Okay, today we're looking at
Acts chapter 4 and I'm taking the title from the message or
the message from verse 33. And with great power gave the
Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Great
power. God's power was upon them. And not only that, great power
and great grace was upon them all. That'll serve as a title,
great grace was upon them all. As I pointed out earlier, that
word great means extremely large, vast, big, mega, enormous, tremendous
grace. And we know the grace of God
is the sovereign grace of God. Every believer can identify with
these believers at Jerusalem. It is only by the sovereign grace
of God that we believe the gospel. We believe according to the working
of His mighty power. And it's the same power that
raised up the dead body of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can say
with the Apostle Paul, by the grace of God, by the grace of
God, I am what I am. If you hold your place there
and turn to Acts chapter 15, the first Bible conference that
was held in Jerusalem, with the discussion how God saves sinners,
Peter stood up and cleared the air in Acts 15 verse 11, but
we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that
we shall be saved. It's only by His grace. I am
what I am by the grace of God. Now we have in these few verses,
we have given unto us a true description of the early church
there at Jerusalem. Remember at the beginning there
were just 120 souls and then Peter preached that message and
God added 3,000 and then Peter preached another message and
God added 5,000. As they met together there in
Jerusalem, Peter and John came back from being persecuted and
in prison and they told the church of all that God had done through
them and listening to their words of persecution, then they did
this, they took their burden to the Lord. And when they heard
that, verse 24, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord
and said, Lord, thou art God, which made heaven and the earth,
the sea, and all them that is. Now, it is always a good and
right thing for us to take our burdens to the Lord, casting
all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Now, down to verse 29, they make
29 and verse 30 they make three requests unto the Lord and we
read in scripture be careful for nothing But in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving Let your requests
be made known unto God cry out unto God if you have a burden
have a need cry out to the Lord His ears are open to the cries
of his children. Now, notice, first of all, what
they say, Lord, behold their threatenings. Behold their threatenings. In other words, they're saying,
Lord, subdue our enemies. Lord, be our strength. Be our
help. Lord, subdue our enemies and
help us. Now, don't turn, let me just
get this for you. This is familiar to most of you. In Psalm 27, you know David had
many enemies that chased and hunted him, including his own
family. But he said this, and this is
the same thing these folks are praying here. Lord, behold their
threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness
we may speak thy word. David prayed, Lord, the Lord
is my light, Psalm 27, my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked,
even my enemies, my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they
stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against
me, my heart shall not fear, though war should rise against
me. In this I'll be confident. One thing have I desired of the
Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. Lord, subdue our enemies. Grant, behold their threatening,
and grant unto thy servants that with boldness they may speak
the word. Now the word here is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Grant thy servants boldness. Now grant is the gift like repentance
was granted unto Israel. grant thy servants boldness to
speak the word of the lord as they did earlier remember in
act chapter 4 verse 13 now when they saw the boldness of peter
and john and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men
they marveled and they took knowledge of them that they had been with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, grant unto us to speak
and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ without reservation,
with freedom, liberty, and frankness. May God be pleased to give us
that here. As Paul said, I'm ready to preach
the gospel to you who are at Rome, for I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God and the
salvation to everyone that is blessed to believe it. Now I'll
give you an example of that. Turn to Acts chapter 20. Acts
chapter 20, the Apostle Paul's last sermon
to the elders at Ephesus in Acts chapter 20. Verse 19, serving
the Lord with all humility of mind, with many tears and temptation
which befell me by lying in wait of the Jews, how I kept back
nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and
have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying
both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward
God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. in the same chapter,
look at verse 27, for I've not shunned to declare unto you all
the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers to feed the church of God, that is to preach the
gospel. WHICH HE HAD PURCHASED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD. LORD, GRANT
THY SERVANTS BOLDNESS THAT THEY MAY GO AND PREACH THE WORD OF
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THE THIRD THING THEY SAY HERE
IN VERSE 30, GRANT BOLDNESS THAT WE MIGHT PREACH, LORD, BEHOLD
THEIR THREATENINGS, Undertake for us subdue our enemies and
the third thing they say here and they pray for Lord by stretching
forth thy hand to heal That signed and wonders may be done in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ by stretching forth notice thy
hand to heal now his hand are the sovereign hands of God. He does according to his will
in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of this earth and
none can stay his hand. Lord grant boldness that we may
preach the gospel and then you stretch forth your hand. How
does he stretch forth his hand to heal? Through the preaching
of the gospel. That's what he's saying there.
