Acts 3:1-26 (September 10, 2023)

The Mission of Acts and Reaching the Community

Amen. We can open up to Acts chapter 3. We'll be in Acts chapter 3 today. And while you're turning there, I want to make one specific application of the book of Acts as a whole for us. And so one of the themes of the book of Acts is mission.

It's the mission of Christ, and we see that the church picks up the mission of Christ and the ministry of Christ. And part of that is to conquer in the name of Christ. And we do that by the word of God as we proclaim the gospel to a lost world.

And so it's part of that one application of that is we want to reach this community, our specific community. We got 8 out of 10 people within a 5 mile radius of where you now sit that are not meaningfully connected to Christ and his church.

And so I want to tell you about an opportunity to engage our community with the gospel this coming Saturday. So on Saturday, Downtown Travelers Dress is the first Browse and Stroll art event of the fall.

I think they have three of them this fall. The first one is this Saturday beginning at 11 o 'clock in the morning. And so what I want us to do, those of you who are interested, those of you who are available, I want to invite you to come meet here in the church parking lot at 1045.

I got a 10 minute training for you. And then we're going to go out down to Main Street and walk down Main Street. There'll be artists set up all over selling their pieces. And there's going to be a ton of people coming within just a short walk of our church on Saturday.

That's a great opportunity. We're going to see Peter when he sees a crowd, he sees an opportunity for the gospel. We're going to see that in Acts 3. And we have that on Saturday. Would love for you to come be a part of that.

We'll meet at 1045 here in the parking lot. We got a 10 minute training for you. We'll go out, not all in one big group. We're just going to go out, you know, as individuals, families, or you can partner up.

And the goal is just to meet some people. And we'll tell you how to, you know, how you can take those conversations and steer them towards asking them how you can pray for them, inviting them to church, and towards spiritual things there.

And basically spend, you know, 45 minutes, an hour going down Main Street. And then we'll be done by noon. Would love to invite you to come be a part of that. If you can't come, would you commit to praying for those who can between the hours of 11 a .m. and noon on Saturday?

So that's one application for our church of the book of Acts and the mission of God. And one way we can participate in that as God's people. Now, from that broad theme of the mission in Acts, I want us to zero in on Acts chapter 3 this morning.

The Kindness and Severity of God in Acts 3

But before I read the passage, I want to set this section of Scripture up by borrowing language from Romans 11, verse 22, where Paul says to consider the kindness and the severity of God. The kindness and severity of God.

And Paul says, on those who fell severity, but toward you, kindness. See, in our passage today, I want to draw your attention to the kindness and the severity of God. Both the goodness of God and also the dangerous, awesome in the most literal sense of that word, holiness of God.

So let's begin by reading Acts chapter 3, verses 1 through 10. And the Word of God says this, Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 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 of those who entered the temple.

Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, Look at us. So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

Then Peter said, Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. And 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. Amen. This is the word of God. I want you to think about this man. He had been lame, paralyzed from birth. His entire life, he had been dependent on others to care for him, to carry him, to help him.

He was dependent upon the charity of others. And so he went to the obvious place to get the help, the charity, and the mercy that he needed. He went to the temple where God's people, who had received mercy, were going to worship.

And there he would receive mercy and help from them. And so Peter sees him and he says, look at us. Now the man expected to get some money for them, right? He's out there asking for money, asking for alms, and he expects to get money for them.

But Peter was going to give him something better. Peter was going to give him something that he couldn't even comprehend. And Peter says to him, silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you.

Now what did Peter have? What did he have to give? Well, you might remember Acts 1 verse 8, where Jesus told the disciples, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me.

Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you. And what did Peter have? He had power, because the Holy Spirit had come upon him. They had the Holy Spirit. They had the mission and the ministry of Jesus.

They inherited from Christ and they had taken up to carry out in the name of Jesus. And so what we're going to see here in Acts chapter 3, and really over the next several chapters of the book of Acts, is we're going to see this theme of the power that is in Jesus' name.

Power in the name of Christ. We're going to see a continuation of the ministry of Jesus in his name by the apostles and by the early church. And so what does Peter say to him? He says, silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give to you.

He has the power and he says, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. In the name of Christ, we see power in his name. You get up, you who are lame from before you were born. You who, your entire life, you've been dependent upon others.

You've been unable to walk. Get up and walk.

They healed him.

They lifted him up.

