In his sermon titled 'No Other Name,' Trent Moody expounds on Acts 4, highlighting the power and exclusivity of salvation through Jesus Christ. The sermon begins by describing how Peter and John, filled with the Holy Spirit, boldly preached Jesus' resurrection, leading to the healing of a lame man. This miracle and their preaching disturbed the religious leaders, particularly the Sadducees, who opposed the idea of resurrection. Peter and John were arrested and questioned about the authority by which they performed the miracle. Peter, empowered by the Holy Spirit, declared that the healing was done in the name of Jesus Christ, whom the leaders had crucified but God had raised from the dead. Moody emphasizes that the name of Jesus is the only name given under heaven by which people must be saved. He also discusses the inevitable opposition to the gospel and encourages believers to be bold and fearless in proclaiming it, relying on the Holy Spirit for strength. The sermon concludes by urging listeners to repent and accept Jesus as their Savior, underscoring the futility of religious rituals without true faith in Christ.

Praise the Lord. In the book of Acts chapter 4, thus says the word of the Lord. Now as they spoke to the people, the priest, 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 Anas the high priest, and 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? And 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." Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you and praise you for such a clear testimony of who Jesus Christ is. Lord, this is so perfectly clear. There is no doubt about what you are testifying regarding your son Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

And Lord, I pray that as I stand here, let everyone here know, and let all the world know that it is Jesus Christ and him alone who can save sinners. And Lord, I pray today that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you will convict souls of the truthfulness of your word, that you would bring those who are dead in their sins and trespasses To life that they might see the risen Christ and Lord I pray for all of those who are believing in your son that they would be encouraged and Boldened even like Peter and John and the Apostles, that they would be emboldened Lord to proclaim your gospel to every creature under heaven. And Lord I ask this in Jesus name, Amen. You may be seated. And we prayed in Jesus name.

There is no other name. We read this in our text this morning. There is no other name given among men by which we must be saved." You know it's very interesting. Wherever the gospel is boldly and faithfully preached, there the devil will find opportunity to be in opposition of that gospel that is being preached. Do not think it's strange to be opposed when you share the gospel.

Do not think it's strange that everywhere the gospel is faithfully preached, there the devil with his minions will be to resist you and to oppose you in what you are trying to do. Because eternity is in the balance. Eternity is on the line. The gospel goes forth for faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And that is what is taking place here.

We see this in the book of Acts all the way from the very beginning of the book of Acts. Peter cannot contain himself anymore now that he has been filled with the Holy Spirit. We read that in verse 5. Let's see here in one of these verses here. I about lost my place.

That Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, verse 8, and he is so emboldened to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that he no longer fears the opposition. You see, the Testimony of history teaches us that everywhere the truth is proclaimed, that the opposition will come in some different ways. One, there will be lies, there will be mocking, there will be persecution, and not behind that will be imprisonment for those who will boldly proclaim the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So be ready. In our text, it seems a bit odd until this point that we really do not see these religious leaders.

We don't see the high priests. We don't see the rulers. We don't see the Sadducees. We don't see the Pharisees. We see many Jews who are there, but here all of these who were opposed to the message of Jesus Christ are nowhere to be found at this point.

But here the gospel is being proclaimed, a man has been healed and there's no way to deny what God has done in the healing of this lame man. It is irrefutable and they themselves later on give this testimony. It cannot be denied that this man that was lame is now standing here in our midst right before their eyes whole and they could not deny it. You see after the death of Jesus Christ these religious leaders thought that they would be done with this new doctrine that was filling all of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. But what they now find is that through his death they only planted the seed that would grow to fill the entire earth.

Once they heard of the healing of the lame man they made a beeline through the crowd to confront the men who had done this notable miracle because they were filling Jerusalem with their doctrine. And it was undeniable. So what I want to do this morning is look at just a few things. First and foremost we want to look in verses one through four and we're going to look at the reaction to their teaching and preaching. Whenever there is teaching and preaching of the gospel in truth there is a reaction.

There will be a reaction here this morning in fact. There will be the reaction of a testimony of amen, hallelujah, praise be to God, or there may be a reaction of I don't believe that. There's always a reaction. It could even be that there would be a reaction, I don't foresee this happening here, but there could be a reaction of opposition standing against it. Let me tell you one thing, when you leave these walls and preach the gospel you be ready for that reaction because that is the one that will be coming to you if you faithfully preach the Word of God as Peter and John here were doing.

