Acts chapter number 4 this morning, we're going to read a few verses and then pray, and we will get into the message. It says, And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. and they laid hands on them, and put them in hold until the next day. For it was now even tied, howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand. And it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes and Annas the The high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name have ye done this? Then Peter," something good is about to happen. filled with the Holy Ghost said unto them ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel if we this day be examined of the good deed done to 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. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed, standing with them, they could say nothing against it." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, what a blessing it is to be in Your house today. Lord, I do pray for our church back home. I want to pray that You would use Brother Sexton as he preaches this morning. And Lord, I pray that You would just use us in a mighty way today. And Lord, You're so good to us, so merciful to us, we don't deserve what You've done. But Lord, I pray that You would hide me behind Your cross this morning, empty me of self. Lord, cleanse me of sin, use me as a useful vessel in Your hands today. Bless Your Word, and it's in Your name we pray, amen. In Acts chapter 4, we have a very a very tense situation, if you will. If you go back to Acts chapter number 3, it gives you the context of what is happening here. Does Brother Bujak move a little bit? Does he? Sometimes? Okay. Stay with me, because I'm hyper, I have ADD, and I can't stand still, all right? So bear with me, I'm going to start moving. But back in Acts chapter number three, the beginning of it, you have when there was a, in verse number two, a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called beautiful to ask alms of them, that entered into the temple, who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, ask an alms. And Peter fastening his eyes upon him with John said, look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said," I love that phrase, then Peter. Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaped, leaping up, stood and walked and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw, all the people, saw him walking and praising God, and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the beautiful gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him." This is a scenario, a situation where Peter and John had just been able to accomplish a mighty work in this man's life through Jesus Christ. through His shed blood, through His finished work on the cross of Calvary. This man sitting there at the gate of the temple, he was lame, couldn't go anywhere, and said he was, it says that he was lame from birth. And so every day, especially as an older man, as an adult man, they would, if someone had an issue like this, they would take them and set them somewhere so they could ask alms. And it was just so that they could somewhat support themselves and be able to get their daily needs. But here he is sitting at the temple, Gabe, because that's the place you take somebody, right? Y'all have people that just think the church is a bank, right? Sometimes. However, this was a place where they would sit somebody, sitting at the gate and he's asking alms and he's, if you will, somewhat a little bit playing on the emotions of those going in and out of the church. And he's asking for alms and he sees Peter and John. Now in Acts chapter number four, the Sadducees are a little grieved at what's about to happen in Acts chapter number three. They're not happy with Peter and John doing things like this, preaching in the name of Christ, preaching salvation in none other name but in Jesus Christ. And so here you have the event where they heal the lame man. He was about to receive something and he's used to getting, you know, maybe a a couple shekels here, a couple shekels there, enough to get what he needs, and then they carry him off for the day. But as he's locking eyes with Peter and John, he suddenly realizes, man, something's about to happen. They see me, they know that I'm here, he's expecting to get something, however, he's not expecting to get what he's about to get, right? And Peter says, silver and gold have I none. Y'all sing that in junior church, do you ever sing that? Silver and gold have I none, such as I have give I thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Am I the only one that learned that one? Okay, y'all know that one, alright. And so, when this man received the strength in his legs, he stood up. He was changed. forever changed, but it was only through Jesus Christ. Peter and John in the next chapter have walked into the temple with the lame man. He walks in with He's praising God. The Bible tells us in Acts chapter number three, it says in verse number eight, it says, and he leaping stood up and walked and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. I call this the first Baptocostal ever written in scripture. Because I don't think this guy was quiet. I really don't. This guy had never been able to walk. He's been asking for alms his entire life. Now he's able to move on his own. He's not needing the help of others. He's self-sufficient now, and he's just praising and happy. And I have skipped in this message before, but I'm not going to do that this morning, all right? Because the Bible says that he went walking and leaping. He was happy. He was thankful for what he just got. He had never received such a gift before. And everybody in the church house was seeing it. Now comes in the Sadducees. They were sad, really, because They didn't understand the message of Jesus Christ. They didn't understand the power in the blood of Jesus Christ. They didn't understand the power in the name of Jesus Christ. And so here they are walking around, this guy's causing a scene in the church house. Folks, it is okay to worship God. It is okay to shout and say amen. It's okay to raise holy hands. It's okay. It's okay to weep a little bit in church. I imagine this guy with a smile on his face probably has tears running down his cheeks because he's doing things he has never been able to do before. And then you get to Acts chapter number