complete dependence upon the
Lord for all needed help this evening wish to direct your very
prayerful attention to the chapter that was read in your hearing
namely the Acts of the Apostles in chapter 4 and by way of text
verses 11 and 12 the Acts of the Apostles chapter 4 verses 11 and 12. 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 no other
name under heaven given among men. whereby we must be saved. This
is the stone which was 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." You know the saying is true that
truth is stranger than fiction. Because between the years A.D. 30 and A.D. 90, the gospel through
these somewhat appearing to be insignificant men of Jewish origin,
fishermen, brought the gospel to the four corners of the Earth. And it's interesting to see that
the secular historian is speechless to explain it. But the things which are impossible
with men are of course more than possible with God. And thus we can see, even to
the present day, the Bible is the best-selling book worldwide. Nevertheless, we must not be
caught up with the views of those who simply see the Acts of the
Apostles as a wonderful time and overlook the opposition. You know, wherever the church
is favored, particularly with numerical and a building up of
the church, there is always, or nearly always, strong opposition
to a significant level. Now, before we venture upon our
text, it is, of course, necessary to consider the circumstances
which we find ourselves in here in this fourth chapter. The division
by the translators here would be considered to be very good.
In the previous chapter we have this preaching and this healing
being mentioned. And of course, we can see that
this was no new gospel. This was the old gospel. We've
now come into a fuller light. But for Moses truly said unto
the fathers in the previous chapter, verse 22, a prophet shall the
Lord God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me.
Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto
you. Now, we read at the beginning of chapter 4 that the people, the priests
and the captain of the temple. Now the captain of the temple
was one who had been brought in to ensure that there was no
tumult or no riot in and amongst the people. That was their thought
of what such preaching would result in. These gatherings. But we know that Gospel preaching
does not create disorder, it creates order, quite the opposite
actually. Nevertheless, what do we find? The Sadducees came upon them
and being grieved that they taught the people and preached through
Jesus the resurrection from the dead, they were upset, grossly
upset, that this doctrine of the resurrection was being preached. My, there's nothing men can't
despise more than preaching without a license. John Bunyan was imprisoned
for such. And, although you might say we
live in different times, it is no different today. There's somebody
actually in my workplace at present, a woman, came up to me and said,
I never knew you'd been ordained. Apparently she has. We may raise an eyebrow and rightly
so. But friends, man doesn't make a preacher. A woman certainly
doesn't make a preacher of any kind. But the Lord makes a minister. This of course is recognized
by the local congregation, the local membership, and one has
to be separated for such work. We don't agree with the evangelical
practice that we just let anybody have a go. No. How can they preach except they
be sent? There must be a calling to the ministry. And thus, if
we have a calling to the ministry, we must go. And there's one thing
if we're called to the ministry, we will have to preach, and we
will preach. And the Lord will open the way. He'll open the
way in the church, and He'll open the way in the wider churches. And by that I mean the churches
outside our own local assembly. Separate me, we read. Barnabas and Saul for the work
whereunto I have called them." These men the Lord had called
and equipped them to preach. They weren't educated. But here we find these Sadducees
who had all the advantages laid hands on them. Now it was the
evening of the day. There wasn't much they could
do at that time. So they arranged a meeting of
the Sanhedrin. Now the word Sanhedrin translates
as Council. These were 71 men, 71, of the
lawyer and ruling people. They were all lawyers, experts
in the law. And their main function was to enforce the law. along with the 300 additional
points that they'd added onto the law. Now there's men today
who would add 300 or more additional points onto the law, an order
is to keep it. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. And thus we can see here, that the word having effect concerned
them. Remember, they had an awful lot
to lose. An awful lot to lose. Brings us back again to the days of non-conformity. The early
days of non-conformity. Of course, you couldn't at one
time erect a non-conformist church within several miles of the established
church. Why? Because it threatened the
minister. It threatened the clergyman.