HE'S THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS HANDS THAT CAN HEAL VILE, WRETCHED,
DEAD SINNERS. IT PLEASES GOD THROUGH PREACHING
TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE. LORD, GRANT US BOLDNESS THAT
WE MAY PREACH AND THEN STRETCH FORTH YOUR HAND TO HEAL. AND THAT'S HOW HE DOES IT. through
the preaching of the gospel. You remember our Lord said in
Luke chapter four, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because
he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has
sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captive, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And do it in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Everything God has for sinners
is through and in and by the Lord Jesus Christ who had no
sin, knew no sin, and did no sin in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Heal sinners. The Lord Jesus
Christ. We had it on the radio this morning.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
the Lord Jesus Christ came to heal, save sinners. Paul said, I'm the chief one.
HE CAME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THE LOST. HE DIDN'T COME TO CALL
THE RIGHTEOUS BUT SINNERS UNTO REPENTANCE. NOW THAT'S THEIR
PRAYER. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? VERSE 31, AND WHEN THEY HAD PRAYED,
THE PLACE WAS SHAKEN WHERE THEY WERE ASSEMBLED TOGETHER AND THEY
WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND THEY SPAKE THE WORD
OF GOD. YOU REMEMBER, THEY PRAYED TO
THAT END And the Lord answered that prayer, and they spake the
word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and they did so with boldness,
boldness. The place was shaken. Some think,
like in Acts chapter two, as a mighty rushing wind on the
day of Pentecost, others, I think refer to what happened when Paul
and Silas were in jail in Philippi when they sang praises unto the
Lord at midnight. You remember what happened? God
sent an earthquake and the place was shaken. God rocked the jailhouse and
only God can do that. GOD USES THESE FEW MEN, FISHERMEN,
UNLEARNED AND IGNORANT MEN, AS SOME SAID, TO SHAKE THIS WORLD. AND ANOTHER PLACE IN THE BOOK
OF ACTS, CHAPTER 17, SAYS THESE MEN HAVE COME INTO OUR TOWN,
THESE MEN HAVE TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN. GOD SHAKES THIS
EARTH. WITH THE GOSPEL. EVERY TIME WE
SEE OR READ ABOUT OR FEEL AN EARTHQUAKE, WE'VE EVEN HAD EARTHQUAKES
HERE, HAVEN'T WE? WHO CAN SHAKE THE EARTH BUT GOD
ALONE? WHO ALONE CAN SHAKE A DEAD SINNER
AND WAKE HIM UP AND RAISE HIM FROM THE DEAD AND QUICKEN HIM?
ONLY GOD. AND THEY WERE FILLED, NOTICE
THIS, THEY WERE FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST as all God's people are, was
sealed with the Spirit until the day of redemption. But these
folks that were filled with the Holy Ghost, you know what they
did? They didn't preach about the Holy Ghost. THEY PREACHED THE WORD OF GOD
WITH BOLDNESS. THAT IS, THEY PREACHED CHRIST,
HIS PERSON AND HIS WORD. THEY LIFTED UP THE NAME OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. THEY WERE BLESSED TO PREACH THE
GOSPEL CONCERNING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THEY DID SO WITH
BOLDNESS. YOU REMEMBER, WE HAVE AN EXAMPLE
OF THAT IN ACTS, CHAPTER 4, VERSE 12, WHEN THEY STOOD BEFORE THAT
SANHEDRIN COURT AND SAID, When they asked, by whose name have
you done this miracle? And they said, in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they went further and
they said, neither is there salvation in any other, for there's no
other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be
saved. You see, regarding the preaching,
we have no option but to preach the word of the Lord and do so
with boldness. with an apology, well, God is
absolutely sovereign. Well, you know, I'm sorry about
that, but that's just the way it is. No, we don't need to apologize
for God. He is the absolute God, and we
speak that with clarity and boldness. God is God. Beside Him, there
is no other. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in no other. That's why we are determined
to preach nothing else, nothing less, and nothing more, but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified, and salvation that is of the Lord. Now, in verse 32 verse 33 and verse 34 35 here
we have the Lord's vivid and colorful description of the Lord's
Church at Jerusalem now notice several things about this church,
and I mean I mean by that when I say church I I don't necessarily
mean a local congregation. I'm talking about those who are
called of God, called out of darkness into God's marvelous
light. But this assembly at Jerusalem,
it says here that the multitude of them that believe. Now, faith is a miracle of God's
grace. If any man truly believes the
gospel, it's because God has granted him faith to believe. We only believe the gospel according
to the working of His mighty power. The multitude of them
that believe We believe through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Believing the gospel is no small
thing. It's a miracle of God's grace.
