And They Placed Them At The Center

Introduction

Good evening and welcome. Our crowd looks vastly different from this morning. We have visitors who were not with us this morning. We have some of our members who are away who have come back. And it’s good to see all of you. While I said this morning’s lesson and tonight’s lesson are connected in thought, they certainly will stand alone, and you really didn’t miss what this lesson’s about if you did not hear this morning’s sermon. I want to give you the context of the passage that we’re going to be looking at tonight in the book of Acts. And perhaps some of this story is indeed very familiar to you. The story of Jesus has begun to spread in the city of Jerusalem and beyond, like wildfire. As you know, in Acts the second chapter, 3,000 souls were baptized on that great occasion as the first sermon is preached by Peter and the apostles.

And beyond that, this miraculous healing takes place in chapter 3 of a man who had been lame from birth. I have another whole sermon revolving around this text. This man who’s who’s begging alms. And he’s begging alms of Peter and John. And they said, Well, silver and gold we do not have, but we what we do have we give to you in the name of Jesus the Nazarene. Arise and walk. And I love the passage where it says that he leaped up. He stood upright with a leap and began to walk. And he was walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him, walking and praising God. And they were taking note of him that he used to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple to beg alms.

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. And so we have the noise as a mighty rushing wind falling upon the disciples, and everybody rushing to the temple area. The first sermon is preached, and 3,000 are baptized, and then this miracle that everyone in town knew was the lame man that they had seen before, who is now walking and leaping and praising God, and this gives occasion to another message. And it says in verses 11 and 12, and while he was clinging to Peter and John, and notice he’s clinging to them, so thankful for the healing that he’s received. All the people ran together to them, full of amazement. And when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this?

Or why do you gaze at us? As if by our own power or piety we made him walk. And so this began another opportunity for Peter to preach. And he will conclude in verse 19. Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. In verse 26, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways. No small stir. If I can use the words of the incident in Ephesus and Acts 19 and verse 23, no small stir is occurring in regard to the story of Jesus. In fact, Acts chapter 4 and verse 4 says that the number of men who have come to believe, just the men, is numbering around 5,000 already.

And that leads to the text that I want to share with you from Acts chapter 4. A great meeting now convenes. These unlearned Galilean fishermen, Peter and John, spearheading this movement along with the other motley crew around them, the other apostles, are now brought into the presence of the religious elite to answer for the stir that they have created. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. And then the passage about the 5,000 men.

In verse 5, it says, and it came about on the next day that the rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem. And Annas, the high priest was there. And Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high priestly descent. And when they had placed them in the center. They began to acquire, inquire. By what power or in what name have you done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to you, to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.

By this name, this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which became the very cornerstone. And there is no their salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. Now, as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. And seeing the man that they had healed, they could offer no reply. And they would ultimately tell them to not speak anymore in the name of Jesus. And the apostle said, We cannot stop speaking what we have seen or heard.

And so I want you to imagine this meeting. As the apostles are brought in, and all the attention is placed upon them. I want you to imagine this scene. Here are sitting the heavyweights. Annas and Caiaphas and John and Alexander. And here they are sitting in the center. They bring the apostles in the center of this room. And they’re going to have a powwow, a big meeting about what’s taking place in the city of Jerusalem. Who are these men? Before whom the apostles are called on the carpet. Annas. And Caiaphas. John. And Alexander. Some would suggest that this Alexander, Josephus reports, was a man of great repute and was also a descendant of Annas, the high priest. Annas was not officially serving as the high priest.

He was removed by Valerius Gratus about ten years before the ministry of Jesus began. And was replaced by his son-in-law, Caiaphas, who was installed in his place. But the Jews considered Annas to be the high priest. In fact, Luke even says that John began preaching in the wilderness during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. So highly respected he was by the Jews, even though removed politically from that position by the Romans.

And Caiaphas figures prominently in the Gospel of John, as we noticed in our study of that book not very long ago, that Caiaphas even predicted the death of Jesus, that it was expedient for one man to die for the people in John chapter 11, verses 51 and 52. And when the trial of Jesus precedes, he is brought to Caiaphas. Caiaphas leads him to Annas, and when Annas gives the sentence, brings him back to Caiaphas, because Caiaphas has to be the one to take him to Pilate. Because he is the official high priest according to the Roman government. Well, the only one that leaves out in this scenario is John. And according to Lightfoot, that in all probability, John is to be associated with a fellow in the Talmud called Jochanan Ben Zeki, who was very famous in the Jewish nation, and it suggested that this man lived to be 120 years old, and that when he died, wisdom died with him.

