Well, that's certainly one of those great hymns
of affirmation, isn't it? You know, there are
just some things which are inevitable. Among
those are said to be death and taxes. I came
across a little poem here recently that expresses
how some of us feel and our frustration about
taxes in particular. It goes like this. Tax his
cow. Tax his goat. Tax his pants. Tax his coat.
Tax his crops. Tax his work. Tax his tie. Tax
his shirt. Tax his chew. Tax his smoke. Teach
him taxes are no joke. Tax his tractor. Tax his
mule. Teach him taxes are a rule. Tax his oil.
Tax his gas. Tax his notes. Tax his cash. Tax
him good and let him know. After taxes he has
no dough. If he hollers, tax him more. Tax him
till he's good and sore. Tax his coffin. Tax
his grave. Tax the sod in which he lays. Put
these words upon his tomb. Taxes drove me to
my doom. After he's gone, he can't relax. They'll
still be after the inheritance tax. Even more
sure than death and taxes, however, is the fact
that when the Lord's work prospers, The enemy,
Satan, will be active in his opposition. He will
challenge every step of progress. He will seek
to neutralize every believer and every church.
Our text today illustrates that. This is the
first opposition which the Church in Jerusalem
experienced, the first of five in its first 11
years. You will notice that it came not from
the pagans, nor from the Roman government, but
from religious people, the religious liberals
of that day in Judaism called the Sadducees.
As they were speaking to the people, the priests
and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees
came upon them, them as you recall being Peter
and John as they preached to the multitude that
had gathered because of the miracle that had
been performed. Well these people came upon them
being greatly disturbed because they were teaching
the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection
from the dead and they laid hands on them and
put them in jail until the next day, for it was
already evening. But many of those who had heard
the message believed, and the number of the men
came to about 5 ,000. It came about on the next
day that their rulers and elders and scribes
were gathered together in Jerusalem, and Annas
the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, and
John, and Alexander, and all who were of high
priestly descent. And when they had placed them
in the center, they began to inquire, by what
power or in what name have you done this? Then
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
rulers and elders of the people, if we are on
trial today for a benefit done to a sick man
as to how this man has been made well, let it
be known to all of you and to all the people
of Israel. That by the name of Jesus Christ the
Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, by this name this man stands here
before you in good health. He is the stone which
was rejected by you, the builders, but which
became the very cornerstone. And there is salvation
in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven that has been given among men. by which
we must be saved." Now, as they observed the
confidence of Peter and John and understood that
they were uneducated and untrained men, they
were marveling and began to recognize them as
having been with Jesus. And seeing the man who
had been healed standing with them, they had
nothing to say and reply. But when they had ordered
them to go outside, out of the council, they
began to confer with one another, saying, what
shall we do with these men? For the fact that
a noteworthy miracle has taken place through
them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem,
and we cannot deny it. But in order that it may
not spread any further among the people, let
us warn them to speak no more to any man in this
name. And when they had summoned them, they commanded
them not to speak or teach at all in the name
of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said
to them, Whether it is right in the sight of
God to give heed to you rather than to God, you
be the judge. For we cannot stop speaking what
we have seen and heard. When they had threatened
them further, they let them go, finding no basis
on which they might punish them. On account of
the people, because they were all glorifying
God for what had happened. For the man was more
than forty years old on whom this miracle of
healing had been performed. A whole generation
of people. had seen this man at the temple. He
was a permanent fixture there up to this day.
