Acts 4:1-12 "Is There Really Only One Way to Heaven?"
Kim and I went to D.C. last week--went with Rob and Donna and Janet. While we were there, we did a bunch of touristy stuff, including touring the National Cathedral. It’s really something to see. It’s huge, beautiful, and very impressive. I took a lot of cool photos. It’s also really sad. The kind of faith and dedication and sacrifice it took to build something like that—and then a hundred years later, the complete lack of anything close to apostolic Christianity. Everywhere we looked we found the kind of popular messages that seem nice on the surface but echo the delusions of hell underneath. Coexist logos, intersectionality propaganda, six color rainbows—the basic idea that “Jesus is supernice, He’s one of the many, many ways to get in touch with the divine,” the divine that probably don't exist, but Jesus is as good as any other made up supernatural fantasy.
Look, I’m not trying to trigger all the explosive issues that completely divide people these days—but it’s a church—don’t we want churches to at least pretend to pay attention to the Bible and believe in Jesus?
Can you imagine being one of those people in the 1800s who had enough real faith to make something like this cathedral happen—what they might think when they look down from heaven and see what has become of what they built.
On the other hand, it’s the only church I know that has a Darth Vader gargoyle. So, how bad can it be?
I’m sure there are many Christians who worship there who are the real deal, people who love Jesus and are trying to make a difference. I’ve known a lot of people who stay in churches that are caving on cultural issues—stay in there and fight the good fight—or at least bring real faith to the table in a really pretty building. I’ve done it myself.
We’re going through the Book of Acts line by line. When we left-off last time, Peter and John had gone to the temple in the middle of the afternoon, they came across a beggar who was crippled, and they healed him. He got up, started skipping and jumping around, giving thanks to God. It drew a big crowd so Peter started preaching about Jesus and the resurrection. That brings us to chapter four, and we briefly covered the first few verses…
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, they were confronted by the priests, the captain of the Temple guard, and some of the Sadducees. These leaders were very disturbed that Peter and John were teaching the people that through Jesus there is a resurrection of the dead. They arrested them and, since it was already evening, put them in jail until morning. But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totaled about 5,000. Acts 4:1-4
Peter was in the middle of his sermon when the cops showed up.
The temple was a huge, beautiful and very impressive place—kind of like the National Cathedral. It was as much a cultural center of the nation of Israel as a house of worship. There was a time when the people who ran it were true believers, but those days were long gone.
The people who came to the temple to worship—a lot of them were sincere about their faith. Jesus and His family came to the temple every year, He also taught there, and the disciples were still showing up at the temple to pray and preach about Jesus.
But the Sadducees were the temple leaders and they didn’t really believe in anything supernatural. So, when a couple of street preachers show up and start talking about miracles and resurrection from the dead—that the Messiah had come—that had to be shut down.
Try taking a bullhorn to the National Cathedral and preaching Romans one to the bus loads of tourists walking around the sanctuary, see how long they tolerate that, see how long it takes before the cops show up.
So, Peter and John were arrested. They were probably bummed at first, until they found out that thousands of people heard what they said and joined the church. People badmouth megachurches all the time, that they’re too big, that churches shouldn’t try to grow, but the first church in Jerusalem had over ten thousand members. They gathered at the temple and they also met in houses for small groups. Gathered and scattered. Right there in the beginning.
Peter, John, and probably the guy they healed got to spend the night in jail.
The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?” Acts 4:5-7
It’s a who’s who of the religious elite—anyone who’s anybody was there. This clearly has their attention. These were the same guys who arrested Jesus, they thought they were done with this thing. Now two of His disciples are doing the same kind of miraculous troublemaking that He did.
Sometimes it seems crazy to me that they react this way. The miracle is undeniable, they’re not doubting that it happened. But they can’t bring themselves to see it as something good—something from God. They’re so stuck in their religious rut they’re not looking for what God’s doing. They’re not interested in truth if it challenges what they already believe.
I get that. Don’t you?
We look at the religious leaders in the Bible like they’re so dumb, so different than us. Most of us would have done the same thing.
They didn’t believe in Jesus. They thought He did miracles by the power of the devil—they think the same thing about Peter and John. That’s what they’re asking, “What kind of witchcraft and sorcery are you using? In whose name have you done this?”
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of our people, are we being questioned today because we’ve done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. Acts 4:8-10
Jesus had told them they didn’t need to worry about what they were going to say when they were arrested and put in front of men of power—God would give them the words to say. So, Peter opens his mouth, filled with the Holy Spirit, and lets it rip. “Does it really bother you this much that we helped out a crippled man? Wow. That must be really upsetting. You probably don’t want to know that I rescued a kitten from a tree and walked an old lady across the street yesterday, too.”
