[0:00] Thank you for tuning into this message preached at Karis Church. The Word of God is to be lived. May you receive direction from this message that will be a lamp to your feet.
[0:14] So we are in Acts chapter 4. So God's event took us through from verse 5 all the way to 11. More the emphasis was on verse 11 and a bit of a touch on verse 12.
[0:29] So today we will take you from 12 to 17. And I read from verse 5 again just to put some context to it.
[0:39] The scripture says, Acts chapter 4 verse 5. And it came to pass on the morrow that the Arulis and elders and scribes and Anas, the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
[0:56] And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power or by what name have ye done this? Then 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 a 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 doeth this man stand here before you whole.
[1:34] This is the stone which ye set at naught of you builders, which is made the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any name, for there is none other name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be saved.
[1:52] 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.
[2:05] And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred amongst themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men?
[2:20] For that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them as manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem. And we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further amongst the people, let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
[2:41] And they called them and commanded them, verse 18, not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. Amen. And so the story continues.
[2:52] From Acts chapter 3, this same man, the man who had sat at the beautiful gate, when we think about it, Jesus, I'm sure he was there because he'd been in this business for a very long time.
[3:03] But Jesus chose not to heal him. I don't know why. But we see that he wasn't healed during Jesus' ministry of three years. And I believe they were going past him to the temple again and again.
[3:15] But Jesus didn't choose to heal him. There's a reason why. Because we heard from previous teachings that the healing was not only for the man's enjoyment. Indeed, it brought freedom to this man.
[3:27] It brought liberty to this man. His life was completely transformed. But God had a bigger agenda. And God's agenda was that that healing would be a sign and a wonder that would draw people so that the gospel can be preached.
[3:40] And so for a really, really good reason, Jesus didn't heal this man. Because this man would be a point for the spreading of the gospel. And we see a beautiful work that God did through Peter and John from chapter 3.
[3:54] And so chapter 3, they started speaking on the basis of that. People marveled and they were speaking about the junior. And then the apostles took advantage and preached the gospel.
[4:05] And so they are preaching all the way. And then the preaching now brings us into chapter 4. So as they are preaching, we enter into chapter 4. Sometimes the chapters make you feel like it's a different place, it's a different scene.
[4:17] But in actual fact, it's the same story that is being told. And so as they were preaching to the people, from last week, we saw that the elders of the people of Israel came and asked them in their hands, they were asking, by which name have you done this miracle?
[4:32] As for the general populace, they had heard the gospel. They were very excited about hearing the gospel. But then, of course, it was causing commotion. And so they came with force and they had power and authority in order to be able to deal with it.
[4:45] So they came to address the matter. And last week, we heard that in actual fact, it was a serious matter. Because this Jesus that said that in his name, this man has been healed, is the very one they crucified not too long ago.
[4:57] So it was a very, very tricky situation for them. They had to squash it ASAP, deal with it. Sometimes it's good to try and understand what is going on.
[5:08] And so we see that this is what has happened. And then Peter, in response, so Peter is telling them that the chief cornerstone is the one that you have rejected, the one you killed, is the one that God was going to use to build his new work.
[5:23] And then he then goes on from verse 12. So we are picking up from verse 12. It says, neither is there salvation in any other. So aside the fact that this man has been made whole from Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, who is the cornerstone that God is using to build his church, his work, it said, neither.
[5:42] So you as you stand here, there is you even high priests, you cannot experience salvation. This is the message they're preaching. You cannot experience salvation in no other name.
[5:55] There is no other name that's been given under the heaven by which men can be saved other than the same Jesus you have killed. This is a serious proposition they are making. This is a serious statement they are making to people of authority.
[6:09] But it didn't stop them. It didn't stop them from making such a significant statement. The name of Jesus, Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 6, it said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the Father except through me.
[6:24] And so Jesus already started making the statement of, I am the way to God. No longer is there any other means by which salvation will come to men. I am now the only way.
[6:36] God has revealed me now as the only way by which salvation will come to men. In John chapter 17 verse 3, it says that, and this is life eternal, that he might know thee to be the only true one.
[6:49] That you have to know Jesus as the only true God and Jesus Christ, the one the Lord has sent. This is how eternal life comes to us. John chapter 3 verse 16 all the way to 18.
[7:00] We all know John 3 verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved.
[7:17] Verse 18. He that believes in him is not condemned but he is not condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.
[7:28] So if you don't believe, you are condemned. This is Jesus making this before his death. So the apostles are just reiterating what Jesus preached already. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5.
[7:41] So this is just to buttress the point in Acts chapter 4 verse 12 that there is no other name given here under the heavens by which men can be saved. In 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 5 it talks about one God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
[7:57] If you want to reconcile with God, there is no other way. Only one mediator which is Jesus Christ. In 1 John chapter 2 verse 2 he says he is a propitiation meaning the atoning sacrifice for the sin that we cannot pay for our sins.