As the situation develops in chapter 4, the trial,
which was to hear the case against Peter and
John, was actually reversed so that the people
who were on trial in reality, were the religious
leaders of that day. Religion was placed on trial
by authentic Christianity as being represented
by Peter and John. Religion and authentic Christianity
are foes to the death. The two are in absolute
contrast to one another. Religion, on the one
hand, is man -initiated. It is man's attempt
to reach to God. Authentic Christianity is God
-initiated. It is God reaching down to man to
save him. Religion is works -oriented. It teaches
that in order to get to heaven or to please God,
one must work. Authentic Christianity is faith
-oriented. It says that the only way that we
can please God is by receiving by faith the provision
that God has made for our sins. Religion is institutional
-centered. That is, it has an emphasis on traditions,
on structure. and rules which promote fear and
bondage in its adherents. Authentic Christianity
is life -centered. It is spontaneous. It is life
-giving and liberating in the soul. Some of you
who have come out of religious backgrounds know
the contrast that I'm talking about. Yesterday
I sat down and read 16 testimonies of new members
coming into our church. I can bring a number
of them before you this morning and illustrate
the contrast that I have just given to you between
religion and authentic Christianity. Religion
opposes biblical authentic Christianity. The
three phases of the incident in our text illustrate
this fact that religion opposes authentic Christianity.
There are three actions indeed which religion
takes in our text against authentic Christianity.
And we will see that those actions are still
taken today by religion as it opposes the work
of God. The first phase of the incident is the
arrest, verses one through four. And what we
observe here is that religion seeks to limit.
It seeks to limit authentic Christianity. For
decades, let me illustrate that in our society
today, for decades religion has dominated the
media and has had the arena of politics pretty
much to itself. For the last five years something
amazing has taken place. in a new wave of conservatism
in our nation, which is being led in part and
populated to a great extent by evangelicals,
by those who are what I would call authentic
Christians. Now there's an amazing thing that
has taken place. Suddenly we are hearing a phrase
called the separation of church and state. That
has never been a concern to the media. or to
politicians up until authentic Christianity began
to be involved in the political arena. And I'm
not defending everything that is done in the
name of conservatism or even Christianity in
the political arena today, but what I'm simply
illustrating is the fact that when authentic
biblical Christians began to be involved in the
process of law, Then there was great alarm, especially
by religionists, regarding what was taking place.
Lawsuits have been established to limit authentic
Christianity's influence in our society. And
so what happened back then is still happening
today. religion seeks to limit or contain authentic
Christianity so that it cannot spread its influence.
It essentially says, you stay in your little
box and don't come out. That is what happened
exactly in verses one through four. The arrest
was occasioned by the large assembly listening
to Peter deliver his sermon. The instigators
of the arrest are listed for us. They were the
priests. The priests were the Levites, the descendants
of Aaron. These priests as a whole were divided
into 24 groups or courses, and they served in
the temple a week in rotating order. So the priests
that are mentioned here are the priests who were
on duty that particular week. They were accompanied
by the captain of the temple guard. The Greek
word is the stratigos. We get our word strategy
from that word. This captain was the head of
the Levitical police force. He was the police
chief in the temple area. He was responsible
for the order within that temple area. The Romans
allowed the Jews to have their own police force
in that limited geographical area around the
temple. It was a compromise for them. This man,
the strategos, was the second in command after
the high priest in the temple area. And then
there are the real instigators listed, the Sadducees.
The Sadducees were one of the prominent religious
parties of that time. They were fewer in number
than the Pharisees. but they were more powerful
than the Pharisees. They were the liberals theologically,
as I'll illustrate in a few moments. They were
more powerful than the Pharisees because the
high priest was a member of their party and because
though they were fewer in total number in the
religious parties, they had the majority on the
Sanhedrin, the ruling council. The Sadducees
were the aristocratic, wealthy, and influential
members of Jewish society. And their main desire
was to keep the status quo so that they could
protect their own power and position. And certainly
what these men were proclaiming threatened them.
For you see, the Sadducees rejected anything
supernatural. They were Jews, but they did not
believe in angels or in judgment or rewards.
They denied any kind of a bodily resurrection,
and they essentially believed that man is the
master of his own fate. That was the theological
statement. of the Sadducees. So you can see why
they were sad, you see. They did not have the
truth. And so when they came upon this scene,
and here were two men proclaiming Jesus, whom
they had put to death, and the resurrection,
which they denied, they were very upset. This
led to jailing overnight because the law forbade
a trial to be held. during the nighttime hours.
Of course, that didn't stop them when it came
to Jesus, but it did stop them on this occasion.
Despite the fact that men were arrested and put
into some confining area in the temple called
a jail, there were many who heard their message
and who believed. Luke records for us for the
last time a number. He says there were about
5 ,000 men. who believed. In other words, there
were probably some women and younger people who
may have believed as well. But in typical Jewish
fashion, they counted the men. There were about
5 ,000. Probably, that means that there were
a total of 5 ,000 believers in Jerusalem. And
not that 5 ,000 believed on this particular occasion.
There were 3 ,000 who believed on the day of
Pentecost. And so what Luke is saying most probably
is that now by this time when this incident took
place, there were a total of 5 ,000 men who believed
in Jesus as the Christ. That brings a paradox
to mind, doesn't it? That at a time when persecution
begins, there's another quantum leap in the number
of believers. It is interesting that when there
is persecution, It is often the very means by
which God extends His work among men. As Paul
writes, the Word of God is not bound. So although
governments and individuals may try to persecute
and limit influence of Christianity, that very
persecution is but the means by which it spreads.
This brings to mind a question though as we look
at this number. The question is, how did the
church deal with such growth? Obviously, the
organization was not as developed as most churches
are today. But nonetheless, how did they deal
with a growth to 5 ,000 men plus others in a
matter of a few weeks? This rapid growth created
stress and eventually some dissension, as we'll
see in chapter 6. That dissension, by the way,
forced the apostles to delegate certain matters
to three men, we believe were the prototype of
deacons, so that they, the apostles, could retain
their proper priorities of teaching the word
and prayer. It seems to me the only way they
could have dealt with 5 ,000 converts was to
have a dynamic body life taking place. They had
to minister to one another. That's the only way
it could have happened. Twelve apostles could
not possibly meet the needs of 5 ,000 new believers.
In our Western culture, There is developed a
concept of ministry involving a couple of things,
involving in the first place the hiring of professionals
to do the ministry. We hire staff people, according
to the philosophy of some, in order to do the
work of ministry. The problem with that is that
it robs the people of God. of their opportunity
for ministry. And accompanying that idea is the
expecting of the pastor of a church to be a jack
of all trades, so to speak, who does everything,
knows everything, and is everything. In the typical
church, the pastor is expected to study 40 hours
a week in order to preach. He is expected to
spend every afternoon, in addition, in visitation.
But then he is to stay by the telephone to answer
all emergency calls. He is expected to pray several
hours daily and to spend time with his family,
of course. Then he is to attend all committee
meetings, participate in all of the local clergy
fellowships, be available to counsel whenever
anybody has a need. and be willing to socialize
in a game of golf, but of course not to win,
else it looks like he spends too much time golfing.
And so is the predicament of the average pastor.
And I have talked to dear friends of mine who
are caught in traps of this in the churches where
they minister. I want to state, we've stated
this before, but I want to say it again today
that As a church, we are committed to a philosophy
of ministry which hopefully is a little closer
to the New Testament example than what I've just
described. I believe it's this, that every person
who is a member of our church is given gifts
by the Spirit of God and is called in some way
to minister those gifts. It may be within our
church, it may be in the community around us.
It may be in another part of the world. But every
one of us is a part of the ministry. Now that
is essentially different than that which is usually
described as ministry today in churches. All
of us are ministers. The staff of a church then
is hired to equip the saints. Ephesians 4, to
equip the saints to do the work of the ministry
so that the body then is built up. The staff
is not hired to do the ministry for our people.
Our staff is here to assist you and to equip
you, to help you, to develop your spiritual gifts,
and to encourage you to be involved in some vital
ministry to which God would call you. You say,
well how many staff does it take to do that?
