Acts 4:23-30 Speak with Boldness!

Acts 4:23-30  On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.  When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.  “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.  You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:“ ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.  Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.  They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.  Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

In the above scriptures we see the disciples after being threatened by the Sanhedrin going back to the believers and relating to them what happened to them at the hands of the authorities.  Peter and John had been detained overnight in jail, so the believers were quite anxious to hear the specifics of their arrest and detention.  The Christians in Jerusalem knew the horrible crucifixion of Jesus came at the behest of the Sanhedrin, so they knew as followers of Jesus that their lives too were in jeopardy of experiencing trouble from the elite.  Peter and John told them that the Sanhedrin did not want the name of Jesus spoken in the Jewish community.  They called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.  (Acts 4:18)  After hearing this news of quelling the name of Jesus, they raised their voices together in prayer to God, beseeching the living, supernatural God to intervene in the land of Israel.  In their prayer they proclaimed who the living God is: you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.  For them Jesus’ life reflected this Creator God whom they are praying to—Jesus performed a myriad of signs and wonders.  He did what no other man who walked the earth had ever done.  As Paul said to the Corinthians, the Jews seek after a sign, so the Lord in his ministry satisfied this desire of the Jews by performing many miracles in the midst of them.  Jesus’ miraculous deeds confounded his adversaries the Sadducees because they did not believe in anything supernatural, and for the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, Jesus was considered a cult leader for He violated the Sabbath so often.  Now, the believers in prayer were affirming that they are followers of the supernatural God who made the heavens and earth.  This nascent church believed in the covenant God, the One who brought them out of Egypt, the One who gave them Canaan.  He was the One who stamped his approval on Abraham before Abraham was circumcised.  This God of theirs was a supernatural God who performed miracles and deeds that were beyond man’s imagination or experiences.  Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you.  Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world.  The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.  (Exodus 34:10)  The apostles and the early believers had seen this miracle worker.  They had seen the hand of God on Jesus, so now their prayers were to that God, not the God of their adversaries who did not believe in miracles or who only thought of God revealing himself in laws and regulations for man to fulfill to please a righteous God.  They had forgotten the God of their ancestors who believed in a God who covenanted with them to do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. 

Moses knew the God of miracles.  He watched God write his commandments on the two tablets.  He saw manna fall from heaven.  He observed Aaron’s dead staff of wood sprout as if it were a living limb from a tree.  These items were so indicative of the supernatural God being with the children of Israel that they were placed in the Ark and carried with them wherever the children of Israel journeyed.  In this Ark was the validation that their God was the God of supernatural events.  He was the God who made the heavens and earth by speaking existence into being.  Now we see the believers in their prayer to God wonder why the  people and nations array themselves against this mighty God who knows all things, who even knew the number of hairs on the heads of men and women.  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.  The unbelievers have marshaled their strength against Jesus and his church.  They are shaking their fists in the face of the living God and his gift to them: Jesus.  The believers are asking God to intervene in this attempt by the world to quash the name of Jesus and his deeds.  But they also know that God will win out in this struggle to redeem mankind from sin and captivity to the devil.  Whatever victory the adversaries believe they have achieved is all in the hands of God; they did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.  The killing of Jesus and the animosity toward the early church is all in God’s hands.  He is always winning out no matter what events seem to be a defeat for the church, his followers.  We see this story of victory out of defeat often told in the Old Testament.  The children of Israel as with all people were designing their own lives as they wished. The idols they made were conceived out of their own understanding of what they thought a god would be like.  These gods of theirs were not ones of enduring love, mercy, and kindness; they were gods of strictness, even asking them to sacrifice their own children to them.  But these gods did portend the unwillingness of men and women to fall under the authority of the Creator God.  To separate themselves from the Creator God, they conceived of gods that were the opposite of the mercy and goodness of the only true God.  By constructing their own gods, they assured themselves they were the masters of their own existence.  This self-willedness is what we see in the fall of mankind.  The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  (Genesis 2:3-5) This deception by the devil led men and women to be free from the control of God.  In making humans, God made them in his image with his attributes, one of which is freedom.  If humans desired, they could choose to be the masters of their own lives.  The devil's deception led to this condition of self-willedness, being one’s own master.  Paul struggled with this innate self-willedness.  He wanted to do what God desired for him to do as a man made in God’s image, but also within him, he had the POWER of a self-willed master.  I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  I love God’s law with all my heart.  But there is another POWER within me that is at war with my mind.  This POWER makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.  Oh, what a miserable person I am!  Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.  So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.  (Romans 7:21-25)  