[8:13] He is the atoning sacrifice. He is the propitiation and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world. Meaning Jesus indeed, some people ask, so people who have not heard, so people who are not, it doesn't matter.
[8:26] He says he is the only atoning sacrifice. He is the propitiation for not only the ones who have believed but for the whole world, meaning all throughout the world, nobody can be saved other than coming through Jesus.
[8:41] Romans chapter 6 verse 23 talks about the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Who are we being saved from?
[8:52] Fundamentally we are being saved from sin and the effect of sin. Matthew chapter 1 verse 21 before Jesus' birth the angel came to Joseph and told Joseph that Jesus, the child whom Mary is carrying will save his people from their sins.
[9:09] 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 24 Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross so that people will not die in their sins but have eternal life and live for righteousness.
[9:21] So this is clearly stating how Jesus came for our salvation and salvation not from you know a bad job per se but salvation from sin and the effect of sin the effect of sin is the suffering that we see in the world that is the effect of sin.
[9:39] Before in the garden it was very nice in the garden. I'm sure each one of us wants to go back to Eden yes because Eden is very nice it's flowing all is well in Eden even God comes to visit you yes in the cool of the day God comes for a conversation however we are not in Eden because of sin so when you go outside you see the effect of sin you see it on the news the effect of sin is all over all over us around us however this is what Christ comes to save us from not that after salvation we no longer live here but it's impact it's not like we don't have Christ yeah it's different for us to a believer and a non-believer may suffer the same fate but the impact is different the impact is supposed to be different because we go through life knowing that we have hope some don't have hope not because their bank account is not filled but their hope of eternal life the hope for tomorrow we have that guarantee we have an anchor we have an anchor fixed firm it is it holds us strong and we are anchored in Christ who is eternal and so it makes all the difference we are saved from sin and the effects of sin the next thing is salvation
[11:01] God grants us salvation which is household salvation we all have to believe God for that I have what I'm believing God for household salvation when we see God saving Noah he didn't save some and leave some he saved your entire household even the story of Lot we read recently in Genesis it's so beautiful literally the angel held him and dragged him out of destruction this is how God sees us and our families our households it's God desires to save us and save our entire households and so the angel did not leave Lot because Abraham had prayed for him because Abraham is related to Lot and Abraham prayed for Lot the angel went and Lot was being hesitant it's like oh let me pack my stuff you know when people are being hesitant they can be it's like they are busy but they are not doing anything busy trying to do something but doing nothing so Lot was in kind of that state I don't want to leave where are we going this is too impromptu I'm not prepared for this because of Abraham's prayer and because God saves and saves to the Artemis they literally had to snatch them and grab them and take them out of destruction
[12:09] I'm seeing God visiting our homes and our families with the gifts of salvation in the mighty name of Jesus may we come back to share stories and testimonies of how many our brothers our sisters our mothers our fathers our cousins our nephews our nieces have encountered Jesus Christ and they are no longer bound to hell but have made their way into the body of Christ in Jesus name Amen God saves us from our enemies it's littered all across the Psalms if you have enemies believe God to save sometimes some enemies are too strong for you they are way too strong for you and that you can't fight them some enemies have more influence some enemies have more contact some enemies are richer some enemies are powerful they have more contact better contact than you do and when you find yourself in such situations there is something that you need to run to there's a place you need to run to say Lord save me from my enemies sometimes you don't know the people who are your enemies in actual fact yeah sometimes you don't know you actually don't know that you actually most of us we are so nice that you think nobody is an enemy you don't have to be bad to have enemies no you just don't have to be you can be the nicest person it will shock you how some people can't stand you just your presence is annoying and they're not just annoying they want to act on the annoyance yes but God is able to save us from our enemies
[13:41] God saves us from bondages and slavery you know things that shackles us things that it's like you've become a slave to we see it in Exodus chapter 3 God tells Moses that I have seen the suffering of my people and I have come down to save them wow God saw the sufferings of his people and he said I've come to deliver them and so God is interested in your deliverance and if I may say deliverance is not necessarily in sweating in spitting or in coughing or in throwing up but I don't know if that's the way you can express that you have been delivered then we thank God for your expression however that doesn't signify deliverance deliverance comes from the Lord hallelujah and there's nothing wrong in believing God when things are too strong for you when you feel like you have become a slave to a situation a condition and that you can't free yourself the things that you do you don't like and you know that you can't help yourself you see yourself being dragged believe God for deliverance amen
