The Witness of Christ to Jerusalem (Part 2)
Notes
Transcript
The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper
Ask the men to come and have a seat at the front.
If you have trusted in Christ in save you from your sins, then you are welcome to participate. There are at least three things that you ought to do during this time:
Examine yourself and confess known sin - commit to getting right with someone else after the service if necessary
Remember our Savior’s sacrifice and how it was personally done for you - meditate!
Thank God and praise Him
Pray and thank the Lord for giving His body and shedding His blood for us.
Serve the bread
Read Mark 14:22.
Partake
Serve the grape juice
Read Mark 14:23.
Partake.
Read Mark 14:24-25.
Sing first verse only of #488 My Redeemer.
Review
Review
Turn to Acts 3.
Acts chapters two and three saw the first church established in Jerusalem. Peter and the other followers of Jesus have been baptized with the Spirit and are empowered to go and witness for Christ. Peter does just that and preaches a powerful message declaring that Jesus, whom they crucified, was the promised Savior of Israel. Approximately 3,000 believe in Christ and are then baptized to show their new allegiance to the risen Savior. These followers of Christ immediately began to gather for teaching, for togetherness, and for prayer. More than 2000 years later, we continue in their pattern.
Message
Message
Read Acts 3:1-11.
Show video of the Temple Mount.
I hope that the video helped you feel the significance of that place. There, on the Temple Mount, Peter and John carried on the witness of Christ to Jerusalem.
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The witness of Christ by an apostolic miracle - Acts 3:1-11.
It was the ninth hour of the day - 3 PM - that Peter and John walked up to the Temple Mount. Their purpose was to pray alongside the other devout Jews. Don’t miss that. These followers of Christ were still practicing Jews. Nothing had changed in that regard, but practicing the Mosaic law would be a matter of great debate among the Christians later on in the book of Acts.
It’s worth considering why they practiced it. I’m sure that they continued to practice it out respect for their God, but there seems to be more to it than that. They continued to practice Judaism so that they could effectively witness to the Jews.
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They maintained an effective witness
Did they have to go and pray at the Temple and at that appointed hour? No.
Did they have to follow the law anymore? No.
They could have said, “We’re followers of Jesus! He lived the law for us and God accepted Him! We don’t have to do the law anymore! We don’t have to go to pray at the temple anymore! When Jesus died on the cross, God ripped the veil to the holy of holies in two, signifying that we all can have access to God through Jesus Christ! Good riddance to the law! Now we can go and live without the law!”
But they chose to go and pray at the Temple. I believe one of the reasons they did this was to uphold their testimony before the Jews. They were representatives of Jesus Christ, but they chose to continue practicing Judaism where it did not contradict their faith in Christ. By doing this, they could be a better witness to the Jews. They wanted to represent their Savior as well as they possibly could.
Paul had this same attitude in his ministry to Jews and Gentiles.
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
Application: Christian, is your life a clear witness for Jesus Christ? Or is your life a confusing blend of Christ and of the world? As you live alongside unsaved friends, family, neighbors, or coworkers, is there any part of your life that hinders your ability to be a representative of Jesus Christ? If so, admit that it needs to change and start living that change in dependence upon Christ!
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They had a heart of compassion
There was a crippled man that was always at this gate to the Temple. He had been in this condition from birth. He was truly needy. Every day, you could count on it, he would be there at the entrance to the Temple Mount.
The lame man calls out to the Peter and John, “hey! Can you give some money to help the poor?”
*Peter and John quickly get to the other side of the road and walk on by.*
Is that what they did? No, they make eye contact and Peter says, “Look on us!” Peter, who at one time had turned away little children from meeting Jesus, now had a heart of compassion.
Application: Christian, no matter who God brings along your path, whether they are homeless or the high class, have a heart of compassion.
If you ever meet a politician or a person that is from the other side of the political aisle, God calls you to have a heart of compassion towards them.
If you ever meet someone who is obviously religious but does not know Christ, God calls you to have a heart of compassion towards them.
If you ever meet a homeless person, God calls you to have a heart of compassion towards them. I’m not at all saying you give money to every person you meet. I’m not saying you should go on a guilt trip either. Doing good unto all men like the Scripture says does not mean always giving money. There are some who are truly needy and there are some who are out to work the system. Either way, be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading and always have a heart of compassion.