Jesus came to us as THE SACRIFICE to separate us before God’s eyes from our own masterhood to become God’s servants.  We are no longer under condemnation because of that DNA spirit within us—the one that starts quarrels, battles, wars, and the like.  All of these adverse activities against the nature of the God of unity, goodness and love are part of the human condition.  But Jesus paid the price for such sinfulness within us.  Literally He has set us free from that bondage of being our own master.  We can now be what He designed for us to be: kind, loving, caring, gentle, generous, and everything else that we are not in our fleshly selves.  We do not have to defend ourselves anymore; we do not have to decide what is right or wrong, good or bad, just or not just.  We are to be comfortable in his likeness, be as He is, a servant to all, sharing Christ Jesus.  The Lord, of course, encouraged us to love our enemies, to wash the feet of those who hate us and want us to be destroyed.  It is hard to give up our sinful DNA, for it is so deeply embedded within us.  Even as Christians for a long time, that cruel and disoriented spirit will come to the forefront of our lives if we do not watch out for it.  All of a sudden we will be vicious with our words, hurtful in our action, destructive to people we love.  Rather than the fruit of the Spirit ascending in our lives, the master of sin within us will surface.  The early church was now being threatened by the secular world.  The elite of the Jewish society were warning them not to speak of the name of Jesus.  Are they to succumb to this demand?  Or, should they speak out in boldness?  Are they to retire to the closet, shut their mouths?  No, they are to pray to the God who is the true Master of all things.  They are to place their trust in the God of the supernatural.  Jesus said the day of the Lord is at hand.  What does that mean?  He says, the poor will be fed, the captives will be freed, the blind will see, the oppressed will be set free.  We are to be in the business of implementing the will of God.  The day of the Lord is at hand today.  We are lights, instruments of God’s goodness and love for all people, even our enemies.  We see in the believers’ prayer that they are handing over the work of Jesus to God's power and authority.  Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.  Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.  For God to be revealed to the world, they are praying not our will be done, but your will be done.  We are asking you to carry the fight to them through your miraculous power.  How often are we still carrying the fight for the cause of Jesus by our own master spirit?  Maybe too often, not depending on God to stretch out his hand.  What does this mean to the church of the living, eternal God in this day?  As we read on in Acts, the church will face much persecution.  All of the disciples will be flogged unmercifully in the next few verses.  Stephen will be stoned to death, and many believers will flee for their lives to other areas in the world, spreading the seed of the gospel everywhere they go.  The early church spoke out boldly, depending on God to defend them.  In reality they relinquished control of their own lives.  Let us around this breakfast table pray as the early church did: "Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”   

     

  

Acts 4:13-22 You Be the Judges!

Acts 4:13-22  When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.  But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.  So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.  “What are we going to do with these men?”  they asked.  “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it.  But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.  ”Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him?   You be the judges!  As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”  After further threats they let them go.  They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.  For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

The boldness of Peter and John to minister every day in the Temple colonnade and their willingness to stand up to the Sanhedrin concerned the ruling elite of Jerusalem.  They wondered about these men’s willingness to preach the Good News after their leader had been crucified.  They were not learned men such as the teachers of the law or members of the Sadducees or Pharisees religious culture.  Yet, they referred to scripture, the prophets, and the Pentateuch in their teaching.  They concluded that the apostles' only accreditation was that they had been followers of Jesus, these men had been with Jesus.  Of course they knew Jesus to be a teacher, a rabbi to many people, but Jesus could not be a rabbi in the true since of the word, for He came from the tribe of Judah, not the priestly lineage of the tribe of Levi.  Now they are confronted with not only their teaching about Jesus Christ but also with this notable sign, the healing of a forty year old crippled man.  This apostate belief of claiming Jesus was the Messiah and the fact that the Jewish elite had him killed by the hands of the Romans was spreading like wildfire through Jerusalem.  This teaching about Jesus being Lord and the Son of God challenged directly the role of the priests as being the only true mediators between God and his people, the Israelites   The Sadducees for sure despised this teaching because of the belief that people need not go to the Temple to worship God.  To know God, people needed only to repent of their sins and turn their lives over to Jesus as servants of God.  This doctrine of Jesus being God and that He was and is the Messiah greatly troubled the religious elite.  Consequently, they thought they needed to intervene in the propagation of the message that Jesus is the way to God: we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.  ”Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.  For them, the name of Jesus should be omitted in even casual conversation in Jerusalem.  The disciples especially were not to mention Jesus’ name in any situation or interactions with others.  To teach about Jesus was forbidden.  The name of this cultish leader should cease to be known.  They had crucified the man Jesus, and now they wanted his name to be crucified.  However, Peter and John responded, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him?  You be the judges!  As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.  If Jesus be their Lord, how could they not speak of him?  You be the judges!  They knew Jesus as not only their Lord, but the Creator of all life.  They could not cease to speak his name.  His words were a part of them; they had digested Jesus’ teaching.  The memories of his miraculous deeds were in their minds; no man or authority could tell them to erase his name from their consciousness and definitely not from their lips.   No earthly or heavenly power could keep his name buttoned inside of them.  The Sanhedrin’s attempt to keep the name of Jesus out of the public arena would fail miserably.  Thousands in Jerusalem would bow to the name of Jesus.