[14:47] God also saves us from distraction and calamities we have seen that the apostle Paul went to preach the gospel in Acts chapter 27 and there was a shipwreck but he was so confident God brought him salvation and not just only him all that traveled sailed with him God ensured their safety and God also heals we see Jesus so many about Jesus performed about 37 different miracles just to evidence for us that in spite of whatever condition you find yourself in you can see that Jesus has authority over every situation that about 37 it will be nice when you go home you go and count it and literally find them they are across all the gospels but they are about 37 on my last count miracles that Jesus performed and we are also saved unto eternal salvation after all is said and done here we have guarantee of eternal salvation
[15:50] Revelation chapter 7 verse 10 19 verse 1 it said after this I heard a sound like a roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting hallelujah salvation and glory and power belongs to our God so if it belongs to our God it's our possession in Jesus name we say hallelujah to that amen and so indeed there is no other name given under the heavens by which men can be saved in the various ways Jesus said it himself and the apostles also retreated it so we are moving on to chapter 4 verse 13 and so after they have made the declaration now when they saw the gospel so as they spoke as they declared the gospel and the basis for which they were preaching these elders high priests and Sadducees this is their observation verse 13 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 first of all they saw their boldness they stood and spoke without fear or favor before people of high authority these are people who have managed to kill Jesus yes they have managed to kill Jesus so if you think about it if they have killed
[17:24] Jesus Peter and John you are nobody you are nobody but they didn't speak out of fear the Bible says that they spoke with boldness but I believe that the boldness was not because all of a sudden Peter felt so good about himself because earlier on in verse 8 it said then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost said unto them you rulers and so it's coming from the infilling of the Holy Spirit from which as he spoke they observed that these people are bold because really they shouldn't be able to stand before us and speak like that but it wasn't of him because it's the same Peter that we know we know Peter by God's grace the boldness was coming from the infilling of the Holy Spirit John chapter 20 verse 21 and 22 Jesus said receive ye the Holy Spirit it said and when he has said this he breathed on them and said unto them receive ye the Holy Spirit so that was the first time the Holy Spirit was poured on them and we know Acts chapter 1 verse 8
[18:27] Jesus said ye shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you and then they experienced the reality of the world in Acts chapter 2 verse 4 where the Holy Spirit came upon them as they waited on him and then we've seen it again the Holy Spirit the offering of the Holy Spirit upon them in Acts chapter 4 verse 12 and so it took the infilling of the Holy Spirit for them to be able to stand boldly to say and preach the gospel as they were doing when the Holy Spirit comes upon us it transforms us it changes us the things that you think you can't do is only a sign that you need more of the Holy Spirit oh yes particularly when it comes to building the house of God the things you think you can't do ask for me I can't do this ask for me I can't do this just try the Holy Spirit just ask me Holy Spirit if you can anoint me if you can fill me I'm willing to do this that is a different take from I can't do this this is not me you know some of us would say this is not me this is not my forte this is not my strength this is not no no no no once you see an opportunity to serve God in a certain capacity just avail yourself of the infilling of the Holy Spirit it will surprise you what God can do with you standing here is not my choice
[19:38] I'm naturally a back end girl naturally I'm a back end girl however I am here oh yes by God's grace yeah why exactly anyway it's coming I've availed myself to the yeah it's just it's just I mean when you see God's heaven and you see me you know that we are completely different yeah you know that we are completely different and some people they don't even think twice when they have to hold their microphone and some people we take them days to be analyzing to be praying and all of that yeah you literally but it's the Holy Spirit who makes the difference so when you see people do things don't let it be like ask for them they are this no it's like can I have the Holy Spirit fill me for what he wants to do that should be our approach we see the beauty of what God does through people it should give us a thirst and a yearning and a longing to God I'm here too I'm available that should be the response not to say rejected to say this one seems that this is their strength so let them stay in their strength no
[20:45] I'm available it will shock us it will surprise us what God can do through us we see littered across the Old Testament various people that the Holy Spirit came upon and they were completely different people we know different people but on Saul he was a young man hiding amongst stuff but was chosen as the king first king of Israel and he had to encounter the the Spirit of God to come upon him for him to be able to ascend the throne because he did he thought very little of himself we see different people even in Samson there's so many times God's heaven has helped us to understand that in actual fact Samson didn't look that strong you know he wouldn't look like Mr. Universe and it didn't stop God from using him as long as the Holy Spirit could come upon him he could do amazing things of which we read out and we're inspired and he should tell us that hey as ordinary as we are God can use us if his Spirit can come upon us so the boldness of the Holy Spirit gave them what it took for them to preach the gospel in the way they did our boldness is not to show off and make us look important or powerful you know if you say that you've received the Holy Spirit so you're going to walk in the lion's den they are likely to chew you you know because it might not necessarily be for the preaching of the gospel and for the building of the church in Acts chapter 4 verse 29 we see instances they prayed that they will receive boldness and the priest said and when and now Lord behold their threatenings so again they were being threatened and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness we may speak thy word you know when I was doing my study
