Adrian Rogers - The Conquest (04/21/2025)
In this sermon from Acts chapter 4, the preacher proclaims five resurrection facts proving Jesus is alive: His persecution continues through the church, His preaching convinces hearts by the Holy Spirit, His power confronts the world with undeniable miracles, His presence compels believers to holy boldness, and His people confess Him unashamedly—because the risen Christ lives and works today.
He Is Alive—Unlike Any Other!
Take God’s Word and be finding Acts chapter 4, «The Conquest.» Acts chapter 4. A teacher gave this assignment to her students. They were to write an essay on the greatest living man. One student wrote an essay on Jesus Christ, and the teacher said, «This is a wonderful essay, but you misunderstood. I said the greatest living man.» And that student rightly answered that teacher, «He is alive! He is alive!» Others die and they stay dead; Jesus died and He rose again.
Houdini Couldn’t Escape Death
I was reading about Harry Houdini. Harry Houdini was an escape artist. Actually, he died in 1936 on November the twenty-ninth, but I have read about him. This man was a genius. He could get out of anything. They said that he had the flexibility of an eel. He had the eyes of a cat. They tried all kinds of ways to keep Harry Houdini locked up.
Sometimes they would put him in a coffin, bury the coffin—he would get out. Sometimes they would rivet him in boilers—he would escape. Sometimes they would sew him up in canvas bags and throw him in the river—he would come out. They would seal him in metal milk cans and weld the top, and yet somehow he would escape.
One time they put him in a federal prison in Washington—maximum security. He was in there less than a half an hour, and he walked out, and in the meanwhile he had moved most of the prisoners from one cell to another. An incredible individual. His biographer said, «He could escape from anything except your memory.» And yet there came a day when Harry Houdini died, and friend, he did not escape. No trickery there. No skill there. No flexibility there.
Harry Houdini died, but friend, I want to tell you, there was another who died—His name was Jesus—and He made the great escape. Jesus came out of that grave, and He arose.
Five Resurrection Facts Because He Lives
Now I want us to think about some things that are true because He arose. Five resurrection facts that you’re going to find here in the fourth chapter of the book of Acts. Look if you will now, beginning in verse 1—Acts chapter 4 verses 1 and 2: «And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.»
#1: His Persecution Continues
What is the first fact because He lives? The first fact is this: that His persecution continues. Did you know that because Jesus Christ is alive, He is still being persecuted? Now here we are in Acts chapter 4, and these people are grieved that Jesus is being preached, that He is alive from the dead.
You’re going to find out that it was the Apostles who were persecuted, but in the truest sense it was the Lord Jesus who was being persecuted. Now the reasons the Apostles were being persecuted is that they had done a miracle. But look very carefully—look in chapter 3 and verse 12. Peter refuses to take credit for the miracle: «And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, ‘Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? ’»
And then look if you will in chapter 4 and verse 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.» Do you get it? A miracle had been done. The high muckety-mucks didn’t like it. The people were beginning to follow the Lord Jesus.
They thought they had been done with Jesus, but now here is a man who is healed. And Peter said, «Hey, we didn’t do it. Jesus did it. Jesus did it.» And when they were persecuting these Apostles, who were they truly persecuting? Jesus—because the Apostles were just the hands and the feet of the Lord Jesus.
He has a new body now. His new body is called the church, but He’s still alive. Do you remember when the Apostle Paul was on the road to Damascus and Jesus appeared to him? And in Acts 9:5, «He said, ‘Who art Thou, Lord? ’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.’» Now he might have said, «Well, whoever You are, I’m not persecuting You—I’m just persecuting these apostles. I’m just persecuting these Christians.»
But the point is so clear you can’t miss it. When you persecute the church, you’re persecuting Jesus. Jesus is not dead—He is alive. You can’t persecute a dead man. And because He lives, His persecution continues.
Why Does the World Hate Jesus?
Now that’s an interesting thing. Why did they persecute Jesus? Why did they persecute these Apostles? Why will they persecute you? Why don’t they like us? Why doesn’t the world love the Lord Jesus? You would think the world would be glad to hear a message like that one, wouldn’t you? You would think that people would love the Lord Jesus, but they don’t. Why? Why? Why?
Let me tell you something. The world loves the baby Jesus. Nobody has any difficulty with the baby Jesus. They don’t persecute Jesus because He was born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem. They don’t persecute Him because of His teachings. They don’t persecute Jesus because He healed the sick and fed the multitudes.