Peter preached one time and God added 3,000. Peter preached another
time and God added 5,000 more. Now there's 8,000 people from
120 to 8,120. They're all in Jerusalem with one heart, one
mind, believing the gospel of God. What a miracle. They were granted
faith in Christ, granted repentance, both repentance and faith. They
come at the same time, but from the same hand of God. It's the
goodness of God, faith's the gift of God, and the goodness
of God leads us to repentance. God grants faith and God gives
and grants repentance. They believe the gospel. And
the fruit of that, secondly, in verse 32, it says, they that
believe were of one heart. They were of one soul, one heart. God had given them a new heart
in regeneration. They were made new creatures
in Christ Jesus. And several times we've seen
in the book of Acts, they were of one accord. one accord, being
in harmony. If you look back at chapter one,
verse four, these all, verse 14 rather, chapter one, verse
14, these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. In chapter two, we see that again. In chapter two, verse 46, They continuing daily
with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to
house to eat meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising
God, having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to
the church daily such as should be saved. They were all of one
accord and of one mind, one heart. one soul what a blessing that
is he's saying this they were all united together in one body
under one head being found in the lord jesus christ believers
are inseparably united eternally so and join together with the
Lord Jesus Christ from eternity and it's only in time that he
lets us know that we are one with him. I in them thou in me
that we may be made perfect in one. We are many members but
we're one body in Christ and being one body in Christ we have
one heart One heart that's broken of God. He's nine to them of
a broken heart, save as such as be of a contrite spirit. One
heart, having a new heart given of God and with one soul, one
mind. David writes about it this way.
Behold how good, behold how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in oneness, in unity. We read in Ephesians chapter
4 a moment ago, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. They believed, and those who
believe are of one heart and of one soul. Read on verse 32,
neither said any of them that had anything which he possessed
was his own, but they had all things in common. They had all
things in common. Not only did they have all things
common in a carnal and material way, they sold out because of
persecution and the pending destruction upon them. Because of the special
love of God shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Spirit, they
were gracious and generous to others, as it says in verse 34,
neither was there any that lacked among them. For as many as were
possessors of house, land, sold them, and brought the prices
of these things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles'
feet, and distribution was made unto every man according as he
had need." God opened their heart. Gave them a new heart. God opened
their hand and made them generous. And here's the point for us.
Those who have experienced grace are gracious. These folks, because
God, the love of God was shed abroad in their hearts, they
were gracious. They sold out everything to the
cause of God and the gospel. Those who have experienced grace
are gracious. Those who have experienced His
love manifested shed abroad their own heart by the Holy Spirit.
They're loving and kind to others. Our Lord said, Be ye merciful
to others as the Lord has been merciful to you. Forgive others
as the Lord has forgiven you. But I want to consider this in
a spiritual way. Not only did they have all things
in common, naturally and they brought everything together to
help one another, but to consider this in a spiritual way for us
today. Believers share all things in
common with the salvation that is of the Lord. Believers are
all saved exactly the same way. We have all things in common
and And the Lord meets our every need from a storehouse of His
mercy, and He gives distribution from His storehouse of mercy
to every sinner His own that are in need. God shall supply
all your need according to His riches in glory through the Lord
Jesus Christ. They have all things in common.
Now let's turn. FIND SOME SCRIPTURE HERE. TURN
OVER HERE TO THE BOOK OF JUDE RIGHT BEFORE THE REVELATION.
