WEBVTT 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:27.359 As you take your Bibles to Acts chapter three, consider again what we've just proclaimed to our God. 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:34.320 Heart of my own heart, whatever befall. 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:40.880 Do you really believe that? 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:44.320 Better yet, do you really live that? 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:52.000 That Christ is your own heart, whatever befall. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:01:04.719 That statement, that one line in that song that is so familiar to so many of us, takes on a little bit different tone when we come to the book of Acts. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:16.239 Because in the book of Acts, we find barrier after barrier after barrier to being a Christian, to having God's heart. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:24.319 We see what life in a fallen world as a follower of Christ is really about. 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:36.079 It's not merely about having your own life and having it as you want it to be, it is about having Christ's life and pursuing Him with all of it. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.840 That shouldn't be that surprising to us, right? 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:43.920 Life is full of barriers of all kinds. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:49.760 Barriers can be proper and healthy. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:02:03.680 For example, God's word, God's declared word, formed a barrier, a protective barrier between Adam and Eve and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:06.640 It was a protective barrier. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:15.280 Barriers can be for our own good, but they can also be frustrating and disappointing at times, can't they? 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:33.199 God stationed a cherubim, the highest created angel, with a flaming sword at the entrance to the Garden of Eden after he cast Adam and Eve out, barring any entrance back into the garden, never again to walk and talk with God in the garden. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:45.039 Now that was for their good, so that Adam and Eve would not live forever, eat from the tree of life, and live forever in a fallen, sinful state. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:46.400 That's grace. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:54.000 But sometimes God's grace can be disappointing when you no longer have access to the garden. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:59.280 Barriers can be tied to God's character. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:14.319 The curtain, according to some estimates, about two-inch thick curtain that hung in the tabernacle in God's temple, that formed a barrier between the most holy place and the rest of the temple proper. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:27.680 To protect any of the human priests that came into that building from the holy presence of God so that they would not be struck down immediately. 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:35.919 Barriers are all throughout Scripture, and they're all throughout life. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:43.039 This portion of the book of Acts is full of barriers. 00:03:45.039 --> 00:03:51.039 Barriers that are part of God's ordained plan for his church. 00:03:52.800 --> 00:04:06.240 And if they're part of God's ordained plan for his church, then they ought to be expected, anticipated, and worked through by those of us who claim to have his heart and follow him. 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:09.840 It's full of barriers in Acts chapter 3. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:25.279 Luke recounts, as we've heard already from Anton reading it a little bit earlier, Luke recounts the Lord Jesus working powerfully through two apostles, Peter and John, to advance his kingdom. 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:34.560 However, the apostles faced obstacles similar to those that we face as his disciples. 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:48.639 And it's important for us to know as we read this historical book, it's not just here to tell us what happened, that's its first and primary focus, but it's there to tell us what happened so that we grow and learn from it. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:05:00.720 And Luke intends to show how the early church faced those obstacles so that we can learn to trust Christ's work. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:03.199 Just as they did. 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:16.959 Too often it's easy for us to get into the flow of trusting our own efforts, our own abilities, our own energies, our own strengths, when in reality it's Christ who's doing the work. 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:20.079 That's exactly what's happening here in Acts chapter 3. 00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:27.839 Yes, there is this miracle performed, but Peter himself says this didn't happen because we had any great strength or any great ability. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:35.439 This happened because Christ has ascended to the throne of God and he is working through his spirit now and today. 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:41.519 And in this miraculous setting, Acts 3 contains three barriers. 00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:46.720 One barrier is ironically presented as beauty. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:49.680 Another is unbelief. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:51.920 And a third is repentance. 00:05:52.160 --> 00:06:03.040 But first we need to step back into chapter 2 for a moment so that the events of chapter 3 make sense in the flow of Luke's historical account. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:18.319 If we look back at the end of chapter 2, beginning in verse 42 through verse 47, we see this broad picture of the early church, a wide-reaching scope of ministry. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:26.959 The fledgling church is proclaiming the gospel, they're studying the Word of God, they're fellowshipping together, they're helping one another. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:30.079 Magnificent things occur in chapter 2. 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:40.000 God fulfilled his promise to send his spirit so that people who speak in other languages can hear the mighty works of God in their own dialects. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:07:01.600 And this new assembly of believers now considers themselves to be in a place to look first to others, considering others more significant than themselves, so that whatever need there is, they take their extra things that they don't need, and they even go and sell them so that they can support one another's needs. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:12.319 Verse 47, we see that the word, that God used all of that to bring more people to faith in him every day. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:22.720 And Luke tells us that all of this occurred in two common locations: in homes and in the temple. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:35.680 In other words, Jesus worked powerfully through his spirit in ordinary people in ordinary places. 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:41.600 Never think that God's work is above you. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:48.639 From the very beginning, God works through ordinary people in ordinary places. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:08:04.879 Now, Acts chapter three takes that broad scope and now brings it into a microscope to focus on one particular event that occurred in that time frame of the church expanding exponentially. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:15.279 When everybody's doing ordinary things in the temple and in their homes, they're just meeting one another's needs, they're fellowshipping, they're learning, they're teaching, they're sharing the gospel. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:22.000 Now, here's one afternoon in the midst of that. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:33.120 In that setting, we see some friction points and some barriers lying in wait for the early church. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:36.879 The first barrier in this text is in verses 1 through 10. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:42.639 Peter and John are going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:44.960 So this is about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:52.399 That's the time in which the afternoon or the what was called the evening sacrifice took place at the temple. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:54.480 There were morning and evening sacrifices. 00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:59.679 So this is a very normal, ordinary kind of event that's taking place. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:02.960 Everybody's going to the temple to do their afternoon prayers. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:05.759 And Peter and John are part of that. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:10.240 But what is presented here is a unique barrier. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:15.600 Specifically, it's the barrier that beauty is to the broken. 00:09:20.879 --> 00:09:30.320 Many people are probably streaming toward the Temple Mount and into one of the temple's many gates. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:33.120 Very popular time of day. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:34.159 It's the afternoon. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:36.240 Their day is starting to conclude. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:40.639 They're coming to pray, they're coming to be part of the afternoon sacrifice. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:49.519 Peter and John, normal people, doing normal things, go to the Temple Mount. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:53.759 And they meet an unnamed man at one of the temple's entrances. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:01.519 Now, Luke gives us much information about this man, except his name. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:04.320 Except his name. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.000 He tells us that he was lame from birth. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:11.200 His legs didn't work. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:22.000 The way that Luke describes the miracle with his ankles and his and his feet and his legs all coming into place is really odd. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:32.960 It's a very technical way of sort of saying all of a sudden everything there was almost instantly remade and brought together with new ligaments and new joints, and everything started to work. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:34.879 This man was lame from birth. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.559 He could not walk. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:48.159 So he had been lame from his birth, his entire life, and his condition meant that he could not move himself from one location to another location. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.159 He had to be carried. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:56.639 That meant that he was dependent on others for nearly everything in his life. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:02.559 But he was at the temple every day. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:09.279 Not necessarily to worship, but to get handouts. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:16.639 You see, his condition meant that he couldn't work, so he had to beg for money to support himself. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:18.480 That wasn't that unusual. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:23.039 Almsgiving was an essential component to the first century Jewish faith. