If you would now turn to a copy of the scriptures we've been making our way through the book of Acts. We're going to be considering Acts Chapter Three this morning. We're going to read the entirety of the chapter and consider it. And so I think it'll benefit you. If you have it in front of you, there's a lot there. And so as we consider it that again, I think it'll be helpful if, if you have it in front of you, Acts chapter three, I'll begin in verse one and read to the end of the chapter. Before I read it, let's go to the Lord in prayer, asking for the Spirit to help us and open up our eyes. So let's pray for that Lord. We thank You for Your Word, and Lord we know there are many, many, many people who have heard your word, and yet it has fallen on deaf ears. It has not penetrated their hearts. And so Lord, we come to you this morning knowing that your word is powerful. It is sharper than any two edged sword and it and we ask that it would indeed cut to our hearts.
But we only, we know the only way it will is by the power of your spirit. And so Lord, we ask that you would do that now, that your spirit would cut deep within our hearts, to cut out all the things that are displeasing to you, to show us our sin, but show us our Lord, Jesus Christ. Lord, do this for your people. We pray in Jesus's name, Amen. People of God hear God's word for us this morning from Acts chapter three. Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, and a man lame from birth was being carried lame. A man lame from birth was being carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, that is called the Beautiful Gate, to ask alms of those entering the temple.
Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms, and Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, Look at us. And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you, and the name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up. And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong and leaping up, he stood and began to walk and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him while he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together together to them in the portico called Solomon's. And when Peter saw it was he saw it, he addressed the people, men of Israel. Why do you wonder at this? Or Why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety, we have made him walk the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release Him, but you denied the Holy and righteous one, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead to this we are witnesses. And his name, by faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. And the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all, and now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled, Repent therefore and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things about Which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets. Long ago, Moses said, The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you, and it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people and. All the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and those who came after him also proclaim, these days, you are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham and to your offspring, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning everyone of you from your wickedness. He who has ears, let him hear the Word of God. Please be seated. Well, you just heard a sermon by Peter, but now you get to hear another one. That's the joy of Acts, chapter two and acts. Chapter Three is Peter presents sermons, and then I get to give a sermon on a sermon, and I'm not going to do much better or any better than Peter, but just try to help us make some emphasis and some focus on what Peter has presented to us.
I also just want to point out to you that you might have noticed that chapter two and chapter three are very similar. There is a sign, a wonder that occurs, and then what follows that is a sermon, but it's a sermon that has actually very little to focus on the the miracle that has occurred. If you recognize Peter's sermon really doesn't talk about this man leaping and walking, who had paralysis and can now walk. But the sermon focus is on the Word of God, which points us to the Lord, Jesus, Christ, the Savior, the Lord. And then both in these chapters as well, we see people believing not when they have witnessed these signs and wonders, but when they hear the word of God preached. Also notice that chapter three of acts which we just read, I read this to our boys and our youngest as I began reading it again, interrupted me and said, Dad, I know this story. And you know Jesus then tells the man to take up his mat and walk we, you know, we've done this story in Luke, but, and you'll notice that this story is not that story, but it's very similar.
It's very similar to what you will hear in Mark chapter two, and also John chapter five, where Jesus heals a paralytic person, and he does it a few times. And that's really the point of this text. We are seeing Jesus again, because Jesus is not dead, Jesus is risen, and Jesus is reigning.
And the same power that we see Jesus display in the Gospels is his power here again, and the miracles are pointing to us that Jesus isn't dead, he's alive, and he is continuing to work through his apostles, the risen Jesus is still at the right hand of his father and continuing to transform sinners by His power.
You remember the last time we were in Acts, I tried to emphasize that Jesus hasn't deposited power into his apostles or into the church and then leaves them to do his work.
That is the teachings of Roman Catholicism, and that's not correct. Jesus, by the power of his Spirit, is still at work. It is Jesus who is guiding and leading and in working through His apostles. If you remember the title for this book that we're looking at, we sometimes call the Acts of the Apostles, but if you remember when we started this book, it really ought to be named the acts of the continuing acts of Jesus by the power of his Spirit through His apostles. It's a longer name, but it's a more fitting name. It is the Acts of the Apostles, but it's the continuing acts of Jesus by the power of his Spirit through His apostles. Now, why did Jesus do miracles and in the gospels, why did he do those miracles? And you will know that it wasn't simply for humanitarian effect, but it was all pointing to a fulfillment of prophecy in the Old Testament, but also and also affirming who He claimed to be, that is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord, and we see that again here in this text, you'll remember in chapter two, we ended in the churches devoted themselves to the apostles, teaching the fellowship to the breaking of bread and prayer.
