Now, my approach to the Book of Acts is not to cover every detail. I try to keep the story moving, and so we won't get to everything that's here necessarily in Acts 4, but hopefully we're starting to see the connection of events. And I'll remind you that the significant event that precedes this in chapter 3 is the healing of this lame man. There's a man begging at the gate of the temple. Peter and John come to him. He's begging for silver and gold. They say, we don't have any money for you, but what we do have, we give you in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk. And the man leaps up, that's the significant detail, he leaps up and then everybody rushes around and Peter starts telling them the reason this man is healed is because of Jesus. Jesus healed this man. And this is indicating a new time, times of refreshing for the people of God. And there's a lot of Old Testament passages that sort of tell us that this is what we should expect, that when the Messiah comes, when God establishes his kingdom, lame men will leap like deer, just like this guy's doing right here. And then, so we'll get to, we'll read here in a second, we started to look at last week. It's not favorably received by everybody, but many people do believe. So that's the event that comes before chapter four that sort of informs everything going on in chapter four. So if you'll read with me, we're gonna cover through verse 31, I'm just going to start by reading verses one through 12. So Acts chapter four, verse one. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them into custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and all who were of the high priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, by what power or by what name do you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you And to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else. And there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Let's pray. God, what glorious truth this is. There's no other name other than Christ by which we must be saved. And so, God, as we look at this situation, help us to see the truth of your word, how it's been playing out from beginning to end, but also how it plays out in our lives, that you would fill us with great faith in Jesus, in Jesus alone. It's in his name we pray, amen. All right, put a bookmark in Acts chapter four, a finger or something, and turn all the way to Exodus chapter three. which is the second book in the Bible. So you gotta go all the way back to the back. We're gonna come back to Acts chapter four a lot, but there's some background work we need to do here. Exodus chapter 3. Now I'll remind you of the story of the Exodus. The nation of Israel was enslaved in Egypt, had been enslaved for 400 years. God hears their cries and God's gonna come rescue them out. And he's leading them out by Moses, who's going to lead the people out of slavery and into the promised land. And God appears to Moses in a burning bush. That story's kind of ubiquitous, right? of the old movie, the Ten Commandments movie, for some of you remember that. Some of you remember the Prince of Egypt. And hopefully you've read it in the book of Exodus. But there's this whole interaction between God and the burning bush. And I'm just going to pick it up in Acts chapter 3, because there's an important detail here I want you to connect. Sorry, Exodus. Exodus chapter 3, verse 13. Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they ask me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? What an odd question to ask. Why is God's name so important? Now, if you were here a couple of weeks ago, I posed that question because it turns out that's a really important theme in the book of Acts. thinking about God's name and the significance of coming in a name. So you might think of Exodus 3 as like the corner piece to figuring out the puzzle of what the significance of God's name is, right? When you're building a puzzle, those corner pieces are really helpful. They kind of put the foundation of everything else. Just keep Exodus 3 in the back of your mind. So remember, at the highest level, God's name is who he has revealed himself to be. We looked at Exodus chapter 34, the Lord, the Lord, God gracious and merciful, abounding in steadfast love, right? But by no means overlooking sin. This is God, how God has revealed himself to be. But here in Exodus 3, and you'll see in the book of Acts, to invoke God's name is to speak on his authority, or with his authority, or to come with his power. It's a similar question to what the rulers asked, Peter, by what name are you doing this? By what power are you doing this? Moses is saying, when the people say, by what authority do you have to tell us we're going to leave Egypt? He says, by the authority of God. So God answers, verse 14. In verse 13, when they asked me, what's his name, what shall I say to them? Exodus 3, 14, God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, the God, sorry, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. And if you're looking at most scriptures, the ESV will have this, and different ones will do this, where they capitalize or do small caps for the words I am, and particularly also for the word Lord. When you see that, that's because the English Bible is translating the Hebrew name Yahweh. So when you see those little small caps or all caps, it's Yahweh. That's how you should remember that. The covenant name of God. And so he's saying, Moses, speak in the name of Yahweh. It's sort of like when a parent tells the child to go to the other children and you say, tell them that dad said it's time to come inside, right? That's the same idea, just sending God's authority. Who's gonna bring you out of Egypt? Not Moses, not Aaron, God. Now stay in Exodus here for a second because Moses gets scared. God, what if they don't believe me? So God says, I'm gonna give you some miraculous signs that you can do. And then Moses says, but God, I can't speak well. Or I like to