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as we continue to work our way 
through the Acts of the Apostles. Acts chapter 4, we're going to 
look at verses 1 to 12 this morning, the apostolic address to the 
council or to the Sanhedrin. It was a body of religious slash 
political leaders within Israel. 70 plus the high priest, based 
on Numbers 11, when our Lord or rather when our God told Moses 
to gather up 70 men to assist him with reference to leadership. 
So you have the 70 plus Moses while the Sanhedrin was patterned 
after that. Now the Sanhedrin or the council 
is getting upset. They tried to quash or tried 
to silence Jesus. They thought certainly crucifying 
would have ended it. But behold, we see these apostles 
rise up now, testifying in the name of Jesus. So this presents 
another threat to the religious leadership or establishment in 
Israel, and so they move to oppose the disciples. So beginning in 
chapter 1, or rather chapter 4 at verse 1. Now, as they spoke 
to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the 
Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught 
the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 
And they laid hands on them and put them in custody until the 
next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those 
who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came 
to be about 5,000. And it came to pass on the next day that 
their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, 
Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family 
of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when 
they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what power or 
by what name have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy 
Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders of Israel, 
if we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless 
man by what means he has been made well, let it be known to 
you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of 
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised 
from the dead, by him this man stands here before you whole. 
This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become 
the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any 
other, for there is no other name under heaven given among 
men by which we must be saved. Amen. Let us pray. Father, thank 
you for the written word, and thank you for this testimony 
of the Apostle Peter. We ask that you would send your 
Spirit now, that you would guide us and help us to receive much 
encouragement from this passage of Scripture, and help us to 
see the beauty and the glory of Jesus Christ once again set 
forth in the apostolic preaching of the cross. How we thank you 
for that, Savior, and how we thank you for his death and his 
resurrection. We thank you for his life of 
obedience as well. And God, our desire is that many 
more would hear of him, and many more would respond by grace to 
that name that is given under heaven among men, by which we 
must be saved. And we ask this in Jesus' name. 
Amen. Well, as I said, this is the 
beginning of outbreak of persecution upon the Church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The healing of the lame man in 
chapter 3, verses 1 to 10, and then the sermon of Peter and 
Solomon's porch in verses 11 to 26 are the background of the 
context. And I did quote a few times ago 
a man by the name of J.A. Alexander, and he makes this 
observation, and I think it's very helpful for us to appreciate. 
He says, the new religion, Christianity, was not to be a national or local 
one, but Catholic and ecumenical. Now, he means by Catholic, universal. That's what the word means. It's 
a good word. It is problematic when we have Roman Catholic trying 
to sort of localize universality. But the word Catholic simply 
means universal. So back to Alexander. The new 
religion was not to be a national or local one, but Catholic and 
ecumenical. In order to attain its end, it 
must be spread. In other words, we've got to 
get the Gospel out of Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, and to 
the uttermost parts of the earth. That's Christ's sort of mandate 
to the disciples. Go therefore, make disciples 
of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1.8, it reads 
this way. He says, you will be my witnesses, 
first in Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and then to the 
uttermost parts of the earth. Well, the problem is if we're 
all localized in Jerusalem and there's no persecution or problems, 
we will most likely never leave. And so this outbreak of persecution 
is under and ultimately according to the sovereignty of God to 
get the people of God to go and propagate the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. So he says, it must be spread. 
And in order to be spread, it must be scattered. And in order 
to be scattered, it must undergo strong pressure from within and 
from without. The history now presents to us 
the series of providential causes by which these effects were brought 
about. In other words, there's a larger 
concern in the narrative than simply stating that Peter and 
John were persecuted. That's certainly a concern. But 
under the hand of God, it's by means of this persecution that 
the gospel goes forth. And I know this is a tough pill 
for us to swallow at times, but more often than not, the church 
thrives and flourishes under persecution. The church thrives 
and flourishes and advances under trial and affliction. The church 
progresses when the world is persecuting. And I think that's 
a lesson that we need to appreciate as we move into this text and 
as we move into what may be seasons of increasing pressure from external 
influences. sources with reference to the 
church in Canada. So I want to look at two things 
this morning. First, the arrest of Peter and 
John in verses 1 to 4, and then the address before the council 
in verses 5 to 12. We note the occasion, verse 1, 
Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the 
temple, and the Sadducees came upon them. So it was during that, 
or on the heels of the healing, Then Jesus, or rather Peter, 
preaches Jesus with reference to its interpretation in the 
life of this lame man. So, while they spoke, these priests, 
the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them. 