So we begin with this reaction to their teaching and preaching. Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captains of the 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." Here we are, we have Peter and John standing boldly in the temple and they are teaching and preaching the Word of God. They taught the people. This is one of the things that disturbed them. And we'll look at this disturbance here in just a moment.

This is one of the things that disturbed these Sadducees and the captain and these rulers that were coming here to see what was going on. This is what disturbed them. They were filling the people with biblical doctrine of the resurrection Jesus Christ. And you can imagine that they were upset about this. That a notable miracle had been done the crowd had seen.

It had drawn this crowd to Peter and John. Remember, Peter and John had gone up at the hour of prayer. They were going to offer prayers and this lame man laid there asking for alms. And then that's when Peter addressed this lame man, silver and gold I do not have but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." And he went walking and leaping and praising God and no one could deny it because this man had been laid in the gate every day for almost the entirety of his life. The people knew him and now they saw him standing, leaping, and rejoicing and praising God in the temple.

The notable miracle could not be denied. That it was through faith in the name of Jesus Christ. Again throughout the book of Acts and especially in chapter 4 we see it over and over in chapter 3 and chapter 4 we see it over and over again. It's in the name of Jesus Christ. That is where the power and the authority of all of us who proclaim the gospel come from.

I don't stand here to preach in my name. Goodness, why show up? I have no authority. I have no name of recognition. We're here because of the name of Jesus.

It is at the name of Jesus that the dead were raised. It is by the authority of Jesus when he called for Lazarus to rise up, he got up. And it is by the authority and power of the Lord Jesus Christ that one day he spoke to me from dead and made me living. That is the greatest miracle of all. You see they were teaching them not only from their present circumstances but they also were calling forth the prophets and the Old Testament prophecies regarding Jesus Christ as being the Holy One.

We looked at this last time. They were proclaiming all the things that the prophets had proclaimed to them. He even said, for truly Moses said to the fathers, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. And then he goes on to say, yes and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow as many as have spoken have also foretold these days. He was proclaiming the totality of the gospel.

The gospel is not just in the New Testament. The gospel has been proclaimed from the book of Genesis and it is still being proclaimed today. Not with the revelation as we have of the Word of God, but we are preaching that revealed Word of God to those, every creature who will hear us. And so as they were preaching, what were they preaching? Well very specifically we need to look at this because this is what made the Sadducees so upset.

What were they preaching? You know I've seen preachers preach before and I've heard preachers preach before and no one gets upset. I've come to the conviction that if your preaching doesn't upset someone you might not be telling the whole Council of God and here they surely had their opposition. They preached first and foremost Jesus as being the source of the healing of the lame man. Look with me back in verse 16.

This is their testimony. And his name through faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Remember, Peter is right in the middle of his sermon and these Sadducees and these captain of the temple and these rulers come up and they interrupt him right in the middle of his message. How discouraging that must have been.

But anyway here he is preaching and they're interrupting him. They come in it says in verse 1, as they spoke to the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them being greatly disturbed. And here they are because they didn't like the message that was being preached. Jesus Christ was the source of this healing. It amazes me that the hardness of their heart was to such an extent that even though they were standing there looking at a man who was once lame and is now standing and leaping and rejoicing in the presence of the temple, all they worried about was by what name and by what authority did you do this.

You cannot cure the hardness of hearts by the healing of the lame. It is not through miracles that faith comes. It is through the preaching of the word of God. That is where the power is to convert a dead sinner to a living saint. You see, they preached Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Look in verse 14. He says, but you denied the holy one and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the Prince of life whom God raised from the dead of which we are witnesses." Can you see why the Sadducees were disturbed? Not only that but they they again they preached the resurrection of Jesus Christ Verse 15 is what I just read there. They preach that God raised him from the dead and that they were witnesses of this resurrection. And not only they, but we know that above 500 of the brethren saw him after his resurrection.

It was undeniable that there is a resurrection of the dead. And this is what was going to greatly disturb and did greatly disturb especially the Sadducees. You see they were speaking and preaching. The core meaning of this word to preach, which is throughout this and what they're talking about is, is that they were announcing something publicly. They were telling it with conviction and they preached it as an advocate of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If they had done this in a corner quietly they might not have gotten such a stir. But here they are in the temple. A miracle has been done to draw a crowd and as Peter and John saw the crowd coming around they said this is an opportune time to proclaim the gospel. This is the time to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So the result of this, of their teaching, again I've noted it four or five times already, is that the Sadducees were greatly disturbed.

