Okay, Shalom everyone. We are going to turn today to the book of Acts and we are going to continue from chapter 4 verses 1 to 12 that deals with the first persecution of the assembly in Jerusalem. You have to realize that when the first believers came to faith in Yeshua the Messiah, those were Jewish believers who had to suffer and to be persecuted because of their faith in Yeshua the Messiah by their very own brethren. And so we find out here in Acts chapter 4, and I'm reading the first 12 verses, and let's follow this up and we will see what has happened there 2,000 years ago in the city of Jerusalem.

Look what it says here in verse 1. And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Yeshua the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and they put them in hold unto the next day, for it was now evening. However, many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand. And it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and the elders and scribes and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.

And when they had set them in the midst, they asked them, By what power or by what name have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, he said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examine of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he was made whole be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Yeshua the Messiah from Nazareth whom ye crucified whom God raised from the dead even by him does this man stand here before you whole This is the stone which was set at naught by you builders, which has become the head of the corner.

Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. I want to repeat that verse because it's a very beautiful verse, verse 12. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. And I stop here, and I'll deal with it today by the grace of God with the first 12 verses of chapter 4. Brothers and sisters remember as i just mentioned earlier when the assembly the church began in the city of Jerusalem the totality of the believers which were part of the body of Messiah were Jewish believers they all found themselves in the city of Jerusalem gathering there together the Spirit of God came and formed them into one body and in chapter 3 we see that they continued on a regular basis to meet for prayer time in the temple in Jerusalem perhaps they've used a certain corner in Solomon's porch there to meet and as they were ministering to each other as believers as part of the assembly they were talking about the Lord and you know what happened that they have gone into the temple Peter and John came in and they saw that impotent man and they used the name of Jesus to heal this man and so you remember what happened the whole chapter 3 that we have dealt with up to now was really the presentation of Peter the second message he was presenting Yeshua as the.

Messiah to the nation to the people who were at the temple there he didn't stop ministering the word and we read here in chapter 4 and verse 1 2 3 and 4 we find Peter and John being arrested by the religious leaders of Israel and look it says here in verse 1 as they spake unto the people that word s means that he did not finish to say what he wanted to say he was in the middle of the preaching of the message and sharing with those people in Jerusalem in the temple area he was sharing with them the work of the Messiah the importance of coming to faith in Yeshua the Messiah so as he was speaking to the people then we find out that the priests the captain of the temple and the sadducees came upon them that word upon them here in this text suggests much more than just coming to visit them they came upon them they came suddenly to capture them to hold them to stop them from presenting the message of.

The gospel now again if you see the picture with me looking back two thousand years ago it is really a story that we can say it was a Jewish situation it was a Jewish story what you see here you see the nation of Israel gathering to the temple many from all over coming to worship God the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob then you see some of these Jewish people believe in Yeshua the Messiah presenting now to the nation the importance of faith in Yeshua the Messiah so the religious leaders did not like it at all. You know what we notice in our preaching of the gospel is that the problem that we have is not so much with the ordinary individuals, but it is most likely with the religious leaders of any community today.

Whether it is among the people of Israel in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, or whether it is everywhere in the world today, the religious religious leaders always oppose the things of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah now you notice it says. Here the priests the captain of the temple was the one that was in charge of what's going on in a temple compound and it says and the sad you sees now i know many times people make it like you know they use the word sad you see and they said you see they didn't believe in the resurrection that's why they were sad you see that's why they use the word sad you sees but really the Hebrew word here is tzdukim it's come from the word righteous tzadik that's why they were called tzadikim tzdukim the first time that word is found in the Scripture is in connection with noah it's a word for just man it says and noah was just man and noah walked with God the Hebrew word tzaddik is for the word just in the English and you see really those sadducees and the pharisees were the people who came against those Hebrew believers in Yeshua the Messiah, and they came against them because they wanted them to stop the presentation of Jesus the.

Messiah and the presentation of the resurrection. Do you know that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection? The Sadducees did not believe in angels. The Sadducees did not believe in the spirit realm the pharisees did but the sadducees didn't and so what we see here that the sadducees who were really the leaders of the sanhedrin they were the one who had the 24 elders out of the 71 who were really leading the sanhedrin this is the court the religious court of the nation of Israel they were the ones who were opposing the disciples' message concerning the resurrection of the Messiah. I want to show you a verse, if you turn please, to Acts chapter 23.