four. And the Sadducees in the first two verses You see where they are being grieved, they're upset. Why? They're upset because Jesus Christ is being preached, and people's lives are being touched. People's lives are being changed. To the life of the child of God, there is nothing more important in our life than Jesus Christ. There is nothing more important in our life than sharing Jesus Christ. Folks, we ought to be bold about our faith. You get down through here, they're grieved. They laid hands on them. They put them in bonds and holds. They didn't want them getting away. We got to deal with these guys right now. We got to deal with them. And so they begin to question them. What are you doing? Why are you preaching in the name of Jesus Christ? You get down through there in verse number four, it says, how be it many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the men was about 5,000. My, what would it be like if we had a movement where we saw 5,000 people believe in Christ in one, one event? My goodness. Could you imagine the revival that could get started through that? Folks, there's people that are believing in Jesus Christ right here. Folks, there are people outside these doors today that are searching for the truth and you have it in your hand. You have it laying in your lap. You have it ready and yet there are too many of God's people that are embarrassed to carry this. We're ashamed of it. I don't want people to know that I'm a Christian because it might change how they feel about me. Good. It's okay to let the world think something a little bit different. I tell our people all the time, I say, the Bible has called us to be a peculiar people. Some of them take it a little too far, but we're to be different. We're to look different, we're to act different, we're to be a separated people, separating ourselves unto God, not acting or talking or being like the world around us. I'm not saying that we can't live. Listen, God wants us to have life and have it more abundantly, right? But I guarantee you, you give your heart and life to God, you are never going to be bored in your life. if you follow Him. If you allow Him to work in your life, if you, I preached a message this morning up in the youth room called fan versus follower. Folks, Jesus has enough fans, He needs some followers. He's got enough people that say, well, I believe in Jesus. I believe He was a good person, I believe He was a good man, I believe He was a good teacher, I think He was a great healer, but why do we use Him like a lifeline in our life? We only ever want to talk to Him when we need something. We only ever want to call on His name when we're in trouble. The Bible says, He's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He wants a relationship with you. He wants to know you and wants you to know Him. You might say, well preacher, He already knows who I am. Yeah, He does. That's why He wants a relationship with you. He knows that sin that doth so easily beset you. I know the Bible says us, but He knows your life in and out. He knows the hairs on your head. or forgive me knows the hair's not on your head, okay? He knows it all. He knows things that your family members don't know. He knows things that your co-workers don't know. He knows things about you that you're not even sure of. But He wants to have that walk with you. He wants to have that intimate relationship with you. Listen, being married is wonderful, my wife is my best friend outside of Jesus Christ. But if I never talk to her, it's not going to be that way. We, I can be with my wife and family, I'm not needy, okay? But I can be with my wife and family, walk out of the door, get in my truck, pull out of the driveway, And as soon as I get to the top of the hill, I'll call her. Why? Because I enjoy talking to her. I enjoy our conversations, our fellowship. Life is never boring. My wife has a dark, sarcastic sense of humor. never know what she's going to say. And so sometimes that's why I like talking to her because I get to hear the odd things sometimes. And she passed that on to my kids. I think every one of my kids got my ADD, but they got her sense of humor I think. Folks, God wants a relationship with you. These men here, they're trying to stop the spread of the Word of God. They don't want it spread anywhere anymore. Too many people have believed it's taking their power away. It's taking their influence away. So they're trying to stop it. And so Peter, in verse number eight, anytime you see the phrase, then Peter, something good's gonna happen, because Peter was swing first, ask questions later. That's the type of person Peter was. It says, being filled there in verse eight, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole, be it known. Getting some boldness. Be it known unto you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth," and then this is a jab. He's like, by the way, this is the guy y'all killed. This is the guy y'all hung on a cross, that guy. The guy that's no longer in that grave, the guy that you thought you were rid of, that guy, okay? That's the guy. It's by his name. This man was made whole. Not us, not me, not John, there was nothing we did, we just believed in the healing power of the name of Jesus Christ. And then in verse number 12 it says, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Folks, that is salvation in one verse. It's not you, it's not me. You realize that if it was up to me to keep my salvation, there is not one thing good enough I could do. Because the Bible tells me that my righteousness is as filthy rags. The best I can do is garbage. But I'm thankful for the blood of Jesus Christ. Because through His shed blood on the cross of Calvary, it's shed blood, not spilled, Because that would have, you spill something, that would be an accident, right? Spilling oil on the floor, that's a horrible accident because it's horrible to clean up. We talk about crying over spilled milk. I don't necessarily cry over spilled milk. If I'm gonna cry, it's over coffee, okay? I think it's a cardinal sin to spill a cup of coffee, maybe. Okay, I'm in good company here. I love my coffee. but He shed His blood, it was on purpose. He went to the cross on purpose for you, for me, for the sins of the entire world. Listen, it doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter what age, it doesn't matter what your social status is, it doesn't