Acts 3:12-19, Psalm 4:1-8, 1 John 3:1-7, Luke 24:36-48.
(A) A 'SUFFERING SERVANT' SERMON IN SOLOMON'S PORCH.
Acts 3:12-19.
The occasion of this Sermon was after the healing of a crippled man who used to sit begging below a gate called ‘Beautiful’ – a huge brass gate which, according to Josephus, far outshone all the silver and gold in the Temple. When the crippled man asked Peter and John for alms, Peter famously replied,
‘Silver and gold have I none;
But such as I have, give I unto you:
In the Name of Jesus Christ
Of Nazareth rise up and walk’ (Acts 3:6).
Then Peter courteously took him by the hand - and the feet and ankles of the crippled man received strength (Acts 3:7). This was the same gesture, and the same word (‘arise’) as the Lord Jesus had used towards the dead daughter of a certain ruler of the synagogue (Luke 8:54). The formerly crippled man leapt to his feet, and entered the Temple with Peter and John,
‘Walking and leaping,
And praising God’ (Acts 3:8).
Doctor Luke emphasises the fact of this healing by referring to the man ‘walking’ at least three times. Not only did he walk, but he ‘leapt like a deer’ (cf. Isaiah 35:6), and praised God. What a call to worship! What a way to gather a congregation!
In these post-Easter days, is God telling us to arise? ‘Rise, take up your bed, and walk’ (John 5:8). ‘Come forth’ from the deadness which has taken hold upon your life (John 11:43). ‘Arise, shine’ for the glory of the Lord has risen upon you (Isaiah 60:1). Tap into the resurrection power which is yours in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:11)!
The crowd who gathered in Solomon’s ‘Porch’ (Acts 3:11; cf. John 10:23) – a long row of covered columns which ran the whole length of the eastern wall of the outer court of the Temple – did not gather to hear a Sermon, but to witness and wonder at the results of a miracle (Acts 3:10). However, Peter did not miss this second opportunity to address his countrymen on the back of an undeniable mighty act of God (cf. Acts 2:14).
First of all, said Peter, why are you so amazed? This mighty work is not on account of our power or piety (Acts 3:12). Even faithful Israelites might make the same mistake as the inhabitants of Lycaonia, who reckoned that Paul and Barnabas were something other than mere men (Acts 14:11-13). Also Christians, please give heed: it is not the great preachers who make converts, nor the pastors of this or that denomination or persuasion, but God Himself!
Now comes the painful bit: it is your God, O Israel, who glorified His Son Jesus; whom you (collectively) delivered up and “denied” (Acts 3:13). That word must have jolted Peter’s memory (cf. Luke 22:61). At this point the Apostle could have added, in honest humility - as all preachers must do - ‘I speak not only to you, but also to myself!’
Pilate was willing to let Him go, but you (we) preferred a murderer and “killed” the Prince of “life” (Acts 3:14-15).
‘Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
O! Sometimes it causes me to tremble!’
Then comes the good news, for all mankind: God raised Him from the dead (Acts 3:15). It is by His name, through faith in His name - ‘by grace through faith’ (Ephesians 2:8) - that this healing is accomplished in your presence (Acts 3:16).
Peter categorises the unbelief that sent Jesus to the Cross as a sin of ignorance (Acts 3:17). There is such a thing as a sacrifice for sins of ignorance (Numbers 15:27-29), and Jesus invoked this prayer when He was crucified (Luke 23:34). Paul also admitted ignorance in his former form of life (1 Timothy 1:13).
In fact none of the major stage players in the drama of the crucifixion knew what it was all about (1 Corinthians 2:7-8). Yet God knew, and had fore-ordained it, predicting the sufferings of Christ through the prophets of old (Acts 3:18; cf. Acts 3:20-26).
This is not to make an excuse on behalf of the offenders, but in order to inform them (us) of the need, and the availability, of repentance (Acts 3:19). When we turn in faith to Jesus, our sins are blotted out and erased from the file. Then we are refreshed by the Lord, renewed and revived, finding our rest at last in Him.
(B) A LIVING FAITH AT PRAYER.
Psalm 4:1-8.
It is because we have had experience of answered prayer in the past that we can expect answered prayer for the future. It is because we are ‘the righteousness of God’ in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21) that we can ‘boldly approach the throne of grace’ (Hebrews 4:16) and have the audacity to implore God in the imperative as the Psalmist does here. “Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness” (Psalm 4:1a) is not self-righteousness but living faith-in-action!
The plea is based in past mercies: “you enlarged me/ gave me room when I was constricted”; or “you relieved me when I was in distress” (Psalm 4:1b). The fact of the matter is, that God answers prayer - as every Christian should surely know. So, we can say, ‘It is because of your mercy that we are not consumed… Great is your faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22-23).
And we can go on pleading in the imperative, “Have mercy on me”, or “Be gracious to me” - and “hear my prayer” (Psalm 4:1c). It may seem impossible, or perhaps already too late: but ‘nothing is impossible with God’ (Luke 1:37); indeed ‘all things are possible with God’ (Matthew 19:26). And the answer of God to our prayers is never too late.
