No Other Name
Text: Acts 4:1-22
Core Idea: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. If you believe this, let’s courageously go and declare this truth to the world, knowing that the gospel is unstoppable.
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, Lighthouse. It is great to see you. I want to welcome all of you, but especially our Tugboat and Anchor friends, as they will be joining us for the whole service today. Now, the reason we do this is because we firmly believe that though they may not understand everything that goes on here, they are being shaped by what they see and hear. As they see people lifting their voices in praise, bowing their heads in prayer, and trembling at the Word of God, they’re learning that worship is not for our entertainment but an expression of our love and devotion to the Lord – that we don’t worship to get something out of God but to give Him the glory He deserves. Then, what we do here is not just about keeping families together on Sunday – it’s more about passing down the passion for God’s glory from one generation to the next so that they, too, will set their hope in Him and not forget His works. Now, to help our children engage a little more, we’ll take a break from our current sermon series and follow the curriculum that the Tugboat ministry is currently going through. So, please open your Bibles to Acts 4:1-22. But before I invite Abi to read this, let me quickly give you the context because we’re picking up from the middle of an ongoing story. In Acts 3, we read about the healing of a lame man begging at the temple gate. Peter said in Acts 3:6, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And that’s exactly what happened – the man stood up, walked into the temple, and praised the Lord. Now, those in the temple were understandably shocked – so Peter took this opportunity to share about the power of God and the gospel with them. And that’s where we pick up today. Then, let me invite Abi up – and she’ll read this for us.
1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand. 5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” 13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” 18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to Him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.”
Thank you, Abi, for reading the passage for us. And children, I hope the video helped you to visualize the story. Then, let’s look at this more closely under three headings.
· THE ARREST
· THE QUESTIONING
· THE VERDICT
1) THE ARREST
Verse 1 tells us that the Jewish leaders (the Pharisees and the Sadducees) came with the captain of the temple guard to put a stop to what Peter and John were doing because they were greatly disturbed. What were they doing that bothered these leaders so much? Verse 2, “Because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” One thing you have to keep in mind is that it must have been only 2-3 months since Jesus was crucified – and yet here were these apostles proclaiming that Jesus was alive. Then, these leaders must have thought, “Why are we still talking about Jesus? Wasn’t He killed on the cross? Didn’t we make sure that He was dead? Then, why are they spreading fake news? How dare they mock God and mislead the people?” Verse 3, “[So] they seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.” But the “damage” had already been done – verse 4, “Many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.” Considering that around three thousand were added to the church on the Pentecost, close to two thousand people came to believe Jesus after witnessing the lame man walk. And we’re only counting men – which means that if we count the women and children, the number could be doubled. These religious leaders wanted to stop the gospel, but the gospel was unstoppable. They wanted to silence the gospel, but the gospel spread all the more.
What can we learn from this? Well, it reminds us that the world will continually try to silence us. Why? Because they hate the message of the gospel. The truth is that the gospel is incredibly offensive to the world. Let me explain. In a world that says, “You should follow your heart,” the gospel says, “You should never follow your heart, for it’s divided, depraved, and delusional.” In a world that says, “Love yourself and do what you think is best,” the gospel says, “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus.” In a world that says, “Try your best to be good,” the gospel says, “You can never be good apart from Christ.” In a world that says, “All religions offer a path to salvation,” the gospel says, “Jesus is the only way to life.” In a world that takes pride in its self-sufficiency, the gospel calls us to be dependent on the work of Christ on the cross. In a world that values autonomy, the gospel calls us to submit to the lordship of Christ. In a world that prizes possession, power, and pleasure, the gospel calls us to abandon worldly ambitions and place our hope in the One who is to come. No wonder the world hates the gospel. No wonder people accuse us of being arrogant, intolerant, and narrow-minded. Friends, if you follow Christ, you will be hated. I know that this is not the best way to promote our faith, but I’m not going to hide it because I don’t want you to be surprised later. You may not be harmed physically, but you could certainly get ridiculed, humiliated, labeled as foolish, unjustly treated at work, and pressured to compromise your beliefs and actions. Your reputation may be tarnished – and you may be excluded from your social groups. All that to say, Christians will be hated by the world. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
Not too long ago, someone relayed a message she had received from a Christian in Kyrgyzstan – and this is what it said: “On January 21, 2025, a new law was passed in my country prohibiting gatherings in homes without official registration. Additionally, preaching is now restricted to local citizens who hold a recognized theological diploma. Currently, nationwide raids are taking place. According to our information, more than 80 people have already been detained and fined heavily. Our church did not have its own building or registration. We rented a house for our gatherings, but now, meeting there is no longer allowed. This situation also directly affects our Bible study meetings. Please pray for the safety of all churches, for the courage of believers, and for wisdom and peace in their hearts. May this situation strengthen the faith of God’s people and deepen their knowledge of His Word.” This is the reality of many Christians around the world. By the way, we should most definitely intercede for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted for their faith. We need to stand with them because the world will continue to use fear as a way to intimidate and stop Christians from sharing and living out the gospel. In fact, that’s exactly what we see in our text as well. Later in the story, we’ll see these leaders threatening Peter and John – telling them to stay quiet. Now, what’s amazing is that the gospel could not be stopped. Peter and John continued to preach the gospel wherever they went. And countless Christians, after them, took the baton and continued the work of spreading the gospel – which means that the gospel will continue to remain unstoppable. It’s true that things will become more difficult for Christians as more people challenge our beliefs and try to drown out our voices. But don’t let fear silence you. As you trust in God’s sovereignty, as you seek strength from the Lord, proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for He alone is the hope of the world – but more on this later. So, that’s the first point – we will be hated, but we don’t have to be discouraged, knowing that the gospel is unstoppable.
