The Word Made Plain

Guest (Female): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching us a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bibles to Acts chapter 4, verses 1 through 10.

Tony Clark: All right, let's dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 4. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 10.

And Father, thank you again that you've brought us to this point in time that we can quiet ourselves and sit at your feet and learn from you. Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit would teach us. Lord, that you by your Holy Spirit would anoint me to speak your heart to the hearts of your people, that the secrets of our hearts would be revealed today that we would leave here knowing that Lord, you were truly in this place. Thank you for this time in Jesus' name. Amen.

Acts chapter 4, looking at verses 1 through 10. The title of this message is "Something about the name of Jesus." There's something—some of you know what that is. There's something about the name. And you know, this is never more true than it is today. You mention the name of Jesus and everyone goes crazy, getting in their feelings, faces are red, voices are raised, and anger is expressed.

What is it about this name that the Bible says even demons tremble at that name? It's amazing and we're going to see in these verses and throughout the book of Acts, the power that's in the name of Jesus. Now, last week we left off with Peter making this declaration after being questioned about the healing of the lame man in chapter 3. He declared to them in Acts 3:16 that it was through Jesus Christ that the man was healed and there is no other way that a person can be made whole apart from Jesus Christ.

And now we're going to pick up the story in verses 1 through 4. Look what it says there. It says, "Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captains of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening. However, many of those who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to be about 5,000."

I'll mention 15,000 later on. 5,000. But you're going to see it's going to be 15,000 later on. Okay. Now in these verses we see what took place after Peter preached his sermon to the people in chapter 3. The use of the plural pronoun "they" in verse 1 teaches us that it was both Peter and John who spoke to the people.

Then suddenly, verse 1 tells us that the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them. Now I mentioned that these people came suddenly upon them because the phrase "came upon" in the Greek is ephistēmi and it has the idea of coming upon suddenly, sometimes with hostile intent. The same Greek word is used this way in Acts 6 and verse 12 when these same religious leaders came upon Stephen to bring him before the council. They brought him with hostile intent.

So, who are these people who came upon Peter and John with such hostility? Well, the priests who were the ordinary priests there in the temple conducting the evening sacrifices, they were there. The captain of the temple was the chief of the temple police and was composed of Levites. He was the second in rank only to the high priest and was responsible for maintaining order on the temple grounds.

The Sadducees were the liberal religious leaders of the day and they believed in the Torah—the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—but they denied anything supernatural. According to Acts 23:8, they denied the resurrection, angels, and spirits. The Pharisees were the conservative religious leaders of the day and they believed in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, but they also believed in the supernatural as well. And this is why you will always find the Sadducees and the Pharisees at odds with one another.

Verse 2 says that this group in verse 1, which was made up of mostly Sadducees, were greatly disturbed. Now that Greek word is diaponeomai and it's an amazing Greek word. It means to be grieved or be worried or greatly disturbed. Now why were they so upset? Why is it that they were so greatly disturbed at Peter and John? Because verse 2 goes on to say that they were so upset for two reasons: number one, that they taught the people, and number two, that they preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Oh, they felt that Peter and John were not qualified to teach the people, and how dare they teach the people about the resurrection of Jesus, something the Sadducees strongly denied. They put Jesus to death as a blasphemer and Peter and John were boldly proclaiming that Jesus was their resurrected Messiah. Haven't you found this to be true lately? Whenever Jesus is preached, people are greatly disturbed and grieved and agitated.

Verse 3 says that they laid hands on them and put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening, confirming that they came upon them with hostile intent. The fact that Luke, the author, tells us that it was evening meant that it was too late to gather the Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish Supreme Court, for a trial that day. And Jewish law did not permit trials at night. And this is according to the Mishnah, which was the Jewish traditions, according to the Sanhedrin chapter 4, verse 1.

However, they ignored all of this when it came to the trial of Jesus because they tried Jesus at night. You know what this teaches us? Just like what Solomon said, there's nothing new under the sun. People do it today. They pick and choose parts of the Bible they're going to obey. Whatever it is that's going to suit them or not suit them, we're going to ignore that or say that's not for today or say that verse really doesn't say what it says.