Now, some suggest the captain of the temple was a Roman authority 
who sort of oversaw the precincts to make sure any disturbance 
of the peace was put down or crushed rapidly. Others suggest 
it was sort of the main man, second only to the high priest, 
within the Jewish community that assisted the high priest in all 
the goings-on with reference to the temple precinct. But either 
way, the point is obvious. Peter and John are perceived 
as disturbers of the peace. Peter and John are looked at 
as having caused a ruckus in the temple. And so now the chief 
men come to silence them. They come to oppose them. They 
come to stop them. And we note the reason given 
us by Luke in verse 2. It says, being greatly disturbed. The particular verb used means 
to feel burdened as the result of someone's provocative activity. To be greatly disturbed, to be 
annoyed. or to, in the language of Barrett, 
to be at the end of one's tether. They're just done with this. 
They thought they had finished it with the death of Jesus of 
Nazareth. Remember, we're not talking years 
later. We're not talking centuries later. 
We're talking months later from the time that they had crucified 
the Lord Jesus Christ. What is transpiring here in the 
temple at this particular time happens in close proximity to 
the actual execution of the Savior. Caiaphas, mentioned in the passage 
as one of the priests assembled there together, was the Caiaphas 
that held trial with reference to Jesus. Annas was involved 
as well. So these men had seen what had 
happened in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. They had neutralized 
it as far as they were able, with reference to his life and 
ministry, by putting him on a Roman cross. And now he just won't 
go away. We just can't get rid of him. 
We can't stop him. So they're greatly annoyed. They're 
at the end of their tether. And so what do they do? They 
come upon the disciples of the apostles and they arrest them. And they put them in jail for 
the night because it was already evening. You wouldn't convene 
the Sanhedrin or the council at night, but you would rather 
do so in the morning. And that is precisely why they 
put them in a holding cell of sorts to keep them ready for 
their testimony on the coming day. Now, the religious leaders 
were greatly disturbed, as Luke tells us, being, or rather, they 
taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from 
the dead. I would love it this time for everybody to take a 
quiz. Don't raise your hand and don't call out audibly, but think 
in your own mind. What was one of the things that 
the Sadducees denied? And you say, how do you expect 
me to know that? Because we just read it in Luke 
20. Remember, they come to Jesus 
and they say, Lord, tell us about this woman who had been married 
to seven brothers. Whose wife is she going to be 
in the resurrection? What does Luke tell us in Luke 
20? He tells us that the persons 
that came to Jesus concerning the question about taxes were 
hypocrites. He tells us that they were cunning. 
With reference to the Sadducees, he tells us that they denied 
the resurrection. They weren't legitimately seeking 
information from the Lord. They probably had tongue firmly 
planted in cheek. They could have been slapping 
their knees at the very ludicrousness of the scenario that they had 
portrayed. Tell us, who in the resurrection 
is going to be her husband? You see, these men denied the 
resurrection. So I submit they were greatly 
annoyed, this body of religious leaders, generally, because they 
had just executed the Son of God and had hopefully neutralized 
Him once and for all. But the Sadducees would have 
been especially perturbed because they preached in Jesus the resurrection 
from the dead. Now, non-Sadducees accepted the 
resurrection. Non-Sadducees had a hope, based 
on the Old Testament, that there would be a resurrection from 
the dead. But they certainly didn't want to associate it with 
the Lord Jesus Christ. They certainly didn't want to 
identify the Redemptor, the resurrectional work of God, with this man whom 
they had crucified. So, again, I'm not justifying 
and I'm not giving it rational, sort of, legitimization, but 
I understand why these guys are upset. They had crucified the 
Lord of Glory, they thought they had buried Him and no longer 
had to deal with Him, and here Peter stands up and preaches 
Jesus and the resurrection of the dead. So you can see why 
these guys are upset. You can see why they're upset 
at Jesus and his earthly ministry. You can see why it is the case 
when godless men who oppose Jesus and his apostles, you can see 
at least the rationale for them being at the end of their tether. 
