Today's Word Radio

Brett Meador: He's saying to these Jews, He's the Messiah, the cornerstone. Peter's connecting all the dots. He's saying this is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. He's saying, "All you guys, Sanhedrin, remember the prophecy of the Psalmist. You guys have fulfilled this prophecy. You're the fulfillment of Psalm 118. You're the builders and you've rejected the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ."

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador details Peter's bold confrontation to the religious leaders with the gospel. Acts Chapter 4 records the growing opposition against the early church after Peter and John healed a lame man and then preached Jesus Christ to the astonished crowd. Arrested by the religious leaders, the gospel of Jesus remained the message of the determined Peter. Pastor Brett Meador draws a lesson of remaining faithful even when facing opposition in today's word.

Brett Meador: In Acts Chapter 4, you kind of need to know the setup because it's sort of a response to what happened in Chapter 3. We saw the man that was crippled sitting there at the gate Beautiful as you go into the temple. Worshippers going into the temple would pass this guy crying out for alms, "Alms for the poor, alms for the poor." He'd been crippled from his mother's womb.

But about 3:00 in the afternoon, Peter and John went up to the temple to pray for the hour of prayer. On the way, they saw this crippled man who was crying out for alms. Peter stopped and looked at him and he said, "Look at us." The man looked at them expecting to get some money from Peter and John. But Peter and John said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give unto thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." Peter reached with his right hand and pulls this guy up from his crippled condition, crippled from his mother's womb.

The man stands up and then he starts walking, and then leaping and praising God. There's this guy busting a move on the temple mount, walking and leaping. Everybody wondered, the story says, because they knew the guy was crippled. They'd seen him there for 40 years sitting at the same gate day after day. Now he's walking and leaping and praising God, and they wondered, it says. Some gave glory to God, but there were others who saw what was going on here and they were grieved.

Why are they grieved? Well, that's where Chapter 4 picks up. Let's look at verse one of Chapter 4. "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 unto the next day, for it was now eventide."

These first three verses kind of set up the story where the main group here are the Sadducees. When Jesus walked on the earth and was ministering, his primary group that didn't like him was the Pharisees. They were going around nitpicking at everything Jesus did. The Pharisees were keepers of the law, legalists. In fact, they were the ones who would promote the traditions of men. There was the laws of Moses, and Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law of Moses.

But when it came to the dumb traditions the Pharisees and the Jews had come up for centuries about those laws of Moses, Jesus didn't observe those traditions of men. He also corrected them all the time, saying, "You guys have missed the whole thing by making your dumb rules. I'm not going to follow those rules." That was one of the reasons they condemned Jesus and his ministry and his disciples. Those are the Pharisees.

In this case, it's the priests, but it seems like the Sadducees are now at the leadership of this. The Sadducees didn't give Jesus as much trouble as he was walking on the earth. Here's the reason why. They're the liberal theologians, if you would, the Sadducees. They had a particular belief. They believed that when you died, you just ceased to exist. They did not believe in the resurrection. That's why they were sad, you see.

If this is all there is in this life, if this is all you have and when you die, you just kick the bucket and cease to exist, life could be pretty miserable for most of the world. You think, "What's this all about?" But when you're a Christian and you have the hope of the life after that's eternal with Christ in heaven, then it makes you realize there's something really to look forward to. I hope you're not a Sadducee because if you accept Christ and if you believe in Jesus and repent of your sins, the Bible says you'll be saved and you'll have eternal life through him. Don't miss that. That makes you glad, you see. Be a glad-you-see, not a Sadducee or a Pharisee.

Anyway, in this story, the Sadducees are grieved. Isn't that something? They're grieved. Why? It says because Peter and John and those guys taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. What does it mean they laid hands on them? It doesn't mean that they started praying for them. Some of you Christians think, "Oh, they prayed, they laid hands." That's a figure of speech or a term we use, but not in this case. They laid hands on them, grabbed them, and dragged them and threw them in jail.

Peter and John are in jail overnight. The next morning, they're forced to stand before this trial of these Sadducees. But also, there's a list of people that are there. These are the bigwigs. I want you to kind of sense this is the same group that Jesus was tried by. Remember, they apprehended Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane that night, took him to Caiaphas's house, and had this weird kangaroo court at night with Caiaphas.

The Jews tried Jesus in sort of this unfair trial. Now we're seeing a repeat. This is the same thing. These are the same people that ended up crucifying Jesus with their kangaroo court, their dumb trial they did on Jesus that was totally unfair and not even real. Now Peter and John are in the exact same situation Jesus was, with the exact same people that condemned Jesus to death.