And there you can see that Paul knew very well that the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. In Acts chapter 23 from verse 6 on to verse 10, it says like this. Verse 6, and when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and that the others were Pharisees, he cried out in the council, men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, for the hope of the resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had said so there arose a dissension between the pharisees and the sadducees and a multitude were divided listen to verse 8 for the sadducees say that there is no resurrection neither angel nor spirit but the pharisees confess both and there arose a great cry and the scribes that were of the pharisees part arose and strove saying we find no evil in this man but when angels spoke to him let us not fight against God and when there arose a great dissension and so the chief captain fearing something will happen to Paul and he took him away but you can see in chapter 23 of Acts that the sadducees did not believe in a resurrection but you see what happened in the preaching of Peter at the end of chapter 3 look what it says in verse 26 unto you first God having raised up his son Yeshua and he sent him to bless you brothers and sisters the teaching concerning the resurrection is essential in the presentation of.

Gospel the Lord Yeshua the Messiah did not only die for us he not only was buried for us in a tomb but he rose from among the dead and the resurrection is one of the greatest beautiful facts of the finished work of Christ of the Messiah and that's why it is important for us in the preaching of the gospel to speak about the resurrection and so Peter at the end of chapter three presented the resurrection of the Messiah and immediately the priests and the captains of the temple and the sadducees came suddenly upon him and John and so in the first verse we see the sudden coming of the religious leaders against those two apostles who were presenting the message of the gospel so you can see what happened when you present the word of God and you're talking about the name of Jesus the whole chapter four deal with the name of Yeshua the Messiah and so now in verse two actually we see the reason why the leaders came against Peter and John.

Why did they come against them what did they do they didn't do anything wrong so it says here in verse two they were grieved that they taught the people and they preached through Yeshua the resurrection from the dead you see they were grieved the sadducees were grieved because Peter and John preached that through Yeshua through the Lord Jesus the Messiah there is the resurrection from among the dead and they were angry now remember if you would have been there two thousand years ago in the city of Jerusalem the temple area the temple compound And the whole city, the religious activity of the nation of Israel was led by the leadership of Israel.

And in the leadership of Israel, they would not allow anything that was not right or anything that was not in accordance with their will to be preached in the Temple Mount. And you can understand that, providing that what they taught was the right presentation of God's message. But the truth of the matter is that the religious leaders of Israel, by the time that Yeshua was there, there was a decline from the simple ABC of the Word of God to all kind of rabbinical teaching and rabbinical views. Even the fact that they did not believe in the resurrection proves that they didn't accept what God said in His Word.

Many times in the Bible, in the Old Testament, God did speak of the truth of the resurrection. The Messiah himself prophetically said in Psalm 16, Thou shalt not leave my soul in Sheol, nor the Holy One to seek corruption. In other words, the Messiah himself prophetically in Psalm 16, 10, spoke about the resurrection that he will raise one day from among the dead. Daniel himself, in chapter 12, spoke about the resurrection of the just and the unjust. In chapter 12 and verse 2, Daniel said this, and I better read these words from the book of Daniel. He said in verse 2, Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall be awakened, some to everlasting life and some to shame and to everlasting contempt.

Daniel chapter 12 and verse 2. The truth of the resurrection beloved brothers and sisters is clearly taught in the Hebrew Scriptures but the sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and so when Peter present the resurrection through the name of Yeshua the Messiah that offended them and they were grieved and they came against them and they stopped the preaching of the message and so those sadducees who were the leaders of the nation stop the presentation of the gospel by Peter and John let me just say a few things about the Sanhedrin the Sanhedrin is the council the supreme court of Israel and they were the one that were making decision for the nation of Israel they were made out of 71 men and those 71 leaders 24 of them were sadducees they were in a higher place in the sanhedrin now where did they get the number 71 how did this council came about if you look in the book of Numbers if you turn back for a moment with me to the book of Numbers i want to show you how.

