The Lord may graciously help
me. I turn your prayerful attention to the Acts of the Apostles and
chapter 4 and reading verses 11 and 12 for our text this evening. Acts chapter 4 and verses 11
and 12. These are the words that Peter
spoke to the council that was against him. This is the stone
which was set at nought of you builders, which has become the
head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. Acts of the Apostles and
chapter 4 and verses 11 and 12. This morning we considered that
great day of Pentecost when in fulfillment to the promise of
the Father, the Lord sent the Holy Ghost upon the apostles
and blessed their ministry, gave them this ability on that Pentecost
day to communicate with all that were in Jerusalem that were surrounding
them and to speak in their mother tongue with many different languages. And we read on that occasion
that there were 3,000 that were baptised and confessed, as it
were, their sins and followed the Lord Jesus. Well, We have
then moved on to the next chapter in the Acts of the Apostles,
and here we have Peter and John going into the temple, and here
they meet this man at the Gate Beautiful, this man who had been
lame from his mother's womb, not somebody who had just recently
become lame, but one who was 40 years old but had been lame
all that time. And he sat at the gate of the
temple to seek to get alms or contributions from those who
went into the temple so that he might have money to be able
to live. And this is when Peter and John
went into the temple. we have this account that Peter
fastened his eyes in verse 4 upon him, look on us and he gave heed
unto them expecting to receive something then Peter said silver
and gold have I none but such as I have I give give I thee
in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. and he took him by the right
hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received
strength and he leaping up stood and walked and entered into the
temple walking and leaping and praising God. So here was this
miracle performed by Peter and John by the power not of themselves
but in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This is the name
and when the people are amazed at what had happened then Peter
is very, very bold and very faithful. In verse 12 it says, and when
Peter saw it, he answered the people, ye men of Israel, why
marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on
us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this
man to walk? You see, Peter was one that preached,
not himself. He was not, as in, what I mean
by that is he was not preaching about his own greatness and his
own superiority. He was preaching of his master. he was preaching of Christ. And so he gives the glory to
God. In verse 13 of chapter three,
you see here, Peter and John, they're very concerned, you see,
to link the Lord Jesus Christ right back to the whole history
of Israel. You see, there was those, the
leaders, the high priests, all they held in their estimation
People like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses. Oh, they
held them in their own estimation in a very high way. They looked up to Moses. They
looked up to the prophets. In their own understanding of
it, they thought very highly of these people. But you see,
Peter here is going to link the Lord Jesus Christ with those
who link them with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and those that have gone
before, showing that their great veneration for people like Abraham,
it was not inconsistent with Abraham's faith that the Lord
Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Those two things were in agreement. Abraham saw my day and was glad
and later on he's going to talk about Moses later on as we come
into the account. But you see he then preached
you see and again he brings the people to conviction. We spoke this morning of that
conviction that he brought them to on the day of Pentecost in
Acts 2 verse 36. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. You see there was
a showing of their sin. the sin which does so easily
beset us. And so here Peter once again
is faithful, he is a faithful preacher. He preaches Christ
but he also preaches of the awful nature of sin. and what it has
done. And you see, he brings them in
guilty. He doesn't let them be bystanders. He doesn't let them just think
that this is just a story that they can listen to. They are
involved. And as we gather around the word
of God tonight, may we be amongst those who realize that it involves
us each individually. This is not something that is
just for others and we can just be bystanders. We can be neutral. We can be neither for nor against
and therefore we can, as it were, be let off. In verse 14 of chapter 3 it says,
but ye denied the holy one and the just and desired a murderer
to be granted unto you. Here he's speaking of that sad
event when Barabbas was put forward as being an alternative to be
set free to the Lord Jesus Christ. Pilate clearly expected the people
when he propounded setting free a murderer and a robber. He couldn't believe that the
people would rather have a robber and a murderer set free in their
midst, rather than have the Lord Jesus Christ set free. But such
was the hatred. Looking back at our text, this
is the stone which was rejected, set at naught of you builders.
