Salvation is Still Possible

Main Point

Salvation is possible for…

those who seem beyond all hope…(1-10)

and those who have rejected Christ (11-26)

INTRODUCTION

This morning in Acts 3, Peter and John continue on in the unstoppable mission of God. So go ahead and turn to Acts 3.

So far in the book of Acts, the disciples and other believers witnessed Jesus ascend into the heavens and they all get caught staring into the sky and then they are called out by angels for standing around. They return to Jerusalem and sometime after they celebrate Pentecost. All the believers are gathered and the Holy Spirit arrives and fills all the believers and then thework that Christ told them to do would begin.

Peter would lead this unstoppable mission by preaching his first sermon in which 3,000 people would believe in Jesus Christ. Peter reached thousands of people through his first sermon and in today’s text we will see the first Christ-like miracle take place in the book of Acts and the gospel proclaimed.

Acts 3 ESV

1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And 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. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “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!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 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. 11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 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? 13 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. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 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. 17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 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. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

This is God’s Word for us this morning.

TRANSITION

My hope and prayer for you this morning is that this passage would both encourage you and challenge you today. The first thing I want everyone to notice in Acts 3 is that…

SALVATION IS POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO SEEM BEYOND ALL HOPE (1-10).

Peter and John continue on in their part of God’s unstoppable mission by going to a very familiar place, the temple. They understand their assignment at this point as followers of Christ, to go and proclaim the gospel, to make disciples of all nations. But the people group they had first and foremost on their minds were those who had been waiting for the Messiah, for those who had been anticipating his coming, the Jews. Israel. Peter and John go where they knew they would be, the temple.

So they make their way to the temple during an hour of prayer, about 3pm. As faithful Jews, maybe they were continuing in some of the practices that they were familiar with. They would regularly go to the temple to pray throughout their life so it makes sense for them to keep going.

This was likely one of the busiest times to go to prayer which would make it a great time for Peter to go and preach Jesus to the Jews. Peter will seize any opportunity to point others towards Christ and this time was no different.

As he is entering in, a lame man is there asking for alms.

This man had been unable to walk since birth and the next chapter mentions that he is over 40 years old.

This man had no hope of a normal life. No hope of ever walking to the temple. No hope of a normal job. No hope in getting married or having kids. No hope at all for anything what we would call normal. The only thing he could do day in and day out for the entirety of his life was to be carried to the temple and ask for alms, asking for money from those who were going in to pray. He was denied access to the inner courts of the temple and was deemed unworthy to worship according to the old laws of Israel based on his debilitating situation.

That seems like a rough life. That sounds bad but its true.

None of us would want to be in that situation, at a point in life where we have no hope for anything more than rock bottom. Nobody wants to be at a point asking for handouts from other people. And that is where this guy was at.

Have you ever found yourself feeling like you are in a similar place in life? Where you felt that you had no hope for anything greater in your life? You were at the lowest point that you could ever be and there was nothing to do? You felt hopeless, your felt helpless, you felt worthless. Have you ever been at a point where you felt paralyzed by fear, anxiety, stress, depression, loneliness?

That’s where this guy was at, head hung low and arms out and doing the only thing he think he can, begging for money. Begging for anything to help him in his lifelong situation.

As Peter and John are entering the temple, they pass by this lame man and he probably has no idea who they are. No clue they were the disciples of Jesus.

When he saw Peter and John about to enter, the lame beggar naturally asked them for what he had been asking for decades, for what he thought was his greatest need, money.

This is a basic need for all of us isn’t it? To get groceries, or pay our mortgage, or pay for your kids sports gear. This man was asking for money probably so that he could pay for food and not go hungry every day, maybe pay for shelter so he can be out of the rain or cold or hot sun, maybe even pay men everyday to carry him to the temple. But God was about to give him far more than he hoped for.

At times in our own lives, are we like this beggar? We may try to fill the hopelessness in our lives with things that we think we need or things that we think will help us or things that will make us whole.

Maybe the thing that you think fills you after a long hard day of work is an ice cold beer that has become more of a routine and a crutch to ease your mind and body and to relax.

