Acts (Session 3) Chapters 3-4

okay we are in in the third session of uh our review and last time we were in chapter two with pentecost and peter's first sermon and this time we're going to be exploring the lame man that was healed not just a little event it became a big issue and then peter's second sermon his first sermon i hope you had a chance to analyze it's very revealing is that the changes that are going on in peter's life the second one is even more surprising so let's just jump in chapter 3 verse 1. now peter and john went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour and it's interesting to see peter and john paired up these in these days these early chapters and it's interesting to note that they are mentioned seven times in the book of acts i find myself fascinated with how often seven is the number and that just causes me to infer that these there's more deliberate design going on than we probably are aware and it's interesting to see that john always seems subordinate to peter it's always peter and john and so anyway in verse 2 a certain lame man a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful to ask alms of them that entered into the temple and most of us associate the gate that is called beautiful with the eastern gate sometimes called the golden gate on that side now he obviously was incapable he was laid daily by friends and he was laid there to ask alms of them that entered into the temple that was his life his entire life he was lame from his womb can you imagine that now we're going to find out later that this man was lame for 38 years and we encountered that same thing in john 5. 38 years is a very key number if you're studying your bible because that's the number of years that the generation that wandered in the wilderness wandered we say 40 years as a round number but if you study torah carefully you'll discover specifically it was actually 38 years and we find 38 years again and again being used as a generation when jesus in luke 21 says this generation shall not pass away he's warning him to get out of town and not get caught up in the fall of jerusalem in 70 a.d and he said he made that prophecy 38 years prior to the fall of jerusalem so we find that number free frequent in the in the scripture and again it's evidence of some kind of remis that is a a remiss is a hint of something deeper but anyway this is the contrast we have here the beautiful gate of the temple and the man who came from his mother's womb there's a contrast there now he was there to beg arms he this is the way he lived of course anyway seeing peter and john about to go into the temple he asked for alms and peter fastening his eyes upon him with john said look on us wow okay now this shows that the day after pentecost peter and john still went up to the temple to pray after all that happened yesterday all the believers there in jerusalem were israelites or proselytes and they tended to go they all tend to go to the temple to pray the man is not asking for healing he's asking for alms and it was not the man's faith that healed him he didn't have any reason to look to that anyway he gave them he gave heat unto them expecting to receive something of them and here is one of the most famous verses in the scripture then peter said silver and gold have i none but such as i have give i thee in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk jesus christ of nazareth that appears in the book of acts seven times there it is again that full title jesus christ of nazareth and and he took him by the right hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankles received strength and he leaping up stood and walked and entered with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising god his feet and ankle bones receive strength now the feet the term here in the greek is a medical term implying that they had to be re-socketed it's a very technical term and we shouldn't be surprised by that because luke who is writing this was a doctor by profession luke uses more medical terms in his writings than hippocrates did in his and that it made that comes as a big surprise and so he is obviously his ankles were not functional he'd never walked on them but all of that gets restructured so that he can stand and so forth that's implied in the greek now in john 5 the lame man who was healed the pharisees sought to kill back and we say that in john 16 and 18. later on we find this situation gave rise to an inquiry by the sanhedrin the inquirer never denies the reality of the miracle they couldn't the man is standing right there so there are two ideas embodied in this miracle first one that is the natural continuity of the work of jesus christ in in this case through the holy spirit through peter and john so on the one hand it is continuous it was a continuity of what was started in the gospels the second uh idea is a is a commencement on the one hand it was continuity in other hands at commencement it was the beginning it was the first miracle of the period that we call the church and with the indwelling holy spirit from pentecost onwards so in a gospel sense it's a continuation from the pentecost point of view it's an initiation and so in the name of jesus christ this declaration his authority no there no there's absolutely no evidence in the scripture of faith on the lame man's part he was there seeking alms not healing and peter asserted the authority of jesus christ and he healed him that took boldness didn't it so what does this have to do with you and me the lameness of humanity is the church's opportunity christianity has not come into the presence of the world's woes to give out doles in order to help bear its limitations they came to give men life to put them on their feet and to enable them to do without alms they did not just give them a handout they empowered him they gave him a gift that canceled disability communicated ability and created worship so get to verse 9 and all the people saw him walking and praising god and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him can you imagine this was not a stranger they knew him they saw him there every day now suddenly he's walking and praising god now there are hypo hyper dispensations today who call this another dispensation it's