His feet and his ankle bones were strengthened. He walked for the very first time in his life. And then he went into the temple leaping and praising God. And when the people saw that, they were filled with amazement.

They were filled with wonder at this great thing that God had done through his people. This should remind you of the story of Jesus in Mark chapter 2 where Jesus heals and forgives a paralyzed man. Where he too told him to get up and walk and take his mat and go home.

And everybody who saw it were what? They were filled with amazement and wonder at what they had seen Jesus do. And so here we remember that the book of Acts is the story of how Jesus continues his ministry through his apostles and through his early church.

So we're going to see as we go along that the body does the same sorts of things that the head did. And here Peter and John do the same sort of thing that Jesus did in Mark chapter 2. Now I want you to see the kindness of God on display here in this story.

First we have the kindness of God to the man who was healed. The kindness of God to heal him and make him able to walk. You see Peter is clear down in verse 12, and we'll read that in just a moment. He's clear in verse 12 that it was nothing in him, it was nothing in John that healed the man.

It was not their power, it was not their godliness. It was the grace and the kindness of God. So can I make a quick side note here on this point? It's not necessarily about the text, but it is about us.

And it's the same idea that we find in the text. Quick side note is this.

Things are going really well here.

Things are going really well at First Baptists. We've had 20 people join over the last year. And there are a few more that are planning to join. Some members have come back that had left for a season.

There's a tangible spirit of unity within our church. And there are a lot of exciting things going on here. We love, we hear kids in the sanctuary, which is a sound that we love. And we are grateful for that.

There's a lot of good that are going on. But I just want to point out and remind us of this thing that Peter said. It's not our own power or our own godliness that has done a great work in our church.

It is the grace and the kindness of God. It is always the grace and the kindness of God. We always need to keep the grace and the kindness of God before our eyes. So that we give thanks to Him. So that we give praise to Him.

So that we give glory to Him. Because it's due His name. He deserves it. God's kindness. We see His kindness on display with the man healed here in Acts 3. And we also see His kindness on display. And that this miracle is not only good for the man who received it.

The man whose legs were strengthened. But it was also good for those who witnessed it. Because this healing, this miracle was a sign of the kingdom. It was good for those who saw it because it was a sign of the kingdom.

Do you remember when John the Baptist heard in prison about the works of Jesus? And he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if Jesus was the Messiah. Or if they should look for another. Do you remember that story in the Gospels?

And Jesus answered him saying,. The blind see, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Jesus' answer was a reference to Isaiah chapter 35 verses 5 and 6.

Where Isaiah prophesied of the coming messianic kingdom. Of the coming kingdom when the Messiah would come. And the kingdom would come. And he said this in Isaiah 35,. The eyes of the blind shall be opened,.

The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped,. Then the lame shall leap like a deer,. And the tongue of the dumb sing. These miracles were signs of the kingdom. And when this man went leaping like a deer into the temple,.

It was a sign of the Messiah. Is this not the kindness of God? To make things clear, to give to the people there in Jerusalem,. A visible sign of the kingdom of Christ. So that those who were in Jerusalem, well versed in the prophets,.

They knew, they had read Isaiah. So that they would recognize what God was doing through his apostles. And so that they would believe. Is this not the kindness of God? See in the Bible, physical things point to spiritual things.

The physical images the spiritual. And so we can see things physically,. And they point to and teach us about things that are spiritual. So these physical healings point to and teach us something about spiritual healing.

And so with that in mind, I want you to notice one detail from verse 2. It says,. And a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried. Lame from his mother's womb. This man had a physical malady from before the time when he was born.

He was born lame. And he needed the power of Jesus' name to heal him. Well friends, every last one of us has a spiritual malady from before we were born. We were born in sin. We were born sinners, spiritually lame.

And we need the power of Jesus' name to heal us. This healing was a sign of the kingdom of Christ. Where Jesus heals His people from their debilitating sin. It's what this miracle teaches us. And this is the kindness of God that He makes this clear.

The Callout of Sin and the Grace of Shame

I want to pick up in verse 11 and read down to verse 16. 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 was called Solomon's. Greatly amazed.

So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people, Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Why do you look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 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.

But you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the Prince of Life whom God raised from the dead of which we are witnesses. 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.

Amen.

You see, Peter knew an opportunity when he saw it. So there was a healing. This man goes into the temple. Everybody sees it. They know it was the guy who's been crippled since birth that was outside asking for alms.