Maybe the thing you need to fill the hopelessness in your life is your job. You think you need to make more money. You feel you need to continue to do more and be better than everyone else choosing to work longer hours which means you then avoid going home.

Maybe you feel alone and hopeless and you try to fill that with relationships and longing to be seen or loved.

Maybe you find yourself in a spot like one of these or you know someone who is in a similar stage or life. As we see with this lame man, there is hope.

The lame man asks them for money and they stop, look at him, and this is Peter’s response…

Acts 3:4–6 ESV

4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “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!”

Think about what this interaction must have been like. Most people probably never spoke to the man as they gave him money, they probably just put it in his hands as they walked by, not making eye contact, maybe even trying to keep their distance from him as to not touch him. But Peter tells him to look up. The man responds by turning his head upwards possibly thinking that he is about to receive an unusually generous amount of money. But what does he hear? “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Wow! This is a bold command to make.

How crazy would this be to hear if your that lame man? He has not been able to walk for decades and all of a sudden a stranger tells you to get up and walk. This is crazy! Why would this guy listen to Peter?

But Peter reaches down, grabs the mans hand and helps to raise him up. And what is the first thing the man does? As soon as he stands up and gets his feet underneath him for the first time in his life, he is overwhelmed with so many new emotions. But the first is that he is filled with gratitude and thankfulness towards the Lord. So much so that he goes into the temple and praises God! The first thing he does is go vertical. Walking, leaping, and praising God! This is incredible!

Should that be our response? The first thing we should do in all areas of life is to turn to the Lord and give him praise.

Now the lame man had been miraculously healed, but I want to remind us of something Pastor Blair said a few weeks ago when he preached in Acts 2 and we saw the Holy Spirit came upon the believers. He said…

It can be easy to loose sight of the main thing and get caught up in the smaller details. It can be easy to loose sight of what is truly significant.

Now this lame man being healed is a miraculous thing that was done in the name of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

But what is more important in this passage is that salvation is still possible to those who seem beyond all hope. There is no one who is beyond the reach of Christ. God met him right where he was at.

In his own eyes and in the eyes of people around him, he was a lost cause. He had no hope for anything greater, but God. But God did a miraculous thing. Someone who was thought to be byond all hope was given hope, was given healing, was given a new life.

Titus 3:4-8 says,

Titus 3:4–8 ESV

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.

In his mercy, God healed this man so that he would give praise to God. He was made new, made whole, and became and heir of God. His life would be forever changed and Titus says that those who have believed in God should be careful to do good works. It not just honors the Lord, but is a blessing to other people.

In his devotional New Morning Mercies, Paul David Tripp says this following this Titus passage…

Everyone wants it. Its the thing that fuels what we do. It’s the thing that stimulates courage and perseverance. It’s what gets you through the tough times and keeps you from quitting. It’s hard to be happy and hard to get up and continue when you don’t have any of it. What is it? Hope, of course. Everyone craves it.

Now, the radical message of the Bible captured well by the Titus passage, is that sturdy hope, hope that won’t ever fail you or leave you embarrassed, is only found vertically. The horizontal situations, locations, experiences, and relationships of everyday life are dangerous places to look for hope. Why? They all fail you. First, everywhere you could look horizontally has been affected by the fall in some way.

There are simply no perfect ideal situations, no paradise locations, no completely satisfying experiences, and surely no perfect people this side of eternity. Add to this the fact that all these things are fleeting. None of them lasts. Every horizontal thing, this side of eternity, is in the process of decay. So hope that addresses your deepest needs, that gives you reason to continue no matter how hard life is, and that promisees you eternal good is only ever found vertically.

Perhaps it’s not enough to say that hope is found in God and his covenant promises. That surely is true, but more needs to be said. Hope really does rest on the shoulders of the One who is the fulfillment of all those covenant promises. It’s not enough to say that reliable hope is hope in Jesus. The message of the Bible is more powerful and pointed than even that. Reliable hope is Jesus! In his life, death, and resurrection, your life is infused with hope. The grace of the cross is not just grace that forgives and accepts, but grace that also supplies you with everything you need until you are needy no more. And what does that hope produce, according to the Titus passage? A brand-new way of living. Because the One who is hope has infused my life with hope, I do not have to search for hope any longer and can now give myself to a life of good works. Do you know this hope? If not, a good first step toward finding it would be to gather with other believers this Lord’s Day to worship the One who is hope. To find hope, find Him.