How remarkable it was for Peter and John to speak boldly to the Sanhedrin; they knew these people had Jesus, an innocent man, crucified.  These men were powerful men, and they had the ears of the Roman leaders. The Roman overseers would always side with the Jewish leaders to keep their control over the Israelites.  Peter and John understood well the Sanhedrin’s powerful position with Rome; therefore, for them not to heed their warnings was very dangerous.  But now we see Peter, one who once was afraid of power, denying knowing Jesus in the courtyard of the high priest, standing up boldly against the threats of the Sanhedrin.  In the priest's courtyard, in the midst of his denial, he saw Jesus turn his face toward him with the knowledge that even his bravest follower, Peter who cut the ear off of the high priest’s servant ear, would turn away from him.  Jesus knew He was alone.  He alone would die for the sins of people.  No other sacrifice was demanded by God; not even Peter’s death at the hands of his accusers.  Peter in his final denunciation said, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.  The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.  (Luke 22:60-62)  The man who said he would die defending Jesus, who even tried it with the sword in his hand, gave up, giving Jesus the task of dying alone.  Now we see Peter, a man filled with the Spirit of God, telling the elite in the Jewish society, that he would go down swinging for the cause of Jesus the Messiah, Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him?  Not to listen to them could be a violent death, but not to listen to God could be eternal death.  Jesus, after his resurrection, commanded Peter to feed Jesus’ sheep even if his life were to be threatened.  Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.  Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.  Then he said to him, “Follow me!”  (John 21:17-19)  In the above focus we see Peter in full bloom, following the will of God regardless of the consequences.  The Sanhedrin was threatening Peter and John with dire consequences if they did not stop broadcasting the name of Jesus throughout Jerusalem.  But Jesus had left them with the assignment: Follow me, not the will of men, but the will God.  Jesus always did the will of his Father, now his disciples would be doing his will, for they were as Jesus prayed: one with him and God.

To follow God with such determination, they needed the power of God in their lives.  This healing of the crippled man revealed clearly that God was validating their faithfulness to him.  Jesus had told them before his crucifixion that they would be people of power.  Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.  (John 14:12-14)  We now see Peter and John activating this power in them by using the name of Jesus to heal this crippled man.  Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  (Acts 3:6)  Because of  Pentecost, the disciples possessed the power of God in their souls.  Wherever they went, the Holy Spirt would be with them, freeing men and women from the bondage of sin, redeeming their souls through their faith in Jesus Christ and his work on the cross.  Many signs followed the disciples as they ministered the Good News to people.  Their boldness in proclaiming faith in Jesus’ name brought great fear to the Sanhedrin.  Even greater works than Jesus revealed in his life was part of this new work in Jerusalem--even Peter’s shadow would heal the sick.  The Lord was manifesting himself through his disciples; however, He had prepared them for this day.  He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”  (Luke 24:45-49)  By healing this crippled man, they gained the recognition of men and women to hear about Jesus.  But this message that faith in Jesus makes men and women right with God was not only for the Jew or for Jerusalem, but it was also for the Gentile world.  Jesus would make a man called Saul to become his instrument of boldness to the world, proclaiming the grace and mercy of God to all people through the death of Christ on the cross.  Saul who becomes Paul proclaims that no good work or law can make a person right with God; only the work on the cross justifies men before a holy and righteous God.  Paul, as with Peter and John before him, could not stop testifying of the work of Jesus Christ.  Even under the constant threat of death, he spoke boldly the name of Jesus.  As Peter and John faced the murderous Sanhedrin, they faced them with the fulness of God inside of them: the Holy Spirit.  Their temporary fleshly lives meant nothing to them, for they were possessors of eternal life because of their Master Jesus Christ.  We who sit around this breakfast table is that our focus, our reality?  Can we say as Paul deduced, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20)  Dear friends, you have been made right with God forever because of the works of Christ.  Be bold in expressing that truth to the world as Peter and John were before the Sanhedrin.     