Years, and there is joy and gladness and generous hearts.
Remember that beautiful picture that we see painted for us in chapter two, the beautiful picture of the church. And how do we get to that picture? It's the word sacrament, prayer and fellowship, and we're told there at the end of chapter two, they are going, day by day, attending to the temple together to pray, just again. To note, this is a transitional period in redemptive history. The Christians are going to the temple because they don't, actually, they don't see themselves cut off from Jewish worship. In fact, they are the true worshipers of Yahweh. The Christian Church is the true worshipers of God. Now they aren't participating in the sacrifices anymore, because they know that they've they were just pictures. They were just signs pointing to Jesus, and Jesus has come, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, has laid himself on the table and has been slaughtered and is now risen, but yet they're still going to the temple to worship God, and they're going to continue to do that till 70 ad, when the temple is destroyed, and that's going to then force the gospel to go out from Jerusalem into the ends of the world, where we get it. We get it now. And how did the gospel get to us? How do we get to hear it now in our ears today? Well, it all kind of comes back to our text here, chapter two and three, as I said, are very similar, and they also begin in the same way with prayer.
Remember, before Pentecost, what are they all doing? They're in the room together. They are devoting themselves to prayer.
And then in chapter three, before we even have the first recorded miracle, post Pentecost, what are they doing?
Praying, Peter and John, we would have to say, you know, two of the greatest apostles. There are some apostles. We might know their name, but we don't really know much about them, but Peter and John, come on, these two great apostles. What are they doing? Praying? And I just want to note for our church, this must be this is a great example for our church. We have to be a praying church. This is a lesson for us to be in prayer, not just individually, but they are gathering together to pray.
Peter and John are going to the temple to pray. They're gathering to pray. They're gathering to pray. They're gathering to pray. Let us pray.
And to go into the temple to pray, they passed through a gate which has taken the name beautiful or lovely. The first century. Historian Josephus tells us that this gate was about 75 feet high, tall gate, and it was ornately decorated and designed. And it was made from Corinthian bronze, with Josephus said, was actually more impressive than gold and silver.
It was beautiful. Was a beautiful sight before entering into the presence of God. But what was right outside that beautiful gate is an opposite picture, and we see a pitiful sight. Then we have this lame man from birth in chapter four.
We're told that he's more than 40 years old, and he was daily carried and placed outside the gate to ask of money those who are entering the temple living in a place like Tampa. You're familiar with this kind of sight. People standing, sitting, asking for money, and this man is completely dependent on the kindness of others to bring him to the gate to give him some money that he might have his daily bread in verse three, then we see Peter and John. They were going into the temple. And this man is doing what he did daily, asking to receive alms. And then verse four, Peter directly the directs his gaze at him, as did John. We're told, and he says, Look at us. And that's important, because you know, if you're driving in your car and there's a panhandler, the what you don't do is look right? You purposely, I'm not looking. I'm not going to even look at the sign, because if you look now I'm obligated. All right. Now they look, and not only do they look, they tell the man, look at us. Look. Look at us verse five, and he fixes attention on him, expecting to receive something from them. He's done this. And then Peter gives us these powerful words, these so well known words in verse six, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Now, if we had someone in our congregation who was here today and they weren't able to walk, and maybe they had been paralyzed from from birth, and I said, Why don't you, why don't you all stand up and sing, and especially you, you stand up now and sing. I'd be taunting. Then.
That would be cruel and mean, wouldn't it? Someone who can't walk, they they've never been able to walk, and I'm saying, come on now, get up. Wouldn't that be cruel? And doesn't that seem like at first? That's probably what that this guy just must feel like Peter's making fun of him, taunting him, that this Peter is asking this man to do the the one thing he he can't do is get up and walk you. Hmm, but Peter was commanding him to do the impossible. But we know what is impossible with man is possible with God. And Peter takes him by the hand, we are told, lifts him up, and immediately this man's feet and ankles are made strong, not over the course of many months, not over the course of physical therapy, but immediately, not only does this man stand up, he's able to walk. And not only he's able to walk, but he's also able to leap. He gets balance and agility immediately. Imagine 40 years born like this, not able to walk, and then immediately he's leaping. That's power. And most importantly, in verse nine and 10, we're not we're told, not only is this man now able to walk and leap, most importantly, now he can praise God. And that's what he's doing.