As noted by one commentator, he says, the Sadducees denied both the resurrection and the future state. In the gospels, it's the Pharisees that we see presented as the great opponents of Jesus Christ. However in the book of Acts it is the Sadducees who are the most violent opponents of the apostles. The reason of this seems to be that in the gospels, Jesus Christ came in direct collision with the Pharisees by unmasking their hypocrisy and endangering their influence among the people. Whereas, the apostles, in testifying to the resurrection of Jesus Christ opposed the creed of the Sadducees.

This is what so greatly disturbed the Sadducees because they were the ones who had the rule over the temple. They were the ones who had to rule over the the worship within the temple and the sacrifices, they were the ones who were having their doctrine and their creed crushed by the apostles standing in their home court. They didn't like what they taught. They were greatly disturbed. They were irked, if you would.

They were perturbed because they taught the resurrection of Jesus Christ as being the power of the miracle that raised this lame man up to walk and everyone just witnessed it. Again I stand amazed at the hardness of the heart of fallen men. They all want to sign. Prove it. Show me.

But here you even have the testimony of the guards who guarded the tomb of Jesus Christ going forth and telling them exactly what had happened. They gave testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and yet they were willing to receive money to deny it and said that the disciples came and stole his body away. Don't tell me you need to see it to believe. You need to believe in order to see. You need the quickening power of the Holy Spirit of God to awaken you from your deadness of sin so that you can see the glorious gospel.

That's what man needs. So don't think you're gonna argue someone into the kingdom. I've tried. It doesn't work. And then others I can barely just fumble through the gospel and man they're so ready to believe and they come out just wide-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready to go forward.

It's because of the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Word of God. Don't ever minimize the power of the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring a dead man to life. Because that's what it is. They didn't like the content. You see, this is the way it always is.

This is the way it always is. This is the way it always was. When Jesus preached, he came saying, you have heard it said, but I say to you, he contradicted their doctrine. He contradicted their established doctrine of the Pharisees, and he contradicted the established doctrine. We know that he had that discussion with the Sadducees as well and anytime someone contradicts the narrative of the people of those in leadership there is an irkidness that's a new word they are perturbed They are disturbed greatly and all of these religious leaders were greatly disturbed because they were seeing the results of their preaching and ultimately they could do nothing about it.

Ultimately they didn't believe in the freedom of speech either. Notice what they're so upset about. It says, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. I find this very interesting and instructive, especially in our current context. They wanted to control the speech of those within the temple, specifically.

They wanted to be the gateway of anything that went out to the people. They wanted to be the gatekeepers. Not so much has changed. We've seen the same thing happening over and over throughout history. Freedom of speech is a scary thing to a petty dictator.

One of the rights that is codified in our Bill of Rights is the freedom of speech. This right was not given to us by our founders. It was not given to us by our government. The freedom to speak was given to us by our God. We have an inalienable right by God and the government and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights protects that right for us to speak freely like I am doing right here today.

But I want you to understand something. If the government gives you this right, then that means they can take it away. But however, if they take it away but they did not give you that right they are illegitimate in that point in which they try to take it away and to silence you. We actually see Peter and John discussing this very thing later in chapter 4 and I'll reference that in just a moment. So this means this unalienable right that is given to us by God.

This word means that this right is not able to be taken away from the possessor or given away by the by the possessor of this right. In other words, if someone, be it an individual or a government, tries to take this right from you or tries to stop you from using this right, they are illegitimate in that point. I guess by some liberal political pundits, I am now a Christian nationalist because I believe that my rights came from God. Let's be careful about our definitions. He who tries to define tries to win.

But I want you to realize something that I believe the right to speak freely, especially, especially the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the right that God has given. And we should use that right to the fullest extent possible. As we will see in my next sermon in Acts 4, 18 through 20, listen to what is said. So they called them, Peter and John, they called them and commanded them not to speak at all or to teach in the name of Jesus. I don't like your speech.