And supposedly, when Jesus died upon the cross and things happened at the temple, that the doors, not only was the veil torn in the midst, but the door swung open to the temple, and that he quoted Zachariah, the passage about Lebanon that begins Zachariah chapter 10, and says that there was a prophecy regarding the destruction of the temple.

1. The Grave Danger of an Overinflated View of Self

And we have them and the apostles in the center of this great meeting that’s called because of what’s going on in the city of Jerusalem. I want to focus on these men who were in the center of this room with the apostles during this meeting. And I want to make three observations about these fellows that I think are important. Number one, the grave danger of an overinflated view of self. These guys thought pretty highly of themselves. And that’s why the apostles had to answer to them. They’re the religious leaders of the Jews. And this movement is growing, and because they thought so much of themselves, this led to envy. In fact, Pilate knew that it was because of envy that they had delivered Jesus, Matthew chapter 27 and verse 18 says.

And the fact is, as Peter and James and John are placed in the center of this meeting, guess who’s no longer at the center of things religiously? These men of great repute. Annas and Caiophas and John and Alexander. And so here they come in, and they were once the attention of the religious masses, but now the attention is focused on these uneducated and untrained men who are performing miracles and speaking in the name of Jesus, the name by which all men must be saved. And so these men, though in the center of this meeting, now find themselves on the religious periphery. And they did not like it. Remember when Jesus told the story about the parable of the Pharisee and the publican? He told it why.

According to Luke 18 and verse 9, because the Jews thought too highly of themselves, and they held others in contempt. That would be these religious leaders. How could these religious men succumb to pride? There are so many passages that encourage us toward humility. And that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble, James chapter 4 and verse 6, that we are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. And you young men need to humble yourselves. Clothe yourselves with humility. 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 5 and 6. Why are there so many admonitions in that vein? Because this is a very natural area in which to fail. Especially when one receives accolade and recognition or believes that I have achieved something.

These men, these four men who are at the center of this meeting along with the apostles, they saw themselves as having achieved. They were the religious elite. They were the knowledgeable ones. They were more knowledgeable than others and say, you know, I’m going to talk about their knowledge in a long time. I’ve been through a lot of services. I’ve been through a lot of Bible classes. I have a lot of understanding of the scripture. This would be a particular problem. Could it not be for preachers? And even elders. Because of the attention and recognition that they sometimes get. I mean, hey, man, I have a fan club. Didn’t you know that? Christina. She’s the leader of my fan club. And if I get discouraged, I just need to go talk.

She’s, she’s in it. And Denise is in my fan club. Kyle’s mom. Kyle’s not here today. And these people are always trying to lift me up, and many of you encourage me and say nice things. Some of you have even said, I’m your favorite preacher. That’s because you can’t remember the last guy you heard. And you don’t remember, that’s the best sermon I’ve ever heard. Well, you couldn’t remember the one that was preached three years ago by Brother So-and-so. It’s the best one you’ve heard lately.

And so when you receive achievement and recognition. And when you think your knowledge is so much more than everybody else, you can be lifted up with pride. But let me tell you who the real knowledgeable person is. The real knowledgeable person of the scripture is not the one who can quote the most, who can explain to you the in-depth meaning of certain passages and how it all fits together, and all of that’s important. Very important. But the most knowledgeable person of the scripture is the one who can most consistently apply it in his or her life. It’s not necessarily the best teacher. Or the one who is accumulated the most facts, who can quote the most verses. The most knowledgeable person in the world is the one who most consistently applies the message of truth in his or her life.

And pride prevents not only fellowship with God, but a precise understanding of his will because pride interferes with us seeing ourselves in relation to God’s will. I think we make a mistake when we talk about pride when we only think about the conceited person. The one who is so full of himself and is always talking about self and elevating self like in one of my favorite Disney movies. And if you haven’t let your kids watch this lately, you really should.

Everybody in the town is singing about Gaston. No one says no to Gaston. Every guy here would love to be Gaston. Even when taking your lumps, there’s no man in town as mired as you.

No one’s quick as Gaston, and no one’s neck is as incredibly thick as Gaston. For there’s no man in town half as manly, perfect, a pure paragon. And then he chimes in as a specimen. I’m intimidating. And then the Bimbetes, whoever they are, say, for there’s no one as burly and brawny. As you see, I’ve got biceps to spare, Gaston says. Not a bit of him scraggly or scrotty, says Lafal. That’s right, says Gaston. And every last inch of me is covered with hair. The chorus, no one hits like Gaston, matches wits like Gaston. In a spitting match, nobody spits like Gaston. And he says, I’m especially good at expectorating. And so here is this wonderful visage of this strong and burly man. No one is like Gaston, and he agrees.