They're filled with amazement and wonder. Then they go out to Solomon's portico and the crowds just come rushing. And when Peter sees the crowds, he sees an opportunity for the gospel. And so he began to preach and he said, Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this?

Now that he is addressing the men of Israel is important and it will become more important as we go along. But here, what I want us to see is that the kindness of God through Peter, the kindness of God through Peter to the people by connecting them to their heritage, by connecting them, by using terms loaded with meaning for the people of God.

And so he refers to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The God of our fathers.

Reminding them of the patriarchs and their origin as a people. He uses the word servant for Jesus. Evoking the concept of the suffering servant from the book of Isaiah. He calls him the holy one, the just or the righteous one.

Again, evoking the messianic expectation. He's connecting the people that are there to hear him. And he's connecting Jesus and the promises of the old covenant. And Jesus as the point of the old covenant.

This is God's kindness to them. But then he addresses the people gathered and he is very clear about what they have done. Verses 13 -15, it says,. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified as servant Jesus, whom you delivered and denied in the presence of Pilate.

Then he goes on in verse 14,. But you denied the holy one and the just, and asked for a murder to be granted to you, and killed the prince of life. Peter was very direct here, right? Now we might think, speaking so directly of one's sin, we might think of that as the severity of God.

In a sense, maybe it is. For here we see the confrontation that must take place with sinners.

They must be made aware.

They must be made aware of their sin.

Must be shown it.

And Peter says,.

You delivered Jesus up.

You denied him.

You asked for a murder. You killed the prince of life. This is a hard message to deliver someone, right? It's a hard message to deliver to someone. Because we don't really like to confront people. It's a little bit uncomfortable to directly tell somebody what they've done is sin and against what God has said.

It's easy to talk about people, but it's hard to talk to a person and tell them that, right? Which is what Peter did. It feels like severity, but I want to argue to you this morning, this is actually God's kindness.

This is actually God's kindness because clarity is kindness. The people that were gathered there, they needed to know what sin to repent of. They needed the truth. And people today, the 8 out of 10 in our community, who aren't connected to Christ and His church, they need the truth.

People still need the truth today. I read a book a few years ago called The Grace of Shame. And in that book, the authors argued that the shame that we feel at sin, and this is why it's hard to have that conversation with somebody, right?

Because sin does bring shame, and we feel like we're kind of bringing that on somebody, or they might recoil at it because they don't like to feel that way. But the authors in this book argue that the shame that we feel at our sin is actually a good thing.

It is a grace to us from God. It is a gift to us to lead us away from that sin. So shame kind of works like the nerve endings in your hand. So if you were to put your hand on a hot stove, you would immediately feel it's hot and jerk it away, right?

Because if you didn't, if you didn't have those nerve endings that told you it was hot, you need to take your hand away, you might inadvertently lean on the stove, not knowing it was on, and if you didn't have nerve endings, you wouldn't know it was hot, and you might leave it there, and it might burn your skin off, burn your flesh, and then you would have all sorts of complications, infections, things like that.

The initial pain sensation that your nerves give you is a gift that prevents you from further harm. Shame works like that. But our culture has tried to de-shame most sin. And to do that, we've had to start being very muddled about how we talk about sin.

That is, we're not very clear about it because we want to de-shame it. But this de-shaming is a lie. It feels like kindness, but lies are never kind. Leaving people in their sin is never kind. Peter didn't leave the Israelites in Jerusalem in their sin.

Rather, he brought them face to face with it so that something could be done about it. Because if you leave someone in their sin, what does that lead to? It leads to more sin. It eventually leads to death.

Now, often we take a therapeutic approach to sin. Or with culturally fashionable sins, you know, the ones that get you status in our culture, we will soft-pedal our words, obscuring what God has said in order to win an audience by not offending someone's sensibilities.

So I saw a video this past week that was put out by a major evangelical church network, church planting network, in which a pastor did this very thing when talking about engaging LGBTQI people. He spoke about that sin in ways that we would never speak about less fashionable sins.

So he spoke about that particular sin in a way he would never speak about, say, white supremacy or sexual abuse. Which illustrates, if you kind of sub in a different sin for how you're talking about one, if it doesn't make sense when you sub in a different one, it can kind of show you the absurdity of it.

And the reason he did this is because LGBTQI plus is the favored group in our culture. And it's treated by way too many Christians, especially those in evangelical leadership, as a special class of sin, one of which you may not speak directly.

