Indeed, the Lord's goodness has always been there for us, and the promise is it always will be. So thank you for that, Blaine. Acts chapter four, we have been looking at the reaction that the religious people had to the lame man being healed, and then the gospel that's preached because of that, And the Sadducees and the priest and the captain of the temple and all that were kin to them ultimately had had enough. They were not going to hear this anymore. So they were grieved by it. It was contrary to what they believed. It was contrary to their religion, contrary to their theology. And so it grieved them that these disciples taught the resurrection. For the Sadducees saw nothing beyond this life. There was no supernatural, no home in heaven, no being with God. You lived and you died and that was it. They believed in a pure free will. Their... It's amazing to me how many people are enamored with free will and how many people want to believe the concept of free will. When you see where it really leads, the Sadducees believed in absolute free will and these people that were in the temple, that's why they had no grace. That's why they gave no grace to anyone because they believed a person was getting what they should get because of the consequences and the choices that they made in their free will. So if you're in a distress, you deserve it. If you're poor, that's because of your choices. If you're lame from birth, That's because of your sin, your choice. In fact, you'll know that the disciples, when they saw the blind man, they asked in the ninth chapter of John, they said, well, whose sin was it? Was it his sin or the sin of his parents? Because it had to be some act of free will. And their free will led them to believe that there was nothing beyond this world. No God, no heaven, no resurrection. No standing complete in hymn, no tears wiped from your eyes, no endless day of joy and wonder. They could never sing, they tell me of a home far beyond the sky. They tell me of a home far away. They tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise. They tell me of an unclouded day. They could sing none of that. They could not sing when the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. They could not sing when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more. And morning breaks eternal, bright and fair. When we're over on the other shore, and the road is called up yonder, I'll be there. Or when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we shall sing and shout. A victory, they had no victory. They were slaves to the Romans. They made deals to stay in power. But this was all there was. And they were grieved and despised anyone that would come with hope. And so they grabbed them, arrested them, put them in a room till the next day, because it was late. In the evening, there they were, they came about, In the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, so nine hours from six o'clock in the morning would be three o'clock in the afternoon, so from three o'clock in the afternoon till it was dark, this man is healed, the preaching happens, 5,000 people are converted. And they hated it. So they put them in jail, they grabbed hold of them and put them in a room and held them. Albeit, verse four says, many of them which heard the word believed. And the number of the men, the men alone, not including the women and the children, the men alone was about 5,000. They held them. But the crowd heard them. In fact, it was almost too late, wasn't it? I mean, the horse was out of the barn. I mean, you're gonna close the gate now? I mean, it's been done. And not only has it been done, but it's a miraculous thing. An undeniable thing has been done. Well, they came and they talked. But verse eight says, then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost or with the Holy Spirit said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to this impotent man, that is by what means he is made whole. Well, if that's what you're interested in, let me tell you. Be it known unto you, to all, and to all the people of Israel, that it was the name of Jesus of Nazareth whom ye crucified. whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught, useless, zero, by you builders. When it came time to build something, You couldn't build anything because you rejected the cornerstone by which all the building would be supported. So you rejected it, ye builders, but it's become the cornerstone. No thanks to you, didn't need your permission, and regardless of the fact that you rejected him, He still became the cornerstone, for God has promoted him. Neither is there salvation in any other. Now here is Peter bringing, as it were, the point home. This is Peter bringing, as it were, the knife to their throat, neither is our salvation than any other, for there's none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, and it is the name that they rejected." Now, you would think that Peter's saying this and they're dismissing it and just sloughing it off, but that's not what's happening. The Spirit has filled Peter and he is, boldness speaking to these people who, by the way, had his life in their hands. Verse 13 says, however, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, that's what they didn't expect, you see. They didn't expect that. They thought he was some ignorant and unlearned fisherman that they could just easily slough off and they could easily turn away, they could easily refute, but they did not bank upon the boldness of the Spirit. And when they saw this boldness of Peter and John and perceived They had an understanding that these were unlearned and ignorant men. They didn't go to their schools. They didn't ask them their opinions. They were looked down upon as people that were surely not equal to them. These were unlearned or literally men without letters. This idea of ignorant men could mean private men, that is, men who didn't give themselves to the public understanding, but probably better translated, ignorant men in the sense that there was no reason. There was no earthly reason that these people should know, that Peter and John should know these things or should be as bold in these things as they were And they were shook up to the degree that it was a wonder to them. They marveled. And then they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. I think it dawned on them finally. Now, I don't know, these people probably knew Jesus. They probably knew what he had told. I mean, they had crucified him. These people were there. Ananias and Caiaphas, they were there, they knew what was happening. Could it be that the words of Jesus, these haunting words of Jesus that have never been far from their own minds and understanding since that day, now it floods into them and they said, this is nothing more and nothing less than the doctrine of Christ. They marveled. Jesus is now flowing through them and beholding the man which was