think he said, God, I can't speak real good, which is bad grammar, right? He's had to say something like that. He can't speak real good. And so God says in Exodus chapter four, verse 11. So just look at chapter four, verse 11. Then the Lord said to him, who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to speak. Now Moses still wavers at this point, and God sends his brother Aaron. But what's interesting is actually God empowers both Moses and Aaron to speak with boldness. Okay, so now you've got Exodus 3 in your mind. I want you to make two important connections to Acts chapter 4. In Exodus 3, it's the messengers of God who speak with the boldness that God provides. And it is God who saves Israel in the name of Yahweh. Those are just two facts in Exodus 3. Now in Acts chapter 4, you can turn back there now, Acts chapter 4, the messengers of God speak with the boldness that God provides. That's what Peter and John are doing. Speaking with boldness. God provides them. But there's this critical revelation. There's this step forward in what God is doing in the history of the world. It's that now salvation comes in the name of Jesus. That is either blasphemy or truth. Either salvation comes in the name of Yahweh or in the name of Jesus, right? If it's blasphemy, that means the name of Jesus is not how people are saved. Or, if salvation really does come through the name of Jesus, then Peter is again making this claim that Jesus is Yahweh. Jesus is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, the stakes are so high here. It's either blasphemy or truth. Alright, so Acts chapter 4, verse 1. Pick it up again. As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them into custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of men came to about five thousand. On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas, John and Alexander, and all who were of the high priestly family. When they had set them in their midst, they inquired, By what power or by what name did you do this? Now wait a second, is that why Peter and John were arrested? No, no, you just read it. They're arrested because they're teaching the people about Jesus and the resurrection. It's really the name of Jesus and not just the word, but the claim of who Jesus is, that's the problem. So just peek back into Acts chapter three, you remember verse 16. Acts chapter 3 verse 16, when talking about the healing of this lame man, Peter says, by his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong whom you see now. And the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. So Peter is positioning himself like Moses, coming to the people of God, proclaiming salvation in God's name. And that name is Jesus. Again, the claim is that Jesus is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus is Yahweh. Now, don't get confused here in Acts chapter 4. The issue is not the healing of the lame man. The issue is Jesus. What are you going to do with Jesus? So Peter just brilliantly sees right through them. They want to know, how did you heal this man? And Peter says, that's not the problem here. But he does answer. Verse 8, Peter's filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we're being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed. In other words, saying like, are we really on trial for healing somebody today? Like for healing, doing a good thing to somebody who needed it? There's some sarcasm here in his voice. But he says, I'm going to go ahead and answer because I'm going to press the issue. Let it be known, verse 10, to you or to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him, this man is standing before you well. So Peter will happily answer their question, even though it's a bit of a ridiculous question. What power has this man healed? By Jesus's power. By what name are they teaching? What authority are they teaching with? By the authority of God, who is Jesus. And he says, and just to be clear, we're talking about the Jesus that you crucified and that God raised from the dead. So let's get to the real issue then. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? This is Peter's move. We'll talk about the healing. We healed him in Jesus' name. Now let's talk about who Jesus is. That's what Peter's doing. And we're going to talk about that move. But before we do that, I'm just going to, a little sidebar here. Don't miss why Peter does this. We actually saw it in chapter two, we saw it in chapter three, we see it here in chapter four, we're gonna see it again. People ask about the immediate situation. How did you heal this man? Peter answers the question, but then presses a deeper, bigger, more significant reality on the people. He's pushing for faith. Not just, can you believe that Jesus could heal somebody? but he's pushing them, will you actually believe that Jesus is God? Will you actually believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Will you believe that he's the Messiah? Remember, he's talking to the Jewish people. He's the Messiah of Israel. Will you believe that Jesus is Lord? So Peter will take this healing and then push it back to people and say, look past the healing to the healer. Will you love him and trust him and worship him and follow him? So it's the immediate situation that points to ultimate realities. This is Peter's strategy. And I'll encourage you Christians to look for opportunities to do the same thing. So maybe, for instance, a crisis hits your life. And though there is much grief and difficulty, you also experience comfort and peace from God. And so somebody in your life says, wow, how is it that in the midst of this difficulty, you're able to be so at peace? You're holding up so well. So it'd be right and good for you to say in that point, like, well, it's because the Lord Jesus is of great comfort and kindness to me. And then follow Peter's lead. Press to that person. What about you? Do you know Jesus? Like the immediate situation in your life is an opportunity from God