Participants: Jim & Mark Howard
Series Code: ABOTB
Program Code: ABOTB00006A
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00:22 Welcome back to Books of the Book.
00:23 I'm Pastor Mark Howard and I'm here with my co-host my brother 00:26 Pastor Jim Howard. We are so excited to be studying the book 00:29 of Acts with you. I hope you have your Bibles today. 00:32 We're going to dive right into our study after a brief word of 00:35 prayer. We're going to be in Acts chapter 3 today and it's 00:38 an exciting story, but let's begin with a word of prayer. 00:41 Father in heaven we do thank you for your word. We thank you for 00:45 the Spirit of truth given to lead us into truth and we just 00:48 pray that he would lead our study today. In Jesus name we 00:51 pray. Amen. Now we've already seen some 00:54 exciting things in the book of Acts and how the early church 00:59 was just exploding under the power of the Holy Spirit. 01:02 Now we come to chapter 3 and we run into what starts out as 01:07 just kind of a regular day in the life of the apostles and I 01:11 suppose maybe it ends like a regular day in the life of the 01:14 apostles the way we see things go here, but we're going to Acts 01:17 chapter 3, verse 1, and the Bible says here: Now Peter and 01:20 John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, 01:25 the ninth hour, and a certain man, lame from his mother's womb 01:28 was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple 01:32 which was called Beautiful to ask alms from those who entered 01:36 the temple, who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple 01:41 asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him with John Peter said 01:46 Look at us. So he gave them his attention expecting to receive 01:51 something from them. Then Peter said, silver and gold I do not 01:56 have but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ 02:00 of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right 02:05 hand and lifted him up and immediately (the Bible says) 02:09 his feet and ankle bones received strength so he, leaping 02:14 up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking and 02:20 leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking 02:23 and praising God and they knew that it was he who sat begging 02:27 alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple and they were filled 02:30 with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 02:35 Amazing story. That's a powerful story. 02:37 So what we see here, there's a few things that we pick up on. 02:41 I suppose we could look at this and say well Peter and John went 02:44 to the temple that day to heal the man. I think it's important 02:47 to note, and we're going to see this other places in the book of 02:50 Acts, that sometimes people get the idea today that the New 02:54 Testament church was disconnected from the 02:57 practices of Judaism excepting that they felt a need to reach 03:03 the Jews. But what we find is that the religion of Judaism was 03:09 full of gospel illustrations that were pointing people 03:13 forward to and preparing them for the reception of Christ. 03:17 It was the religion that God had given to his people. And so here 03:20 we find Peter and John going up to the temple. And somebody may 03:23 say well they went up to the temple because they knew they 03:24 knew they were going to find a man there. But we don't see that 03:28 because the Bible says they went up because it was the hour of 03:32 prayer and it says that they were about to go into the temple 03:35 so they had no intention, they weren't there to heal the lame 03:39 man. They had no intention of healing the lame man but it was 03:43 as they were passing by that he called out to them and asked for 03:47 alms and arrested their attention. It says there in 03:52 verse 3, Seeing them about to go into the temple asked for alms. 03:56 Yeah, it's funny though when you say that he arrested their 04:00 attention, it doesn't appear that they had yet arrested his. 04:03 That's right. It's almost like at the toll 04:05 booth or somewhere where someone is mindlessly sort of 04:09 going through the motions. He's probably been asking for alms 04:13 people walking by and he's kind of become a little bit numb to 04:17 the reality that most people are not really doing much to help 04:21 him. Well I think to myself of as you 04:23 mentioned somebody who's in a routine. You think of the 04:26 Salvation Army bell ringers at the holiday seasons. They're 04:29 ringing that bell and when I give I don't stop often and get 04:33 into a long conversation. I'll throw something in and move 04:35 and they're used to that and they're ringing and thank you 04:38 and thank you and they're not really paying a lot of attention 04:41 and it's very likely that people have tossed money his way 04:44 but there was no long interchange with anybody. 