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:32.799 And many infirm people sought handouts from the people streaming in and out of the temple proper every single day. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:45.279 But therein lies a terrible irony because the broken were restricted to limited access to God. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:52.879 In the law of Moses, the lame were restricted from being priests. 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:56.799 If you were lame, you could not serve as a priest. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:12:01.120 That was designed to reflect God's perfection and holiness. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:22.159 Many believed them to be cursed by God in their conditions. 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:24.639 And so they were often avoided. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:29.200 Some speculate that they wouldn't even be looked at. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:41.039 That's why Luke maybe makes emphasis on Peter's charge to the layman, look at me, making a connection with him that normally was not made. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:48.000 No, there were no written laws restricting access to the temple. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:55.919 But in everyday life, the temple was effectively off limits to those like this lame man. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:57.840 They were not welcome. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:07.679 He was as close as he could get to worshiping with the people of God in the house of God. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.440 But he's just on the outside. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:16.240 We don't know which temple gate this is. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:20.000 Scholars argue for a couple of different gates. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:25.200 It seems the most likely is what was known as the Shinar Gate. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:35.519 The Shinar Gate bore a carving of the Persian city Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:36.960 Why is that important? 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:46.799 It's because that was likely the place from which Cyrus the Persian issued the decree from which the Jewish people could return to their homeland. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:55.679 So it was honoring God's work through Cyrus to bring people home to their God. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:08.320 If that is the gate, it's ironic, for it represents God's welcoming of his people back to their homeland and to his presence for worship. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:12.720 But here is a son of Abraham who will not be welcomed into the gate. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:16.799 He was kept from all participation in the Jewish faith. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:24.480 And yet here he is asking and hoping for support. 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:36.960 Even more ironic, though, is that this gate had a more common street name, the beautiful gate, which Luke mentions twice. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:44.799 A temple gate was the way into the temple proper and to the God of the temple. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:57.440 But a man who was not considered beautiful by society was barred from encountering the beauty of the temple and worshiping God and the beauty of his holiness. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:12.159 Not only had the temple become a den of thieves and robbers, a place to transact business and extort worshipers, but it had become off limits to certain kinds of sinful people. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:21.200 But Jesus came to save the worst of sinners, right? 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:36.480 Jesus came to restore access to God for all people, regardless of health, of financial status, of connections with people. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:44.480 And Jesus' way of doing this is by establishing his temple in people. 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:49.840 That's why we have to go back to chapter two. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:57.919 Because in chapter two, the Holy Spirit comes and indwells God's people as God's temple. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:10.399 Peter and John now begin to represent the true temple of God into which the broken can be welcomed. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:21.519 In contrast to this beautiful, glorious temple that Herod built that he can't even step into. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:28.399 Jesus healed a man who could not walk in Luke chapter 5, verse 23. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:40.159 And then in Luke chapter 7, disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus saying, John's a little confused. 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:44.320 Are you the one that we're supposed to look for, or should we look for somebody else? 00:16:44.879 --> 00:17:01.840 And Jesus instructed John's disciples to go back to him and to tell him, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:05.119 That's all you need to say to John. 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:11.680 Why should he know what that means? 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:19.839 It's because every Jewish person, and if I may be so bold, every believer in Christ ought to know why. 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:32.880 That statement referenced the fulfillment of Isaiah 35, verses 5 and 6, which says that when God comes to save his people, certain things will take place. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:41.039 At that time, the eyes of the blind will be opened, Isaiah wrote, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:49.680 Then the lame man shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy. 