Christ is our greatest hope.

All of Scripture points to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer of all people, the Lamb who would sacrifice himself for our sins on the cross, be buried and rise from the dead 3 days later to then ascend into heaven and be seated at God the Father’s right hand.

If you gathered this morning and your hope is set on something other than Jesus. If you hope is in the things you have like your home, your job or maybe its in your health, your finances, your friends, your followers. Your hope should be in Him and Him alone. You don’t have to feel stuck like your at the rock bottom, hopeless, helpless and worthless. God reaches out to the hopeless and helpless and he is reaching out his hand to you calling you to himself.

For those of you who are here who are already pursuing after the Lord, let this be an encouragement for you.

Continue pressing into him and seeking after Him who is our hope and share who you place your faith and hope in because the God we love, serve and submit to is able to transform lives.

May this also be a humbling and sobering reminder that even those who we may think are beyond all hope are not. How crazy is it of us to think that someone is beyond the grasp of God’s hand. God calls those we would never think to himself and He will use them in powerful ways.

I love how the lame man responds to Peter and John.

Have you ever gifted something to someone who when they received it, out of pure joy, they run to it, look at it for a few seconds, then they set that item to the side and went and embraced you? Showing their love and gratitude towards you? Maybe you gave your kid there first bike and they ran to you and gave you the biggest hug! That was what the lame man was experiencing but on a much grander scale.

The lame man’s response was to go and praise God immediately. He clung to Peter and John out of pure joy and thankfulness while everyone around was in awe at what had just happened. I love the joy and excitement that people have when they come to accept Christ.

When someone comes to realize that they are in need of this hope, in need of a Savior, in need of love from God the Father, and they accept Jesus Christ, the joy and relief and acceptance they feel is just amazing.

Think back to when you accepted Christ as savior, and how incredible that moment was. When you came to realization that hope is only found in Christ and true meaning in life is living for Him. How can we not share that hope with others? Just like Peter and John, how can we not go around and tells others about how incredible He is?

As they have entered into Solomon’s portico which was on the outer edge of the temple courtyard, there was a crowd that had gathered because of what they just witnessed.

Peter spoke the name of Jesus to this man and told him to stand and he was healed, yet the crowd was in awe of this miracle that had just happened. Peter on the other hand wonders why they are so amazed. For Peter, the response of the crowd is what is more shocking.

He addressed the people in verse 12 saying, “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?” This is now a turning point where Peter addresses the people in the temple. He changes his appeal to the once lame man now walking and leaping praising God and turns his attention to the Israelites in the temple.

Peter immediately deflects the attention from himself and towards Jesus who is the one who was responsible for the healing. He appeals to them that this Jesus who they denied is the Christ, is the Messiah, is the Savior of all humanity. Peter tells them that Jesus is the one that all of Scripture points too. Peter takes no credit for anything that has happened but gives it all to Jesus.

Peter uses this moment to talk about Christ and their need for Him.

TRANSITION

We saw that salvation is still possible for those who seem beyond all hope. And now what I want us to see is that

SALVATION IS STILL POSSIBLE TO THOSE WHO HAVE REJECTED CHRIST. (11-26)

Peter knows firsthand what it looks like to reject Christ. In Matthew 26:34

Matthew 26:34 ESV

34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”

Peter was confronted by a servant girl who says he was with Jesus and he denies Jesus. A second servant girl confronts him and again says he was with Jesus and Peter said, “I don’t know the man.” Some other bystanders claim he was with Jesus because of his accent, yet once again, claimed to not know Jesus. Immediately a rooster crowd and he heard it and realized what had happened. He had denied Christ just like Jesus said he would. Peter took off running away from the people weeping. He was devastated. He said he would die for Jesus yet he has just denied knowing him

Even though Peter denied Christ, he would turn his life around and become the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He delivered his first sermon in Acts that led to thousands of people to know and accept Christ. He knows very well what it means to reject Christ, but to then be forgiven and continue to pursue after the Lord, to know Him, and share Him to others.