We're no different today. They knew they were not supposed to hold a trial at night, but they held the trial of Jesus at night because they wanted to get rid of Jesus. And so they would break even their own Jewish law in order to get rid of Jesus. And so too it, people do the same thing today. They will break certain laws if it suits them. The Bible is very clear of what it is when people are living together and they're not married. But though we're going to break this because I'm in a financial bind.

And so people who call themselves Christians, we're going to pick and choose what we're going to follow. It's no different today, it's no different at this time as well. So Peter and John were held overnight for a trial the next day before the very Sanhedrin that tried Jesus. I want you to please pay very close attention to these verses and what is happening to Peter and John because these things are going to start happening to us as Christians here in America. I want you to notice this. Pay close attention to this.

We're going to be arrested for the preaching and teaching about Jesus Christ. I have seen it in spots around the country, but it will start happening in a greater way in the very near future. In places around the country—in Texas and Georgia—pastors are being told—excuse me, let me correct that, are being asked—to turn in their sermons to be examined to see if anything offensive is in them. Oh, there's a line being drawn in the sand and those who profess Jesus Christ will stand and those who pretend will fall.

The question is what category are you going to find yourself in? Only time will tell. But let me just say, before you start shaking your head, "Oh, I'll be in the good category," you'll say anything sitting in here. You'll say anything but when the rubber meets the road, when it really comes down to being arrested for being a Christian, watch this: will there be enough evidence to convict you? Or will they after examining you say, "Oh, we made a mistake, you can go. There was not enough evidence of you being a Christian so you can go. Our bad, our fault. We thought you were one of them." I just wonder, would they say that about us?

And so, what now? We have to ask, was the preaching of Peter and John effective? Was it effective what they did? Because many people say, "Well, you preach Jesus today and people are offended, it's not effective, it doesn't work anymore, and this is why people leaving the faith because that preaching, that old school preaching the word, that doesn't work anymore." Oh, okay, well so was it effective? Let's ask the Bible question: was the preaching of Peter and John effective?

Verse 4 says, "However, many of those who heard the word believed and the number of the men came to be about 5,000." Notice, the number of the men came to be about 5,000, meaning that counting women and children—remember when Jesus fed the 5,000 men? Counting women and children, there were 15 to 20,000. That's where I was a little ahead of myself earlier. But so there could have been 15 to 20,000. It was just 5,000 men here who were added.

So putting Peter and John in prison didn't water down the effect of the gospel because those who heard it grew the church in Jerusalem by at least 5,000 men, at least. And as we will see throughout the book of Acts, whenever the church was persecuted, it grew in a mighty way. Now the 120 who were in the upper room praying in Acts chapter 1, verse 15, grew to 3,000 in chapter 2, verse 41, and now here at least by another 5,000 men, at least.

So preach the word because the power is in the word, not necessarily in the people giving the word. Oh, I say this because Peter and John who were in prison—they were in prison—but the results were the church grew by at least 5,000 men, at least. So preach the word because the faith needed to receive Christ and believe the claims of Christ, they're in the word. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing and hearing by what? The word of God. Faith comes by the word.

James 1:21 says receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your soul. What saves our soul is when that word has been implanted in our very souls, that's how we're saved. 1 Peter 1:23 says having been born again, not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides in us. How are we born again? Through the word. So preach the word no matter what, in season and out of season as the Bible says, and you will have some who will believe.

See here's the thing: we focus so much on the people who say, "Oh you mention that, I'm offended. I'm offended that you said that, I'm offended that you said I was a sinner and need a savior, I'm offended..." and we focus so much on everyone who's touchy-touchy and offended. And we focus on that but you have to remember: preach the word anyway, there'll be some who will believe. Not everyone's going to be offended, even though one person will seem like a hundred. There will be some who will believe. We see it here, at least 5,000 men. And they went home and told their families and stuff and so 15, 20,000 were filling up the church at that particular time.

So the church in Jerusalem grew by at least 5,000 men after the word was preached. Oh let me hit the pause button and just tell you this: this church here has grown not by programs, gimmicks, and slick presentations, but by the word of God as it is taught chapter by chapter, verse by verse, and book by book from Genesis to Revelation. You hear the word of God taught. Then you go back and tell your family members, friends, and coworkers and say, "You gotta come hear this stuff. He's not up there and God said, 'Hah,' and... he's not doing that.