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:52.559 That's all John needed to know. 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.000 And that's all we need to know. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:00.400 See then what Luke is doing. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:06.319 He's showing us the power of Jesus, continuing on in his absence. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:11.839 Jesus sent the Spirit from the Father to accomplish his work through his people. 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.079 And now Peter and John are just continuing the work of Jesus. 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:20.559 They are his messengers, his vessels through whom he does his work. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:25.920 And that work demolishes societal barriers. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:32.799 In this miracle, the barrier of beauty is overcome. 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:42.960 The barrier of disability is destroyed because Christ came to save all who have faith in him. 00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:49.599 No longer are some restricted because of what they look like. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:54.240 What their job might be. 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.200 How greatly they've sinned. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:11.359 Christ came to save all, and so a lame man healed and leaping with joy like a deer in the temple is the work of Jesus. 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:22.559 His faith in Christ restored his freedom to worship God in the community of faith, in the restored community that Jesus is creating. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:33.920 Jesus restored a broken image bearer who now becomes a witnessing image bearer integrated into the growing community of believers in Jesus. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:39.279 That's how Christ grows his church. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:51.359 So as chapter two redeemed that ancient scene of the Tower of Babel, chapter three redeems broken sinners. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:20:00.240 And the man remains nameless so that only the name of Jesus will be praised. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.279 It's not ultimately about the man. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:08.000 It's not ultimately about the miracle. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:12.400 It's ultimately about the one in whom his faith is placed. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:21.440 Like those at the end of Acts 2, we gather for teaching, for fellowship, for support, for care. 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:28.000 The people in Acts here saw helping one another as a priority. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:33.680 So anything extra that they had went to help those in need. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:43.039 The picture is that those first believers fulfilled the spirit of Christ in helping those in need. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:49.279 But giving money to needy people was not their first and main priority. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:58.400 Their main priority was declaring the mighty works of God in Jesus Christ and carrying on the work of Jesus as he called them to do. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:04.160 That meant serving Christ in ways that went against the grain of their customs. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:11.759 That meant considering broken image bearers as people needing Christ, not merely needing a handout. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:26.240 Jesus' work through his apostles broke down barriers that Judaism had established that kept people at bay from God. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:35.200 Christ's work is to bring people to God, not keep them at bay. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:42.319 And that applies to those in greatest need of his mercy and grace. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:49.519 So we should question our practices and maybe more so our hearts. 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:56.720 Are we a gathering of people who are generous to those among us who are in need? 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.759 Chapters we'll see where some even sold pieces of property so that others could be supported. 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:07.599 It's astounding. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:11.359 It's astounding how they considered others more significant than themselves. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:16.400 Would we willingly part with extra that we have to help a brother or sister in need? 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.119 But even beyond that, are we a church? 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:33.680 Are we a collection of believers, assembly of Christ's people that welcomes the poor, the needy, the hurting, the broken, and the contrite without putting up barriers to keep them at bay? 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:44.000 Do we welcome them purposefully to show them that their greatest need can only be met by Christ alone? 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:48.240 And that that's the reason that we are here as well. 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:59.680 The other barriers in this passage are displayed in the outcome of this dramatic healing and demonstration of faith. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:09.680 So our second barrier begins in verse 11, going through verse 16, where we see the barrier that unbelief is to the guilty. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:17.279 Again, we recount here in verse 11 the reaction to the healing. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:20.960 He clung to Peter and John. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:29.119 And so all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's. 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:33.759 The lame man was well known by temple goers. 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:36.240 Remember, he's there every day. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:39.519 He is known by everyone. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:44.880 That kind of indicates how long he has been begging at the temple gates. 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:50.240 And Luke says here that all of the people were utterly astounded. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:59.200 The reaction was so strong and so intense and so unique that Luke used a word found nowhere else in the New Testament to describe it. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:03.680 Utterly astounded. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:25.759 The crowds were drawn by the disturbance of a man born lame, that they had all seen carried to the temple, laid down in his spot, who could not use his limbs, now leaping like a deer all over the temple court. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:36.640 Verse 12 shows us that the crowd was not only interested in the lame man, but also in Peter and John. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:42.079 And so Peter used it as an opportunity to preach the gospel. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:45.759 And he did it in three stages. 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:53.359 If you want to know how to share the gospel with somebody, here's an example of how to share the gospel with somebody. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:25:06.880 First of all, Peter announces to them the healing did not come by the power, the strength, the magic, or the holiness of men. 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:14.640 If you want to share the gospel with somebody, start with the amazing work that God has done in you. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:17.680 It's not something that you've done. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:19.440 Start with what God's done. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:21.920 Peter says, this is not about us. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:23.599 Why do you wonder? 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:28.079 Why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:32.079 Do you think I can in any way make a lame man walk? 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:35.200 You're crazy if you think that. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:38.480 This is Jesus' work. 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:55.440 The second thing that Peter does is he takes this growing crowd and he slowly moves them from where they were to where they need to be. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:04.720 And where they were is that they were in the place of having come to the temple to worship God in their normal practice of Judaism. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:12.240 Where they need to be is coming to know and to trust in Christ the Lord as their Messiah. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:18.559 And so he then moves to what's in front of them. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.960 This man who can't let go of them and he's hopping up and down like an excited little kid. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:27.440 Imagine that. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:37.119 This grown man who's just all overcome with joy and excitement, jumping around Peter and John as though this is the greatest day of his life because it is. 00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:56.480 Peter says, listen, this leaping lame man proves that Jesus is Isaiah's suffering servant. 00:26:57.359 --> 00:26:59.119 Isaiah talked about this. 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:01.039 This is the fulfillment of Isaiah. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:07.359 And if this is the fulfillment of Isaiah, then this is Jesus' work doing the work that Isaiah promised. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:12.880 God the Father glorified the Son through the suffering that he had on the cross. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:21.519 But you, the people of Jerusalem, he says, delivered him to death and denied the one Isaiah spoke of and that the Father glorified. 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:31.920 He says, You, verse 14, you chose a robber over redemption. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:38.559 The people chose a murderer over the holy and righteous one. 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:40.319 Terms that only apply to God. 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:45.359 So Peter is saying, this Jesus who healed this man, he is God. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:51.039 He's Messiah and He's God. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:57.039 You need to know Him, you need to hear Him, you need to understand what you did to Him. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:04.720 You sinned against Him by killing the author of life. 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:18.240 If they had no qualms about killing the author of life, it allows them to keep broken image bearers out of the temple. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:25.599 If you're willing to go this far, it's very simple to see that you're willing to go this far. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:37.039 Similarly, churches that don't know the true God will display that in unbiblical ways. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:43.839 But can you keep the author of life dead? 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:46.000 No. 00:28:53.440 --> 00:28:58.000 You cannot kill, ultimately kill the author of life. 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:01.440 God raised him from the dead, and we are witnesses. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:02.960 We saw it. 