‌Some of you may recall some of the happenings during the final days before the crucifixion of Jesus.

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You may recall that Jesus was betrayed, that He was arrested, and that He stood trial before a group of religious leaders.

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Though today’s sermon is not particularly about that time, I want to go back and look at that for just a moment.

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Listen to what we read in Mark 14:55–58:

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The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they could not find any. For many were giving false testimony against him, and the testimonies did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, stating, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands, and in three days I will build another not made by hands.’”

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So, in this passage, we see Jesus falsely accused, and we see Jesus misrepresented by what He said.

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Well, today we’re going to look at a man named Stephen who committed his life to following Jesus. We’re going to learn that Stephen went through a strikingly similar situation as Jesus, not only in today’s passage but in what will come.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “The Stand of Stephen (Part 1).”

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Before we go any further, let’s pray and ask God to speak to us through His Word.

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(prayer)

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Before we get into the meat of the sermon, remember that Stephen has already been mentioned in Acts. He was mentioned just last week as one of the seven chosen to serve the widows who were part of the church.

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Now, he’s mentioned again in this passage.

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Speaking of the passage, let’s dive into it. Look at Acts 6:8-15:

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8 Now Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Opposition arose, however, from some members of the Freedmen’s Synagogue, composed of both Cyrenians and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia, and they began to argue with Stephen. 10 But they were unable to stand up against his wisdom and the Spirit by whom he was speaking.

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11 Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; so they came, seized him, and took him to the Sanhedrin. 13 They also presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and the law. 14 For we heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.” 15 And all who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at him and saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

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Ok, let’s look at two defining characteristics of this passage.

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First, . . .

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‌I. There was something sinister about the opposition.

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Put yourself in the position of those who opposed the cause of Jesus for just a moment. Not just those in this moment but those all the way back to when Jesus Himself first started ministering.

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They did all that they could to stop Jesus and His ministry, yet they continued to fail, and the ministry of Jesus continued to flourish.

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Then, they went so far as to have Jesus killed, yet Jesus rose from the dead to new life, and His ministry only got stronger.

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Then, after Jesus was gone from the earth, the apostles continued the ministry of Jesus, and God blessed their work. Even after the Jewish leaders questioned the apostles, imprisoned the apostles, threatened the apostles, and beat the apostles, their ministry still continued to thrive.

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Now, it’s not just the apostles who are doing great ministry; even regular people, like this Stephen guy, are doing great ministry in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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Do you think that these guys might be frustrated about their inability to stop the mission of Jesus?

Folks, we have problems in our church.

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Now, don’t get nervous; I’m not saying that we have any major problems. We’ve had major problems in the past, but by God’s grace, we don’t have any major problems now. However, we do have problems.

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We have disagreements from time to time. We have disunity from time to time. We have mishaps, misunderstandings, and miscommunications. We have grumbling, gossip, and griping. We have prideful people, problem people, and pretender people.

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I’ve often told prospective church members, “If you’re looking for a perfect church, don’t come here, because we have imperfect people.”

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Now, again, I’m not saying we have a bad church. God has been so good to our church, and I’m proud of the church that God has shaped us into. However, we do have problems.

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Well, take heart, church: We are not the only church to have problems. All churches have some problems. In fact, we’re going to see that problems are something that the early church encountered in the Book of Acts.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “More People, More Problems.”

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Before we dive into this sermon, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at the passage together, from Acts 6:1-7:

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1 In those days, as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. 2 The Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching the word of God to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 This proposal pleased the whole company. So they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a convert from Antioch. 6 They had them stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

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7 So the word of God spread, the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly in number, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

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Ok, so let’s see what’s going on in this passage and what we can learn for our own lives.

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First, . . .

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‌I. The early church developed problems.

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We see this reality right away in the passage, don’t we?

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Verse 1 says, “ . . . as the disciples were increasing in number, there arose a complaint . . .”

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Now, of course, we know that there had already been a lot of complaints leveled against the apostles and the church, particularly from the Jewish leaders.

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However, the complaint in this passage was different because it wasn’t coming from outside the church; it was coming from inside the church.

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As the followers of Jesus increased in numbers, a complaint arose. More people, more problems.

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By the way, it’s worth noting that most scholars believe a good amount of time passed between what we witness in Acts 5 and Acts 6.

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We don’t know exactly how much time passed, but some say it could have been as much as five years that passed.

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Here’s the point: some time passed, and it gave more time for the disciples of Jesus to increase in number. As those numbers increased, a problem arose.