healed You see, the evidence begins to stack up. Jesus, the words of Jesus, comes flooding to their hearts and minds. And they remember that night. They remember that night that they falsely accused Him. They remember the false witnesses. They remember the kangaroo court. They remember the hatefulness that drove them mad and would not be given up by them until they crucified the Son of Glory. Peter, pounding them, whom ye crucified, whom ye with wicked hands slew, you, but God raised him from the dead. They marveled. They took note, took knowledge. These are the words of Jesus. And now here's this man. No explanation. Crippled from his mother's womb. And healed now, not by free will, but by free grace. They could say nothing against it. Which is interesting. Though they could say nothing against it, It didn't stop them from trying. Now, I would think these people now, this boldness of Peter, this spirit of God that has failed Peter, that's now hammering them these truths, you crucified him, but God raised him from the dead. They're marveling at these things. This is as close as these people are ever going to get to belief. There they are. 5,000 standing in the temple waiting to see what they were going to say about Peter and John. 5,000 people waiting to hear what the religious leader's conclusion of this would be. Man healed. Boldness of Peter and John. They couldn't say one word against it. But when they had commanded Peter and John to go aside out of the council, they began to confer among themselves, you see. Unbelief is catching. It's contagious. That is the danger of being around merely religious people. They'll talk you out of it. There has been, and you've seen it, and I've seen it in many churches, not only churches I was a member of, but churches I've pastored, you'd see that there would be some people that would begin to understand, some people that would begin to acknowledge Some people that wanted better, some people that wanted different, some people that wanted it right. I mean, they were captured, even as the Apostle Paul said, you know, I want to be seized or arrested or apprehended by that. You know, I want to apprehend that which has apprehended me. They've been apprehended. They've been grabbed by it. And now they want to live a better life, a more noble life, a higher life. They want to live a life that's more glorious to God. And they're finished with the world and they're finished with all of this pretense and with all of this this false and phony and pseudo-religiosity. Now they want to obey and to live and to follow Christ. Wherever He leads, I will go. And you'll see someone who's gripped with the power of the gospel and this boldness that they'll come into the church and all of a sudden, I've seen it happen, that these people could not stay where they were if they were going to stay with these people who were cold and dead in their religion. In fact, it has been said, I don't remember exactly who said it, but in order for us to be normal, to be able to sit in the religious gathering and normality that we will have to become subnormal, We'll have to deny what's happened to us. We have to cool down. And I've heard it, oh well, he's excited now, but he'll cool down. I've had it even said of me. Oh yeah, now you're all excited and now you're, but you know, one day you'll cool down. Would to God I never cool down, would to God I die before I cool. But they get together, you see. Y'all go outside, get the influence away from us. They don't debate him anymore, they've shut their debate down. They don't give them an opportunity to speak anymore because they're afraid of what they would say. But when they got him away from, when they got them away from these people, they began to confer among themselves. Here's what they say. What shall we do to these men? Oh, they're guilty. They give them no quarter. No, they've already determined what they are. What are we gonna do with them? For indeed a notable miracle have been done by them. We know the truth. We're not going to believe it. We're not going to let them propagate it. We're not going to live our life by that truth. Though we know it's true, we will deny it by our living. They've done a notable miracle that's a manifest to all of them that dwell in Jerusalem. Meaning if They could have hidden it from the crowd. They would have. You see how these people operate? It's in secret. They confer with each other. They know that What they're saying cannot be maintained because there's too many witnesses. But that it spread no further among the people. Let us straightly threaten them. So they talk to each other out of believing. Though they marveled, though they were astounded, though they understood and were convicted that these people had been with Jesus, they come together and make the scheme, the plot, you see. And let me just say this to you, just as a matter of giving you some practical advice. I will be bold to speak the truth of the gospel to the crowd, to any crowd, not caring what they think, because I know what is the truth. Now, I'm not saying I would have the feeling of the spirit that Peter and John had, but I know this truth. But I never tried to give personal witness to anyone about their need for Christ in a crowd. You can't speak to them in the crowd. because they will hide behind the crowd, and they will use the crowd to confirm their unbelief. No. When you talk to someone about Christ, you've got to cut him out of the crowd. You've got to cut her out of the crowd. You have to speak in in a private, individual way to them, you see. Which is the hardest thing to do. It's much easier to stand at the pulpit. I know some of you that might be a little afraid of public speaking would say, well, I could never do that. But it's much easier, let me tell you, it's much easier to stand at the pulpit and blast people. It surely is. It's much easier to stand up here and talk about the wonder of Christ. It's much easier to stand up here and to point them to Christ than it is to cut someone out individually and point them to Christ. Now, I do believe that preaching is exactly what the Lord would use to save many. For everyone that had every Philippian jailer or every Ethiopian unit, for every one of them in the New Testament, there are thousands that are swept into the kingdom of God by preaching. But I'm just telling you, You cannot win anyone to Christ when they're in the crowd. Now I could show you, and we'll surely come to it, but here's Mars Hill, right? Here are these Epicureans, Stoics. Here are these people that love to hear and to tell new and different things. And Peter's I'm sorry, Paul stands up and preaches the gospel to them and talks about this very point, the resurrection. They mocked him. Some of them said, well, you know, this is an interesting point. I might think about it later. But some believed. And those that believe attached themselves, you see. And then