“A MAN WHO HAD BEEN WITH JESUS
INTRODUCTION:
I was torn between peaching a sermon on “Important Grand Parents” or a sermon relating to “911” But a week ago I was sitting with Mark Taylor after prayer meeting on Friday night a week ago we were talking about nothing in particular & I began to think aloud about Peter. I began sharing with Mark some thoughts that were just pouring into my mind as the Lord began to share them with me. I want to expound on some of those profound thoughts the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart there sitting with Mark.
Turn with me to Acts 3:1-10 & read with me...
“Now Peter & John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the 9thhour. & a certain lame man from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter & John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. & fixing his eyes on him, w/John, Peter said, “Look at us!”So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold I don’t have, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazereth, rise up & walk!’ And he took him by the right hand & lifted him up, & immediately his feet & ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood & walked & entered with them, walking & leaping & praising God. & all the people saw him walking & praising God! Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple; & they were filled with wonder & amazement at what had happened to him.”
This man didn’t really need MONEY! He didn’t really need a LECTURE! He didn really need a DOCTOR! He really didn’t need a POLITICIAN! He didn’t even need a SERMON!
WHAT HE REALLY DID NEED WAS "JESUS!" HE NEEDED A MAN WHO HAD BEEN WITH JESUS, WHO KNEW & UNDERSTOOD WHAT HIS "PURPOSE IN LIFE" WAS & THAT WAS TO GIVE WHAT HE HAD TO OTHERS! AND WHAT HE HAD TO GIVE TO OTHERS WAS JESUS!
The first thing out of the mouth of Peter that day was a word of “AUTHORITY, POWER, PASSION & COMPASSION!” He said to the lame man, “LOOK AT US!” He spoke with “AUTHORITY” that “COMMANDED ATTENTION!”
Folk, we need to be a PEOPLE OF POWER! A PEOPLE OF CONVICTION! A PEOPLE OF PASSION & COMPASSION FOR THE LOST SOULS OF THE WORLD WE LIVE & WORK IN!
BUT, WE’LL ONLY HAVE THAT POWER, THAT CONVICTION, THAT PASSION & THAT COMPASSION, IF WE’VE BEEN WITH JESUS!
We have to get beyond a “PASSIVE RELATIONSHIP” with Jesus & get into a “REAL RELATIONSHIP” with Jesus that brings us into the “REALM OF THE ALMIGHTY, THE REALM OF THE SUPERNATURAL! THE REALM OF JESUS CHRIST!"
We are called to be “CHILDREN OF THE LIVING GOD!” an “ARMY OF THE ALMIGHTY!” We needn’t be “MEALY MOUTHED GET BY WIMPY CHILDREN OF GOD!” THe enemy would have us be like that all the time!
Folk, the enemy is “SCARED TO DEATH” of the “POWER OF GOD” in the "HANDS & LIFE" of a Child of God who “KNOWS HIS OR HER PURPOSE!”
Patere was a man who had been with Jesus! He spoke in a POWER, AN AUTHORITY, A CONVICTION, A PASSION & COMPASSION BECAUSE HE HAD BEEN WITH JESUS!
FOLK, HERE ME WELL THIS MORNING! IF YOU CAN’T GIVE SOMEBODY JESUS THEN YOU NEED TO PRAY THROUGH THIS MORNING! I DON’T MEAN TO BE “HARSH” BUT I MEAN TO BE “REAL” WITH YOU THIS MORNING!
“IF SHARING JESUS ISN’T IN YOUR LIFESTYLE THEN YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR LIFESTYLE!”
Peter was a man who had been with Jesus! When the lame man spoke to him he spoke some of the most profound words ever spoken by a mortal man that day when he said to the lame man...
“LOOK AT US! (DO WE LOOK LIKE WE HAVE MONEY?) I HAVE NO SILVER OR GOLD BUT (SUCH AS I HAVE) I GIVE TO YOU! IN THE NAME OF JESUS STAND UP AND WALK!”
This church may not have lots of money, great programs (we will someday), grocery give away’s, the ability to pay people’s rent or utility bills, we may not have a ministerial staff but SUCH AS WE HAVE...!
WE HAVE “JESUS” IN OUR HEARTS & IN OUR LIVES! WE NEED NOT BE “ASHAMED” OF WHAT WE “DON’T HAVE” BUT SHOULD BE “PROUD & GLORIFYING OF WHAT WE DO HAVE!”
WE HAVE THE “ALMIGHTY LIVING GOD” WITHIN OUR PRESENCE! WE HAVE “JESUS CHRIST” LIVING IN OUR LIVES. SO WE MUST ALLOW HIM TO “MANIFEST” IN OUR MIDST & IN THE MIDST OF OTHERS!
UNDERSTAND SOMETHING THIS MORNING! HIS MANIFESTING DOESN’T JUST MEAN “PREACHING”, IT DOESN’T JUST MEAN “SHOUTING & DANCING” BUT IT ALSO MEANS “GIVING HIM” TO THE ONES WHO NEED HIM IN A “MANNER” THEY CAN ACCEPT HIM IN!