to press more ultimate realities into the lives of others. Now that takes a lot of courage. It takes a lot of courage to do that. And it did for Peter too. Now notice verse eight tells us the why Peter could do it. Verse eight says he was filled with the Holy Spirit. The boldness and clarity to move past your immediate situation to the ultimate realities about God comes from God the Holy Spirit. Just put a pin in that. We're going to come back to the filling of the Holy Spirit in a bit. So on to the ultimate reality. So Peter takes the healing. I healed him in Jesus' name. Let's talk about Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Verse 11. In Acts chapter 4, this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there's salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. No other name. No other name. Imagine, imagine Moses in the Exodus coming to Israel in the name of some other God. they wouldn't have listened to him. And it wouldn't have mattered to Pharaoh. And here, Peter's making the same claim. There is no other salvation than salvation in Jesus. Either you believe in Jesus Christ, or you stand opposed to God. You have to just draw that line clearly in your mind. You probably know people, maybe you are one, who thinks, you know, there's many ways to God. A lot of people think that, you know, the paths of Jews, and Christians, and Mormons, and Muslims, and Hindus, and Buddhists, and on and on, and pagans, they all kind of go all sorts of different ways, but they end at the same place. That is not true. There is no other name than Jesus, under heaven, given among men, by which we must be saved. So either your faith is in Jesus Christ or you stand opposed to God. And so out of our great love for people who are made in God's image and have eternal souls, we tell them about Jesus. Like, He's come to lead an exodus out of sin and death and hell. And when you put your faith in His name, when you trust in His power, when you submit to His authority, When you worship His divinity, He saves you. Like salvation, eternal life. Fully, finally, freely, forever. There's no other name though. I think Peter is actually speaking to his people with great compassion. Here's his brothers, the leaders of his people, his family. who are opposing Jesus, and so he doesn't say this to just be a problem. He's saying it out of love. Like, friends, Jesus has come, he's died, he's risen, you crucified him, and now he has salvation for you, if you'll believe in him. Now, Peter makes this point, I think, by the filling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, brilliantly. In Acts chapter four, verse 11, Peter's actually quoting one of the Psalms. Psalm 118. I encourage you to keep something in Acts chapter 4, but just look at Psalm 118. And actually, a lot of you, this is going to sound really familiar. Because every Palm Sunday, we quote from Psalm 118. And actually, Psalm 118 is kind of full of children's songs and wonderful references in the New Testament. But when we celebrate Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the week before his death and resurrection, the people were singing Psalm 118. So Psalm 118, let me just read starting in verse 19. which says, open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and you have become my salvation. So the theme is God's salvation, God's righteousness, which God accomplishes welcoming his people in. But he does this through loss. So God rescues his people through rejection and into resurrection. Look at verse 22. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. That's what Peter quoted. So Peter's saying, Jesus is the stone. He's the one that was rejected. And now something is being built on him like a cornerstone to a building. Jesus is building a temple and a kingdom. He opens the gates to God. And this, of course, is God's plan. So Psalm 118, verse 23, this is the Lord's doing. And it's marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord, O Lord, we pray. Give us success. Now here's your Palm Sunday connection. That phrase, save us, we pray, is what translates the Hebrew words that make up the phrase hosanna. So you remember Jesus comes into Jerusalem and we wave the palm branches and we say, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. And of course, some of you can finish the rest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Don't you, I love that connection. Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh. Who's the one who comes in the name of Yahweh? It's Jesus. Salvation has come to Israel in Jesus. So Peter's, in just like one sentence, is populating Psalm 118 into his people's mind. The one, the stone that you rejected, has become the cornerstone. And it's almost like he did what I did with you. Like, go ahead and finish the psalm, guys. Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh. Jesus is the one. Or, to say it in Peter's words, there's salvation in no one else. There's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. It's a passionate scriptural plea to see that Jesus is God who came to save His people. He answers your prayer of save me, O God. He gives righteousness and salvation. He opens the gate so that you can know God. And there's no other gate. There's no other way. It's Jesus. So put your faith in Jesus. And that's Peter's plea to these people who have arrested him for preaching in the name of Jesus. So how do they respond? Now we pick it up in verse 13. Acts chapter 4. Oh, back to Acts chapter 4. You were in Psalm 118. I was in Psalm 118. Acts chapter 4, verse 13. Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus, but seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. Silence, like a bunch of backwoods Galileans silenced the elite of Jerusalem. God shows what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. I mean, after all, the lame man from the beautiful gate is standing there. There's a little repetition in this passage of the word standing. He's standing beside them. This is just my imagination says, why is he there? How did he get there? The passage doesn't say, so you could just write this off if you want, but my imagination just thinks, you know, if you go back to chapter three, we're told in verse 11 that he clung to Peter and John. So I just imagine them arresting Peter and John and him saying, you're gonna have to take me too, right? That's what I think, that's what I think. So they're like, fine, we'll just throw you in jail too. Or maybe they arrested Peter and John and he said, fine, I'll just stand outside the prison until these guys are out, because I'm not leaving these guys' side. Whatever it is, he just, he won't go away, which is significant because then when they're on trial, for healing a lame man, he's standing there. He's exhibit A, right? We can't really do anything because the guy's standing there. So verse 15. When they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, saying, what shall we do with these men? For then a notable sign has been performed through them as evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. And it's at that point, I imagine the guy is still standing there. Can't deny it, right? Okay, but verse 17, in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone else in this name. So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Now, this is such a tragic story. The miracle that they can see with their eyes is not enough to change their minds or their hearts. We can't deny this miracle, but we also cannot believe in Jesus. That's tragic. And you know people like this. People who can look at the heavens and marvel at the stars that God has made and yet deny that there's a creator. People who can melt and coo at a newborn baby and yet cannot believe in the author of life. And I hope people who look at you and see a notable change in your life, how God is starting to change you and give you more joy and give you hope and give you peace. He's even changing the way that you're living out your life. And yet they can't believe that God can do that through Jesus. Don't lose heart though. All that you can do is present evidence to people. God has to change people's minds and hearts and some people can see all the evidence in the world and never be convinced. So Peter says, I'm not gonna stop. I can't stop giving you the evidence. This is an act of love. In Acts chapter 4 verse 19, Peter and John answered them, whether it's right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge. For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard. And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them because of the people. For all were praising God for what had happened. For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than 40 years old. And Peter really turns his back on his accusers. You're going to have to answer to God for this. You're going to have to decide who has the final authority, God or the council. And that is bold. It's bold, but it's loving. Peter does not waver. I thought a lot about Peter and everything that was on the line for him. And we've talked about it a lot. We'll continue to look at it in the book of Acts. But you have to remember that this is such a Jewish context. Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. For Peter, these were his people, his nation, his heritage, his land, his family, his traditions. I mean, sure, we could think maybe he cares about his life at this point since he's in prison and he saw what they did to Jesus. He's got to choose between that and Jesus. Peter picks Jesus. And his message to his people is pick Jesus because that's where life is. I mean, we could read chapter four as a confrontation. Between Peter and the council or a confrontation between the church and Israel or a confrontation between the gospel and the traditions of the Jews, and it is those things, but this is not a fight. This is Peter pleading with his people. to receive the good news that God has come to us in Jesus and there's salvation in no other name. Man, I don't know about you, I just want that boldness, that same boldness that Peter has. I hope you do too. Don't you wanna be able to speak that kind of precise truth knowing that it might cost you everything? You can have it. We just have to follow Peter. Peter is going to lead us now to the source of boldness. Pick it up in verse 23. When they were released, They went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices to God and said, Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them. That's what they do. They lift their voices to God. They say, God, you made everything. You rule over everything. This situation looks bleak and impossible. And yet, God, you're in charge. If you want to share in Peter's boldness, if you want Peter's clarity and love to confront people who reject Jesus and call them to believe in his name, the source of that boldness is God. This is not because Peter was educated. We just read that he wasn't. It's not because Peter was articulate. I have no reason to think that he was. It's because Peter was looking to God for boldness. So listen to what they pray. Sovereign Lord, verse 24, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the nation Gentiles rage in the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place." Now, pause there. We're going to think about praying for boldness, and notice how Peter prays for this. The first thing he does is he looks at the events that have happened around him, and he reads those events through the lens of Scripture. So he's seeing opposition that he and John and the others are facing from the rulers of Israel. And he's seeing this as a continuation of the opposition they had of Jesus, which is what God said would happen in Psalm 2. That's the scripture he's quoting. He says, where God, through the mouth of David, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the people's plot in vain? He's quoting Psalm 2. Okay, I have to do this because it's just like, we're