What's the real reason? No other. It's only relatively
recent years a non-conformist like ourselves could even go
to university. Not all that long ago. Dr Gill,
of course, has been a prime example. His parents were non-conformists. You see, These men became very
nervous about this preaching. So, a trial was held the following
day. We would also note this. The
Sanhedrin's power was somewhat curtailed and it was curtailed
Because, although they had risen to prominence during the period
of autonomy that Israel had enjoyed, they were now, of course, under
the higher civil hand of Rome. And thus, that was the very reason
they had to go to Pilate in order to crucify the Lord. They could
bring about heresy trials, they could even beat men, but they
couldn't execute them. They couldn't execute them, which
presented them with a problem. But you see, the Lord rules and
He overrules, doesn't He? And we read the paragraph break
in verse 5, which is in a most appropriate place. And it came
to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes,
they asked Him, moving to verse 7, by what power or by what name
have you done this? Now, notice here who answers. I'm always greatly encouraged
when I see men learning by their mistakes. This had become sanctified. Remember
Peter had denied the Lord. Peter had denied the Lord. He knew it. It was very much
upon his heart. It was upon his conscience. It
was upon his mind and soul. He wasn't going to walk that
way again. no but notice here how the Lord
turns things around those who were the accused became
the accusers and those who were the accusers became the accused
Peter, note this, filled with the Holy Ghost. You see, if a
man's filled with the Holy Ghost, there's nothing the world will
be able to do against him. Nothing. Nothing. And don't think
that being filled with the Holy Ghost is some strange aberration. That wasn't what happened here,
was it? People think being filled with
the Holy Ghost, you know, manifestations will come out. Strange things
will happen. That's not what happened here.
This was a God-ordained response. He said unto them, Ye rulers
of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of
the good deed done of the impotent man, by what means he is made
whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand
here before you whole." Now, it's worth pointing out that
this, of course, caused great confusion because the Sanhedrin
was made up of all the sects of the day. Scribes, Pharisees,
Sadducees, they'd come together. Well, of course, the Sadducees
denied the resurrection and the others held a type of resurrection. Now, as we know, a house divided
against itself cannot stand. Think of this. If all the Mohammedans
in the Middle East united against us, we'd have a problem. But
the book of Genesis says his hand is against every other man's
hand, and every other man's hand against his. It's always been
that way. And thus, very often the Lord's
people, and we're witness to this, the Lord's people are preserved
and their cause is furthered by foolish men fighting each
other and disagreeing with each other. And thus, it was brought to pass.
And we enter into our text. This is the stone which was set
at nought of you builders. Peter here is continuing. Which
has become the head of the corner? This stone which is set at nought
of you builders. Now, you might think this is
a very strange thing to say. But of course, The whole point
of the Sanhedrin was they were to be establishers of the truth. Establishers of worship. And further, Peter here is demonstrating
an excellent knowledge of Holy Scripture. As you know, I'm not
really one for turning up references, but if you would turn with me
to Psalm 118, you'll see this a little more clearly. Verse 22, "...the stone which
the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner."
This is a prophetic word from David. This is the Lord's doing. It
is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it." And we would mention as an aside, this is a proof text
of the first day of the week being the Lord's day. This is
not the Jewish Sabbath. This is the Lord's day. This
is gospel principle, not law. Excuse me if you've heard this
before, but many of you will be aware that very sadly of late
when the chapel at Nottingham closed it has become a synagogue. And the first thing the Jews
did was rip out the pews and the pulpit and put sinks in all
around the chapel. Washing, you see, on the Sabbath
day. Food preparation, all this legal jangling. Touch not, taste
not, Handle not. But you don't have to be an Orthodox
Jew to be under the law. I know many strict Baptists who
are under the law. They don't really know what it is to be under the Gospel. And the whole tenor of life is
to that end, under the law. But here we see something different. You see, Peter's quotation hit
the mark as it were. They hit the mark. They were
condemned. The stone which the builders
refused. These are those who crucified
him. He's become the head of the stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It's
not ours. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our
eyes. Oh, but doesn't the stone set
forth many precious things, set at nought of you builders.
He means nothing to you. He means nothing to you. Oh,
they were religious. Oh, they were religious. They were orthodox. they were orthodox but they were lost and here they were being told
by these somewhat perceived to be ignorant men verse 13 says
that when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived
that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled.