They were so incensed against the Lord Jesus, they would rather
a murderer set loose. We wouldn't want a murderer to
be set loose, would we, in Rygate, in Redhill. We would want them
to be locked up. But you see, they'd rather have
a murderer set loose than have the Lord of life and glory And you see, this is the awful
nature of sin. We love darkness rather than
light, because our deeds are evil. But ye denied the Holy
One and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from
the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in
his name, hath made this man strong. And he mentions here,
which I did allude to this morning in verse 17 of chapter 3, and
now brethren I want that through ignorance ye did it as did also
your rulers. There was a sense in which they
didn't know what they did. Jesus said that on the cross
didn't it? Father forgive them. for they know not what they do.
They have no idea of the seriousness of the awfulness of putting to
death the Lord of life and glory. They had no idea of the seriousness,
the eternal consequences of what they were doing. And yet, you
see here, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
There was mercy, you see, mercy to sinners. And then you see Peter says a
similar thing in verse 19, repent ye therefore and be converted
that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing
from the presence of the Lord. So again, he preaches a gospel
of repentance, bringing the people to realize their sin, this same
precious preaching of the word, not to say sin doesn't matter,
not to try and say that, well, we're all good really. No, he
exposes sin for what it is, a transgression of the law, and he preaches the
way back to God as a way of repentance. And then in verse 22 of Acts 3, he mentions Moses. Moses was held in great respect
by the Jews, by the high priests, and by those authorities, religious
authorities. But here he's quoting, for Moses
truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me, Him shall
ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. In other
words, Peter was saying that Moses, the one that you look
up to, the one that you think so highly of, Moses prophesied
that the Messiah would come and that Messiah would die. The Messiah
would be that one despised, rejected and that one who would be raised
again. And it came to pass that every
soul that will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from
among the people. Again, you see, Peter's message
is not just positive only, it also gives the other side, that
there is a destruction of those that turn aside from this only
salvation. And that is, faithful preaching
today, it is not just a positive, it is also got to be a negative,
it's got to warn of the severity of the judgments of God, for
our God is a consuming fire. Well He preaches then their great
need. And it's interesting, isn't it?
He preaches his sermon. It hasn't long been in the way
and quickly the enemies of the gospel are stirred up. And so
when we come into chapter four, we have the enemies the high
priests, the Sadducees, and those in the religious authorities
that were now grieved. In chapter four we read, and
as they spake unto the people and the priests and the captain
of the temple and the Sadducees came unto them, being grieved
that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection
from the dead. So they were grieved at what
Peter and John were doing. and verse 3 you see, and they
laid hands on them. So it wasn't long before Peter
and John experienced sufferings. Yes they had blessings on Pentecost
with 3,000 souls baptized, And here we read that there was
5,000 that were blessed in this sermon that Peter preached in
the temple after this lame man was able to walk. But it was
with persecutions. And you see, this is what the
Lord Jesus said. Interestingly, it was in Matthew's
Gospel, chapter 16, when Jesus asked Peter, or asked all the
disciples, whom do men say that I, the Son of God, am? And Peter
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. This was
Matthew chapter 16. But then Jesus commends Peter
that it's the Father in heaven that has taught him these things, But then he goes on in verse
21 of Matthew 16, from that time forth began Jesus to show unto
his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem, suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed
and be raised again the third day. And Peter, then Peter took
him and began to rebuke him and saying, be it far from thee,
Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said
unto Peter, get thee behind me Satan, thou art an offence unto
me. For thou savest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men. Peter didn't think that there would be suffering
associated with this. But you see, Jesus makes it abundantly
clear that this is the way. In verse 24 of Matthew 16, then
said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me. Let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me.' Peter could have toned down his
message and as we carry on in chapter four, when he was put
in the middle of these religious elite and questioned about who
it was that whose who Peter was claiming the power
