Acts 4 Men who made a mark

And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came unto them, that is, the disciples Peter and John, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in hold until the next day, for it was now eventide, howbeit many of them which heard the word believed. And the number of the men was about five thousand, and it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and as many as were of the kindred 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 ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner, and neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled, and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.

And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had 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 done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.

And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people.

For all men glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above forty years old on whom this miracle of healing was showed. Amen.

I omitted to mention a moment or so ago that we're looking forward this evening to having our friend Gordon Berry with us, Gordon and Mary, who many of you know are engaged with the work of Fieber in the Seychelles and shortly will be returning out there to the Far East. Well we're looking forward to their visit this evening and I do commend them and their work to you as a topic for prayer. Now if you have a New Testament, will you turn back to the reading that we had earlier from the fourth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles? And we shall be centering our meditation this morning around the thirteenth verse, Acts four verse thirteen.

I was reading a book by A.W. Tozer not so long ago and he's got a very pregnant chapter which carries the intriguing title, Have We Lost Our O? O-H. Have We Lost Our O? And really what he was getting at was this, that there is a possibility that Christian people may have lost their sense of astonishment and wonder at the things of God, perhaps lost some sense of incredulity when one reads remarkable things in the Word of God. And a familiarity with the Word of God, a good knowledge of it can paradoxically produce the same sort of effect as a shallow knowledge inasmuch as you don't stop and consider something that really is quite fantastic.

You don't say, oh fancy that, astonished, remarkable that something like this should ever have been written in the book. We've tended to lose our O simply because we're so familiar with certain passages from the Word of God. Why do I say that? Well it seems to me that we've got an example of this in the thirteenth verse to which I draw your attention of Acts four.

Let me read the statement to you. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. This verse enshrines the reaction of the civic dignitaries at Jerusalem to Peter and John.

They were astounded that Peter and John could conduct themselves in such a fashion and these civic authorities came to the conclusion that these men must have been with Jesus. And I say that that's an incredible thing for unbelievers to have concluded of their own initiative. And because we read this thirteenth verse so often, we've tended to lose the incredibility of it all that unbelievers should so react to believers in this fashion and come to the conclusion that they've been with Jesus.

Let me try and put this in form of an illustration so you'll see what I'm getting at, at least I hope you will. Imagine that two shop floor workers from Ford's at Dagenham had to stand in the Old Bailey because certain charges were brought against them and these men had no legal representation at all. They conducted their own case.

They weren't familiar with the British legal system. They had no knowledge of the intricacies of English law. But nonetheless they acquitted themselves well to the extent that the justice, the judge himself was astounded at the way they conducted their trial, they conducted their defense.

They were so au fait with the court situation that they didn't seem to be out of place at all. They were acting like professionals. And the judge I say is absolutely astounded.

Now that's the sort of situation that is spoken of in this particular chapter. Peter and John, ordinary working men, fishermen, propelled through a variety of circumstances into the court at Jerusalem, equivalent to our Old Bailey, and there in front of these civic judges and religious judges they conduct their own defense and they do so in such a fashion that these judges are impressed and they are driven inexorably to the conclusion that the only way to explain the expertise of Peter and John is by linking them up with the name of Jesus Christ and appreciating that this man Jesus has had such influence over Peter and John that they're able to conduct their defense against the charge of acting illegally at Jerusalem by preaching the gospel and by causing a civic disturbance. In effect you could say this from this thirteenth verse, that Peter and John made a mark.

They made an impression at the court in Jerusalem. They left an indelible impression on the minds of those who had the authority to try them. And it seems to me that what we need today in the twentieth century are men and women, believers in Jesus Christ, of the same mettle as Peter and John.

Believers who make a mark, who leave an impression, who deliver an impact when they're brought into contact with unbelievers. One of the reasons why we're engaged in the study of the Acts of the Apostles, and obviously it must be piecemeal, it would take me goodness knows how many years to go through verse by verse every Sunday morning, but one of the reasons why we're looking into this book is because we want to discover what the secret was behind the successful expansion of Christianity in its early days. What was it that caused the Christian church to make such an impact at Jerusalem, throughout Palestine and eventually throughout the Roman Empire? Because, whatever that was, we want to harness the power ourselves today.

We want to apply the secret so that we ourselves may be used by the Lord to make an impression upon modern society. Now I don't think anyone will argue with me thus far regarding the points that I've made concerning the early church. The members were remarkable people.

It was said by someone who was not a believer that although only a few years had elapsed, the Christians, the believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, had in one sense turned the world upside down. They made such an impact. They were just like a spiritual Vesuvius that had erupted and the lava had flowed down, not only into Palestine, but throughout the known world.

And I say that in this verse you have an illustration of two men who are making an impact, and that impact will be developed, it will be continued by all those who name the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and endeavor to live their lives for His service and for His glory. So if Peter and John, if you please, at the Old Bailey at Jerusalem, make a mark, make an impact, it's good for us today if we want to learn their secret, the secret behind their success, to examine the background to this particular incident and try to work out why it was that the judges were so impressed as they listened to the testimony of these two men. You remember what had happened before and the reason why Peter and John are on trial.

They had gone into the temple the previous day with the intent of engaging in prayer and they'd been accosted by a man who was a cripple and he wanted some help, he wanted some money. Peter and John had no money but they prayed for him and the net result was the man was healed and this caused a stir. It would cause a stir if it happened in Worthing today.

A congregation gathered in an impromptu fashion and Peter used this as an occasion to deliver his second sermon and he preached magnificently, inspired by the Holy Spirit with the net result as you'll read in the early verses of the fourth chapter that 5,000 men believed what Peter had said and they committed their lives to Jesus Christ. Now the Sadducees were disenchanted about this preacher, Fisherman Peter, and so they had him and his colleague arrested. They were thrown into jail overnight and then the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court, met in the morning and these two are brought in front of the magistrates and they have to give an account to themselves for what they've been doing during the last 24 hours.

So that is the scene and Peter and John conduct their defense and the net result as we've already established is this, they impress the judges, impress them tremendously. Peter and John made their mark. Now how did they make their mark? What was it about Peter and John that impressed these men who were listening in on this particular court case? Well, it's obvious to you from the opening statement of the thirteenth verse that Peter and John showed a remarkable courage.

These judges saw the boldness of Peter and John. That's how the authorized version translates it. They were bold in the way that they conducted their defense.

If you read in the ninth verse of the accusation and the way that Peter counters the accusation that's been leveled against him, you will see that boldly he says, we are examined this day, we're being interrogated by you, we're on trial simply because of the good deed that we've done to this impotent man. Here is Peter defending himself and he's doing it in a very bold and in a very logical fashion. You will gather from the fourteenth verse that the man who's been healed, the star witness in the case, has turned up at court and this is very convenient, for Peter can demonstrate the fact that it's this man who is a cripple who has been healed and there he is in the court.

Now says Peter, are you really accusing us of breaking the law simply because we've healed this man? Here is Peter engaged, boldly defending himself and pointing out the absurdity of him and the magistrates on this occasion. But the boldness of Peter is not only determined in his defense, but he makes an accusation and he's at liberty or he takes the liberty to accuse the judges because he explains the reason why the cripple has been healed, it's through faith in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and he goes on to say that it was Jesus Christ, verse ten, whom ye, the judges, and the rest of the Jewish authorities crucified, whom God raised from the dead. So here is Peter not just defending himself but now attacking the bench and here I say is a very bold thing.

Remember he's only a fisherman, he's not a lawyer, he has no training in Jewish legal affairs but here he is attacking the bench, accusing them of being responsible for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. So in a very bold fashion he conducts the case. And what is more, in the twelfth verse, courageously, he affirms his belief in the salvation that Jesus Christ came on earth to proclaim.

And he goes so far as to say this, look, there is no salvation available on this earth for this nation or for that matter any other nation save the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. And do you know you men who are on the bench, the high priest and all the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin, all the Sadducean party, you need to be saved. Isn't this precisely what he says in the latter part of the twelfth verse? None of the name given among men whereby we must be saved.

So you see the boldness that there is in Peter and also in his colleague John's defence and accusation and their affirmation of the gospel as they conduct their case. And this boldness, it impresses these unbelieving judges. They have to recognise that this is a quality that these men are showing.

But there is something else here that helps Peter and John as they make a mark upon these men. And it is the wisdom that belongs to them. Now you don't expect to find wisdom amongst ordinary fisherfolk like Peter and John.

They expected, the judges did, that they would be simple, naive men. But this was not the case. When they examined them, we read in the thirteenth verse, they perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men.

And when they perceived that that was their background, they marvelled. Because the way they spoke, the way they conducted their defence, the way they enunciated their arguments, well it suggested a wisdom that didn't usually belong to such working class staff as Peter and John. And so the magistrates are astounded at this.

They realise from the dress that these men wear, from the accent that is theirs, that these are not legally trained individuals by any means. They are unlearned. They're ignorant men.

That word unlearned and ignorant actually isn't, these words are not quite as harsh as they sound in the AV when you translate them from the Greek. What really they are saying is this. They recognise that they're not professional men.

They haven't been to the rabbinical school. They haven't done a three or four year course in law and come away with a Bachelor of Law degree. And yet the way they conduct their defence, the way they dip into the Old Testament for substantiation to underline their argument, well it's quite incredible.

These men have a wisdom that one would not expect them to have as ordinary fishing men. Men who have given the previous years of their lives to conducting an ordinary business around the Sea of Galilee. So Peter and John here display a wisdom that makes an impact upon these high court officials.

And do you remember, the same sort of observation was made on one occasion regarding the Lord Jesus. He was engaged in preaching and the congregation that gathered, he was speaking actually in the temple, couldn't really understand how this man, I'm quoting John 7, I think it's verse 46, it's certainly John 7, how does this man speak like this when he's never learned letters, he's never had the training that the rabbis have had, and yet they go on to make this affirmation concerning the Lord Jesus. No one else ever spoke like he spoke.

He has a wisdom that is extraordinary, a wisdom that is divine. Well that same wisdom that the Lord Jesus had, it sort of spilt over to Peter and John and they too were imbibed with it. And one would expect this of course because Jesus was the greatest teacher that ever lived and for three years Peter and John had been members of his school.

They had learned from him. And what is more, the Lord Jesus had promised them that when critical occasions arose in their lives in the days that were to come, when they were brought before judges because of their belief in him, they were not to get over-concerned about their defense because it would be given to them at that moment what they were to say. And here is a proof that the promise of the Lord Jesus was a valid one as they lean upon him and they receive inspiration from the Holy Spirit.

So Peter and John, they impress these judges by the wisdom that they have, a wisdom they've received from the Lord. And let it be said that today the wisdom that we require as we live out our lives as Christian people is a wisdom that God is able to give us. If any man lacks wisdom, says the Bible, let him ask of God who upbraideth not and gives liberally.

God grants wisdom to those who ask of him. God does not expect Christian people to go around as obscurantists, not being able to give any reason for the hope that there is within them. It is necessary for you and for me to be skilled in the word of God.

I don't mean that everyone needs to be a preacher. I certainly don't mean that everyone needs to go off to theological college. But what I do say is this, that in this book is the depository of divine truth.

It's part of your legacy because you belong to Jesus Christ. You can peruse it, you can imbibe it, you can drink it in. And the net result of doing all that is when people ask you about your faith.

You have the ability to give them a reasonable answer for the hope that there is within you and to challenge them as Peter and John challenged the magistrates to make a mark, to make an impression for the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's something else I suggest that you find in this text besides the boldness and the wisdom that Peter and John manifest, something perhaps a little more intangible. But it's there if you study the text in any depth.

The magistrates are impressed with the bearing, with the deportment of these two fishermen. They come to the conclusion that somebody has influenced them in a remarkable fashion because they don't behave as they expect men from that particular calling to behave, not in a court of law. And because of the bearing, because of the deportment of Peter and John, the magistrates are forced to the conclusion that they are indeed Peter and John associates of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There's a bearing, a dignity that comes out in this courtroom that is impressive. And I have often argued and will continue to argue that there is a dignity in the Christian life. It's one of my hobby horses that when we are reconciled to the Lord, he restores the dignity that we lost, that we have lost when we engaged in sinfulness, when we rebelled against the Lord.

There is a dignity in being a Christian. And I praise God for men who I've met in the 20th century, people in this church and people going back to my days at Theological College, some of our great teachers there who really impressed me. Some of you have been blessed, I think, by the ministry of the late Dr. Ernest Kevin.

Now there is a man who had a dignity about him, or Kerry Oakley, the man who was lecturer at the London Bible College for many a long year. There was a dignity about these men. You realize that something extraordinary had happened in their lives.

I'm not here engaged in some exaggerated argument. I tell you that these men had a dignity about them, and we're grateful to see this dignity, this department in evidence amongst some within the local church here in Worthing Tabernacle. Now I suggest that this dignity is a very precious thing, this department.

It makes an impact. People sometimes seem to have blinkers on. They seem to be insensitive to the claims of Jesus Christ.

And perhaps they are with our argumentation. Perhaps they are with our theological structures. But people are not as blind as sometimes they appear.

And when they see men and women who have been changed by the power of God, then I say that makes an impact. These magistrates did not want to make the conclusion that Peter and John had been with Jesus, but it was the only rational explanation. It was the only way that they could understand how these two fellows could conduct themselves in such a fashion.

They'd seen it all before. They'd seen it in the life of Jesus Christ. This man whom the Sadducean party at Jerusalem particularly were at enmity with, he spoke about the resurrection.

They denied the resurrection. He preached against materialism, and they embodied materialism in their own attitude at the temple and the way that they hogged so much of the fruits of Jewish society at that time. They were at war with Jesus Christ, and when they did him to death at Calvary's cross, they thought that was the end of the matter.