Fewer than it takes if the staff is expected
to do all the work of the ministry. Some church
growth people say that it takes about one staff
member to every 150 active attenders in a church
in order for that body to be equipped and prepared
for growth. In our philosophy of ministry, each
staff person has an area of responsibility. No
one of us is a jack of all trades and able to
do it all. But rather we are called by God to
specialize in certain areas where we are gifted
so that we then can equip you and help to oversee
the ministry. of the church, which is all of
us. It seems to me that the situation in Jerusalem
required a similar philosophy of ministry, a
dynamic interdependence of the people upon each
other, a member -to -member caring ministry.
It is certain that the apostles did the teaching
and the praying. Not all the praying for the
people but they led in the praying of the church
the teaching and the praying were their priorities
and the other things were left among the people
to do to minister among themselves as the Spirit
of God has enabled and equipped And so an answer
the question how did the early church deal with
such rapid growth? It was because every person
in the church was involved in ministry every
person. I hope that helps you understand how
we function here a little bit and what we expect
of the congregation who's a part of Grace Church
Roseville. Now let's move ahead in our text to
the second phase of this incident. It is the
trial in verses 5 to 14. In the first phase,
we saw that religion seeks to limit authentic
Christianity. It threw the apostles into jail.
to stop them preaching. Now in the trial, we
see a second action of religion against biblical
Christianity, and it is this. Religion seeks
to discredit authentic Christianity. That can
be illustrated today in a number of ways, but
as an example, consider the subtle ridicule of
such terms as fundamentalist by religion. and
the media in our day. The term fundamentalist
has historically been a very accurate, clear
term describing those who are committed to certain
fundamentals of the faith. These fundamentals
were delineated in the early part of this century
by such men as W .B. Riley, who pastored in the
First Baptist Church in Minneapolis. and R .A.
Torrey, who likewise pastored in Minneapolis
for a time. The fundamentalists were the descendants
of those who brought together in a written form
in several volumes what were called the fundamentals
of the faith. But today we see that term being
applied to every weird duck under the sun. Any
strange thing that comes along is labeled fundamentalist
by the media and by religion, and the purpose
of that is to subtly ridicule and to mock those
who believe in the fundamentals of the faith.
There is the questioning, even the denying, of
such fundamental doctrines as the inerrancy of
Scripture in all that it says, resulting in diminishing
of the authority of the Bible. Now those kinds
of things are happening all around us. And what
is it? It is simply the work of religion seeking
to discredit authentic Christianity. That's what
it is, discrediting, undermining it in some subtle
way. Can you think of a talk show host? who's
now in New York, the one in my mind, who says
when he has an authentic Christian on the witness
stand there, now come, Reverend, so -and -so,
do you really believe? Right? Now, is he simply
asking a question there? No. No, you see he is
subtly ridiculing. He is subtly seeking to discredit
what the person believes. Now, notice that's
what religion did with the apostles when they
were on trial. The trial was carried out before
the Jewish ruling council, which was called the
Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was composed of 70 men
plus the high priest. The high priest acted as
the president. of the council. And it might be
interesting for you to know that the high priest
at this time was no longer an hereditary office.
It was a political office. And to gain the office,
one usually became involved in bribery, intrigue,
and corruption. Josephus says that between the
years 27 BC and 67 AD, about 100 years, There
were 28 individual high priests. And it's interesting
to note that all but six of those came from just
four families. And so it was the kind of an office
that was heavily dominated by certain powerful,
influential, wealthy Sadducees. Now the Sanhedrin
met in what was called the Hall of Hewn Stone.