But Peter and John answered and said to them, Whether is it right in the sight of God to listen to you more than God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. We cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard. But unfortunately in our nation today we have a bunch of coward preachers who are not willing to speak what they have seen and what they have heard. We need to stand up on the Word of God and boldly proclaim the gospel to every creature in this world.

That is our commission. That is what Christ has called us to do. And we are not powerless to do it. Notice what happened with Peter in verse 8. Just quickly, then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them.

Notice what the Great Commission says. Turn to Matthew 28. Sometimes I think we just think over these things and we don't look at it very carefully. Listen again what Jesus commands his disciples. And Jesus came and spoke to them in verse 18, Matthew 28, and he says this, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age. Amen. That is our commission and we need to take the commission and we need to stand boldly upon our convictions to preach the Word of God And stop being cowardly. Stand with boldness. And do not fear what men can do to you.

You know we're going to see such a change in what happens to Peter here. Peter, he begins, not that we should take his example in this point, but he begins being scared of a slave girl when he is questioned. Let's look at that. They arrest Peter and John for their speech. Remember that they didn't arrest them for what they did but for what they said about what they did.

They were okay with the lame man being healed But they weren't okay with whom they gave the authority and the source of that healing too. They weren't okay with the name of Jesus Christ and that's what the world is not okay with. And I'm not just talking about saying Jesus, I'm talking about proclaiming the fullness of his gospel, saying that he is king of kings and lord of lords saying he is exclusively the only way for a man to be saved. He knocks down every other idol and every other religion and there's nothing left but the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what they cannot stand.

They want you to be tolerant of everything and if you're tolerant of everything they're okay with you but if you stand for anything they will resist you. You see they laid their hands on them they put them in custody and we remember they didn't arrest them for what they did. They arrested them for what they said. One commentator, Marshall Howard said this, the church cannot obey orders to give up its most characteristic activity, the witness to the risen Lord, although it must be prepared to pay the price of its refusal, refusal to keep quiet. Are you willing to pay the price for your refusal to be quiet.

I refuse to be quiet about the gospel. You see these religious leaders could not refute what had happened. That's why they arrested them. We got to get them out of the way so the people can't see them and they can't hear them anymore. This happens in many different ways in our culture now.

It happens mostly through technology now. But guess what? We need to be the kind of people who don't even have to use technology to proclaim the goodness of the gospel. It's easy to say something on Twitter and it's easy to put something on Facebook and then whine and cry when they take it down. Guess what?

God commanded us to go into the world and to preach the gospel and if they close that down that means they're putting you into prison and guess what? When you're there then you stand and proclaim to the prison guard and you stand and proclaim to the other prisoners and God will be with you there in the prison you proclaim the truth of the gospel Wherever you are and don't whine about them kicking you off some platform Just preach the gospel and don't worry about what they're going to do to you because guess what they will persecute you we are promised we are promised to be persecuted let me tell you something you better be preparing your children for it I practiced my sermon for probably an hour the other day at the dinner table. I'm trying to prepare my children for what most likely is coming our way and you better be ready. You see the Bible says in verse 14 and seeing the man who had been healed standing with them they could say nothing against it And when they cannot refute it by words, they will try to shut you down with actions.

But here is what the enemies of God still haven't figured out. Verse 4. However, many of those who heard the word believed. And the number of the men came to be about 5,000. Persecution does not hinder the Word of God, but rather it invigorates the Word of God.

It waters the seed of the Word of God. The blood of the martyrs is that fertilizer for the Word of God to go forth. God uses these things to bring about and so it's just like it's something that you just can't kill. Put it in prison and it flies like a bird and it goes all over the place. You throw it and shut it down on the technology platforms?

Guess what? I'm telling my neighbor and I'm telling my children and I'm going to tell everybody else I meet. And you cannot stop the Word of God. In fact, with young people especially, if you tell them whatever you do, don't read this forbidden book, what are they going to do? They're going to go read that forbidden book.

You're not going to stop the Word of God. Contrary to the hopes of the religious leaders that seeing someone arrested for preaching the Gospel, that that would quench the fires of revival, it rather poured oil on the flames. And so much like John Bunyan's Pilgrim Progress, there was a man pouring water on the fire in his vision. And he could not figure out why it did not go out until he walked around to the other side of the wall. And on the other side of the wall what he saw was a man pouring oil on the fire.

