Jude 24-25

These verses are written to believers, or as Jude calls them, those who are the called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. This is what it says in the last two verses.

Verse 24: "To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy."

Verse 25: "To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen."

That is who we have come to worship. It tells us in both these verses who our God is and why we have come to worship him.

God's Heart and Desires

In verse 24, it tells us God's heart or God's desires. Why do I say that?

• He is able to keep us from stumbling. We are aware of stumbling. We want to do the biblical thing. We want to be obedient, but we cannot. He can keep us from stumbling.
• He is able to make us stand in the presence of his glory blameless. How? When I look at myself, I think, "Lord, I'm just so unworthy to worship you." But he's able to make me stand in the presence of his glory blameless. Our sin was forgiven when we were born again. For those who are believers, sin has been forgiven. But there is also blame, there is falling away, there is disobedience. He can make us stand in his presence blameless. Clearly, that tells us that these are things God desires. It doesn't say he's able to give you a house or a car. No. It says he's able to keep you from stumbling, from the enemy of sin. And when you have sinned, he can wash it away if you repent and confess.

The Exclusive Nature of God

Verse 25 speaks of more majestic things. The only God—that is exclusive to the God we've come to worship. Our Savior. We will sing about our Savior this morning through Jesus Christ our Lord. What should we say to him?

• To him be glory. Let him receive the glory. Only him. Exclusively only to him.
• To him majesty. Only to him dominion and authority.
• Before all time, while we are alive and forever—after we are not alive. Only to him, exclusively to him, belongs glory and majesty.

I'll give you a moment to examine yourself, see if there's any blame. Ask God to make you blameless before we even sing the first hymn.

Let's all bow together and I'll pray after a minute of silence.

Dear heavenly Father, Sovereign Lord, the words we have just now read tell us that to you belong glory and majesty, dominion and authority. These are qualities which are exclusive to you. You are the only God and the only Savior. And to those who are born again, the promises in the previous verse are so encouraging as we stand here and sit here to worship you. That you are able to keep us from stumbling. That you are able to make us blameless because of the blood that your Son shed on the cross. So this morning with a heart full of wonder at who our God is and also gratitude for what he has done in our lives, we prepare to give you worship, O Lord. Examine us and cleanse us, even as we begin to sing our first hymn, so that we can stand before you blameless with great joy. I know we will do that in your presence one day, blameless with great joy, but give us grace to do that even this morning as we give to you glory and adoration. Be exalted, O great King. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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Would you turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 31? We will read from verses 12 to 18—that's the end of the chapter.

The Lord spoke to Moses saying, "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel saying, 'You shall surely observe my Sabbath, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Therefore, you are to observe the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death, for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the sons of Israel forever. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day he ceased from labor and was refreshed.'"

When he had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, he gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written by the finger of God.

This is the word of God. Please be seated.

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Sovereign Lord, God who is majestic, these words that we just read remind us so much about you. In six days you created everything that exists in our world out of nothing, and by the power of your word they came into existence. These words also tell us that there are things you have separated and called holy. They are distinct and special to you. We also learned in these verses that you are the God that sanctifies your people.

Lord, we your people are sinful by birth. And for those of us who are born again, there was a day in our lives or a time in our lives when you made us aware of our sinfulness. You reminded us through your word and convicted us that we were heading to hell and destruction. And you turned our destiny from heading to hell to now heading to eternity with you. That is true of those whose sins have been forgiven, who are born again, who are believers, who are standing here as those who are part of your elect.

Along with such, this morning I gather and join with them and say, Lord, we worship you because you are the one who sanctifies us. What began at the time of our salvation continues as God sanctifies us through his word, through his instruction. As we just read, we know that you're doing that in our midst as you make us aware of our own sinfulness and failings and the things that are displeasing to you. We all stumble. It sanctifies, cleanses, and helps us to stumble less and less and less, so that more and more of the image of our Savior and his mind is seen in us.

We were reminded last week of how to prioritize the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives as believers. So we bring before you the relationships that you have allowed in our lives, various relationships, that Lord, our love for you will be like hatred towards every other relationship. We pray that our love for you will cause us to get rid of any selfish preoccupation with ourselves. And the third thing we were reminded of: that our love for you and our faithfulness towards you will be greater than any material possession that you have graciously provided to us. We pray that none of these things—relationships, our self, our self-worth, or materialism—will come in the way of our obedience to you.

And in those words that you reminded us of, we pray that we will be like salt which has flavor, not salt that is tasteless, which in your words is not good for the fields or even for manure. We would not want any believer to be like that, Father. We want to be useful, flavorful, for God and for his people. So please do your work in us, in our hearts.

