Sermon Dan
Neary
The Outbreak of Persecution
One
day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three
in the afternoon.
And so we pick-up the story of
Acts in 3:1.
This will be another of those days
when we walk right through the passage… so if you don’t have a Bible open to
Acts 3, take one of the pew Bibles and turn to page ______
In this our 4th Sermon
in our 19-part series in Acts, we see Peter, distinguishing himself as the
leader of the Apostles, going about the business of worship. Remember the
context set in chapter 2:
· The promised Holy Spirit burst on the scene in
sound (wind), sight (fire), and sign
(languages/tongues)
· Thousands
were added to the number of believers
· The
Church enjoyed relationship with
o Each
other (fellowship)
o The
Apostles (teaching)
o God
(worship)
o The
World (evangelism)
Peter and John are in a good place…
on top of the world, I suppose. But as this title implies, they are about to
face difficulty.
This
title, Outbreak of Persecution, is lifted directly from the outline
found in Stott’s commentary.
This book will be our companion
throughout the series… so if you are so inclined, pick up a copy.
We have already heard, from
today’s reading, that this title is accurate… as it points to the onset of
persecution that the Church will endure. But, I prefer a different title.
You may remember that I ended the
sermon two Sundays ago with a plea for courage.
I urged us to put ourselves in the place of the 1st Believers and Move
in and anticipate the unknown
Courage is not no-fear; courage is action
in spite of fear.
Persecution does come to the
Church… but our emphasis, I believe, shouldn’t be on the consequence… it should
be on the courage.
We’ll get back to this idea… so
on with the story.
This
passage, actually, follows an outline nearly identical to the outline of the
preceding chapter. In chapter 2:
·
The
Miracle was in the sound, sight and sign – the speaking in
tongues, in languages understood by the pilgrims from throughout the
·
The
Sermon came from Peter… proclaiming Jesus, and calling
those in his hearing to repent and believe.
·
The
Result was that thousands believed
·
The
Church’s Response was as I noted before… the
Christian community, the Body of Christ, took form
So
too… we begin with a miracle in this passage.
2 Now a man crippled
from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where
he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3
When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.
Ordinary
Circumstances:
There is nothing particularly
strange about the story so far. This was the custom; worshippers would commonly
give alms in the context of the temple, much like we do. There was nothing
special about Peter and John in the sight of the beggar; he saw them so he
asked them for money just as he would ask anyone else.
4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Extraordinary
Attention:
First off… any connection with a
beggar is odd. We know this; whenever you encounter a beggar, take a moment to
watch how most people react… they typically go out of their way to look away.
Secondly… this is Peter we’re talking about, the formerly cowardly, now transformed Peter not only looking at the beggar, he is calling the beggar, and all those around, to look at him
6 Then
Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking
him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and
ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and
began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and
jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw
him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him
as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful,
and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Two
Hands & Two Feats:
The two hands in this story are
significant.
1.
The hand of Jesus. Remember…
Jesus left the earth in body… but he certainly didn’t leave the earth in Spirit
or action. This miracle is at the hand of Jesus.
2.
The hand of Peter. This is a
marvelous depiction of the Church. Jesus did the miracle, but the human-agent
(in this case, Peter) is given the privilege to participate in the miracle.
The two feats are plain.
1.
This beggar, as the Scripture
says “crippled from birth,” not only was healed… but was able to walk, and
leap. These weren’t the wobbly steps of a toddler… these were the strong steps
of grown man.
2.
God was praised! The miracle
brought exuberant praise from the lips of the former beggar… and the miracle
cause wonder and amazement among the people in the crowded temple.
11
While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were
astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. 12
When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Men of Israel, why does this
surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had
made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.
Magnification
of Jesus:
Peter, now in the middle of a
commotion, takes this opportunity to preach… and he begins by taking the eyes
of the crowd off the former beggar standing on his formerly useless legs, and
he takes the eyes off of himself and his companion John, and he turns their
eyes to Jesus.
You handed him over to be killed,
and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14
You disowned the Holy and
Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15
You killed the author of life,
but God raised him from the dead. We
are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of
Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and
the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him,
as you can all see.