04:47 Right. No bonding happening. But it's important that the 04:50 apostles wanted his attention. He points it out right here in 04:55 verse 4 where it says, And fixing his eyes on him with John 05:00 Peter said, Look at us. So he's calling his attention to them. 05:04 And in verse 5 it says, So he gave them his attention and 05:07 then he expects to receive something from them. This just 05:11 reminds me of so many places in the Bible where there is a very 05:15 intentional effort to draw the attention of someone who's about 05:19 to receive healing or receive some gift from God to get their 05:24 wholehearted attention. I think of the blind man who Jesus asked 05:28 a question that seemed a little bit odd at the time. He said, 05:32 what do you want me to do for you? And he said, That I may 05:36 receive my sight. It seemed obvious but Jesus wanted to draw 05:40 out of that man his full attention and his whole heart. 05:43 I think of the woman who wanted to have her flow of blood healed 05:49 and she's looking to find a way to get to Jesus and she goes 05:53 ahead and reaches out and touches the hem of his garment, 05:57 and the Bible says virtue or power came out from Jesus. 06:00 But he didn't just keep walking and let her sneak off like she 06:03 wanted to. He stopped and he said, Who touched me? And he 06:07 wanted to get her attention. He wanted to have that encounter 06:11 with her. And I find that this story draws out the fact that 06:17 God does not give healing, give power, give forgiveness, give 06:23 overcoming victory to the Christian that is halfhearted 06:28 and casual and just holding out a bucket and hoping God will 06:32 throw something in it. 06:34 You know that makes me think of and I have something to add on 06:37 that, but it makes me think of a statement in one of my favorite 06:40 books, Steps to Christ. There's a chapter that deals with the 06:43 important of our wholehearted consecration to God and it makes 06:48 a point that because God wants to cleanse and transform the 06:52 whole heart, he needs the whole heart in order to do that. 06:56 So I can't help but think in these examples that the Lord, if 07:00 he's going to change the whole person then he has to have the 07:04 whole person. That's right. And it's not 07:06 something that he is arbitrarily requiring but something that's 07:10 a necessity if any change is really going to come. 07:12 That's what happened here. It takes me back to that very well 07:16 known, but I think, very important passage that we need 07:19 to remember here in Jeremiah 29:13 where the promise is 07:22 given there. It's during the time of the Babylonian captivity 07:26 but ultimately it speaks down to our day where he says You will 07:30 seek me and find me when you search for me with all your 07:33 heart. And it's all our heart that God is asking for. Right 07:38 here these apostles, they point to this man and say look at me. 07:42 They need to know that he is expecting something and that he 07:45 is looking longingly and they need his heart before this 07:49 miracle can be a reality. 07:50 And he needs our attention. I think that's important for us to 07:53 remember and for our viewers to remember today that sometimes 07:57 in the Christian experience we can feel like God's not hearing 08:01 us, but there are many times when we are holding back from 08:05 him. We are not letting go, we're not opening our whole 08:08 heart to him and we know it. Conviction is telling us, the 08:11 Holy Spirit is telling us, give everything over to him and we're 08:14 saying well I'm not ready for that yet. We're going to kind of 08:19 play this half and half wait and see. But we'll never experience 08:23 that transforming and that forgiving and redemptive power 08:27 of Christ until we're willing to give him all. 08:30 Amen. Now Peter had a very different type of interaction 08:35 here. In fact, as you read through the account in some ways 08:40 there was almost a nonchalance. 08:42 To me this is one of the most amazing parts of the passage. 08:46 I want to rephrase that. It's one of the greatest rebukes to 08:50 me when I read through this. Because when Peter heals the 08:53 man... Now you're looking at this man. He's been lame from 08:58 his mother's womb. When your lame from the womb, I mean... 09:03 It's one of those situations that is a healing of a person 09:08 who's lame from the womb is a mighty miracle, as if it would 09:13 not be a miracle anyway. But the whole crowd is amazed. That's 09:16 what it says at the end of verse 10, They were filled with wonder 09:20 and amazement at what had happened to the lame man. 09:23 But then we read on. It says in verse 11, Now as the lame man 09:27 who was healed held onto Peter and John. All the people ran 09:31 together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's 09:34 greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it he said I'm amazed too. 09:39 No, he says men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Why do 09:43 do you marvel or why do you look so intently at us as though by 09:47 our own power or godliness we have made this man walk. 09:50 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers 09:53 glorified his servant Jesus whom you delivered up and 09:56 denied in the presence of Pilate. You know, you bring the 09:59 convicting sermon. But what hits me here is if I were to rephrase 10:04 it Peter basically says, I mean the crowd is amazed and 10:07 Peter basically responds by saying what do you expect? 