Acts 3

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Introduction

Today we are back in the book of Acts—and we haven’t been in Acts since the end of May

Acts follows up right after the end of the gospel stories

We see the birth of the early Church immediately after the resurrection of Jesus

And we see the baton being passed to Jesus’s followers

Now they are the ones who are performing miracles, teaching, and leading others to follow God

And today we are in Acts 3 — and it’s a story of exactly that

Peter and John are in Jerusalem and perform a miraculous healing—and follow it up with a message that is preached to all who were there

So let’s get into it!

Scripture Reading:

Acts 3 CSB

1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon. 2 A man who was lame from birth was being carried there. He was placed each day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so that he could beg from those entering the temple. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked for money. 4 Peter, along with John, looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.” 5 So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” 7 Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong. 8 So he jumped up and started to walk, and he entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him. 11 While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astonished, ran toward them in what is called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12 When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you. 15 You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you. 17 “And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had predicted through all the prophets—that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning. 22 Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you. 23 And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people. 24 “In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring. 26 God raised up his servant and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”

Acts 4:1–4 CSB

1 While they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple police, and the Sadducees confronted them, 2 because they were annoyed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day since it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

This morning we are going to do an overview of what is happening in this text

And then we are going to talk about what this means for you and me

Outline:

The Miracle

The Sermon

The Response — Good and Bad

Application

The Miracle

Chapter 3 of Acts begins with a miracle, specifically a miraculous healing

Now I think we can become so accustomed to reading these biblical stories that we lose the weight of what is happening

A man that was born lame (not a diss—can’t walk) that had been that way for over 40 years (Acts 4:22)

Every day his family most likely carried him to the temple so he could beg for money to help carry the weight of family finances

Every day for 40 years—I can’t even imagine that

And because he is at the temple in Jerusalem—It is an almost guarantee that he had seen or at the very least heard about Jesus

Jesus was in the temple all of the time—Jesus was going around healing people

And no doubt he heard about the death of this man Jesus—the one crucified on the passover holiday

And maybe he heard rumors of his resurrection

But this man, unable to walk his whole life—is about to have his life changed by Peter and John

Have any of you ever witnessed a miracle?

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Due to the shame of his circumstances this man didn’t even look at the people he was asking for money

Until Peter looks him in the eye and says, “Look at us.”

And he turns to look, expecting to get money

and Peter says:

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 3

“I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

And instantly this man is able to walk—and not only walk and hobble around

But he begins leaping with joy praising God

This man’s life is completely changed

EX. Blind Children w/ Glasses

He is filled with uncontainable joy—and everyone watching is filled with wonder and astonishment

This was the lame man that they had all seen for several decades, now jumping around the temple grounds

And Peter takes this opportunity to preach—the newly healed man had grabbed the entire temple’s attention, and now Peter is going to address the crowds

The Sermon

In short this is what Peter has to say:

Why are you surprised at this healing?

Why are you looking at me and John like we are the ones that did this?

Our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (the God of our ancestors) is the one that did this

The same God that was walking this temple months ago—Jesus

And you all denied Jesus, handed him over to be crucified, this crowd released a murdered in place of the innocent Jesus

You killed the source of life—and God raised him from the dead—we are witnesses of this

This Jesus is the one who healed this man—not us

But don’t be alarmed, you all didn’t know what you were doing when you put Jesus to death

God used his death to fulfill what he predicted through the prophets

So everyone here, please repent, turn from your ways, so that your sins might be forgiven

God will send you times of refreshment and peace if you turn back to him

This is what the prophets have all been pointing to

Peter takes this time and opportunity to call people to repent and trust in Jesus

The Response

And finally we see the response:

The priests, temple police, and other religious leaders confront Peter and John, and have them arrested

The same religious leaders that had put Jesus to death, are now trying to stomp out his followers who are claiming he has risen from the dead

But the response isn’t only negative

Luke adds that many who heard Peter’s message believed and thousands of men started following Jesus

We’ll see this throughout Acts, but there is a momentum in this book

God is at work and the church is growing, despite opposition

Peter didn’t come in with a strategy to convert all of these people

He was simply lead by the spirit to look a beggar in the eyes and by faith, heal him in Jesus name

And here we see a delicate balance that Peter is striking

Personal and intimate life transformation (that we see in the lame man)

And large scale ministry (thousands of men believed after this message)

He didn’t use this lame man as a tool to draw a crowd

And he didn’t want to just dismiss the large crowd that was gathering in light of this miracle

This interaction is so Jesus

Taking the opportunity

Because it is Jesus

‘Ministry’ in general is always more attractive than ministry in particular

Or as C.S. Lewis says, “Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”

Why do we do what we do as Christians?

To be recognized and awarded?

To grow our ministry or others opinions of us?

Or out of a genuine love of others?

The beauty of everything that happened is that God was behind it all

Peter and John were simply acting in Jesus name—as his representatives

And what seems like a random or small thing—to heal this man—God used to bring people into a personal relationship with himself

So what does this story mean for you and me today?

Application

I want to talk about Living in the Name of Jesus

Acts 3:6 CSB

6 But Peter said, “I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

Acts 3:16 CSB

16 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.

Acts 4:7 CSB

7 After they had Peter and John stand before them, they began to question them: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”

Acts 4:10 CSB

10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing here before you healthy.

What does this mean?

And its not just here in Acts

How do most of us end our prayers?

In Jesus name, Amen

What does it mean to do something or ask for something in someone else’s name?

You’re representing them

Like Peter says, it’s not us that healed you, it’s Jesus!

But as Christians, life ‘in Jesus name’ is more than just being his representatives

Because left on our own, we aren’t the best reflections of him

How many of you know a Christian that doesn’t reflect Jesus very well?

It’s actually all of us, in our own ways

Living ‘in Jesus name’ is more than just being his representative

It’s about experiencing and living a new life

I mean we talk about it all of the time, but this is the most basic understanding of what it means to be a Christian

We are people who have been born again spiritually, just like the early church received the Spirit of God on Pentecost, we have received Jesus’s very same spirit to bring us new life

And often this new life isn’t natural—it fights against our flesh—the selfish ways of our past will still try and dominate our words and actions

But life in Jesus name is living into that part of us that has been made new in us

Knowing that that is who we truly are

Look, one day, when we die, or Jesus returns, our flesh will be done with, but our new life in Christ will live forever

God sees the whole picture of us and who we are becoming

And life in Jesus name is choosing God, and his spirit, to work in us

And when we do that—we experience life abundantly

We live and walk in the ways we were created to

But not only us, others are blessed by us walking in the Spirit

Think of this lame man, and the large crowd

Peter in his flesh could have ignored this man

He could have rationalized that he had no money and nothing to give him

But moved by the Spirit, Peter changed this man’s life completely

And not only this man, but thousands of people who witnessed his healing

Like Peter and John, life in Jesus name reflects:

The Acts of Jesus

Selfless, considering others needs, out of love not duty

The Words of Jesus

Kind, encouraging, wise, building others up

Evoking Response from Others

Some people might not like us

Some will be changed forever

And just like Peter’s sermon, I urge each and every one of you, to seek life in the name of Jesus

Whether you never have before

Or whether you’ve forgotten

We are tempted to find life in so many other things

And like I said, our flesh will try and keep us from experiencing this life but life in Jesus is truly the only place we will ever be satisfied

And this morning, I’m inviting each of you into this life

Into a life filled with joy and healing (like the lame man)

The Miracle of Salvation

God initiates

God gives us what we need

Raised to life

Close Eyes / Prayer