Good morning, everyone. Glad to be able to meet online and worship the Lord together. Let’s prepare our hearts for the Word of God.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to meet again online, to worship you, to remember You, and to hear from you.
Thank you for Your written Word, inspired by your Spirit and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and for our training in righteousness, so that we can be made complete and equipped for every good work.
We pray, O Lord that we will not just be hearers of the Word, but that we might truly be doers of it also, for Jesus Christ's sake. Bless our time together, in His Name we pray, AMEN.
We are reading Acts 3:11-26 today. Last week we heard of a lame man being healed.
• The one whom everyone recognises because he sits by the temple gate every day, begging; the one crippled from birth, who has never ever walked.
• 4:22 tells us he was over 40 years old. Being in such a condition for so long and getting him to walk, this is an impossibility.
• And yet by the power of Jesus Christ, this man walked, for the first time in his life.
• And not just walked, but jumping and praising God before the crowd in the temple courts, giving glory to God.
• The Lord healed him, not just physically but spiritually. Nothing is impossible with God. He can restore any broken and crippled life.
We are going to see what happens next today. Let us read Acts 3:11-26.
Right from the start, Peter deflects attention from the miracle and from himself, and onto JESUS. It’s all about Jesus.
• With such an extraordinary healing that has just taken place, it would be inevitable that the attention is on Peter.
• He could easily have taken some credit for himself. Just by being silent, he would have taken the glory from God.
• Peter deflects all glory to Jesus. Why are you so surprised? “Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” (3:12)
• Many Christians would have fallen right here, taking credit for the success of their ministry.
Peter went on to enlighten them and highlighted 3 things that they, as the people of Israel, need to understand.
• They need to know what God has done, what God expects from them, and trust what God has promised them. The same lessons for us today.
KNOW WHAT GOD HAS DONE for them through Christ
3:16 “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.”
This healing wasn’t just a miracle, it was a SIGN. A miracle points to the healing; a sign points to the One who caused it, to the One who did it, to the NAME that was invoked.
• Peter said to the man: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (3:6)
• It was in the name and authority of Jesus Christ of Nazareth that this man walked. His feet and ankles became strong, instantly (3:7 Luke tells us).
• The power that Jesus had during His public ministry (that we read about in the Gospels) was still present here in Acts.
• The miracle points to the presence and the power of the living Christ among them.
And who is this Jesus? He is not some fly-by-night prophet but the Messiah spoken about in the Scriptures. Peter uses terms that the Jewish audience understands.
• He is the “glorified SERVANT Jesus” (3:13), the term links Him back to the prophecies of the OT, to words of Isaiah and Zechariah.
• He is the “SERVANT of the Lord”, the SERVANT of “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers.” (3:13). He is the promised Messiah!
• And sadly the Messiah “you killed”; the One whom they had rejected and crucified!
Jesus’ death was not political, circumstantial or accidental. His coming and death was in God’s plan. He was sent by God to do the will of God.
• In his earlier message at Pentecost, Peter said: “It happened by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge” (cf. 2:23).
• Jesus came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ‘You disowned the HOLY AND RIGHTEOUS ONE (v.14) and killed the AUTHOR OF LIFE (v.15),’ Peter said.
What an irony! Noticed how Peter expresses the paradox.
• (1) Pilate (the one with authority to decide) wanted to let Him go but they wanted Jesus crucified;
• (2) They disowned the holy and righteous One and released the unholy and unrighteous one, the convicted murderer Barabbas; and
• (3) “You killed the author of life, but God raised Him [back to life!] from the dead.” (3:15)
This same Jesus healed this man! He believes the name Jesus and now he is praising God and walking in newness of life, as you can see!
• This is God’s will, not just for him but for all those listening in – to believe in the Messiah He sent, so that they can be freed from the bondage of sin and be healed.
UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD EXPECTS from you
3:17 Peter said to the crowd, “I know that you acted in ignorance” but you can 3:19 “repent, then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out…”
• Ignorance doesn’t mean that you’re guiltless; it just mean you are unaware, not knowing that you did wrong and sinned against God. But now that you know, repent!
• Rem Jesus’ prayer on the cross, “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Ignorance does not negate sin. They still need to be forgiven.
3:18 “But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.”
• Jesus was crucified to fulfil God’s will to save you. Our salvation is planned for because God loves you.