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:06.000 We observed it. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:09.839 So notice the pattern that's going on here. 00:29:10.799 --> 00:29:21.119 Peter takes them from being there to worship the God of Israel, and he says, Let me tell you about the God of Israel. 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:27.039 He sent his one and only son, the son that he loved, and you killed him. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:32.160 You're guilty of murder. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:41.279 But God raised him from the dead, forever proving who Jesus is. 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:48.960 And that kind of presentation inherently demands a response. 00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:51.759 Will you believe that? 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:55.279 Or will you continue disbelieving? 00:29:57.119 --> 00:30:01.839 So, first, Peter says it's not about us, it's about Jesus. 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:10.799 The second thing that he does is he takes them from where they are to worship in the temple to move them to understanding who Jesus is and what has happened. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:17.119 His third step in preaching the gospel is explaining the miracle. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:25.920 Jesus did this great deed by giving the man perfect health in full view of the temple goers. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:29.599 He said, Listen, this you've seen all this. 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:31.359 You know this guy. 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:34.559 Doesn't give us his name. 00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:36.079 You know this guy. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:39.920 You've seen that he's jumping around here, something that he's never done before. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:48.559 All of a sudden, he goes from not having walked, he skipped all the toddler years of learning how to walk, and all of a sudden he's jumping up and down in the Temple Mount. 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:53.519 How can you not ascribe that to the power of God? 00:30:56.240 --> 00:31:00.240 But do you see how Peter describes the barrier of unbelief? 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:08.160 He describes it here as rejecting what God has made plain. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.200 God makes things plain in many ways. 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:24.799 For example, Romans chapter 1 says that he's made plain in his creation, his great power in his deity. 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:31.440 All you have to do is go outside and look at his world, and you'll understand there is a God, and he is powerful. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:36.480 But Peter goes into more detail than that. 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:39.599 He works through here in verse 18. 00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:46.240 God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, and he thus fulfilled it. 00:31:46.480 --> 00:31:54.640 God makes things plain in Scripture by speaking of them beforehand and bringing them to perfect fulfillment. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:11.119 God also made things plain in Jesus' life by confirming who he was during his earthly ministry through his displays of power, through his omniscience, through his resurrection, by the Father speaking at his baptism. 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:24.960 But the reason the people of Jerusalem denied Jesus and delivered him up to be crucified is because the bondage of sin and unbelief blinded them to what God had made plain. 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:32.880 Unbelief is a huge barrier. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:38.799 Not just to the individual, but to the church. 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:44.640 Here is Peter and John preaching the gospel. 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:48.880 But unbelief is a barrier. 00:32:51.039 --> 00:33:00.000 You see, the bondage of sin in human beings keeps us from seeing and believing what God declared to be true. 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:07.039 Why doesn't the world see what God says? 00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:11.759 Because the power of sin has blinded them to it. 00:33:13.359 --> 00:33:20.000 Unbelief kept the majority of Jewish people in the days of Jesus from seeing God the Son. 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:25.200 The same is true not just of the Jewish people, but of all the world today. 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:29.920 Unbelief keeps people from seeing God the Son. 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:48.079 They choose to reject Jesus and crucify him outside the city rather than welcome him in as the son of David into the royal city and then welcome him and praise him as the son of God through the gates of the temple as he enters his own house. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:51.599 No, we don't want that. 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:54.319 We don't believe him that way. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:02.000 Instead, they denied him and killed him. 00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:09.599 So in that way, the lame man here in the temple experienced what the Lord Jesus lived. 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:15.840 He was kept from entering the beautiful gate to worship the living God. 00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:28.800 But because Jesus, the holy and righteous one, was rejected. 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:53.679 My friends, you do not need to remain outside of God's house because of your brokenness. 00:34:55.519 --> 00:35:05.280 He welcomes you to a place where you can be made truly whole through faith in the Son of God who gave himself for you. 