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Well, what was the problem?

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Luke (the author of Acts) says the Hellenistic (or Greek) Jews complained about the Hebraic (or Hebrew Jews).

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This description might be a little confusing because they were all Jewish. They were all Israelites. They were all Hebrews.

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However, there were some Jews who were more traditional, probably lived in and near Jerusalem, and were more old-school Jewish in terms of cult

Anyone who has served in a leadership position in an organization knows that sometimes you can meeting something to death.

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Sometimes, people have meeting upon meeting upon meeting, only to end up not really getting something accomplished.

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Other times, they may have tons of meetings that end with a terrible decision being made.

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Well, one thing that the Jewish leaders in Acts did a lot was have meetings. A lot of those meetings centered on trying to stop the apostles and the early church from having any success.

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Today’s passage is no exception. However, as you can probably guess, since we’re here in this room today, they were unable to stop the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “The Failure of Fighting Against God.”

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Before we go any further, let’s pray and ask the Lord to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Ok, let’s look at this passage and discover four activities that took place in this time and place.

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First, . . .

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‌I. The leaders were meeting.

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Let’s look at Acts 5:17-18:

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17 Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

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The leaders in Jerusalem were tired of all the success the church was having.

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Luke (the author of Acts) describes them as “filled with jealousy.”

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So, they decided to have another meeting of some of the leaders of Israel. This is what they do; they meet.

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It seems as if this meeting was an impromptu meeting. It seems that they were out and about, and saw the apostles ministering, then they were filled with jealousy.

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So, what do they do? They have a quick meeting and decide to arrest the apostles.

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Notice that the passage says they arrested the “apostles.” It doesn’t single out Peter and John in this passage. So, it is likely more than just Peter and John who are arrested.

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So, what resulted from this meeting was that they arrested the apostles and put them in jail.

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There’s another meeting we’ll read about in just a moment with even more important leaders, but let’s see what happens next.

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Next, . . .

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‌II. The apostles were missing.

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Look at verses 19-24:

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19 But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.” 21 Hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

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When the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin—the full council of the Israelites—and sent orders to the jail to have them brought. 22 But when the servants got there, they did not find them in the jail; so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing in front of the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 As the captain of the temple police and the chief priests heard these things, they were baffled about them, wondering what would come of this.

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We can gather that the first meeting was not an official full meeting.

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However, it resulted in the apostles being jailed overnight until the entire Sanhedrin could gather.

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The first meeting was simply the high priest and some Sadducees. This second meeting involves all the important leaders. This is the big meeting.

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However, there is one major problem now: the apostles were missing.

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You can’t have a big questioning of suspects without any suspects.

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Can you imagine being the person who had to tell the leaders that the apostles were gone?

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The guards probably looked at each other and said, “Uh oh.” “You know those guys that

You may recall that last week we learned about a man who showed tremendous generosity by selling some property he owned and donating the proceeds of that property to the church. That man’s name was Barnabas.

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Well, today, were going to learn about a man (and his wife) who sold some property and donated part of the proceeds to the church, and they ended up dropping dead. Well, what happened? What’s the difference between Barnabas and the other two?

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That’s what we’re going to learn in today’s passage in a sermon entitled “Shock and Awe in the Early Church.”

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Before we go any further, let’s pray together and ask God to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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Today’s passage is taken from Acts 5:1-16. Let’s look at the passage together and then learn what God has to say to us.

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1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. 2 However, he kept back part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge, and brought a portion of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

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3 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? 4 Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.” 5 When he heard these words, Ananias dropped dead, and a great fear came on all who heard. 6 The young men got up, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him.

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7 About three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 “Tell me,” Peter asked her, “did you sell the land for this price?”

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“Yes,” she said, “for that price.”

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9 Then Peter said to her, “Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

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10 Instantly she dropped dead at his feet. When the young men came in, they found her dead, carried her out, and buried her beside her husband. 11 Then great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard these things.

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12 Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. They were all together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them. 14 Believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers—multitudes of both men and women. 15 As a result, they would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

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Well, obviously this is a fascinating story from the Bible; a true story, by the way.

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In the weeks, months, and years that the church first began, we see a lot of shocking and awesome events take place, and we are learning about one of those today.

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So, what’s going on? Well, I want to walk through this story by pointing out two foundational truths about the relationship between God and His church.

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First, . . .

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‌I. God expects purity in His church.