not different at all but it is a period of transition the lord had said that they were to begin at jerusalem they were not to begin by going out to the ends of the earth now the kingdom is being offered to israel again this will be their final opportunity what will some of the identifying marks of the kingdom one is that the lame shall leap in isaiah 35 6 then shall the lame man leap as a heart in the tongue of the dumb saying for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert well let's continue in verse 11 and as the lame man which was healed held peter and john all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called solomon's greatly wondering can you imagine they were astonished of course which gives rise to a second sermon by peter that also has some interesting surprises because peter's sermon was a response to their amazement if they understood history they should have expected this so peter's sermon again is very jewish he is presenting it in the temple of course this first step the very terms of his address are distinctly and uniquely israel in verse 12 and when peter saw it he answered unto the people ye men of israel why marvel yet this and why look ye so earnestly you uh on us as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk see you men of israel he's talking to jews obviously and why wonder he see if strangers were present they should be amazed but not the jews the jews should have expected this and note that he points out this miracle should not be ascribed to them that is peter and john he makes very sure that they don't get the credit and they're not ready to go out and incorporate the you know the peter and john evangelistic group and healing ministry and all that sort of thing and it's not hard to go from here into facetiousness in terms of the kinds of the people that make a a merchandise of healing gifts going on verse 13 the god of abraham and of isaac and of jacob the god of our fathers hath glorified his son jesus whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of pilate when he was determined to let him go in other words pilate was determined to let him go pilate as an administrator did everything he could imagine to get out from under this uh conundrum that he was presented with and so it glorified his son jesus the word actually should be translated his servant and uh pilate tried let jesus go but the crowd being bribed of course wanted barabbas the crowd said of jesus let his blood be on us and our children and then so his blood is on all of us not just the jews it is our sins yours and mine that put jesus on the cross let's not get carried away with that that's that statement is led to try to justify a lot of abuse on the jewish people and that's tragic because it wasn't their sins alone it was our sins that put him on that cross but continue verse 14 but ye denied the holy one and the just and desired a murderer be granted unto you and kill the prince of life whom god has raised from the dead whereof we are witnesses peter uses a strange phrase here and archer goes it's a chief leader of prince the author or originator of life really the one who goes first is part of the thought that's behind that peculiar greek term some peter will never preach a sermon without the mention of the resurrection think about that for a minute peter never made a sermon without the mention of the resurrection and paul won't either unfortunately today there are many sermons preached without any mention of the resurrection and it's the most important fact in our lives now the pharisees were legalists by the way literalists and they to a fault tried to make every detail of the law uh and to make a burden of it if you will they were extremists intensive legal precision the sadducees were the opposite uh they were the modernists or what we might call the liberals they did not believe in the resurrection did not believe in angels did not believe in the supernatural and that's why they're sad you see now it's a pretty terrible you know mnemonic here but it may be helpful because many people get confused which are which the pharisees are the legalists the sadducees were the liberals that's why they're sad you see if you will it's corny but i think it'll help you remember which are which there so during the life of christ his conflict seemed to be in large measure with the pharisees because that was the power ruling the the power ruling bloc at that time later on the book of acts you're going to see the sadducees rise to superior power and they're the ones that are in control as we move forward but the pharisees were in control during the gospel period and in the time shift here between that here and now the primary group were the sadducees in the sanhedrin and they were the ones that got unglued with the display of the supernatural and certainly the healing was a problem but even more was the presentation of jesus christ that he rose from the dead something that they just couldn't handle it went completely contrary to their entire perspective verse 16 and his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong whom ye see and know yea the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all and now brethren i want that through ignorance she did it as did also your rulers so obviously he's uh explain when he says you did it through ignorance what he's actually alluding to is a concept in the torah called the cities of refuge and it deserves a little parenthetical comment here the cities of refuge they had six cities designated that if you somehow killed somebody in what we would call secondary mur murder or manslaughter you didn't intend to but the guy was killed his next of kin the would be the avenger of blood coming after you but if you could get to a city of refuge one of these six cities so designated he couldn't touch you while you're within those city limits if you left that city you were fair game but as long as you remained in the city of refuge that's why they called it that you were safe from the avenger of blood and that situation stayed that way until down in jerusalem the high priest died and once he died everybody was free he could then you could leave the city of refuge and you still were untouchable if you will now it's interesting that that