Seizing Every Opportunity (Acts 3)
Brethren, how passionately do we plead with the Lord for souls? How occupied are our souls with the fact that millions go to eternal death day after day? When was the last time you had even a little perspiration in your prayers for those who do not know Christ? They are all around us. They are in our workplace. They are in our doctors offices. They are in our grocery stores. They are in our schools. Perhaps they are even in our own homes. Do our souls not ache that God would give daily opportunity to witness about the Savior?
I continue to ask these questions to stir us up by way of reminder. We have a task given us by God. It is this same task that the apostles and early Christians were given.
Before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He had told His disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and they would testify of His death, resurrection, ascension, and return. Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and filled all of Jesus’ disciples. They were speaking in other languages and dialects, so that those in Jerusalem were hearing them speak in their native tongues and were astonished. As people were wondering what had happened, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, stood and preached to them that Jesus, the risen and glorified Christ whom they had rejected and executed, had sent forth His Holy Spirit who was empowering them for this incredible sign. Three thousand believed the gospel on that day, and the church was born. Chapter 2 ends this way (47): the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
The scene switches. We don’t really know how much time passes between chapters 2 and 3.
1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (3 PM). 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. This man had never stood on his own two feet. He never had the pleasure of walking or running or leaping, since he had been lame from the womb. He was dependent on his friends or family to carry him up to the temple and up the steps to this Beautiful Gate. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. This beggar was probably used to most people looking away. 4 [But] Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people:
The rest of the chapter is taken up with another brief sermon given by Peter. God was gracious to heal this man in the name of Jesus. Now, Peter is going to use this miracle as a starting place for preaching Jesus.
Think back to the last week. How many questions, comments, or events can you think of that would have been a natural segue to testify about the goodness and grace of Jesus in our lives? And how many of those brief statements could have led into a longer gospel conversation? May the Lord help us to recognize such opportunities and take hold of each one with bold faith.
Peter takes the opportunity to preach to the gathered crowd. Like Pentecost, this was a providential moment that God had made happen. Peter recognized the opportunity, and he didn’t let it slip by. He was able to preach Jesus to the people.
MAIN POINT: Like all preaching should be, Peter’s sermon that day was a logical argument. He argued that each one should believe that Jesus performed this miracle through him and John, and that Jesus is therefore the servant of God as revealed in the Word of God; the Prophet of God whom Moses foretold would fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant by bringing blessing to all the world. We are going to break this sermon down into 4 parts so that we can understand Peter’s fiery logic and call to action.
WE PROCLAIM THE SERVANT OF GOD
Peter begins preaching, “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? It wasn’t us who did this thing. 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus. Jesus is God’s servant. That may sound a little odd to you at first. But this would not have sounded odd to the Jews. The Christ is called the servant of God in the book of Isaiah. We actually call those sections “The Servant Songs,” and there are four of them (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12). You probably know more of these than you realize. You probably know Isaiah 53 fairly well. It actually starts in Isaiah 52:13, Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. Just as many were astonished at you, So His appearance was marred more than any man, And His form more than the sons of men. The rest of the song goes on to speak about how the Christ would be rejected and executed by the people, unwittingly, for the atonement of their sins. So, Peter says that this miracle has been accomplished by God’s servant, Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One (another title for the Christ and certainly an accusation of injustice), and asked for a murderer to be granted to you (Barabbas), 15 and you killed the Author of life (a statement of the divinity of Christ), whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. Jesus is no longer dead. And here is your proof. He is still working His miracles here among you. I wonder if Jesus had passed by this lame beggar during His time on earth, purposefully withholding healing from him so that He could do it on this day and cause Peter to preach these words to the people.
Brethren, we also take every opportunity to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s servant. We preach Christ crucified for the forgiveness of our sins. We call all people to believe that He died and rose again so that we could have life. We stand in a long line of godly witnesses that goes all the way back to the apostles. We point to their testimony as the basis for ours. They preached these things to their death. They did not recant. Nor did generations of Christian martyrs after them. We have assurance that Christ, the servant of God, came and offered up His life a sacrifice for all and that He rose again from the dead, ascended to Heaven, and is soon to return. We can proclaim it with confidence!
And we proclaim the promises of God to all who believe.