And that water did not quench the fire because the oil was was flaming it up and that is the working of the Spirit of God with the Word of God. Let the cold water committee show up and pour water all over. I don't care because the oil of the Holy Spirit of God is going to cause the fire of the gospel to burn in spite of it and that's what we need to be boldly proclaiming. Don't think it is upon your own efforts. Don't think it is upon your own wisdom.

You were to preach boldly the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ because the power of it is not in you the power of it is in the Word of God and in the Holy Spirit to make it effectual to the saving of the soul So saving faith comes remember not it comes by hearing not by healing. Acts 4 4. However many of those who heard the word believed. It does not say that many of those who saw the sign believed. In fact we read in John 2 23 now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Jesus there during the feast many believed listen many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did you said brother he just said they don't you don't believe because of signs we'll just listen to what kind of belief they had.

Verse 24 of John chapter 2, but Jesus did not commit himself to them because he knew all men and had no need that anyone should testify of man for he knew what was in man. You see signs and wonders do not save rather it is faith produced by the Spirit of God's effectual working through the Word of God faithfully proclaimed. They had a type of belief and that's what's wrong with most of professing Christianity. They have a type of belief that is not a saving belief. They have a damning belief.

They have a belief enough to say, yeah I should probably go to church. They have a belief enough to say, yeah I believe the Bible is God's Word. But they don't have a belief enough to turn from their sins and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. There is an eternity of difference. See the demons believe.

How much faith do we have? Do we have an unsaving belief? Do we have a demon belief? Or do we have a true saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? In the book of James it says you believe there's one God you do well.

The demons also believe and tremble. Wait a minute, the demons fear? Most professing Christians do not fear God, but the demons fear God. They often would say to Jesus, have you come to torment us before the time? They knew that at a word Jesus could cast their spirits into hell for all eternity.

You need and must have a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ or you will be one of those who the Lord says, depart from me, I never knew you. But Lord, Didn't we prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? I never knew you. What kind of faith is that? May God help us not to be of that crowd.

We see this exponential growth of the church. The number of the men came to be about 5,000. Just let that settle there. Think of the revival that was taking place, the true spirit-born working of God in the hearts of those, just the men were almost 5,000, not counting women and children. Praise the Lord for the working of God.

Next we see in verses five through seven, Peter and John questioned by the Sanhedrin. And it came to pass on the next day that their rulers and elders and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priests were gathered together at Jerusalem. Now the numbers if you kind of look into some of the history and how they did things we're looking at upwards of probably 70 people. There's a lot of people there And when they had set them in the midst, this is called intimidation. They thought with a large crowd, in fact, hey, we have the high priest and the high priest.

What's that about? Well there was two high priests. You had one that was approved by the Romans, the other ones that was seen as being the high priest by the Jews, and then you even had John who's listed next. Some believe, I don't know this for a fact, but some believe that this may even been the son of another that was going to be high priest whose name was later recorded in history as Jonathan instead of John as is here. Alexander we don't know anything about that I don't know anything about that I've read but here we have all of this group and then it says 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 of them you can imagine this this inquisition that was getting ready to take place they're going to question them.

Peter and John are under the interrogation. They pulled out the big guns for the Inquisition, the high priest and all of these people, no doubt with all of their garb. The big question, by what power or by what name have you done this?" Did they not know? I think they very well knew whose name they had done this. They had not done this in a corner.

Jesus himself did not do his ministry in a hidden corner. He proclaimed it loud and he proclaimed it to all. And now the apostles were doing the same thing. They knew. Basically they were saying, we who stand in front of You are the power and the name who gives authority to people around here.

And you didn't get the authority and the power from us, so who did you get it from? Because they were impotent when it came to healing somebody. They hadn't seen that done. They had never experienced that. But now here they are, they're seeing it done.

They had seen it done by Jesus Christ. They crucified Him. They thought it was over. Now they're seeing it by Peter and John. And they're wanting to know who gave you this power?

Who gave you this authority? So by what power or by what name have you done this? Who has more power and more authority than we do?" This idea of this power that they were asking about, who gave you the ability and the authority to heal a man and to contradict our gospel, our doctrine, excuse me. Our doctrine is there is no resurrection and here you proclaim that it's through the resurrection that this man was made whole. Who do you think you are?