The situation most people would say, "Man, this is dire." What do you think the disciples are going to do? Are they going to freak out? Are they going to panic? Are they going to be shaking in their sandals? The story goes on in verse 4. It says, "Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about 5,000." Even though Peter and John get thrown into jail that night, the Lord is on the move. People are being saved.

We went from in Acts Chapter 2, 3,000 people were saved. Now the group is up to 5,000, it says here. One of the things I think is so cool about this that I want you to note, this is a big church in Jerusalem. You have to understand, Jerusalem at that time was a big city for those times, but it was really a pretty small city compared to our times. It's all happening within a few months. In a few months, suddenly a mega-church here in the book of Acts. 5,000 people in Jerusalem, that's a big church now. They meet in the temple in this big setting with lots of people.

Every time numbers are mentioned in the book of Acts about the church, it always tells us why the church was growing. I think this is the key right here. I wish pastors would just read this and catch this because if you really care about people and not just to grow a big church but care about people, how do you get people to come to church? Well, it says right here in our text, verse 4, "Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about 5,000."

Turn the page backward to Chapter 2 if you would, and let's go to the first numbering there when we came to the 3,000, verse 41. Chapter 2, verse 41. It says, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added to them 3,000 souls." Every time, in fact, let me fast-forward. Look at Acts Chapter 6. It says, "And the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly, and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith."

If people care about church growth or even think about it, it's really quite simple. I believe people today, particularly in America, are starving for God's word. There are these churches trying to get people to come, and the one thing they're leaving out is the word of God. They might tack on a verse on the screen once in a while. But I would say go through the Bible, read the word of God. It's so key to make that our focus.

In our text, they gladly received the word, had 3,000 people. Here in Chapter 4, we see a similar thing, verse 4. "Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed," and now they're at 5,000 people. If you ask people why do people come to Athey Creek? Because it's a mega-church? No. It's a large church because I think people are just really hungry for God's word. I think they don't care as much about the pastor's opinions or what the slickest attire is. The thing that actually draws people is people are just really hungry for God's word. I wish there were more churches around America that would catch this simple, simple thing. It's so simple, it's almost profound.

The word increased. Well, that's the good news. But the bad news is now Peter and John are in jail, and now they are put in front of the court of the Sanhedrin. It says here in verse 5, "And it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John," not John the apostle, different John, "and Alexander and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem."

This is like I said, that same group. We've got the Sanhedrin, which is a 71-member organization of religious leaders. They needed 23 members to have a quorum, so there's at least 23 members of the Sanhedrin here in this particular trial of Peter and John. In verse 7, it says, "And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, 'By what power or by what name have you done this?'" Now, what are they asking? They're asking about the guy that was healed in the previous chapter that was walking and leaping and praising God. "By what power have you done this miracle?"

These religious guys are doing something that is actually biblical, because in the books of Moses, the Torah, the law, it says that you're to try those people that are doing miracles and make sure they're not doing it in any other name than that of Jehovah, the God of Moses there at the burning bush, the I Am that I Am, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There's no other name people should do that under.

They had kind of a list of things. If they do a miracle or if they have a dream or a vision by any other name or worshipping any other God or enticing others to be drawn away from Jehovah to some other name, then the law of Moses said you're to take those guys and stone them to death. These guys sound pious by asking the question. It actually comes from Deuteronomy Chapter 13 for you note-takers. That's where that law was, and they're actually doing something that's kind of biblical.

But have you ever known someone to do something biblical but for ulterior motives? Their motive was not to seek righteousness. Their motive was to try to figure out a way to stone these guys to death. This is why they're doing this. They realize they're going to probably say something that's going to get them into trouble, so they ask them this powerful question. They're not concerned about righteousness or correct things. They're actually just using the scriptures for their own means. I hope you don't do that. I hope we don't do that.

"By what name," they said, "have you done this?" Well, I love this, verse 8. It says, "Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost," filled with the Holy Ghost, that's huge. This is big. Peter, 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 to you all 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, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole."

Does Peter sound timid here? Is he shaking in his sandals? Peter in Chapter 20 of the book of John, we saw him shaking in his sandals with the other disciples in the upper room for fear of the Jews. What Jews? These very Jews, the ones that crucified Jesus. They were freaked out up in the upper room. If you remember what happened there, Jesus appears to them in that upper room in the resurrection, and then he breathes on them and says, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." So they received the Holy Ghost. That was the Holy Spirit now is in them.

Then Jesus said, "I want you to go and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. He's not only going to be in you, but he will come upon you." So there in Acts Chapter 1, Jesus said, "You'll have power, dunamis." Remember that? And power will come upon you by the spirit. There in Acts Chapter 2, they're up in an upper room just waiting on the Holy Spirit, and then the rushing wind and the tongues of fire and all that stuff that we saw in Acts Chapter 2.

