5/11/03 Easter 3 INI Acts 4:8-20

In the Name of Jesus Christ, the only Savior of mankind,

You've been taken by the police into the same courtroom where Jesus stood. The judges are sitting cross-legged in a half-circle. They are on a raised platform, and you are in the middle on a lower flower. This is the same court that gathered together to condemn Jesus! There is Annas "the high priest," and Caiaphas, who declared Jesus to be worthy of death. And there are the other members of the high priest's family. This Jewish council ought to be spending its time investigating crimes. But you and your fellow disciple have healed a man who had been unable to walk since birth! How can the court find fault with that?!

Ah, but the problem they have with you is that you've been telling everyone that Jesus of Nazareth actually healed the man. You've been telling everyone that Jesus has been raised from the dead to be the Savior of sinners. This is what has angered the Jewish court. Now that you stand before these enemies of Jesus, what will you say to defend your actions? This was Peter and John's answer: READ VS. 10-12

The world presses you to silence. Don't you feel the pressure to keep quiet about Jesus? If your friends and neighbors reject what Genesis says about the Creator God, man's sin, and the promised Savior, how can you say to them that salvation from sin is in Jesus Christ alone? The self-righteous religious world chokes on the "exclusive truth" claim of the Christian faith because it leaves no room for human religion.

Consider how popular the writings of the "positive thinkers" are today, like the stuff you read in "Guideposts" magazine at the doctor's office. The "mind over matter" message places confidence in the human spirit, which is supposed to be encouraged by examples and stories of goodness and self-sacrifice. Think of the popularity of the Eastern religions that teach mediation and abstinence as the way to save the human spirit and body Who wants to hear you say that the self-chosen standards of human religions do not meet the standards of the holy God, and that a person can only be saved through the perfect merits of Jesus Christ.

Even from people who consider themselves Christians we hear it said that God accepts Moslems, Jews, and anyone else who sincerely tries to be good to his neighbor. Way back in 1972 a survey of Lutherans in America revealed that many accepted the "validity" of non-Christian religions. (A Study of Generations, p. 172)

Everyone of us above the age of 12 has at some time or other felt the pressure of the world to keep quiet about Jesus being the only Way, the only Truth, and the only Life. (Jn. 14:6)

But you have been with Jesus! How did Peter and John react when they were put on the spot? It was clear to the Jewish court that they were "uneducated and untrained men." They had not been professionally trained like other religious teachers of the day. But they were so bold in proclaiming the truth concerning salvation through Jesus Christ, that the court remembered they "had been with Jesus." Yes! This was the explanation for their bold conviction in spite of their own lack of formal training.

What does it really mean "to have been with Jesus"? Peter had been seen with Jesus many times before Jesus' death. Yet on the night of our Lord's betrayal the last person Peter wanted to be associated with was Jesus! That night Peter's bold confidence in himself had led to his downfall. That night Peter died to self. And then by repentance and faith in his Savior, Peter was brought back from the dead to live in Christ. Now it was truly clear that Peter had been with Jesus. His boldness no longer rested on his own might or right, but on the might and right of Jesus. Now He was able to say, "Jesus is not only my Savior, but the only Savior for all the world!"

You have been with Jesus too! By means of your baptism "into Jesus Christ" you were "baptized into His death," "so that just as He was raised from the dead even so you should walk in a new life! Part of that new resurrection- life with Christ is loving "submission" to one another. But another part of being with Jesus in the resurrection-life is your willingness to speak of salvation through Jesus Christ.

The pastor is not the only one who is expected to be bold in this matter because he has been trained for it. Peter and John were fishermen! A radio commentator once suggested that Jessie Jackson's wife is never seen at his side because he is a "reverend" and he has been trained to "stand alone." But it has been suggested that maybe she does not want to speak out on political issues, or even defend everything her husband says. Surely this should not be said about you and me -- those who have been with Jesus. It should not be said of us that we are quiet concerning Him because we do not understand the way to salvation or agree with everything He says.

It's not professional training that teaches the Christian to say with Peter and John, "Jesus Christ is the only name by which we must saved." It is the boldness of sincere faith moved by the Spirit of God! You have all known the pains of a conscience troubled by sin. You have all tried the methods of the world to deal with sin. But only FAITH in the perfect life, suffering and death of God's only Son has brought you the peace of conscience and the hope of heaven you have today. YOU ARE an authority on the most important question on earth How is a person saved from his sins? May there be many realize by the boldness of your testimony that you have truly been with Jesus!

III.

But must we say that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation when we know that most people don't want to hear it? Good question. When Peter and John were commanded and threatened by the Jewish authorities "not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus" they answered without hesitation: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you be the judge. But as for us, we cannot help but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Vs. 19-20)

The apostles had to preach Christ as the world's only Savior regardless of what might happen to them. Why? Because the most important thing for every human being on earth is to do that which is "right before God." And since Christ's resurrection from the dead, nothing could be more right before God than to proclaim Jesus as the only Savior under heaven! They had seen His miraculous works and He had taught them so that they might teach others. Peter and John must speak the wonderful things which they had seen and heard, because they were from God and intended for all sinners, everywhere.

Nothing has changed since that day. All people still need the Savior from sin. And God has given no other name for us to preach as Savior, except that of our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus. The souls of our friends and neighbors are dying around us everyday! The question is: "Can YOU, who have been with Jesus, say that there is no salvation in any other except Jesus Christ"? . . .

You not only CAN you MUST! Lord Jesus, grant us grace, love, and faith's courage to do so. Amen.