We pray for the things that are very dear to you. Help us to be poor in spirit. Help us to be gentle, Father. Help us to be those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Help us to be merciful. Help us to be pure in our intentions, in our heart, so that when we come into your presence and open your word and when we walk with you, we can see you more and more through eyes of faith. Help us to be those who are ready, who have already counted the cost as we were reminded last week, and that we are aware of what is the cost of being your disciple, and that we are also ready to expend that cost should you allow those circumstances.

All these things we seek your help for. Thank you for your instruction to walk in those ways. We seek your help to make the word that was taught an evident practice, an evident lifestyle here in our church. Continue to prosper the work of the gospel here in our midst.

We pray for those who are here who do not know you as Lord and Savior. Open their eyes, Father. We pray for those who are many believers—strengthen them. Continue to help us to love one another, encourage one another, and have godly conversations with each other in remembering the work of the gospel. We pray one more time for Bruce and Lisa Burkholder and their ministry. Thank you for what you did even this very month in their travels. Give your servant strength and use him for your glory, Lord. Receive our worship, our singing. Receive our small offerings that we have brought. And as we pay attention to hear your word, instruct us as you have always done, so that your people may be sanctified even more this morning because your word is taught from here. This is such a joyful occasion for us—the beginning of the week to be in your house. We love you. We exalt you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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This morning, one more time, we have the privilege of hearing what God has done in the life of a dear saint. Christina Gilmore is here. She will come forward and share her testimony of salvation. And as she's walking forward, just another reminder: we will all closely pay attention to what God has done as she shares. And in our worship services we don't applaud or recognize any human being. All glory goes to God. So when she's done, feel free to say Amen or Praise the Lord with as much energy as you have.

Good morning, brothers and sisters. My name is Christina, and this is my testimony. First, I want to thank God for all he has done in my life and for all he continues to do. He has been so faithful to me, and I give him all the glory today and every day. As Psalm 107:1 says, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever."

I also want to share that reading my testimony in front of a large group is something I could never do on my own. I was very nervous, but due to the help of the Holy Spirit who graciously lives in me, he gave me the strength, peace, and words to stand here before everyone today. Praise God.

For many years, I lived like the world, doing what I thought was right in my own eyes and blind to God's word. I made choices that could have cost me my life—drinking, doing drugs, and living like I knew it all. But now I can see it was by God's grace that I made it through all of them. Isaiah 41:10 reminds us, "Do not fear for I am with you. I will strengthen you and I will help you." Looking back, I knew it was him who walked beside me, held me up, and carried me when I couldn't go on.

Even though I thought I had a good life—a loving husband and two wonderful boys—there was still an emptiness in my heart. That was the longing I felt. I knew I wanted to raise my family in church in a godly way because I thought I could see how broken the world is, and I didn't want my family to live that way. We spent many years in a Lutheran church, and on the outside, everything looked good because I was attending church every Sunday and volunteered most of my time in every area of the church. But in my heart, I was struggling. I thought I was being a good Christian, but I was judgmental, prideful, and easily angered. And most of all, I hated people that would easily make me angry.

Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction," and I see now how much pride and hate I carried. I prayed often for myself, my marriage, my children, my family, but never for others. Life felt helpless and nothing was going the way I wanted. Yet even then, God was still with me, pursuing me. And so I brushed him off.

As time passed, my boys grew up. My husband and I stopped going to the Lutheran church. It no longer filled our hearts, and deep down, something just didn't feel right anymore about the church we had attended for so many years. I found myself longing for more and had a deep desire to return to God and find a true church home. I was seeking God and his will for my life, so I prayed and asked the Lord to guide me.

Matthew 7:7-8 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

Finally, after many years, my husband, who had been saved, kept encouraging me to read the Bible. At first, I resisted. I argued. I debated with him about baptism scripture because I thought I knew better because of my years in church. My pride again took over, and I was still trying to control everything. Then one day, God put it in my heart to read his word. This time, I obeyed. And that's when everything began to change.

Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is alive and active." And I can testify that it truly is. God started to open the eyes of my heart. He put a new spirit within me and showed me who he really is—my Savior, my Redeemer, my Lord. He promises in Ezekiel 36:26, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh."

So I took his words and ran with them. That was just the beginning of what he was about to do in my life. I began to see that it wasn't about me, but about him and how much he loves us, his creation, and that he gave us his only Son to rescue us from our sinful ways so that we may glorify him in everything.

Today, I have a new life with Christ. I can stand before you and say that God is still working in me, still shaping me, and still teaching me to surrender fully to him and to worship with all that I have. I humbly worship him with a grateful heart every morning, every hour of every day. I am no longer who I used to be because his grace has changed me from the inside out. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17,

There therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. The old has gone. The new is here. Praise be to God. All glory to him because thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Isaiah 25:1. John MacArthur breaks this down beautifully by writing, "His mysterious plans made long ago are the ultimate source of stability. Because they are built on his unchanging nature, his promise."