But in come Peter and John, disturbed the situation. Tranquility had returned, or so it seemed to the Sadducean scene at Jerusalem when Jesus had been done to death. But there's more than just a semblance of Jesus about Peter and John.

And it's this that goads the Sadduceans. They've seen it before. This bearing, this ability to enunciate Scripture, this ability to speak in terms of the salvation that all men must accept if they are to be reconciled to God, spilt over from Jesus Christ into the very fiber of the being of his disciples, is something of his dignity, something of the message that he came to bring.

Peter and John, who are aflame with the Lord Jesus Christ, impressing magistrates who have to come to the conclusion that these men have been influenced by the Saviour. Now my time's nearly gone, but I want to say this, that it is necessary for us today to try to emulate Peter and John, and to make an impact for Jesus Christ. And you know, you do this almost in an imperceptible fashion, because I don't think that Peter and John went into the courtroom to try to make an impact.

It's like preaching a sermon. If you try and preach a sermon to make an impact, it never gets across. The sermon must first of all make an impact upon you if it's going to make an impact upon your congregation, an impression that is made.

It comes not because you have predetermined that it will come, but rather it comes because there's nothing that you can do to stop it. And this is precisely the case with Peter and John. They were making an impression, perhaps didn't even realize that they were so doing.

Now why? Why did they make an impact? Well the only explanation I can give is this. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. You've got to come back to the New Testament teaching of the fullness of the Holy Spirit to explain how these men and others who were their associates were able to exhibit these qualities of courage and wisdom, and show a dignity that was compatible with the name of the Lord Jesus.

You see, Peter and John weren't always like this. Peter wasn't always courageous. You remember several incidents that must immediately spring to your mind when you go back to Peter's mistakes when he denied the Lord Jesus Christ, when even servant girls terrified him as they accused him of being a colleague of the Lord Jesus.

He wasn't always courageous. And not a long time had elapsed between his timidity and now his boldness. But in those intervening weeks something remarkable had happened.

There'd been the resurrection, yes, and there'd also been that tremendous experience that Peter and John had known, the fullness of God's Spirit descending upon them and the 120 in the upper room. It was the very Spirit of Jesus, the power of Jesus, that they absorbed, that gripped their whole personality, that transformed them, that turns Peter from a fisher of ordinary fish to a fisher of men, that gives to him an ability to courageously proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus and to conduct his defense at the Old Bailey of Jerusalem and challenge the magistrates concerning the things of God. You can go through the Acts of the Apostles and you'll see this boldness and this wisdom exhibited by many members of the early church.

Read on in this fourth chapter later on today and you'll see how the church prayed that they would be even more bold in declaring the gospel of Jesus. And when they prayed that, what happened? The Spirit came down and they were filled afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit. And what was the result of that? They spake the word of God with boldness.

Read about Stephen in Acts chapter 7. See how this man conducts a most remarkable ministry. See how he is also brought before the magistrates and he tells them about the Lord Jesus Christ. And you'll note as you're reading how Stephen relies upon the Holy Spirit.

There is a boldness there, a wisdom which is noted as the historian records the events which Stephen has. Oh, I say that Peter and John's ability to impress the magistrates, the reason for that ability, it must be traced back to the infilling of the Holy Spirit which they have received. Look at the eighth verse of chapter 4. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel.

And today the same thing is required in the experience of each one of us, not as just some cataclysmic event, not as just one event in a lifetime, but rather something that is repetitive, something that we know each day, that quickening of the Holy Spirit, that fullness of the Spirit. By one Spirit, says the New Testament, Paul being the writer, for by one Spirit will you all be baptized into one body. The fullness of the Spirit is our inheritance in Christ Jesus.

But whether we've drawn on that inheritance sufficiently enough is a question which you must answer yourself and which I must ask and answer myself. But the point is this, that the supply of God's Spirit is as available to us in the twentieth century as it was to the Christians in the first century. And that man and that woman who would make a mark for Jesus Christ must be a man or a woman filled with the Holy Ghost.

And when you're filled with the Holy Ghost, even though you're not aware of it at the time, you make an impression on other people. This is what happened in the cases of fishermen. May it be what happens in our experience as we live lives for the glory of Jesus Christ and make an impact amongst our neighbors or workfellows or members of our family, whatever it may be.

Amen. Father, we recognize that thy word is our chart and compass, and we've looked into it this morning. And if it is the case that we've been a little off course, that we need to redirect the particular sails that guide our ship across the seas of life, we pray that by the power of the Holy Spirit, thou will put us back on course, and we pray that our lives may make an impact for others as we open our hearts day by day to the fullness of your Spirit.

So Father, get honor and glory to your name as we live for you. And now as we take our leave from this church, we're soliciting thy blessing, the blessing of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and always. Amen.