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Plain and simple, the Lord doesn’t mess around when it comes to how much He loves His church.

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The church is called the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Temple of God, and so much more.

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Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.” Jesus gave Himself for the church. Jesus loves the church.

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The church is utterly important to God, and He wants the church to be pure. He doesn’t want the church to be tainted by sin, deceived by false teachers, lied to by liars, or taken advantage of by scoundrels.

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So, we see in this passage that when someone seeks

Perhaps you’ve been in a situation before where something big happened, and you get back with your friends or family, and they ask, “How did it go?” Perhaps it was a job interview, a marriage proposal, or maybe even something that could be dangerous.

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Well, we see a situation in today’s passage where we essentially get the answer to the question, “How did it go?”

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You may remember from last week that Peter and John stood before the important leaders of Israel, and they were being questioned about the healing of a disabled man and their speaking in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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You may recall that the meeting ended with the leaders telling Peter and John not to speak in the name of Jesus, and Peter and John saying that they cannot help but speak about what they had seen and heard.

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In today’s passage, the rest of the disciples will hear about what happened; then we will see how they respond.

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While we hear about what happens, we will see “The Great Traits of the Early Church.”

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Let’s pray together and then see what the Lord has to say to us.

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(prayer)

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Last night my family and I went to celebrate a milestone birthday with my mom, and we were so grateful that my brother was able to go as well (he’s in town for a few days). We went to a wonderful Italian restaurant in Lakeland and just had a great experience. Some of the traits that made this restaurant great were that it had great food, great service, and wonderful portions. Honestly, it was a wonderful time and wonderful way to celebrate my mother. Those traits I mentioned made a great dining experience.

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Well, today we’re going to notice three great traits of the early church, which made them the God-filled, God-glorifying force that they were.

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First, we see their . . .

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‌I. Great faith.

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Let’s begin by looking at verses 23-30:

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23 After they were released, they went to their own people and reported everything the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David your servant:

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Why do the Gentiles rage

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and the peoples plot futile things?

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26 The kings of the earth take their stand

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and the rulers assemble together

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against the Lord and against his Messiah.

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27 “For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 28 to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand for healing, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

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Ok, so let’s wrap our heads around what’s going on here.

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Peter and John report back to the other disciples, and we see in verse 24 that it says, “Whey they heard this . . .”

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The they in verse 24 is the other disciples. They heard what Peter and John said.

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The this in verse 24 is the news about what happened to Peter and John. The this was essentially the answer to the question, “How did it go?”

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Notice also what they did when they got this information. Look at verse 24 again. It says, “ . . . they raised their voices together to God.”

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The reaction of the disciples to what happened to Peter and John (which included threats to never speak about Jesus again) was to raise their voices to God. Why? Because they had great faith in the One True Living God of the universe.

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We see the great faith of the disciples when they acknowledge all that th

We are back in our series called “The Church Unleashed.” Today, we will be in Acts 4:1-22. Go ahead and find your place there in your Bible. The title of today’s sermon is “Compelled by Christ.”

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Since we’ve been out a few weeks, let me give a quick update on what’s going on in Acts before I read the text:

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The book begins with Jesus gathering His followers and telling them that He is leaving, but He will send the Holy Spirit to be with them, and when the Holy Spirit comes, they will receive power and be witnesses for Jesus.

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Then, the Holy Spirit indeed comes, and miraculous and powerful events take place on the day of Pentecost, wonderfully displayed through the many people who respond to Peter’s preaching.

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Then, we see the first church start to take shape as the people come together for prayer, fellowship, generosity, and teaching.

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Then, we see Peter and John heal a lame beggar while Peter powerfully shares a Holy Spirit-filled message and calls the people to repentance.

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That brings us to where we are today. Remember (as I just said), a lame beggar was healed by the power of God, and Peter brought a strong message afterward to explain the power of God. It is that healing and that message which serve as the background for what we’ll learn about in today’s passage.

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So, join me now in Acts 4:1-22:

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1 While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them, 2 because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day since it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

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5 The next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all the members of the high-priestly family. 7 After they had Peter and John stand before them, they began to question them: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”

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8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: 9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing here before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone.

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12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

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13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 After they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign has been done through them, clear to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.” 18 So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

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19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; 20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

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21 After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done. 22 For this sign of healing had bee

Thus far, in this short sermon series called “The Prophecies of Christmas,” we’ve considered “A Miraculous Child” and “A Miraculous Line.”