And so the problem with this is when we take kind of this soft-pedaled, beat-around-the-bush approach to homosexuality, it leaves people in their sin. It denies them the gift and the grace of shame.

They don't recoil off of the hot stove, but they leave their hand there to burn their flesh and cause them harm. And so in an effort to love our neighbor, so we think, with smooth words, we end up harming them because we don't tell them the truth.

Proverbs 27 .6, and I'm reminded of this proverb,.

Says,.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. You see, Peter, he said to the crowd,.

You deny Jesus. You kill Jesus.

You prefer Barabbas, the murderer, the insurrectionist, to Jesus, and you murdered the Prince of Life instead. The one who has life in himself, you put to death instead.

You did this.

You see, Peter was a friend to them, and he wounded them faithfully so that they would hear and repent and be healed. And so we see that homosexuality is not a special class of sin that we get to coddle and not speak directly about, but neither is it a special class of sin where it's the only one that we call out.

In fact, as your pastor, it is my job to address the sins that are found among the people in this room more so than it is to address the sins of those found outside of it. Because you have sinned.

Now, I don't know.

All the specific ways that you have sinned specifically in the past week or past month or habitually over your life. I don't know all that about all of you yet. But I do know people. I do know human nature.

And so I can say probably you have lied. You've looked at pornography. You have been bitter towards your husband. You've been short with your wife. You've been angry with your neighbor. You've yelled at your kids.

You've gossiped about a mutual acquaintance. You have, insert whatever sin the Holy Spirit is currently bringing to your mind. It's the kindness of God to bring our sins to our attention. It is the kindness of God to make you aware of your sin because then you can deal with it.

How do you deal with it? You confess it and repent of it.

God's made a way.

To deal with it. This truth is subtly woven into the story of the kindness of God in making us aware of our sins so we can turn from it and be made new. It's subtly woven in this. What did Peter say twice in verses 13 and 14?

What did he say of the people? He said they denied whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate. But you denied the Holy One and the just. Who else was famous for denying Jesus? Famously denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.

And when the rooster crowed, Jesus told him before the rooster crowed, you'll deny me three times. And when the rooster crowed, he looked up and he locked eyes with Jesus.

And he knew.

And he was distraught.

Luke tells us that he went away and wept bitterly because just a look from Jesus was enough to let him know what he had done. But after Jesus rose from the dead, he went.

And found Peter fishing.

And after breakfast, he took Peter and he asked him three times, Peter,.

Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?

And three times Peter answered, yes Lord,.

You know that I love you.

And Jesus restored Peter saying to him, feed my sheep. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.

He restored Peter.

And commissioned him for service. Peter was proof that you could deny Jesus and be restored. Peter was proof of concept of repentance and restoration. He was proof that your sins can be washed away. He was proof that you can be made new, that you can be made clean again, that you can be used.

By God again.

And so it wasn't self-righteous for Peter to stand up before the crowd that day and call out their sin of denying Jesus. No, he had been wrapped in the righteousness of Jesus. Jesus became sin. He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.

We read that earlier from 2 Corinthians. Jesus had taken Peter's sin and he had given him his righteousness. So Peter stood there wrapped in the righteousness of Jesus offering the same gospel, the same hope, the same forgiveness to them that he had received for the very same sin.

So I want you to know brothers and sisters, you may have done some pretty bad things in your day.

You may have.

Failed miserably. You may have defiled yourself and others. But the kindness of the Lord is for.

You.

And the kindness of the Lord is found in Jesus.

And in Him you can.

Be forgiven and in Him you can be used of God again. You can be used by the Lord just like Peter the denier was. And you're not compromised because you're now calling others to repent for the same sins that you were guilty of.

And the reason you're not compromised and the reason it's not hypocrisy is because the gospel really does, it actually does free you from your sin. You are actually in truth, in reality objectively forgiven by Jesus Christ if you're united to Him by faith.

Your sin really is washed away. 1 Corinthians 6 .11 says it like this and such were some of you but you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

So if you're here.

Today.

And you're walking in unrepentant sin, that is you refuse to stop your sin, you refuse to turn from it, this comfort.

Can be yours.

But it's not yet. This next passage of this next section of the passage is for you if you're content to stay in your sins. I'm going to read verses 17 -26.

Yet now.

Brethren I know that you did it in ignorance as did also your rulers.

But those things which.