Well, when we think of pride and conceit, that’s the kind of thing we think about. But that’s not always the idea. This can simply be the person who thinks his or her judgment is always right. And is always better than everybody else’s, though they may hold a minority position among the Lord’s people. This is the person who cannot allow another person’s opinion to reign over theirs, even if it’s better. This is the person who spends most of their time thinking about serving themselves, entertaining themselves, and rarely pushes himself or herself to do other things for other people and to deny themselves. This is the person who flaughts defiance against the will of God as a good thing and persists in rebellion and thinks everybody should just get on board with that.

2. The Great Pitfall of Religious Deception

You see, pride is more than just a conceit that says, Everybody look at me. It’s about everything revolving around me. And that I’m at the center of everything. I’m at the center of my universe, and I need to be at the center of your universe, too. And that kind of pride, an overinflated view of self, is destructive. No wonder, as we’ve been studying in Jared’s class in Ephesians 4, about walking worthy of the vocation wherewith you have been called, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. We have this verse too, right in the middle. With all humility and gentleness and patience, showing forbearance to one another in love. That may be the key to the whole thing. Secondly, as I consider this meeting that’s taking place, and right at the heart of it, you have these four men who have been brought in and the apostles brought in, and this is at the center of what’s going on.

I think there’s a message here about the great pitfall of religious deception. These guys, they didn’t walk into that meeting and say, well, we’re deceived, but we’ve got to keep up appearances. They think they’re right. This happens to people in our culture all the time. They think they’re right. But they’re either missing important information in that conclusion or they’re ignoring some of the information. It’s the truth that sets free. If we abide in Jesus’ word, then we are his disciples, John chapter 8, verses 31 and 32. And I’ll just tell you about these four guys. They were not ignorant of the text. They knew their Bibles. They had come to incorrect conclusions about the Messiah, and there wasn’t anybody who was going to tell them otherwise, and certainly not these Galilean fishermen.

Because after all, we’re better than them. We’re not going to listen to them. We’re older than them. We’ve been around longer than they have. What could these upstarts, these uneducated and untrained men, what can they tell us about anything? Notice how the danger of an overinflated view of self, an improper view of self, leads to the pitfall of religious deception. Well, how are we going to avoid this? We always need to ask, do I have all the facts? Am I being honest with the text? Am I allowing preconceived notions and traditions to keep me from accepting what the text is actually saying? Do I think I have nothing to learn anymore? Or that I know it all? Am I being honest about my thinking and character in relation to what God’s will is?

I think we learn this. That God’s favor in the past does not necessarily guarantee his favor in the present. These men may have been humble servants of God at one point in their lives. I would have a hard time imagining them ascending to the positions that they now held. If they did not garner some respect, if they did not perhaps at some point have been a lot more humble than they are now. But even if that’s not the case for these four men, I still think this is a valid and important point. Some people rest on the laurels of the, I was baptized in the Christ back in 1976, and because that was so, I’m still accepted by God today. I’m one of his people. We don’t believe in one saved always, do we?

3. The Short-Lived Tenure of Our Efforts Here

We talk about that all the time. How book after book in the New Testament says that doctrine is not true, and yet some people act like it’s true. Just because we found ourselves in a right relationship with God in the past does not guarantee that it is so in the presence. In the present. Be aware. And thirdly, I see in this meeting and finally tonight, the short-lived tenure of our efforts here. These men who were so full of themselves and saw themselves as the most devout people of God, as we said this morning. Where are they now?

No wonder David said, Lord, make me to know my end and how transient I am. He said, Help me to know just how short-lived my time here is. Or as he said in Psalm 37, 25, I have been young and now I am old. Wow, that doesn’t take long now, does it? As we talked about this morning. But he has not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread. That’s been true all the way along. I have been young and now I’m old. Help me to see how transient I am. David says this. He becomes, we read about him becoming an old man in Scripture. And he has the Shunammite girl that has to come in and warm his feet at night. We see David advancing into old age, but he has long since passed.

David hasn’t walked on this earth for three thousand years. As the apostles were placed at the center of this meeting, and these men were at the center of this meeting. And it’s so intense. And these upstart fishermen and this motley crew of disciples are now wielding more influence than these pompous religious leaders. The intensity of this meeting.

The world have come here also. I’ll tell you whose world they were upsetting. It was Annas and Caiaphas and John and Alexander. And of course, so many others. But where are they now? Where are these men now? Like in Antioch in Acts 13, where the Jews, Paul would reason with the Jews first, and then he would go into the Gentiles. That became his pattern as he went from city to city. It says that the Jews would judge themselves unworthy of eternal life. Tragically, that’s most likely what these men who used to be at the center of things. They most likely reside in torment, along with the rich man of Luke 16. And if they’re at the center of anything, it is the ongoing suffering of being lost in their sins.