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They exercised faith in Christ
This miracle required faith not only of the crippled man, but also of Peter and John.
Notice how Peter did this. He invokes the name of Jesus and commands the man to get up and walk, but then he goes a step further! Peter took him by the hand and lifted him up, fully expecting God to perform a miracle. What if God hadn’t come through? What if Peter had lifted the man up and the man never received strength to his bones? What if he had simply fallen back down to the ground? You see, Peter left himself no way out - either God would work a miracle as a witness of Christ to Jerusalem, or they would be the laughingstock of the city. But God kept His word.
Right before Jesus ascended, He said this to the disciples:
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
That is why the apostles could do such miraculous things. Jesus said that the apostles would be empowered to do these miracles as a confirmation of the Gospel message.
So we see the witnesses of Christ by an apostolic miracle, secondly…
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The witness of Christ by preaching - Acts 3:12-26.
This miracle presented a great preaching opportunity! Peter was ready for it.
Read Acts 3:12-13.
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The Person that was glorified - Acts 3:12-13.
I love how Peter responds to the shocked faces among the crowd. “You men of Israel, what are you looking at? Why are you looking at us like we did this?” He’s saying, “you’re crazy if you think I did that! It was God that healed this man by faith in Jesus Christ!”
Peter and John quickly renounce any credit for this! How rare it is for someone to disavow any credit to themselves. No matter where you go, people want to take credit for things that they haven’t done! You go to work and people will try to take credit for what you did. You turn on the TV and you’ll hear politicians take credit for things that they didn’t do either! Like I said, it’s everywhere! But what did Peter and John say? “God did this!”
Application: Church family, let’s strive to simply work together and not really be concerned about who gets the credit for what gets done. Let’s continually work towards that. At the same time, try to notice what people do and tell them “thank you” because that goes a long way. If God is glorified in our community through what we do as a church, then that’s mission accomplished. Peter and John immediately glorified Jesus for this miracle; we must do likewise for all that we do as a church.
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The Gospel that was without apology - Acts 3:14-18.
Peter is a far cry from the fearful, cowardly man that he was during our Savior’s trial and crucifixion. He sets in contrast three things in verses 13-15.
Verse 13 - the Jews delivered Jesus to be killed, but the Gentile ruler, Pilate, wanted to let him go.
Verse 14 - the Jews denied the Holy One, the Just One, and instead desired a murderer to be set free.
Verse 15 - the Jews killed the Prince of life, but God raised Him from the dead!
We sometimes give Peter the fisherman a hard time for his bold, brash personality, but God transformed Peter the fisherman into Peter the apostle. God took that rough block of stone and turned him into a shining jewel of God’s grace.
Application: If God can transform Peter in this way, He can do the same to you! Yes, there is hope for you! The problem is, most of the time, we don’t see a need to change or we don’t want to change!
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The choice that will determine eternity - Acts 3:19-26.
Peter was not lecturing; he was preaching, so he issues a call to action! “Repent!” In other words, change your minds about your sin that will change how you live. “Be converted!” Stop trusting the works of the law to save you and instead trust Jesus to save you!
The law could never blot out sins, but Jesus can. He can still erase your history of sins today because He is still alive today. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved!
Peter was speaking to a Jewish audience, so he calls them to repent and then he reminds them that Christ will return. The Old Testament prophets had all foretold that the Messiah would return and setup His kingdom. This event is still future but it is still just as certain. One day, human government as we know it will cease and Jesus Christ will personally come to rule the earth for 1000 years. It is the one and only world government that will actually be a success. But Peter’s point to his audience was this: your choice today will determine whether you’re for or against King Jesus in eternity! “Repent and be converted! That your sins may be blotted out.
Application: My friend, that message is 2000 years old, but it is a timeless message. It’s still the same message that Jesus wants preached today so that you will choose to trust Him to save your soul.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Peter and John met a crippled man at a gate to the Temple. He asked for money, but what he received was far better. God empowered these two uneducated men to carry the witness of Christ to Jerusalem. Christian, God wants to do the same through you. God has a passion for using regular people like you and me to tell others about Jesus. That’s what Peter and John did in Jerusalem. That’s what God wants to do again in Enola. Only, He doesn’t want to use Peter and John to do it. He wants to use you to carry the witness of Christ to our Jerusalem.
Invitation
Invitation
Don’t rush it. Don’t talk too much.
Christian:
Unsaved: