Completing the Mission That Jesus Began
Ministering For the Master
Acts 3_1-26
Read Acts 3_1-26
Introduction:
Acts 3:1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer — at three in the afternoon. NIV
Peter and John went to the temple together. When you do ministry, try to do it with another believer.
Now Peter and John were close friends. They had been fishermen together and they hung around with
each other. They were two of Jesus’s closest disciples. They ran to the tomb of Jesus together on the morning of the resurrection. They traveled together in the early chapters of the book of Acts. They were close friends.
It's interesting to note that John never says anything that is recorded for us. Peter does all the talking. It illustrates how God puts people together that complement each other. When you do ministry try to do it with another belivers.
Ill. Bev and I like doing ministry together and we do it all the time. We complement each other because we are different personalities. God put us together that way.
It was probably Peter and John’s custom to pray three times a day in the temple. The Jewish hours of prayer were 9 am, 12 o'clock and 3pm.
Luke 24:53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God. NIV
Acts 2:46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. NIV
Peter and John may not have yet fully understood that Jesus had fulfilled all of the ceremonial Law of Moses. Therefore, the temple and all of its ceremonies and sacrifices were not necessary. The temple and all of its ceremonies and sacrifices had only pictures pointing to Jesus the Messiah. The true worshipper no longer worships in a temple made with human hands. The true worshipper worships God in spirit and in truth. We can worship God anywhere. We are told to come boldly before the throne of God. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. NIV
Jesus through His one sacrifice has made it possible for us to come directly to God. We do not go through a priest. All believers are priests and constitute the royal priesthood of God who all have free access to come directly to God. For a believer to go to a human priest is to deny and to defame the work of Christ.
Yes, some believers today think they have to go through a priest. They do not know the teaching of the Scriptures.
We need to be kind and respectful of them and teach them the truth of the Word when we have the opportunity. We should never speak of them in a disparaging way, but only have compassion on them.
I imagine that it was crowded when Peter and John got to the temple. It was an awful lot of people going to the temple. They went through the temple gate called Beautiful.
Josephus, the historian that lived around the time of Jesus, tells us that all of the gates in the innermost court were folding gates and were overlaid with silver and gold. Josephus says that the gate called Beautiful was bigger than all the rest. It was 75 feet high, and 60 feet wide and it was made of Corinthian brass overlaid with gold. It took 20 men to close it.
T. S. So Peter and John went to the temple together and we will see they were sensitive to the Holy Spirit and were looking for opportunities to minister. We need to learn from their pattern. The 1st thing we need to…
1. Look for opportunities to minister.
That is what Peter and John did.
Acts 3:2 Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. NIV
Luke who was a physician adds the details to indicate how severely crippled he was.
He's carried there every day (and the verb is in the imperfect, which means he was habitually being carried there). He was 40 years old. (We see that is Acts 4:22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. NIV)
That spot was probably his spot and he was well known to all the people in Jerusalem who would go by him every day. They knew him because he'd been there for so many years.
Peter and John went to the temple and they were sensitive to God and looked for opportunities to minister.
Acts 3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. NIV
The man that was crippled asked for money because that is all he knew to ask for, but he was about to receive something far better, the grace of God in the form of healing and salvation.
He thought all he needed in life was money But God reached into his heart and redeemed him. A miracle happened that he never dreamed possible. " Peter reached down and lifted him up. "And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength." He was healed.
Wasn't that how it was with you when you met Christ? Something happened far beyond what you ever imagined. Life became fuller than you ever dreamed it could be. The Wonderful things of God replaced the temporal things of this world.
The man found out that day that there was something far better than money.
Ill. You’ve probably heard about the huge lottery prize that was won this week. It was a $587 million prize. Many people in our world today believe that what they need to be happy is money.
But what people need more than anything else is a right relationship with God. No amount of money can fill the void of not knowing Jesus as your Savior. If you have Jesus, you don’t need the lottery.
People around you don’t understand that and that is the challenge we face. They don’t know that they need Jesus but you do!
As believers we have the opportunity to give all the people around us a gift that is worth far more $587 million. What we offer through Jesus will bring real happiness, peace, joy, love, fulfillment, and real meaning to life.
Do you get as excited about what Jesus can give a person as you do about winning the Lottery?
Acts 3:4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6 Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. NIV
He thought he wanted money from Peter and John, but they gave him what he really wanted. Once he received the grace of God through Jesus, he did not ask for money any more.
What did he do?
Acts 3:8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. NIV
Can you imagine? Forty years of being crippled and begging for your living. Now he's up and jumping around. The whole temple echoes his joy.
Do you know that what you have is more precious than gold?
Verse 6 Peter said “what I have I give you.”
You and I have the opportunity to give the people we know the greatest gift imaginable. Once you introduce someone to Jesus and He saves them, they will be filled with joy and be so glad that you gave them what they really needed!
Are you sensitive to God? Are you praying for people who you know that are not believers and asking God to show you how to minster to them and tell them about Jesus?
T.S. 1. Look for opportunities to minister and when you are ministering …
2. Share the message of Jesus.
That is what Peter and John did.
Read Acts 3:9-26
God used the ministry of Peter and John to the crippled man to give them an opportunity to share Christ. When Peter began to tell the people about Jesus, they had living verification of a miracle and he was right between Peter and John hanging on them.
Look at what Peter says in V 26, “When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." NIV
Peter shared the Good News with the people and told them how to know Christ and be forgiven of their sins.
When we minister to people, God gives us the opportunity to share the Gospel.
Ill. Have you heard about the New York City police officer who gave a new pair socks and boots to a barefoot homeless man in Times Square? It has created an online sensation. Why?
Our world is hungry for people that really care and give unselfishly. When we minister to people like that it opens up opportunities to Share the message of Jesus.
You may be like many people and think you just cannot talk to people about Jesus but all you need to do in to …
3. Depend on the Master
That’s what Peter and John did.
Acts 3:6 In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." NIV
What did Peter mean when he said “in the name of Jesus Christ”? Why is that so important?
Peter is saying, I am standing here in the place of Jesus Christ doing what he would do if he was here. Even more than that, Jesus is here doing it through me. It is His authority and power that is accomplishing this work.
In John 15 Jesus said, "If you ask anything in my name I'll do it." What did He mean by that? If I pray and ask for the same thing that Jesus would ask for. That's praying in His name.
Acts 3:12 When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? NIV
Who had done this miracle? Who was speaking through Peter? It was God. It was God’s power alone. Peter and John were just available instruments.
They were dependent on the Master! It was the Lord Jesus Christ that did the ministry through them. That’s what every spirit filled Christian does. He depends on the Master.
It is no longer me who lives, but Christ who lives through me.
God wants to do through you what He did through Peter and John. Not the apostolic gift of healing, but God wants to accomplish life changing ministry through you as you depend on His power.
There are people with broken lives and broken hearts, lonely people, hurting people, people lame with fear and defeat, people searching for love and forgiveness.
As a believer in Christ, you have all that people need.
What God wants of you is to …
1. Look for opportunities to minister
2. Share the message of Jesus
3. Depend on the Master
