Acts 4:1-12 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is Acts 4:1-12. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
Acts 4:1-4 (NIV)
1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people.
2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
3 They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.
4 But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
On verses 1-4: The Sadducees were a group that did not believe in the idea of resurrection and were big critics of anyone who preached it (see for example Matthew 22:23, Mark 12:18 and Acts 23:8). According to Acts 5:17, the high priest and all his associates were members of the Sadducees. This suggests that the whole priesthood and temple leadership at that time were influenced by the belief that there is no such thing as resurrection. So when word gets around that Peter and John are proclaiming that in Jesus Christ the dead are resurrected, the priests, the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees all come up to Peter and John and use their authority to put Peter and John in jail. But instead of curtailing the Christian movement, these actions only seemed to give it more momentum. The men in the church were now numbering about five thousand, meaning that there conceivably could have been more than ten thousand men, women and children professing faith in Jesus by this time.
What can we learn from this? Here’s one lesson: People can try to criticize, vilify, seize, jail and even kill people in the church of God, but no one will ever be able to ultimately stop her. The Church is the one human entity in all of history that will remain. One day Google will be gone, Amazon will be over, Apple will rot and Facebook will fade away, but the Church will remain forever. That’s why Jesus says in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
Acts 4:5-11 (NIV)
5 The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem.
6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest’s family.
7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!
9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,
10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
11 He is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone’.
On verses 5-11: Peter and John are brought before the people who plotted Jesus’ death: the powerful high priest, his family and along with the rulers, elders and teachers of the law. Before when this group questioned Jesus on the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter hid away and denied his faith (Luke 22:54-62). But now, standing before this same group and being questioned, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly speaks for Jesus. He once again attributes the healing of the crippled man to the power of Jesus’ name (v10a). He proclaims how the group he is speaking to were the ones who crucified Jesus but that Jesus rose again (v10b). In verse 11 Peter even references Psalm 118:22, the very same Scripture that Jesus quoted when this same group had questioned Jesus (see Matthew 21:42 and Luke 20:17): “the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.”
Don’t be afraid to proclaim Jesus to Jesus’ biggest critics. When it comes time to speak for Jesus, step forward in faith and the Holy Spirit will fill you and give you everything you need to proclaim Jesus powerfully, even in a hostile environment. The things you say and do in those moments will have eternal ramifications both for you and for the people listening to you, and God will use your life for His much greater cause.
Acts 4:12 (NIV)
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
On verse 12: Peter makes this definitive statement: it is only Jesus’ name that can save us. That’s not a statement made out of arrogance or ignorance. It’s based on the truth that no one other than Jesus has died for our sins and risen again so that we can be forgiven and brought back to God. Every other religious movement, faith and philosophy ultimately teaches that it’s what about you need to DO to get to God. In Christianity, it’s about what God has DONE to get to you.
What are you relying on to be saved from your sins? Are you trusting in your own effort, performance and resume, or have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ the Son of God to save you from your sins?
Trusting in Jesus to save you from your sins is as simple as praying a prayer for your heart: Dear Jesus, thank You that You died on the cross to pay for my sins, that You rose again to give me life. Today I open up my heart. Please come in, forgive me of my sins and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I place my trust not in what I do but in what You’ve done for me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.
If you prayed that prayer and you meant that from your heart, the Bible says that you are forgiven of your sins, you are a child of God, you are included in God’s family, and you have eternal citizenship in heaven. It’s not because of anything we did to save ourselves. It’s all because of God’s unconditional love expressed through Jesus Christ, how there is no other name given to us by which we must be saved.
Jesus, thank You that Your church is unstoppable because it is powered by You. Because You rose again from the grave and I belong to You, I pray that like Peter I would be bold in proclaiming who You are in my generation and for the generations that come after me, that many people would find Jesus in me and would come to know You personally as Saviour and King through my life. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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