SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY
Text: Acts 3:12-26
Introduction
1. Illustration: “There is a big difference in seeing an opportunity and seizing an opportunity” – Jim Moore
2. Last week we talked about expecting opportunities to share the Gospel. Today we are going to talk about how to seize those opportunities.
3. Peter, in his sermon in the Temple, gives us some good examples of how to seize our opportunities.
a. Talk About Jesus
b. Treat Them as Friends
c. Share Scripture
4. Read Acts 3:12-26
Proposition: You don’t have to be a Bible scholar, theologian, or pastor to share the Gospel with people.
Transition: The most important thing we can do is…
I. Talk About Jesus (12-16).
A. Glory to His Servant Jesus
1. After the healing of the lamed man, Peter sees an open door to share the Gospel.
2. In v. 12 Luke tells us, “Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “People of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness?”
a. Peter saw an opportunity to tell the people about the power of Jesus name.
b. He asks them “what so surprising about this?” Perhaps this is a question we should ask ourselves? When God answers our prayers, we act surprised, but Jesus made it clear if we ask anything in his name, he will do it.
c. We should expect God to move and answer our prayers, just Peter was telling them to expect it.
d. But the most important part of the beginning of Peter’s sermon is that he places the attention and credit where it belongs - on Jesus!
e. This is a remarkable thing about the preaching of the early church is that it was always centered on Jesus.
f. Here Peter makes it clear that this man’s healing had nothing to do with his own power or godliness but rather on the power of Jesus name.
3. Peter states that the glory doesn’t belong to him or John, but rather to Jesus. He said, “For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of all our ancestors—who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. This is the same Jesus whom you handed over and rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s decision to release him.”
a. He states that it was the God of their ancestors that used this miracle to give glory to his “servant” Jesus.
b. This reminds us of the reference from Isaiah 53 as the Messiah as the suffering servant. Jesus is that suffering servant.
c. Then Peter begins to focus on the Jews own guilt in the crucifixion of Jesus.
d. He points out the fact that they had turned Jesus over to Pilate and the Romans to be crucified.
e. He also stresses that Pilate wanted to let Jesus go, but they insisted that Jesus be killed.
4. Peter continues to stress the part the Jewish people had in Jesus’ death. In v. 14-15 he says, “You rejected this holy, righteous one and instead demanded the release of a murderer. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. And we are witnesses of this fact!”
a. The people had demanded that a murderer named Barabbas be released instead of Jesus.
b. They chose a murderer rather than the righteous one - Jesus!
c. Peter continues to stress Jesus as a sinless, suffering servant. Again, he stresses their guilt in Jesus’ death saying that they “killed the author of life.”
d. The word author means “originator or source.” He is saying that they took the life of the one who gives it.
e. But they Peter transitions from what the Jews did to what God did. He raised Jesus from the dead.
f. Peter says, “we are witnesses of this fact.” They saw, met, and ate with Jesus after his resurrection. They knew beyond a doubt that Jesus was alive.
5. Once again, Peter takes the focus off himself and puts it on Jesus. He says, “Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed—and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.”
a. Peter makes it clear it was faith in the name of Jesus that healed the lamed man.
b. He says, “Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.”
c. It was this demonstration of the power of Jesus that he wanted them to focus.
d. This teaches us to focus on Jesus when we share our faith with others.
B. Tell The Story of Jesus
1. Illustration: Fanny Crosby in her great hymn “Tell Me the Story of Jesus,” said, “Tell me the story of Jesus. Write on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.”
2. When sharing the gospel tell people the story of Jesus!
a. “As I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting.’ (Acts 22:6-8).
b. Just like Peter, Paul when sharing the gospel with people told them the story of how Jesus changed his life.
c. Even before governors and kings, he didn’t glorify himself, but he simply told the story of Jesus.
d. We too, must tell the story of Jesus!
e. Tell about how Jesus came and died for us.
f. Tell them how Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day.
g. Just as important, tell them how Jesus has changed your life.
h. Tell them how Jesus saved you and gave you joy instead of sorrow.
i. Tell them how Jesus has given you purpose in your life.
j. Tell them the story of Jesus!
Transition: The next thing that Peter’s sermon shows us is…
II. Treat Them as Friends (17-23).
A. Friends
1. One of the great truths of Scripture is that we are all sinners who need God’s grace. When we share our faith with people, we must always do so with this in mind. At some point we all needed a Savior. Look at what Peter says in v. 17, “Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance.”
a. Peter refers to them as “friends.” In the Greek the word is the word for “brothers.”
b. There is no animosity, no resentment, no looking down his nose at them. He calls them friends.
c. When we minster to others we need to do so with this in mind.
d. We need to love people, and because we do we want them to know Jesus.
e. Peter reminds tells them that what they did to Jesus was done in ignorance.
f. “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34).
2. Furthermore, Peter tells them this was all a part of God’s plan. “But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things.”
a. Peter points out that since this was a part of God’s plan, God will not hold it against them if they will only come to God in repentance.
b. Sin blinds us to the realities of life, and it causes us to do things that are contrary to God’s righteous standard.
c. You see, we are all in need of God’s grace, for we all have sinned.