God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets that the Christ would suffer He has thus fulfilled. 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 that He may send Jesus Christ who was preached to you before 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 for Moses truly said to the fathers the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brethren whom you shall hear in all things whatever He says to you and it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.

Yes and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow as many as have spoken have also foretold these days you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our father saying to Abraham and in you excuse me and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed to you first God having raised up His servant Jesus sent Him to bless you and turning away every one of you from your iniquities this is the word of God to us.

The call in this passage is to repent of your sins that your sins may be blotted out so I want to zero in on the original context here and then I want us to draw out a principle that's for all of us and so we remember from back when Peter began to preach there in verse 12 he's addressing the men of Israel those who are in Jerusalem they're gathered at the temple and what we see here in this offer of repentance is God through Peter He's offering a second chance to Israel.

See Israel had rejected their Messiah and put Him to death. That's what He said earlier. You delivered Him up. You denied Him. You killed Him. And now He's giving Him a second chance. He's giving Israel a second chance.

Their Messiah had come but they did not recognize Him. Now part of the reason that they didn't recognize Him is that the Gospels they're shrouded in mystery right? I mean Jesus is all the time communicating in parables which is this cryptic means of communication that is meant to reveal truth to some people while at the same time concealing truth from others.

It's mysterious and Jesus is all the time saying hey don't tell anybody yet my time's not yet come. Don't say anything my time's not yet come. So Peter alludes to this in verse 17 when he says I know you did it in ignorance but now Jesus is making things clear through His apostles.

The Holy Spirit has descended. The apostles are doing the works of Jesus. They're doing the signs of Jesus. Signs of the Kingdom. And they are preaching very clearly about the people's sin. And they're preaching very clearly about salvation that's found in Jesus through repentance and faith.

You see God has given Israel a second chance.

And a very clear one.

If you repent of Israel then your sins will be blotted out and times of refreshing may come. Verse 19.

And we see that.

Language there in verse 19 of times of refreshing. That language there in verse 21 where it talks about the times of the restoration of all things. This is eschatological language if you will repent. But if not verse 23 Every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.

If you're going to raise up a prophet like me Moses said that prophet is Jesus. All the prophets from Samuel on were prophesying and telling about Jesus. The Old Testament is about Jesus. Jesus has come and every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.

Take note brothers and sisters the kindness and severity of God. Kindness if you repent, severity if you will not. So for Israel they were given a second chance and we'll see in their response in Acts chapter 4 next week and then over the next several chapters and throughout the book of Acts we'll see the response of Israel.

And that with the exception.

Of a small faithful remnant. Israel did not.

Repent but rather persecuted.

The church of Christ. And in so doing they hardened their hearts and because they would not hear the prophet.

What did.

Verse 23 say? It said they shall be utterly destroyed from among the people and in the year AD 70 Jerusalem was utterly destroyed. Jesus visited Jerusalem in judgment by means of the Roman army. The temple was destroyed and Israel was cut off.

Again.

Take note the kindness and severity of God. Zoom out. That was Israel. The pattern holds for all of us. While you are yet breathing you have the kindness of God.

Before you.

Second, third, fourth,.

Fifth chances. But it is.

Appointed. Every man wants to die and then comes the judgment. If you're here today you've never turned from your sins. If you're still in your sins I want you to hear that you will face the severity of God in judgment for eternity.

The wrath of God against sin and sinners and the eternal.

Flames of hell. It's not popular.

To talk about hell today but Jesus does so I will. I want you to know that a therapeutic approach to sin that tries to cure sin by rhetoric, that tries to cure sin by any other means has never kept a soul out of hell.

Only the gospel of Jesus Christ will keep anyone out of hell. And so don't rely on a therapeutic approach to sin for yourself. Turn to Jesus Christ. Turn from your sin to Jesus Christ by faith and repentance instead.

And as you engage.

Friends and family members and neighbors and classmates and co-workers with the gospel don't rely on a therapeutic approach to.

Sin for them either. Give them.

Jesus Christ instead. And give it to them straight up. Speak clearly of sin and salvation. Speak directly and speak of Jesus. Speak of repentance. Speak of faith. Speak of Jesus. For this is the kindness.

Of God to.

Sinners. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your kindness that is to us in Jesus Christ. We thank you for mercy. We thank you for forgiveness. We thank you for those who have spoken clearly to us in our past to point out our sin so that we could have the mercy and grace of turning from it and being forgiven of it.