Did the number 71 came about to be those who will lead the nation of Israel in chapter 11 of the book of Numbers Moses was very much grieved with the disobedience of the nation Moses said to God verse 14 i'm not able to bear all these people alone because it is too heavy for me he could not bear with the disobedience of the nation they were constantly grumbling constantly disobeying not satisfied just like many times you and i as believers today in the body of Messiah complaining and grumbling and constant frictions among the people of God not satisfied with what God provides for his people and so here Moses says i'm not able God to bear them alone so you know what God told him in verse 16 the Lord said unto Moses you gather yourself 70 men of the elders of Israel whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people and officers over them and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation that they may stand there with.

Thee and i will come down and i will talk with thee there and i will take of the spirit which is upon thee and i will put it upon them and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee that thou beareth not thyself alone you see when Moses was discouraged in a certain time of his life there when Israel was so much grumbling against him and against the things of God Moses said to God God I cannot take it anymore and I don't blame him I don't blame him at all when you think about what he had to experience as the leader of the nation and so he said I couldn't take it you know what God did he said okay Moses you know you're not able I didn't expect you to do it alone you have to do it in the power of mind but you see Moses what I'm going to do you bring 70 other elders that you recognize as godly elders and I will put of the same Spirit, not another, of the same Spirit upon them.

And they will rule the nation together with you. So now what we have, instead of one leading the nation in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, we have 71 leading the nation with the same power, the Holy Spirit of God. And that's how we get that number 71. The 70 elders plus the leader, and that's what we have in the Sanhedrin, the 71. It is the supreme court of ancient Israel, and the number of the leaders will be 71. But the higher group were the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection. They did not believe in the angelic realm, in the spirit realm, and they were the one that were actually the leadership of the nation.

So they were opposing the message that Peter and John were proclaiming, that there is the resurrection from the dead. And they were proclaiming it through the name of Yeshua, the Messiah. So in verse 1, the sudden coming of the religious leaders. Verse 2, the reason, because they were grieved, because they taught through the name of Yeshua the resurrection from the dead. And so the arrest of Peter and John is being done in verse 3. What they did, they laid hands on them. They put them in hold until the next day, for it was already evening. They took them and they held them. They locked them in jail, wherever they had placed them there.

It was evening. They didn't want to deal with them that evening. They took them, they held them, and they locked them, and they kept them there until the next morning. And then it says, look at the beautiful thing. In spite of the fact that they locked them and held them and stopped the message to be proclaimed, it says in verse 4, how bit many of them which heard the word believed. And the number of the men was about 5,000. You know, I'm thinking we today have a problem to gather 30 people in a meeting Peter and John going to the temple in Jerusalem presented a message to thousands of people and as they were presenting the message we find out that there is power in the word of God beloved brothers and sisters the power is not in a vessel but the power is in the person that they proclaim the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah can you imagine five thousand men only men now some suggest that the number five thousand is in addition to what have already come to pass in chapter 2 and verse 41 where we read there if you remember in chapter 2 and verse 41 that there were three thousand souls that received his word and were baptized.

So there was an additional 2,000 which will make it 5,000. This is some suggested that it is 5,000, 3 plus 2, but others suggest that no. These are 5,000 men alone. As it's mentioned here in verse 4, the number of the men was about 5,000. Can you imagine what a wonderful truth was that to see so many have accepted the word why they heard the word delivered and they have accepted it the apostle Paul said in Roman chapter 10 faith cometh by hearing and hearing is by the word of God and when you present the word and one hears the word the Spirit of God take the word and appropriate it to the heart of the one who heard the word and convicting him or convicting her and bringing them to the knowledge of Yeshua, the Messiah.

And that's what happened here. And from these four verses, we learn many lessons as we present the Word of God. You know, some of the lessons that if you want to make a note of those lessons that we learn, I'm going to share this with you. Some of the lessons that we learn from what happened here are these. The first lesson that we learn is that we must be faithful in preaching a clear message of the gospel from the Word of God. Not to play with it, not to add anything, not to subtract anything, to be faithful in presenting the message of the Word of God as it is found in the Word.

That's our responsibility if we are to serve the Lord and to present it properly. We are to present it faithfully. Secondly, in the lesson we learn that as we present the message of the gospel we should present it with a lot of patience not to expect everybody to right away say oh i want to take it i want to take it because there is a lot of patience in the presentation of the gospel with people it is the Lord's work it's not your work it's not my work it is the Lord's work God had been so patient with Israel he had been so patient with his people he had already given them to hear the message of the Messiah for 33 years since Yeshua was born and he lived here and his ministry before he died he presented with the nation the fact that he was the Messiah there is a need of a lot of patience in the presentation of the word of God thirdly we learn from this is that when we present the gospel it's not sufficient enough to present it intellectually but we need to be also practical.

You remember when they went to the temple to pray and this beggar said give me some money and Peter said to him silver and gold have I none but what I have I give unto you in the name of Yeshua the Messiah rise up and walk being practical meaning that we cannot merely present a word intellectually to the head and not practically meet the needs of people oftentimes missionaries who go overseas to present the message of the gospel to the people in africa or elsewhere they are not only telling them about the Bible but they're presenting before them other needs they're helping them practically they meet their needs you know a hungry man need first of all to be fed physically that he can rest and be clear enough to receive spiritual truth so we're not only to present it intellectually but we are also to be practical in the presentation of the word of God as we share the message of the gospel fourthly we learn from what happened here is that we should expect opposition from without to the message that we.

Proclaim in the beginning when i first became a believer i thought every person whom i tell him about the love of God gonna say brother Gideon I'm so happy I want you to come to tell me some more but you know that's not right because you don't know too many people gonna come tell me more tell me more I want to hear more about Jesus I want to hear about most of the people said don't tell me anymore I don't want to hear this I don't want you to talk to me about this man anymore you know there's a song that being sung sometime by many Christians where the unbeliever's world says send the light send the light and i remember brother Moshe rosen the leader of Jews for Jesus when we were sitting and learning from the word when he was preaching he says something wrong with this song the world never say send the light send the light the world said don't send the light.

I don't want to hear about the message of the gospel the gospel of John says men love darkness rather than light we cannot fool ourselves by saying oh everybody is going to embrace me because i came and i told him about the love of God the point is this that the world loved darkness rather than light and we are to expect opposition to the message as we present the message of the gospel you can see the first time they present the message of the gospel to the leaders of the nation of Israel here, you get so much opposition, not from the ordinary individual on the street of Yerushalayim, but from the religious leaders, the one who love God.

You see what happened? Fifthly, when we present the gospel and God is doing a great work, realize that Satan is always around to do a work against the work of God. Every time God is doing a work, right behind or right the next moment, Satan is coming and doing his work to oppose the message, to oppose the growth, to oppose the proclamation, because Satan hates the things of God. Satan always caused problems wherever God is working. And it began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were told by God, you have everything. Do everything. You can enjoy the garden, enjoy the trees, enjoy the animal, enjoy.

Everything is yours, the fruit and so on. But I want you not to eat of this tree, of the knowledge of good and evil. So Satan come. And has God really said? So really is it really God really don't care for you that's why he doesn't want you to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he withholds from you something he's always as the serpent as Satan the deceiver the accuser he's always there to handle the work of God and he does it in a crafty way the Bible tells us in first Peter 5 and in second corinthian 11 on the one hand he's coming as an angel of light and when he cannot deceive he comes as a roaring lion to hurt and to crush the people of God and that's what we see here the Satan comes along and coming with this religious government to say wow we are really caring for the people of God for the religious activity how can you speak in the name of Yeshua the Messiah and preach the resurrection and finally another point to mention that we learned from what happened here is that Yeshua's person and Yeshua's finished work is the only answer for sin there is no answer in the whole universe today.

And has never been an answer for sin is only found in Yeshua's person and Yeshua's work when he died on the tree and he was buried and rose again on the third day for our justification that's the lesson that we learn beloved brothers and sisters from these verses and the whole context here shows us that we need to be faithful in the presentation of the gospel that we need to be patient as we presented that we need to be practical and not only intellectual that we need to recognize that there will be opposition and that also we need to realize that Satan is right next door seeking to discourage and to stop that work of God and finally to realize in our hearts that the only answer for sin for man's problem is the person of the Messiah Yeshua and the finished work that he has done for us on the tree and so now let's move on these are the first four verses of act chapter 4 but notice now in verses 5 to 12 we find Peter and John before the sanhedrin.