everything in the all these strange little rules in the torah all point to jesus christ because jesus christ is our city of refuge and let me put it this way were the people guilty of first degree or secondary murder from god's point of view was first degree murder he did that by his predetermined counsel but jesus said father they know not what they do makes them manslaughter so they're eligible for the city of refuge their city he is their city of refuge how long does that last until the high priest dies well jesus is our high priest and he died and paid for that and so that means that we're we're free of that that may sound very elliptical as rabbinical reasoning but you suddenly realize in a very real way the cities of refuge anticipate aspects of the lord jesus christ because he is our city of refuge and he was our high priest and he did die so it all fits if you want to explore that but so anyway peter's saying here though they are accountable responsible yet done through ignorance remember what jesus said father forgive them for they know not what they do that makes it a a manslaughter situation and that makes it eligible for the city of refuge situation see the significance behind that remark is that ignorance makes the difference between premeditated murder and manslaughter and for manslaughter the the remnant the remedy is the city of refuge and all of this is in numbers 35 the last half of that chapter let's get back to verse 18 but those things which god before had shown by the mouth of his prophets that christ should suffer he hath so fulfilled repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the lord and repent you therefore the word therefore links this to everything he said to set up to this point it support now what he has to say therefore because of this be converted and so on and he shall send jesus christ which before was preached unto you whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which god hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began now there's a phrase here that wants to catch our attention peter uses a strange ref uh phrase heaven whom the heavens must in other words jesus christ is in heaven whom the heaven must receive until this is one of the until's in the bible it's very instructive to make a catalog of the until because each until is a milestone of sorts until the times of restitution of all things which got spoken by the mouth of this holy prophet since the world began what is the times of restitution of all things very interesting thing this is a phrase that relates to what's called the jubilee year it's a very strange part of the jewish calendar because after seven they had a week of years seven years when you had seven sevens of years the following year was designated a jubilee year during which all debts were forgiven all alienated lands were returned to the original owners and all slaves go free a very unusual law when you sold land you didn't really sell land you sold the use of it for a period of time something we would tend to call a lease but the point is you know that was always designed so at that at the jubilee year it would expire and return to the the owner now there's some problems with the jubilee here this is all described in leviticus 25 and 27 numbers 36. see the concept of a sabbatical year that is a week of years of course is sort of like we call a decade we think of a decade as 10 years well a week of years to them of course was seven years and that's in leviticus 25. many people don't realize that the babylonian captivity where the southern kingdom was sent into captivity in babylon was 70 years because for 70 years they didn't keep the sabbatical years and for foreigner i should say actually for 77 for 490 years israel failed to keep the leviticus 25. so god used nebuchadnezzar as his mechanism of judgment and took them slaves into captivity for the 70 years to the very day by the way to the very day you'll find that in second chronicles 36 21 it's amazing to realize that seven years captivity was organized by god to the day for the days that they cheated him they were supposed to have a uh maintain every you know sabbatical years and for a complete analysis you can look at our study of the our briefing package daniel seven weeks but in leviticus 25 when is a jubilee year you would think the jubilee year would go from the first of the year to the first of the year but something very strange the first problem is the rabbis can't figure out how to the formulas the time of restitution of all things all debtors are forgiven slaves are released from their bondage liberty to all captives and all families are reunited and the land reverts to its original owners that's what happens in the restitution of all things in a jubilee year now they also have the the ram's horn becomes a synonym for the year and this is a special kind of trumpet and that trump is also a major topic in the scripture i'll let you dig that out there is going to be a trumpet which is going to cause some interesting things to occur there is a major commandment upon israel by god that relates to the trumpets but it is a different word the yo bill the jubilee trumpet is the one we're talking about here and the jubilee year starts in the seventh month the ecclesiastical year starts with passover on the 14th of the sun is passover the mosaic feast and the sun is the first month of the religious year the ecclesiastical year and tishrei is the first month of the civil year the sabbatical year would be the first of tishri rosh hashanah it also happens to be the feast of trumpets that's coincidental it's the first of trishari but the civil year starts at rosh hashanah on the sabbatical year after the seventh sabbatical year that is seven times seven plus one is the jubilee year and the jubilee year you would think would begin on the first of tishrei know it begins on the tenth of tishri which is yom kippur and that raises a pro a provocative question why you need to understand that we have in the ecclesiastical year starts at the sun and the civil year nissan is the seventh month of the civil year the first month of the ecclesiastical year and so um you need to understand there's two calendars the civil year that's the genesis calendar the ecclesiastical