was, but they wanted him to acknowledge it. And they didn't believe that
he would have the boldness to do so, because they had the power
to crush him in a natural sense. And they thought, well, you see,
if they got him to put him in front of it, he wouldn't dare
say that it was through Jesus's power. But you see, Peter had
learned so much. since the death of the Lord Jesus,
50 days you see, between the death of the Lord Jesus and the
day of Pentecost, less than two months, and Peter is very changed
man. Peter the one that was denied
his Lord because that servant girl said that he was a Galilean
and said that he was associated with Jesus and because of what
that might mean in terms of sufferings he denied and yet Peter now is
not like that. Peter has been given a boldness
and a clarity which is not clearly was Peter by nature. He was given
a boldness to preach and to not be afraid of those religious
authorities that previously he had been petrified over. You
see, the Holy Spirit had come upon him and given him that humble
boldness. So as I said in Matthew 16 verse
24 then said Jesus said to his disciples if any man will come
after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow
me for whosoever will save his life. You see Peter could have
toned down his message and on a human level he could have been
made himself safer. He could have extricated himself
away from the anger and the hatred of the religious authorities
if he'd have toned down his message, if he'd have just said it a little
bit calmer and not claimed that it was the power of God. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. whosoever will lose his life
for my sake shall find it and see Peter is walking this out
he's he's bold so in Acts 4 verse 3 they laid
hands on them and put them in hold so very shortly after the
preaching of the gospel in the way we would know it began, with
the disciples preaching Christ as the way of salvation, that
this was whom all the Old Testament prophets spoke of, which was
of course so much the subject of Jesus' discourse. Emmaus, but this is now the apostles
preaching and being convinced that Jesus was indeed the Christ
and being given this humble boldness and they laid hands on them and
put them in hold. So very quickly they were put
in prison, they had their liberties taken away from them, they were
put into prison or into hold. for a night. And then we read
in verse 4 of chapter 4, Howbeit many of them which heard the
word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand. So here God was working powerfully
with his Holy Spirit, powerfully amongst the people, and yet Satan
was stirring up the opposition from the religious authorities.
And you see, what would Peter do? Would he keep going or would
he buckle? And it came to pass on the morrow, so that after
they'd spent a night in prison, that their rulers and the elders
and the scribes and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and
John and Alexander, and as many was the kindred of the high priest,
were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they'd set them in the
midst, they asked by what power or what name had they done this? Surely they'd known what Peter
was standing for. they asked him would he really
dare to say that it was in the name of Jesus? Would he dare
to mention that name? Well Peter not only dares to
do it but uses it as a wonderful, wonderful starting point of his
sermon to these people. Then Peter filled the Holy Ghost. You see the promise of the Father
that the Spirit would come and when you're delivered up unto
these people, take no thought because it will be given you
what you shall speak in that hour. And Peter was held up in
front of the authorities but he was filled with the Holy Ghost.
God is faithful. We have a friend that sticketh
close than a brother, we've just sung of it. And when we come
into our times of need, we come into our times of difficulty,
we come to our times when we're beyond knowing what to do. And
Peter filled with the Holy Ghost said unto them, you rulers of
the people and elders of Israel. He's very respectful. very faithful. If we this day be examined of
the good deed done to the impotent man, that's the lame man, by
what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all. He
takes the question and uses it as a starting point for preaching
Christ. be it known unto you and to all
the people of israel that by the name of jesus christ of nazareth
that one you called him jesus of nazareth to uh to ridicule
him to set him at nought be it known unto you that by
the name of jesus christ of nazareth whom ye crucified again you see
he's not scared he's faithful whosoever will save his life
shall lose it, whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall
find him. Peter was faithful. May we have
this humble boldness to not be ashamed of the gospel. Be it known unto you all, and
to all the people of Israel, by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here whole before you whole. This is how he's been cured.
This is what's taken place. And then he goes and quotes from
a scripture in Psalm 118. Just look at that lovely scripture
there. It's a quote that's made many
times in the New Testament. Psalm 118. Psalm 118 verse 22.