So they arrest, well, let me just quote Daniel Bach here. 
He says, the idea of a resurrection of such a figure who was a prophet 
like Moses and a messianic like figure would make the leaders 
even more nervous about the crowd's reaction. You see, that's what 
Peter does at the end of the sermon in Acts chapter 3. He's 
a Moses-like prophet. He is the Davidic king. He is 
the one promised by God as the Messiah. And, oh yeah, he was 
raised from the dead. And the resurrection in the future 
is intimately connected with him as the one who orchestrates 
the whole thing. You can see why they perceive 
this to be a continuing threat. He says, such an authority figure 
would undercut the Sadducees' own power and authority. For 
these Sadducees, it is too much. They moved to stop the apostles. 
Now, I should have said that. The Sanhedrin was Sadducee heavy. It wasn't that there were no 
Pharisees. It wasn't that there were no one other than Sadducees, 
but it was a Sadducee-heavy environment. And so certainly this idea of 
resurrection was offensive to them on a doctrinal level. It 
was offensive to them that it was now associated with the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And so they arrest them. They 
put them in custody. This fulfills Jesus' words in 
Luke 21, 12. But before all these things, 
what things? The destruction of the temple 
in AD 70. But before all these things, 
they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering 
you up to the synagogues and prisons. Jesus predicted this. 
Jesus foretold this. Jesus told them what would happen. 
He says it elsewhere, as if they hated me, they're going to hate 
you. If they despise the Master, they're going to despise the 
disciple. The world is going to oppose you when you live for 
Jesus Christ. When you preach the doctrine 
of grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone, The 
world doesn't embrace that. The world, by and large, sees 
that as folly, and the world, by and large, sees that as offensive. What do you mean I'm a sinner? 
What do you mean I need blood atonement? What do you mean my 
perversity is such that God is going to cast me into hell forever? 
That's precisely what we mean, and the glory of the Christian 
gospel is that God is in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. You see, this message has never 
met with open receptivity on the part of God-hating rebels. 
Look at the prophetic testimony in the Old Testament. How are 
the men of God in the Old Testament treated? Oh yeah, these are great 
guys. Let's give them houses and palaces, 
and let's give them good things, and let's treat them with great 
respect and revere them and esteem them. No, they were despised 
and rejected. History tells us that it was 
Isaiah that was the one sawn in two. I mean, that anybody 
would ever take a saw to that man Isaiah, the apostle, not 
just the prophet, but the apostle. I mean, Isaiah 53 reads like 
John and Matthew and Mark and Luke. And yet this man was murdered. He was executed. He was taken 
out. He was snuffed out. Look at the apostles of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. Read Fox's book of history, Fox's 
book of martyrs sometime. See how the people of God in 
the age of the church have been handled. You know, we have a 
great deal of liberty here. And instead of making us more 
bold and more faithful and more earnest, it oftentimes has the 
opposite effect. We become apathetic. We become 
lethargic. We become lazy. We're glutted 
in our liberties and we don't even use them. And yet we read 
prayer letters about people suffering in Muslim nations. We read prayer 
letters about people losing businesses, losing family members, losing 
lives and livelihood, losing their own lives for the cause 
of Jesus Christ. Brethren, we have been blessed 
greatly. And if we think, well, I'll stand 
fast when the Canadian government starts to persecute me. If you're 
not standing fast now, you're probably not going to then. If 
you're not ready to live for Jesus now, you're not gonna be 
ready to die for Jesus then. You know, any fool can say because 
it's romantic, oh yeah, I'd take a bullet for Jesus. But will 
you get up on a Sunday morning and come to church for Jesus? 