Now, these disciples, they're just not your ordinary disciples. They're filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the disciple we're seeing right now, as the Holy Ghost is upon Peter. I love that. Filled with the Holy Ghost, he says, "By what name do you do this? It's by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified." Wow, that's bold. That's getting in your grill just a smidge. That's what Peter's doing here, and I love it. He says, "By Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, God has raised this man up."

The danger here is that they're thinking, "Aha, we got him because he said Jesus Christ of Nazareth and that's not the name of Jehovah, so we're going to be able to stone him to death." But Peter goes on. Check out what he says in verse 11. "This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner." Now, what I love about this is Peter's doing a good Bible teaching technique. If you're a Bible teacher or you teach a Bible study, one of the greatest things you can do is when you're teaching in the New Testament, reach back into the Old Testament. The Bible is just such a beautiful integrated message system.

Peter's doing the technique that's right on the money. He says, "Remember the prophecy of the Psalmist," is what he's saying. In your margin, if you have a margin reference Bible, it probably says what scripture. Psalm 118, verse 22 is where he's quoting this idea. Before we get into that, this boldness, I just can't admire Peter enough. He's just so different. He's not a foot-in-mouth Peter. He's the spirit-filled, powerful preacher Peter. You just see a very different guy, and how we all need that. It's not by might nor by power but by the spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. That's what we're seeing here with our own eyes.

How much do you and I need the power of the Holy Spirit? We live in a time where to be a Christian who's bold in their faith can get you into trouble. If you're a bold Christian and you don't bow down to the demands of the world. Today, they're cramming that stuff down your throat, but if you're bold, you're considered a hater even. I'm not saying boldness means meanness or disrespect. But at the same time, boldness, if at your work you must use these pronouns of this person.

The Bible tells us in 1st Corinthians 13 that love actually rejoices in the truth and does not stand with iniquity. We don't do that. That's not real love. To just use somebody's pronouns, that's actually not loving, even though the world's cramming that down our throats. Be nice and use the proper pronouns? Not really. That's not truth, so it's not loving to use those pronouns.

Here's the thing that we have to remember. The world's doing the same thing the Sanhedrin's doing to Peter, James, and John. But I like the boldness here. Boldness doesn't mean meanness, it doesn't mean weirdness. Please don't do that. Don't be bold in a weird way. Also, bold in a mean way, don't do that. But here, Peter's being bold. I worry that there's too many Christians today that are shaking in our sandals. We're like the disciples of Acts Chapter 20, not the disciples of Acts Chapter 4.

It's this proverb that says this in Proverbs Chapter 28, verse 1: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." Don't you see Peter here? He's more like a lion. He's kind of going after these guys. He's not balking back or freaked out. He's just declaring the truth. But the wicked flee when no one's chasing them. I feel like that's where Christianity largely is today. We're afraid and we don't want to offend and everybody's told us, "Be quiet. Don't shake things up too much."

But I love that Peter speaks the truth, but he's not just going off on a rampage. He's actually saying, "This is that which you see in the scriptures from the Psalms." This whole sermon is backed up with scripture. That's kind of the key thing. What you're doing is backed up with scripture. What scripture is he referring to? I already showed you in your margin it says Psalm 118, but here's what it says in Psalm 118, verse 22: "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

This is the prophecy given by the Psalmist that says that there's a stone that's going to be rejected by the builders, but that rejected stone is going to become the head stone or the chief stone or the cornerstone, as it's called in the Bible. This is a marvelous thing. What's so marvelous about that? Well, the Psalmist here is giving a prophecy, and the Jews kind of wondered what this was about.

There's an oral tradition of the Jews that's kind of interesting. When they were building Solomon's temple, the rule was they didn't want to hear a hammer or chisel hewing out stones for the temple in Jerusalem. They wanted it to be perfectly silent and worshipful. So when they got the stones, they quarried the Jerusalem limestones there miles away. These huge stones that they were chiseling and hammering. And they basically prefabbed the whole thing several miles away and got it all done.

And then they took it all apart. To this day, they don't know how they moved these stones back 2,000 years ago. How did they move these giant stones? Some of the stones are as big as 40 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet. They're like as big as a school bus. How did they move them and put them in place? It's an amazing feat of architecture and engineering. All that to say, they brought all these stones in and stacked them and built Solomon's temple.

But here's the thing. There's a legend, a myth, whether it's true or not we don't really know, but it's oral tradition of the Jews. That when Solomon's builders were building the temple, they got all the stones there and they found this one stone like, "What's this stone? We don't even know what this stone's all about." And it was a big stone, but they just said, "Yeah, whatever," and they tossed it aside, saying, "This must have just snuck in the mix. It's not even supposed to be here." So they rejected that first stone.