  

Acts 4:1-12 An Act of Kindness!

Acts 4:1-12  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.  They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.  They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.  But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.  The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family.  They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?  ”Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!  If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 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.  Jesus is“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

In the above verses Peter fulfills Jesus’ request of him to feed his sheep.  Jesus went to the house of Israel to reveal himself as the Messiah, the anointed One.  He came to them to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham, a man who believed God’s words regardless of his rational mind and his own experiences.  This promise was that he would be the father of many nations.  Now Peter begins In Judea to tell of this wonderful Messiah and that He will give people eternal life if they turn their hearts toward God through faith in the Christ.  He tells them that Immanuel has come to earth to dwell with them through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  The kingdom of God has come to them because the voice of God can dwell in their innermost being.  Many thousands of people in Jerusalem were accepting this message that they were hearing from Peter and the apostles’ lips: the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.  Now once again the Sadducees, the high priest, and the ruling elite of Israel were hearing a message that was drawing thousands away from their control and leadership.  They thought the death of Jesus would quell this movement, but instead, because of the apostles’ teaching, they were seeing many Israelites convinced to follow The Way.  As the word says, faith comes by hearing.  Definitely, the disciples were expounding the message in Jerusalem that Jesus saves, and He, the resurrected Messiah, would deliver people who believe in his name from their bondage to sin--a salvation message that gives people a right relationship with the everlasting God.  Peter was feeding the Lambs of Israel.  As Paul, an apostle to the Gentiles, wrote to the Romans, If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.  As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”  Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect.  They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.  For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him?  And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him?  And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?  And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?  That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” (Romans 10:915)  Peter in Jerusalem was fulfilling the great commission.  He had been sent to the Jewish people and now before all the governing elite of Jerusalem he was boldly exclaiming the message that Jesus saves, the one they crucified so readily, believing they would snuff out this light that God sent to Israel.  But now Christ who was THE LIGHT has many other lights proclaiming the Good News to whomever would listen.  

This salvation revival spread like wildfire through the community of Jerusalem, scaring the ruling elite.  Their authority, power, and control over the Israelites was being threatened by this message of Jesus the Messiah.  If this message took hold of the majority of the Jews, the elite's position of deference would disappear.  A huge number of Israelites were flocking to the disciples, listening to their teachings and also finding healing through their prayers.  Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.  Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.  (Acts 5:16-17)  When Pilate received Jesus from the hands of the Sanhedrin, he understood their reason for letting him murder this Jew, Jesus.  He knew they feared Jesus’ influence with the public.  The leadership feared the power that Jesus garnered through his healing and teaching.  Of course, Jesus did not seek secular power, but the people wanted him to be the king of Israel.  They honored Jesus greatly, anticipating that He, a man of authority from God, would deliver them from the hated Romans.  As Jesus entered Jerusalem they cried,  “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”  “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  (Matthew 21:9)  Pilate understood well the theocrats' fears of Jesus.  Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.  (Mark 15:9-10)  But the priests encouraged the crowd to shout for the release of a foe to Roman rule: Barabbas.  Barabbas was no threat to the Jewish leadership; however, they considered Jesus a threat to their rule.  Pilate was so angered by their willingness to have a foe of the Roman rule released that he had Jesus whipped severely.  He knew the Sanhedrin had given him a man of peace to be executed, freeing a man of murder, a foe to his own rule.