This kind of picture is what it was like. And
it was deep within the temple complex. The Sanhedrin
met in a semicircle fashion with the president,
the high priest, being at the center. The Sanhedrin
was composed of the people who are mentioned
in our text, the rulers, the elders, and the
scribes. The rulers refers to the chief priests
or the leaders. of those 24 groups or courses,
divisions, that is, of the priesthood. There
were the elders. The elders were the family heads
of the people. And then there were scribes. The
scribes were the attorneys, so to speak. They
were the experts in the Mosaic Law. And it was
in this group, primarily, that the Pharisees
were populated. On this occasion of the hearing,
Annas was there. Annas is actually the former
high priest at this time, although he retained
the title, which was customary. So Luke is not
incorrect in saying that. Annas was high priest
from 6 A .D. until 15 A .D. You will notice then
Caiaphas is mentioned. Caiaphas was actually
the active high priest at this time. He was high
priest from 18 to 36 A .D. And he was the son
-in -law of Annas. So you see it was within the
family. Also mentioned here are John and Alexander.
They are totally unknown, although some think
that John may be Jonathan, the son of Annas,
who succeeded Caiaphas when his office was up
in 36 A .D. Josephus, in fact, says that Jonathan
succeeded Caiaphas. Now considering the identity
of these people, you will notice that it was
a rather imposing group. It could have been intimidating.
In fact, it may have been for that very reason
intimidation that it was called together. These
were just two men, two street preachers, and
yet the whole council meets. to consider the
case. And keep in mind that these are the very
people who just a few weeks before this had condemned
Jesus. They had a basis for the trial found in
Deuteronomy 13 verses 1 to 5 where God commands
that when there's a prophet or a dreamer who
has something to say to the people and a miracle
is performed in relation to that, he is to be
examined as to what he teaches. And if that person
is teaching and leading the people away from
the God of their fathers, he is to be killed.
And so you see they call these two men in to
find out what they were teaching. They were within
their authority to ask them that question according
to the Mosaic Law. And so to escape death actually,
Peter and John needed to prove that their teaching
did not lead the people away from the God of
their fathers. And notice the course of the hearing
as it develops. In verse 7, they ask regarding
the authority for their teaching. They say to
them, by what power or in what name have you
done this? The answer is given in verses 8 to
12. Before we get to the answer, I want you to
notice what it says there regarding the filling
of the Holy Spirit. Please keep in mind that
the filling of the Holy Spirit does not occur
once and for all. The filling or the empowering,
the enabling of the Holy Spirit occurs each time
we have need for it. When you are called upon
in the office to say a word for Jesus Christ
in terms of a witness, At that very moment, you
may know the enabling of the Holy Spirit, the
empowering of the Holy Spirit. Someone said to
me just the other night that he was asked a certain
question. A verse came to his mind that he had
learned a long time ago, and he quoted that word
perfectly. He just couldn't understand why. You
see, the Holy Spirit is powerful, and He is able
to make us sufficient for those situations as
He did Peter here. And notice that Peter in verse
9, points out that their accusation against them
was actually not for a crime, but for a good
deed, a benefit that had been performed, which
immediately cuts them as to the reason for the
arrest in the first place. In verse 10, he answers
directly the question that had been asked, and
he says, let everybody know that by the name
of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, this man stands
here. before you in good health." Now, it may
be that that man, the crippled man who had been
healed was standing. He was standing there. It
may have been he was put in prison with them
as well. It doesn't really say that, but he was
there at the hearing. Now, notice that when Peter
mentions Jesus the Nazarene, he could not help
but slip in a couple extra statements. Whom you
crucified, Whom God raised from the dead now
remember the Sadducees didn't believe in the
resurrection and So he is sticking it to him
here a little bit verse 11 He he relates what's
happened to Old Testament prophecy and if you
think he stuck it to him before here. He goes
all the way He says he this Jesus is the stone
which was rejected by you the builders but which
became the very cornerstone." Quoted from Psalm
118. He says, you have rejected this one that
God appointed to be the stone. But now he says
he's become the very cornerstone. Peter quotes
that. I wonder if he really knows what he's saying.
