Agape Methodist Church By the Name of Jesus 3rd April, 2011
Written By Rev Law Hui Seng
Posted By Teresa Han
Acts 4:1-22
Main Idea: To serve God by the name of Jesus.
Objective: To teach that we need to be filled by the Holy Spirit to serve in Christ’s name
A. Introduction
- When a traffic police stands right in the middle of the road and starts to direct the traffic with his hand signals will the public and the drivers follow the instructions? Yes. Why? It is because he is trusted with authority by the government to do it. The authority is given to them by the law of the country. All that the traffic police need to do is to exercise the authority.
- When you serve in the church as Local Church Executive Committee (LCEC) leaders; you serve in your family as husbands, wives, parents and children; in your small group as leaders and members; in Sunday School as teachers; in Methodist Junior Youth Fellowship as Committee members; in your companies, as you serve your clients or when you do business, etc, by what authority you serve God? By what authority you do it?
- For the church ministries, some of us may say, by the authority of the scripture, election, appointment by pastor or LCEC or you volunteer to do it, etc. At home, by the authority of the scripture, husband loves the wife, wife submits to the husband, parents nurture their children, children honours and obey their parents. For our career and working in office, we say it is by the authority of company rules, law of the country, etc. You acted based on these authorities, all of them, by themselves, are not wrong.
- After today, you must challenge yourself to add in the dimension of the authority by Jesus name when you serve God and people. You will understand the whole world of difference when you serve God and people by the name of Jesus as you see how the early apostles did it in the book of Acts and all the more the passage today.
B. Explanation of the text
- Even in chapter 3 verses 12 and 16, Apostle Peter said to the Israelites who were astonished that they did not heal the crippled beggar by their own power or godliness, it was done in Jesus’ name and the faith that came through him that had given complete healing to the beggar (cripple).
- After the healing event, it caused quite a stir in the town. Apostles Peter and John went on to preach all over the places about the death and resurrection of Jesus with all the excitement because they had seen with their own eyes how He resurrected. Their preaching was so powerful that the number of men (not including women and children yet) who came to follow Jesus grew to 5,000 (verse 4), an alarming figure by any standard in those days. Probably a lot of Jews were switching over to follow Christ, and the Jewish high ranking religious leadership like the priests, Sadduccees (not believe in the resurrection of the dead), elders and teachers of the law must have felt the threat of Jesus’ followers to their religion of Judaism and might be even their positions.
- The 3 groups (rulers, elders and the teachers of the law) made up the Sanhedrin, Israel’s Supreme Court.
- The next day, they managed to bring both Apostle Peter and Apostle John before the high priest to be questioned. You can imagine by now the burning question they wanted to ask. They were so mad by the preaching and healing as they caused great impact among the Israelites and the society in Jerusalem.
- So, they asked in verse 7, “By what power or what name did you do this?” The Jewish religious leaders really wanted to know by what authority the apostles did the healing especially.
- In verses 8 and 10, it says Peter was filled by the Holy Spirit, with courage, I believe without fear, he answered straight into the face of these high ranking Jewish religious leaders, it was by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom they had crucified but God raised Him from death, it was Jesus who healed the crippled beggar. Peter was so full of courage (as he was filled by the Holy Spirit) that he even dared to blame the religious leaders for the death of Jesus!
- Brothers and sisters, you understand the difference the Holy Spirit made to Apostle Peter and Apostle John. They were so courageous that even the whole of Sanhedrin noticed it because they were unschooled, ordinary men; they were not trained in the rabbinic school (verses 13). Yet they were able to demonstrate some authority and power of Jesus.
- The Sanhedrin was astonished by the courage shown by the two of them. They took note they were with Jesus before and they could not deny the powerful work of healing by them as this person was over 40 years old (verse 22). Normally, healing at such an advanced age at that time did not take place. The miracle was simply outstanding and they could not deny it. Everybody in Jerusalem knew it (verse 16).
- What makes the difference? The 2 apostles were filled by the Holy Spirit.
- The Sanhedrin could not punish them for the miracle but at the same time, they were very worried that the teaching on the resurrection of Jesus and in His name would influence more people. Therefore, they warned them not to teach in the authority of the name of Jesus anymore. You see, even the Sanhedrin knew very well it was the name of Jesus that carried the weight!
- Brothers and sisters, in serving God, in ministry, you need to do it in Jesus’ name, there is divine power, sacred power in Jesus’ name. Do not miss this key point of the passage today.
- Now, despite the warning, because Peter and John were filled by the Holy Spirit, they were not silenced by the so called authoritative religious figures. In fact, they even became more daring and courageous. They replied to the Sanhedrin in a form of challenge in verses 19 and 20 which you and I need to take up, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
- Based on a counter challenge to the so called Jewish religious authority which governed all Israelites’ religious life, now, Peter and John were no more abide by it, they, in fact, drop it and take on a new authority in the name of Jesus to continue to heal the sick, do deliverance, teach resurrection of Jesus and to set the captives free. This is a complete 100% paradigm shift in terms of the authority for what they are doing.
