Savage Street Church of Christ

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02122017gettingmorethanyouexpectedacts3donruhl

Getting More than You Expected 

What do you want?

Acts 3

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • February 12, In the year of our Lord, 2017

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Larry Amberg – Blessings

Prelude: 

1. What do you need that you cannot do for yourself? 
   1. What if you went to someone to help you, but
   2. you came away with much more than you expected?
2. That happened to a man in the first century. 
   1. He had never walked a day in his life,
   2. so what he needed he received as alms, handouts from people.
3. Someone placed him at a gate leading to the courtyard of the temple. 
   1. He sat there to get handouts from people.
   2. When he saw two men coming,
      1. he asked them for alms, but
      2. he did not receive alms,
         1. although he received more than he expected.
         2. He wanted money, but he got something better than money.

Persuasion: 

1. Acts 3.1–3 | Wanting Alms, But Getting Much More
   
   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.
   
   1. Peter and John may have gone to the temple at the hour of prayer to pray, but
      1. they may looked for an opportunity to preach and to teach.
   2. How did this man miss the healing ministry of Jesus?
   3. This man had never walked a day in his life. Therefore,
      1. he did not have the physical strength,
      2. he did not have the agility and coordination,
      3. he did not know what it was like to experience movement on his own,
      4. he did not know what it was like to be up high off the ground.
   4. He saw Peter and John,
      1. evidently not knowing who they were, for
      2. he only hoped to receive alms, money, from them.
   5. If you are humble and sincere, and do not manipulate people,
      1. the Lord will see to it that you receive what you need and
      2. often much more.
         1. Attitude is critical. And how you live.
         2. Jesus taught that he receives who gives,
            
            38 “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6.38).
            
            1. That includes the poor themselves giving,
            2. unless they have nothing to give, but
               1. if they think resourcefully,
               2. they will find ways to give.
2. Acts 3.4–11 | I’ll Give What I Have
   
   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.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.
   
   1. Both of the apostles looked at the man, and
      1. Peter commanded him to look at them.
      2. What else could the man do?
   2. Peter announced that he did not have silver and gold,
      1. he did not have money, but
      2. he did have something else.
         1. He commanded the man
         2. in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to walk.
   3. The man did not realize that he now had the ability to walk.
      1. So Peter took him by the hand,
      2. lifted him up, and
         1. the Spirit imparted strength to the man’s feet and ankle bones,
         2. revealing his problem, and
            1. gave him the balance, agility, coordination, fearlessness,
            2. not only to walk, but to leap.
   4. The man did what we could do, and praised God.
   5. Everyone there saw this man, whom they recognized.
      1. With all the miracles that were done then,
      2. it still amazed people to see the effects of miracles, for
         1. miracles then happened from the true power of God, and
         2. not from the manipulative antics and music of charlatans.
3. Acts 3.12 | Do Not Marvel at Men
   
   12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
   
   1. Why marvel at such a feat?
      1. Jesus Christ of Nazareth created the heavens and Earth.
      2. He created this man.
         1. Why then marvel that He can make a man walk
         2. who has never walked before?
            1. When Sarah laughed at the Lord’s prophecy
            2. that she would have a baby in a year,
               1. although 90 years old,
               2. He asked,
                  
                  14 “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen 18.14).
                  
            3. Jeremiah had it right,
               
               17 “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You” (Jer 32.17).
               
   2. Peter and John may have been holy and godly men, but
      1. such men and women fill history.
      2. Yet, few of them could heal people.
         1. Therefore, they did not heal the man by their own power.
         2. Jesus worked through them.
4. Acts 3.13–16 | Faith in the Name of Jesus
   
   13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
   
   1. Their God, the One who worked in their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
      1. glorified Jesus, but
      2. the Jews had done awful things to Jesus:
         1. They delivered Him up to the Roman governor,
         2. They denied Him when Pilate wanted to release Him,
         3. Instead of receiving the Just and Holy One, they wanted a murderer,
         4. They killed the Prince of Life.
      3. However, contrary to their contrary ways,
         1. God raised Jesus from the dead and
         2. Peter and John had witnessed this marvelous phenomenon.
   2. Then Peter revealed that faith in Jesus healed the lame man.
      1. Not the lame man’s faith, but
      2. the faith of Peter and John.
5. Acts 3.17–18 | Sin in Ignorance Is Still Sin
   
   17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
   
   1. Getting back to the more pressing issue,
      1. leaving the healing behind,
      2. Peter spoke of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
   2. Peter knew that they did not realize what they had done.
      1. They truly did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God.
      2. Their rulers truly did not believe that Jesus was the Lord of Glory.
         1. Paul affirmed the same to the Corinthians,
            
            7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (1Co 2.7–8).
            
         2. It did not release them from the fact that they should have known.
         3. It did not release them from killing an innocent man.
         4. It did not release them from killing the Son of God.
   3. Sin in ignorance is still sin.
      1. You may not know that you did something wrong, but
      2. the action is still wrong.
         1. Those in authority may go lighter on you,
         2. depending upon the offense, but
            1. you still stand guilty.
            2. So it was with the Jews to whom Peter spoke.
   4. Then Peter dropped the hammer again and harder, for
      1. they had fulfilled the prophecies of the suffering of the Christ.
      2. Would it not be something to know that the Bible had prophesied of you?
         1. Think of Mary reading Isaiah 7.14 and it spoke of her and only of her.
         2. However, in this case, it was not good.
            1. To know that you were one of the people
            2. who would make the Lord’s Christ suffer.
6. Acts 3.19–21 | Repent and Be Converted
   
   19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
   
   1. These people needed some serious repentance and conversion.
      1. Without these two,
      2. their sin remained.
         1. They would not receive refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and
         2. they would not receive Jesus Christ whom they had heard preach.
   2. For the time being,
      1. Heaven had received Jesus and
      2. He will stay there until the restoration of all things,
         1. which God had spoken of by all His prophets,
         2. even since the beginning of the world.
7. Acts 3.22–26 | The Abrahamic Promise
   
   22 “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
   
   1. Peter named Moses, Samuel, Abraham, and referred to all the prophets,
      1. that they all spoke of the very days in which they lived.
   2. Peter quoted a major prophecy and declared that it spoke of Jesus.
      1. All messianic prophecies were important, but
      2. the one that Peter quoted all Jews would know, because
         1. it prophesied of another prophet
         2. who would be like Moses.
            1. That prophet arrived and they did not know Him,
            2. in fact, they brutalized Him by nailing Him to a Roman cross.
               1. That made them just as bad as their fathers
               2. who fought against Moses the Wilderness.
      3. The haters of that prophet would be utterly destroyed.
         1. Peter made the Jews see themselves in those words.
         2. They were in danger of being destroyed by God!
   3. Verses 25 and 26 are some of the most important words in the entire Bible.
      1. God made a promise to Abraham that begins the entire biblical story,
         
         3c “And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen 12.3)

         18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” (Gen 22.18).
         

      2. And Peter opened their eyes to see
         1. that God raised up Jesus and
         2. sent Him first to the Jews
            1. to bless them in fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise
            2. by turning everyone of them away from their iniquities.