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Today, we’re going to get directly to the point and learn that the prophecies of Christmas teach us that Jesus is not only a miraculous child, He’s not only from a miraculous line, but He is, in fact, a miraculous God.

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You see, we’ve read this prophecy a few times already during our series. It’s a prophecy that, if it’s true, is absolutely incredible and miraculous.

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The prophecy is Isaiah 7:14, and it says, “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.”

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There’s that word; that name, Immanuel.

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We learn that Immanuel means “God with us.”

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Think about this, church: if God is with us, that is truly miraculous! If God walked among us, that is truly miraculous! If God can relate to our human condition, that is truly miraculous! If Jesus is the one whom Isaiah prophesied, that is truly miraculous!

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Today, we will learn about “A Miraculous God.”

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Before we go any further, let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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As we consider this prophecy from Isaiah 7, let’s see how Matthew connects the dots to help us see that Jesus fulfills this prophecy.

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Let’s look at Matthew 1:18–23: “The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit. So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.”

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See, Matthew makes the connection for us. He says at the end of this passage that what the prophet Isaiah spoke was, at least in part, a reference to the birth of Jesus. The Son who was to be born (that is Jesus) is to be God with us.

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This prophecy and this fulfillment are absolutely amazing.

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So, let us see, from the prophecy, birth, life, and death of Jesus, how God is with us.

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First, we experience . . .

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‌I. God with us in presence.

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In the life and ministry of Jesus, we see God with us in His presence.

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Even before Jesus was born, we see the presence of God when Jesus was being carried in Mary’s womb.

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Let’s look at Luke 1:39–44 to remember this moment. The passage says, “In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and your child will be blessed! How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me.’”

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What’s happening here is that Mary is going to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who is also carrying a baby. We will come to find out that the baby Elizabeth is carrying is John the Baptizer.

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As Mary comes into Elizabeth’s presence, Elizabeth’s baby (John) leaps for joy inside her.

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Elizabeth says to Mary, “How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lor

Some of us know a lot about our family line. Some of us . . . not so much.

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I know on my mom’s side that two Kirkland brothers came down to the Medulla area just after the Civil War and started a new life. From them came many, many Kirklands, of which I am one.

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On the McCraw side, I know that we have a lot of challenges with families staying intact; I hoped to change that legacy in my household.

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Some of you could tell me a lot about your ancestry, and some of you know very little. My wife has done a lot of ancestry work for others, and she is always fascinated and wants to tell me all about other people’s families.

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Family lines are interesting, and sometimes they’re important.

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There is one family line that is very important, and that is the family line of the Messiah, the one who was to come and bring hope to the people of Israel.

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In today’s message, we’re going to continue our series called “The Prophecies of Christmas.” Today, we’re going to learn about “A Miraculous Line.”

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Before we do, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.

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(prayer)

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The line from which the Messiah was to come was very important.

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You see, there were specific prophecies about the Messiah, and the Jewish people knew one way to look for the Messiah was to look for someone who would fit this criteria.

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So, as we dive into these prophecies, let’s pay attention to these important people from Jewish history and how they fit into the miraculous line of Jesus the Messiah.

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By the way, we’ll spend some time in Matthew 1 as we look at the genealogies provided for us to see the family line of Jesus.

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First, we learn that . . .

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‌I. Jesus is from the line of Abraham.

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We see right away in Matthew 1:1–2 “An account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers.”

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So, Jesus is from the line of Abraham, but why does that matter?

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Well, of course, all the Jewish people are from the line of Abraham, as Abraham was the grandfather of a man named Jacob, who would later come to be named Israel.

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So, in short, the Jewish Messiah needed to be Jewish.

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However, there is also a specific prophecy related to the line of Abraham.

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Listen to this prophecy in Genesis 12:1–3: “The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

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Do you hear that last part? God says to Abraham, “All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

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What’s that all about? If you track the history of the Jewish people, they have not really had a global reach to the effect that they have been a blessing to all of the world. In fact, historically, the Jewish people have not always been well-loved by the world. So, what does this mean?

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Of course, if you are listening with your gospel ears, you know that this prophecy can only be fulfilled through the coming of the Messiah, who came not only for the Jewish people to be blessed, but for all the world to be blessed.

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It was through Abraham’s line that Jesus would come, which is why all the world would be blessed through Abraham.

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There would be One who would miraculously come from Abraham, who was greater than Abraham.