In 1990, an ornate ossuary bearing the bones of an approximately 60 year old man was found outside Jerusalem. Archaeologists believe they are the bones, ossuaries associated with bones, however. You didn’t know that. I didn’t until Sherry told me on the bones inside this box are the bones of Caiaphas that we read about here in Acts chapter 4. On the side of the box is marked Yhosaich Bar Kayapha, Joseph, son of Caiaphas, which was his official name. Here he is in this meeting. He has been placed as the high priest by the Roman government in 18 A.D. It’s now roughly just after 30 A.D. And Peter and James and John and these fishermen have started this movement. And people are taking their attention off them and on this new movement associated with Jesus the Nazarene.

And so here are these men in this meeting. Caiaphas has less than six years before he’s going to be removed from office by the Syrian governor Vitelius. According to Josephus, the high priests from the family of Annas were heartless when they sit in judgment. And so they were here. As ultimately they would persecute these men.

And it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 1 and 2. Our business is simply to pass Jesus’ story along to the next generation so that they can carry the torch for him. And that’s just the thing. It’s a torch for him and not for us. I’m just one tiny person in the whole scheme of things who have been blessed enough to gain access to God and membership and citizenship in his kingdom. We are to serve the purpose of God in our generation, Acts chapter 13 and verse 36. And this is the message of Haggai and Zachariah that we’ve studied. Haggai several months ago and Zachariah that we’re studying now. What we’re called upon to do, regardless of our circumstances, regardless of the opposition, regardless of the fact that these people in the days of Zachariah lived 500 years before all of the things that Zachariah is talking about in the Messiah are going to come about.

And these dramatic events that we’re reading about in the book of Acts. But these people are still serving in God’s plan. And they have a job to do, and that’s build the temple. And to be, and to lead spiritual lives as the remnant who have returned from captivity, their business and our business is simply to render humble, obedient service as we’re passing Jesus’ story along, and that comes with it tremendous responsibility. And we’re to encourage others to do the same, to give the cup of cold water that encourages the little ones, so that we in no wise lose our reward. And we can humbly and patiently, as we read in Ephesians chapter 4, work out our differences, if we will be lowly in mind and tremble at God’s word and subject ourselves to one another in the name of Christ.

It’s not about making a name for ourselves, but extolling and exalting the name of Jesus. And not worrying about the rewards and the recognition that men give. We need to allow Jesus to dole out the recognition and the rewards at the proper time.

Conclusion

They mean more to me all the time. And it’s in the story, stories of the seven churches in Revelation chapter 2 and Revelation chapter 3, after he’s talked about knowing the deeds of each of these seven local churches, a lot of it not what he wanted it to be. Some of it very much what he wanted to be, like in Smyrna in Philadelphia, he challenges each of those churches to face the circumstances that they have, to do so in faith, and to overcome the challenges that are present before them. I don’t know what the letter would read if Jesus sent one to us right now. I don’t know what all he would say, but I do know this. Whatever challenges we face, he’s telling us to overcome.

And he’s promising. If you do that, as he tells the church at Ephesus, I will grant to you to eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God. Do we really want people to exalt us and put us on a pedestal and think we’re something great and special? Is that really all that important? I’d rather have this. The regard of men are a place at the tree of life in the paradise of God. Or he says to the second church, be faithful unto death, and I’ll give you a crown of life. Or the third, I will give you a new name, which no one knows except he who receives it. You know, I have a lot of questions about that. It’s pretty cool, though.

I think it’s the idea of having and sustaining a relationship with God that is unique to you. That’s unlike everything else. I mean, it’s personal, is the idea. Authority over the nations and a morning star. These are the things promised to the overcomers. I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess it before my Father. As we said this morning, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne. I don’t know what kind of impression we’re going to make on each other, or how much or how greatly we’re going to be respected by others. It really doesn’t matter if everybody rejects you if you receive this.

If you receive heaven’s approval. You see, the problem with these religious leaders is they love the approval of men more than they love the approval of God. John chapter 12, verses 42 and 43. This is what we need to focus on. Not how men regard us, but how heaven regards us. The power.

To the uttermost. He who humbles himself shall be exalted. That’s what he said. And now he sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and he is King of kings and Lord of Lords, and He will be our judge. Let’s make sure in our hearts that he’s at the center and not ourselves. Because when we place ourselves at the center, that’s when things start to go awry spiritually. That’s when we had favor with him in the past and not favor with him in the present. Let us continually work to humble ourselves and place him in the rightful place in our hearts, in ourselves subservient to him. And that’s where it begins. That’s where one becomes a child of the king. You humble yourself and let him reign in your heart and life.

And if you need to make that decision and choice tonight, we’re here to assist you. Let’s stand and sing together.