going to come back to that in a second. Just pause there. This is a super side note, but it's really worth noting. Notice how Peter and his friends understand the Bible. It's God speaking through a human author by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That's what this book is. It's God speaking through human authors by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That doctrine, and we didn't say it today, it's in Article 3 of our Statement of Faith, I think we said it last week. We didn't invent that in the evangelical free church. We didn't invent that in the 21st century. The idea of inspiration of the Holy Spirit is not an invention of modern fundamentalism. No, it goes back to Peter and John. It goes back to, really, the ancients of Scripture. But I love how Peter says it. This is God speaking through a human author by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. That's what the Bible is. Okay, there's my side note. Take it. Enjoy it. Love it. Good truth. Back to Acts chapter 4. He's saying they're praying, they're seeing, they're reading their events through the lens of Scripture. The opposition they experience is the fulfillment of Psalm 2, that nations rage and people plot against God. And notice that includes both the rulers of Israel, the Jewish people, and Gentiles, Romans, like Herod and Pilate. And yet what's amazing about all the plotting of man to oppose Jesus is that what they meant for evil, God meant for good. So all of this plotting and scheming of the rulers and of Herod and of Pilate, verse 28 says, to do whatever your hand, they're praying, right? So whatever God's hand and God's plan had predestined to take place. Right? What they meant for evil, God intended for good. That as Jesus is crucified at the hands of people who hate Him, He is also purchasing the salvation of those who love Him. This is a wonderful thing that God is doing. Peter acknowledges it. He sees it through scripture. And now verse 29, he says, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through your or through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. Boldness is necessary to be a faithful witness of Jesus. God does the miracle. That's what they pray. God, keep doing miracles. Keep healing. And we will see that in the book of Acts. That keeps happening. I think we can even take that and say, God, you've got to do the miracle of salvation. You have to save my family members that don't want to hear the gospel. What do you need? Boldness. God's job is to do the miracle. Our job is to open our mouths and speak. And so what we need is boldness. Because when it comes to talking about Jesus, we all naturally think, what is this going to cost me? Or maybe you're like Moses and you say, I'm not good at talking, or I don't talk real good. That's what we think, right? And it's true. Some of us don't talk real good. Some of you, to tell people about Jesus would cost you a lot. A lot of relational capital, maybe friendships, maybe a job. So we've got to seek God to provide for us what we need most. So think for a second about a situation where you need boldness from God, particularly thinking about people who need to hear the good news about Jesus. People who need to know that there's salvation in no other name. Maybe it's family members who are closed off to the gospel. You want boldness to say something to them. Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up, right? You're gonna see them. Maybe it's coworkers that you work with who openly mock Christianity. Or maybe it's neighbors who just wanna keep everything at the surface level, don't wanna go deep. Maybe for some of you, it's your children, your grandchildren who have wandered from faith. Or maybe you aren't talking to anybody about Jesus because you're just too scared. What you want is courage for an opportunity when it arises. You have to trust God to work the miracle of salvation. That's Jesus' role, and there's no other name. You can't save people. That's Jesus' job, and He's perfect at it. So let Him do it. Your role is to speak the Word of God, the Gospel, to tell people there's salvation in no other name than Jesus. And what you need is boldness. So pray that God would look at your situation and grant to you to speak with boldness. I like to use Paul's language from Colossians chapter four, where he says, pray for us that an open door might be open to us to proclaim the mystery of the word. And I like to say, okay, you got people in your life who need to hear the gospel, pray for an open door. So let's just add to that Peter's language from Acts chapter four. Pray for an open door and the boldness to go through it. And Acts chapter 4 verse 31, when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. The earthquake is the affirmation that God heard them. That's a really unique affirmation. I think for a very unique situation. So should you expect that when you go home and you pray that God would give you courage to speak the gospel with boldness that your house will start shaking? I don't think so. Here's what you should expect to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Remember that's what happened to Peter in verse eight? And now again in verse 31, to pray that God would fill you with boldness to proclaim about Jesus, you should pray and expect that God would fill you with the Holy Spirit. Now your question should be, well, what does that mean? What is that like? To be filled with the Holy Spirit means that God fills you with boldness. We're gonna see this phrase actually a number of times in the book of Acts. And most of the time when that phrase is used, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it's filling people to speak with boldness. Remember, it's the spirit that empowers our witness, as Jesus said in Acts chapter one, verse eight. It's the spirit we know that fills our hearts and minds with truths about Jesus that we learn in the spirit-inspired scriptures. We know from the books, books