[22:31] I realized that the boldness came mainly for the preaching of the gospel yes it wasn't to make us feel powerful or like I can attempt it it came really for the preaching of the gospel at least by God's grace we look at it when we jump to verse 31 and when they had prayed the place was shaking where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they speak the word of God with boldness and so they were threatened and they didn't ask for spare our lives we want to where shall we go and hide but in actual fact they asked for boldness and the Holy Spirit gave them that exactly that in Acts chapter 9 verse 27 again we see them praying for boldness and then the Holy Spirit giving them boldness verse 27 the scripture but Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared unto them how he had seen so this is Paul and Saul as Barnabas took him so the scripture is talking about Saul and so Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus and in the name of Jesus and he spoke boldly in the name so he preached boldly and he spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ disputing matters with all kinds of people he had boldness for the preaching of the gospel again in Acts chapter 13 verse 46 it really caught my attention when I realized that okay there's things we've been planning it's not necessarily what God is going to give us boldness about it says in verse 46
[24:21] Acts chapter 30 verse 46 it said then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and did what and said it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken unto you and that if you don't like it we are taking it elsewhere we're going to preach to the Gentiles so they said they waxed bold they became bold and said and spoke and preached okay Ephesians chapter 6 verse 19 Ephesians 6 19 it says that and for me the utterance be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel and so we see boldness appearing in line with the preaching of the gospel 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse I'm not saying that don't ask God for boldness no that's not what I'm preaching but I'm just saying that in actual fact anytime you want to preach the gospel particularly those of us when it's time to go and go to evangelism you say you are shy please there's boldness available if we ask for the Holy Spirit there is boldness available he gives boldness so that we can preach the gospel 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 12 says seeing that we have such hope we use great plainness of speech in other versions they say great boldness of speech so as we are preaching their speech was the preaching it says we use great boldness in chapter 7 verse 4 you can see that this point is really being made by the scriptures great is my boldness of speech towards you great is my glory of you
[26:03] I am filled with comfort I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulations he said when it comes to the of speech when it comes to the preaching my boldness is great and so the Holy Spirit gives us boldness for the preaching of the gospel I am sure if you don't remember anything you know that any time you want to preach the gospel you can ask the Holy Spirit for boldness to do it so we are talking about this boldness being experienced because of the infilling of the Holy Spirit of Peter and John Peter and John were one of the closest disciples of Jesus he took them to our side James he took them to the Mount of Transfiguration and it was only three of his disciples he took and it was Peter James and John and in this instance it's Peter and John who are leading this I'm sure the other disciples are there but they are the ones who are they were on their way to the temple and this happened I wonder I'm sure the others may have come around and all that but it is the experience of Peter and John and these were transformed fishermen fishermen who have become bold proclaimers of the gospel of Christ
[27:16] Peter the one who once denied Jesus now stands boldly on Thursday those of us who had the opportunity to be in service we heard the level of intimidation that Peter experienced as he denied frantically denied knowledge of Jesus Christ but today because of the infilling of the Holy Spirit he is speaking boldly and declaring the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ John on the other side this is what I learned John on the other side stood there quietly so we are not hearing John so he said they were both bold so I can see that maybe his you know expression come across like yeah I am me too I'm here I'm bold but John is not speaking and this is why I learned from John not speaking because John is the one remember they are so strong that Jesus called them sons of thunder they don't take nonsense they will deal with it shall we call fire from him to consume these ones and so you can't threaten you are not supposed to be able to threaten John like that