matter your corporate rung on the ladder that you are on, it doesn't matter who you are, the same offer from the cross is given to all. It says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Listen, Jesus loves you this morning, and He wants to have a walk in a relationship with you. In verse number 13, and this is where we'll wrap things up this morning. It says, 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 Jesus. Let me start off by saying this, there are a lot of things that keep us from sharing the gospel. Fear, fear is crippling. We're afraid of, we're afraid of people. I understand we live in an ever-changing society, ever-changing. Just turn the news on and it'll be, it's different today than it was yesterday. If you're on social media of any type, it's always different. There's so many trends that go back and forth, and everything changes one day to the next. You know, people are real bold on social media. They are. They're really bold on social media, but when they're in front of you, it's a different story. When they're actually standing there, it's a whole different ballgame. But there's a lot of reasons that we're fearful of sharing Christ. Sometimes it's the fear of man, other times it's our adversary, the devil, that'll put little doubts and thoughts in our minds. You know that if you say that, they're just gonna hate you, you're gonna lose a friendship. Listen, if you lose a friendship because you believe in Christ, it wasn't a friendship in the beginning. And listen, your friends need to hear the truth. And they need to hear it from you. If you're here this morning and you know Christ as your Savior, you are an ambassador of Christ. It is the church's position to share the Word of God with those around us. Whether it's in the workplace, whether it's at school, at play, the gas station, it doesn't matter where we go, we are missionaries. Understand that we as churches, we support missionaries that go all over the world, and even local missions. However, that doesn't take us out of the equation. We ought to be sharing. There's a mission field right here in Lake Worth. Your neighbors are your mission field. often do we as God's people even speak up to our neighbors about the things of God? Listen, they see you on Sunday morning, they see you walk out the door, they see you dressed up, they know there is something different. But folks, also we ought to be very careful about guarding our testimonies, guarding them. because it doesn't take but five minutes to completely ruin a testimony. It doesn't even take that. We need to guard so that our conversation in life, not necessarily our word, but how we conduct ourselves as God's people points somebody to Christ in just the way we act, just the way we interact with the world around us. Busyness can cause us not to share the Word of God. Misplaced priorities, idolatries, love of the world, the things in the world. Talking about that misplaced priorities, Brother Rick Carter, Jr. wrote a book, and in that book he talks about the value-priority paradigm. and in that he explains that our priorities are ever-changing in life. I use that illustration in a message I preached at our kids' school for chapel on a Friday, and for years it's always been taught in good intent I've often heard the illustration of using a filing cabinet or a dresser drawer or something of that nature to see, kind of set up the view of priorities in life. God always ought to get the top drawer, and then everything down below it, you know, our families, our jobs, and everything else, kind of filter in beneath. But to a mother that's got a little baby, that the first thing she hears when she opens her eyes is the cries of her little one in the next room. What's in that top drawer just changed, because her first response is not always, well, that baby's just going to have to cry because I'm going to sit here and spend time with God and read my Bible and pray before I ever go do it. No, she's a mom, what's she going to do? Instantaneously jump up out of that bed and go to that baby. She gets her day started, and by the time she gets everything moving, it's dinner time, and then she gets ready to go to bed, and she goes, oh, and I forgot to do my devotions today. But see, there's a difference between giving God the top drawer, because God doesn't want the top drawer. God wants the whole thing. God wants the whole thing. It's not about giving Him a drawer, it's about giving Him the entire unit. Letting Him have control of it all. Constantly being in that mindset of walking with Him and praying and meditating on His Word. Meditation can help us out a lot. In verse 13, they called Peter and John unlearned and ignorant. They didn't necessarily mean that they were dumb, because these men were men that God used to pen books of the Bible. They weren't dumb men. What they meant in verse 13 was that they had the wrong education. Folks, if you believe in Christ, here's what the world will tell you. You have the wrong education. You're looking to the wrong thing. You're acting on the wrong thing. But she continues, and beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. And when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, what shall we do to these men? For that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest. to all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny, but that it spread no further among the people. Let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.' And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." You know what happened? Stop it. That's what happened. Why? Because they couldn't disprove the miracle. Here's a man that everybody in the town knew, couldn't walk, and they healed him through the name of Jesus Christ. Many believed, they began to preach Christ. Many believed and there was salvation in none other name, they said. And so when they couldn't disprove because all of Israel was watching at this point, and so all they did was, stop, go, just don't preach that way no more. Peter says, Well, sorry to tell you this, but you ain't my boss. That's pretty much what he said. You ain't my boss. I'd rather listen to God and be good with Him than you. Folks, you're going to walk through this life this week, and you're going to encounter many different things, and it's only going to get harder as the day approaches of His return. But don't stop. Peter