What powerful words to stand on—knowing our God will never leave us, keeps his promise, and he never changes. Another wonderful reminder I meditate on with gratefulness is to wait patiently on the Lord for his words. Psalm 40:1-3 declares: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me, and he heard my cry. He also brought me out of a horrible pit, out of a miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. He's put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God. Many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord."

Yes, I will praise God and give him all the glory every day in my daily walk with him. To everyone here, I proudly proclaim that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Using God, all that I am, all that I have is because of his grace, his mercy, and his unfailing love. May my life always point others to him and bring glory to his holy name. I give him all the praise, all the honor, and all the glory, for he alone is worthy.

So please remember: do not applaud for me for what I have done. Instead, let us give all the glory to God and praise him for all that he has done.

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What a blessed testimony of how God rescued a sinner and made her a saint. I have to say one more thing. When Christina first came to share her testimony and become a member, she was part of a group of people we were planning for. When she wrote out her testimony, she wanted to be part of the group, but she was really afraid to come to the front. In conversation, as I looked at the testimony, I said, "Why didn't you pray? That's the most important thing that God did. Why didn't you proclaim it in front of his church for his glory?"

The only thing she said was, "I will pray."

And this is the answer to that prayer—that God gave her boldness to stand here. It's not something that she would naturally say. So we praise God for it.

Christina will get baptized towards the end of this service. She has met with the membership committee. We're convinced of her salvation. I make a motion to accept her into membership at West Hills Baptist Church. Do I have a second? All members in support? Well, praise the Lord.

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Some have said that the fifth book in the New Testament, the book of the Acts of the Apostles, should really have been named "the Acts of the Holy Spirit" because in that book, we find the Holy Spirit birthing the church, forming the church. In that book, we see the Holy Spirit working in and through the apostles and the disciples.

Now today, many bizarre, many strange, many unbiblical, and even heretical things are falsely attributed to the Holy Spirit. But in our reaction to those abuses, we have to be very careful that we don't neglect or ignore the Holy Spirit, the person of the Spirit, and his working in each one of our lives.

Who Is the Holy Spirit?

The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is a person. Jesus, referring to the Holy Spirit in John 16:13, called him "he." He is the third person of the trinity—Father, Son, Holy Spirit. He's the third person of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is not an "it." The Spirit of God is not a force or a power, as some people think. No, he is a person, and he is God.

We know that because in Acts 5, when Peter is rebuking Ananias, he says to him in one verse, "You have lied to the Holy Spirit," and then in the very next verse, Peter says, "You haven't lied to man, but you've lied to God."

Throughout the Bible, we see that the Holy Spirit has attributes of deity:

• He is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. We see that in Hebrews 9:14.
• He is omniscient. He is all knowing. We see that in 1 Corinthians 2:10-12.
• The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. That is, he is everywhere. You cannot escape his presence. That's what the Psalmist says in Psalm 139:7-10.
• He is holy. Jesus called him the Holy Spirit in Matthew 12:32.
• He is truth. God the Father is truth. Jesus said, "I am the truth." And he is called the Spirit of Truth by Jesus in John 16:13.

The Need for the Holy Spirit

But those first followers of Jesus Christ desperately needed the Holy Spirit. These men walked three years with Jesus. They saw the miracles. They saw dead people raised to life. They had a front row seat to the greatest teacher in human history. And they saw him when he was risen from the dead.

Yet when we come to the end of the gospels, we find them dejected, discouraged, and full of fear. Jesus promised to them, "I'm going to send a helper. I'm not going to leave you as orphans." What Jesus was speaking about was the Holy Spirit. He was going to send the Holy Spirit, and he calls him the helper, which indicates to us they needed help.

What happened in Acts 1? Jesus said, "You wait in Jerusalem, and you're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you." And in Acts 2, everything changed with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Every believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Galatians 4:6 tells us that he lives on the inside of every believer. And he will empower every believer who submits their life to him and to his control.

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Now as you turn to Acts 4, I want to give you background to this passage and what goes before it. In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came. Peter preached a dynamic message, and 3,000 people were saved and baptized in obedience.

When we come to chapter 3, we find Peter and John heading off to the temple at 3:00 in the afternoon to pray. That was the hour they met. As they're going, there is a man who was born crippled, lame from birth. People would carry him and lay him at the gate of the temple called Beautiful. As he was laying there, he would beg people for money, and he did this for years and years.

Here come Peter and John walking in, and this man calls out to them, begging for money. What Peter says, in essence, is, "I don't have silver and I don't have gold, but what I have, I give unto you." Peter said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, walk." An amazing thing happened. Peter took his right hand, and that man got up. The Bible says he began to leap. He began to praise Almighty God. He went into the temple, and you can imagine the reaction when people saw him leaping and glorifying God for what he had done.

Then Peter begins his second sermon in the book of Acts. He begins preaching to the men of Israel who were there and who saw this man.

Three Benefits of the Holy Spirit's Working

We pick up in Acts 4:1-12:

"As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the message believed, and the number of men came to be about 5,000.