How can these things be? How can these things be? I don't
understand this. But you see, is not this the
manifestation of the Holy Ghost? The wind bloweth where it listeth. And thus, the Lord deals with
his people and has his people in the most diverse places. This did not suit the racial
and the cultural prejudices of these people. Nothing's changed. Nothing's changed. But here we can see this is the
stone. which was set at note of you
builders this is the stone the stone or another word for the
stone of course been the rock this was whom they looked to
this was whom they worshipped now what do we Think of Christ. Become the head of the corner. Christ is the one foundation
of the Church. He is the head of the Church. And thus does that not speak
to us of our own principles? You know the Church of England
divides the country up into parishes. He thinks that the country is
Christian. But do we not believe that the
church is brought out of the world? It's not part of the establishment.
Christ is the head of the church and certainly not the monarch. Dear soul, here we can see what
think we of Christ. And thus, he brings his people
together in this way. the head of the corner. Somebody put it very well of
late. They said, I like that man's ministry, speaking
of somebody of whom we knew. He said he believes in the same
Christ. That's the key, isn't it? He
believes in the same Christ. A lot of people believe in a
Christ. But do they believe in the Christ? And this is identifiable as we
move further down our text. You know, the Russellites, the
Jehovah's Witnesses, knocked on our door the other week. And as you know, I'm never one
to bypass an opportunity to speak to them. You turn them to John 1. Jesus Christ is God. And there must be unity in a
Christ that is God and a Christ that saves. That's the difference. For what do we see and what do
we read of now? So firstly we have the stone.
But secondly, we see salvation is only in Christ. Neither is
there salvation in any other. Now, this here, again, is a unifying
point. There's a marginal reference
to chapter 3 and verse 26, the last verse of the previous chapter,
unto you first God, having raised up his Son, Jesus sent him to
bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. This was the work of Christ.
This was the end result, as it were. salvation is not to be
found in any other and this is where you find the
uniting point where do we look for for our
hope? now that might seem an obvious
question but if we search into our hearts and we're honest with
ourselves we might find we're looking in
the wrong place. You know it's very common for
people to look to their own experience as their salvation. Now let me
be clear. Real religion has to be experiential. But you know we're not saved
by our experiences. We're in a bad state if we think
that. If we're the Lord's, we will
have an experience, but don't be deceived into thinking you're
saved by it. We are only saved by the blood
of Christ. And He, who is the great object
of faith, is made subjectively known in other words we must
come to the position in our experience where we see there's no other
hope outside of Him neither is there salvation in any other
you might say this is a fairly obvious point but it's not is
it? it's not because We, being creatures
of the earth, will always look to something else first. Reformation of life. It's quite common. Because we're
wedded to the law, we're wedded to works. You read this in Acre's
Gloomy Vale. where James Wells, he goes round
to these various religious sects, obviously there were more of
them in that day. And they all told him to look
in various places and do various things and exercise faith. But of course it was all works
related. Have we been there? Can we see
that? You see some, perhaps not consciously
but subconsciously, rely in their chapel attendance. They have
a sort of, it'll be alright in the end, kind of religion. I hope we want more than that. I hope we want more than that. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Now we know we can't go to the
priest. We know we can't go to the minister. But you know some people have
been deceived into thinking if they sit under a certain ministry
that will make them alright. Neither is there salvation in
any other. for there is thirdly no other name given among men under heaven no non other name under heaven
given among men no other name Now a name is significant, isn't
it? Because a name means something. Particularly in Biblical days. Messiah, Saviour. There are many names, many different
names. Ascribed to the Lord Jesus, but here actually is something very,
very precious. You see, when it comes to be found trusting in none but
Christ, the name is significant. People very often... I knew somebody
who was a Protestant and said that they placed a cross and
they said it reminded them of something. I said, get rid of
it, it's an idol. Physical things you see, images,
pictures. That's not what we want. It's
a name. It's a name. What do we see? Do we not see
the name? Jesus, Saviour, Lord. None of the name. And thus it's what the name means to you
who believe he is precious precious that name is precious that's
why we won't desire for him to be blasphemed or his name taken
in vain it's probably the most distasteful thing an awful thing
we can hear more than anything else actually I know men can