Well, he cannot in full because the church had
not been revealed yet. But the Holy Spirit knows
what needs to be said here, and so He gives Peter
these words, this quotation from the Old Testament,
and we will see later that Jesus Christ has indeed
become the cornerstone of the Church, this new
thing that God is doing in this age, this new
group of elect people being called out to be
the bride of Jesus Christ. He drives home this
declaration. He says, And there is salvation
in no one else. For there is no other name under
heaven that has been given among men by which
we must be saved. Moses will not do it. Abraham
is not sufficient. Only in the name of Jesus
Christ, who in his resurrection power has healed
this man. proclaims is their salvation of the
soul. I want to say that to you this morning,
especially to you my friend who may be here involved
in religion, institutional centered, man initiated,
works oriented. You my friend need to know that
there is salvation only in the person of Jesus
Christ. There is not another name under heaven
that is given among men that can bring salvation
Not the name of any saint Not the name of Mary
the mother of Jesus Not the name of a great religious
leader or philosopher But only in the name of
Jesus Christ is their salvation Well, the response
of the Sanhedrin was one of amazement and silence.
They had only utter contempt for these uneducated,
nonprofessional men who stood before them. Yet
they had to marvel at the lucid argument that
Peter gave, though he had no rabbinic authority.
Perhaps, it was that very clearness of argument,
though he had not been trained in their schools,
that reminded them of Jesus Christ. But there
was something about them, and undoubtedly partly
what Peter said, that caused them to remember
that they had been with Jesus. third phase of
this incident. It is the results of the trial,
verses 15 to 20. And once again, we see religion
taking another tact against authentic Christianity.
It seeks to limit biblical Christianity. If it
can't do that, it will seek to discredit it.
And if it's unsuccessful in discrediting authentic
Christianity, Religion will take a third tact.
It will seek to silence authentic Christianity.
It will say in no uncertain terms, be quiet.
You will notice it's exactly what these men did.
The first result of the trial was a private discussion
followed by a public warning. In that private
discussion, They admitted they could not disprove
what Peter had declared. They could not disprove
the healing of the man, nor could they disprove
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which Peter
had declared. Now this was the great opportunity
for them to once and for all destroy Christianity.
All they had to do was to produce the body of
Jesus. But they didn't have His body, of course.
And they were unable to disprove either the miracle
or the preaching of Peter. And they knew that
the people were following these apostles, that
they were popular men. So to try to keep the
status quo, and remember that was their major
concern, to try to keep things in order so that
they could preserve their own power, they called
these men before them once again. And they simply
commanded them not to speak or teach at all in
the name of Jesus. The implication being that
neither in public nor in private were they any
more to talk about this Jesus. But there are
more results of the trial than that because there
is the result of a courageous response and God
being honored. The courageous response, of course,
is that of Peter and John. And their response
in unison seems to have been, whether it is right
in the sight of God to give heed to you rather
than to God, you be the judge. You think we should
listen to you or listen to God? He said. We cannot
stop speaking what we have seen and heard. These
men were without fear. I like the statement that
was made of John Knox, he feared God so much
he never feared the face of any man. That is
the case with these two men. They do not fear
the faces of those people, intimidating though
they be. Generally, you will find that the early
church sought to live in peace with authority,
both religious and civil. But when it comes to
making a choice, it did not take long for those
early Christians to make a decision that they
had to obey God rather than men. They said, we
cannot stop. We cannot stop speaking about what
we have seen and heard. Time out for just a moment.
Verse 20 is probably the finest biblical definition
of a witness that you will find. Some of us have
the idea that in order to witness, we have to
be trained in a seminary, or at least we have
to be able to give a certain approach, whether
it be the EE approach or the four spiritual laws
or the bridge or whatever, we have to know some
kind of a method before we can witness. My friend,
that is not true. For a real witness involves
simply relating your own experience, what you
have seen and what you have heard. Very frankly,
the people out there in the world are not interested
in theology for the most part. Little diagrams
that we have or booklets that we pass out are
really not very keen as far as they're concerned.