And there we see the council is there imagine 71 and then not only those 71 look what it says here first of all in verses 5 and 6 we see the gathering of the council the gathering of the Sanhedrin it says and it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes and Hanan the high priest and Caiapha and John or Yohanan and Alexander and as many as were of the kindred of the family of the high priest they were gathered together in Jerusalem here we see beloved brothers and sisters as verses 5 and 6 we see the gathering of at least 71 in the Sanhedrin plus you have here the high priest's family we have the son-in-law Caiaphas the son-in-law of the high priest and then we also have John the son and Alexander and many of the family of the high priest apparently the high priest had his whole family participating in the priesthood there.

It had been told, I think, that five of his sons were priests at that time, during the time of Hanan, of Annas, the high priest. And ultimately, his son-in-law, Kayafas, became that high priest at that time. But here, you see them all gathering together in Jerusalem, the 71 plus the rest of the family members. They are all gathering together to counsel about what has happened there. Now, again, visualize, it's not necessarily, sometimes people say Jews against Christians, the whole story is Jewish here. It is in Jerusalem, the leadership of the priesthood was Jewish, Peter and John were Jewish, the man that was impotent was Jewish, it's the whole scenery there, it's a story of what's happening, what are you doing here, violating the rules and the regulations of the council of the nation of Israel.

Also, they gather together in verses 5 and 6, the rulers, those 24 elders, the scribes, the Sadducees, those scribes, actually the Pharisees, and then the high priestly family, they were all gathering there together in order to counsel. What to do what have happened there they were the court Peter and John were sitting there before their Judges who was going to judge them for what they have done and so those verses 5 and 6 describe to us the gathering of the council for the court to begin and so verse 7 we have the question to Peter and John by the council. And the question was this, when they had set them in the midst, they asked them, by what power or by what name have you done this?

Now it says here that they have set them in the midst. Can you imagine, brothers and sisters, how fearful that must have been? You are sitting in the midst of a few hundreds perhaps, and you are there that you know that everybody opposing what you believe and what you stand for. Can you imagine? Don't you feel sometimes that the reason that we don't share the message of the Gassus is because of fear that we have? Some of us are bolder than others, but nevertheless, the opposition is tremendous. And Peter and John must have felt like they were in a lion's den. They were their own people, their own brethren, their own nation, their own religious leaders whom they dearly loved.

But Peter and John came to faith in Yeshua Messiah in accordance with the word of God. But they asked them the question that was to them, by what name have ye done this? You see, the name is very important here. You see, they knew very well what had happened and how this event took place, but they didn't want the name of Yeshua to be again before them. And so the question was to Peter and John, by what name have ye done this? If you go just a moment back to chapter 3, look what we read. In verse 6 Peter said silver and gold have I none but such as I have I given to you in the name of Yeshua the Messiah from Nazareth rise up and walk.

You see it was in the name of Jesus in the name of Yeshua that this impotent man rose up and walked. How true it is that men today do not want to hear the name of Jesus. You know, I, and you would agree with me, we can talk about anything with many people. We can talk about the weather. We can talk about the Job situation, the economy, and even politics. We can talk about everything, but the moment we bring to the picture the name of Yeshua, the Messiah, the problem has begun the question is always here it is the name of Yeshua the name of the Lord Jesus the Messiah that's the problem that's the cause of the friction and so the question was by what name have you done this and so Peter in verse 8 the first part and i want to highlight that because this is important it says in verse 8 the first part of verse 8 Peter filled with the Holy Spirit you notice that the Bible emphasized many times the necessity of being filled with the Spirit of God you see Peter and John already had the Holy Spirit of God indwelling them in Acts chapter 2 the Spirit of God descended upon all the believers and formed them into one body and was placed in their hearts.

They were already taken over. In other words, they were already sealed by the Holy Spirit. They were already indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God. But in order to empower them to present the message, they had to be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And you and I are very much the same. Every one of us who believe in Yeshua the Messiah, We have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us. 1 Corinthians 12 says, By one Spirit we are all being baptized into one body. We all have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us, but we are not always filled with the Spirit of God. Being filled with the Spirit of God really demands from the believer to be in a communication with the Lord, in fellowship with the Lord, in submissiveness to the Lord.