THE SICK, LAME, DOWN HEARTED, DEPRESSED, DISENFRANCHISED, POOR, LONELY, DOWNTRODDEN, DIVORCED, FILTHY, DIRTY, UN-BATHED, I COULD GO ON! THEY NEED JESUS & THEY NEED HIM IN A “WAY THEY” CAN ACCEPT HIM!
I talked to a lady last Saturday during our "Connections Outrech" & I noticed she & her boyfriend were living together. I spoke to it right there & then. I told her it was obvious but I didn’t want her to feel unwelcome and that shouldn’t keep he & her boyfriend from coming. That we wouldn’t make that an issue for them coming! She looked at me as a huge smile exploded across her face & told me that made her fell welcome already. She knows it’s wrong! She knows it’s right! What she doesn’t need is someone telling her how wrong she but what she needs is JESUS!
FOLK, I DIDN’T EXCUSE HER SIN BUT I DIDN’T LET IT BE AN ISSUE TO HER COMING! I PROVIDED HER WITH A GUILTLESS WAY TO THE HOUSE OF GOD! I TOLD HER IT WAS NOT OUR PLACE TO JUDGE BUT IT WAS OUR PLACE TO PRESENT TO HER JESUS! JESUS HAS TO BE PRESENTED IN A WAY THEY WILL ACCEPT!
WE NEED TO GET OUR MINDS ON THE RIGHT TRACK! WE NEED TO GET OUR HEARTS IN THE RIGHT WAY WITH HIM THIS MORNING!
HIS MANIFESTING IS DONE FIRST & FOREMOST IN A SPIRIT OF “LOVE & COMPASSION!”
I Corinthians 13:1 says...
“Though I speak with the tongues of man and angels, but have
not LOVE, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”
HIS MANIFESTING HIMSELF WILL BE DONE IN A MANNER THAT PEOPLE ARE “DRAWN TO NOT - PUSHED AWAY FROM!” HIS MANIFESTING HIMSELF WILL BE DONE WITH “COMPASSION” & NOT “HARSHLY!”
When Peter said to the man, “LOOK AT ME!” He wasn’t being harsh, flippant, or arrogant, he was speaking in “COMPASSION & LOVE!” He wanted him to notice something about him! He wanted the lame man to notice that HE’D BEEN WITH JESUS! HE SHOWED IT IN HIS EYES & FACE!
PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR JESUS! IT IS INSTILLED IN THEM ALL WE NEED TO DO IS TO INTRODUCE HIM TO THEM! In John12:21...
“They came to Phillip...and asked him saying,
"SIR, WE WISH TO SEE JESUS!”
WE NEED TO LIVE A LIFE SO PROFOUNDLY FULL OF JESUS THAT PEOPLE WOULD SEE HIM IN US ENOUGH TO COME TO US SAYING...
“I WANT, I NEED WHAT YOU HAVE!”
Let me speak to you about Peter for a few moments! Here is a man, who, without a doubt, knew & understood “HIS PURPOSE IN LIFE!” His “PURPOSE IN LIFE” was to SHOW FORTH THE ONE WHOM HE HAD BEEN WITH!
His “PURPOSE IN LIFE” was to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to every single person he came into contact with! And Peter was a person who was not afraid to speak about Jesus because HE HAD BEEN WITH JESUS!
Folk, “BEING WITH JESUS” gives us a “PRESENCE” that no other man can give to us! You’ve heard the saying that “BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER!” It’s true! You don’t see chickens hanging out with eagles, or eagles hanging out with ostriches! Birds will flock with those they are like.
The same thing goes for us! People will know us by whom we hang out with. If you want to be known as a “womanizer” then hang out with a
“womanizer”, it won’t be long! If you want to be known as a “drug addict” then hang out with a “drug addict” it won’t be long! If you want to be known as a “gossip” then hang out with a “gossip” it won’t be long! If you want to be known as a “griper” then hang out with a “griper” it won’t be long!
BUT IF YOU WANT TO BE KNOWN AS A “CHILD OF GOD” THEN HANG OUT THE “ULTIMATE CHILD OF GOD” JESUS CHRIST!
THAT’S WHAT PETER DID & IT SHOWED IN HIS LIFE WHEN HE WASN’T EVEN WITH JESUS! IT SHOWED THAT DAY WHEN THE LAME MAN SPOKE OUT FOR A “HAND OUT” & INSTEAD HE GOT A “HAND UP!”
Peter spoke with 4 things that day!
He spoke with AUTHORITY! THE “AUTHORITY” OF JESUS!
He spoke with POWER! THE “POWER” OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!
He spoke with CONVICTION! A “CONVICTION” THAT WOULD NOT LET RELEASE HIM!
He spoke with purpose! A “PURPOSE” THAT DROVE HIM!
Altar Call