Will you read your Bible? Will you love your wife the way 
Jesus tells you to? Will you submit to your husband 
the way Jesus tells you to? You get that, right? It's a romantic 
notion. Oh, yeah, if I was in a Muslim 
country, I'd stand fast. Really? You're in a non-Muslim 
country and you don't stand fast. I just don't have any evidence 
to suspect that you would do so in that context. You see, 
brethren, the church, as church, has more often than not been 
persecuted. But the beautiful thing is found 
in verse four. Notice that however, So Peter 
and John are now laid hands or have hands laid upon them. They 
are in custody until the next day so that they can be rallied 
before the Sanhedrin. However, many of those who heard 
the word believed and the number of the men came to be about 5,000. 
The preachers are arrested, but the word of God prevails. Do 
you just love God for this reason? He demonstrates that he's not 
dependent on us. Because see, there'll be factions. I'm of Peter. I'm of Paul. I'm of Apollos. I'm of Calvin. I'm of Arminius. Not really. I'm of Augustine. I'm of Pelagia. We're of Jesus Christ. Aren't 
you thankful that Jesus promises to build his church and the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against it? Because whenever I look around 
and I see us, I am very thankful of that reality. That's no personal 
reflection on you. Don't go home and cry and say, 
Butler, you know, he offended me today. I mean in general. I read somewhere once where a 
group of the fathers were talking and they had all concluded, church 
fathers, they had concluded that if the building of the church 
were up to us, it would certainly fail. It would certainly fail. Look at this. We would already 
think, oh, Peter, what a great guy, what a godly man, what a 
powerful sermon. I mean, brethren, mechanically, 
structurally, technically, the way that Peter weaves this together 
in verses 11 to 26, it's a marvelous thing. He's put in prison, and 
what happens? It's over, the church is done. 
It's all gone. No, no, not to minimize the place 
of Peter, but I think Peter would agree with me here, to maximize 
the place of Jesus building his church. Verse four, however, 
many of those who heard the word believed. Isn't it beautiful? Isn't that glorious? Isn't that 
awesome? That while the church is persecuted, 
the power of the Word prevails. John Gill says it this way. He 
says, for though they kept their persons in hold, they could not 
stop the free course of the Word, which ran and was glorified. 
Matthew Henry's commentary, though the preachers were persecuted, 
the word prevailed. For sometimes the church's suffering 
days have been her growing days. The days of her infancy were 
so. That's good news, brethren. Not 
only Jesus that saves the church, but it's Jesus that builds the 
church. And praise God Almighty, it's 
Jesus that sustains the church. And it's Jesus that will ultimately 
bring the church to glory. Isn't that right? Men may serve, 
men may help, men may get in the way, but ultimately it's 
Jesus, according to Matthew 16, who promised, I will build my 
church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 
Now that shows us the triumph of the church, but it also indicates 
the continuing persecution of the church. Think of the triumph. Jesus says the gates of Hades 
shall not prevail against it. I think it's a wrong interpretation 
to see the kingdom of Satan marching against the kingdom of Christ 
and at times whooping it. No, gates are a defense mechanism. The very language of our Savior 
evidences the exact opposite interpretation. It's the kingdom 
of Christ that's on the advance. It's the kingdom of Christ that 
progresses, and it's the gates of Hades that shall not prevail 
against it. In other words, He has delivered 
us from the kingdom of darkness, in the language of Colossians 
1, and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. 
The strong man is bound through the preaching of the gospel and 
Christ plots sinners out of his kingdom. It's a beautiful thing. 
But that there are gates and that Christ does mention their 
continued existence means they haven't given up. So that statement 
of Jesus in Matthew 16 assures the church not only of its triumph, 
but it assures it of its persecution. And the book of Acts evidences 
this. This is the first outbreak of persecution against the church 
by unbelieving Israel. We always think of the Roman 
Empire as being the enemies of the church. They had become the 
enemies of the church. They would later become the enemies 
of the church, but in this particular time, they thought Christianity 
was a subset of Judaism, and the Empire left Judaism pretty 
much alone. They let them do their own thing. 