"On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and all who were of high priestly descent. When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, 'By what power or in what name have you done this?' Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people, if we're on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.'"

This morning, as we dig into this passage of Scripture, we're going to see three benefits of the Holy Spirit's working in our lives as believers.

The Holy Spirit Empowers Us to Endure Hardship

The first benefit is this: The Holy Spirit empowers us to endure hardship.

Look at verse 1 of our passage. Luke, who is the author, begins by saying, "And they were speaking." Peter is preaching, but John also had been speaking to the people. As they are preaching and talking, they are abruptly interrupted.

Who came? Well, in verse 1, the priests—these would be the regular priests, the ordinary priests who did the evening sacrifice. And it says the captain of the temple guard. This would be the head of the temple police. His main job and their job would be to maintain order and grounds. Incidentally, Josephus, the historian, tells us that this man would be second in command in authority only to the high priest.

Then it mentions the Sadducees came to them. The Sadducees were a major sect in Judaism. They believed that only the first five books of the Bible were Scripture. They rejected the resurrection from the dead. They rejected the afterlife. In addition to that, they denied anything supernatural. They did not believe in demons or angels or anything of that sort. But they had immense political power. In fact, they controlled the temple. They accommodated Rome's occupation because Rome had given them power. They had much wealth, and really their interest was only in keeping the status quo.

Here they are, and all this is going on. If you look in verse 2, it says they were being greatly disturbed. They were very disturbed by what Peter was doing—that he was preaching.

Why were they disturbed? Well, verse 2 tells us they were disturbed for two reasons:

• Number one, because they were teaching. They would say, "Who are you? What authority do you have? We didn't give you that authority to teach on these temple grounds. Who do you think you are?"
• Not only that, but they were disturbed because of what they were teaching. He says they were proclaiming in Jesus' name the resurrection from the dead. And since the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection, Peter was shattering their theology. They were extremely upset.

In verse 3, Luke is going to record for us the first time any one of the apostles was arrested. Verse 3 says, "They laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening."

They could not hold a trial because the sun was going down and Jewish law prohibited a trial at night. They couldn't gather the Sanhedrin together. But it's very interesting—that's exactly what they did to Jesus. They tried him at night, so the hypocrites! But here they're saying no, we cannot get the Sanhedrin together, so we're going to put you in jail for the night. I believe certainly that they wanted to use this to intimidate them, to put fear in them, to soften them up, so that when morning came, they would agree: we're not going to teach or speak about Jesus any longer.

Why don't you turn back to John 20 for a moment. I want you to notice something. This is the account of that first resurrection Sunday. In John 20, Peter and John have already been to the tomb. The tomb is empty. Mary Magdalene has seen Jesus. She's come back and told them, "I saw the Lord." Disciples appeared to the other women, and they told them, "We have seen the Lord."

Now look at verse 19: "But when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut—now that means the doors were locked—where the disciples were for fear of the Jews."

Here they are that first resurrection night, behind closed doors, and those doors are locked. Why? He said because they are in fear and terror of the Jews. Now, it's not an irrational fear because think about it: they killed our leader. They killed our master. So logically, what would you be thinking? We're next. They're coming for us.

And we know Jesus appeared to them in verse 19 that night. He stood in their midst. But I want you to look over at verse 26 because eight days have passed. Now they've seen Jesus before them. Verse 26: "After eight days, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them this time. Jesus came, the doors having been shut."

So he's telling us again that those doors were locked—eight days later, even after they had seen Jesus risen and Jesus stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."

You can turn back to Acts 4. When we come to Acts 1, they have seen Jesus ascend into heaven. He has been with them for forty days talking to them. Yet even in Acts 1, they're in the upper room. You would think they would be out witnessing, telling people about the Lord Jesus Christ, but no. They are in fear.

Now we come to Acts 4. They are arrested. There's no indication of any fear. There's no indication they resisted in any way. They willingly went. And in Acts 5:17, they're going to get arrested a second time. At the end of Acts 5, we find out that they are flogged and beaten. And when they leave, the Scriptures tell us they last praising God. They're worshiping God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ.

Is that not amazing? What is it that made this radical difference in the lives of these two men who were cowering behind closed doors, even after they saw the risen Christ? What made the difference? It was the promised power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2 made the difference when the Holy Spirit came to indwell them.