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In fact, Jesus said of Himself in John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”

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Jesus was born on the earth much later than Abraham, but He said He was before

It’s pretty amazing that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to the earth, isn’t it?

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It’s pretty amazing that God the Son took human form and came down to the earth, isn’t it?

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It’s pretty amazing that the coming of God in human flesh changed the history of human civilization, isn’t it?

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It’s pretty amazing that Jesus came as a baby, who would grow into a man, who would give His life and rise from the dead so that we can have our sins washed away, isn’t it?

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All these truths are amazing, but what’s also amazing is that not only are these things incredible, but they were also prophesied long before they happened.

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You see, God had a plan from the very beginning to carry out all of these miracles and more, so He spoke to His people through His prophets to predict all that was to come through sending Jesus to the earth. God spoke through “The Prophecies of Christmas.”

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The prophecies that we will look at today concern “A Miraculous Child,” and that’s the title of today’s sermon.

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Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us as we look at these prophecies.

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(prayer)

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This morning, we’re going to look at four specific prophecies concerning the coming of this miraculous child, Jesus Christ.

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Before we do, let’s talk a little bit about what a prophecy is.

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A prophecy is a declaration or a prediction about something God has done or is going to do. It’s been said that prophecy can be forth-telling or foretelling.

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The four prophecies that we are going to look at today are all predictions about something that God was going to do later after these prophecies were given. These are foretelling prophecies.

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First, let’s learn about . . .

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‌I. The prophecy of the virgin.

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Consider this prophecy that came through the prophet Isaiah.

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Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.”

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Here we have a prophecy about a virgin having a child.

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Now, there’s a lot of crazy medical stuff and cultural stuff that’s happening in our world today, but in those days, everyone clearly understood what we’ve seemed to complicate, which is this: it takes a man and a woman to conceive a child.

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Yet, God, through the prophet Isaiah, delivered this message to His people long before Mary was on the earth, long before Joseph was on the earth, and long before Jesus came to the earth.

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The prophecy was this: a virgin woman would have a child, and He is to be a special child. In fact, He is to be named Immanuel, which means “God with us” (more on that name in the weeks to come).

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Well, did this prophecy come true? You better believe it!

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Luke tells us in his account of the life and ministry of Jesus in Luke 1:26–27 “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”

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Mary was a young virgin woman, set to be married to a man named Joseph, and she found out from the Lord that she was to have a child. Yet, she had not been with a man in such a way that she should have a child.

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Still, there she was, preparing to have a child. We are told in Matthew’s gospel, in Matthew 1:20 that an angel says to Joseph, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

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As the angel is still speaking to Joseph, he tells Joseph what kind of child this will be. Then, Matthew helps connect the dots for us, from the prophecy in Isaiah to what would happen at the birth of Jesus.

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The angel says this to Joseph in Matthew 1:21–23 “She will give birth to a son, and you are to name

Last week, we covered the first part of Acts 3 and learned about a powerful miracle done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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In that sermon, I mentioned several times that the miracle from last week pointed to something greater found in the name of Jesus.

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Today’s sermon is entitled “The Source of Life.”

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In today’s passage, Peter is going to explain a bit more about what the greater is that is found in Jesus.

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Let’s look at the passage together, and then we will ask God to speak to us through this passage.

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Look at Acts 3:11-26:

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11 While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astonished, ran toward them in what is called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you. 15 You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.

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17 “And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had predicted through all the prophets—that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning. 22 Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers and sisters. You must listen to everything he tells you. 23 And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people.

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24 “In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring. 26 God raised up his servant and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”

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Let’s pray together before we go any further.

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(prayer)

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We should remember that this miracle happened as Peter and John were going to the temple to pray.

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In today’s passage, the man is now with Peter and John, and people are gathering.

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Notice that they are gathering in a place called Solomon’s Colonnade. This is often called Solomon’s Portico or Solomon’s Porch in other places. We Polk County folks would call it Solomon’s Porch.

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Solomon’s Porch was a great gathering spot as it was a very large porch with a covered roof. Crowds would often gather here to hear people speak.

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This situation is no exception. Peter has something to say, and a crowd has gathered to hear him.

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Well, let’s hear more about what Peter has to say. There’s a lot going on in this passage, so let’s ask three questions that will hopefully help us understand what God wants to communicate to us.

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First, . . .

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‌I. Who caused this miracle?

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We see in verse 11 that this man who was raised to walk, after never having walked before, is holding on to Peter and John.

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As he is hanging around Peter and John, people are running over to see what happened.

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