year that's the exodus get exodus 12 god ordains the son as the time of passover and says you make this the beginning of months so they have two calendars really a civil and a religious one the first of history is rosh hashanah the beginning of the head of the civil year but it's also the seventh month of of the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year which is the feast of trumpets why does the jubilee year start at yom kippur 10 days after the beginning of the year no one knows except it has a special significance the sabbatical year the jubilee year make no sense until the israelites are in the land that is under joshua for a complete study the book of joshua you have to see our explanation we go into this on our commentary there the jubilee year is somehow tied to joshua's conquest of the land and jesus opened his ministry in luke 4 going for my recoding from isaiah 61 first two verses and when you read that notice that jesus stopped at a comma jesus used some examples that the crowd got upset and then he was teaching them on the doctrine of election and each example he uses of course is a gentile it appears that this was about the 29th or 30th jubilee roughly about 1500 years since joshua conquered canaan now we are about to enter apparently the 70th jubilee is this significant prophetically i suspect so but i can't prove it 40 is the number of testing the church has been on the earth approximately 40 jubilee years 70 is the number of fulfillment and jesus opened his ministry at about the 30th jubilee that makes us about the 70th jubilee year and so we can't be sure what year of the jubilee year well the rabbis have lost count as to which jubilee we're at and you'll may see many people make charts of this but none of them agree and as to when the jubilee year is and it gets kind of technical because most of them start to look at 50th years i think it's on a grid of seven so you're look at the 49th and the following year jubilee but it counts as part of the next cycle so as you start playing with that you realize there's several interpretive problems here that no one agrees to so in any case without setting dates we do have the sense that we may be approaching a critical year prophetically and when we do see it i think it'll all be very clear but i wouldn't try to set dates in advance you might take a look at romans chapter 8 and verse 19-22 there's more to redemption than just you and me we talk about a redeemer redeeming us there's more to it than that redemption is what the bible is all about the whole creation was subject to the curse and the bondage of corruption so it is not surprising that god would link a prophetic horizon to the land romans 8 21 says because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption and some people think that refers to the entropy laws that were in introduced in genesis chapter 3 as part of the curse the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of god for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now you talk about the creation itself not just you and me bondage of corruption and we suspect some of us that are interested in physics suspect that may be a result of the curse in genesis 3 that's when the 10 dimensions get partitioned into four that we can experience and six that we can only in directly infer is the curse going to be lifted in the kingdom apparently at least in part verse 22 for moses truly said unto the father say prophet shall the lord your god raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me moses says him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you now peter's describing here he's describing deuteronomy to moses by the way here's another underscore of the torah being of moses and it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people wow and that's exactly what deuteronomy 18 19 and verse 19 deals with yea and all the prophets from samuel and those that follow after as many as have spoken have likewise foretold of these days now samuel was considered the great the first great prophet after moses ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which god made with our fathers saying unto abraham and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed notice all the kingdoms not just the jews in thy seat shall all the kingdoms of earth be blessed the main thrust of peter's sermon is that it is the natural outcome of their history to the extent that they understood the old testament they should not be surprised unto you first god having raised up his son jesus sent him to bless you and turning away every one of you from his iniquities and he shall send jesus christ which was before preached unto you whom the heaven must receive until the times of the restitution of all things which god hath spoken by the mouth of his holy prophets since the world began this is peter delivering the sermon which has overtones that require very very serious study far beyond the scope of this review the times of restitution of all things okay so we've been through chapter three let's move on to chapter four and explore the first persecution and peter's a subsequent address to the sanhedrin so we are in chapter four in verse one and as they spake unto the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the sadducees came upon them pharisees by remember now were the legalists sadducees were the rationalists the modernist they did not believe in the resurrection of course so the pre-resurrection opposition was from the pharisees but the post-resurrection opposition was from the sadducees and paul takes advantage of this later on at this time the power group is the sadducees they were aristocrats the money people they were the modernist they did not believe the supernatural they did not believe in the resurrection they had a strong emphasis on the free will they were more oriented toward ethics rather than theology and they held the pharisees in contempt so you can get the picture here being grieved that they taught the people and preached through jesus the resurrection of the dead that's what they're upset about the savages are particularly upset with the resurrection pharisees were not as upset while they did not want to acknowledge jesus christ as the messiah the whole emphasis