And whose name? Matthew Henry says the question they asked them was this, by what power or by what name have you done this? By what authority do you do these things? It's the same question that they asked their master in Matthew 21, 23. Who commissioned you to preach such a doctrine as this, and who empowered you to do a work such as a miracle like this, you have no warrant or license from us, and therefore are accountable to us when you do not do what we say.

You see the intimidation factor. Don't be surprised when those you are contradicting with the gospel will try to intimidate you to stop. It's clear. The name and the authority that they did this miracle with was mentioned in Acts chapter 3 verse 6 and Acts 3 16 and Acts 3 26. They continually said it was Jesus Christ the servant of God the Holy One the just the Prince of life Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

That's whose authority we did this. So you know, don't ask a question if you don't want the answer. They asked the question and now Peter was going to give it to them. And we come to verses 8 through 12. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit.

Can I just stop right there? May God grant that we would only proclaim the gospel while being filled with the Holy Spirit. We don't need fleshly preachers. We need Spirit-filled preachers. We need men who are willing to stand on the conviction of the Word of God that it is the Word of God.

And in fact if you don't believe all of it, do me a favor, don't preach any of it. It is the Word of God by which faith comes. And if you go around undermining the Word of God, you undermine the message of the gospel. So stand firm that it is the Word of God that you preach. May you be bound to it.

May your mind and your soul be chained to it, and may the Holy Spirit of God fill you for the work which he has called us all to do. And here 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." Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. The words of Jesus were being fulfilled at this moment in Luke 21 Jesus says, but it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.

Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all of your adversaries will not be able to contradict or to resist. In Acts chapter 1 verse 8, again, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. The power of the witness was the Holy Spirit of God. This man Peter had already proven his natural abilities and they were not flattering. Before the Holy Spirit, he cowered at the presence of a slave girl in Matthew 26, 69.

That slave girl said, you're one of them, not me. But now being filled with the Holy Spirit, he stands boldly, both before the face of the high priest and all of those in authority over their religion. And he stands boldly and proclaims to them and even points at them and says, you're the one who crucified him, but God raised him from the dead. They boldly proclaim this gospel. There was nothing they could say about it because he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

They could not resist his words just like Jesus said in Luke 21. And they stood boldly before the high priest and the religious leaders and proclaimed that Jesus Christ is the Holy One of God. And then Peter clarifies this question in verse 8, the latter part of verse 8 and 9. He says, 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. You see they were arrested and were now on trial for a good deed done.

Yet it was not so much for the good deed as much as it was the name in which the good deed was done. The high priest and the religious leaders had hoped that this character Jesus would fade from the scene once that they had put him to death. You remember that's why they set the guard lest the second deception would be worse than the first. But What they couldn't count on was that it was actually at the very point that God, at that very point of them crucifying him, that God would highly exalt him. And that's the way it works with the enemies of God.

The point at which they think they're going to snuff you out is the means and the ways by which he exalts his son, Jesus Christ, and when they arrest you the gospel still goes out. When they shut you down on your platform, the gospel will still go out. When they crucified the Messiah, the gospel only went out that much more. Because the power of the Holy Spirit of God was working in the Word of God to produce the works of God. You see Philippians 2, 8 and 9 says this, and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name." And yes, I'm stopping right there until the end. I will finish quoting that in a moment. You see, Peter's and John's desire was for everyone to know the truth. He said, they said, let it be known to you all, everyone here who's is in front of this inquisition that you're giving me, this council that has come together, I want all of you to know and in fact I want everyone in Jerusalem to know. They were not timid in their response.

You see the apostles would not be satisfied until every one of them had heard the truth and everyone in Jerusalem had heard the truth that the reason this man apparently he's standing there with them according to later verses here in chapter 4, he's standing there with them and they wanted them to know that he is standing here whole because of the one whom you crucified, the one whom you deny. And you know what, when people deny us when we're proclaiming the gospel and they don't believe in all your believing in a crutched religion because you're weak and blah blah blah and all this stuff that they say, no I'm standing here whole before you because of the name of Jesus Christ. If you would have known me before Jesus said, rise up and walk, and now after he has said, rise up and walk, you would believe as well. Because I stand here before you whole not because of anything within me but because of what Jesus Christ has done in me it's through the power of the name of Jesus Christ So their desire was for everyone to know. Everyone from the high priest to the slave girl.