Think of Jesus at Gethsemane: did He not sweat great drops of blood? ‘In the days of His flesh,’ did He not offer up ‘prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death’ and was He not ‘heard in that He feared’ (Hebrews 5:7)? Yet the bitter cup did not pass from Him, but He was saved not from, but out of death - and procured our salvation in the process!
David has already identified the LORD as ‘my Glory and the lifter up of my head’ (Psalm 3:3). The Psalmist now addresses his enemies, complaining that “his glory (or honour)” has been turned to shame (Psalm 4:2a). This is not just about personal honour, but zeal for the LORD: it is one thing for our name to be cut off from the earth, but quite another when people bring disgrace to the name of the LORD (cf. Joshua 7:9)!
Slander appears to be the basis for the Psalmist’s complaint (Psalm 4:2b). (In K.J.V., “leasing” is an old English word for lies). ‘Blessed are you,’ says Jesus, ‘when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my name’s sake’ (Matthew 5:11).
But the Psalmist’s confidence is in the LORD. “Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself: the LORD will hear when I call Him,” he asserts to his would-be naysayers (Psalm 4:3).
As well as naysayers, the Psalmist has friends. The Christian under persecution may think he is all alone, as did Elijah (1 Kings 19:10): but we are not (1 Kings 19:18). So, the Psalmist gives proverbial advice to his friends.
The proverb begins in the imperative: “Stand in awe and sin not” (Psalm 4:4a), quoted by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:26 as ‘Be angry but sin not: let not the sun go down on your anger.’ There is, after all, such a thing as righteous anger: but we must not allow it to fester in our hearts, nor give vent to our anger in a sinful manner.
So, the second piece of advice is to meditate within our hearts on our beds, and “be still” (Psalm 4:4b). When the troubles of the past day present themselves in what should be our sleeping hours, meditation on the word of God is an appropriate response (cf. Psalm 63:6).
“Be still” can also mean ‘wait’. The Psalmist says elsewhere, ‘My soul, wait silently for God alone’ (Psalm 62:5). Jesus says, ‘Don’t worry about your life,’ (Matthew 6:25).
The writer here adds, “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness” (Psalm 4:5a). Jesus addresses the issue of ‘right sacrifices’ in Matthew 5:23-24. We cannot present ourselves anew to the Lord in the morning, if our hearts are still festering with yesterday’s arguments. No, we must “put our trust in the LORD” (Psalm 4:5b).
There may be an ironic ring to Psalm 4:6a: “There be many that say, ‘Who will show us any good?’” There is a difference after all, between ‘saying prayers’ and truly praying. Or it may be for real: perhaps it is only when we offer “right sacrifices” (Psalm 4:5a; cf. Romans 12:1-2) that we can truly contemplate what it means to have the LORD “lift up the light of His countenance upon us” (Psalm 4:6b; cf. Numbers 6:26)?
By the end of this short prayer, the Psalmist is rejoicing in his heart. It is a gladness that exceeds the joy of harvest (Psalm 4:7) when we know that the LORD has heard and is answering our petitions (cf. Isaiah 65:24).
The Risen Lord Jesus gives us the peace (John 14:27; John 20:19) whereby we might rest in the safety of the LORD (Psalm 4:8). Amen.
(C) THE CHRISTIAN AND SIN.
1 John 3:1-7.
“Behold,” says John. Pause for thought and reflection. For it is indeed a wonderful demonstration of God's love that “we” should be called the sons of God (1 John 3:1).
This was not what we deserved, but as we know from other Scriptures, it was ‘while we were yet sinners’ that Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). This is addressed to Christians, of course: we who “were” sinners, but who are now ‘made righteous’ by the blood of Jesus (Romans 5:19). The prodigal son desired to be restored to his father as a servant (Luke 15:18-19), but when we come to God through the Lord Jesus Christ we are brought into all the privileges of son-ship.
Yet these privileges also carry responsibility (1 John 3:13).
Fathers and brothers have been known to bury an empty coffin in a gesture of rejection when a member of their family becomes a believer. Peer pressure is exerted against the new convert by former friends. Even employers use their economic advantage to try to extinguish the light of the new Christian.
The fact of the matter is that society feels threatened by the Christ within us. The world hates us because it hated Jesus first (John 15:18-19). The world “knows us not, because it knew Him not” (1 John 3:1).
Those who are beloved of Christ “are” the sons of God (1 John 3:2).
Upon self-examination we may not feel as if we are sons of God, but the Christian does not live by his feelings. It may not look to ourselves that we are any such thing, but the whole creation awaits the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). What we are, and whose we are will not be fully evident until the Lord returns for His own.
Then we shall see Him as He is – not as he was, despised, rejected, mutilated and crucified, but as the risen conquering glorified Saviour. Then we shall be transformed, and fully conformed to His image.