on his resurrection was something that the pharisees tended to side with and later you will see paul taking advantage of that he actually skillfully gets the two groups fighting with each other but for the sadducees the idea of the resurrection goes against everything that they believe and they laid hands off them and they put them in hold unto the next day for it was now eventide albeit many of them which had heard the word believed and a number of the men was abide about five thousand man that's a large group of people in any culture now most assume that this five thousand is two thousand on top of the three thousand chapter two which is not bad for a single chapter another two thousand it's interesting that many of the pharisees the legalists did come to faith in jesus however nowhere can i find a record of any single sadducee that is a liberal coming to faith i think that's profound those that are ultra-conservative legalists can can see the reality of what god is doing they understand holiness they understand the the role of the messiah assad a liberal is totally immune to any of those things you see the only sure barrier to truth is the presumption you already have it and we need to remember that we've got to blindfold our own prejudices in that regard moving on to verse five it came to pass on the moral that their rulers and their elders and their scribes and anus the high priest and caiaphas and john and alexander and as many as were of kindred of the high priest were gathered together they got a real crowd here all the heavies are in place here now anas was of the aaronic priesthood but he was deposed by the romans caiaphas was put in his place by the romans so caiaphas had the legal title to be the high priest from the romans but the jews really still honored anus the the what they regard as the real high priest even though he was deposed by the romans so he actually got two guys that are in a sense sharing the chair one officially and one in fact and so they're the guys in charge caiaphas was the acting high priest but a point where he was not of the line of aaron gaffis was in power for the romans but not really accepted by the jews of course anas was still a powerful influence although it's not officially in power so you get the you know the dichotomy here but both of these guys were men that condemned jesus to die and when they had set them in the midst they asked by what power and by what name have ye done this now the sanhedrin in 71 members 24 was a quorum they were following the injunction of deuteronomy 13 if there was a teacher doing miracles the question is is he drawing them towards or against yorivare or jehovah or however you want to pronounce it so they're doing what the law required they were properly inquiring as by what power are they claiming these miracles being done that's the issue at hand before the court in a very official manner they're following deuteronomy 13 in other words check the progress here then peter filled with the holy ghost how can you lose with that huh said unto them ye rulers of the people and elders of israel now he's filled with the holy ghost i want you to notice he was filled he wasn't baptized by the holy spirit this time he'd already done that back in chapter two however he was filled with the holy spirit specifically for this right now i want you to notice the contrast with peter before pentecost previously always had what i like to call foot and mouth disease but now he's well organized and amazingly effective he's what we would say he's on point he's at his having his finest hour here verse 9 if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he is made whole he's he's filled with the holy spirit he's saying the right thing are we on trial for the good deed that we did for the sick man that's the issue here isn't it this is a searching question 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 does this man stand here before you whole wow wow wow wow the uh he really jesus christ of nazareth gives the full title there and that he never mentions that without rubbing their nose and the fact this is the guy you murdered whom ye crucified whom god raised from the dead even by him does this man stand before you whole this is the stone which is it set up not of you builders which has become the head of the corner now he's quoting psalm 118 verse 22 this is the psalm that they sang at the triumphal entry blessed is the king that cometh the name of the lord the halal psalm the one that they sang in the triumphal entry the one that upset the pharisees because they were in so doing declaring him the messiah which indeed he was and he quotes that here rubbing the nose in it again he's highlighting the messianic reference of psalm 118 22. he's pointing out by that this miracle is tying jesus christ and the worship of yodeva or jehovah so he's answering their question back in in in seven verse seven so this is the stone jesus said upon this rock i will build my church back in matthew 16. see now peter's saying this is the stone not me him jesus christ the stone isn't the church it's not simon peter it is the person of jesus christ the lord jesus christ of nazareth what is the rock the rock is christ and paul nails that in first corinthians 10 4. he says the rock that fallen in the wilderness was christ stone rock almost always is used in the scripture cover to cover as an allusion to jesus the messiah if that's so consistent they give it a fancy name the theologians call it the the principle of expositional constancy in exposition no matter who wrote the book or what the conditions are there's a tendency of the idioms to be used in exactly the same manner verse 12 neither is there salvation in any other this is one of your key verses probably your memory verse of the evening neither is there any salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved wow many people regard our view as being awfully narrow we didn't invent it it's right here in the scripture in many many ways but this verse certainly puts a cap on it neither is there a salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved wow make that a memory verse and think it through no other name that's a very key verse there's only one way if there is any other way then