As a matter of fact, the world likes that message. That’s a good message to the world. It’s at Christmas time—the merchants who don’t even believe in Jesus, they love to put the Christmas carols in their store so they can sell more merchandise. They don’t mind that.
What Jesus is it that the world doesn’t like? It’s the Jesus that came to destroy the works of the devil. That’s the Jesus they persecute. The Jesus who is against rape and murder and greed and pride and abortion and sodomy and racial hatred and all of these things. That’s the Jesus the world cannot stand.
It is the Jesus who in John 14:6 said, «I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.» Put it down big, plain, and straight—when you love this Jesus, when you stand for this Jesus as these Apostles did here in the fourth chapter of the book of Acts, this world is going to come down on you like a hammer, and all of the artillery of Hell is going to be aimed at you, just like it was aimed at the Lord Jesus Christ.
And if you’re not getting any persecution, don’t boast about it—for the Bible says in Second Timothy 3 verse 12, «Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.» Don’t get the idea that the world has gotten more churchy if there’s no persecution—it’s only because the church has gotten more worldly.
When we begin to let the living Christ alive and live in us, you’re going to find out number one—the first fact of these resurrection facts is this: His persecution continues.
#2: His Preaching Convinces
But I want you to see something else: His preaching convinces. Look if you will in Acts 4 verse 4: «Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand.» One of these days I’d like to preach when five thousand men get saved.
Now what was it? How did these men—fishermen, unlettered, uneducated—how was it that they were able to stand up and preach and five thousand come to Jesus Christ? I’ll tell you why—because He lives, and they were not dependent upon their power of oratory, their power of logic, their winsomeness to bring these people to Christ. There was a living Christ inside of them.
I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again—anything I can talk you into, somebody else can talk you out of. We are not preaching today facts about a dead Christ of history—we present a living Christ to you. I am not dependent upon talking you into believing in Jesus Christ.
If ten of Thomas’s friends could not convince Thomas of the resurrection—if Apostles who had seen Him with their own eyes could not convince Thomas—I’ll not be able to convince you. Do you know what convinced Thomas? He had an encounter with the living Lord. And when he had an encounter with the living Christ, he was convinced.
Do you know what you need today? An encounter with Jesus Christ—not with the church, not with Adrian, not with choirs. You need to meet the living Christ. These people were brought in contact by the Holy Spirit with the living Christ, and they were totally, absolutely convinced.
You see, other leaders—they come and they go, they die.
Lenin’s Tomb vs. the Empty Tomb
I visited Lenin’s tomb on an Easter. I was in Moscow—the Orthodox Easter. I said to my wife, «We will not be in Moscow without visiting Lenin’s tomb.» Now the reason I wanted to visit Lenin’s tomb was I wanted to gloat a little on that Easter morning. I wanted to go there and look at his dead carcass.
And so we said we’re going to visit Lenin’s tomb. Now in Lenin’s tomb, Lenin is there in a crystal sarcophagus—a crystal case. He’s there. He is beautifully embalmed. Here there is his waxen face. His beard is trimmed just so. There’s a soldier here, and a soldier there, and a soldier here, and a soldier there. And they’re guarding Lenin.
And on that tomb these words are written—I want you to listen to it: «He was the greatest leader of all peoples, of all countries, of all times. He was the lord of the new humanity. He was the savior of the world.» And there lies that dead rascal. He was the savior of the world. Do you notice it’s all past tense? He was. He was. He was. He was.
Jesus said in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 18, «I am He that liveth and am alive forevermore.» Friend, I want to tell you—that makes a difference.
My little ol’ wife who is a rule keeper—I mean she is one of the greatest rule keepers in the world. And in that tomb you’re not supposed to whistle, talk, laugh—not even put your hands in your pocket. But you’re not supposed to say anything. But when Joyce walked past each of those guards, she just leaned in and whispered, «Christos voskrese.» That means «Christ is risen.»
Christ is risen. Christ is risen. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed.
You see, it is the living Christ. It is an encounter with the living Christ that convinces people. And that’s the reason I don’t have to depend upon my ability as a preacher to cause you to believe. My ability, my job, my joy, my responsibility is just to bring you to an encounter with Jesus Christ. When you meet the Lord Jesus Christ—when you meet Christ.
You see, because He lives, His persecution continues. Because He lives, His preaching convinces. There is a difference because we are preaching a living Christ.
#3: His Power Confronts
Here’s a third thing I want you to see. Not only does His persecution continue, not only does His preaching convince, but His power confronts. Begin now in Acts 4 verse 5 through 11: «And it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes, and Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem.