You see David Peterson says ignorance can no longer be an excuse when the facts are proclaimed like this. He didn't want anyone to be ignorant of how this took place. They wanted to tell the high priests, they wanted to tell all the family of the high priests, they wanted to tell the rulers, they wanted to tell the elders, they want to tell the captain of the guard, and then they wanted to tell everybody else in all of Jerusalem. No more ignorance. Ignorance is not bliss.

Ignorance will send you to hell believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and understanding that he is the way, the truth, and the life. That is the only way to be saved from your sins. And you do not need to remain in ignorance and I pray and I don't know how anyone in this building could remain in ignorance after today. And so when you stand before the Lord you will not say, I never heard. You will have to say, I rejected the truth.

So if you're sitting here today and you have rejected the truth, you better weigh heavily upon what you're going to do on that day. Today is the day of salvation. You can be delivered from the wrath to come through the name of Jesus Christ. You see if those who were the religious leaders in Israel knew, Peter and John believed that they, if they could believe, then all of the people would believe. And we know later on that God by His grace saved some of the priests.

Praise the Lord for that. They were not hardened beyond hope, but these is pretty amazing. They were hardened to the point that even face to face with a notable miracle and the man standing before them they would not turn from the hardness of their heart. In order for them to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ they would first have to humble themselves and acknowledge that they were wrong in crucifying God's Messiah. To that they were unwilling to do.

But that did not hinder Peter from telling him anyway. Peter told him anyway. He wanted them to know the true source of the healing was Jesus Christ. You see Jesus Christ of Nazareth, he is the power and the name by which the miracle was performed. In verse 10, the second part of verse 10, it says that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead by him this man stands before you whole and Peter wanted them to know that it was not by the name of some dead prophet that they did this, but by the resurrected Christ.

Not even did they simply attribute the works to God in general, but rather to his son Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom God raised from the dead. The one that they thought that they had gotten rid of by having him crucified but Peter informs them that it is the very one who defeated the death that they thought they had laid upon him. That is the one who had the power not only to raise from the dead but also to heal the lame man. This Jesus whom you crucified, can you imagine how irked they were now? Can you imagine how greatly disturbed they were now?

Peter had formally laid the blame of the murder of Jesus at the feet of the Jewish people. You remember that in Acts chapter 2. Then the Jews who witnessed the healing of the lame men, he laid it at their feet as well. And now He is laying it at the feet of the religious leaders of Jerusalem. He left no one out.

You're all guilty. And guess what? All of us are too. You think I would have never said crucify him. You don't know yourself.

In truth If you would have stood there that day apart from the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, you would have stood there saying, crucify him. Because Jesus contradicts you in your natural way. And the Bible says that we are enemies of God when we have not been redeemed by God or before we've been redeemed. You must understand they are not worse than you. You too would have cried.

But now his disciples are carrying on the work which he began to do and in his name and through the power of his name they are working signs and wonders like unto their master. But greater than this the gospel which they preached is bringing true spiritual healing and saving those who are dead in their sins and trespasses and they are being raised to newness of life in Jesus Christ and he has given us the power to kill indwelling sin through the power of the Holy Spirit and he has given us the power to live unto righteousness. Don't think that you're only saved from the penalty of sin and wallow in the power of sin. God has come to deliver you through the Lord Jesus Christ of the penalty of sin and through the power and the working of the Holy Spirit of God. He is delivering you day by day from the power of sin and one day praise be to God when we enter into heaven you will be saved from the very presence of sin and you will be glorified but until that day you will be battling and fighting and killing sin every day.

Turn with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. I was tempted to read the whole book. Ephesians 1.15 through 23. Just listen to what Paul says and how it relates in all that Peter was saying Paul says therefore and listen to the prayer this is a prayer that Paul is praying for the people therefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.

Do not cease to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of his glory of his inheritance in the saints. And the third thing he wants us to know is and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and powers and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come. Did you hear what he said?

The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead and Seated him at the right hand of God is the same power that is alive and at work in you who are his Don't tell me you don't have the ability or the power to preach the gospel to every creature. You have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. And yet we walk around like the powers turned out. Somebody flipped the main breaker. No, you have the power of the Holy Spirit in you.

That's what makes Peter bold as a lion. Remember in his flesh he cowered before the slave girl. But now he stands bold as a lion in the face of all opposition. That's the same power that worked in Paul. I said I need to go to Rome.