He's praising God. I really love verse nine, and all the people saw him walking and praising God, if only that was a description of me, wouldn't that? Wouldn't, wouldn't you love if it was written in Scripture about you? What? How is this person described?
Everyone who sees him, he's walking and praising God. Let's make that a prayer about for us, that everyone who interacts with us will see that we know and that we praise the risen Lord.
Like all physical healings that occur in Scripture, again, even as what Jesus were doing, then they are all pointing us though to a spiritual reality. And this is also like the others, Jesus would often use physical healings and physical miracles to convey a spiritual truth, blindness and deafness were often used to describe the effects of sin in our hearts and in our lives, that we cannot see, we cannot hear the things of God, lest God open up our eyes. And that's again, what we see here in our text. This man is hopeless. He is helpless, not only physically, but also spiritually. As John will tell us, no one comes to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. Sin has twisted and misshaped not only this man's lives, but our lives as well, has rendered us poor beggars trying to find some relief in this hostile world. But there has we have paralysis, not able to do anything to save ourselves. The gospel calls us to repent and believe, but our hearts are dead in sins and trespasses and even unable to respond to these commands. You see, the problem of sin is not as apparent to us as a physical problem, but yet it is the fundamental problem in our text and of this man and of us. The main problem here is not that this man cannot walk. The main problem here is this man's sin, and Jesus has to rescue him from it.
Sin is the reason for misery in this world. Sin is the reason this man cannot walk. It's. Sin is a reason for our broken relationships. Sin is the reason for death and disease. It all comes back to sin, and this is why, when Peter starts to preach his sermon, he doesn't start to give a sermon about the, you know, the the joys of being able to walk in mental health, of making sure that now that this man is able to walk, that you walk a certain number of steps each day, and that's good for your health. He doesn't even talk about the importance of having solid marriages, or how to be a good steward of your wealth. He talks about sin. He says, this is the problem, that your sins need to be forgiven and you need to be restored. The worst thing Peter could have done for this man was to simply heal him of his infirmity, to simply let him walk, and that's it. In fact, it would be judgment if that was all that Peter did. And sometimes that's what we want for God to do in our lives, is simply just take away the pain, the physical healing, and do that that has nothing to do with our hearts, and that would be judgment. What does it profit a man to gain the entire world, but yet lose his soul. It is better to go to hell, lame, heaven, lame. Thank you. Took me a second than to go to hell walking right? So the worst thing Peter could have done is simply just made this man walk and send him on his way. But he heals his soul. This man was hoping in gold and silver when the text began. He wasn't hoping in God, and His soul needed to be healed, but now he is praising God. This lame man, if he's going to be healed, it is God who must do it, both body and soul. And if you think about your own life now, and you think about the things that you are constantly, constantly, constantly struggling with, and even like this man, if you're 40 years or older, and you feel like I've just had this my entire life, is that a description of you, someone in great need, unable to remedy the situation that you are in, is this describing you?
Do you feel as if you're trapped in a prison of sin and guilt and I cannot get out. Peter says, In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk so know that this is where true power comes from. It comes from Christ, and this is what we're called to do call in the name of the Lord. And now some of you might be thinking, and I know I felt this as I'm saying this too, is I've done this. I've done this, Jesus. I'm pleading. I'm pleading. Take these away from me, heal my soul, release me from sin. But this is also a good kind of distinction between what we call justification and sanctification. Justification, knowing that when we cry out in the name of the Lord, we are fully and completely just made just before God that are that is, our sins are pardoned, and the righteousness of Christ is then given to us. But sanctification, that is God, is continuing to make us more and more like Christ, and that won't be completed until heaven, and that causes us frustration, because I don't want to be done with my sin. Now. I'm tired of my sin. I've called upon the name of the Lord, and I'm not yet healed. What's going on?
