So they asked for God's help to speak
boldly. And we need to ask for God's
help that we may be bold to speak the word of God as we should speak it. "While thou
stretchest forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done
through the name of thy holy servant Jesus."
And so they asked for two specific things, that the Lord -- well, three
things. Look upon their threatenings. In other words, Lord consider how you are to
help us take care of all of these threatenings, and give us the courage to
speak thy word with all boldness, and Lord heal and give signs and wonders. The
purpose of the signs was to show the people that they were speaking from God, and
the message would be confirmed by the signs that the apostles would be doing in
the name of Jesus.
Acts 4:31,
And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they were gathered
together." God gave them a demonstration that their
prayers had been answered. "And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the word of God
with boldness. And the multitude of
them that believed were of one heart and soul." There was real unity in the early days of the
church. "And
not one of them said ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but
they had all things common." And again the
people in Jerusalem and Judaea and other places sold
some of their possessions and brought the money and laid it at the apostles
feet, as we will be reading in verse
thirty-five. "And fear came upon every soul: And many wonders and signs were done through
the apostles. And all that believed
were together, and had all things common: And sold their possessions and goods, and
parted them to all men, according to any man hath need." And so again that is mentioned. Verse thirty-two again, "And
the multitude of them that believed were one heart and one soul: And not one of them said ought of the things
which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common." God had not commanded them to do that. There is no statement made where God had
commanded, but they just had such a love of God's truth and wanted that truth
proclaimed to the people, that of their own accord they were selling some of
their possessions to make it possible that all of those who had come from a
great distance could stay and participate in those wonderful things.
Verse thirty-three, "With
great power gave the apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus: And great grace was upon them all." Grace is unmerited favor, a wonderful
kindness of God. Unmerited favor was
upon this great body of believers. "For
neither was there any among them that lacked: For as many as were possessors of lands or
houses sold them, and brought the price of the things that were sold, and laid
them at the apostles' feet." So the
apostles were in charge of the money,
and the distribution to the needs of the people. A wonderful spirit was manifested by those who were
selling their possessions, so that those Jewish people who had come to that
Pentecost from every nation under heaven could stay and hear and have a part in
that evangelism. "And
Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is, being
interpreted, The son of exhortation."
The footnote in my Bible says consolation. So Barnabas was a man with unusual ability to
give comfort and consolation and exhortation to the people. We will read later in chapter eleven that he is
the man that the apostles chose to go over to Antioch of Syria, that first
Gentile church. They sent Barnabas over
there. They could not have sent a better
man for that work, because of his ability to exhort and encourage and comfort
people. There are those who have special
abilities in that respect today. It is said
that during the days of the early restoration period in this country, that
quite frequently there would be two speakers.
Maybe one would be like an Alexander Campbell who could really tell the
brethren what the Bible teaches, but did not have that peculiar ability to
exhort the people to obedience. Frequently
they had another speaker to exhort the people to obey what they had heard. "A
Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
having the field, sold if it, and brought the money, and laid it at the
apostles' feet." So chapter five will be our beginning place
for our next session. Thank you for your
good attention