The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing. It is marvellous in our eyes. So here, the picture is here,
that there was, if you're building a builder and you come across
this stone, and actually it's a very precious stone, and yet
the builders despise it. They say it's of no use, we don't
want to build with that stone. This is that stone which was
set at nought of you builders. We don't want to have anything
to do with this one. But you see, just because they
rejected it, God still blessed him. This is the stone which was set
at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. So this one that they rejected,
is the chief cornerstone, the one, the most important stone
of the whole building. That's what they rejected, and
this is exactly what the Jewish leaders have done. They'd sought
to put the Lord of life and glory to death. They'd sought to destroy
him in every way possible. And yet, you see, this was the
stone which the builders had rejected. but God had made it
the head of the corner and of course in the psalm it says this
is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. Well
may we be amongst those who do see the value and the preciousness
of this stone, this precious cornerstone. This one who is
able to save unto the uttermost. And then in verse 12, we have
this, neither is there salvation in any other. This is not just
an additional extra to your salvation. This is the whole crux of your
salvation. This was what Moses was speaking
of. This is what all the Old Testament prophets were looking
toward, the Messiah, the Lamb of God. neither is there salvation
in any other. Here we see the exclusive nature
of the claims of true Christianity. We live in a day when we're meant to say that there's
many ways and there's many ways to get to God and there's many
ways to be saved but Peter made it absolutely clear that there
was only one way. Only one way. In John's Gospel,
chapter 14, we read those words in verse 6, John 14 verse 6,
Jesus said unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. You see, this does not allow for alternatives. It does not allow for different
ways, different ways to come to God. There is an exclusive
nature as given in the Word of God to the person and the work
of Christ and this is why our relationship to him is so vital. You see, you might say, well,
I don't see much value in this particular stone, but I see value
in a different stone. And that different stone is my
way to God. That different stone is my salvation. I will get to heaven on a different
stone. This is the stone which was set
at nought of you builders. And you see, it was set at nought
by Saul of Tarsus. He hated the Lord Jesus. He hated
Christians. Why? Because, you see, the Lord Jesus
did not give great honour and glory to the religious leaders.
He did not Caiaphas saw this. He was concerned
that if Jesus was able to carry on, that the Romans would take
away their place and nation. They realized that their authority
was undermined by the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the great cornerstone. And they valued, you see, their
own religious privileges far more than the truth. and therefore
they were willing to lie, willing to say that the disciples had
stolen his body, willing to twist the truth, willing to put to
death one that was totally innocent, so that they could save their
own skin. But Peter says here, neither
is there salvation in any other. exclusive for there is none other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It's very simple really isn't
it but very profound and this is what we so much need the clarity
in our day and may we be given grace in the people that we come
into contact with, that we may be able to speak clearly. We might say, but if I said this,
I would be in trouble. Well, what do you think Peter
was? Peter was in trouble. Peter had
spent the night before, these words that he spoke, he'd spent
in prison. He'd spent in hold. But you see, he was more concerned
about doing what God told him to do. If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself. You see, if Peter would have
said, well, the most important thing is to save my own skin,
and to prosper as a preacher, I've got to exist. And therefore,
if I've got to twist the truth to keep going, I'll do so. No,
he wanted to be faithful. That was his great concern, to
be faithful. So he faithfully, in love, you
see, to twist the truth and to pretend to others that there
is a way to be saved when it's no way, is not really kindness,
is it? It's not kindness to pretend
that something is a good way when it isn't. No, that's not
really kindness. Peter was faithful and we do
read later on that a great company of the priests believed. Great company of the priests
believed. So there were those that were adamantly against Peter
and John and the gospel of the Jesus Christ. Of course, one
of those was Saul of Tarsus himself. He was adamant against the Lord
Jesus Christ because he He had a righteousness of his own. He
didn't need a righteousness of another. He kept the law and
he wanted to be honored for keeping the law. But you see, when the
Lord brought about that conviction in his soul, then he realized
that he had no hiding place in himself. He needed the righteousness
of another. Neither is there salvation. in
any other for there is none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved you must be born again Jesus
said that to Nicodemus you must be born again you must There's
no salvation any other way. There's no other way to be right
with God. There's no other way to be rid
of Adam's sin, that original sin and our own confounding of
that sin in our own sinfulness. Neither is there salvation in
any other, exclusively one way to be saved. You see in Galatians
3 verse 10 it says, cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. You see there's a standard and we come short and therefore
we need the righteousness of another. Neither is there salvation
in any other. Isn't it interesting that Peter
here preaches Christ. That's why it's so precious,
the Pentecost and the Spirit being given to Peter as he's
preaching Christ. But it was a gospel that less
than two months before he would not have preached, he could not
have preached, he didn't appreciate two months before. That the Lord
had opened his heart, the Lord had blessed him, the Lord had
instructed him, and the Lord had shown him the preciousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The preciousness, not so that
he could be great in the kingdom of God. You see, to start with,
the apostles or the disciples, who should be greatest in the
kingdom of God? You see now there's a realization
that the greatness is to, he that is greatest let him serve. The greatness is in service.