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:12.239 Don't let unbelief keep you from seeing what God has made plain. 00:35:14.159 --> 00:35:24.159 If you're struggling with it, ask God to open your eyes to see and your heart to understand the good news of God the Son offered up for you. 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:30.159 And that brings us now to the third barrier in our text. 00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:35.840 Observed in verses 17 through chapter 4, verse 4. 00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:40.559 And that is the barrier that repentance is to the spiritually deaf. 00:35:42.800 --> 00:35:50.960 In this section, Peter deftly pushes his listeners to trust in Jesus like the lame man. 00:35:53.280 --> 00:36:02.400 The problem is that people need to come to understand that we are spiritually lame in order to know that we need to be made whole. 00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:13.280 And now, brothers, he says in verse 17, I know that you acted in ignorance, as also did your rulers. 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:18.320 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that as Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:23.440 Repent, therefore, and turn again that your sins may be blotted out. 00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:27.519 What does Peter do here? 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:33.519 Well, first, Peter graciously tells them that they acted in ignorance. 00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:36.480 They didn't know better. 00:36:39.280 --> 00:36:45.679 They're like children that haven't learned the difference between what's almost right and what's wrong. 00:36:46.960 --> 00:36:48.000 And what's right. 00:36:48.159 --> 00:36:49.119 It's hard to tell. 00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:51.440 You didn't know better. 00:36:52.239 --> 00:37:05.119 Unbelief blinded them to seeing God the Son in their presence, and instead all they could see was this carpenter from Nazareth? 00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:07.199 Really? 00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:14.480 And then with gentleness, Peter tells them. 00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:23.280 But you're no longer ignorant. 00:37:25.760 --> 00:37:27.519 Because now you've heard. 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:30.960 And now you are without excuse. 00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:38.239 Peter's preaching removes the excuse of ignorance. 00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:42.079 And friends, that's what we do when we when we proclaim Christ. 00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:50.079 We remove the veil of ignorance so that people are faced with their guilt before a holy God. 00:37:52.800 --> 00:37:54.960 And they then are without excuse. 00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:58.800 God used their ignorance, he says. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:07.280 God used their ignorance to bring about, to fulfill what he had promised through all of the prophets. 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:11.440 But now you have knowledge of what you did. 00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:16.159 You understand your choice, your actions in this, your participation in this. 00:38:16.320 --> 00:38:18.719 Your sin killed the author of life. 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:20.159 Therefore, repent. 00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:27.599 Understand the grace of God here, folks. 00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:28.559 I love this. 00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:30.719 Wish I could just preach on this. 00:38:31.360 --> 00:38:32.719 Just see what the time is. 00:38:33.119 --> 00:38:34.480 Gotta go faster. 00:38:35.119 --> 00:38:36.880 I don't want to stop and preach on this. 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:39.679 Under this is this is astounding. 00:38:40.559 --> 00:38:42.480 Look at what Peter says. 00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:51.679 Acting ignorantly to crucify the author of life is not unforgivable. 00:38:55.360 --> 00:38:56.559 Can you believe that? 00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:03.840 But feel the grace and the mercy of Christ for you. 00:39:06.239 --> 00:39:10.320 Your sin nailed him to the cross. 00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:19.840 But that sin is forgiven if you turn to him in repentance. 00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:22.159 Astounding. 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:34.800 Having ignorance removed and replaced with clarity of your sin requires then repentance and a change of heart. 00:39:35.039 --> 00:39:37.199 It requires a turnaround. 00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:44.239 And so Peter then goes back to the Old Testament and he demonstrates the Father and the prophets spoke of this. 00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:46.800 He says, Listen, you're here to worship God the Father. 00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:48.320 Let me tell you what he said. 00:39:48.559 --> 00:39:50.719 Let me show you from the scriptures. 00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:54.320 This is no surprise. 00:39:56.239 --> 00:40:03.280 The scriptures declared that whoever does not repent and trust in Christ cannot be counted among God's people. 00:40:03.840 --> 00:40:07.679 You men of Israel, you're here because you want to worship the God of your fathers. 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:08.239 Guess what? 00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:10.880 If you don't trust in his son, you don't belong to him. 00:40:12.480 --> 00:40:13.119 What? 00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:28.800 So the early church faces obstacles in proclaiming the gospel, but in proclaiming their gospel, they're also making very clear obstacles that people have in coming to Christ. 