- The Sanhedrin still gave further threats and they could not punish them because lots of people in Jerusalem were very excited about Jesus and praising God for the great miracle. Then Peter and John were released.
C. Applications
- Do you see the relevance of this passage with your life and ministry? In the beginning I say,” You will understand the whole world of difference when you serve God and people by the name of Jesus as you see how the early apostles did it in the book of Acts and all the more the passage today.”
- The word of God, which I preach to you today, is not only for your ears to hear only; for information and knowledge only; it is very much for your life transformation. You must ask yourself what the passage requires you to do after the service. What changes in thinking, attitude, actions, motives, purposes of your life, convictions, values, etc, you need to take? What sin to repent from? Most important of all, you need to ask yourself, what is the big deal about serving God (Jesus) by the name of Jesus Christ? What do I lose if the authority of Jesus’ name is missing in my life and ministry?
- By now, you should be awakened in your soul that serving in any way in church, at home and at work and in the society in any capacity, without the authority of Jesus’ name, you definitely have no power to overcome all the odds, temptations to lie, to be a hypocrite, to commit adultery, to watch pornography, to curse, to hate, to be jealous, to look down on others, to betray, etc. By our nature, we give all the excuses to fall into the temptations and sin, however, when we are filled by the Holy Spirit, we have all the power, the divine power, Jesus power, the sacred power to overcome temptations and fight against all the odds.
- If you still do not get my message of the importance and meaning of the name of Jesus, the big deal about Jesus’ name, the authority of Jesus’ name, please imagine with me this illustration, I beg you. Do not miss this point!
- Some people curse people when they have been offended, hurt, trespassed, denied certain interest, physical hurt caused, pains caused, misunderstanding, shamed suffered, etc. Have you ever cursed someone before in your heart or with your mouth? What is your thinking, attitude, hope and wish, your greatest heart desire about your opponent? You desire with your greatest strength, hope, wish, expectation, with the strongest determination, power, you desire that person dead in the worst scenario, he suffers like you suffer, hurt as much as you do and may be even more, he will fail in his business, marriage, his children will be knocked by cars, you desire with your strongest desire all the bad and evil things that will happen. You can imagine all the negative things and thoughts that will happen to your opponents.
- In fact, when you curse, you are calling on the authority of the devil, you are appealing to the devil to come and ‘bestow’ evil things on that person. In other words, you act in the power, authority, and the name of the devil to influence your opponent.
- Now, in the name of Jesus, in the authority of the name of Jesus I preach to you, do not curse, do not hate, do not sin against others, but use all your heart desire like your heart desire to curse or to hate someone and convert it and ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, to be empowered by the Jesus Spirit to love, to care, heal, to forgive, to show understanding, to reconcile, to nurture, to help, to counsel, etc, by the name of Jesus. Serve God in the name of Jesus.
D. Your action
- Can you now serve God in the LCEC, as Sunday School teachers, MJYF committee members, children, parents and husbands and children, your clients, colleagues, etc by the name of Jesus?
- At times, out of frustration and anger, my sinful desire appeared and I wanted to say something to hurt my wife. I wanted to give her a good scolding for all the mistakes. When my sinful nature is operating, I always thought it was her faults, not my faults at all, etc. However, in those critical times, most of the times, I had victory over the devil, because I did not end up calling on the power of the devil to influence my wife. On the other hand, I call on the name of Jesus and I always say in my heart I want to love her, understand her, forgive her, help her, and overlook her mistakes, by the name of Jesus. Sometimes, I even say sorry to my wife. When you go home, will you do that to your family members? Not based on Pastor Law’s authority, but Jesus’ authority. He desires you to do it. Start today, now, later, in the car, over the meal tables, etc.
- When you serve in the church, you do it by the name of Jesus, your heart desire, expectations, goals, will be all motivated by Jesus, your brothers and sisters in church and even non-Christians who are your clients, they will feel that you are very different? Why they feel that way, because they are affected by the power coming out of your life to them when you serve by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
- Today, when you leave the church, will you have this new conviction to do it on everybody whom you are in contact? Will you say Amen to it?
E. Conclusion
- In life, you have so many things to do, you need to major on important things, and living a life on earth by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is something you cannot afford to miss.
- It must be underlying everything you do; the bottom for everything you do; the motive for everything you do. Do it and see if there is anything wonderful that happens in your life and others’ life. I bet when you get it, you will want more and more of Jesus Christ.
Questions for Small Group Discussion
1. Discuss what are the implications of serving God by the name of Jesus Christ? Share your practical experience.
2. What difficulties, temptations and struggles you normally encounter when you desire to serve God in Jesus’ name? How do you normally overcome? How do we overcome it as a faith community?
3. After tonight’s bible studies based on Acts 4:1-22, what change or action you want to take to help you to serve Christ by His name?