[28:17] Peter step aside with your shaky self you went to deny Jesus let me deal with them the other thing about John which I took notice of was that his mother they used to like power a bit because his mother had come to purchasing Jesus that he should let James and John one sit on the left one sit on his right in his kingdom okay but this time John is quiet and allowing Peter to speak the one who wanted to sit on the right hand of Jesus so really what he said if you are not there it should be me or my brother James and in this instance James is not there so it's automatically John but no I'm sure they were there when Jesus when they heard Peter declare the revelation that you are the Christ all of this was changing them and seeing that as much as it is my desire to be this but I'm seeing and I'm going alongside the workings of God's desire and God's will it's necessary for when we are in a church like this when we are Christian fellowship like this some are grace to do things some are grace to do other things we work alongside irrespective of what your natural ambitions natural ambitions are because as a human we have ambitions there are things you dreamt about that as for me this is how I see myself to be but unfortunately
[29:37] God has chosen you to be like that in his kingdom now how do we work alongside the workings of God in order for all to align and see the kingdom being built and all of this we can see that is the real evidence of the impact of Jesus' life his ministry his death burial and resurrection it changed them it transformed them it moved them to be ordinary fishermen now standing declaring the deep revelation of the coming of the Messiah and of his salvation and so the scripture says that they perceived meaning that they came to terms it's like you could see they perceived that because these men they know them they have not been trained they have not been trained they know if they have been trained they will know that they are trained because you are dealing with the high priest here there is nobody who would have been trained as a rabbi that the high priest would not know about because you are actually right in
[30:42] Jerusalem you are in the center of the Jewish faith and they perceived that these men are unlearned men just like Jesus Jesus had not gone through their schooling their training it's like it doesn't make sense they have not been trained with their standards their customs the way they do their sacrifices all of this the temple rules and all of that to stand as a priest they knew they had not been trained but then they perceived it's like the way not too long from now your family members will take a look at you it's like they do a double take and think nah it's not the same person it's not the same person because they can see a change they can see that this our sister we knew before is not the same person anymore we believe God for that so Jesus had not gone through the training as I said but he says that he stood and preached in the courts and began to teach the temple courts and began to teach and the
[31:49] Jews were amazed why were they amazed and they asked how did this man ascertain such learning without having studied so they were reflecting exactly what Jesus had done they had become just like Jesus Jesus didn't go through it sounded like they had more knowledge and understanding and revelation than those who had gone through the training in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 it said you when you came to faith it said by human standards you were not influential you were not wise you were not noble you were actually ordinary people but the gospel transforms the gospel changes the gospel makes a new man out of everybody who comes to the cross and so they perceived that these men were unlearned men they were uneducated men uneducated clearly as fishermen but they saw a difference in them that these ones what was the point of the difference they took knowledge that they had been with
[33:16] Jesus they had followed Jesus they have stayed at Jesus feet they had heard Jesus speak they had seen Jesus heal people they have seen Jesus pray over different situations and saw a change they have seen how Jesus was tender towards people but preached boldly they had seen all of that and all of this was being exhibited as they stood there they had been with Jesus and it didn't take their education per se we see that in the scriptures so Peter as one of the key from the early birth of the church until when the apostle Paul also steps into his ministry we see that the book of Acts is told from the perspective of Peter and Peter was an unlearned man there's nothing we can do about that he was a fisherman but God still chose him to use him yeah
[34:18] God chose him to use him whilst Paul on the other side is a highly learned man it is believed that in Tassos we're one of the best universities higher places of learning Paul himself speaks about the fact that he was educated by one of the highest teachers in that day Peter as a fisherman we see some limitation because the book of Mark is believed to be written by dictated to John Mark by Peter so he had limitations however it didn't stop God from using him right at the birthing of the church I mean Peter's ministry is Paul comes to partake of Peter's ministry on the day of Pentecost Peter is the one who is standing to preach the gospel unlearned a fisherman uneducated a fisherman and so it doesn't when it comes to the kingdom the point I'm trying to make is God picks from all walks of life all kinds of people we're not saying education doesn't matter education matters a lot it makes a huge difference however don't let your current condition disqualify you from availing yourself for
[35:30] God to use and God to do something amazing through you you must believe that wherever you are whatever you have if you can present it to him just like the boy with five loaves of bread and two fishes God can use that to bring a change yeah it makes it we should know this there are so many people God used that were not that educated Charles Spurgeon he was just he just read on his own his family was not rich enough but he has a college in his name Spurgeon's college an uneducated man has D.L.