“You want to know in whose name the man was healed? Imma gonna say it real slow for the VIPs in the back: The name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, the guy you killed—But He didn’t stay dead. Resurrection power. Boom!”
He made one of those “drop the mic” motions but since they hadn’t been invented yet no one got the reference—it still felt good though.
For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:11-12
Peter likes to lay it on thick. “You killed Jesus. Rejected the cornerstone, cast Him aside. Jesus is the stone YOU builders rejected—this is all Messiah language. And here’s the thing about cornerstones, all other stones are set in place in relation to it. Jesus is the cornerstone. He was the first. He’s not an afterthought. If you’re not set in reference to Him, you won’t be part of what God is building—what God is doing in the world. Christ is the measure and standard for all teachings, doctrines, and practices. Peter’s talking to the religious leaders and telling them, there is no religion outside of Jesus. Jesus is the only true religion. The only way to God. Outside of Him, no one can be saved. It’s not possible.
It doesn’t matter what you think about Jesus or the resurrection—you either get in line with it or you’re out.
That had to be a lot for the religious leaders to take in.
It’s a lot for anyone to take in.
Can anyone be saved from death, hell, and the grave without Jesus?
Can anyone be saved from their sin outside of Jesus?
Peter says, “no.” No way. No other way to be saved.
Jesus said it, too. John 3:16 says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (Everyone knows that part, but the next verse says this…) Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
God didn’t send Jesus to condemn the world because the world is already condemned. God doesn’t have to send people to hell, that’s where they already are and where they’re already headed. God sent Jesus to save people from the hell they’re trapped in and can’t escape from.
Jesus also said, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" John 14:6
What is the only way? Jesus.
What is the only truth? Jesus.
Who can offer life? Nobody but Jesus.
Can you get to the Father in heaven without Jesus? Jesus says no.
But what about Jews? No. Jesus was talking to Jews, Peter was talking to Jews.
There is no other way. Only Jesus.
But what about nice people? Won’t they be saved. Won’t they go to heaven? No. Not unless they trust in Jesus.
What about really sincere people in other religions? People who don’t know about Jesus. People who have never heard of Him?
How would you answer that question if someone asked you?
An old preacher used to say, “It’s not enough to be sincere. People can be sincerely wrong.”
I see a lot of sincerely wrong going on in the world these days. And some of it seems so nice on the surface. As if it’s driven by compassion and mercy and love but it’s not. It leads to death. It’s counterfeit and filled with demonic cruelty.
God’s word is the only standard of kindness. Anything else is not really kind at all. Anything else is only going to bring more pain and suffering. I understand that these are not popular ideas these days. But this is life and death on the line.
No matter what most people think—there is no other way to be saved than to believe in the name of Jesus. You are either Christian, or you are not going to be saved from the things to come.
It’s pretty simple, the message of the Gospel:
“Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will be saved." Romans 10:9
You have to confess it, you have to say it. “Jesus is LORD.”
You have to say it and mean it, “Jesus is LORD.” And you have to believe that God raised Him from the dead. That’s what Peter and John got in so much trouble for saying in public. God raised Jesus from the dead.
And anyone who refuses to say Jesus is LORD, refuses to believe in the resurrection—well, they’re going to stay stuck in their religious rut. Doesn’t matter what the religion is. Judaism, paganism, polytheism, emperor worship—nationalism, liberalism, MAGAism, atheism. Either Jesus is LORD or we’ll fall into some religious rut that can only railroad us to hell.
We don’t want to be part of the rot and decay of Christian faith. We want to uphold the truth of Scripture with no compromise. We also want to be as bold with our love as we are with our critiques. There is no one that we are not commanded to love. There is no one who is beyond God’s mercy and forgiveness. Let’s remember these things as this year gets more and more heated politically.
In light of all this, remember that the message of the Gospel is not about condemnation but about the incredible love and grace of God. God’s word shows us our sin and the ways we fall short, just like the religious leaders who couldn’t see the truth right in front of them. But the Gospel proclaims that through Jesus Christ, the cornerstone rejected by many, there is hope and salvation for all who believe. No matter how far you've strayed, no matter the depth of your sin, God’s grace is greater. Jesus lived the perfect life we couldn’t live, died the death we deserved, and rose again to give us new life. In Him, you are forgiven, redeemed, and made new. This is the Good News we boldly proclaim:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8
So, confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved. This is the promise of the Gospel—eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.