And you see, brothers and sisters, when hardships and troubles and circumstances turn in your life—it could be family members—

coming against you because of your faith in Jesus Christ. Whatever the hardship is, you have that same holy Spirit that they had living on the inside of you. And think about this. And I think I thought about this in preparing this message. What happens if things really start to turn in this country and they really continue to go downhill? What happens if Islam starts spreading in our culture like a cancer? How are God's people gonna stand up? How are God's people gonna endure if real persecution breaks out? Against the body of Christ, the true body of Christ. How can believers stand? I'll tell you how. The power of the holy spirit We need not be in fear. Our God is in control and his spirit is alive in his people. The helper God, the spirit empowers us, and God was at work in the midst of this. Look at verse four. And as many as heard the message believed, the number of men came to be about 5,000. So another 2,000 got saved through that preaching. Here we see the holy spirit empowers his people to endure hardship. Now the second great blessing that comes to us through the working of the holy spirit is this, the holy spirit empowers us to speak boldly for Jesus. To speak boldly for Jesus. Look in verse five. He says on the next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together. Now that's and he's gonna mention Annas, high priest, Caiaphas, That's the Jewish Sanhedrin, and we know that because verse 15 speaks about the council. And they were the ruling body of the Gather them all together. Elders would be, the heads of families, who were in the Sanhedrin. Scribes were teachers. And Interpreters Of The Law, The Torah. They're In Jerusalem. They gathered and then he mentions Annas, high priest, Now Annas was not the acting high priest at that time. He was deposed. He was he was taken down in about AD fifteen or so by the Roman government, took him out of office, and they and they installed his son-in-law who is Caiaphas, but they called him the high priest much like we would today speak of a former president. President Bush, president Clinton, they've they maintain that title, but also this man was the power broker. And his and his his son-in-law was really a puppet who was set up. And then he mentions John and Alexander. Now John may be who was a son of Annas. We don't know who Alexander is. And all those who are of priestly descent. So you have to picture this. They're all getting together. And now the interrogation is going to begin in verse seven. And look what it says, and they had placed them in the center. And what that means is when the Sanhedrin gathered and they held one of these trials, it would be a semicircle. So if you were the accused, you would stand here and around you would be the semicircle of people. Now there were 71 in the Sanhedrin when it was fully assembled, but however many there were that day, they were in the semicircle around around Peter and John. Can you imagine it? Eyes looking at you from every direction. And they are gonna begin this interrogation and they begin to inquire in verse seven, by what power or in what name have you done this? Who gave you the power to do this? And in whose name? Now someone's name meant authority. In whose authority and in essence, here's what they're saying. Who gave you the authority to do this? Who told you to who gave you we didn't give you that authority. You've defied us. How dare you do this? Whose authority have you done this? It's interesting. They said the same thing to Jesus on Tuesday of the passion week when he went in the temple. And remember, he turned the tables over They said to him, who gave you the authority to do that? And that's what they're asking him here. And I want you to notice Peter's bold response, but look what verse eight tells us. And this is absolutely crucial that you get this. Peter filled with the Holy Spirit. Now that word filled is what's called a divine passive that is Peter did nothing to make it happen. It was the work of the spirit of God that filled him. And what he's speaking about here what Peter did is he simply yielded to the spirit of God, He surrendered to the spirit of God relied upon his power, and it was the spirit of God that actually and directed his speech. And this was a fulfillment of what Jesus said. Verse eleven and twelve, he said, they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities don't worry about how for what you are to speak in your defense or what you are to say. Listen to this. For the holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. So here they are on trial. And Peter is filled with the spirit of God. And he said to them, rulers and elders of the people in verse nine, If we are on trial today for a benefit done to this sick man and has and as to how this man has been made well, let it be known. Now stop there. What Peter's saying is this, you asked, you wanna know, I'm gonna tell you. And here he is standing before this group He's not relying upon his own wisdom. He's not relying upon his own strength. He's there in this power of God's spirit, and Peter is going to make boldly. In in his declaration, he is gonna make five great proclamations right here before us. The first thing he does is proclaim the guilt of the religious leaders. Look what he says in verse 10. Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, not just you leaders. All Israel needs to know this. That by the name of Jesus Christ, and he's sure to mention Christ, that's Messiah, the Nazarene, and look what he says, whom you Crucified. He is calling out the religious leaders He's basically telling them, you listen. He is putting his judges on trial. He's calling them in their sin. And he's saying, you murdered the Messiah. Right. You mean yourself an enemy of God because you killed his Messiah. What a proclamation. Then Peter makes a proclamation of the resurrection. In verse 10. He says, God raised from the dead. Remember the sadducees, they reject the resurrection. Jesus is saying, no. God raised him from the dead, and he's crushing their right there, right before their very eyes. He says, no. This Jesus is alive. This Jesus is alive right now. He proclaims the resurrection. And then he proclaims the healing power of Jesus. Look what he says. By this name, this means stands here before you in good health. He says, you wanna know whose power this man was healed? And whose authority? It was Jesus Christ. He took no credit himself Peter said it was all Christ. And then the fourth proclamation, he proclaims the fulfillment of scripture. Look at verse 11. He is gonna do what he does throughout the book of Acts He goes right back to the Old Testament scriptures. And it says here, he, Jesus, is the stone which was rejected. By you, the builders, that has become the chief cornered stone. And what he's doing there is he is quoting Psalm one eighteen verse 22, and what's interesting is that Psalm one eighteen reads, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone. But in here, Peter inserts rejected by you. He's telling them again, you are responsible for this Confronting them, giving them direct application. And then the fifth great proclamation in verse 12, is the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. And there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. Peter is telling us here, Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. And when he's telling them that, in essence, what he's telling them is you're lost. You've rejected him. You're not going to heaven. You're under God's judgment. And what he's proclaiming here that there is no eternal life. There is no forgiveness of sins. There's no deliverance from the penalty of sin, which is eternal death in hell. None of that is a part from the Lord Jesus Christ. And friends, that is just as true today as it was two thousand years ago. There is salvation and no one else We live in a day where it is taught and people believe that there are all kinds of roads that lead to heaven. And all religions are the same, and all religions lead to the same place, There's only one problem with that. God says it's a lie. It is a deception. Peter says here, salvation is found in no one else. And Peter didn't make this up. Peter heard this from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself. Jesus would say in Luke chapter 10, he sent out 72 disciples And he told them, it's gonna be hostile. He said, but those who reject you reject me. But listen to what he said. And those who reject me, Jesus said, reject him who sent me. You can't reject Jesus Christ and have God. You cannot do it. There's no access to him There's no forgiveness of sins apart from him. And we all know Jesus said in John 14, verse six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. What? No one comes to the father but through me. Jesus said, nobody. Nobody comes to the father but through him. And look at verse 13 because now they're observing this. You have to picture the scene. And it says when they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed. So they're shocked. And what does he mean when he says they're uneducated? Well, what he doesn't mean is he is not saying they were illiterate. Under the inspiration of the spirit. But these weren't illiterate men. What he meant is this, what they meant was they were uneducated in the sense that they had no formal religious training. And he says they were untrained They were not trained by the rabbis. And you see they are absolutely in shock. And I wanna contrast this with you. Don't turn there, but I want you to listen as I read to you a passage from Luke 23. When Jesus was arrested and they let him off, Peter followed at a distance, And in Luke 22 rather verse 55, it says, they kindled the fire in the middle of the courtyard of the high priest and you're familiar with the story. And Peter was sitting among the people. Now listen to this. And a servant girl and this is a teenage girl, servant girl of the high priest, Seeing him, seeing Peter as he sat in the firelight, he looked intently at him and said, this man was with him too. But Peter denied it saying woman, I do not know him. Two more times Jesus would be denied by Peter. I don't know him. I'm not one of his followers. I don't know him. Bible one of the one of the gospel says he started cursing. Now here is the same man He's standing listen. He's standing before the very council that condemned the Lord Jesus Christ. He's standing at them in this semicircle, and he's looking them in the eye and he's saying, you killed him. You killed the Messiah. Not only that, but you are an enemy of God. How did this man go from being with a serp a teenage servant girl tripling in fear, denying that he even knew Jesus Christ, to standing before the most powerful man in all of Israel and rebuking him to his face. How did he do it? There's one answer. He was filled with the holy spirit of God. Filled with the spirit of God. And what does that mean to be filled with the spirit of God? The book of Ephesians chapter five verse verse 18, Paul says this, do not get drunk on wine, which is debauchery, sin, but be filled with the spirit. Now when we think of fill, we think of a glass of water and it's only half full, and we fill it by putting more in. That's not what the imagery is there. You and I don't get any more of the holy spirit than we did the moment we were saved. But think about it. When someone is drunk on wine, they are filled in the sense they are under the influence They're under the control of that substance. That substance is controlling their mind, how they think, That substance is controlling their mouth, how they speak, and how they act. And and what he says, Paul, he's telling us is to be filled with the spirit is to be healed. It is to be under the control the domination of the holy spirit of God. When someone says, well, so and so over here, he was filled with rage. We know what that means. That means he was absolutely overcome with rage. And Paul is saying to be filled with the Holy Spirit is to live in this dependence upon his power and his strength to obey. And notice in verse 13, I love the way Luke records this. And they began to recognize them, Peter and John, as having been with When they saw how bold these men were, they started saying, you know what? These guys have been with Jesus. They're acting like this Jesus. We remember how bold he was We remember that. They're acting just like him. And when we're saved, the moment we're saved, Galatians chapter four verse six, he sent his spirit into our hearts Paul says, the body is the dwelling of the Holy Spirit. At that moment, we're regenerated. We're made new creations. Again, we have all of the holy spirit. There's no second blessing we seek of the spirit. We're baptized by the holy spirit at the moment of salvation. He says that first Corinthians chapter 12 verse 13. And the Holy Spirit remains with the believer. How long? Permanently. He says we're sealed unto the day of redemption. Now we have the spirit in us. But that doesn't mean we're filled with the spirit. You can be indwelled by the holy spirit, but not be filled with the spirit. That is yielded to his influence Daily realizing my dependence upon the Holy Spirit. And I think this morning we can take from this passage We certainly need to be more like Peter. We need to be more bold in our declaration of Jesus Christ. To be able to stand before people unashamedly saying, no. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. Not to be arrogant, but to say in a humble spirit, salvation is found in no one other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as Peter did. And it'll offend people just as it did in the first century. And one of the strangest things, it it it will infuriate those who are so called religious. Right. People who call themselves Christians, who've never bowed their knee to Christ. They're following all kinds of man made traditions and rituals. And you tell them Jesus is the only way, and they get angry at you. Because they don't know the Bible. You see, you can't believe Jesus is one of many ways and think you're saved you're lost. You're not a believer. You're deceived. I don't care what rituals you've gone through. And Peter says, he was old. I think we would do well this morning to ask ourselves. As we said of these apostles. Do others look at your life? Do they look at my life and recognize us as having been with Jesus? Do they look at us and say, wow. This person I can see the imprint of Jesus Christ on their life. How do we become more bold for Jesus? Well, look in chapter four after this whole ordeal verse 29. The they're all gathered together, the disciples And it says, and now and they're praying. Lord, take note of their threats and grant that your bond servants may

