Acts 3 & 4 - Testifying Boldly - February 5, 2014
Turn with me this morning to the book of Acts, chapter 3. The Book of Acts is the record of the “first” experiences of the Church. We see the first Gospel sermon preached by Peter, the first invitation given, the first salvations experienced, the first baptisms, and the first commitments of the believers. Today we are going to look at the first detailed miraculous healing in the early Church. Remember in 2:43 we see that everyone was filled with awe - the power of God is being displayed in a way that causes people to be amazed. And here in this miracle, the same thing happens. It gets people’s attention. This is a familiar story for us - Peter & John heal a man with physical impairments. The danger as we read this passage is that we simply see a nice story of how God helped the lame man. But the DUTY that each of us faces today as we come to the text is to identify the truths that stand out in the passage and to discern the relevance of what this miracle that happened 2,000 years ago has to do with our lives today. And to help make that connection, we need God’s Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the truth. So let’s pause right now and pray. PRAYER
Did you ever find yourself in the situation where you greet someone - maybe even Sunday morning at church - and you say Hi, how are you? Do you really want to know how they are? Or is that just a way of saying Hello. Often regardless of what they say, we simply reply Oh, that’s good or Oh, that’s too bad! And then we continue on with our conversation. Why is that? The purpose of asking the question is to work like an ice breaker to ease us into conversation, but the truth is that often we are clueless about how the people around us are doing. And this incident here in Acts 3 is a vivid reminder for us to never just use “how are you” as a trite meaningless expression, but to truly CARE about others we meet. This morning, we are going to see the example of Peter and John, who are stopped in their tracks by the need of a man, and we see how they gave him nothing he asked for, but everything he hoped for. Let’s read the story here in Acts 3.
Read Acts 3
We’ve just read the text, and seen the story, now let’s go back through and see what God might bring to our attention. I’m going to share some things that I see - you may see something totally different, and that is GREAT! The key is to ACT on what you see. If God speaks to your heart through something in the text, listen to the quiet prompting of the Holy Spirit and make sure you take action on what you see.
The first thing we take notice of is in verse 1.
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer--at three in the afternoon.
Here are Peter and John - two of Jesus’ key disciples - Peter who has just preached in chapter 2 and has seen 3,000 people come forward for the altar call. You would think if there was anyone who didn’t need prayer, it was them. After all, they have been waiting and praying for days now. But they readily admit their desperate need of prayer.
Often we think we are “too busy” to pray. But the reality is that we are just too busy. We allow trivial, unimportant, inconsequential things to fill up our day. And as a result, we end up neglecting the most important thing we could do - stay connected to the God of all creation.
What are the things that fill your day? Keeping up with all the facebook updates your friends post? Watching ballgames, tv shows, talking on the phone, doing crossword puzzles. There are many thing that we do that are not necessarily sinful, but they rob us of time.
If you find that when you evaluate your schedule that you haven’t been praying as you should, one of the best things you can do is pick a set time to pray. It might be 6 AM, 2 PM, or 10 PM - but find a time that works for you and set that time aside as a time when you will pray. This is what we see the disciples doing: 3 in the afternoon was the time when the Jews gathered for prayer. The disciples gather at the temple to pray. Even though they are transitioning out of all the Jewish rituals, they still come together there for worship. And the disciples set aside that time of day to pray themselves. The disciples prioritize prayer, and so should we.
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.
Down in 4:22, we see this man is forty - and he is crippled from birth. So for the last 30+ years he has probably been coming to the temple to beg. He has probably come there every day. His living was dependent on the generosity of others. The Jews were called to be compassionate and share with the needy. And we just saw last week in chapter 2 that the early church was focused on sharing.
The beggar has others who carry him to this location every day. After all these years, the crippled man had accepted his condition. In years past surely he had sought healing. But now he accepted his infirmity and simply looked for money. He no longer sought prayers from others, only money.
The reality is that Peter and John, and Jesus, and all the other disciples have probably passed by this man often. If they come regularly to the temple to pray, I’m sure they would often have passed through this particular gate where this beggar was. On many days, they passed by, and maybe gave a few coins to meet his financial need. But on this particular day, Peter and John are led by God to interact with him.