GOD SAVES HIS PEOPLE WHOM HE SAVES WISELY BY HIS GRACE ALL
EXACTLY THE SAME WAY. THEY HAVE ALL THINGS IN COMMON,
THAT IS, THEY HAVE A COMMON SALVATION. JUDE, CHAPTER 1, VERSE 3, BELOVED,
WHEN I GAVE ALL DILIGENCE TO WRITE UNTO YOU OF THE COMMON
SALVATION, which was needful for me to write unto you and
to exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith
once delivered unto the saints." So we have that common salvation
in Christ. Now turn back a few pages over
to the book of Titus. Titus, chapter one of Titus,
and we have here Something else that's common with all believers,
Titus chapter 1, verse 1, Paul, a servant of God, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and
the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness, in
hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before
the world began, but hath manifested in due times his word through
preaching, which is committed unto me according to the command
of God our Savior, to Titus, my own son, after the common
faith. What is the foundation of faith?
The Word. What is the object of saving
faith? The Lord Jesus Christ. We have a common salvation. We
have a common faith. Believers are of one hope, one
love, and one way. What is that one hope? Remember
what we read over here in Ephesians chapter four, there is one body,
one spirit, even as you're called in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism. What is that one hope? Christ
in you, the hope of glory. The hope we have is not a wish
or a shot in the dark. We have a good hope through grace.
Christ in you, that is the hope of glory. We have that all in
common. And our need is met in the storehouse
of mercy, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have that common salvation.
We have that common faith. We have that common and one hope.
And then we have that one common love. LOVE, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD,
BUT THAT HE LOVED US, AND THAT HE SENT HIS SON TO BE THE SACRIFICE
FOR OUR SIN. WE ONLY LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST
LOVED US. WE HAVE THAT COMMON LOVE OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. IF ANY MAN LOVED NOT THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD SAID, LET HIM BE A CURSE. one common salvation, one common
faith, one common hope, one common love. Our Lord said, by this
shall all men know that you're my disciples, that you love one
another, and we have one common way. What is that way that we
are going? Well, it's the highway of grace,
is it not? Our Lord said, I am the way. the truth, the life. No man come
to the Father but by and through me." Now, we lay down everything
at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 35, and he gives
to us generously from the storehouse of mercy as we have need. We can use that in a spiritual
way, and I think that makes good application for us. There was
just one gospel Not another. There's just one God and Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have the privilege to
call upon Him always and constantly for all of our need. And He meets
every need that we have in Christ according to the riches of His
grace. All salvation, all pardon and mercy is in that storehouse,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Call upon Him. Everyone who does
you remember back over here in chapter 2? verse 21 and it shall
come to pass that every that whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved He has a storehouse of mercy Sinners
who are in need are to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ now back
to the text They had all things common, verse
33, and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, two more points here. I
got just a few minutes here. With great power gave the apostles
witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. His glorious, glorious resurrection
power. If you'll find 1 Peter 1, how much good news would the
gospel be if the Lord Jesus Christ would not, if he did not come
out of the tomb on the third day? We would have no hope. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. In 1 Peter 1, verse 3, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according
to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living, lively
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you." The apostles were eyewitnesses to His glorious
resurrection. We're going to see that all the
way through. In every sermon that's preached, that the apostles
preached in the Book of Acts, there was some element TO THE WITNESS OF THE LORD'S
RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. PETER SAID YOU KILLED THE PRINCE
OF LIFE, BUT GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD. IF THERE BE NO RESURRECTION
FROM THE DEAD, WE HAVE NO SALVATION. IF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS NOT
RAISED FROM THE DEAD AND ASCENDED TO GLORY AND SEATED AT THE RIGHT
HAND OF GOD, EVERYTHING HE SAID WAS A LIE, EVERYTHING HE DID
was in vain and his soul is in hell if he's not resurrected
and ascended and seated in the heavenlies right now. And that's
not overstating it. His resurrection is valid and
necessary to our salvation. That's right. Now here's the
last point. Great grace was upon them all. Now that's the only way they
could preach the word with boldness. That's the only way they could
believe the gospel. It's the only way they could
be of one heart and of one soul. It's the only way they could
sell out and submit unto the Lord. It's the only way they
can have all things in common. It's the only way they could
give great witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
said, we've seen him, our hands have handled him, our eyes have
looked upon him, who is the word of life. Great grace was upon
them. Great grace was upon them. I read something the other day
by a friend of mine. He's a pastor out in Rock Valley,
Iowa. And he said this about grace.