Large crowds did follow Jesus.  But the way of the cross was tantamount to everything Jesus taught.  To follow Jesus was to be a difficult journey.  Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.  What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?  Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  (Luke 9:23-26)  Crowds did follow him, for they were seeking healing and sometimes being fed by Jesus.  But knowing Jesus as their personal savior would be costly to them.  Peter understood this when he told the crowd, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”  He was opening up to them a very narrow road.  He knew as his own life revealed that many of them would lose their fortunes, their families, their positions of favor within their communities.  To be baptized in the name of Jesus would cost them everything in a Jewish culture.  Now in the above focus for today’s breakfast we see Peter and John arrested because they were ministering to the crowd about the power in the name of Jesus, healing a crippled man.  This act of kindness irritated the leadership.  Consequently, They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?  They did not want the name of Jesus ever to be heard of again in Israel.  But Jesus had warned his believers that they would have to forsake the world and everything in it.  If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.  And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.  (Luke 14:25-27)  Now Peter and John were experiencing the full effects of being Jesus’ disciples.  The secular leadership would hate them, and as with Stephen and James, murder them.  They would experience visceral hatred toward them and their message of the Good News.  Even in their families and with their friends, they would become outcasts, excommunicated from their previous relationships.  However, the disciples knew who Jesus really was: He was the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Savior, the Immanuel.  He was sent to earth so God could dwell within man.  Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?  Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”  (Luke 9:18-20)  The disciples knew the cross would clear the deck within the hearts of men and women.  The blood of Christ ransomed our souls; forever we would be right with God.  The Spirit of God would now indwell us because of the cleansing blood of the Lamb. The Kingdom of God has come to dwell in our hearts.  Each believer would experience Immanuel, (God with us).  Now men and women of faith would know the intimate presence of God: I know when you sit down or stand up, your thoughts,  your travel, your resting time.  I know everything you do.  I  know what you are going to say even before you say it.  (See Psalm 137)  The thousands who turned to the Lord because of Peter’s preaching had the blessings of God on their lives.  No adversity would turn their heads away from God; no ostracizing would discourage them, for the love of God had come into their lives.  Even as Peter and John who went to prison for the sake of Christ, Christians now everywhere will follow Christ with the same dedication.  Amen!  May the blessing of God be upon you as you follow him today.  
    

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Acts 3:17-26 Times of Refreshing!

Acts 3:17-26  “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.  But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.  Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.  For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.  Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.  ’“Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days.  And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers.  He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’  When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Peter explains to the Jewish people something they were well versed in from their earliest years.  They knew some day the Messiah would come to them, rescuing them from their many afflictions.  He would free them from the hands of their oppressors.  They understood well God’s covenant with their father Abraham.  Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.  They were cognizant that the promised Messiah would come to them, for they are the chosen people of God.  Now, Peter tells them that Jesus was and is the anticipated Messiah.  He performed miracles of all kinds in their presence, miracles and wonders that no one else from the beginning of time performed so readily and often.  But they rejected this Jewish man and allowed the Romans to pierce him to the point of death. They deposited his body in a tomb, believing his dead flesh would rot there. But instead of rotting and decomposing into dust, He was resurrected on the third day.  Peter tells his audience that because of their heinous act of murdering the Holy One, Jesus, they need to repent of this wicked deed and of their own personal sins, turning to God in true repentance.   Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.  Peter’s words struck their hearts like a thunderbolt, for they knew what he was saying was true.  They had been taught about the prophesies that the Messiah would come to them some day, and now Peter is telling them that they forsook the Messiah and had him crucified.  They were the people Jesus heard yelling, CRUCIFY HIM.  They were guilty; their generation was guilty of despising the Messiah, for they killed the Lord.  Isaiah’s words of prophesy must have been ringing in their ears as they heard Peter.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  Yet who of his generation protested?  For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.  He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.  Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.  After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.  For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.  (Isaiah 53:5-12).  Probably many of these Jewish people had either memorized these words of Isaiah or knew of them well, for they were often read and spoken about in the synagogues.  Now they realized their own ignorance had fulfilled these words, cutting them to the heart.  Many of them readily accepted Jesus as the Messiah, turning them from their wicked ways.  