Description
of Jesus:
With their eyes now on Jesus,
Peter describes Him as:
·
The Holy and Righteous One
·
Author of Life
·
The Resurrected One
·
The Miracle Work… who brings complete
healing
17 “Now,
brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18
But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the
prophets, saying that his Christa would suffer. 19
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that
times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and
that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
Gift
of Jesus & Response of the Believer:
It is as if Peter was saying
“look, Jesus has your attention… and I’ve told you who He
is and He is now invading your understanding… now Jesus wants your heart.”
Verse 17 casts an interesting
light on this scene. Remember, the preacher here is the one who formerly denied
his friend Jesus. Peter lays it out plainly that those in his hearing had a
part in the death of Jesus. But he is letting them off the hook some… in some
ways along the lines of the intentional sins and unintentional sins depicted in
the Law. Regardless if they could help it or not… Jesus is the Christ.
Jesus is the gift “foretold through all the prophets.” And the right response
in receiving this gift is repentance… turning from sin and turning to God.
This rich gift is promised to
the believer… this rich gift that includes forgiveness (sins that are wiped
out) and refreshing.
21 He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’b
24 “Indeed,
all the prophets from Samuel on, as
many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25 And
you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers.
He said to Abraham, ‘Through your
offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’c 26
When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by
turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
Witnesses
of Jesus:
This is the pattern of the
Gospel as shared by the Apostles:
·
Take our word for it
·
Take the Scripture’s word for it
4 The
priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter
and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They
were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and
proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They
seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until
the next day.
Preachers
Constrained:
These three groups represented a
broad picture of authority.
·
The priests were clearly
religious authority
·
The captain of the temple guard
were a civil authority
·
The Sadducees were a sect of
Judaism… but were often aligned with economic authority, as well as their
allegiance to
Peter & John were viewed as
a threat to them all… and so they were jailed.
4 But
many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five
thousand.
Gospel
Released:
The authorities had power to
constrain the preachers… but they could not constrain the message. The power of
the Holy Spirit, coupled with courageous preaching and the Scripture, resulted
in many believing… and the Church grew again… by thousands.
5 The
next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in
Threats
Raised:
What do you suppose was going
through the minds of Peter and John?
Remember… this is the same
Sanhedrin that brought charges against Jesus. This is the same Sanhedrin that
paved the way to the cross. This time Peter and John stand there, apparently
with the man who was miraculously healed the day before; Jesus, of course,
stood before the Sanhedrin alone while His soon-to-be-Apostles coward in the
wings.
What is going through the minds
of Peter and John? I can’t say for sure… but I would imagine they assumed they
were going to meet the same fate as Jesus. But rather than falling to pieces…
Peter responded in newly found power.
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 He is
“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.a’b
12 Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men
by which we must be saved.”
Give
’em Jesus:
Notice how this passage starts…
“Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Apparently, Peter leaks. He
needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit, again?
YES! Again. Over and over again.
Why would anyone settle for once
or twice?
There are those who seem to get
all fired-up defending the measure of the Holy Spirit they received when they
first believed. There are others who can remember other moments, sometimes long
in their past, when they were overwhelmed by the Spirit. They may point to a
day when they were baptized in the Spirit with some amount of satisfaction. But
shouldn’t we seek to be like Peter, being filled over and over again by the
Spirit?
I found in a Greek dictionary
that the word for filled here has the connotations of being swollen… filled to
the point of bursting. I like this picture of being swollen… if you punch me in
the head, it will swell. Peter is being punched and he is swelling… swelling
with the Holy Spirit.
Now, in the presence of those
who have demonstrated their ability to crucify, especially over this whole
notion of Jesus… Peter lets ‘em have it. Peter gave them Jesus.
When Peter was speaking to the
crowds, he was speaking categorically about “you all who participated in the
death of Jesus.” Now before the Sanhedrin, he is saying YOU, you and you and
you and you, you killed Jesus and it is in His name that this man stands before
you miraculously healed.
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized
that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took
note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But
since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them,
there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered
them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16
“What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living
in
18 Then
they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in
the name of Jesus.
Sanhedrin
Scramble:
These who acted so boldly, were
now astonished and perplexed.