Well, sometimes we need to hear the words that God tells us that My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness, we are perfectly made right when we call upon the name of the Lord. Our our union, union with God, is complete, and nothing and all of creation can separate us from that and the power of our sanctification, of putting off the old and putting off the new, still comes in the Lord Jesus Christ, but yet it isn't yet perfected until we arrive in heaven. The crippled person who is leaping here, his legs at one time will eventually not work anymore. He will die.
He's not around anymore. He died. It was a temporary healing of his body, but he's no longer around. And his hope and our hope, is not in temporary healings, it's in the eternal healing. Growing both of body and soul. In Christ that one day we we will be perfectly restored. Romans, eight tells us, For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, we're groaning. We have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Miracles are not only giving us a glimpse of our soul and what needs to happen, but it's also what's happening here in our text is giving us a glimpse of the world to come that one day we will have resurrected bodies.
One day we'll be leaping completely and perfectly with our resurrected bodies in the presence of our Lord, Jesus, Christ, and every, every, every trace of the destruction of sin will be no more, and we will have perfected bodies. And our text is pointing us to that.
It's pointing us that Jesus is ushering in that kingdom now, and it's directing us to that day that we'll have body and soul perfected in by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, because we know when we're sick it's not right. We know when, when there's death, and we go to a funeral, we know this isn't right in God's good creation, that death is an intruder, and it should be no more, and one day it will, but it's not by your power or mine, but the power of Christ. Now in verse 11, he is now clinging to Peter and John, which is, I think, a good note. He's not just now a Christian who goes off alone.
He's clinging to the apostles and those who brought him the Word of God, and all the people, they're utterly astounded. They ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's, and when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? Or Why do you stare at us as though, by our own power or piety, we have made him walk? He says, What?
Why are you looking at us now?
If anyone had an opportunity to bask in the praise of men, it would be Peter and John at this moment. Yes, thank you everyone.
Thank you. I'm Peter. I'm kind of the leader of this group here, and I do have the gift of healing. And if you would like to make your checks out too, by the way, Peter and John ministries, if you'd like to see more of our content. Thank you very much. Okay, but he says this has nothing to do with me.
You see any power here? Do you see any good here? It has nothing to do with me, and all about Jesus and again, let that be the testimony of our church.
If you see anything good, if you see any power, it is not at all, not at all about us, but all about the goodness and power of our Lord, Jesus Christ. You Christ, verse 13, he says, The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant, Jesus. That's what's happening here. That's what you have just witnessed. Jesus is being glorified. Jesus is not dead. He's still being glorified. We also, I just note that the continuity of God's plan of redemption, God's sovereignty of all things, he's again, going back to the Scriptures. You remember Moses?
Do you remember Isaac and Jacob God? This was God's plan. God's ruling over all of this, and he's still glorifying his servant, the Christ. The entire redemptive history, you know this from Genesis onward, is always and always and always been about Jesus. That's what Peter plainly says here, is glorifying his servant, Jesus, and even that term servant, if you were a first century Jewish hearer, you would know, as Peter uses that word that Peter is clueing in on the Servant Songs found in Isaiah. You know some of these. You certainly know Isaiah, 53 Lord willing. If you don't write it down and read it, Isaiah 4249 5052, Isaiah talks about the servant of God. And Peter saying. Isaiah is talking about, guess who? Jesus? Right, that he's the servant of God. Who Isaiah is talking. Out and as the servant of God, guess what you did to him? You killed him.
God was in control of all things. His plan redempt Your redemption and eternity, but he also says you're still responsible for your sin. You delivered over and denied. In the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release Him, you denied the Holy and Righteous One, which is then he's also attributing to Jesus, deity, the Holy One, the righteous one, that's Jesus, that's God and God alone. And you did this. You asked for a murderer to be given to you. Rather than letting Jesus go, you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead to this we are witnesses. Again in Peter's sermon, he doesn't stand up and say, you know, we're all sinners, but God has just a wonderful plan for your life and is going to work it out. He says, You're guilty, you're guilty, I'm guilty. You killed the author of life. He is the prince of life. He is all of life. And why did God have to raise him up from the dead?
Because you killed him, you murdered him, you denied him, you denied him, you denied him.