But when you talk about what's happened to you,
the change that Jesus Christ has made in your
life, they cannot get away from it. They cannot
disprove it. He is a Christian who very simply,
in his own words, shares what he has seen, what
he has heard of Jesus Christ. And who can be
honest enough when asked a question to even say,
if necessary, you know, I really don't know the
answer to that. I'll have to find out the answer.
But this I know. That is what the apostles simply
did, and we need to follow their example. In
conclusion, I want to say this to you, that we
need to be aware that the most potent enemy that
we face in the world is not atheism, it's not
the government, but it is humanistic religion
like that of the Sadducees. It is the man -made,
man -centered liberalism. of our day. It is the
humanistic religion that is coming to be predominant
in our society. I have a number of illustrations
of this before me this morning. Let me read one
illustration to you of a man who is a professor
of psychiatry at Harvard University. an address
that was given in 1973 at a childhood education
seminar for public school teachers. When questioned
in 1983, ten years later, if this statement was
accurate, he agreed that it was. Some of you
have heard this statement before, but it goes
like this. Every child in America entering school
at the age of five, says this Harvard psychiatrist,
is mentally ill. Because he comes to school with
certain allegiances toward our founding fathers,
toward our elected officials, toward his parents,
toward a belief in a supernatural being, and
toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate
entity. It's up to you teachers to make all of
these sick children well by creating the international
children of the future. Now that Harvard psychiatrist,
I know not whether he's a member of any church,
is simply espousing the teaching of humanistic
man -made religion in our day. I have a statement
here from the Humanist publication, which was
published two years ago this month, in an article
entitled, A Religion for a New Age. The author
says, the battle for humankind's future must
be waged in one in the public school classroom
by teachers who correctly perceive their role
as the proselytizers of a new faith. The classroom
must and will become an arena of conflict between
the old and the new, the rotting corpse of Christianity,
and the new faith of humanism. Now that does
not at all mean. that all public school teachers
and administrators are involved in humanism.
That is not at all. light and love and power
being restored to the plan on earth. I'm not
going to read the whole prayer. But that was
put into the Reader's Digest by a group called
World Goodwill, which is an activity of Lucius
Trust, a non -profit tax exempt educational corporation
founded in 1922. and which is headquartered in
New York, as well as in some other places in
the world. Here's what Lucius Crust, through
Goodwill and his other organizations, all a part
of the New Age movement, says. That there exists
a basic intelligence to whom we give the name
of God. That there is a divine evolutionary plan
in the universe, the motivating power of which
is love. That a great individuality Called by
Christians to Christ, the world teacher, came
to earth and embodied that love so that we could
understand that love and intelligence are effects
of purpose, the will, and the plan of God. Many
religions believe in a world teacher, knowing
him under such names as the Lord Matreah, that
is their name for him, the Imam Mahdi, or the
Messiah. Then it goes on to say the truth that
only through humanity itself can the design plan
work out. What is this group doing? Well, they're
taking a word here or a concept there out of
Christianity, giving them brand new meaning,
brand new theology, and they're saying that through
humanity, the plan, capital T, will be worked
out. And the more you read about that plan, in
their publications, the more you see how it amazingly
overlays exactly what the Bible calls the antichrist.
You and I today are involved in a battle. We
dare not be ignorant of that truth. There are
contrasts between authentic Christianity and
religion. in three areas which really are found
in our text in Acts chapter 4. Just notice them
quickly. One is the area of supernaturalism.
Religion rejects or removes the supernatural
from 20th century relevancy. It focuses itself
upon man. Through humanity, the plan will come.
Religion denies a transcendent god. who can intervene
in history as he desires, and who sovereignly
works out all things to his purpose. Religion
believes in chance, in natural selection and
the survival of the fittest, in the uniformity
of history, that things never change, or in the
cyclical nature of history, that we simply repeat
one cycle. but things never basically change,
a denial that God can intervene. That was the
way the Sadducees felt. There's no resurrection.