[36:06] Moody one of the greatest revivalists of his time and his impact is still speaking there is also a Moody Institute a very highly recognized Bible institution an uneducated man there's a man who went to India and started the biggest move of God in India and today they are the same this one is even a university which has a strong Bible institute attached to it William Curry he was a cobbler shoemaker in layman terms uneducated but he didn't stop God when he went to India he actually started a printing press the one who was uneducated and was the one who translated the Bible from English into the Tamil language and made sure and printed it doesn't go to school but it has value for the gospel being spread and it's just to again make the point don't despise what you have don't despise what you have on the other hand
[37:12] God uses Paul in a different way we see in the gospel so many of the writings are from Paul and you see the depths of the revelation that God had to use so God used all of his education in order to bring some deep and heavy and strong revelation of the church of what God was doing that nobody the writings of Paul the word of God we have received today so it is important that Paul was trained with all manner of trainings Greek philosophy rabbi training all of everything he had it all to put together but it was good for God God will say I will use you so please let God use some of your qualifications yes you have to feel like God has used me for the building of the church you have to feel it sometimes you feel like I'm being stretched all your education I mean for me I'm so grateful that I have the privilege to serve in the cup because sometimes
[38:13] I look at all the various qualifications God gave me opportunity to undertake I see bits of it all over I look at it I say God you're really really amazing really amazing because it's so it just marvels some of the exact dreams I had when I was young and I thought it would be in the corporate world is exactly in ministry honestly when I look at it I'm like wow God you don't waste anything you don't waste anything you don't waste anything and so what I'm saying is surrender what you have God has use of it God has need of it he can use it surrender it yeah but they marveled as they were speaking they saw their boldness they realized that these people are unusual they are no longer who they were before and the bible says that in actual fact when you look at it you think that at this point that's the time they should have acted they should have laid hands on them that no we have to take you we have to silence you but they realized that these people have encountered was now very evident your closeness to
[39:27] Jesus your relationship with Jesus cannot be hidden yeah what you do in the secret place will always speak and be open yeah so when you feel very inadequate and as human beings we will feel very inadequate when it comes to the plan of God because God's plans are way above our plans but there's a way that you're able to surrender to Jesus and trust that he's able to do what he has said to do because of your closeness you have come to know him to be faithful even you feel inadequate but you have come to know him that he's faithful you have come to know him that he's able to take a person and transform your closeness your time you spend with God as much as we serve God I think recently when I had the privilege to share the word of God I said that to be to be used is important we all desire it but to be approved of God is more important and that place is not donated it's not given it's cultivated you have to be intentional at cultivating a certain relationship with
[40:40] Jesus this is what was speaking the scripture says it was obvious that they had been with Jesus they had been with Jesus they had sat with him they had listened to him all the parables the Bible tells us that even with the parables what Jesus shared in the open when they went behind they would ask him and Jesus would begin to unveil the mysteries in the parables and so they had been with Jesus and stayed with him for three years and seen him even in the moment of deep trial when he's about to be crucified in the moment of great pain they saw all of it he in his height of miracles and the people following him and in all the glory and they have seen him when he's absolutely broken they have seen all of it that gave them a certain boldness that if he went through it that is what is so difficult to take a good look at the scriptures and say this is a lie no human being can make this up these experiences are beyond human you can't make it up you can't say let's write something let's gather and come up with some stories you can't do this that's why all the other writings that look like very powerful they came after the bible because they gleaned from here every other ones that come before you see they are very scanty this one is solid my will is heavy hallelujah because it is the word don't neglect that be interested in staying close to
[42:21] Jesus amen so verse 14 and beholding the man this one was a bit of a challenge the man which had been healed standing with them they could not say anything against it so the man had become their evidence of their preaching that okay if you have an issue with us we are not sure how you are going to now challenge this because we all know this man this man has been here for decades we all know him that he was a man who was lame from birth even you rabbis you probably have given him some money in past times because they had this attitude of they have to be seen even though they are dead tombs dead bodies tombs inside outside they have to look like they are whitewashed tombs so it's very important that they presented themselves a certain way so I'm sure they'll be giving some bits to this man more than enough people knew him and this man is standing firm and strong on his feet he's not seated he's standing on his feet meaning he has strength in his feet the same lame feet same lame legs he has strength and therefore it's beginning to be very challenging to deal with these people preaching in a name they don't want them to preach in in
[43:53] Acts chapter 2 verse 22 it talks about God attesting Jesus ministry with signs wonders and miracles we'll see the same thing happening here John chapter 14 verse 12 we also Jesus says that those who believe in me they shall do what he has done and then he also says that will go on to do greater works the evidence of their preaching was in the person standing there that God has backed their preaching with that testimony with that man's healing and so they couldn't but this is what surprised me saying verse 16 so they of course they told them to go outside and they will confer amongst themselves because this is a very tricky one verse 16 it says what shall we do to these men for indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it it's like what a shock even though you can't deny it you still don't want to accept it at that time if your heart is really genuine that is why when you say there are some people who haven't heard the gospel or they heard the gospel once but they needed to hear it twice and because of that why are they going to hell this is practically people hearing the gospel not just hearing the gospel also having an evidence of the truth in the gospel that this man has been healed in the name of
