The most irrefutable testimony for the truth of God is a life that has been changed and healed!

While Peter and John were addressing the people, the priests, the chief of the Temple police, and some Sadducees came up, indignant that these upstart apostles were instructing the people and proclaiming that the resurrection from the dead had taken place in Jesus. They arrested them and threw them in jail until morning, for by now it was late in the evening. But many of those who listened had already believed the Message, in round numbers about five thousand! Acts 4:1-4 MSG

Those who are open to God’s voice will hear Him, and those who aren’t, won’t!

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. Acts 4:5-6 NLT

The decision to ignore or manipulate God’s truth is a form of self-deception with roots in demonic rebellion!

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 NLT

Denying the truth doesn’t make it less true or you less accountable for the consequences of disobedience.

They brought in the two disciples and demanded, “By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?” Acts 4:7 NLT

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. 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 4:8-12 NLT

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. C. S. Lewis

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. Acts 4:13-14 NLT

Objections to God’s truth and will and fall silent against an honest assessment of His Grace and Glory.

What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. Acts 4:16 NLT

Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance…. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Acts 3:17 & 19 NLT

Justification and pride are the right soil for deception, while humility and repentance are the right soil for a harvest of deliverance and freedom.

The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this miraculous sign, the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years. Acts 4:21-22 NLT

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. Acts 4:32-33 NLT

Obedient faith in the risen Christ is the foundation for everything God does in and through His people and His church.