WE PROCLAIM THE PROMISES OF GOD
Peter continues, 17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Looking back, the people should be able to see that Isaiah 53 and many other passages were fulfilled by Jesus. Their own prophets testify against their actions. They are guilty of killing Jesus, the Christ. So what must they do? They must believe the promises of God written in the prophets concerning the Christ. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. They must believe Isaiah 53:6 - All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Now, those who repent of their sins and turn toward God will be forgiven their sins. That’s the promise in Jeremiah 31:34. And there’s more promises that will come when the entire Jewish nation repents and believes in Jesus: 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ (the Second Coming) appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. The times of refreshing and the restoration all look forward to the Messianic Kingdom that Christ will set up when He returns. Peter is urging the Jews to all be saved so that this Kingdom will be ushered in.
Brethren, we also to every opportunity to proclaim the promises of God to all who will hear. “Come to Jesus and receive eternal life. Come to Jesus and become a son or daughter of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. Come to Jesus and obtain an inheritance in heaven, undefiled and imperishable. Come to Jesus and receive His Spirit. Come to Jesus and become a partaker of the glorious nature of God. Come to Jesus and await all the riches of glory that He will bring when He returns.”
We must also give a warning. That’s what Peter does next when He speaks of Christ as “The Prophet.”
WE PROCLAIM THE PROPHET OF GOD
Peter then goes back to the Old Testament to raise the stakes. There will be consequences for all who do not repent and turn to Jesus. 22 Moses said, (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. One who will establish a covenant. One who will lead the people. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ There’s consequences for disobedience. Eternal death and destruction. And it wasn’t just Moses who spoke about this. 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.
Brethren, we also proclaim the Word of God to all people. We proclaim to them that the Word of God is true. Therefore when the prophets and apostles warn us that all who do not believe in Jesus will be thrown into eternal fire, we soberly lay out this truth and warn all people that they either follow Christ and gain life or they reject Christ and go to death. We don’t have to be hateful about it. We don’t wish them to go there. We beg with them to recognize their eternal danger and turn from their wicked ways and follow Christ.
Finally, we talk about God’s plan of redemption for the whole world.
WE PROCLAIM THE COVENANT OF GOD
Finally, Peter points them to the Abrahamic Covenant. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, (Genesis 12:3) ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ That is, through the Christ, Jesus, all the nations of the earth are going to be blessed. That is one aspect of God’s covenant with Abraham. This is also part of the servant songs in Isaiah 49:6, It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light to the nations so that My salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. That’s probably what’s in his mind when Peter says, 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” God’s servant, Jesus, in His earthly ministry, only went to the Jews and proclaimed salvation to the Jews. Yes, there were some Gentiles thrown in there every once in a while, but 99% of His ministry was directed at the Jews. That the gospel is going to go forth to the Gentiles and that Gentiles are going to be fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel is still seven chapters away. And it’s going to be scandalous when Peter goes to the Gentiles, at the command of the Lord, and preaches to the Gentiles and a bunch of them get saved. At this moment in Acts 3, it seems to me that the disciples were expecting the gospel to buzz through the Jewish nation and then into the Jewish dispersion scattered around the world. They expected the Jews to be saved and for Christ to return rather quickly and set up His Kingdom, just as they had expected in Acts 1:6.
Brethren, we too preach the soon return of Christ Jesus. He is coming at a time when no one expects. All of history is flowing toward that event. It is coming, whether you believe it or not. And God raised up His servant and has sent Him to the Jew first and also for the Gentiles, to bless us and turn every one of us from our wickedness. That’s our call to action: Repent of your sins and turn to Christ Jesus in faith and be saved. We must seize every opportunity to preach it. Who knows how long we have left to do so.
IN CONCLUSION, the apostles Peter and John, in the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, miraculously healed a lame man at one of the gates of the Temple. Peter took the opportunity to explain to all the people gathered there that it was the risen Christ, Jesus, who had in fact healed this man. He urged the crowd to believe and obey the SERVANT of God, the WORD of God, the PROPHET of God, and the COVENANT of God.
Our message takes much the same shape as Peter’s. In our context, we are almost always preaching to Gentiles. So the packaging of the material will change. We use less Jewish language. We talk about less Jewish history. But we still aim to convince everyone who will listen that Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins and was raised on the third day and ascended to heaven and is coming again in fiery judgment. We still aim to convince everyone to believe in Him and obey Him.
Peter is an excellent example of being ready to give an account for the hope that is in us, with gentleness and reverence. He wrote this as a command for God’s people. For us. 1 Peter 3:15 - Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. Then he added - and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
The next chapter will recount for us how Peter and John were reviled and slandered for this incident in the Temple. But the persecution only led to more opportunities to testify to the risen Lord.
O that we also would seize every opportunity afforded to us to make Christ known.
O God, give us an URGENCY for the lost!
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