Sometimes we get this idea that to be a witness for Christ we need to tell everyone we see about Jesus. The idea of a hunter who shoots at anything that moves and hopes he hits something. But let’s understand that being a witness is really more about following the leading of the spirit. There will be some days you don’t say anything to family, friends, neighbors, co-workers - and that is OK - but the key is on that day that the Holy Spirit leads you to speak up, we need to follow the leading of the Spirit. And that is what we see the disciples doing here.
3* When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 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.”
Here was this man waiting at the gate of the temple. And the striking thing about this is that when he asked alms of Peter, Peter stopped, and said to him, "Look at us." This is very important, because it is right in line with the activities of Jesus whenever he wanted to heal anyone. He never walked up to someone and merely touched them and healed them, without first directing their attention to Himself. He always captivated the attention of the individuals he wanted to heal, directed them to focus their gaze upon him. The reason is that this arouses a sense of expectation. It quickens their faith. This is what happened here. This man expected to receive something from Peter and John. He did not know what he was going to get -- he thought it was money, I am sure -- but his faith was quickened by Peter's words. This is very necessary in order to receive anything from God. You must expect something from him.
One of the truths in Christianity is that several Christians call all sit in the same service, hear the same message, and some are greatly touched and strengthened and changed, and others go away indifferent. What makes the difference? Giving your attention to the word of God and the Holy Spirit. It is not MY words that impact anyone - but rather my words are a humble attempt to help you understand HIS words. And when you come with an expectation that God is going to speak to you, you will be prepared to hear from Him. Sadly there are many who turn off their minds when they come into a church service. They start thinking of what they are going to do in the afternoon, they start counting tiles in the ceiling, or the number of window panes, but somehow Satan distracts them and they do not receive the word of God. And so they leave church the same as they came in - no different, and their hearts are still cold.
Jesus frequently said to the crowds to which he preached, "He who has ears, let him hear…" In other words, pay attention, listen up, this is important, take notice. And that’s what Peter calls the beggar to do.
It would have been easy for Peter to come up with a few coins to give the beggar. They could have felt good that they were helping this poor man, and he would have what he asked for. But instead, Peter ends us looking not at what the man asks for, but at what the man needs. When we talk with others, sometimes they share problems or burdens with us, and it is easy to want to give them what they ask for instead of what they need. Sometimes instead of giving money to help someone, we really need to help them budgeting the money they already have. Sometimes instead of trying to talk a spouse into not leaving our friend, we need to help our friend change the issues that are causing the spouse to want to leave. It can be easy to give “token” help - it can be much harder to speak courageously to get to the root issue of what is needed. Peter gets to the root issue - not giving him money, but bringing healing to his body and life.
Peter calls upon the man to walk by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. What’s important about that? That is the whole KEY of the passage. This is not a chapter about a great healing, but about a great Messiah! This is not about the disciples having the power to heal, but about Jesus confirming the ministry and message of the disciples by doing miraculous healings. We saw this last week - 2:43 - God authenticated His messengers and everyone was filled with awe.
7* Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
Notice that Peter and John are not afraid to initiate contact with this beggar. They don’t shy away from him. Instead they touch him, they help him up. Sometimes our pride makes us think that we are better than others. We want to put a check into the offering to help others so we don’t have to do anything personally to be involved in their lives. Not Peter - he engages personally in the life of the beggar. And let’s be honest, sometimes those God brings into our lives to help have less than perfect hygiene. They are smelly, they have bad breath, they have dandruff, we feel embarrassed to be seen with them. But that is because of our pride. And lest we ever forget, number 1 on the list of things that God hates is a proud look! When we truly see people’s needs, we love them enough to look past the externals.
Frequently as I am around town, I see people who come to our food pantry. What do I do? I engage them, call them by name, encourage them. We don’t want to look down on others, but look up to them - we are to in humility consider others better than yourselves. Do we?
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.
Look at the response of the beggar. When he is healed, he responds by worshiping God. He goes into the temple with them and praises God. When God answers prayer, do we pause to worship God and thank him? Or do we go on to asking for the next thing on our list. I like the story of the woman whose son got caught up in a tornado. She instantly feel to her knees and cried out for God to bring back her son. Miraculously the tornado swept back through the area and dropped her son on the ground near her. She rushed over, looked at her son, looked up into heaven and said, God, he had a hat too! Are we truly thankful for how God works, or are we disappointed that He doesn’t do everything we would like? Remember the story of the 10 lepers who were healed - but only one returned to give thanks. When we see God work in our lives, let’s make sure we are like the one; let’s take time to thank Him.
We talked about taking time to pray - but remember that prayer is not just about “asking” for things. We need to take a large amount of our time in prayer to worship our God, to express His greatness, to thank Him for the many things He does in our lives. Let’s never forget to prioritize worship in our prayers.
9* When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
When we think about being a “witness” for God - we often think about memorizing bible verses and teaching people a 4,5,6 step plan that ends leading up to people “praying a prayer” to receive Christ as Savior. But in the scriptures, when we see people being a witness, they tell others what Christ has done for them; they share how their life has changed. The people in the temple see that something great has happened to this man. And they want to know what it is, how he was healed.
11* While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 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?
I hope your imagination can capture this scene. This healed cripple, in his unbounded joy, is holding onto Peter and John with both arms. He is not holding on to them to stand upright - the strength has already returned to his ankles (vs 7). He is holding on to them to celebrate the great miracle that God has done. They are trying to get away, but he will not let them go. The Greek is very strong -- it means that he clung to them with great strength. The people around, seeing this commotion, rush over to Solomon's porch of the temple, and, recognizing the former lame man who sat at the Beautiful Gate, they are astonished at what has happened to him.
What are the disciples saying? “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? You should know better. You ought to know that God is this kind of a God. He has acted in your history many times like this. He breaks through suddenly and remarkably and supernaturally, and you ought to know that. Why do you stare at us as though we had done this? You Hebrews ought to know better than that. After all, God has used many other men in your history in remarkable ways, and you should be aware of this.”
Notice what Peter says - why does this surprise you - sadly, many times, even though we claim to have faith in God, we really don’t expect God to do anything special. We go through a life of ritual - expecting things to be “business as usual.” When you came out this morning - did you think, “It’s Sunday, so we’ll go to church - I hope they sing some songs I like and I hope the sermon isn’t too long” - or did you think “I can’t wait to see what God is going to do this morning!” Let’s expect God to work!
These people saw the power of God at work and so they were prepared to listen to an explanation. That explanation occupies the rest of the chapter.
13* The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.
Notice how Peter takes the opportunity to talk about Jesus. If we want to be good witnesses, we need to look for opportunities to turn our everyday conversations into opportunities to talk about Jesus. And remember the purpose of the healing was not just a concern for this man, but a concern to let everyone who had gathered at the temple understand the great power of Jesus to help them in their lives. Peter starts by reminding them that Jesus, though crucified, is not dead - He was raised by the power of God and He ascended back to heaven to be glorified by His Father.
14* You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.
Let’s never forget how great the power of God is. It is the name of Jesus and faith in Him that brings this great healing. Sometimes we are quick to “write others off” as too hard to reach. Maybe you think, “I’ll witness to my neighbor - but not my brother-in-law - no one can reach him!” Let’s remember that the power of God to convert a soul is great enough to change even the hardest of hearts! And while we don’t see the miraculous signs that accompanied the apostles, God still does work in hearts and lives in miraculous ways. And we always want to expect God to work. It should not surprise us when God answers prayer.
17* “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.
Here we see the perfect balance of God’s sovereignty and Man’s responsibility. Man made his choice - the Jews chose to execute Jesus - but the choice was in the plan of God - God knew what would happen. God had ordained it to happen. Nothing surprises Him. Peter writes that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. God’s plan before he made the world was for His one of a kind Son to die for the sins of man. Is man responsible for his sin? Yes! But does God know and use it to accomplish His will? Yes! God is in control, even when it doesn’t look like it to us!
In the story of Joseph, when Joseph is reunited with his brothers, he says (Gen 50:20) You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. God uses the human will of man to accomplish His divine purposes. Proverbs 16:33 - The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility.
19* Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you--even Jesus.
What do we need to do? Repent! Repentance is not remorse, simply feeling sorrow about what happened. Neither is it regret - feeling sorry for the consequences. Repentance is “changing the way we think” - it means looking at things and seeing them the same way that God sees them. It’s the same idea as confession - which means to say the same thing - The things that God says are wrong, we see as wrong as well. When we see ourselves as sinners who need salvation, we will want to turn to Christ. The problem is that most people never see themselves as sinners - they think they are “alright” and that they are “good enough.” For someone to turn to Christ, they need to see their lost condition. Peter laid it out clearly - they were sinners who had crucified the Messiah and they bear the responsibility of their sin. But the forgiveness of God is so great, that even then, God was still willing to forgive.
21* He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.
God has a plan for the future. Before God ever spoke the worlds into existence, He planned out everything. There is no “Plan B” - because everything goes according to God’s plan. And even from the very start of the church, followers of Christ were looking for His return. We still are 2,000 years later. Maybe today Jesus will return. You say, Probably not today - we’re getting close, but Jesus probably won’t return today! Well just remember, Mt. 24:44 - So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. If you aren’t looking for Jesus to come back today, then THIS COULD be the day!
22* For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’
I’m skimming quickly here - we could take a lot more time to talk about the OT prophecies of God sending His messenger. But a key question - if God has a plan, then why do WE need to witness? Because there is a balance of God’s sovereignty and Man’s responsibility. God is sovereign - so His plan is supreme - but in God’s plan, man is responsible for his own choices. So those who refuse to listen and respond to the gospel will face eternal consequences.
Peter points out that truth as he reminds the people Jesus was God’s messenger - and the only hope of salvation and forgiveness is in LISTENING to what Jesus had to say. Not listening in the sense that you audibly heard the words, but listening in the sense of heeding, obeying, taking to heart. James reminds us, Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!
24* “Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
Who is Peter talking to? Jews! Those who are part of the nation of Israel, the descendants of Abraham. God’s plan is to take the gospel to the Jew first, then to the Gentile. That was Paul’s pattern - when he came into a town, he went first to the Jewish synagogue, their local assembly, and preached to them. Then he would go to the Gentiles in town.
The book of Acts is a record of how the gospel goes out - it starts with the Jews in Jerusalem, then in chapter 8 it goes to the Samaritans - the half-Jews who live right next to Judea, then in chapter 10 it comes to the Gentiles. Then in chapter 13, we see missionary journeys taking the gospel to the various regions of the Gentiles.
God sees the nation of Israel as His chosen people. And that has not changed. Some preachers try to say that God is done with Israel and now the “church” is God’s focus. But that is far from the truth. God says that as the church, we Gentiles are “grafted in” to the nation of Israel. God’s plans for the future all revolve around Israel. When Jesus comes back to the earth to reign as King, He will set up His throne in Jerusalem!
But the blessing of the Jews comes as they turn from their sin and follow Jesus, their Messiah. Today there are many who are Jewish but who do not accept Jesus as their Messiah. But one day they will, when Jesus returns to fight for the nation. But by that time many of them will have been destroyed.
We’re going to pick up here in chapter 4 next week. But let me ask you to identify your ONE THING. Is there one thing that stood out to you in the text? One thing that God spoke to you about? Is there one area of your life you need to improve? Is there one promise of God you need to claim? Whenever we come to the word of God we always want to come away with at least one thing, one truth, one promise, one action. Today what is your one thing?
A few reminders in summary:
• God is STILL in the business of changing lives.
• He does it by the power of Jesus - so we need to point others to Jesus. The greatest need of others in not financial, or relational, or emotional, but spiritual. People need to turn to Jesus.
• But how will they hear about Jesus? God wants to use you and me.
• He empowers us as we pray - we don’t pray for Satan to “leave us alone” but we pray for the power to attack the works of the devil and see God provide great victory. Satan has fooled us into believing that we are on the defensive - but we are to be “on the attack.” We are to storm the gates of hell, and the bible tells us that nothing will be able to stand against us. Greater is He that is in you that he that is in the world.
• Our witness is not as much about the words we use - rather it is testifying of what we know to be true - letting others see what God has done for us.
But the key question is this: will you let God use YOU to be His witness.
In 1985 a celebration took place at a municipal pool in New Orleans. The party around the pool was held to celebrate the first summer in memory without a drowning at the New Orleans City pool. In honor of the occasion, 200 people gathered, including 100 certified lifeguards. As the party was breaking up and the four lifeguards on duty began to clear the pool, they found a fully dressed body in the deep end. They tried to revive Jerome Moody, 31, but it was too late. He had drowned surrounded by lifeguards celebrating their successful season.
Many times in the church we celebrate all the good things we are doing, we pat ourselves on the back, but we completely miss those around us who are dying without Christ! May God help us to see as God sees, to always to look for those around us who need us to speak a witness to them, to point them to Jesus. Let’s pray.