jesus's three prayers in gethsemane went unanswered three times he went to the father said if there's any other way let's take it nevertheless not my will but thine be done three times he prayed that if there's any other way for a man to be saved jesus prayer wasn't answered think about that 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 wow wow don't you wish people said that about you when they saw you they would know that you'd spent time with jesus the way you look that way is you spend time with jesus think about it ignorant that reimplies a common or plebeian it's not ignorant sense of dumb it's common in the sense of the street that's really what they're trying to get across here they saw that they had been with jesus that is always the impression that you will yield if you're filled with a spirit so that's your task and beholding the man that was healed standing with him they could say nothing against it they're in a spot they don't accept miracles but there's the guy that everybody knows was lame from birth and he's standing right there with him how do you fight how do you fight those apples a man if you had been healed wouldn't you be standing with him man they never deny the miracle by the way they never deny the resurrection they don't challenge it they can't deny the miracle as the guy standing right there but when they had commanded them to go outside of the council they conferred among themselves saying go not what we call a huddle here what shall we do with these men for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in jerusalem and we cannot deny it but when they had commanded them to go outside from the council they conferred among themselves what shall we do with these men see they can they later consult gamaliel for advice on how to handle it but that has spread no further among the people that is straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in his in this name and they called him and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of jesus this is your first institution what we call today political correctness don't tell the truth by any means but peter and john answered and said to them whether it be right in the sight of god to hearken unto you more than unto god judge ye for we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard so when they had further threatened them they let them go finding nothing how they might punish them because of the people for all men glorified god for that which was done so they had the pressure of the crowd on their side for the man was above 40 years old on whom this miracle of healing was shown 40 years he was lame and now he's walking think about that and being let go they went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said unto them and when they had heard that they lifted up their voice to god with one accord and said lord thou art god which has made heaven and earth and sea and all that in them is lord absolute ruler final sovereignty it's a prayer meeting of praise we're listening to here has made heaven and earth that's a different opening than they usually did i wonder why they're emphasizing the very themes that the sadducees deny when they heard that they lifted up their voice to god in one accord said lord thou art god which has made heaven and earth and sea and all that in them is god's number one jealousy is his role as creator and he pronounces specific judgments against cultures and nations that fail to acknowledge him as creator and that's you'll find that in romans the last half of chapter one see the sadducees are materialists they are challenged by the rationalists you know it fascinates me to discover that people who chase materialism and finally realize it's bankrupt the only alternative left to them is to go to mysticism and they take up mystery religions and all that kind of foolishness it's amazing what they reject it's even more more amazing what they accept subsequently anyway the saudis have put their faith in the in the material world so these are praying to god who made the very material world that the sadducees relied upon they continue who by the mouth of thy servant david has said why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things that's psalm 2 probably one of the most provocative psalms in the whole package psalm 2. we'll take a look at that here in psalm 2 the trinity is having a trial log among themselves there are several people speaking uh in verse three the world is speaking we have no king but caesar in effect in verses four through six it's the father speaking in verse seven through nine it's the son responding to that and verses 10 to 12 it's the holy spirit speaking i encourage you to study carefully psalm 2 and really glean from it voice of the nations is chapter 2 1-3 voice of the father verses 4-6 voice of the son through nine voices of the spirit 10 through 12. that's my analysis you might have a different one take a look at it yourself why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the lord and against his anointed aha let us break their bans asunder cast away their courts from us that's the boast of the world trying to shed the cords of god himself and the anointed here of course means the messiah that's what is in hebrew in greek it's christos in english it's christ now when did all this begin verse 24 and when they heard that they lifted up their voice to god with one accord and said lord thou art god thou has made heaven and earth and sea and all that is who by the mouth of thy servant david has said why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain things and so here we are in the fourth chapter of the book of acts when persecution breaks out against the church we're told the apostles peter and john after they've been threatened returned back to the church to give the report and this is the response the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the lord against his christ for a truth against the holy child jesus whom thou has anointed both herod and pontius pilate and the gentiles and the people of israel were gathered together and so this is uh this is the movement beginning when pilate joined up with the religious leader rulers and herod in order to put jesus to death this is a movement against god and christ and is heading for a climax okay now what band what chords are why they where the heathen rage and so forth because they want to break their bands asunder and cast their cords away from us okay let's take a look at this what are we talking about then what bands or chords we're talking about marriage for one that was something god instituted in genesis chapter 2 and 3. and marriage and heterosexuality god ordained that's god's order the modern world is that against trying to undo the reality and the and the bonds of marriage the cords of marriage and also the whole concept of heterosexuality that's god's appointed uh pattern and the ten commandments are the cords and bands that have bound us together the rule of law itself one of the titles of the antichrist is the he's the lawless one the only thing worse than breaking a law is not to have any in the rule of law we take that so for granted in our modern culture and yet it's a very precious thing to preserve so and each one of these things are bans or courts of the modern world so the voice of nations okay and uh we have these um psalm 2 we're going to move down to the voice of the father and he says he said he that sitteth on the h he saith in the heavens shall laugh the lord shall have them in derision then he shall speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sword displeasure yet have i set my king upon my holy hill of zion wow the king will be set on the hill of zion and this is another refutation by the way of amillennialism here it is in psalm 2. zion is a literal place on the planet earth okay he says i have in isaiah 45 god boasts here very interestingly god says i have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth i said not unto the seed of jacob seek me in vain i the lord speak righteousness i declare things that are right assemble yourselves and come dry draw near together ye that escaped of the nations they have no knowledge that set up wood of their graven image and pray unto a god that cannot save you look and tell ye and bring them near yea let them take counsel together who hath declared this from ancient time who hath told it from that time have not i the lord and there is no god else beside me a just god and a savior there is none beside me look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth for i am god and there is none else and and a savior praise his holy name for that continue i have sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return that unto me every knee shall bow every tongue shall swear surely one shall say in the lord have i righteousness and strength even to him that men shall men come and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed in the lord shall all seed of israel be justified and shall glory to me unto me every knee shall bow that's where that phrase comes from isaiah 45. now in philippians 2 we have the famous kenosis there let this mind be in you which is also in christ jesus who being the form of god thought it not a thing to be grasped to be equal with god but made of himself no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant was made in the likeness of men and being found in the fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross wherefore god also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of jesus every knee shall bow of things in heaven things in earth even things under the earth and every tongue that shall confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father there again in the name of jesus every knee should bow we find these same phrases echoing through both old and new testament and so here we are and now we'll take a look at the sun here in back in time 2 7 i will declare the decree the son speaking the lord has said unto me thou art my son this day have i begotten thee i the ask of me and i shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession and thou shalt break them with a rod of iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel it's amazing how this command from the father to the son echoes out through the scripture the word of god thou shalt break them with a rod of iron well that's quite a graphic idiom there a rod of iron let's take a look at this in revelation 2 27 he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall be broken to shivers even as i received or my father wow and and we find that in revelation uh it goes from there then to revelation 12 5 and she brought forth a man-child who was to rule all the nations with a rod of iron there it is again in revelation 12. and her child was caught up to god and to his throne okay revelation 19 out of his mouth go with a sharp sword with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron there it is again and he credit the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of mighty god and he hath on his vesture on his thigh and name written king of kings and lord of lords boy you know there's nothing casual nothing soft nothing ameliorating this is this is hard hitting stuff by the lord himself he ruled with a rod of iron okay let the final the psalm 2 wraps up with the holy spirit giving us some instruction here be wise now therefore all your kings be instructed he judges of the earth serve the lord with fear and rejoice with trembling kiss the son lest he be angry and he perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but little blessed are all they that put their trust in him and so this is a voice of the spirit now we saw the mind here in verse 10 be wise be instructed in psalm 1 it says the council of the godly has led the ungodly astray in first corinthians 1 the wisdom of the world is foolishness with god there's a whole passage on that you can take a look at it but in addition to the mind we have the heart in verse 11. and we serve him and then they will in verse 12 which is kiss the sun and so forth all these these are echoes if you will from psalm 2 and be reconciled to the world by the cross he's saying and look for righteousness and peace and whosoever shall call upon the norm shall be saved and that's the wrap up in verse in chapter 21 in all in psalm 2. okay the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the lord against his christ as an echo of that for a truth against the holy child jesus whom