Meantime, however, we are not to be idle. We have been made holy by Christ, but we are also to pursue holiness (1 John 3:3). The work of sanctification, which is God's work for sure, requires our participation (Philippians 2:12-13).
So what is to be the Christian's relationship to sin? Strictly speaking, he should not have such a relationship (1 John 3:4-5).
What is being spoken of here is the practise or habit of sin. Christ has borne away our sin in His death upon the Cross, so how shall we who are dead to sin live any longer therein? (Romans 6:2).
This is not to say that Christians do not fall into sin (1 John 1:8-10; 1 John 2:1-2). However, such a falling out with God is also a falling out of our true character.
This is seen in the “whosoever” of 1 John 3:6. Everyone who abides in Him is of such a character that sin is alien to them. This is not speaking of an elite few, but of all Christians. For all the faults evident in the churches to whom Paul, for example, wrote, they were still addressed as saints in Christ Jesus. We are the sanctified ones, but it is still yet to appear what we shall be (1 John 3:2).
Conversely, a habit of sin betrays a lack of abiding familiarity with Jesus (1 John 3:6). There are times when our sins should lead us to examine whether we are really what we say we are, or whether we have been deceiving ourselves all along.
I like the familiar touch of John, who refers to his congregation as little children in danger of being led astray (1 John 3:7).
A tree is known by its fruit (Matthew 12:33). The apostle speaks first of the practise of righteousness, which proves our righteousness and our identification with the righteousness of Christ (1 John 3:7); then of the habitual sinfulness of the sinner, who is identified thereby with the devil (1 John 3:8). The devil's habit has been to sin from the very beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
John moves immediately from the eternal Son of God to the begotten-ness of Christians (1 John 3:9). If we are begotten of God we will not blatantly and habitually sin. His seed within us can only bring forth good fruit (Matthew 7:18). In fact, we are unable to continue in the practise of sin exactly because we have been begotten of God.
Ultimately our respective attitudes to sin and righteousness separate the saints from the sinners (1 John 3:10).
The chapter began with the love of God, which named us as the sons of God. One of the fruits of our son-ship, and of having the righteousness of Christ, is our love towards the brethren (1 John 3:10).
(D) JESUS IN THE MIDST: THE UPPER ROOM.
Luke 24:36-48.
What a scene met the two from the Emmaus Road upon their return to Jerusalem! The dejected church was now declaring its Easter message: “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.” To which they added their own testimony of the risen Lord (Luke 24:33-35).
At that moment Jesus Himself appeared among them, and spoke the “Peace” (Luke 24:36). Was He a spirit, suddenly appearing in a room with closed doors? Faith and hope and anticipation were momentarily eclipsed by fear and uncertainty (Luke 24:37). How like the church!
Into our uncertainty the Lord speaks words of reassurance (Luke 24:38), and presents us with the evidence on which to ground our faith (Luke 24:39-40).
Whatever we may understand of the risen body of our Lord, it was both real and material. Flesh and bones (Luke 24:39-40), and the ability to eat (Luke 24:41-43), were added to the ability to converse, and to pass through walls (Luke 24:36). It is wise not to become too curious here, but to receive by faith what we may not otherwise be able to understand.
By now the doubts of most were dissipating. They did not fully understand, but now they marvelled with joy (Luke 24:41). Jesus opened the Scripture to the gathered assembly (Luke 24:44-47) - and by the time He had finished the only one who still doubted was the one who had been absent from the meeting. But that is another story.
Easter had been a hectic, confusing day: but, in our text, Jesus pointed the disciples first to His own words, and then to the Old Testament Scriptures in order that they might put some meaning on all that had happened (Luke 24:44). This is where we must always begin: with Jesus, who is both the key and the fulfilment of Scripture, and with the Scriptures themselves. Trying to understand Jesus without the Scriptures is futile; and comprehending Scripture without Jesus opening our understanding is impossible (Luke 24:45).
“It is written,” begins Jesus, “that the Messiah should suffer and rise” (Luke 24:46). He was giving them - and us - new reading glasses to read already familiar passages and verses. From now on we see these old things as in a new light.
Not only this, but the church’s commission arises out of the Old Testament. Jesus continues, “and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). If we search the Scriptures, we will find that that was always the plan.
Then we have the link with the New Testament: “you (all) are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48).
Now at last the church finds a meaning in the events that led up to the resurrection of Jesus. The risen Lord opens up the Scriptures so that we may see the reason for it all. He gives us a sense of purpose in evangelism. He establishes the witness of the Apostles through the writing of the New Testament (Luke 24:44-48).
And He promises to endue His fledgling church with resurrection power with the coming of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). The power that is at work within us is the same power by which Christ was raised from the dead! May God bless us to use it for His glory.
As we continue to worship and serve Him in this world, may the Lord bless us with continuing understanding of what He has accomplished for us. May we fulfil our mission in the power of the Spirit and see fruit for our labours in this present ‘waiting’ time. And to His name be all the praise and honour and glory.
