Acts 4:1-22: Pastor's Sermon Today

Today Pastor Iverson used Acts 4:1-22 as his sermon text. Again, he preached an excellent message for us to hear and consider. He concentrated on verse 12 which says about Jesus Christ; “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is so much packed into this verse that I could ramble on for a good while about discussion points. Let me first consider the "name" concept.

What’s in a name? God started the universe in Genesis by naming things. And then He gave to man the dominion task, which in part entails naming things also.

We read in scripture that a “good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.” And Jesus has the name which is above every name; therefore, choose to be named after Him. In other words, be a Christian.

There’s a very interesting cross reference in Philippians about the name of Jesus, which was alluded to above;

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.”

This can be connected to the second commandment (or second part of the first depending on how one counts). This commandment states; "You shall not make for yourself a carved image - any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." Exodus 20:4-6.

Now consider the similarities; God's says we shall not bow down to any carved image of anything, any likeness of anything in heaven, on earth, or under the earth (the sea). However, about Jesus Christ, which we are told in Colossians 1:15 that "He is the image of the invisible God," and at the very mention of His name "every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth."

It seems appropriate to close this comment with Hebrews 1:1-4;

"God, who at various times and in various ways, spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

DR