The Empire had no problem. I mean, I don't know that they 
liked it or endorsed it or condoned it or, you know, worshipped with 
them, to be sure, but they certainly allowed the Jews to do their 
thing without any government molestation. And so, initially, 
that's how Christianity was looked at. In fact, as we move through 
the Book of Acts, you're going to see that over and over again. 
Ultimately, Paul comes before these Roman magistrates, and 
they're not in tune with all that's going on. Now, later on, 
the oppression is turned on. Under Nero, the oppression really 
gets hot. I mean, it gets severe. And yet 
at this particular time, it's unbelieving Israel. It's the 
same people that oppose Jesus in his earthly ministry that 
oppose the apostles in their earthly ministry. And so what 
Christ promises in Matthew 16 is the pattern for the church. 
There will be triumph ultimately because of the builder Christ, 
but there's going to be difficulties. There's going to be hardships. 
Again, brethren, stepping back from the Bible and looking at 
the history of Israel in the Old Testament, that was God's 
covenant people on earth. That was God's visible expression 
of his kingdom on earth, such that when Solomon sits upon his 
throne, he sits upon the throne of Yahweh. But what happens within 
that kingdom? You've got threats, both internal 
and external. You've got problems within, you've 
got problems without. We get to the book of Acts, guess 
what? There's problems within and there's problems without. 
And here is an expression of those problems without. They 
are being persecuted for the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to a couple of passages 
to show this even more. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 
chapter one, this idea that the preachers are arrested, but the 
word of God prevails. Paul is in prison as he writes 
to the Philippians. Paul is sitting in a jail. And in verse 12, he says, but 
I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened 
to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. 
You know, it almost reads like that. I know it reads just like that, 
but I mean the inflection that I'm using. Almost like you wouldn't 
believe it. You just couldn't even imagine. 
I got picked up as a criminal in the empire. They put me in 
jail, but you know what? It's actually turned out good. 
This gives the emphasis to Romans 8, 28, a passage we don't really 
need in times that are good, the passage we really need in 
times that are bad. Not suggesting we don't need 
it in good times, but when do we invoke Romans chapter 8, verse 
28? We know that all things work 
together for good to those who love God, to those who are other 
called. according to his purpose. We typically don't invoke that 
when the sun is shining, when our jobs are going well, when 
our wives like us, when, you know, everybody's favorable towards 
us. We don't think of the blessings of Romans 8 28. We typically 
think of it after a miserable encounter wherein God delivered 
us. And we can say, wow, God causes all things to work together 
for good, to those who love Him, to those who are the called according 
to His purpose. We oftentimes use that text as 
the interpretative grid for something miserable we went through, but 
God blessed us as a result of. Does that make sense? So Paul 
is suggesting that very paradigm. You'd have thought me going to 
jail, now as the apostle to the Gentiles, you would have thought 
me going to jail as the one tasked with calling the Gentiles, you 
would have thought that this would have really cut the legs 
out from under the movement. But it hasn't. It's really amazing. It's like Paul saying, God really 
is all that he says he is. He really is that great. I want 
you to know, brethren, that the things which happen to me have 
actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has 
become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that 
my chains are in Christ. And most of the brethren in the 
Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold 
to speak the word without fear." You see what the suffering of 
Paul, the effect that it has? It has this twofold effect. First, in the life of Paul, so 
that it has become evident, verse 13, to the whole palace guard 
and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ. I wonder how they 
knew that, because Paul told them. He's gonna sign this letter off 
by saying, greetings. Greetings from the household 
of Caesar to you. It's because Paul, and I say 
this reverently and lovingly, had a very big mouth when it 
came to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The whole palace guard knew. 
