ACTS 4:12-35 - Corps Notes - December 17, 1975
ACTS 4:12-35 December 17, 1975 The Way College of Emporia Sometimes I think it gets to the place with God’s Word that it’s just some-thing you just have to feel in your heart. It’s something on the inside of you that no words can explain, but you see its greatness and it’s simply electrifying. The records that you have gone through today have brought you down to the 13th verse of the 4th chapter. I forget what I said about verse 12, but it’s the same tonight as it was then. Acts 4:12 You just have to stand for that. We believe that the Word of God is the will of God. Someone else has the privilege to not believe it if they want to. That’s right! Boy, never back up on the Word. Don’t sit yourself in judgment over anyone else. Let God do the judging and you just teach the Word. So that brings you to the results of that tremendous message that Peter preached. And I’m still convinced if Peter had had more time on these occasions and Peter would have sat down and figured out his sermons, he would most likely have blown it. He just had to believe God and move out with the greatness of God. He got cornered, so to speak. If people back you up into a corner, then you either have it or you haven’t got it. You’ve either got it on the inside and are able to share it or you haven’t. And Peter had it. Acts 4:13 “when they saw the boldness” -- it doesn’t say they were adamant. There is a difference between being bold and being oppressively bold. Understand? You can just turn people off by being adamant about your boldness to the end that if you don’t believe this you are going to hell. Well, so what? There’s no use telling them because they are going anyway if they don’t believe it. So you might as well just teach them the greatness of God’s Word, the positive side of it, the beauty of it. They saw the boldness of Peter and John. I think Bullinger in his Bible would list it as outspokenness. It’s more than that. It’s heavier than that. I don’t know any better word than boldness, f
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go to sleep. That's what I did with it. Now, verse 27. King James says, Neither (or neither) give place to the Devil. The word 'place' is simply a portion, a part. No believer will give full place to the Devil, but he may be giving a part, a portion. He' ll mark off a spot, ' this is Devil' s permission over here, over here, no permission, you know. And you really give the Devil a portion or a spot if you stew about it after you go to bed and you toss and you tum and can' t sleep. This word 'the Devil,' ' the Devil' in the Aramaic is a very interesting and exciting Word to me and it blesses my heart. It' s a compound word where the first part means ' to eat' or ' to devour.' The latter ' to slander' or ' to accuse. ' So when I got to translating this, literally according to usage, verse 27 reads: Do not give any portion or space or an opportunity to the Devil. So I used those three words