3. This doesn’t mean that they were not guilty, nor does it mean that we are the people are trying to minister to are not guilty of sin. But because of his great love, God sent Jesus to die for us so we could be forgiven. That’s why Peter said to them, “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord.”
a. Even though they have sinned, they could be forgiven if they would repent.
b. Again, the word “repent” means to turn away from our sins and towards God.
c. So, we need to tell people if they would turn away from their sin and come back to God, they too can be forgiven regardless of what they’ve done.
d. If the people responsible for killing Jesus could be forgiven, then anyone can be forgiven.
e. All they have do is ask. If they do, they will receive times of refreshing!
f. There is no more refreshing thing that can happen then to know you are forgiven.
g. The word translated “refreshing” means being restored to God. There’s no greater feeling than knowing we are right with God.
B. Love One Another
1. Illustration: There is a story about the Apostle John at the end of his life. He was the pastor at the church in Ephesus, and at this point he was so old that he could no longer walk. Sunday after Sunday the other elders would carry him in on a mat and set him in the middle of the assembly. From this mat he would teach. At one point he would just mutter the words "beloved love one another, beloved love one another" This went on for several months. Finally, one of the elders said to him, "Brother John that is a great message, but don’t you think we could hear something else." Then the old pastor looked at him and said "when we learn this lesson, we will move on to the next one"
2. When we share the gospel with others, we need to do it out of love.
a. Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” (1 Jn 4:7-11).
b. We cannot scare the hell out of people; we must love the hell out of them.
c. We’ve got to show them that we are telling them about Jesus because of our love and concern for them.
d. We’ve got to show them that they aren’t a religious project we are working on, but rather that they are someone we love because of Jesus.
e. Even when we tell them about hell, it is because we love them so much, we don’t want to see them go there.
f. People aren’t going to be drawn to Jesus because of the Christian t-shirt we’re wearing, the ten-pound cross around our necks, or the two-ton Bible were carrying, they will be drawn to Jesus because of our love!
Transition: So, we need to tell them the story of Jesus, show them the love of Jesus, and we need to…
III. Share Scripture (24-26).
A. Starting With Samuel
1. One best of the ways to share Jesus with people is to share the Bible with them. Notice what Peter does, “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today.”
a. He didn’t just ask them to take his word on it.
b. He went back to the Scriptures and showed them the prophets of the OT spoke of Jesus and his sacrificial death on the cross for us.
c. He started with Samuel and went through what all the prophets had to say about Jesus.
2. But Peter didn’t just tell them about what the prophets said, he also includes what God said to their ancestor Abraham. In v. 25 it says, “You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.’ “
a. Peter went all the way back to the beginning, in Genesis 12:1-3, where God tells Abraham that all the families on earth would be blessed.
b. Because it was through Abraham and his descendants that God brought us Jesus.
c. So, Scripture is a great tool that God has given us, not just for our spiritual encouragement, but also to tell people about what they can have through Jesus.
B. Scripture is Our Tool
1. Illustration: A father shared an experience he and his wife had with their young children. They began as a family to memorize Scripture, one verse a week. They kept the verses on cards in the middle of the table and discussed their meanings when they recited the. One evening he and his wife heard their 2 young daughters fighting down the hall. "I hate you!" one yelled, and the other responded in kind. Not wishing to jump into the argument, he called out, "Kara? She replied, "Yes!" "What is our verse for this week?" he asked, hoping to quiet the argument by implication. Quickly the daughter answered in her most pious voice, "Dear friends, since God so loved us as much as that, we surely ought to love each other too." And then she resumed the fight! So, he tried the same tactic with the other daughter, Dana -- with the same results. So, he had to go and intervene. He shared the lesson he learned: "What a beautiful example of how most of us apply Scripture! We memorize it and even repeat it flawlessly, but seldom does it change our lives. And yet Christianity is not so much about knowing facts as about living. We must get the Bible off the shelf and into the self."
2. The greatest tool we have in sharing the gospel with others is knowing our Bibles.
a. “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9).
b. In sharing the gospel with people, it is very helpful to be able to share with people what the Bible says about Jesus.
c. You can share with him the things he did from the Bible.
d. You can show them the things he taught from the bible.
e. You can use the Bible in showing people the plan of salvation.
f. The problem is it’s hard to do any of this if you are not spending time in your Bible.
g. It’s hard to memorize what the Bible says if we’re not reading it.
h. There’s a video on social media of Chinese Christians getting their very first Bible. The hugged it and kissed it. The wept as the held an actual Bible for the very first time. And putting their lives at jeopardy in doing so.
i. Meanwhile, in America, land of the free and home of the brave, biblical illiteracy is at an all-time high! There’s something terribly wrong with this picture!
j. How many of you brought a bible with you to church today?
k. Not reading your bible is like having the tools to fix your car but refusing to get them out of the toolbox!
Conclusion
1. Peter, in his sermon in the Temple, gives us some good examples of how to seize our opportunities.
a. Talk About Jesus
b. Treat Them as Friends
c. Share Scripture
2. What’s the point preacher? The point is this, it’s not as hard to share the gospel with people as we make it out to be. Just tell them the story of Jesus, treat them like friends, and share the bible with them.
