Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events (Acts 5:11). This was in the aftermath of Ananias and Sapphira’s death, which we read about last Sunday. Imagine being part of the congregation during this time. Would you have stayed? Would you have encouraged or invited others to join the new church? Witnessing or hearing that a church member died because of deception and disobedience might be too much for some individuals. Too spiritual, too heavy, too deep, too much. The disciples had experienced a similar, challenging situation documented in John, chapter 6, when Jesus declared that He is the bread of life. Some of them reckoned that Jesus’s teaching was too hard. From verse 66: “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
  “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”  The disciples stayed because they knew Jesus was the son of God. The early believers stayed even though there were things they couldn’t yet comprehend, but they knew that the Holy Spirit was at work. 
The power and holiness of God were apparent in the new church, and that is how it is meant to be! May God’s power, might, and holiness continue to be the foundation and backbone of our ministry, in Jesus name, Amen! 

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers continued to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. The believers were highly regarded by the people. People were probably scared and intimidated by the going-on in the early church—first the healing of the lame man by Peter and John, then the deception and subsequent death of Ananias and Sapphira. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. Never again has the church experienced the exponential growth that occurred at the beginning- “But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand,” (Acts 4: 4), “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved,” (Acts 2:47b). The Spirit of God was upon the early church. “As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.” (verse 15). People received healing from Peter’s shade. Or put it this way, Peter literally healed people by throwing shade on them! According to the urban dictionary, Throwing shade means saying a rude or slick comment towards another person with little or no one else catching the insult except the person it was directed towards. From a worldly point of view, throwing shade isn’t positive. In this situation, Peter was able to heal people through the influence of the Holy Spirit. Just like Jesus who God anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, who went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him (paraphrased from Acts 10:38). “Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.” (Verse 16). Peter and the other apostles made a positive difference in the lives of the masses through the power of the Holy Spirit working in them.

Then the trial came. The High Priest and the Sadducees- jealous of the attention the apostles were receiving and concerned regarding the signs and wonders they were performing in Jesus name, arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. However, an angel of the Lord came and released them from jail that night. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” (Verse 20). The angel of the Lord, didn’t release them to go home and hide or flee the town to somewhere the High Priests and his associates wouldn’t find them. The angel of God told the apostles to Go to the temple courts and tell the people all about this new life.  The apostles had filled Jerusalem with their teaching, proclaiming the risen Christ. This was their new life. A new life filled with the Holy Spirit, which empowered them to heal and perform signs and wonders in the name of Jesus. And God wanted them to go to the temple courts to and tell everyone about it. Talk about sending them back to the lions den! 

In Matthew 28:19 and 20, Jesus said to the disciples:” Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” The angel of God released the disciples in order for them to continue to fulfil the Great Commission. So at daybreak the disciples  entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.  God saves us and redeems us to continue His mission and purpose. 

It was business as usual for the apostles. They continued to preach in the name of Jesus. Let’s recall the words of Peter in Acts 4:11 and 12: Jesus is
“ ‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” The Name of Jesus. The name above every other name. The foundation of the new life which the angel of God commanded the apostles to go to the temple courts and tell everyone about was the Name of Jesus! In the world, being associated with a name can open doors- in the form of jobs and positions of influence. In God’s kingdom, everything hinges on the Name of Jesus.  John tells us in 1 John 3:23: “And this is his command (God’s command): to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” And in Philippians 2:10 and 11: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”
At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…
There’s been a lot of rhetoric lately about taking the knee from “Black Lives Matter” advocates. We are being called to take a knee in solidarity with those protesting against racial violence. Indeed, there is evil in racial violence and unfairness targeted at any group of people who have been created in God’s image and likeness, people for whom Christ bled on the cross and died!! There is a lot of evil, wickedness and unbelief in the world. However, one day, every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow at the Name of Jesus , whether they like or not. The apostles continued to teach in the Name of Jesus that morning, until the the captain and his officers accosted them and took them back to the Sanhedrin. 
“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” the high priest said to them. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” The high priest and co were irked because the apostles continued to preach in the name of Jesus whom they crucified. They thought their dealings with Jesus was over and done with. How wrong they were! 
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5). Jesus was there in the beginning and will continue to be. Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). In Luke 19:39 and 40, when the Pharisees told Jesus to quieten the disciples who were praising Him, He said to them, “ if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Nothing can quench the name of Jesus. There is power in the Name of Jesus!