Everybody knew. Why is that man in cell block 
whatever? It's because of this Nazarene 
called Jesus. But that's not the only positive 
effect. Everybody that was in the church, 
the people of God who believed, had heard about what had happened 
to Paul, and it actually put a little fire in their bones 
too. In other words, if Paul is able to, and Paul is willing 
to, and Paul is suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ, I'm 
gonna open my mouth once in a while for the cause. It's a beautiful 
thing, isn't it? The things that have happened 
to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. Now, even in that, Paul recognizes 
there's good motives, there's not so good motives. Verse 15, 
some indeed preach Christ, even from envy and strife, and some 
also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from 
selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to 
my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed 
for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every 
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And 
in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. I think at times people 
have a little bit of a difficulty with this passage in light of 
Galatians. Galatians 1, Paul says, if we or anyone else or 
an angel from heaven preach another gospel to you, let him be anathema. 
And here Paul says, these guys have bad motives, but they're 
preaching the right Christ. Galatians 1, they're preaching 
the wrong Christ. So anathema be upon them. Philippians 
chapter one, they may not like Paul, they may have selfish ambition, 
they may be a bit pretentious, they may have no goodwill in 
terms of the apostle, but you know what? They're telling people 
about the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus. 
You see, this shows Paul's heart. He's not affected by the, well, 
maybe he was, maybe he did cry about these guys hating him, 
but for Paul's purposes, whether they liked him or not, For Paul's 
purposes, they preach the truth. And in that, Paul says, I will 
rejoice. So you see, times of persecution 
do not restrict the preaching of the cross. Notice in 2 Timothy 
2, another specimen passage that indicates this. 2 Timothy 2. Paul's emphasis to Timothy being 
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, finding men in 
the local church to teach so that they may teach others. Verse 
three, he needs to endure hardship as a good soldier of Christ. 
Verse seven, he needs to consider what Paul says. And then in verse 
eight, he says, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David 
was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer 
trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains. Note 
this next language. But the Word of God is not chained. You can't stop it. You can't 
tame it. You can't chain it. You can't 
handcuff it. You can't tie it down. You cannot 
suppress the truth. Try as the world may, try as 
they may have, they cannot stop the advance of Christ's kingdom. 
Matthew 16 is real. I will build my church. Jesus testifies, and the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against it. We get to the book of Revelation. 
In Revelation chapter 7, we have this picture of the saints in 
heaven and a great multitude that no man can number, from 
every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation. Isn't that 
a beautiful picture given to us to induce hope? Doesn't the 
Bible call us to see Christ enthroned? Doesn't the Bible call us to 
act in faith? Doesn't the Bible call us to 
respond to the persecution of men with the preaching of the 
Word? Later on in this particular narrative, I'm not so sure we're 
going to make it to verse 12 this morning, but in the narrative, 
these guys can't deny that a miracle has transpired. It's intriguing 
because the man that was healed is right there before the Sanhedrin. 
Either he was arrested along with Peter and John, or he was 
summoned as a witness. But he's there in verse 10, he's 
there in verse 14. And the Sanhedrin, not the brightest 
bulbs in the chandelier, but this one thing they can't deny. 
that a notable miracle has been done, none of us can deny. He's 
standing right here. We used to see him begging at 
the gate. We used to see him not able to move. We saw him 
with our own eyes, but we don't want this message to spread, 
so we'll severely front the apostles and tell them to shut their mouths. 
Didn't work, did it? What do Peter and John do? Oh 
yeah, we better not. We better be quiet. We better 
not testify. We better go sit in our Christian 
ghetto and never tell anybody about Jesus Christ. No, we're 
going to obey God rather than men. And if that brings on further 
persecution, so be it. We trust in the wake of that 
further persecution, there's gonna be further preaching. And 
when there's further preaching, there's gonna be further spirit. 
And when there's further spirit, there's more conversion to Jesus 
Christ. You see, it's the blood of the 
martyrs that fertilize the very seed of the church to make it 
grow and spread. It is most glorious. Later in 
Philippians 1, Paul will say, for to me to live is Christ and 
to die is gain. Imagine if you're the magistrate 
and Paul's your prisoner. He comes before you to testify 
and he says, look, if you let me live, it's Christ. If you 
kill me, I get more Christ. That really bothers you as a 
magistrate, doesn't it? Because as a magistrate, you 
want to punish this guy. You want to teach him not to 
come against the empire. You want to teach him not to 
come against anybody that matters in society. But the guy stands 
there and says, if you let me live, I get Jesus. If you make 
me die, then I get more Jesus. What do you do with him? Away 
with him. Kill him. Well, great. I get more Jesus. 