2) THE QUESTIONING
Verse 5 begins in the courtroom with an impressive assembly of leaders – the rulers, the elders, and the teachers of the law all gathering to watch this trial. And if that wasn’t enough to intimidate Peter and John, Annas the high priest (the one who had the highest religious authority, the one who oversaw temple worship, the one who stood as a mediator between God and His people) was there – well, technically, he’s the former high priest since he appointed Caiaphas, his son-in-law, to take over the role. Not only that, but there were also others like John and Alexander who were influential leaders at the time. All that to say, this was a show of force – they wanted Peter and John to know who was in charge. Interestingly, this was the same group that was involved in the trial of Jesus. Jesus was first interrogated by Annas (Jn. 18:12-14) – then, He was sent to Caiaphas, the acting high priest, to be put on a trial (Mk. 14:53-65) where He was sentenced to death for claiming to be the Son of God. The point is that they hated Jesus – they saw Him as a threat. No wonder they hated Peter and John as well. I’m sure there was great hostility in the courtroom.
Verse 7 – the Jewish leaders asked, “By what power or what name did you do this?” This wasn’t an innocent question – they were basically saying, “We didn’t authorize this. Then, under whose authority did you perform this healing?” It was meant to put Peter and John in their place – but it turns out that it was the wrong question to ask because they would be met with true power. Verse 8, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ.’” Many of us want to experience the power of God in our lives – we want to witness miracles because we believe that only then will our non-believing friends come to Christ. But here, we see that God’s power wasn’t displayed through a miracle – instead, it was displayed through the preaching of the Word. Peter must have known the risk of defending Jesus. But he didn’t shrink back. He didn’t mince words. He spoke boldly because he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. This is so important to see because it tells us that when we courageously and clearly share the gospel, God’s power will be displayed through the message, for God’s Word has the power to breathe new life and bring about transformation in the hearers. Then, let me ask you, “Are you making yourself available for God to display His power through you? Are you responding to the leading of the Holy Spirit who wants to use you to bring the gospel to your non-believing friends?”
Now, Peter could’ve stopped right there – “It is by the name of Jesus Christ.” This was a sufficient answer to their question. But he decided to press on – he wasn’t going to pass this opportunity to preach the gospel even to these hostile leaders. So, he added this in verse 10, “Jesus Christ whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.” He was basically saying, “Yes, you killed Him, but that’s not the end of the story, for God raised Him up from the grave. And it’s in the name of this risen Jesus that we healed this man. In fact, let me tell you who He really is.” Verse 11, “Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’” This is a direct quotation from Psalm 118:22. Now, Psalm 118 is a psalm that celebrates the Passover. If you’re not familiar with the Passover, it’s a festival instituted by God to commemorate Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery – which involved the sacrifice of a spotless lamb. The blood was applied to the doorposts of Israelite homes – causing God’s judgment to pass over them. In other words, this psalm is about a great reversal – how their pain was turned into joy and how human rejection was turned into divine reception. Then this is what the image of stone means. Imagine there were a bunch of stones piled up on a worksite – and masons were choosing stones in order to assemble a beautiful building. When they came to a certain stone, they just chucked it to the side and said, “This is useless. We won’t even use that for a doorstop.” But when God saw the stone, He said, “This will be the cornerstone – the foundational stone to the building I’m about to build.” A cornerstone is the most important stone because it supports the weight of the entire structure and guides workers to align all other stones in a straight line. Then, the Israelites were basically saying, “We were the stone that nobody wanted. But we’ve become the cornerstone not because we’re great but because God is” – no wonder they said in Psalm 118:23, “The LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” Now, Peter was claiming that this verse was being fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. Here’s what he was saying, “You thought Jesus was a nobody. You thought He was expendable. You thought you could just get rid of Him because He was an inconvenience to your plans and power. Well, the stone you rejected, God made it the Cornerstone to His salvation plan.” Verse 12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Peter boldly proclaimed that Jesus is the only way to life.
Now, if you’re wondering why that is the case, it’s because the greatest problem of mankind is none other than sin. Even though God had created us to live in harmony with Him, to live under His rule, for He knew what was best for us, in our pride, we rebelled against Him and did what we thought was right. But this only led us to destruction and darkness – in fact, Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” This was our fate. There was no way out of this. We all deserved to die – but God. Because of His extravagant love for us, God did not treat us as our sins deserved but graciously made a way for us by sending Christ to become sin for us. Jesus came to stand in our place – to pay the debt of our sin and satisfy the wrath of God so that we may be forgiven and set free. No wonder “salvation is found in no one else.” God did not send His Son to be one of many equally valid options. No, He sent His Son to die on the cross because there was no other way.