that's when Paul could bear the gospel to their heart. Well, you see them? Here they are. They're conferring with one another, with themselves. They get the influence away, you see. We're not gonna hear you. We're not gonna hear the influence. We're not gonna let you speak. We've made up our mind about you. And we know there's a lot of evidence that proves exactly what you're saying and exactly, but you know what? We don't like it and we're not gonna receive it. So. Now what are we going to do with these guys? They've already manifested a miracle. Everyone in Jerusalem knows. We would deny it if we could, but we cannot. They don't care about truth. These kind of people never care about truth. They care about self-promotion. They didn't hate the gospel because it was true. They didn't hate the doctrine of the resurrection because it had a convicting power behind it. They hated it because it had the potential to rob them of their position. That's why they killed Christ. That's why the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the priests, because they were afraid if they followed him, all the world has gone after. And we must deny this resurrection, though we know, we know these people were guarding the tomb. We know that we put them there, so this thing wouldn't happen. But it happened, so now we must go with the lie. Because if they find out about the resurrection, The latter is gonna be worse than the former. It's just gonna be worse. We'll spread the lie. They determined to spread the lie. That's what religious people trying to hold on to a religious position do. Have you often wondered why some people come to church? You know, there have been many times in my life when I saw these people and saw how they acted and saw what they were, and I'm wondering, Why is this hateful, mean-spirited person that thinks he's in the world for one person, and that is to give the pastor perpetual and eternal heartburn? For what reason? Why is this man against the pastor? Because he mistreated him? The pastor missed, no. Because the pastor lied to him, no. Because the pastor took from him, no. But because the pastor told him the truth that he did not want to believe. See it? So we must put them out of business. that it spread no further. Well, the cat's out of the bag. They're not even sensible. None of this is gonna work. But they're so disgusted with the truth that they will propagate the lie even though the lie exposes them as liars. So we're going to threaten them. Threaten them? These people are standing with the power of God. The runes are shaking when they speak. The Holy Spirit shows up and fills them with power and boldness to such a degree it almost persuaded you. And you're going to go out there and threaten them? Don't you speak anymore to no man in this name. Now what's the chances of that? And they called them and commanded them not to speak. Call them in here and we'll threaten them. Don't you speak anymore in that name. Don't you teach anymore in that name. I would have loved to have been a fly on a wall and saw the reaction of Peter and John. We have their words. And Peter and John, so they brought Peter and John to them. And Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, you judge. for we cannot but speak. I mean, you talking about free will. I'm telling you, we cannot but speak. It flows out of us. There's no way we, look, I'm sorry, sirs, but there's no way we gonna be quiet. I'm telling you up front, this is not gonna happen. Who are you? Who are you? that we should obey rather than God? No, we're gonna speak what we've seen and heard. So what's their answer to that? Well, they threatened them further. Then they let them go, finding nothing. how they might punish them because they wanted with all of their hearts to punish them. Not because of truth, not because of God, not because of right, not because of wrong, not because of what is just and unjust, because of the people. These religious folks are always trying to please the people unless the people want truth. So it was the people that kept them from killing John and from killing Peter. Because of the people, for all men glorified God for what that which or for all men glorified God for that which was done. And then it says, for the man was above 40 years old on whom this miracle of healing was shown. Well, now that could mean a lot of things. That means he was an adult. That means that, could mean that this guy This can't be a fraud. I met the guy who was crippled for 40 years. You see, it doesn't matter. These people talk about signs and wonders and if God would just do this or just do that. No, no. God raised the man from the dead. Remember Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man said, send Lazarus back, one that comes back from the dead, they'll believe. Jesus said they won't, or Father Abraham said they won't believe him anymore. Then they, you know, they have the prophets. They have the law, they have the prophets. Let them believe them. But if someone would come back from the dead, no, Jesus came back from the dead, and guess what? They didn't believe. This man's healed. Guess what? This truth is undeniable, guess what? They don't believe because when a religious fanatic, that is when someone is using their religion to fuel their hate, truth will never turn them, ever, ever. back to what's right, never. Well, if they would just apologize, they won't. Well, if they would just admit they were wrong, they won't. They won't. That's not how religion works. They're going to propagate the lie they're going to antagonize the holy and they're going to think they're right. This is not the last dealings that Peter and John will have with these men. And you know what's going to happen ultimately, temporally? They're going to get their way. These religious men, they didn't win this one, but one day they will crucify Peter. One day they will exile John. It is not the momentary victory that we should be banking on. but the eternal truth of what God has done for us. And we, these Sadducees and priests, all their kin people noted, took knowledge of, they had been with Jesus. Now that is what counts. That's what counts. So they plotted, they threatened, and they let him go. Religious people are not concerned about truth. Seems kind of contrary, doesn't it? They're only concerned about position. What do men? Think of me. It's the people they're concerned about. And just let me say this to you. There have been many times that it has been the people of the church who protected the truth because these religious people would have made sure it was never preached and you would never get an opportunity to hear it because it didn't fit their scheme. And that's why many of these people in that great and terrible day are going to say, but Lord, we did mighty works. And he's going to say, I never knew you. Let me beseech you, my friends. Don't pursue religion. Pursue Christ.