I mean, how do you hurt Paul? You just can't, because he loves 
Jesus. How do you hurt the people of 
God? You can't, because they love Jesus. How do you stop the 
word of God? You can't, because it's the word 
of God. You see, it's a beautiful thing. 
And this is what Acts is telling us, that on the one hand, these 
disciples, these apostles are being put into custody. On the 
other hand, however, many of those who heard the word believed, 
and the number of the men came to be about 5,000. I love that 
language too, believed. What does the Bible everywhere 
teach us in terms of our acceptance with God? It's by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. Now was Luke's intention 
here to teach us a fully developed doctrine of justification by 
faith alone? No, but it certainly teaches 
us the doctrine of justification by faith alone. How does a man, 
a woman, a boy or a girl come into saving contact with Jesus? 
It's by faith. How do you this morning come 
into saving contact with Jesus? It's by faith. Now, you'll be told it's by faith 
plus what you do. Paul condemns that in the book 
of Galatians. It's faith plus getting circumcised. It's faith 
plus the good things that you do. It's faith plus, it's not 
faith plus, it's faith alone. Now the text, again, it's subtle, 
it's sublime, but it is powerful. However, many of those who heard 
the word Believed. Alexander says, believed, i.e., 
received it as true and trusted the Savior whom it offered. That's probably the best sort 
of explanation of belief or faith, terms which are synonymous in 
the scripture, by the way, that I can give you. This is a real 
melon scratcher for people brought up in churches, isn't it? Sometimes 
for the kids, it's like, well, what does it mean to believe? 
How do I know I'm believing? How do I know that I'm one of 
the ones that God calls his own? What's the proof? What's the 
way? What's the certain knowledge 
that I have? Listen to Alexander, receive it as true and trust 
the Savior whom it offers. That's basically what our Confession 
of Faith says with reference to saving faith. If I could just 
read between the lines or give you the Jim Butler paraphrase 
of the chapter in the Confession of Faith that speaks to this, 
it says, believe everything the Bible says is true. Believe everything 
the Bible says is true. There really were Hittites. People 
used to deny the existence of the Hittites until the early 
part of the 20th century. They uncovered the civilization 
of the Hittites. People have denied a whole host 
of things in the Bible, but saving faith says, no, you believe the 
Bible. You don't try to redefine it. 
You don't say, well, you know, that was then and this is now. 
God's intention wasn't to actually tell us that he created the world 
in six days. Does it ever arise in the minds of some who say 
that, that it really was God's intention to teach us that he 
created in six days? by the word of His power out 
of nothing and all very good? How come that's not an alternative? 
Why is that just obligatorily dismissed from the table? So 
the confession speaks of believing everything that the Bible says 
is true, but the principal acts of saving faith, the main thing 
is Jesus. to believe who Jesus is. And 
in terms of who Jesus is, we need to know what Jesus does. Jesus was and is the second person 
of the Trinity. Jesus was sent by the Father 
into this world. Jesus took on our humanity. He became in all points like 
us, yet without sin. In other words, He took on everything 
that makes a man a man. All the common properties associated 
with manhood, Jesus took it on. And yet he never stopped being 
God. These two natures in the one 
glorious person. And yet he comes now into this 
world and he lives like us. He's despised, he's rejected, 
he's mocked ultimately, and he's delivered up to die on the cross. 