And when they had set them in the midst, ” that is the Apostles, „in the midst, they asked, ‘By what power or by what name have ye done this? ’ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ‘Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, 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.
This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.’“
His power—His power confronts. They had a man who had been healed. There was the power of the living Christ, and they were confronted with it. Now they thought they were done with Him. They had put Him in that grave. They’d set a seal upon it. They said, „He is finished.“ But He wasn’t finished—it was finished. The plan of salvation was finished.
They said in Luke 23:35, „If You’re the Son of God, come down from the cross.“ That was the wrong question. They should have gone to the tomb and said, „If you’re the Son of God, come out.“ „He’s shown to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.“ Romans 1:4.
And now He’s still alive and He’s on the loose. They thought, „We’ve finished with Him.“ But Peter said, „You crucified Him, but it’s the same One that you crucified who has just healed this man.“ And now they are confronted with the power of a living Christ. And so are you and the world today.
Skeptic, I want to tell you—there are things happening in this world today that are being done by the hand of Jesus, and you can’t deny it. I dare you to look at the evidence. I dare you to look at the evidence as to what the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is doing today. You think you’re rid of Him.
The Rejected Stone Becomes the Cornerstone
Peter used a wonderful illustration they all knew. He talked about the cornerstone. Look if you will in Acts 4 verse 11: „This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.“
Up there on Mount Moriah—where the cross was and where the temple was built—the cross on one side of Mount Moriah, the temple built right on the top of Mount Moriah. There today is the Dome of the Rock, but Solomon built his temple there. And Solomon, when he wanted the temple built, said that the temple is to be built without the sound of a hammer, without the noise of a chisel.
So they brought the stones, cut the stones for the temple out of a great rock quarry underneath the temple mount. If you ever go to Jerusalem, you can go into that quarry. I’ve been into it. I think Bob, you and I went into it one time. You can go way back under the city of Jerusalem. And there you can see where they have chiseled out these massive stones for the temple.
Now they cut them exactly to shape. Beautiful specifications were written, and so those stones were brought up to the temple mount to build Solomon’s temple. And Jewish tradition says that there was one stone—a very special stone—that was crated and sent up to the temple mount, and it was there in the work yard, and the workmen had to keep working around it. Sometimes they would stumble over it—I suppose maybe bruise their shins upon it.
And finally they didn’t know what it was. It got moved over to the side and finally just fell over into the brook in the valley of Kidron there. And the bushes grew up around it. When time came for the cornerstone for the temple, they said to the people in the quarry, „Send up the cornerstone.“ They said, „What do you mean send the cornerstone? We sent that a long time ago.“ They said, „No, we don’t have the cornerstone.“ Said, „Well, you better check again. We know that we sent it.“
You know where it was, don’t you? „The stone that the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.“ They had to go down in the bushes, down in the valley, and bring up that stone and set it there in its place.
What was Peter doing on that day there after the resurrection? He’s saying this: „Listen, folks—you thought you were done with Him. You thought that you had finished with Him. You thought you’d rolled Him off the temple mount and down into the valley. You thought He was in the bushes. You thought He was in the tomb—but He’s the One who is the head of the corner.“
I want to say today—He lives! And because He lives, His persecution continues, His preaching convinces, friend, and His power confronts. He is a living Christ, and He is still doing miracles.
No Other Name for Salvation
Now here’s the fourth of these resurrection facts—oh, by the way, let’s just look at verse 12 before we leave right here. Look if you will in Acts 4 verses 11 and 12—I love this. After he said, „He’s become the head of the corner, ” he says in verse 12: „Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.“
That’s one of the great, great verses in all of the Bible. Jesus is not a good way to Heaven. Jesus is not the best way to Heaven. Jesus is the only way to Heaven. That’s what it says right here. If you don’t like that, just go argue with the Lord here and say, „Lord, You made a mistake in Your Bible.“ „Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.“
Not the name of Buddha, not the name of Confucius, not the name of Allah—only the name of Jesus. Not the name of Abraham, not the name of Moses, not the name of any of the great saints—there’s one name, wonderful name, and I love that name. His power confronts us today.
#4: His Presence Compels
Now here’s the fourth of these resurrection facts I want you to notice. Not only does His persecution continue, not only does His preaching convince, not only does His power confront—all of these things because He lives—but His presence compels. Look if you will in Acts 4 verse 13: „Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.“
They’d been in His presence. Now who is it? Peter and John. Well, Peter wasn’t known for boldness a little while back—he had cringed before a little maid, had said he never even knew the Lord Jesus, cursed, swore, denied the Lord Jesus. But now he had seen the risen Lord, and he was compelled. You could not shut him up.