The apostles knew this fact. And they were committed to teaching in the Name of Jesus. They replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Verses 30-32). The apostles were filled with such boldness that enabled them testify even in the shadow of torture and death. The apostles were living and teaching their new life in the Name of Jesus!! Their conduct resonates with that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who declared before Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3:16-18: “we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
The apostles told the Sanhedrin: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” And the Sanhedrin were furious and wanted to put them to death.  ”Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you,” Jesus told the disciples before He ascended into heaven.  He also told them: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” At the  point when the Sanhedrin wanted to put the apostles to death, God sent help in the form of Gamaliel, a respected teacher of the law. Gamaliel ordered that the apostles be put outside for a little while and addressed the Sanhedrin: “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Gamaliel was obviously familiar with the words in Isaiah 54:17: “no weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord.”
The Sanhedrin were persuaded to let the apostles go. Before they did, they had them flogged. They also ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. As they left, the apostles rejoiced because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.  

The Name of Jesus meant everything to the apostles. It meant so much to them, to the extent that they were glad when they were flogged for preaching and teaching in His Name. The apostles were delighted in their new life proclaiming the Name of Jesus. 

So what about us? Are we basking in the Name of Jesus and the New Life it gives in the form of empowerment, boldness, signs and wonders? Or are we, have we been deterred by misconceptions, trials and other pressures of life? Have we, like the apostles and the new believers, recognized the wonder-working power of God in His church and resolved to use our spiritual gifts to facilitate its growth? Have we resolved, are we striving to propagate the Name of Jesus wherever we are?’ “And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21). Let us pray that  the power and holiness of God continues to be our backbone, for Jesus to be centre, the source, the essence of our individual ministries and this ministry as a whole. 

Peter and the other apostles made a positive difference in the lives of the masses through the power of the Holy Spirit working in them. People were healed by Peter’s shadow. What kind of shadow are you casting on others? Are you casting shadows of love, compassion, kindness, entrepreneurship, faith, perseverance; upon others? Are you a positive spiritual influence on others? Note the word, positive. Some of us are so spiritual, we feel we’re better than everyone else. People are repelled by our behavior. The holier than thou attitude. Paul tells us in Colossians 4:5 and 6: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Also, are we helping those who have weak faith by our conduct? Let us make up our minds not to put stumbling blocks or obstacles in the way of a brother or sister, Paul tells us in Romans 14: 13b. Let us pray that like Peter, other people will be enriched by the Holy Spirit of God in us. 

Life is hard; life is full of challenges and trials. As Christians, we have been told to expect trials of all kinds. The apostles were arrested and jailed. God sent an angel to free them. The angel was sent to free them to continue His good work, to proclaim the name of Jesus.  When we’re going through trials, what is the focus of our prayers? In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).  Do we pray for God’s will and work to prevail and be fulfilled and do we pray for the easy way out? Do we pray for the courage to keep serving, to keep loving, to keep forgiving? Let us pray for the strength and courage and perseverance to continue to drink from the cup that the Lord has given us, to continue to walk in the path He has set for us, in Jesus name. Amen. Let us pray for boldness to speak the truth, to seek to please God above every other person. Paul tells us in Galatians 1:10: Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” We are servants of Christ, may God enable us to seek His approval always, in Jesus name, Amen. 

Brothers and sisters, let us that God is always with us whatever we are going through. Peter and the apostles were told to go and tell everyone about the new life, to go the temple where there was a huge possibility for them to be arrested and killed by the Sanhedrin, but God was with them. God is with us, brothers and sisters. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6). God is your defender and protector; He will not allow the sun to harm you by day nor the moon to harm you at night- He is your ever-present help. We have been blessed by the new life in the name of Jesus, not to keep it to ourselves, but to go out and bless others, throw shade on them positively to the glory of God. 

May we not shy away from serving God because of fear of attacks, stumbling blocks and pitfalls orchestrated by the enemy. Let us pray for the boldness to proclaim the Name of Jesus, in words and in deeds.  As we do this may we rest on the words of Jesus: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” 
Let us pray that the origin of our motives and prayers are Godly. Furthermore, may we be slow to judge and criticize other christians whose practices, ideas and methods differ from ours or we don’t fully understand. Let us pray that we do not find ourselves fighting God because of our attitudes to others. Instead, may we always remember these words from Philippians 2:3b:  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. 
Finally, may we always delight in the Lord and His Name. May everything, we do be in the Name of Jesus. The Name above all names, “at which every knee will bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God, the Father.”
No matter what we are going through, may we always delight in the Name of Jesus. May we lean on these words from Psalm 37: 4: Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
May we, like the apostles, delight in enduring all things for the Name of Jesus, today and always, Amen. May Christ help us and enable us, Amen.