Acts 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;10 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. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
This is the beginning of the church age shortly after the Day of Pentecost. The power of Jesus Christ healed a lame man who had laid at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. Here the Pharisees attacked the disciples again and grabbed Peter and John. They put them in the midst of the people. In our day we are continually “put on trial” for Jesus’ sake. The devil’s crowd hates it when God’s people enjoy being a Christian, but keep on.
The Pharisees asked a crazy question. By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? It was an accusation of some kind and a trick. Peter’s answer should be ours. In verses 9-10 Peter said, 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. He was saying since you asked, I’ll just tell you. The Pharisees couldn’t keep Jesus in the grave in spite of killing him. He arose the third day. God will raise us up as well.
They didn’t want Jesus. The wicked don’t want him now. No matter how rejected Jesus is, he has a way of becoming and staying the head of the corner. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks, God will always be God. There is no corner without the cornerstone. If we keep Jesus as our cornerstone, he will help us. The crowd who accosted Peter and hated Jesus is in hell, but Jesus is still the cornerstone. That means we can make it. We just have to keep the prayer, “Lord, help me to stay put on the Rock of Jesus Christ.”
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 