You see, when you’re in the presence of Jesus Christ, something happens to you. When you’re in the presence of the risen Lord—just as you put an iron in the fire and leave it in the fire—before long that piece of iron gets red hot. And not only is the iron in the fire, but the fire is in the iron.
And you spend time with the Lord Jesus, and you’re going to be as bold as these people are, and His presence will compel you. „Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John.“ What was it that set them on their ear? What was it that caused them to marvel? It was the boldness of these men for the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know what we need in our church today? What we need in America today? We need an epidemic of holy boldness. And do you know how we’re going to get it? Spend time in the presence of Jesus.
Again, Acts 4:13: „When they saw that these were ignorant and unlearned men, they absolutely marveled; and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.“ And the thing that caused them to marvel was their boldness—the boldness of these men.
What Holy Boldness Really Is
Now what is boldness? What is holy boldness? Well, it’s not arrogance. A lot of people think they’re bold—they’re just arrogant. Holy boldness is humble boldness. These men were not arrogant, but they were bold.
It’s not self-confidence. You can have self-confidence, and that’ll turn people off. We need not self-confidence—that’s not boldness. Not human courage, not presumption.
Over here in the hills of East Tennessee, some people—in order to show how bold they are—pick up rattlesnakes and handle rattlesnakes and kiss rattlesnakes and caress rattlesnakes. You can call that boldness if you want to—I call it tempting the Lord.
I read one time about a man who was in one of these services—he was part of a quartet. Said he’d gotten into one of these country churches and didn’t know what they were going to do, but they began to handle snakes. He asked his friend—he said, „Is there a back door in this church?“ He said, „No there isn’t.“ He said, „Well, where would you like one to be?“
What some people call boldness is not boldness. What is holy boldness? What is holy boldness? Friend, it’s knowing that Jesus is alive. I mean listen—if you are truly, truly convinced that Jesus Christ walked out of that grave, could you ever be intimidated? Think about it. Think about it.
„When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they marveled.“ They took knowledge of them—they’re ignorant and unlearned men, but they said, „Hey, they have been with Jesus. They have been with Jesus.“
We need an epidemic, I say, of holy boldness—not to be ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, these men—if you think about it—they’re facing the equivalency of the Supreme Court. They’re a couple of country bumpkins. They’re from Galilee. They’re from the hill country. They’re fishermen. They should have been standing there just kind of shuffling their feet with their heads down, just kind of afraid.
But there they are—I mean in front of the highest rulers of the land. Think of the place where they were—there in the magnificent temple. They are absolutely, absolutely uninhibited, with a face like the noonday sun. They take a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. They would not shut up, let up, back up. They are preaching Jesus.
I want some of that boldness in my own life. You need it. I tell you the way that you get it is to spend some time with the living Lord Jesus Christ. Friend, His presence—His presence compels us. We cannot be ashamed. We cannot back off.
#5: His People Confess
Now here’s the fifth of these resurrection facts I want you to notice this morning, right out of this chapter. What happens when we know that He is alive? Well, His persecution continues. His preaching convinces. His power confronts. His presence compels. And here’s the last—His people confess.
Look if you will now in Acts 4 verse 14 through verse 20—look at it: „And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they, ” that is the religious leaders, „conferred among themselves, saying, ‘What shall we do to these men? For that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.’ And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.“
But now watch this: „But Peter and John answered and said unto them, ‘Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.’“ Now verse 20—here’s the key: „‘For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.’“
Friend, they said, „You can’t preach a risen Lord. We don’t want you to tell this message. We don’t want this message out.“ Why didn’t they want this message out? Because of the power of that message.
I’m told that one demon said to another demon, „If those liberal theologians ever really let Jesus out of this grave, Hell help us—all Heaven’ll break loose.“ That’s true. They knew that all Heaven was about to break loose. They said, „You can’t preach this message anymore.“
You might as well have told the sun not to shine as to tell these men that they could not preach a risen Christ. Why? Because they’d seen Him. They had seen Him. You could not shut them up.
Because He lives, His people confess. Anybody who has known that Christ is alive cannot keep quiet.