There are no angels. There's no judgment. There
are no rewards. There's no supernatural. Religion
still takes the same tact today. And then, in
the area of exclusivism, there is a contrast
between the two. Today religion says things like,
all roads lead to God. God is whatever you wish
him to be. It doesn't matter which religion you
follow as long as you're sincere about it. And
as a result of that, there is no right or wrong
in ethics. All things are relative. There's no
final authority in philosophy or theology or
even in an area like art. There's no final authority.
There is a denial of the authority of Jesus Christ,
and specifically and vehemently a denial that
salvation is found only in Jesus Christ. That
is narrow -mindedness to religion. We follow
in the train of those who teach, as did the apostles
in verse 12, that there is salvation in no one
else, period. And so in the area of the supernatural
and the area of exclusivism, there's a contrast.
And a third area, transformation. I think this
gets to the heart of it. Religion can at best
only produce a superficial, temporal change in
a person's behavior. But authentic Christianity
involves the entrance of the living Christ into
a life, producing a new creation, a deep and
permanent change within that individual. There
is a contrast in the area of transformation.
This man who had been crippled was changed. He
was new. And religion said, now what do we do?
We can't disprove it. A contrast. And it's still
true today. I believe that we are moving forward
in intensified conflict. with religion. Unfortunately,
there are some evangelicals who seem willing
to compromise, to accommodate, and to dialogue
with religionists. That kind of activity only
disgraces God and ultimately undermines the very
work of God. I believe that rather we must courageously
stand opposed to religion. and declare the revealed
truth of the infinite personal God who has revealed
himself in Jesus Christ. This week, there are
many of you who will have to make a decision.
You will have to decide if you're going to stand
publicly and boldly for Jesus Christ or be silent.
Our religion dominates. It may be a conversation
in your office or in the neighborhood. It may
be an article you will read in the paper. But
I want to say to you there will be opportunities
for you this week to stand for Jesus Christ.
And I want to challenge you to take that stand.
And if necessary, to stand alone. with the right
kind of spirit, and thus take a stand with Peter
and John, who said, we cannot but speak the truth.
Let's bow together. I want to challenge you to
do something right now. What I'm going to challenge
you to do is easy. But I hope it won't be too
easy. In a moment, we're going to stand and sing
a hymn, but before we all do that, if you can
say today that you are willing, whatever the
cost may be to your business, your reputation,
whatever the cost may be, you're willing to stand.
for Jesus Christ and be counted with him, I wonder
if you're willing to stand right now. Please
do not stand quickly, unless you're prepared
to do that, but understand what I'm saying. If
you are willing to stand for Jesus Christ in
this battle that we're talking about, then I
want you to stand. Not so that I can see you
or anybody else, but for the eyes of God who's
watching us right now. There may be a heavier
cost for some of us than others, but there will
be a cost, a price to pay. Heavenly Father, we
stand before you in silence because we sincerely
and deeply in our hearts, since the conviction
that the truth is in Jesus Christ. And we want
to be faithful and courageous to stand for the
truth. And I pray that whatever that challenge
may be, whether it be this afternoon or tomorrow
when we go into the office or later in the day
in the cafeteria, it may be in the school. Wherever
that opportunity is given to take a stand at
that moment remind us father of this commitment
and give us the courage to follow through lovingly
and kindly Yet firmly Amen Let's all stand together
and take a hymnal. I like for us to sing number
456 Which says stand up for Jesus? Now as we
sing this, if there is some spiritual conflict
in your life and you need help today with that,
you want someone to pray with you. For if there
is a hunger to know more of the truth in Jesus
Christ, you've been involved in religion but
you do not know the meaning of the life -transforming
salvation that comes through faith in Christ.
Please feel free to slip out and come here to
the front where I'll be standing. Let's sing
together this hymn, 456.