Acts 4 is the third preach of Peter after he is filled by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. After Jesus was crucified, the chief priests and the teachers thought that they could finally find tranquility. They didn’t expect that the disciples would cause even greater turmoil and shock after they are filled by the Holy Spirit. After the cripple at the gate called Beautiful is healed, he walked, jumped, and praised God. People saw this, so they gathered and watched, curious and astonished. Then Peter started to preach to them about Jesus and His resurrection. While Peter was speaking to the crowd, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees showed up, it says in the Bible, “They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John….” They questioned the apostles, “By what power or what name did you do this?” Peter was filled by the Holy Spirit and he answered that it is “By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.” ”In the name of Jesus” was written six times in this chapter; this shows that this name is extremely important. We need to understand very clearly the truth of this name. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord…..” (Philippians 2:9-11) These verses are of great significance, we should all understand them and memorize them. When we are telling others about Jesus, will anyone be annoyed or disturbed and become our obstacle? People on earth hate light, and they don’t like the truth. The elders, the teachers and the priests threatened the apostles, commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus, yet Peter and John insisted on obeying God’s order instead of men’s. This is truly an example we should follow. We ought not to sacrifice God’s truth for our fear of men. God’s truth should never yield to people. If we humble ourselves before God, we would be honorable in front of others and will be able to lift our heads. If we are too proud to come before God, we will be humbled before others would have to keep our heads down. After disciples prayed together as one, the place where they were meeting was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Lord Jesus said, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18) God’s authority and power is upon us, gentiles will be shocked, and enemy will be frightened. We must pray and let the Holy Spirit fill us. We should speak of God’s words courageously to shake and overturn our families, countries and churches.
Message by Elder Yeh / Summary and response by Jim Lin