I'm running out of time. You see the prophecy that Peter showed them was what was read to you this morning and because it was read to you this morning Psalm 118 it speaks about that stone that cornerstone that the builders rejected. Isaiah speaks of this as well therefore thus says the Lord God behold I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation a tried stone a precious stone a corner stone a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily. Unbeknownst to them, they were fulfilling the prophecy of the Lord that they would reject the Messiah, that they would kill him, that they would reject this cornerstone of the building that God was building.

We will talk more about this in a later sermon. I can't get into all of it now. But now in verse 12 Peter destroys all their false hope and their false religiosity. These men had hope, but it was a dead hope. They had hope in dead animals that they placed upon an altar, But we have hope in the living God.

We have hope in the one who raised from the dead. We have a living hope because we have a living Savior and they did not have that and here Peter is knocking down their whole system of understanding. They could not see how Jesus fulfilled this prophecy. But here they are. But listen to what Jesus says.

We have the one of the most exclusive statements regarding the way of salvation. Nor is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." John 14, 6, Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. What they thought would bring salvation and forgiveness of sin was only a shadow of the truth.

They now needed to trust in the substance of that truth and all those animal sacrifices be cast away because they were nothing but a shadow of what was to come in Jesus Christ. You see, everything involved in the religious system, the lighting of the candles and the oil and the incense and all of these things that they were trusting in, Peter just took a big baseball bat and bow. He knocked it down and he destroyed it before their eyes. Can you imagine how irk they are now? There's no salvation in all of your sacrifices and all of the bread that you're baking and all of the oil that you're squeezing and all of the lamps that you're lighting.

All of the blood that you're sprinkling is just the blood of an animal. It does nothing for you because the true has come. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world has come. In Him you must put your faith and it is only through him that we have salvation. They needed to repent and believe in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Salvation only comes through that name and you know we live in such an inclusive generation. The world and its religious leaders will tell you that all that matters is that you're sincere in your belief. As long as you really believe it, the world is lying to you. They don't care what you believe as long as you're sincere. But Peter destroys this false gospel and I stand with him.

I am here to tell you this morning the same thing that Jesus preached and the same thing that Peter preached and the same thing that Paul preached and the Apostles preached and the prophets preached and every true preacher of the word of God has preached throughout the history and down through the ages is the same thing I'm preaching to you here today. Nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. You will not be saved if you believe in Mohammed's Allah. You will not be saved in Buddha's Nirvana. You will not be saved by what you abstain from but only by whom you embrace.

You will only be saved by faith in the name and authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who was crucified and raised to life again. That is whom you must believe. You must accept Him whom the world rejects. You must come to the living stone before you be found under a gravestone. You must reject the world's generation if you ever want to be a part of the chosen generation.

You must destroy or deny yourself if you ever want to be received by God. You must repent of your sins if you ever want to be saved from them. You must reject the passing pleasures of sin in this world if you ever are to hope and receive the precious promises of God. And if you do not accept the way of God, you will be found in the wilderness of this world. And if you do not accept the truth of God, you will be found in the wilderness of this world and if you do not accept the truth of God you'll be found in the lie of this world and if you do not accept the life of God found in Jesus Christ then you will most surely taste the condemnation of God's judgment in the second death.

If you do not come to the great I am, you will most assuredly say, woe is me for I am undone. And may I note that Peter does not say you may be saved. Look at me. He says you must be saved. There is no other name.

There is no other name under heaven by which you can be saved. But it is only through Jesus Christ whom you must be saved. And I will close with a reading of 1 Peter, chapter two, four through 10. Coming to him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious. You also as living stones are being built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore to you who believe he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble, being disobedient to the word which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. And to finish my Philippians quote in chapter 2, therefore God has also highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and if you have not done that today is the day of salvation Repent of your sins and call upon his name, for there is no other name by which you must be saved." Let's pray. Holy God, I pray your Holy God, I pray your Holy Spirit would take this word and implant it deep into the hearts of these people. I pray, oh God, if any are lost here today, oh Lord, please save them by the word. Please bring them from death to life. May they confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

May they taste the sweetness of your promises. May they reject all that is of the world. Oh God, please do your great work this morning and may Jesus Christ be glorified. We ask it in His name, Amen.