Many times we know we are not filled with the Spirit of God by the way we conduct ourselves. And the person who is filled with the Spirit of God, that means that the Spirit of God controlling them in their lives. It was Paul who said in Ephesians chapter 5, he says these words in verse 18. Be not drunk with wine where there is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Just the same like wine can control a person in drunkenness, the Spirit of God can control a person in walking with the Lord. And that's what Paul is saying. Listen, be filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

In other words, he says, let the Spirit of God control you and lead you in your life. And what happened here in this chapter, in Acts chapter 4, the Spirit of God controlled Peter as he was boldly speaking to the council in Jerusalem. And so beautiful to see that. Beautiful to see how the Holy Spirit of God filled Peter, and he now can present the message fearlessly before the council in Jerusalem. I want to have one more verse to show you. If you turn with me, please, to Matthew chapter 10, we read that the Lord himself already warned the disciples that that's what's going to happen to them before he died.

He said to them, In Matthew chapter 10, verse 17, Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils. They will scourge you in their synagogues, and ye shall be brought before governors and Kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they shall deliver you up, Take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given unto you that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. See, Yeshua, before he died, and he gathered his disciples, the twelve apostles in Jerusalem, he told them, he warned them, he says, listen, that's what's going to happen to you.

You will be opposed, you will be rejected for my name's sake, and you see, when you are going to be taken to the council, and to the synagogues, and to various places where they will accuse you, he said to them, listen, for it is not you that speak, but it is the spirit of your father that is speaking in you. This is Matthew chapter 10, verse 17 to 20, and the reality happened right here in this chapter Peter was taken up if you will filled by the Holy Spirit of God he began to speak and so we see what Peter said to the council is a boldness that he had at that time it is amazing but it was in the power of the Holy Spirit of God and so we find him now speaking in verses 8b and I'll make some points here some comments in verse 8b it says ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel if we this day examine of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he is made whole.

Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Yeshua HaMashiach from Nazareth whom ye crucified whom God raised from the dead even by him does this man stand before you whole this is the stone which was set at naught of you the builders which is become the head of the corner neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved what Peter was saying to them who were so bold that he could tell them the things that perhaps they did not want to hear at all.

The first thing we find out in verses 9 and 10 that Peter was speaking to the council and he clearly told them that through the name of Yeshua the Messiah that this man was healed. He was not afraid to tell them how this man became whole. He says, look, if you examine the good deed, and you notice that he says the good deed, nothing bad that they have done. He has done a good deed by using the name of Yeshua to heal that man that for 40 years was sitting there, was lame from birth, and finally he could walk. And so, can you imagine? He says, look, the good deed that is done to this impotent man, by what mean he is made whole?

He says look the good deed happened to him now he's able to walk he's able to sing he's able to praise God they're accusing him about the good deed that was done to these good men so he told them listen he said i want you to know you all the leaders of Israel and all the people of Israel that in the name of Yeshua from Nazareth, whom ye have crucified, God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here whole before you. He was not ashamed to tell them that it was through the name of Yeshua from Nazareth that this man became healthy and whole.

But he told them two other things here that they didn't like. He told them, whom you have crucified. Now, you see what happened here? Apparently, Peter and John were sitting there before the council, before the court. And what he really did here, he reversed this. What he really did, he actually took them to court. And they were the ones who are now being accused. He reversed things. They accused him from using the name of Yeshua to heal that man and he told them listen you know the reality of the truth is that you have crucified Yeshua from Nazareth now we know very well brothers and sisters that it was not the leaders of Israel who have crucified Jesus it was the Romans who have crucified him but nevertheless the leaders of Israel had the responsibility they should have accept him they should have embraced him as the Messiah they should have recognized that he was the promised one of Israel but they didn't and just a few years earlier it was the same man by the name of Yeshua who was also standing before the very same council the same court accused because he claimed to be the Messiah now they're accusing his servants the apostles of being the one that spoke in the name of Yeshua and so he tell them he Peter told them whom ye have crucified and then he said to them that God.

Had raised this man from among the dead you have delivered him up verse 10 but God had raised him up you have given him over to the nations to the Gentiles to the Romans to ultimately crucifying him and you participated you have a guilt in that but God has raised him from among the dead the human responsibility and the sovereignty of God men and this is where you and i coming you and I are guilty in the crucifixion of Yeshua the Messiah but God was satisfied with his work and after he died God had raised him from among the dead and took him to sit at his right hand and that's why he said to him sit down on my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool so look what he's really taking them to court and he's showing to them that they have the initial responsibility and that it is in the name of Yeshua the Messiah that this man that is standing there before them is whole and then in verses 11 and 12 he shows them who Yeshua really is.