·
These former cowards were now
courageous
·
These simple fishermen were now
eloquent leaders
·
This former cripple walks, and
leaps, and praises God
·
This crowd who formerly turned
on Jesus with little prodding, now is turning to Jesus in faith
They didn’t know what to do… so
they called Peter and John in and told them to cut-it-out.
19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After
further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them,
because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22
For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Preachers
Stand Firm:
What guts! Rather than just
walking out and thanking God for deliverance, Peter and John said “fine, we’ll
go… but don’t you dare think that this is going to stop us.”
23
On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and
reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.
“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea,
and everything in them.
Declaring
God’s Power:
“Sovereign Lord” they said.
You are our King and we are your slaves.
Did they need to remind God that
he is the King and Creator… of course not.
Whey we go to prayer, we should
be mindful that the one to whom we pray is able to answer.
25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth take their stand
and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.a’b
27 Indeed
Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the peoplec
of
Rehearsing
God’s Control:
God is not only able to answer…
He does. God acts in our circumstances. God is in control.
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After
they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. [1]
Claiming
God’s Provision:
The Church prayed “now, Lord,
consider their threats.”
This is how I might end that
prayer, in the natural…
consider their threats and kill ‘em all!
·
Lightning bolts, no
·
Plagues, no
·
Terrible, scary angels with
clubs that will drag these evil-doers to the edge of the city for crucifixion
But that, of course, is not how
they prayed. Essentially, they prayed along the lines of Two Hands & Two
Feats… that God would
·
Enable the hands of His servants
·
Stretch out Hand to perform
miraculous signs, that
·
Many would be completely healed,
and
·
God would be glorified through
faith in Jesus
God heard that prayer… and
immediately answered. The place was shaken, they were filled, again, with the
Holy Spirit, and the word was preached boldly.
Fast forward out of Acts 3 &
4 to our circumstances today in Acts 478,243… and ask ourselves so what.
Today, I would like to call us
along the same lines that I called you at the end of chapter one… specifically,
I want to call us to courage.
Not
just courage alone, but the consequences (or costs) associated with
courageously going where God calls. Can we ask ourselves the question:
“Are we willing to endure the
consequences?”
Now, it is unlikely that any of
us will be jailed, today in the
A few weeks ago I asked if we
would courageously accept what God calls us to… and would we courageously
accept the gifts he has for us to accomplish His will.
The Apostles courageously faced
the charge to preach the Gospel to the whole world… and they courageously faced
the gift that came at Pentecost.
That
specific gift has a pattern that might be helpful to us this morning.
I’m
going to suggest that we can think in terms of courage and consequence along
these same lines.
When we think of Power, we have
to acknowledge the Sovereign Lord. Not merely Sovereign of creation, but Lord
over our lives. The courage to acknowledge Him as Sovereign Lord has a consequence,
real costs. Acknowledging his Power may cause us embarrassment… it might cost
us some momentary pleasure.
Acknowledging His power starts
with repentance and belief and faith.
It will likely vanquish our
pride when we are forced to acknowledge that we are powerless without Him. But
the same Holy Spirit that was manifest in the sound of a mighty rushing wind is
there to enable us to both bear, and enjoy, the consequences.
When we think of Purity, we
understand specifically that we are called to holy living… not holiness that
merits anything from God (His gifts of grace and mercy cannot be merited by us)
but holiness that is a fitting tribute to His righteousness. Courageously
pursuing holy living will bear costs/consequences. And, again, that same Holy
Spirit is there to enable us to accomplish and enjoy holy living.
When we think of Purpose, we
understand that we bear responsibility in this Christian life. We bear the
burdens of fellowship, and edification, and worship, and service, and evangelism.
And we know that comes at a cost. It costs our time, and energy, and money. But
if we will stretch out our hand in this work, again the same Holy Spirit will
accomplish the eternal work.
So
this morning, when faced with hardship, either current hardship or anticipated
hardship, will we demonstrate the courage that God calls from us? Will we
remember that He who calls us is faithful? Will we, like Peter and John, speak
to whatever stands to thwart us and say “we will obey God… no matter what the
cost!”
God, demonstrate your Power,
Purity, and Purpose through us your people.