The Holy Spirit Empowers Us to Obey God

Speak your word with all confidence. Look at Acts 4:31: "And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly." A way to be more bold is to pray and ask God, "Give me that boldness. Give me that strength."

This brings us to the third and final benefit of the Holy Spirit's work in our life: the Holy Spirit empowers us to obey God.

Look at Acts 4:14. This is amazing because here is the man who was healed. He's actually standing next to Peter and John. Picture that. "And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them they had nothing to say in reply. They couldn't say anything." What happened is they call them back. They order them out in verse 15. This is common practice. If you've ever been in a courtroom with a number of judges, they'll hear the witness and have him step out so the judges can debate and determine what sentence, if any, to give. So they send Peter and John out—standard procedure.

But look at verse 16, because they have a real problem. They have a real dilemma. They say, "What shall we do with these men? Because they haven't done anything that's worthy of punishment."

Look at what they say in verse 16: "For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them, it's apparent to all who live in Jerusalem and notice this phrase—and we cannot deny it." They're saying right here: we can't deny what has happened. We can't deny this miracle.

Isn't it amazing that they have to acknowledge that it happened but they refuse to accept it in the sense of responding to it in faith and repentance? Isn't that just like people today? When someone gets saved and here's a person living a wretched life, all kinds of sin—whether it's drinking, this, that, you name it—and all of a sudden, they get saved. I mean, it's undeniable when you look at this person's life. People will say, "Don't believe the Bible. It's full of myths. It has errors." That's someone who's never read it. People can say, "Well, I don't believe there's a God." But you can't deny a changed life. You cannot deny a changed life. They will even acknowledge it, just as these religious leaders acknowledged, "Well, this guy was lame. Radically changed." And yet they will refuse to accept it, give God glory, and repent and turn from their sin—unless God does that sovereign work in their heart.

So in verse 17, here's the bottom line: they want them to stop preaching Christ. That's the bottom line. So what do they do? They devise their plan. They're going to give them a warning not to speak to anybody in this man's name.

In verse 18, they summon them back. "When they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak, or teach at all in the name of Jesus." Here is their judicial decision: You're not to speak in his name. We don't want to hear about you speaking about this Jesus, his resurrection, his crucifixion, his death, the fact that he's healing people, or the fact that he is the only way unto eternal life.

Let's see how Peter and John respond to that. Verse 19: "But Peter and John answered and said to them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you, rather than God—you be the judge.'" They're saying, "You tell us what's the right thing to do: to obey you or to obey God?"

Verse 20: "For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and what we have heard." They're saying, "We can't stop. We have to obey God. We have to do what it is that God has commanded us to do. We must obey God. Our allegiance is to him and not to you."

But I want you to understand this morning: this was not arrogance. These men had a humble confidence. When a man or a woman is filled with the Spirit of God, there is this humble, unshakable confidence when the Spirit of God is strengthening them. This was not arrogance. Humility casts out arrogance. These men were just being brutally honest and faithful to their Lord. They said, "We have to obey God before we obey men."

The Bible tells us as believers, we are to submit to governing authorities. We are to obey governing authorities. Peter would make that declaration in 1 Peter 2:13-17. But here is the exception: when the governing authorities command God's people to disobey God, we obey God. When they say you cannot do what God has commanded you to do, we obey God. When they say you have to do what God said not to do, we obey Almighty God.

Look at verse 21. After hearing that defiance, they threatened them further. They said there would be consequences if you do this. There's a principle here: as believers, we are called to obey God, and whatever the results are, trust him. God didn't promise that everything's going to be good. He didn't say, "Peter, you obey me and your life is going to be wonderful." No. Our obligation is to obey him, to trust in him, no matter what the consequences. "I may embrace Christ and my family may blow up. Trust him. Leave the consequences with him."

Why? First of all, he is in control of all of the consequences. And second of all, he works all things for our good—which is to make us more and more like Jesus Christ.

These apostles lived three years with Jesus. They walked with him, spoke with him, heard his teaching and preaching. But it wasn't enough. They needed the Holy Spirit. They needed the empowerment of the Spirit of Almighty God in their lives. Everything changed with the coming of the Holy Spirit.

You may say this morning, "Yeah, but those men were apostles." Let me remind you of two things. The same Holy Spirit that indwelt them lives inside of you if you're saved. The same Holy Spirit—God the Spirit—resides in you. And number two, they were just men like you and me. They had fears. They had weakness like we have. They had all of that.

Dwight Moody made a trip to England to preach. He had no formal theological education. He was never ordained. He came to speak at Oxford and Cambridge, and the students on those campuses mocked him. They didn't want him there. One night, before Moody was scheduled to preach, someone went into the auditorium when it was empty and wrote an anonymous note, putting it where he'd miss it. The note said: "You are not educated. You are not refined. You are not suited for this audience."

When it came time for Moody to preach that night, the auditorium was filled with hundreds of students. He walked up to the pulpit and reached in his pocket and pulled out that little note. He read it aloud to the whole audience and smiled. He said, "You've only told me everything I already know about myself. But you forgot one thing: God is with me." And he preached the gospel that night and people were saved.

Here is a man who knew his utter dependence upon God. He knew he had no strength of his own. He was weak, but he knew in the power of the Holy Spirit, God strengthened him.

It's not just for the big things. We need the Holy Spirit's power to live holy, righteous lives. Are you living your Christian life in your own strength, your own power of the flesh? That's a recipe for frustration. Or are you relying upon the strength that God provides in the Holy Spirit? He will empower you to endure hardship. Whatever comes into your life, the Spirit of God will empower you. He will empower you to speak boldly and to live in obedience.

Our role is to humble ourselves, depend upon him, submit to the Spirit, and in faith, walk in obedience.

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Father, how thankful we are for the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when he told his followers, "I'm going, but I'm not going to leave you as orphans. It's good that I go because then the Helper will come." Lord, thank you that you have sent your Spirit to regenerate us and give us new life. And Lord, that you have sent your Spirit to reside in us until you call us home. Father, I pray that we would walk as your children, humbly dependent upon your Spirit, surrendered and submitted to him, relying on your strength and stepping out in faith and obeying you in those areas you've called us to and revealed in your word. And Father, if there be any here this morning who have never surrendered their life to Christ, your word says boldly and clearly. Pray that you would convict any who are in unbelief, give them a new heart and life. Lord, may they surrender their lives to Christ this very day. How we praise you, Father, for your Holy Spirit. For it is in your Son's name we pray. Amen.

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This morning, we heard the testimony of our sister, Christina Gilmore. She testified about what God has done in her heart and how Jesus Christ is the only reason for her sins to have been forgiven and for her to be part of the new life that she now enjoys. Based on her testimony of salvation, we will baptize her now. Based on your testimony of salvation, my sister, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Bear his likeness, based in your life, in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Announcements

• We invite you to our fellowship after the service. We have a free luncheon. If you're visiting with us, please come and join us.
• Our food ministry needs more help with people bringing food. If you're able to help provide food, please sign up. It's a great way to minister to your brothers and sisters and to serve the Lord.
• We have one more week of discussion groups. Then on September 13, we begin our Sunday school here in the sanctuary. I will be going through the gospel of Luke. I encourage you to make that your plan to be there.
• Children's classes are going to begin on the thirteenth. You will receive an email stating where they're going to be held. Pastor Dan is going to be teaching the older kids through the life of Jesus Christ.
• Awana and youth group both begin on September 18. If you're interested in Awana, see Elias Garcia. For the youth group, see Jamie Killam. They'll be away for the next few weeks, but mark that date down.
• I want to invite you out on September 10. That's the first Thursday night we come out and meet again for our old church prayer night. It's very important that we gather together as a body of Christ and lift our voices in prayer together.

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Heavenly Father, hallowed be thy name. Your name is the highest of all names. We want to honor you. We want to glorify you. We want to exalt your name. Dear Lord, we thank you for this blessed day of fellowship, singing, and testimony of someone giving their life to you. We are so blessed to be able to come together and feel the love of Christ in this building today. We pray that we can continue to share his love with others. Pray that everyone here gets home safely. We love you, dear Lord. We thank you for your goodness, your grace, and most importantly, we thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who willingly died on the cross for sinners like us. Dear Lord, we just thank you for your blessings, and we are overwhelmed with the love that you have shown us sinners. We ask everyone here just to acknowledge his goodness. We ask these things in Jesus' mighty name. We pray. Amen.