thou hast anointed both herod and pontius pilate with the gentiles and the people of israel were gathered together see he's echoing peter's echoing here psalm 2 if you will and holy child jesus now the word there shouldn't be child it really should be servant it's a mistranslation really and herod of course is the hebrew authority pilots the roman authority the gentiles of the nations so he has the world there in his horizon here and israel of course are all there so you got the whole the whole perspective for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done whatever was decided was determined before to be done the crucifixion of christ did not surprise god it was ordained before the creation of adam understand all of this is a plan that the father and the son put together before the creation of the world and their prayer here is based on the sovereignty of god the wisdom of god the active government of god and they're conscious of the danger but they take it and they give it to god so they're they're you know that that's a thing we should really realize that god is in control and i say that because we may be facing some huge turbulence of all kinds economic and political and what have you on our own horizons let's us remember that god is in control and that he loves us more than we can imagine and he has called us to a witness and we know not what that may include but that's our challenge is to be responsive to that to be conscious of the danger but take it and give it to god and now lord behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word by stretching forth a hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy servant jesus and there again we have a a translational nuance there he actually should be servant not holy child and when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the holy ghost wow and they spake the word of god with boldness well that's a sign of the holy spirit boldness and when you're filled with the spirit you can be bold and when you're filled with the spirit you'll say the right thing and when you're filled with the spirit you are in the center of his palm boldness the sign is a sign you say how can you tell if you're unfilled by the spirit that's one way by boldness and and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul neither said any of them that ought of the things which had he possessed was his own but they had all things in common now they weren't of one heart because they had things in common don't get that backwards they put things in common because that was their heart that was voluntary that's the way they felt about it they were of one heart and one soul and uh none of them felt that what was their own was their own they all put that in common and we need to understand that this is an intimate totally unified atmosphere before one undertakes these pooling of belongings you have to note that they were already prior that very intimate the other was an outcome not a cause but you will find strangely that this will cause some problems later because we're still fighting with our flesh and that's what romans chapter 7 is all about you can't cash out the you can't cast out the flesh we need to understand that because we're going to find there's some problems later and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the lord jesus and great grace was upon them all this intimacy did bear fruit they were one mind and one soul they were so effective not because they pulled their goods but because they were that unified as a powerful fellowship the fellowship that get the attention here voluntary sharing among believers now this might be a cause of subsequent poverty in the church of jerusalem one of the things you stand back you realize that in the church in jerusalem ends up becoming the sick man of the of the gang so to speak because for years they're the ones that are on the dole from every place else they're having real really serious economic problems in jerusalem downstream another example of this policy was ananias and sapphira that we're going to encounter be careful of compulsion rules of regulation but rather selfless koinonia being the fiduciary being being putting other people's needs ahead of our own that's what kona nia means that's what being a fiduciary means it doesn't mean some form of socialism some form of communism it means sharing among a fellowship of intimacy but it continues in verse 34 neither was any among them that lacked for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the apostles feet and distribution was made to every man according as he had need and joseph that's joseph barnes joseph who by the apostle surname barnabas which being interpreted the son of consolation uh no not we'll get into that uh a levite on the country of cyprus having land sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet now joseph barnabas his property was in cyprus it was premium land he put the proceeds of the sale in jerusalem which was in deep trouble because the city was about to be judged we need to be sensitive to that god's hand of judgment was against the city he was the brother of mary the wealthy mother of john mark so he probably is mark's uncle we're going to have a lot of dialogue about john mark company called mark because he and paul have a problem and barnabas tries to even has a big fight with over all of this and many years later mark gets that repaired but the point is there will be some consternation there going on between barnabas mark and paul and so the word nobis means consolation so barnabas is the son of consolation or he's a paraclete or a help or an aid and so we've now been introduced to barnabas very briefly here but we will hear a lot of him more of him later he's a strong guy positive guy so not bad here so here we are um we have looked at ananias and sapphira uh we're actually going ahead for ananias the fire and the second persecution the first deacons and the third persecution in the next session so we've been through chapter 3 and 4 this time we're going to go through chapter 5 and 6 in our next session so let's bow our hearts for a word of prayer

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Length: 55min 14sec (3314 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020