Then they went to try to build the temple, but when they did that, it was all not working out. They're like, "What's wrong with this?" And then they realized they hadn't found the proper cornerstone, the chief stone. And they thought, "Where's our chief stone?" They're like, "Hey, that's the one we just threw out!" And they had to go back and get the stone that they rejected, bring it back in, and set it in place. And it would set everything. You'd set that stone perfectly because it would set the rest of the building based on its being plumb and in the proper trajectory and lines. It was important to have the perfect chief cornerstone, otherwise the whole building's going to be a mess.

So they finally put the chief cornerstone where it was supposed to be. Okay, so that's the story, and the Psalmist is saying the stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. So there's the prophecy. What's that? Peter's connecting all the dots. He's saying, "Sanhedrin, Caiaphas, Annas, John, Alexander, all you guys Sanhedrin, you guys have fulfilled this prophecy. You're the fulfillment of Psalm 118. You're the builders and you've rejected the chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ."

You see what he's doing there? They're saying, "What name are you doing this?" And he says, "The name of Jesus Christ," which by the way is the chief cornerstone that you guys rejected and it's the fulfillment of the Messiah. He's saying to these Jews, "He's the Messiah, the cornerstone that you rejected." This idea of the stones of Jerusalem and the chief cornerstone, this is something that was very familiar to them. They lived with these Jerusalem stones. Peter's saying, "Remember the little story about the chief cornerstone that was rejected? That's exactly what you guys just did."

Peter would jump on this even more in his epistle. For example, he writes all about this in 1st Peter Chapter 2, verse 4, when he says Jesus to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, that's rejected by the Sanhedrin and those guys, but chosen of God and precious. You also as lively or living stones, he's speaking to the church now, are built up a spiritual house, as an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion," that's Jerusalem, "a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded."

This is Peter articulating beautifully that whole picture of the chief cornerstone that would be rejected, but it's really the whole enchilada. You got to have that stone. And guess what? Who are the other stones that are going to be built around the cornerstone? Us, the church of Jesus Christ. You are living stones, it says here, built up a spiritual house. This is a beautiful picture of what we as Christians, we get to connect to the perfect chief cornerstone, and that's what sets things straight. And then as we're built, we're a house, we're the church of God, which is such a beautiful thing and it's acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): Pastor Brett Meador reaffirming Peter's message to the Sanhedrin that Jesus was indeed the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah and cornerstone of his church today. And you're listening to Today's Word Radio. I invite you to stay right there as Pastor Brett will join me here to talk about using different translations of the Bible to preach.

But first, let me tell you a little bit more about Brett Meador. He's the senior pastor of Athey Creek Church, just south of Portland, Oregon. Brett's been the pastor of Athey Creek for 30 years, where he goes verse by verse in his study of the Bible. We invite you to listen each day for more. If you missed any portion of our study, you'll find all of Pastor Brett's messages online at todayswordradio.com. You can also watch full video messages from him by going to todayswordradio.com.

All right, well Pastor Brett is with me now. One of the things that people will notice with your verse-by-verse study in God's word is that you enjoy using the King James Version of the Bible. Why is that?

Brett Meador: Well, that's a great question. First off, I always like to say this: if the King James Bible was good enough for Paul the Apostle, it's good enough for me. Now, of course, there's some people out there listening—no, I'm joking. But actually, I joke about that because there are those who believe the King James is the only inspired English translation, and I'm not on board with that. There are other great translations out there and they're really great. I love the ESV. The New American Standard is solid.

But for me personally, I tend to use the King James Version for a few reasons. One, it is accuracy. It is a very literal word-for-word translation. Two, I grew up with the King James Version and I still love its style and beauty. And then number three, for me, it slows me down a bit and gives me a sense of weight. When I read the Bible in King James, I don't just blow through it quickly; I have to slow down and think about what is being said.

That said, I'll often reference other translations in my teaching because sometimes they help bring clarity. So it's really not about saying one is the only translation. It's about finding the Bible you'll actually read, understand, and apply to your life. So I'd say choose your favorite translation and then if you're listening to my study in the King James, let it slow you down and give us time to think about what is being said. I think that's what the King James does for us.

Guest (Male): That's excellent advice and I agree because I also grew up with the King James and New American Standard versions of the Bible. Well, thank you, Pastor Brett, for that brief explanation. If you'd like more information about Today's Word Radio or Pastor Brett Meador, just visit our website at todayswordradio.com.

Well, next time, Pastor Brett will continue looking at the Acts of the Apostles, and we'll see the boldness of Peter and John to the leaders of their day, and the demonstration of such a bold witness is one for all believers to follow today. Today's Word with Pastor Brett Meador is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in West Linn, Oregon.