Some of you are not witnessing. Some of you are not witnessing at all. Do you want me to tell you why you’re not witnessing? It’s right here in Acts 4 verse 20—look at it. They said, „We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.“
Do you know what a witness is? A witness tells what he’s seen and heard. Do you know why some of you don’t witness? You haven’t seen or heard anything. That’s it. You haven’t seen or heard anything.
A person who has seen and heard that Jesus Christ is alive cannot be made to shut up. His people confess.
If you’re not sharing Jesus Christ, if you’re not telling people about Jesus Christ—very frankly, I don’t think you understand that He’s alive. I don’t think you’ve seen anything. I don’t think you’ve heard anything.
Look if you will in Acts chapter 5 and verse 42—here’s the way the early church worked. Look at it in verse 42: „And daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.“ They’ve been told, „You can’t do it.“ They said, „We’re going to do it.“ They said, „We forbid you.“ They said, „We’re still going to do it.“
Evangelism in the New Testament was not an eight-day meeting where they brought in some revivalist or some evangelist—I’m not opposed to that. But in the New Testament, these Christians were all at it, and they were always at it.
You know why? They’d seen Him. They knew He was alive. You could not shut them up. His people confessed. His people confessed.
Think about what that early church did. They had no printing presses. They had no buses. They had no radio, no television, no loudspeaker systems. They had no church buildings—and yet they turned that early world upside down and inside out for Jesus Christ.
They did so much with so little; we do so little with so much. He is alive. His people confess it.
Would you like to confess it? He is risen. He is risen. He is risen. He is risen indeed!
Christ Lives—Do You?
Oh, let’s get that in our hearts. Let’s get that in our minds. He is alive—and because He’s alive, His persecution will continue. People will still persecute Him. And the way they’re going to persecute Him is by persecuting you. Wear that persecution like a badge of honor—like a badge of honor.
Because He’s alive—He’s alive. His preaching convinces. Don’t feel like when you teach or preach or witness that it’s up to you. All you do is bring them into an encounter with the living Christ. It is Jesus that convinces.
His power confronts. His power is real in the world today. Jesus Christ is still alive and well, and the Christ that walked the shores of Galilee is alive through His new body—the church—today. And His power confronts.
His presence compels. Stay in the presence of Jesus—like you put iron in the fire and the fire gets in the iron—and there will be a holy boldness about you. You’ll not be ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And His people confess. They’ll say, „We cannot but speak and tell and preach the things that we’ve seen and heard.“
Let me tell you what New Testament Christianity is, friend—it is supernatural. It cannot be explained, and it cannot be denied. It will not be intimidated, and it must not be ignored. Christ lives. Christ lives.
Now here’s the big question. Are you ready for the big one? The real big one? Christ lives—do you? Do you?
You say, „Well, Pastor—yes, sure, I’m alive. I’m hearing you. I’m listening to you.“ No, no, no, no, no. I didn’t say do you exist? I said, „Do you live?“
In John 10:10 Jesus said to people whose hearts were already pumping, „I am come that they might have life and that they might have it abundantly.“ How do you get this life? Well, the risen Lord imparts it when you trust Him.
Remember that verse that I quoted a while back—Romans 10:9? „That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.“
Would you bow your heads in prayer? Every head bowed and every eye closed. No one stirring. No one looking around.
If you already know the Lord Jesus, would you begin to pray for those who might not know Him? And today if you’ve not yet made the wonderful discovery of Christ in your heart, let me lead you in a prayer right now where you can invite Christ into your heart.
And I want—not promise you—on the authority of the Word of God that where you are right now, Jesus—the living Christ who is here today—will come into your heart, cleanse you, forgive you, cleanse you, and save you if you will invite Him in. Pray a prayer like this:
Dear God, I know that You love me, and I know that You want to save me. Jesus, You died to save me and You promised to save me if I would trust You. I do trust You. I do trust You. I believe that You’re the Son of God. I believe that God raised You from the dead. I confess You as Lord. I trust You as Savior. Come into my heart, forgive my sin, save me, Lord Jesus. Save me, Lord Jesus. Save me today. I don’t want to die and go to Hell. I don’t want to live without You. I’m sick of the old way—I need You, my God. Save me, Lord Jesus. Save me, Lord Jesus. Save me, Lord Jesus.
Did you ask Him? Then thank Him. Pray this way:
Thank You for saving me, Jesus. I don’t deserve it, but I receive it by faith, like a child. You’re now my Lord, my Savior, my God, and my Friend. And Lord Jesus, because You died for me, help me to live for You and not to be ashamed of You. In Your name I pray, Amen.