[45:18] Jesus and they said they could not deny it at that point what do you expect you go say it's true but not now we say it all the time they harden their hearts they don't want to receive God's word because it's almost like a flash of their lives before them so we have to give up our business in the temple so we have to give our power and afford because they look at these people who are now with Jesus if you look at them and their presentation is not powerful enough basically what happens to me if I surrender my life and they choose to say no but it happens to us too sometimes you know God is speaking to you you know a situation happens and you know God says walk away but for whatever reason you feel like nah I need to put my feet down I need to say something
[46:20] I cannot let go the corruption of us evident their hearts were so corrupted that as they are faced with the gospel the true gospel they said we cannot deny it instead of bringing themselves to submission of the gospel and to receive salvation they do otherwise they turn themselves away from the gospel and what the gospel provides for us in order to say you guys rather you keep quiet saying what shall we do to these men in actual fact you want to do something to these men you actually want to do something to these men you should know that you are not safe because they have an evidence I pray may God give each one of us an evidence of what he is doing in our lives that when people know people must know that we serve a living
[47:20] God we have an evidence that God is with us they refused to submit themselves to God and what he was doing in spite of the evidence of God's work so what did they tell them they said verse 17 but that spread no fervor among the people let us straightly threaten them that they may speak henceforth to no man in this thing so as they are conferring still Peter and John are outside they are conferring so amongst themselves they are saying that we can see that a notable miracle has been done okay so now what do we do about it we can't deny this miracle what should we do about it it says okay let's warn them let's threaten them so they face threatening situations that in actual fact if I lie small on my CV I can become a chancellor and once we win the election oh we are in yes
[48:31] I am I am a weather economy store customer service it don't matter we are in but sometimes you're phased to just twist a little bit you know we're Christians we're very nice here so not extreme stuff but just twist it a little bit it will give you an advantage just turn it a little bit you can you can you know you can get away with it you can see that you can get away with it but that's not how God expects us to do life he said let's rather threaten them that they speak next forth to no man in this name but it is just not possible for this to be achieved because think about it you saw the people standing there boldly speaking to you responding to you is it now that you're threatening that it stop them from preaching because they told you that well there's an infilling there's a speaking there's evidence boldness and then also evidence
[49:35] God has backed them with a notable miracle why do you think your threatenance is going to stop them sometimes when the devil comes to you you say devil why do you think you can threaten me why do you think you can change my mind about what God has said sometimes we just need to speak back why do you think that I'm going to change my mind about how I've set myself to serve God when somebody is gossiping into your ears does this church you should tell them why do you think because I have my own evidence I have my own testimonies I know how I have changed since I walked into this church why do you think your gossiping is going to change me for some of us who are subject to being tossed to and fro is an evidence of a lack of infilling of the Holy Ghost lack of infilling of the Holy Ghost nobody is filled with the Holy Ghost building busy building the temple will be threatened and to be honest some of our threats is not comparable every generation have their own threats so
[50:45] I'm not going to put our threats down some of you see yes your afternoon meal is on the line you see yeah but he promised you to take you to Nando's it's only Nando's that's on the line only Nando's is on the line so you thought about the livers and the chickens yeah I get your point I get your point you don't get no point you say why do you think you can threaten me why you change and transform God always say something tell them who you used to be yeah if they knew who you used to be oh my days and even now the temptations you are battling with I have seen many mothers put their chest and say not my child meanwhile the child has done it complete my child never never never I brought him up with my own they done it you just don't know and we smile as pastors we smile and say we found
[51:52] God mom we found God we found God God is helping us but evidence is in our hands but it's not important we are trying to get somewhere it just wasn't possible to change them because they have what they have seen what they have experienced what their hands have handled the very word of life they could not keep quiet about it any longer when the Holy Spirit does his transforming work in your life you cannot go back you cannot go back you cannot be the old man there may be temptations to be drawn back but you know you are not that person anymore you know you know they couldn't it's like they have experienced Jesus too much they have known him too much and literally seen him after resurrection experience him talk to him eat with him how do
[52:56] I deny how do I deny your walk with God will give you boldness your walk with God will give you a certain strength in your inner man a certain assurity that you cannot go back you cannot go back people of God let's be interested in staying at the feet of Jesus and staying close to him and experiencing the work with hearing his word doing the basics strengthening ourselves in it because it will make a new man out of us you just can't go back they couldn't change their story it didn't matter how much you threaten them I believe God is speaking there are things that God has spoken to you about and you know God has given enough evidence that he's the one speaking to you you can't say no after today just say Lord I surrender because you know God is speaking to you it's come in many forms in diverse forms it is an evidence of God's mercy and