He dies on that cross not because he's a sinner, not because he's 
a malefactor, not because he's committed any lawlessness against 
the empire, but he's in the place of sinners. Sin is imputed to 
him. He's not a sinner in terms of 
actuality, but he's constituted such so that the punishment of 
the Father upon him is the punishment that you and I deserve. It really 
is a beautiful transaction. It really is the way that God 
maintains being just and the justifier of the one who has 
faith in Christ. It's not just that death that 
we need. We need that life from age zero to 33. What did Jesus 
do? Everything the Father commanded 
Him. We need that. See, at times we 
emphasize the cross, and well, we should, but we ought never 
to minimize the life, because we not only need the forgiveness 
that the cross secures by the blood of Jesus, we need the righteousness 
that His life secures in His act of perfect obedience. You 
see, brethren, we need to be accepted by God. We need not 
only forgiveness, but we need a righteousness. And that's what 
avails in Christ. That's why it's good news. It's 
not good advice. It's not a bit of self-help. 
It's not try Christianity for a better life, but rather it's 
come to Jesus or die in your sins. That's why in verse 12, 
Peter's going to say there's no other name given under heaven 
among men by which we must be saved. Christ isn't a localized 
deity. He's not a ghetto deity. He's 
not just simply this one for this small band of apostles occupying 
Jerusalem at that particular time. There's no other name given 
under heaven. There's one name alone and it's 
Christ alone. The way of salvation is by faith 
in Him. That's what these men did. They 
heard the word and they believed. The sublimity of it, the blessedness 
of it is wonderful. You ever wondered why in the 
world people don't just believe? This text helps us to understand 
why they should. However, many of those who heard 
the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about 5,000. 
Now, as you will probably not doubt, there's a great deal of 
debate about that verse. Every verse of Scripture seems 
like there's competing interpretations. Is this 5,000 new ones in addition 
to the 3,000 from the day of Pentecost? Or is this 5,000 total? And is it just men? And that 
doesn't number the women and the children? Because that convention 
is used in the gospel narratives. I think Luke's point is that 
the church just grew a bunch. I don't think I can answer all 
of the questions sufficiently in terms of, is it 5,000 more? Is it 5,000 now? Is it just men, 
or does it include men, women? It means that while the apostles 
are in the poky, the Word of God is doing its job. Brethren, 
that's where we rest content. That's where we find our comfort. 
That's where we find our joy. That's where we find our hope. It's in the reality that Jesus 
Christ, at the right hand of God the Father on high, is building 
his church. In the reality that the gates 
of Haiti shall not prevail against it. And in the reality that when 
we get there, it's not going to be a handful of us. Do you 
ever realize how glorious it's going to be to see people from 
every tribe, tongue, people, and nation? I mean, for the most 
part, our church is pretty, what do they call it, homogenous? 
I don't know if that's the right word. You know, same genius. You know, most everybody here 
is kind of the same look. It's good to have blacks, good 
to have, you know, people from all over the world making up 
local churches, because local churches look like what the church 
in heaven looks like. It's men from every tribe, tongue, 
people, and nation. It's people from all over the 
globe. There's not going to be racism in heaven. There's not 
going to be oppression in heaven. There's not going to be any back 
of the bus in heaven. There's not going to be any favored 
ones in heaven, because there's one favored one in heaven, and 
it's Christ. And we, by grace in him, will 
be there praising and worshiping and glorifying and adoring and 
honoring in the way To attain that, again, is by faith. Look to Christ in faith, and 
you will have everlasting life. Well, let's pray. Father, thank 
you for your word. Thank you for the clarity of 
Luke, the author. Thank you for the clarity of 
the preaching of Peter. And thank you for the power of 
the gospel that we see displayed, not only in terms of personal 
salvation, but in terms of the body of Jesus Christ. The church 
that he promised to build is the church that he promises to 
sustain, and the church that he promises to complete and to 
bring into his heavenly presence. God, encourage us with this, 
as we see in this world, we see in the church, we see so many 
things that are opposed. both external, internal, and 
God, it's a grief to us. Nevertheless, encourage our hearts 
that the kingdom of Jesus Christ is advancing. And we pray that 
even today, people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation 
would believe the gospel and would be saved. And that's our 
desire for any and all here, that you would be merciful, that 
you'd open their eyes, that you would grant them the graces of 
faith and repentance, that they may close with Jesus Christ our 
Lord. And we ask this in his most blessed name. Amen. Well, 
let's close by standing and singing the doxology of praise to our 
triune God.