say bad words, but I have to say I believe that's the most
offensive. And you see, men betray themselves. If you went bounding around their
mother's name, they'd soon get upset. But they think they can
do what they like with Christ's name, will they have a rude awakening? There you see. The name, is significant. The name is precious. We don't mean it in some kind
of sentimental kind of a way. It's precious because it should
mean everything to us. Our whole hope is upon this. Our hope is upon this and we
will be given an appreciation for this now if we know the name it's
implicit here that we know the person this is what this is all
about this is not an abstract thing this is a deeply personal
matter and thus those of whom we love by natural
ties, if we have any real affection for them, we desire, of course,
to commune with them. We desire to be acquainted well
with them. But it's solemn words, isn't
it, when we read that if any of you hate not his father, his
mother, his own life also, He cannot be my disciple. Communion
with Christ. Now don't misunderstand me. I'm
not advocating tomorrow that you all give your jobs up and anything else that you've
got and resign yourself to some kind of isolationist existence. That's not what is meant here. But communion with Christ, is
it not the great exercise of faith? Is it not that continual heart
communion whereby we look unto Him, we pray unto Him? Our exercise,
our whole person is cast upon Christ. There's nothing else. There's
nothing else. There's nothing else. Know the name under heaven. Notice here we cannot fail to
note his humanity. Know the name under heaven given
among men. We're speaking of the Lord Jesus
who came about, was born of a woman and was born under the law. if the Lord Jesus was really
touched with the feeling of our infirmities then by necessity he must have
had a human nature and a human soul otherwise he would not really
be an adequate substitute Now, from certain parts of London
we might hear differently, but that's a grotesque error. We have no hope, note that, we
have no hope if the Lord Jesus did not take upon himself a human
nature. Likewise, he must have necessity
have had a human soul. Know the name under heaven given
among men. What am I getting here? His human
nature here is implicit. He didn't come as an angel. There's
no salvation for fallen angels. There's no hope for a fallen
angel. But there is hope for fallen
men. mankind that of course speaks
of male and female those of the human race. No other name under heaven given
among men and here's the final clause and here Peter preaching really lays as it were
the death blow to the Sanhedrin whereby we must be saved. Now, I heard a sermon some time
ago entitled, it was a wonderful
sermon, the most hideous doctrine in the world, Free Will. Free Will. Men who worship their
own will. There's nothing worse. Nothing
worse. Dear me. If we're to worship our own will.
I don't want to be light about these things at all. I pray forbidden
from that, but there's times we don't feel the will to make
a cup of tea, do we? We might be in such an emotional
state about something or so, down or so, distracted. My, if we relied upon our will
we'd be in a poor place, a poor place, a poor place. Whereby we must be saved. Must. Free grace is written all
over this statement. all over this statement and you
can imagine the fear, the dread, the condemnation the council
feel when they hear this but you know it has a personal
application it has a personal application whereby we must be saved This is a better gospel than
Andrew Fuller's gospel, isn't it? There's not a scintilla of an
offer here whereby we must be saved. He
speaks of salvation accomplished and completed. You see, it's a work done in
the soul by the Holy Ghost. whereby we must be saved. And thus the mouths of every
opposing preacher of whatever label is closed. Some of us have lived to see
mouths of opposing and hateful preachers closed. What a mercy! This is free grace
experientially applied. and one thing you'll find when
you find yourself here you won't worry about what men think of
you you won't worry about that the fear of man will go here
Peter and John they didn't suffer from the fear of man they didn't
suffer from the fear of man here they were speaking in the
power of the Holy Ghost and that's really What we want, isn't it? We want ministry that speaks
Jesus Christ to the soul in the power of the Holy Ghost. And
then we'll have to say whereby we must be saved. We must be
saved. Salvation! Salvation! Free grace! There's nothing else. There's
nothing else. Hark how the gospel trumpet sounds Christ and free
grace therein abounds Free grace for such as sinners be And say
my soul, why not for me? Why not for me? That's salvation
applied, isn't it? Free grace, why not for me? Why not for me? We might be accused
of not preaching the gospel but here we've got a glorious gospel
A glorious gospel You see, it met the needs, it
met the cases of those of whom were found in their congregations. It met their cases. And that's
what real free grace preaching will do. It will meet the case
of lost sinners. But we have to remember this.
The end is always the same. It is for the glory of God, in
and through and by Jesus Christ. This is the stone which was set
at naught for 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 by which We must be
saved. The time has gone. I'll leave
it there. Amen.