Sermon Tone Analysis

Sunday 10~/26~/08                             #1054  *“GIVERS OR TAKERS”*

                                                             Text:   Acts 3:1-11

 

*INTRO:* 

 

There are 2 different types of people in this world: givers & takers.

Some people really enjoy giving, they are always looking for excuses or ways to give to others & there are other people who really enjoy taking, they are always looking for excuses or ways to take from others.

What is interesting is what the Bible says about each type.

It says that the givers will always have enough to give, while the takers will always be lacking, never having enough.

When we talk about giving & taking, most people think only in terms of money.

But giving & taking involves more than just money, it c~/be time, grace, forgiveness.

Some people love to give all those things, while others love to take those things.

This am., in our text, we are going to take a look at 2 men who were able & willing

to give something to someone else.

Freely they had received, freely they gave.

Today we will learn that we all have something to give.

The problem is:

Do we want to give, or only prefer to take??? Are we givers or takers???

 

*TURN TO TEXT:  *Acts 3:1   (As we continue where we stopped)

 

Can be divided into 2 parts:  *#1)* The Man (vv.1-11) - *#2)* The Message (vv.12-26).

We will see 2 things about the man: *a)* His tragedy - *b)* His transformation.

We will see 2 things about the message: *a)* Sadness of it - *b)* Seriousness of it.

With this chapter, we start a new section.

Chaps.1&2

dealt with the Principles of the early church.

Starting here & all the way to chap.12, we have the Practices of the early church.

The emphasis in chaps.3

& 4 is on the name of the Lord Jesus.

A name implies much more than identification; it carries with it: authority, reputation & power.

When somebody says, “/You can use my name/!”

We then hope that the name is worth using.

“/I was sent by Paul Jones/”… “/Who is Paul Jones???//” /Trouble!

If an order is given in the name of the President of the United States, or the Prime Minister of Great Britain, those who receive the order know, that they are obligated to obey.

If, anyone of us, was to issue orders at the White House, (if we c~/get in), nobody w~/pay much attention because our name has no official authority behind it.

*CONT'D...*

But the name of the Lord Jesus has “/all authority/” behind it, (Mat.28:18) for He is the Son of God.

So, because His name is “/above every name”/ (Phil.

2:9)...

He deserves our worship & obedience.

What is beautiful is that, those who have /Him who has all authority/, have the authority to give Him to others.

I am here today because, several years ago, someone gave me Jesus.

Everyone of us have the authority from God, to give Jesus to others.

The problem is not that Jesus does not want to be given to others, the problem is that people do not want to give Jesus & all the promises that come w~/Him.

The takers are very happy to take Him, but are not willing to give Him to others.

This is just the way they are, they love to take, but not to give.

May we learn today to be givers & not takers.

Luke continues his story dealing w~/the practices of the early church & says….

VV.1-6 - 1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth /hour./ 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.

4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”

It used to be Peter & his brother Andrew w~/James & his brother John.

Now it is Peter & John.

Calvary had brought these 2 men into closer fellowship w~/each other.

By nature & temperament, these 2 were very different.

Peter & John were opposites.

By nature they might have gotten on each other’s nerves, but now they were walking together.

Peter & John were not so caught up w~/large crowds, that they had no time for individuals.

Nor were they so busy in ministry, that they had no time to pray.

They had learned their lesson well form the Lord.

Even though there were already over 3,000 people in their fellowship, they had time for prayer & time to minister to 1 man.

What a lesson for us!

Here we see the 1st thing about Peter: *He was a man of prayer**!

*He may have fallen asleep when the Lord asked him to pray earlier, but now, after receiving power from the H.S., he was a man of prayer.

He went to the temple at the hour of prayer.

In those days the people offered prayers in the temple 3 times per day:

1) Early in the morning - 2) In the afternoon - 3) At sunset.

The date of this even is not given, but the time is.

*CONT'D...*

It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

It is interesting that the time of prayer was 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

It was the very moment when Jesus had dismissed His spirit, bowed His head & died.

A fitting hour for 2 men who loved Jesus, to go to pray, in the name of Jesus, at that very hour.

The arrival of the apostles at the temple coincided w~/the arrival of a man crippled from birth (v.2), who was carried there, by friends or relatives, so that he c~/beg from those who came to worship & pray.

Luke tells us the tragedy in this man’s life: He was lame from birth.

*Think about the parents:* They were all excited to have a boy, & when they looked upon their little boy, they saw that his legs were not right.

The defect became increasingly evident as the months passed.

He could not stand & he never learned how to walk.

*Think about him**:* He could never run & play w~/other kids, he had to be carried everywhere.

There had never been a day in his life, when he had not been a burden to somebody.

He could not walk & he could not work.

All he c~/do was beg & sit there, where his friends, or relatives dropped him & hoped that his situation w~/provoke pity & people w~/give.

There were only 2 good places for beggars to go to beg:

1) At the door of the Temple, because people might be moved to give as they were coming to the house of God.

2) At the door of rich people, because their rich visiting friends might be moved to give.

This man here had chosen the temple, while Lazarus (Lu.16) chose the rich man’s gate.

We do not know anything about this man.

We are not told exactly how old he was, we are told over 40 (4:22).

We don’t know where he was from, nor what his name was.

All we are given is: 1) Where he laid down to beg: “/at the gate called Beautiful”/  2) What he did all day long: “/asked alms from those who entered the temple./”

Scholars are unable to say w~/certainty where the gate called “Beautiful” was located.

It is believed by most of them to be the Nicanor gate, located east of the court of the Women.

It provided access to the court of the Women from the court of the Gentiles.

It was called “/Beautiful”/ because its doors were made of Corinthian bronze, beautiful  shinning doors.

Notice that he asked alms from those entering the temple & not leaving the temple  Why???

Because on the way IN, a person’s thoughts w~/be more sharply focused on the nature & character of God, than on the way OUT.

*CONT'D...*

The superstitious people, hoping to appease God & secure His goodwill, were more disposed to drop a coin or 2 in the beggar’s hand, as they went in, than as they went out.

(Maybe we s~/receive tithes & offerings as people come in – just kidding!)

 

God had told the Israelites (Deu.15) that there s~/not be any poor among them,

but the Jews ignored God’s command & refused to take care of them.

They considered giving alms to beggars, a virtue, as seen in Mat.6.

This cripple man is a vivid illustration of the lost sinner in 4 different ways:

*#1)* He was born lame - & all are born sinners, spiritually lame -