Who was the greatest one? It was the Lord Jesus Christ,
that one who took a towel and washed his disciples' feet. It
is to serve. We have such a twisted view of
greatness. But you see this is the one who
came not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a
daily offering and if we're to be his followers we are to follow
a despised and a crucified one, one who is so that we are not seeking
our own glory, And the apostles, Peter, could have said, well,
you see, yes, we've got this power to heal people, and we're
great people ourselves. But no, he deflected all the
glory to God. He said, we're nothing. We haven't
done it by our own power. But this is the one we preach.
We preach Christ crucified. Paul came to realize this. God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ. This
is the great theme of the preaching of the Word. And so as we look
this day at the early church, the beginning sermons that we
have recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, how the apostles
were able to preach with boldness, and they were brought before
men for it, they were criticized, they were put in prison for it,
but they were able to continue. And you see, they were able to
be blessed. We read, when we finished our
reading in Acts 4 verse 13, now when they saw the boldness of
Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and
ignorant men, they marveled, they marveled. And they took
knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. You see, it
was obvious. There was a boldness which was
not from trusting in themselves. We have a sentence of death in
ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves. But they
trusted in the Lord Jesus. You see, they then threatened
them that they should speak no more in his name. They threatened
what would happen to them if they carried on preaching this
gospel. In verse 18 of Acts 4 it says,
and they called them and commanded them to speak, not to speak at
all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. Peter, again with his
boldness, filled with the Spirit, but Peter and John answered and
said unto him, whether it be right in the sight of God to
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard, So when they had further threatened
them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish
them because of the people, for all men glorified God for that
which was done. And then we're told in verse
23, and being let go, they went to their own company and reported
all that the chief priests and elders said unto them. And when
they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one
accord and said, Lord, thou art God. You see, they prayed. They
encourage them. We read of David that he encouraged
himself in the Lord his God. These disciples, these apostles
encouraged themselves in the Lord their God. Thou art God,
which made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that
in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant David, and then
he quotes Psalm 2, has said, why did the heathen rage and
the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood
up, the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his anointed or his Christ, for of a truth against thy holy
child Jesus, both they, thou, whom thou hast anointed both
Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles, and the people
of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold
their threatenings, and grant unto us, unto thy servants, that
with all boldness they may speak thy word. by stretching forth
thine hand to heal, and the signs and wonders may be done by the
name of thy holy child Jesus. Well, may we be people who have
a humble boldness. We might be able to say with
the Apostle Paul, we are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, neither is
there salvation in any other. It is the death of Christ. It
is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, putting our trust for time into
eternity, into his work, his death, his resurrection, his
exaltation. This is the way to be saved.
This stone which is set at naught of you builders, which has become
the head of the corner, neither is there salvation in any other.
For there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved. May we be amongst those who believe these things, but also
walk them out and are not ashamed of them. And may we be amongst
those who, as it says in Matthew 16 verse
24, then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come
after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow
me. Peter was taking up his cross.
He was doing what God had told him to do and whether that meant
being put back in prison, he didn't know. He did end up in
prison again at some later time as well, but he left that with
the Lord. What he needed to do was be faithful
to what God had told him to do. May we be today, men and women,
boys and girls, that are faithful to what God has said and leave
the issue with God. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it. We might think, oh we'll be very
clever, we won't say too much, we won't nail our colours to
the mask, we won't say who really is precious to us, it'll save
us so much. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake
shall find it. For what is a man profited if
he shall gain the whole world? You might say, I'll get on much
better in my career if I keep quiet what I believe about the
things of God. I'll get on much better. But
what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and
lose his own soul? But what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? This is the stone which was set
at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner,
neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. May we know that saving power
of Christ, and that we may truly be amongst those who ye are my
witnesses, that we may not be ashamed of him, but that we may
follow him. and truly say, this is my beloved
and this is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. May the Lord have
his blessing. Amen.