said, we cannot but speak. He was saying, there's a fire burning within us. We have seen too much. We have heard too much. We have witnessed too much to stop telling people about him now. Folks, I guarantee you, if you go back through your life, you have seen too much. You have witnessed too much. And you have experienced too much of what God has done in your life not to know that He's a good God. He's loving. We don't deserve the blessings that we have, but He's given us so much, hasn't He? He loves you this morning. If you're here this morning and don't know Him as your Savior, can I tell you this? There is none other name given under heaven whereby you must be saved. It's not your works, it's not how good you are, it's not how much you throw in the offering plate, it's not how many good deeds, how many groceries you can buy for somebody, how many bad words you don't say. It's all about Christ. And then being a follower. allowing His Word right here to change your life. I told our church this not long ago. We often, we use a phrase where we say, well, ignorance is bliss. You ever heard that phrase? Ignorance is bliss. If I don't know, I don't have to give an answer for it. And to a certain extent, I'm glad there are just some things I don't know. But at the same time, the day you stand before God and you say, well Lord I just didn't know, you know what He's going to say? It's not my problem, I left it for you. Listen, ignorance isn't going to be bliss when you stand before God and give an account of your life. Ignorance isn't bliss when He left you everything you need to know pertaining to life and godliness right here. He's going to say, you had it, you're holding it. You realize when He opens up the books to judge, you know what He's going to open up? This right here. We're going to be judged on what we've done with Christ and how we've represented Him in this life. Folks live for Him. I've been able to experience things I never ever thought I would ever experience in life. Just giving my heart and life to Christ. I'm thankful for it. If you're here this morning and you're saved, maybe this morning you just come down to the altar and you thank God for what He's done for you. Maybe there's someone in this building this morning that doesn't know Christ as their Savior. My prayer today is that you get to know Him and accept Him as your Savior before it's eternally too late, because listen, we don't have long. You realize that you're not guaranteed tomorrow. As a matter of fact, you're not guaranteed five minutes from now. Something could happen, and you slip off into eternity. I don't know exactly how you all do invitation, but if our musicians would come, we'll do an invitation this morning. Folks, there are so many things in this life that will pull our attention, and it's easy to do. I'm guilty of it. We're all guilty of it. It doesn't take long for us to start doing what's called the death scroll on social media. We get wrapped up in it. It's easy to go in, we've had a hard day, we go in and we turn the TV on and zone out. Folks, take some time. Spend some time with Him today. Today, shut the phone off. Shut the TV off. Just spend time with God. Well, preacher, that's easier said than done. I know it is. Because believe me, I struggle too. I don't know where you're at this morning, I don't know what God's dealt with you this morning about, but my prayer is is that you've heard, my prayer is is that you are allowing God to speak in your life today. Would you do business with Him this morning as we stand and sing what page? Do business with Him. He's talking to you. You do business with God this morning. Allow Him to speak. I know there's people all over this building that would love to take God's Word and show you how you can be saved if you don't know Him. Maybe there's a need you have in your life this morning and just want somebody to pray with you about it. Fill me with fire. ♪ With shame ♪ ♪ Dread my desire to magnify Thy name ♪ There's people praying, there's still time. ♪ Lord take my life and make it whole ♪ Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine. Take all my will, my passion self, God speaking to you this morning, don't wait. Get it settled. I will start the work in Thee. Thy word declares, Thou wilt supply our need. Blessings now, O Lord, thy holy plea. Search me, O God, and know my heart today. Know my thoughts, I pray. See if there be some way. Tremendous message. A message that this whole world needs to hear. but it's not effective until we act on it. Let me hear, let me say, let me be. Can you identify? That whole crowd said, shut up. Peter said, we can't shut up. We've got Jesus. We've got to say so. Let's sing one more verse, brother. This is your verse. You need to act on it while you've got it, while the Lord is dealing with you. You come. I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me Fill me with fire where once I was. And my desire to magnify Thee Lord, take my life and make it holy Thine. Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine. Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride. I now surrender, Lord, in Thee. Well, if you're a visitor here, he's gonna sing and preach tonight. Don't tell him what happened. I'd like to be here for it. Wouldn't you? I wanna be here. It's a blessing to have had you here this morning and a blessing for our members. to have the opportunity to get acquainted with you. We just urge you to come back and be with us tonight at six. We're gonna worship the Lord, and that country boy's gonna preach again tonight. So that'll be, he's gonna sing and concert a little. but it's gonna be a blessing. I don't wanna miss it. I hope y'all don't either. Any word forward dismissed. All right, pray for our pastor. Pray that he'll get home safely and come home with the fire lit and let us catch a hold of it. Good to have Brother Jeff back home. We missed you this week, brother. Would you dismiss us in a word of prayer, please? Well, it's been wonderful being in your house this morning. We're thankful for the message and for having food amongst us. And we just want to give you a credit for this boldness and to go out with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Thank you for our visitors. We know this is a wonderful Christmas. We're blessed and tremendous that you bring us back tonight. We love you and thank you. In Jesus' name, amen.