Pastor Gary L. Cox
We have been discussing what it means to be a disciple and watching and waiting for the Lord’s return. We’ve been looking at it in a little more practical standpoint, what the Scripture teaches should be the evidence of our watching and waiting as we’re waiting for His return. I have sort of another introduction. Last week I got through my introduction and then I didn’t get to my message. So I said I would shorten my message this week but of course you have to introduce your message and so I have a new introduction this week and hopefully it won’t keep me from getting to my message again.
If you’ll open your Bibles to Acts chapter 4 the discussion that we were directly in centers around following the Lord. What does it mean to follow the Lord? Acts chapter 4 is a good illustration of some of the aspects of following the Lord as the early church began and was founded upon, some of the aspects of following the Lord. So if you’ll open your Bibles to Acts chapter 4 and beginning at verse 1, I’ll read the chapter in its entirety especially for the children’s sake and then make my introductory comments and then we’ll get back to the Gospels, Lord permitting. Chapter 4 verse 1, “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put [them] in hold unto the next day:for it was now eventide. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, [even] by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other:for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them [is] manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny [it]. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people:for all [men] glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed. And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou [art] God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings:and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:neither said any [of them] that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus:and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked:for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid [them] down at the apostles’ feet:and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation) a Levite, [and] of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold [it], and brought the money, and laid [it] at the apostles’ feet.”
I find this passage real interesting in our discussion of discipleship and following the Lord. I’m using it as a means of general introduction to the discussion this morning.
There’s a particular point of reference here that is of extreme usefulness to us especially in the world that we live within. One of the things that we reckon with as we’re talking about discipleship and following the Lord, we have to reckon really what it means to be a disciple. And this morning I’m going to go back to the Gospels and I have about nine things that Jesus taught on discipleship and I hope to touch those nine points in the context of the Gospels. It’s interesting to notice here that now the Lord has gone back to Heaven and here we see the disciples at work and the apostles and they’re busy about that which the Lord called them to do and there’s some substance here that is significant in terms of our understanding. If I could just take a moment and have you consider what was taking place in the minds of those people who were intentionally refusing the instruction of the Gospel, namely the priests and the Sadducees and the rulers. If you think about what’s taking place here these rulers are in a momentary place of being beside themselves with what to do with these followers of Jesus.
These followers of Jesus have substantial evidence in their life that speak of things beyond which the priests can touch. It is out of their reach. It’s clear that the objective goal of the chief priests and the Sadducees and the Pharisees, those goals are the same right now as they were when this same counsel gathered together and put Christ to death. In terms of time table we may be talking of perhaps forty days, fifty days, sixty days, somewhere in that vicinity of just two to three months maximum from the time that Christ had been crucified. So we’re talking about a very narrow frame of time. And here we find this group of leaders who sat together and condemned Christ, they’re sitting there in connection with dealing with Christ again. But now on a new term. Now under the claim of being resurrected and under the obvious continuance of the power of Christ. And the thought that strikes me, I have a little word in my notes, but the thought that strikes me is the thundering of the silence of God in His work.
Pastor Gary L. Cox
We have been discussing what it means to be a disciple and watching and waiting for the Lord’s return. We’ve been looking at it in a little more practical standpoint, what the Scripture teaches should be the evidence of our watching and waiting as we’re waiting for His return. I have sort of another introduction. Last week I got through my introduction and then I didn’t get to my message. So I said I would shorten my message this week but of course you have to introduce your message and so I have a new introduction this week and hopefully it won’t keep me from getting to my message again.
If you’ll open your Bibles to Acts chapter 4 the discussion that we were directly in centers around following the Lord. What does it mean to follow the Lord? Acts chapter 4 is a good illustration of some of the aspects of following the Lord as the early church began and was founded upon, some of the aspects of following the Lord. So if you’ll open your Bibles to Acts chapter 4 and beginning at verse 1, I’ll read the chapter in its entirety especially for the children’s sake and then make my introductory comments and then we’ll get back to the Gospels, Lord permitting. Chapter 4 verse 1, “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put [them] in hold unto the next day:for it was now eventide. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, [even] by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other:for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them [is] manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny [it]. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people:for all [men] glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was shewed. And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou [art] God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings:and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:neither said any [of them] that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus:and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked:for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid [them] down at the apostles’ feet:and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation) a Levite, [and] of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold [it], and brought the money, and laid [it] at the apostles’ feet.”
I find this passage real interesting in our discussion of discipleship and following the Lord. I’m using it as a means of general introduction to the discussion this morning.
There’s a particular point of reference here that is of extreme usefulness to us especially in the world that we live within. One of the things that we reckon with as we’re talking about discipleship and following the Lord, we have to reckon really what it means to be a disciple. And this morning I’m going to go back to the Gospels and I have about nine things that Jesus taught on discipleship and I hope to touch those nine points in the context of the Gospels. It’s interesting to notice here that now the Lord has gone back to Heaven and here we see the disciples at work and the apostles and they’re busy about that which the Lord called them to do and there’s some substance here that is significant in terms of our understanding. If I could just take a moment and have you consider what was taking place in the minds of those people who were intentionally refusing the instruction of the Gospel, namely the priests and the Sadducees and the rulers. If you think about what’s taking place here these rulers are in a momentary place of being beside themselves with what to do with these followers of Jesus.
These followers of Jesus have substantial evidence in their life that speak of things beyond which the priests can touch. It is out of their reach. It’s clear that the objective goal of the chief priests and the Sadducees and the Pharisees, those goals are the same right now as they were when this same counsel gathered together and put Christ to death. In terms of time table we may be talking of perhaps forty days, fifty days, sixty days, somewhere in that vicinity of just two to three months maximum from the time that Christ had been crucified. So we’re talking about a very narrow frame of time. And here we find this group of leaders who sat together and condemned Christ, they’re sitting there in connection with dealing with Christ again. But now on a new term. Now under the claim of being resurrected and under the obvious continuance of the power of Christ. And the thought that strikes me, I have a little word in my notes, but the thought that strikes me is the thundering of the silence of God in His work.
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on Sunday, July 5th, 1998 at 2:25 pm and is filed under Articles, Gary Cox, Sermons.
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