Yeshua Jesus the Messiah is the rock is the stone is the rock of our salvation he's showing this to them and he's saying to them in verse 11 this is by the way where we read Psalm 18 today this is the stone which was set at naught by you the builders which is become the head of the corner and you know what he was really doing he was quoting to them Psalm 118 which they had in their hands you see they didn't have the new testament the brit hachadasha it was in non-existence at that time the book of Acts was enacted right now they didn't have the brit hachadasha the new testament but what they did have is the old testament the Tanakh the Hebrew Scriptures and in Psalm 118 and verse 22 the stone which the builders refused had become the head of the corner the stone is Yeshua the Messiah the builders are the religious leaders of Israel and the stone became the head of the corner he became the one that ultimately will become that leader the head.

Of the corner of the building that's what he's saying to them in verse 11 the stone which was set at not by you builders which has become the head of the corner now oftentimes brothers and sisters when the Bible speaks about the rock or the stone it's often time in the Bible apply either to God to the God of Israel or at times to the Messiah of Israel who is the God and man in one it's often in the Bible is spoken to us concerning the God of Israel and the religious leaders of Israel knew it very well and so when Peter was telling them that he is the stone which the builders reject they must have gone in their mind to many many passages in the Tanakh in the old testament i just want to quote you just some of them in the old testament in the Hebrew Scriptures the first time we find that word rock is found in Deuteronomy chapter 32 and it has to do with.

The God of Israel it says in verse 4 of Deuteronomy chapter 32 he is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways are judgment the God of truth and without iniquity just and right is he verse 15 of Deuteronomy 32 they forsook God which made him this is speaking yeshuun about Israel and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation when Israel did not obey God they lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation in verse 18 of Deuteronomy 32 it says of the rock that beget thee thou art unmindful and a forgotten God that formed thee that's what Moses said to Israel you know you have forgotten the rock the stone the God who made thee you have forgotten in verse 31 of Deuteronomy 32 for the rock is not our rock even our enemies themselves being judged in other words the Gentile world's rock is not the rock of the nation of Israel because the rock the stone of the nation of Israel is none else but God and the God man Yeshua himself the Messiah of Israel.

There are many verses that we can go in order to show us that he is that stone he is that rock and here the apostle Peter is telling them this is the stone which was set at naught but you the builders and he become the head of the corner can you imagine how they must have felt when he told them that he says you rejected him you despised Yeshua the Messiah and he is the one that is the promised one of Israel i want to mention there Peter also speaking to his Jewish brethren and there he is saying this in 1st Peter chapter 2 from verse 4 on look what he think about the stone that was rejected he says in verse 4 to whom coming as unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious he also as living stones are built up a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Yeshua the Messiah.

Where also it is contained in the Scriptures, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Unto you therefore which believe, he, this is the stone, is precious, but unto them which are disobedient, the stones that the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word being disobedience where unto they have appointed themselves Peter presented the stone the rock as the Messiah while the nation of Israel stumbled over that rock those who believed to us he became precious dear to the believers but for the nation of Israel they have stumbled over that person of Yeshua the Messiah you read it throughout the Scripture the stumbling of the nation of Israel over the person of Yeshua the Messiah well in conclusion he's saying to the leaders of Israel in verse 12 neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name given among heaven among men whereby we must be saved brothers and sisters Peter clearly told the Jewish leaders the Sanhedrin there is no other name whereby you can be saved there is no other name under heaven we're given among men whereby we must be saved.

If a person wants to receive forgiveness of sins, he must come to Yeshua the. Messiah, confess their sins, and turn to him and accept him as their Lord and as their Savior. And that's what Israel needed, and that's what you and I need today, and that's what we present the gospel today. We must tell that there is no other name that is giving among men whereby we must be saved. May the Lord use us to present the message faithfully, simply, without shifting, just simply presenting the word to others and telling them that Jesus the Messiah died for their sins, was buried, and rose again for their justification.

May the Lord bless these thoughts and thank the Lord for the fact that there is a way to be saved today.