Shame, guilt, sin, the same deadness that is in that man's legs. Peter saying is in your hearts, in my hearts, in My Heart, heart. Now what? Well, the gospel is proclaimed. Now Jesus is proclaimed to them. And of all places, it's proclaimed in Jerusalem, the place where you would think that God would certainly not proclaim it, because it's the place that put Jesus to death. But it begins here, and it's here now, of all places where you think Jesus wouldn't come and proclaim His good news of the gospel to such sinners like us, it is here now, and Jesus is being presented and proclaim to you now, he says, what do we do? Repent and believe, repentance and faith, and they're always go together.
Verse 16, through faith, this man was made well faith that resting in Jesus, resting in his name, receiving him as he's freely offered to us in the Gospel repentance, in verse 19, repentance, therefore, turn again that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Turn from your sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, that times of refreshing might come, that rest and relief might come. Aren't those three wonderful R words, refreshment and rest and relief?
If you think about your sin, if you think about the circumstances in your life, aren't those just wonderful words? Don't you long for that refreshment, relief, rest and all of that is a foretaste of what's ours in Christ. It's a breath of fresh air. But if you do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no refreshment, there's no rest, there's no relief. In fact, in verse 22 there is judgment. Moses said, The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you, let's listen to Jesus, and it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that Prophet, if you do not LISTEN to Jesus, you shall be destroyed from the people. If we do not believe the gospel, if we do not believe the Christ, if we do not put our faith and repent of our sins, if we don't put our faith in Christ and repent of our sins destruction, you know. And as we turn to chapter four, it tells us that many believed and praise God for that, and not because they believed the miracles, but they believe the Word of God, just like in chapter two, verse 41 those who are baptized are added the number not because they were impressed by the miracle, but because they believed the word of God as Peter presented it to them. This is the question for you. Have you believed? I. Have you believed God's word that He is the Savior, the one who can perfectly save you, both the body and soul, the one who can blot out your sin, as Peter said, and one day usher you to a place of perfection where sin will be no more. Have you experienced that transformative power of the Lord Jesus Christ to heal your sins and make you more like Christ. You know, just a couple examples here, and I'll end let's think about the people who God's using in this text, Peter, denying Jesus three times, cursing a little girl that who said that he that, that that she thought he had some kind of connection to the Lord Jesus Christ. And see Peter's sins are blotted out. Not only that, God transforms Peter to be the man in such a way that he is now boldly standing up before a hostile crowd to say, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you too will be saved. But also, who else is in this text with Peter, you might have missed it, but John. You know, James and John were brothers, and you know, as brothers, they had a nickname.
You know what that nickname was.
They were called the Sons of Thunder, because pretty much any argument that occurred between the disciples, James and John were at the heart of it. You know? Why? Because they wanted to be first. Always, I'm going to be first. And even thunder in the name it's, you know, there's a rumbling, there's a loudness, there's a chaos in it. And they even have their mom go up to Jesus and say, Jesus, let James and John be first. Right?
They're the Sons of Thunder. But now I want you to notice that from here on forward in the New Testament, any time John's name is listed. Whenever there's a Peter, there's a John that follows in order, John's name isn't first. John's name comes after Peter, always. And whenever you see a Peter, James and John in Scripture, John, it's not Peter John, and then James, John's name is going to always come in third. And not only do we see God washing away and blotting out John's sin, but we see again that transformative power in the apostle John, who many of us don't even think about John as the son of thunder, but we think about John as the beloved disciple, the one that Jesus loved. But God can do that kind of work in us, not only justifying power, but sanctifying power to make us more like Christ, silver and gold we don't have. But let us let the chains of our sin fall off of us and let us rise now and follow Jesus. Let us put sin to death and follow our Lord Jesus Christ. That's our hope.
That's where power is found, not here, not in anywhere else. Let us repent and believe. Let's pray, Father, we thank You that You tell us you resist the proud, but you give grace to the humble. And I pray Lord, even through our circumstances, and even sometimes in many ways, not only sometimes, but many ways, through physical circumstances and relationships. You're humbling us. You're bringing to us to an end of ourselves that all we can do is turn to you.
Even as Peter said, Where else will we go? You have the words of life. Where else will we?
Where else can we turn to Lord, I pray that you will help us to have an accurate assessment of our own self, of our own hearts.
And it's death and decay, and it's paralysis apart from your grace. But Lord, we cry out to you, knowing we are crying out in the power of your spirit that you would not only save us completely from sin and be justified, but Lord, that you would do your work in us now make us more like Christ. Now, please, we plead with you, save us and draw us nearer, not only in our union, but with our communion with you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.