In these early days many Jews turned to Jesus.  They heard the knock of Jesus on the doors of their hearts, and they turned willingly to the idea that Jesus was truly the Lord, the Messiah God had promised them.  Thousands of Jews heard this message and received it readily, but the leaders of the religious sects were very jealous of this startling phenomenon of Jews everywhere believing in this man Jesus as their Savior.  They immediately tried to crush this nascent church of Christ.  The apostles were attacked physically, thrown into jail and whipped.  The general public was ignorant when they called for Jesus to be crucified.  However, they had been encouraged by the religious leaders to demand Jesus’ death.  The elite of the Jewish society were fearful of losing their power and deference with the people, so they needed Jesus’ death.  The Lord had called them hypocrites for wanting to murder him, for to murder an innocent man was against the laws of Moses that they supposedly taught so diligently.  Because of their opposition to Jesus’ popularity, they fulfilled Isaiah’s prophesy, he was pierced for our transgressions.  The religious elite led many to reject this Good News, causing the church to spread throughout the area to avoid persecution and even death.  Peter’s words of redemption through faith in Jesus Christ would become dangerous in Jerusalem, the headquarters of Judaism.  Even the future apostle Paul led in this campaign to stamp out this perceived apostate belief.  Paul had a major role in the persecution of the church.  But later after his conversion, we see him lamenting the condition of the Jewish people, for many of them were as he had been in strong opposition to THE WORD of God: Jesus Christ.  I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people (the Jews), those of my own race, the people of Israel.  (Romans 9:2-4)  Paul relates that he willingly would stand in the gap between God’s judgment of the Jewish people, giving up himself for their redemption.  He would face eternal judgment for their salvation.  As with Moses before him, his love for the Jewish people was so great he would be willing to lose his own place of favoritism with God and face eternal judgement away from the God he loves.  Peter in his above address to the Jews tells them to be willing to open the door of their hearts to God’s redemption plan through Jesus Christ the Lord.  Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.  So be earnest and repent.  Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.  (Revelation 3:19-20)  As with the two believers on the road to Emmaus, when Jesus entered their house and broke bread with them, they then knew Jesus was the Messiah, the Deliverer of Israel.  Anyone who will open the door to Jesus and break bread with him and drink the wine of deliverance will be saved.  The reality of this message is that you do not have to go and seek after Jesus, but He is at the door knocking.  Peter proclaims this message loudly, God raised up his servant, HE SENT HIM FIRST to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.

Peter illustrates the fact that Jesus came as a ransom for sin.  He was led to the slaughter as a propitiation for the sin of the people.  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  God knew what people who have sin in their hearts from conception would do to his beloved sinless Son, who always did the will of the Father.  He knew the people would kill him, for they wanted to organize their lives outside of God as Eve did in the Garden.  Man wanted to be as God with control over his own life.  Jesus was asking men to be different from their own will.  He was asking them to love their neighbors, to put others’ best interests above their own, to care for the poor, the widows, the lame, and the aliens.  Jesus was rubbing the cat’s fur the wrong way.  Soon the cat would jump off his lap.  Man jumped off his lap and shouted, Crucify Him!  Now Peter is reminding these people that they rejected Jesus and that by doing that, they rejected God’s will in their lives.  But he established that redemption is near, a rightness with God is near.  The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.  ”For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  (Romans 10:8-13)  The Good News has touched down to earth in the form of God’s grace and mercy, Jesus Christ himself.  He is the Good News, The Way to God.  Many in the early days after Pentecost accepted this Good News.  The Holy Spirit enlivened the hearts of many, the hearts that were once dead in trespasses and sin came alive when they heard the Good News, but others fixated on the law.  They championed works as a way to God, rejecting the gift of God from heaven itself.  As all humans who want to be their own god, they chose works over grace, law over mercy.  But the day of atonement was only for those who did no work on that day.  They accepted the atonement in rest, not works.  The Israelites were commanded to deny themselves on the day of atonement, to forego their usual activity in life, a repentance of self-life.  The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.  Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present a food offering to the Lord.  Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the Lord your God.  Those who do not deny themselves on that day must be cut off from their people.  I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day.  You shall do no work at all.  (Leviticus 23:27-31)  Jesus is our day of atonement.  He freely was given to ransom our souls from perdition.  Work is not required, atonement is MADE FOR YOU before the Lord your God.  Jesus is presented to God; it is his works before God, not yours.  The world wants to put their work before God, but God says, I will destroy from among their people anyone who does any work on that day.  Man’s work is not acceptable before a righteous, holy God.  Man’s works are never without fault.  Jesus is faultless.  Peter is exclaiming this message before those who yelled Crucify Him.  He is telling them that there is another way to God other than their works.  Jesus, the Messiah, has come to them.  Breakfast friends, put your trust in him and you will be saved, for the Messiah has come for you and all who will put their trust in his saving grace.  Make this your Atonement Day, and accept God’s unfailing grace.  Amen forever!