It's real short. Let me just read it to you. Grace
is not merely a doctrine but an unstoppable force of God. It is never without effect. We are chosen by grace with the
undeniable effect that we are His. We're redeemed by His grace
with a certain effect that we are free in Christ, justified
freely by His grace. We are called by grace with the
inescapable effect that we shall be forever with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thank God for His grace. Thank
God for His grace. You see, of His fullness have
we all received grace for grace. Great grace was upon them. Now, we cannot preach grace,
and the only grace there is is sovereign grace. We cannot preach
grace too often, too boldly, too sovereign, or too strongly. When Paul writes back from prison
and reminds Timothy not to be ashamed of me or the gospel,
he said, it's God who saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our work, but according to his own purpose
and grace given us in Christ before the foundation of heaven. THE WORLD. IT IS SALVATION ONLY
BY THE GRACE OF GOD. NOW LET'S TURN TO A FEW SCRIPTURES
AND READ THIS ONE MORE TIME. TURN TO ROMANS CHAPTER 3, VERSE
24. I COULD QUOTE THESE TO YOU, BUT
I WANT YOU TO READ WITH ME. ROMANS 3, 24. ROMANS 3, 24. WE'VE ALL SIN THAT COMES SHORT
OF THE GLORY OF GOD, Verse 23, verse 24, being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
How are we justified? Freely by His grace. Now turn
to Romans chapter 5, verse 19. For by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Romans 5 verse 20, moreover the
law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Read on, that as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign. through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Their sovereign grace.
Grace reigns. Grace is sovereign. But notice
it, it's through the righteous, faithful obedience of the Lord
Jesus Christ, being obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. The apostle writes about it this
way. FOR YOU KNOW THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THAT THOUGH
HE WAS RICH, YET FOR YOUR SAKES HE BECAME POOR, THAT YOU THROUGH
HIS POVERTY MIGHT BE MADE RICH IN HIM." ONE MORE REFERENCE IN
THE BOOK OF ROMANS HERE, CHAPTER 11, THERE'S A REMNANT, VERSE 5, ROMANS
11, VERSE 5, EVEN SO AT THIS TIME THERE IS A REMNANT ACCORDING
TO THE ELECTION OF GRACE. GOD ELECTED A PEOPLE IN ETERNITY. WE ARE BOUND TO GIVE THANKS TO
GOD FOR YOU, BRETHREN, BELOVED OF THE LORD, BECAUSE GOD HATH
FROM THE BEGINNING CHOSEN YOU TO SALVATION." NOW, THAT'S THE
ELECTION OF GRACE. IT'S NOT THE ELECTION OF WORKS,
IS IT? IT'S NOT THE ELECTION OF MERIT, IS IT? IT'S AN UNCONDITIONAL
ELECTION, THE ELECTION OF GRACE. AND, VERSE 6, IF BY GRACE, THEN
IT'S NO MORE WORKS. Otherwise, grace is not really
grace. But if it be of works, then it's
not grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
In other words, he's saying this, salvation's all of grace, all
of God, all in Christ, or it's not. It's either all works or
all grace. It can't be both. AND WE KNOW
THIS BOOK TEACHES THAT SALVATION IS BY THE GRACE OF GOD. YOU SEE THAT STATEMENT AGAIN
BACK IN THE TEXT WAS GREAT POWER, POWER OF GOD WAS UPON THEM, THE
HOLY SPIRIT FILLED THEM WITH THE TRUE WITNESS OF THE GLORIOUS
RESURRECTION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND GREAT GRACE WAS UPON
THEM. I love that word. Do you ever
notice how that word sounds a whole lot like Christ? Grace. Christ. one in the same. May our great God and Savior
give unto us one heart, one soul, that we might be in one accord.
May He be pleased to teach us that we have all things in common,
united together in Christ. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and in Christ we stand complete, that we may,
with great power, plainly boldly, always clearly determined to
preach Christ and Him crucified as a way of salvation. Salvation
is all of God's grace. Oh, to grace, the songwriter
put it, daily I'm constrained to be, lest thy goodness, like
a fetter, bind my wandering heart.