The Jews really missed the mark when they rejected Christ and focused on other things.

Where do we miss the mark in our lives? Think about areas of your life that may have lost focus of their true importance.

What about Christmas? Has Christmas become more about the gifts giving and receiving or seeing family? Have you lost focus on the fact that Christ was born and we remember how incredible that miraculous gift was that God would send His only son to be born of a virgin and to live a life that we could not live so that he could die the death that we deserve?

Have you lost focus in your marriage? Men, many of you here just spent the weekend being reminder that we are to be built up in maturity, in our identity in Christ. Have you lost focus on those things and on leading your wife and loving her with a sacrificial love just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her? Have you forgotten about what it means to be a godly husband? Wives, are you lovingly submitting to your husbands just as the church submits to Christ? Are you honoring him and building him up or do you tear him down with little jabs here and there?

Parents, have you lost focus with your kids and discipling them and training them up to know the Lord and His Word? Are you reading God’s Word with them and discussing what was read and helping them to understand it, and praying with them and working to help them keep God’s Word in their heart? Or has the focus for your kids been more about the activities they are involved in and helping them to succeed in those things?

Maybe some of you have lost focus at work and are not being good stewards of your time, your finances and resources.

Maybe you have lost focus during this Build What Last journey that we get to be part of here at Redemption. Being part of Build What Lasts is not about what we can do and how much money we can raise and how big of a building we can build, but about what God is doing. God is mobilizing laborers for Jesus who are helping in growing the kingdom of God. Build What Lasts is about being part of what God is doing, He is building his church. When we give towards Build What Lasts, we do so, not compelled by new and bigger buildings, but we give compelled by Jesus and the hope that we have in Him.

Maybe you have completely lost focus of Christ, or you know people who have rejected Christ. Someone who has said things like this throughout their life…

Christianity just isn’t for me.

I don’t like organized religion.

I don’t believe in God.

Christians are all hypocrites.

I will come to church when I’m not as messed up, when I can get pull myself together.

Maybe you have grandparents who have lived their entire lives without knowing Christ. Continue to pray for them that their hearts who soften and God would call them to Himself. Don’t lose hope. Salvation is still possible.

Maybe you have rebellious kids who don’t want to go to church with you. They wrestle and fuss with you every Sunday morning. Continue to pray for them daily. Pray that God would use you in their lives to lead your kids to Him and pray that the Lord would draw them to himself. Show and demonstrate the love of Christ to them when you discipline them. Show them how to praise God in the wins of life and when things are hard and life doesn’t go to plan. Don’t lose hope. Salvation is still possible.

Maybe you have a neighbor who for months or years you have been sharing Christ and inviting to church but they are just tired of you trying to talk to them about Christ. Don’t lose hope. Salvation is still possible.

Maybe a coworker avoids you because they know you’re a Christian and they don’t want anything to do with you. They think the church would never welcome them in. Pray they would have a change of heart and would be open to the gospel. Don’t lose hope. Salvation is still possible.

Maybe even your spouse has rejected Christ. Continue to press into Christ and His church to support you. Pray for your spouse. Don’t lose hope. Salvation is still possible.

Have you have been rejecting Christ? There is still hope! Repent and follow Him!

TRANSITION

Let this give you hope.

Just as the Israelites rejected Christ, and just like Peter rejected Christ, salvation is still possible for those who have rejected Christ.

For your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors. Peter is calling the Israelites to turn to Christ and reject him no more. Pray for those people in your life who continue to reject and turn away from God. Share the good news of Jesus Christ, that he came and died on the cross for all that we have done wrong and rose up from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God. Share that with them that they may believe in Christ as Lord and Savior.

We place our hope in the Holy and Righteous One, the Author of Life, the one who by faith in His name makes us whole and in need of nothing more. He is The One who calls the hopeless to himself and The One who calls even those who have rejected his name to himself.

God is on an unstoppable mission to grow His Kingdom. There is nothing we can do to stop this, but we can come and be part of what He is doing. He is Building What Lasts and we can join in.

Salvation is still possible for those who seem beyond all hope and for those who have rejected Christ. The call the lame man received is the same call for you, rise up and walk by faith. Leap up and praise God!