• Jesus paid the penalty of sin on our behalf. So “repent and turn to God, so that your sins can be wiped out…” (3:19)
• Peter stressed it again in 4:12 when he was brought before the Sanhedrin, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Forgiveness of our sin against God can only be found in Jesus.
• This was Peter’s thrust in all his messages!
What the Jewish people did in ignorance turned out to be the fulfilment of God’s plan, long foretold by the prophets.
• God can never be held hostage to any evil plots or schemes, not even from Satan.
• God is sovereign and in control, and we can trust Him fully.
• In the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, when everything that is happening are beyond our control, we turn to the only One who is.
Peter did not preach to instil guilt or make the people feel bad about what they did.
• In both his messages (chap 2 and 3), we see Peter urging the people to repent and believe Jesus, only then can they be saved from their sin.
• It is the same message for everyone and for every generation. We are all sinners in need of God’s forgiveness.
• It is not about “turning over a new leaf”; it is about being made a new creation in Christ (cf. 2 Cor 5:17), just like the crippled man, completely transformed by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus. He is our only hope.
TRUST WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED
Then “times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”, for those who repent and confess Christ as Saviour, they are going to experience His presence in their lives, no doubt about that.
• But Peter stressed something else, more specifically for the Jewish nation. Christ will return to Jerusalem and establish His millennial Kingdom at the end times.
• At the final restoration of Israel, God will send “the Christ, who has been appointed for you – even Jesus” (3:20) and He will return. But for now…
• 3:21 “He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
• That’s God unique promise to His chosen people ISRAEL.
3:22-26
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. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’ [Deut 18:15, 18-19]
• 24"Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25 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. ’ [From Gen 22:18]
• 26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."
Peter reminded the Jewish audience of God’s promises to Abraham, Moses and the prophets – the prophecies that had been fulfilled and could only be fulfilled by the Messiah Jesus.
• God kept His covenant. His message of salvation will come first to Israel, and then through Israel, all peoples of the earth will be blessed.
• Jesus died on the cross, raised from the dead, ascended into heaven, and He is coming back again, to fulfil all of God’s promises to Israel and the world.
• They might not have recognised Him when He first came, but now they do, they can repent, believe the Gospel and return to God.
True blessings come from remembering what God has done, understanding what He expects from us, and holding on the promises He has given us in His Word.
The healing of this lame man glorified God and pointed the people back to the living Christ in their midst. 4:4 tells us at least 2000 of them who heard the message believed.
• Are you willing to put your trust in Jesus too? Are you willing to repent and return to God?
• I can assure you, times of refreshing will come and you will experience Him in your life.
• Don’t live for what this world can offer you – silver and gold – obey His call, have faith in Jesus, and enjoy the gift of a life that’s abundant and eternal.
When I was studying at the seminary in Chicago many years back, there is a beautiful lake in the middle of the campus. During winter, it turns into ice. And I was told that students can take a shortcut to their classes walking across the frozen lake. But would you dare to?
I had just arrived not long then and that was my first winter. How can I be sure?
People can say, “Have faith, have faith!” but you know it’s not about faith, it’s about the ice! Is the ice thick enough, can the frozen ice take my weight?
Until the day I saw fellow students walking across the lake would I know for sure.
It’s all about the object of our faith. If the ice can hold you, it can hold you. If it cannot, no matter how much faith you have, it really doesn’t matter, you can sink.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth is our solid Rock, the object of our faith. He is Son of God, the Holy and Righteous One, the Author of life, and the Saviour of our souls. He has risen from the dead and He is with us today. By His grace, we can walk through any trial.
It is all about Jesus! He is all we need. Come back to Him. Stay faithful. Trust Him.
PRAYER
Our dear loving God, we see from the Scriptures your desire to save men - to free us from sin and give us life abundant and eternal - in Your Son Jesus. Thank you for the gift of forgiveness and a new life in Christ. May all who listen in today find the faith to trust you and believe Jesus completely.
We thank you, Jesus for your loving presence with us. You understand our needs, you know our weaknesses; you are our hope and strength. We hear you and we follow you.
In the coming days, continue to keep us all in good health, body, mind and spirit, Lord, physically, mentally and spiritually.
May the grace of Jesus, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all, now and forevermore, AMEN.