10:09 This is the power of Jesus. I think to myself of a friend of 10:14 mine who was doing Bible work in an area. In fact, he and another 10:18 guy, partner, were doing Bible work, they were going around 10:20 that is they were going house to house and they were offering 10:23 to study the Bible with people. They came across one woman who 10:26 had had several people by of different persuasions, 10:31 denominational persuasions, and she said you know I'm studying 10:34 with all these other people and honestly I think I'm pretty 10:37 booked up with studies, thanks for coming by, etc., and they 10:41 said well they gave her their material and they said well we'd 10:44 like to stop back. Well sure, but I'm going to tell you right 10:46 now I'm probably going to be tied up with other studies. 10:50 Anyway they went and they prayed about it and asked the Lord to 10:55 intervene. And the next week they came back and when they 10:58 went into this woman's home she said all her other material 11:01 she'd gotten rid of and she says I'm studying with you guys. 11:04 So they asked her what made the difference and she said I prayed 11:08 about it and the Lord spoke to me and he said this is who I 11:12 want you to study with. Anyway, they go out to the car after 11:16 that visit and my friend is just like Hallelujah, praise the Lord 11:20 I can't believe it. Did you hear that. And he was looking at his 11:24 friend and he said did you hear that. And his friend looks at 11:28 him and he says well what did you expect. You know, we asked 11:31 the Lord. And that's what I see with Peter and that's where I 11:34 say it's a rebuke to me. I think to myself, Peter had an 11:39 expectant faith. In other words, he believed that the Lord was... 11:43 What does Paul say that he who comes to the Lord must believe 11:49 that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently 11:53 seek him. And that's what we were just talking about. Peter 11:57 believed. He was expectant and that expectation paid off and I 12:00 wonder to myself sometimes as I look at my experience, am I as 12:04 expectant as Peter was. And too often I have to say that I need 12:08 to say Lord increase my faith. 12:09 Amen. Me too, me too. You know this particular miracle is 12:14 fascinating and it is really the opening of the way for the early 12:20 church in terms of miracles. We saw in Acts 2 this supernatural 12:24 outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But in terms of a miracle, like 12:28 the people were used to seeing when Jesus walked the earth this 12:32 is the first time where they see something like that happen and 12:36 you now you have to think there was a period there when people 12:39 began to be a little bit discouraged because Jesus had 12:43 gone and lame and crippled and others who had come to the 12:47 temple to be healed by Jesus found nothing, no hope. And so 12:52 here we have this new hope that is given when the disciples 12:56 are found to have the same power of God that Jesus had. 13:00 This is an incredible miracle and furthermore it's a very 13:04 public miracle. I noticed that as you look through the book of 13:07 Acts, especially in the founding of the early church, God was 13:11 establishing the credibility of the early church with these 13:14 supernatural manifestations throughout the book of Acts 13:17 and especially here in the beginning. This created a stir 13:20 among the people and that's what God was attempting to do. 13:23 I mean right here as you stated in verse 2 it says a certain man 13:27 lame from his mother's womb. That's why it says in verse 10 13:31 that they were fill with wonder and amazement at what happened 13:34 to him because this was not any ordinary miracle, this was a 13:38 case of impossibility. This is somebody who didn't have the 13:41 raw materials in their body, they had never been able to walk 13:44 before so how would they possibly be able to walk now. 13:46 Here with this healing God was getting their attention and he 13:51 was about to have another large harvest of souls because of this 13:56 opening miracle. So we're going to find out how Peter follows 14:01 this miracle with a very powerful address. But before we 14:04 do we have to go to a break. So at this time we're going to 14:07 take a short break and we'll be back to study the Book of Acts 14:11 after a few moments. |
Revised 2014-12-17