[53:56] God's love for you he says it once he says it twice he says it three times others do say that when God speaks once they've heard it twice it's like it's fine it's okay God in today's reading we see God tell Abraham take your son your only son when we're doing a devotion we're having back and forth and my children were saying that but that's really harsh though if you think about it why would God it's a very hard thing so if God asked you to I said I'm sitting here feeling very important I said it's easy for me to say yes but I honestly don't know that but I hope that the day God asks me something very hard I'll be able to respond like Abraham but it's written for our learning so they were talking about how old was Isaac was he a small boy I said no he was a lad so and Abraham was over 100 so really Isaac could have given one knock and he said leave me alone that would have been enough for him to fall back or something see we think about it how this thing is playing out
[55:06] Isaac is a young man Abraham is a very old man who is not supposed to really have much strength if Isaac wants to resist Abraham can't make him do anything and it was a beautiful cooperation between a father and son beautiful absolutely beautiful absolutely beautiful the father is obeying God and the son is allowing the father to obey God even though it's going to cost him his life so they were back and forth with me and this and this and this and I said have you thought about Abraham too what it will feel like to put their child and create an altar build an altar put I said he's an old man he should have heart attack at that minute and just die he's an old man he should just die God whatever you do do but no God doesn't allow that he has to go throughout the process he does it in obedience in faith why because the same God came to him at one time and said
[56:10] Abraham in blessing I will bless you this same God me am your reward exceedingly meaning above great reward it's not your riches it's not your cattle I God I am your exceedingly great reward so this man is dead this man is gone he has a son but he doesn't bear in mind Ishmael is already gone is gone living a different life doesn't have any contacts with me anymore is gone now the only one which God recognizes is your only son he said this one I wanted this one too because when Ishmael was about to go Abraham wasn't happy about it when Sarah said let him go and God backed Sarah no Abraham and God said listen to your wife wow so look at it this man very old man has only two sons the first one comes and God says let the son go and so they leave he and leave his territory all together he has no relationship anymore and the one that he now has as he is growing he must be beautiful they have a relationship all that think about it father and son very old father when you are young father you are strong but when you are old father even old mother they are so nice and tender because their shouting period is gone you know their energy very tender very nice so you can imagine how they have been enjoying each other's company and then
[57:52] God says take your son and this is the beauty the Bible says early in the morning early in the morning Abraham takes up takes the son and we go to the mountain to sacrifice this is tough this is hard I'm saying this why because Abraham has already met with God encountered God and God has spoken some things to him and that was enough for him to go to every extent for God this is this is he didn't even have the Holy Ghost the Holy Spirit was not living in him he only had a word from God sometimes I think about it did God appear as a man did sit with him and tap him and he felt how did and he put his whole life on the line for that his future on the line for that all his riches he said Eliezer
[58:53] God said it won't be Eliezer the same one you've given him he said I should go sacrifice why because Abraham has come to know God he has come to know God he has come to know God and so he sacrificed he was ready to sacrifice in his heart the boy was gone because he lifted his hand about to execute literally it was done you can imagine probably at the time he shut his eye about to just do what God has asked him to do and then God delivered Isaac and gave it back to him the same it's the same for these ones it's the same for Peter and John the influence of the Holy Spirit and being with Jesus being with was what was evident in this serious season or moment of trial of a test whether we can stand before these authorities who have power to take our lives and proclaim the gospel with boldness or we would have to deny him once again they were different people they were not the same anymore being with
[60:07] Jesus and the infilling of the Holy Spirit I completely transformed them changed them changed them they were changed men hallelujah I see somebody being transformed changed to a new man from what you used to be to a new man in the name of Jesus it is ours too it's not just for them it's ours too they tried to suppress them if Peter and John had given in at that time would have costed the church yeah the church was fast growing at this time they have numbered well over 5,000 it was a very strong force very few days after the coming of the Holy Spirit this is happening but the fact that Peter and John stood strong to declare and to defend and contend for the faith and for the gospel means that the gospel was not silenced and the church could march on the things that we think are irrelevant are unnecessary is building an aspect of the church is helping the church to march on is helping the church to be built they wanted to also nullify the power in the name of
[61:31] Jesus so they wanted to stop the growth of the church because they said don't preach the gospel anymore and then the next thing was to nullify the power in the name of Jesus because that's what had brought that miracle and so if they stopped or gave him meaning that the power and the authority they had received in the name of Jesus was not going of the end of the gospel some people may have a form they might have some gatherings and all of that but it was the gospel that brought transformation and it was the power of the name of Jesus that brought notable miracles and so these were so important the name there will be no salvation outside the name of Jesus so if you stop the preaching of the gospel in the name of every church must guard itself because it can happen to every church and any church that's what we have to be excited about when the scriptures are opened yes as long as the scriptures will be opened and there will be misinterpretation of the scripture the church marches on there is no other name by which men might be saved the
[62:54] Bible says that when you hear his voice in Hebrews chapter 3 verse 15 he said do not harden your hearts we see the hardening of the hearts of the sadducees the high priests and the elders but the Bible encourages us that let's not only focus on our sinful self interest but rather surrender our hearts unto the Lord when we hear his voice amen amen amen hallelujah thank you lord thank you for listening to this message why not visit your local carous church or follow us on all relevant social media platforms including instagram and linkedin you can also hear more messages on all relevant streaming platforms and the carous church app don't forget to like and share the message be blessed going to come to here in the three here you you