00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:37.440 He says, what matters here is trusting in Christ alone. 00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:48.320 Chapter 4, verse 1, indicates that Peter and John kept preaching to the people for some time. 00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:50.880 We're not told how long. 00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:03.679 Find a spot, have their time of prayer while the sacrifice is happening. 00:41:04.480 --> 00:41:18.559 Surely, in all of this time from healing of the lame man and him dancing around and prancing around and people gathering and Peter and John preaching and teaching and explaining all this to the people, you can imagine how a couple of hours easily could have gone by. 00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:26.880 And all of a sudden, temple authorities sweep down on them and take them away. 00:41:28.719 --> 00:41:30.639 And it's the Sadducees. 00:41:31.599 --> 00:41:33.280 Why the Sadducees? 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:41.280 Well, primarily because they were the priests who are responsible for the temple precinct. 00:41:42.239 --> 00:41:48.239 They were responsible for overseeing all of the temple itself, all of the activities in the temple. 00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:53.360 And so you'll find references in the New Testament to kind of what amounts to the temple police. 00:41:53.440 --> 00:41:54.719 Those are Sadducees. 00:41:56.559 --> 00:41:59.280 But why this sudden action against Peter and John? 00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:01.280 Well, verse 2 tells us. 00:42:02.480 --> 00:42:04.800 They were greatly annoyed. 00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:18.000 They were greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:22.880 We must remember that the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection. 00:42:24.239 --> 00:42:31.360 You can go back to the Gospels and you can find that account where they came to Jesus and they said, We want to trick you up. 00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:33.760 Is there a resurrection or is there it? 00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:34.480 Is there not? 00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:39.599 Because one group, the Pharisees, believed there was, the Sadducees didn't believe there was a resurrection. 00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:49.119 So Peter and John are preaching a doctrine in their building that they didn't hold to and they would not allow. 00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:54.159 So what do you do? 00:42:56.960 --> 00:43:05.280 See, the massive problem is that the resurrection is a core doctrine in Peter and John's and our faith. 00:43:05.519 --> 00:43:11.519 For if Christ is not risen from the dead, our faith is dead, and we are still in our sins. 00:43:11.920 --> 00:43:13.519 So what do you do? 00:43:14.239 --> 00:43:18.480 If the resurrection is not true, then Christ is not raised. 00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.400 But he is risen and he has made a broken man whole. 00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:30.079 Can't you see that the risen Christ has healed this man? 00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:31.360 We don't care. 00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:33.920 You're preaching the resurrection. 00:43:36.239 --> 00:43:38.000 Do you see the barrier? 00:43:39.119 --> 00:43:51.039 The Sadducees are not about to repent and turn to someone that Peter and John claimed was crucified, buried, and risen again. 00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:55.920 They are spiritually deaf and lame. 00:43:58.079 --> 00:43:59.760 It's ironic, isn't it? 00:44:01.280 --> 00:44:11.440 That the priests on the inside of the temple couldn't see when God worked outside the temple. 00:44:12.719 --> 00:44:18.880 But the lame man who couldn't come in had the faith to see. 00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:34.400 Hard-heartedness, that characteristic that makes us think we know what's right when we really don't, hard-heartedness closes ears and eyes to the gospel's truth. 00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:47.440 Friends, refusing to humble oneself and to repent and turn to Jesus becomes an incurable barrier to true life. 00:44:49.920 --> 00:44:56.800 Here is a man who turned and repented and found life in Jesus. 00:44:57.519 --> 00:45:06.800 While the ones who ought to have known are spiritually blind and eternally lame. 00:45:10.639 --> 00:45:12.159 Don't let that be you. 00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:22.639 Verse four tells us that many people heard Peter and John and believed. 00:45:25.039 --> 00:45:26.880 But not the Sadducees. 00:45:28.639 --> 00:45:35.360 And because they did not believe, their hard-hearted refusal to repent led to persecution. 00:45:36.159 --> 00:45:47.679 On this international day of prayer for persecuted saints, they're persecuted because the world refuses to turn to Jesus. 00:45:49.440 --> 00:45:50.960 That's what we face. 00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:56.159 Friends, Peter and John were arrested because of Jesus' resurrection. 00:45:59.039 --> 00:46:05.599 They were arrested because Jesus is alive and well and reigning from the throne of God. 00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:10.960 He rules over all creation, and they were arrested for that. 00:46:13.199 --> 00:46:20.320 Peter and John were arrested and put in prison because Jesus is working from heaven through the Holy Spirit. 00:46:20.480 --> 00:46:27.599 And that leads us to a barrier that Luke wants us to grasp as followers of Jesus. 00:46:28.480 --> 00:46:35.039 He wants us to see the barriers to following Jesus. 00:46:37.119 --> 00:46:39.360 Friends, there are barriers for us. 00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:46.719 I'm speaking to those of you who know Christ, who have believed and repented and turned to Him. 00:46:47.360 --> 00:46:51.199 You will face all of these barriers. 00:46:52.079 --> 00:46:55.599 Or people will not see the true beauty of Christ. 00:46:56.800 --> 00:47:00.800