That's not what he's doing. He's giving you the word. And then you're like, 'You gotta come hear this stuff.' And then after they come they go tell their friends and family members, 'You gotta come hear this stuff.' And all it is is just read the word, explain it, apply it, and we go home and try to live it. It's no slick presentations and all kind of gimmicks and programs that we're doing to get people to come through the door.

One guy was blown away one time. This was earlier this year, I think it was. He came on a Wednesday night. He said, "I just had to see what was going on here." He said, "Because people coming in and out in the parking lot looked like it's a convention going on." And he came and it was about this many people on a Wednesday night and he was blown away. Blown away. We don't have any slick presentations and gimmicks and skits and all kind of dramas and stuff. We just don't.

God bless those who are doing that. Amen, praise the Lord, they got a drama department at the church. Hey, God bless them. Praise the Lord. Everyone likes a drama. I mean hey, praise the Lord. That's just not how we're led to do it. We're led to just teach you the word and let that word that's being implanted in your very soul change you from the inside out. No program, gimmick, or slick presentation's going to change a soul. Won't change a bit. You'll be entertained, though. You'll be entertained but you won't be saved, you won't be changed, but you'll be entertained. And hey, if there are people who want to be entertained, hey God bless you, praise the Lord, amen, hallelujah, God bless you. But we're not doing it like that here.

So this is how this church has grown, just by giving the word. Simple people, if they want to come and say, "Well, how you guys doing that? I see you got all kind of folks coming in and out." Okay, yeah, we have over 30 different countries in attendance at our church. "Well, how did you do that?" We just taught the word. And they're like... "No, we just taught the word."

Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." We know that the interpretation of that is he's being lifted up on the cross. The application is when Jesus is lifted up in the volume of the book, the word of God. Jesus said it's all about him when we exalt him through the teaching of the word, he draws all people to him. The racial lines get erased because everybody's coming in because they want to hear about that Jesus.

And this is what we do: we exalt him through the teaching of the word of God. And this is what—and God has grown the church. And we sit back and my wife and I and we just pinch ourselves and we're blown away. We're blown away, just fill up, empty, fill up, empty—it just blows us away. People keep coming back. You know why? Because the word.

The Bible says in Acts 13, when we get there, it said they preached the word to them and then it says and the next week the entire city came out to hear the word of God. The word was preached, it created a hunger for the word, and the whole city came out to hear the word. It's nothing in us. Peter said, "Why do you look at us as though by our own power, godliness we've made this man walk? It's not about us, it's in Jesus and his name that this man was made whole."

And so this is what we try to do and God has graciously grown the church that I still pinch myself even today. Look at verses 5 through 7. It says, "And it came to pass on the next day that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family 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 you done this?'"

Now in these verses we see a beautiful submission by Peter and John to the arrest that took place in verse 3. We see Peter and John offered no resistance during their arrest nor to the Sanhedrin they were about to face. Why? Because they knew that whatever happened to them—don't miss this—God allowed.

And because they knew that their arrest would give them the opportunity and the platform to preach about Jesus in front of the Jewish Supreme Court—an opportunity they would have never gotten had they not been arrested. Oh this is important for us to understand: sometimes God uses and allows what we call unfortunate circumstances to give us a platform to share Jesus Christ on a stage that we would have never been on had these unfortunate circumstances not happened to us.

Oh listen to what Jesus said—this is Jesus—listen to what he says in Mark 13 and verse 11. He says, "But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that, for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit."

Now according to Jesus, he will allow certain unfortunate circumstances to happen to us, like being arrested for our faith, in order for us to speak about him on a larger stage. Oh he tells us at this time not to premeditate on what to say in these moments because he will have his Holy Spirit speak through us like we see in the lives of Peter and John.

So verse 5 says on the next day the rulers, the elders, and scribes as well as Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and many of the family of the high priest were gathered together according to verse 6. Now who are these people? The rulers, they were also called the chief priests elsewhere in the scripture. The elders were the heads of the families as well as the head of the 12 tribes.

The scribes mostly consisted of the Pharisees—you remember they were the conservative religious leaders of the day. These are the people who made up the 70-member Sanhedrin or the Jewish Supreme Court. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. Now why is it that there were two high priests? Annas was the high priest recognized by the people because according to Jewish law when you're appointed as high priest, you're high priest for life or until...