Then, let me take this moment to speak to our non-believing friends. First of all, we’re really glad that you’re here – and I’m so thankful that you had an opportunity to hear the gospel story. But I want to press on a bit more by asking, “With all that you heard, what do you make of this stone? Where does this stone go in the building of your life?” In fact, Jesus once asked His followers the same question – Matthew 16:13-15, “When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ He asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’” We live in a world that says many things about Jesus – some will say that He’s a good teacher, and others will say that He was a wise leader, but rarely will anyone say He’s a God who is to be worshiped. But listen to what C.S. Lewis said: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic or else He would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” Then, let me ask you again, “Who do you say He is?” Friends, you cannot save yourself. Your parents can’t save you. Your friends can’t save you. Your good deeds can’t save you. You, not being as bad as the person beside you, can’t save you. Feeling sorry for your sins can’t save you. Giving money to the church can’t save you. Going to church faithfully can’t save you. Faith in Christ is the only means of salvation, for He’s the Cornerstone of God’s salvation plan. I understand if you might be offended by this – but this is the truth we believe in. And if I truly believe this, how can I stay silent? Then, I invite you to put your faith in Him today. Turn from your sinful ways and give your life to Him. If you’re not sure what that means or you want to know more about it, come find me or talk to the friend who brought you here. We would love to tell you more about it.
3) THE VERDICT
Verse 13, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished.” Now, the word “unschooled” doesn’t mean that they were illiterate – that can’t be true since Peter and John both wrote a number of books in the NT. Then, it’s better to understand it to mean that they were not trained as rabbis – which means that they were basically amazed by the fact that Peter and John were able to speak so eloquently, clearly, and fearlessly even though they were uneducated. “Where did they get this knowledge? How are they able to speak with so much conviction and power?” The rest of verse 13 explains, “They took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Isn’t that amazing? They could only conclude that Peter and John’s insight into God’s Word and their boldness must have come from the fact that they spent time with Jesus. Then, this is what I desire for all of us – that when people see us do certain things like be overly gracious to others, be generous in helping the poor, be hopeful in times of sorrow, be courageous to preach the gospel in opposition, be faithful even when others push us to compromise, they’ll just say, “Oh, that’s because he’s a Christian. She does that because she believes in Jesus.” Now, they may be saying it more sarcastically – as a way to mock us. But for us, there’s no greater compliment than that – that the only explanation for all that we do is because we’ve been with the Lord.
Either way, the religious leaders had a huge problem – verse 14, “Since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.” They couldn’t say, “We don’t believe that there’s power in the name of Jesus” because the one who had been healed was in the courtroom. But they needed to be stopped. Verse 18, “[So] they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” That was their solution. They couldn’t beat them for healing a person – and they couldn’t deny the power of Jesus. So, they decided to just threaten them with fear – “You better not talk about Jesus anymore, or else.” The truth is that this message has been echoed in every culture, in every corner of the world throughout human history. Even today, you can say whatever you want as long as it’s not in the name of Jesus. Whenever you do, people want to shut you down. Then this is a timely word for us because it shows us how we should respond.
Peter said in verse 19, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to Him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” He was basically saying, “Well, you guys are judges – so you be the judge of this. What’s better – to do what you say or do what God says? Think about it. Why would I be silent when God called me to speak? Why would I fear you when the God who created the heavens and the earth is with me? So, no matter what you say, I’m never going to stop talking about Jesus and His work on the cross because there really is no salvation apart from Him.” Brothers and sisters, do you truly believe that Jesus is the only way to life? This is so important because think about it – if you believe that Jesus alone can save, you’ll do everything in your power to lead people to Him, no matter the cost. Why? Because there’s no other way. “Who cares if I’m labeled as narrow-minded? If I can save the people I love, I’m willing to be called something even worse.” In fact, this is the most loving thing you could do – to remain silent is to hate the person. Do you see that? Now, if you think that Jesus is one of many ways to life, you won’t try that hard. You don’t have to since there are other ways to be saved. Jeremiah 20:9 says, “If I say, ‘I will not mention His word or speak anymore in His name,’ His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” May this be true in your life today – that there will be this burning desire to proclaim the gospel in you, knowing that Christ is the only way to life. Don’t underestimate what you can do for the Lord – if these “uneducated” apostles were able to do amazing things for the Lord, we as ordinary Christians can also do the same with the power of the Holy Spirit in us. So, let’s press on, knowing that our labor is not in vain.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Do you truly believe this? If so, let’s courageously go and declare this truth to the world, knowing that the gospel is unstoppable.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Why were the Jewish leaders so disturbed by Peter and John’s message? Why do you think the world finds the gospel offensive? Have you ever felt pressure to stay silent about your faith? How did you respond?
2) Peter boldly proclaimed Jesus as the only way to salvation. Why was this such a radical claim at the time? Why is it still controversial today? How would you respond if someone asked, “Why do you believe Jesus is the only way?”
3) What does it look like to obey God rather than people in today's world? What are some practical ways we can share the gospel in a world that resists it?