like 1 Corinthians, that he gives us, the spirit gives us ministries and gifts which are given for the building up of the church. We know from Romans chapter eight that the Holy Spirit in us helps us to kill sin. And from Galatians chapter five that the Holy Spirit bears all sorts of fruit in our lives, fruits of holiness and righteousness, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. We know then from Acts chapter four that the Holy Spirit is what fills us with the courage we need for the moment of truth. That's what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Courage you need for the moment of truth. I sense that it's an experience here in Acts chapter 4. God, give us boldness. Amen. And when the amen comes, Peter and the other apostles and other friends there with him go, we're ready to go. That's how I think of being filled with the Holy Spirit. It's that sense that I'm ready to go and be bold for God. So pray for it. Think about that situation where somebody needs to know there's no salvation and there's salvation in no other name than Jesus. Pray for boldness, so that when you say, Amen, you're ready to go for the moment of truth. And with the confidence that God will provide that boldness, because he does. He does. Actually, the boldness that we see here and the filling of the Holy Spirit that we see here is a promise from Jesus. He promises apostles, actually this happens multiple times, but remember in Luke wrote Acts, and he also wrote the gospel according to Luke, so it's good to make little connections between Luke and Acts. In Luke chapter 12, let me just read this for you, you can jot this down and look it up later. Luke chapter 12 verse 11, Jesus says, when they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, Do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. That's before Jesus died and was risen. And that's when Peter is just this little young apostle, young prophet, young disciple, learning how to follow Jesus. And now a couple of years later, Peter, before the synagogue rulers and authorities, is not anxious about what he's going to say because Jesus promised he would send the Spirit to teach him in that very hour what he ought to say. Jesus proves true. We should trust him to do the same. Because there is no other name. There is no other power. There is no other authority. Just as Moses could walk into Egypt and tell the Israelites, the enslaved Israelites, God is going to set you free. And he will not fail. So we can preach the name of Jesus and salvation in that name. And God will not fail to save people. He provides then the salvation for people in his name and the boldness for his messengers to speak. One of the ways then that God will provide this boldness for you is through the scriptures. Just notice how Peter and the apostles, when they speak, they speak the words of the scriptures, just thinking back even through chapters two and three and four, how many different passages of scripture they reference, just in their sermons, in their responses, in their prayers. It's like every time Peter opens his mouth with boldness, it's to show that what God said in the scriptures is what's coming to pass in Jesus. And so I encourage you, as you speak the name of Jesus, speak it from the Scriptures. And when I was thinking about this, it reminded me of the story of Martin Luther. Some of you know this story. This last week, October 31st, is what we call Reformation Day. October 31st, 1517 is the spark that lights off the Protestant Reformation. And really the wonder of the Protestant Reformation is that through that spark, God brought about the recovery of the gospel by unleashing the word of God. And so we remember October 31st, but perhaps the place where the Protestant Reformation really gained boldness happened on April 18, 1521. So it's just three and a half years later. Luther is called to Worms, and he's going to have to testify before authorities of the Pope about his writings. And basically, they demand that Luther recant his teachings and his writings. It's sort of that Acts chapter four moment. Don't you teach or preach in that name anymore. Listen to Luther's response. He says, this is a quote, unless I am convinced by the testimony of the scriptures or by clear reason, for I do not trust either in the Pope or in the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves. Luther says, I am bound to the scriptures, I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot, I will not retract anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against my conscience. I cannot do otherwise. Here I stand. May God help me. Amen. And when I read that, and you know, that's probably the most famous thing that Luther ever said. And I think that's what Peter's, that's what's happening in Acts chapter four. As Peter's saying, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. What God promised, He has brought to pass in Jesus, and therefore, he says to the council, you decide what's right. I'm going to be speaking the Word of God, and I'm going to be preaching in Jesus' name. And I pray the same for us. May our consciences be captive to the Word of God, and our hearts filled with boldness from the Holy Spirit, and may our mouths be open, bringing the glad tidings of salvation in Jesus' name. Let's pray. So God, help us. Help us like you helped Peter and John and Luther and countless other Christians, given the opportunity to tell people about your eternal salvation that we would speak with boldness. God, you save people through Jesus, your son. And you give us boldness to speak. And so I do pray that you would give us that boldness. And God, I thank you so much that you have brought us here in Jesus' name. And for each and every one of us, somebody at some point in our lives told us about this salvation in Jesus. We've believed in his name and we've been given life. So thank you, God, for your salvation. Give us the boldness and courage to share it with others, we pray. Amen.