Call to Commitment

 Chapter 3:1-10

  

The Healing of a Lame Man

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.

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. 

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? 

 God had commanded His people, through Moses, before their entrance into the Promised Land, that He would choose a place, where they would worship. Once this place was shown to them, they could only worship there: “Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and, there you shall do all that I command you.” (It would be good to read the entire portion in Deuteronomy 12:5-14 to see the strict rule concerning worship at that place.)

The Psalmist composed this poem: “Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the LORD will dwell in it forever” (Ps.68:16). There are other verses of Scripture to confirm His choice. In the New Testament, the Samaritan woman knew this to be true: “You Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship" (Jn.4:20). You can see how the consciences of the disciples held them to the temple in Jerusalem. There they continued to go for prayer, as this chapter opens. I am pointing out that the godly background of the Jewish disciple, drew him back to Old Testament religion. This will not be the case in the Gentile church.

 However, it is the case in all Christianity that prayer become the central activity: "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS'? '" (Mk. 11:17). The early church depended on the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to carry out heaven’s supernatural business. They were not dependent on the ability and wisdom of men (v. 1). Being convinced of this necessity, they resorted continually to prayer. I think the song, by Bill and Gloria Gaither, which follows, presents the need that the disciples had and that we also have in the XXI Century: 

Come, Holy Spirit

 Come, Holy Spirit, I need You,

Come sweet Spirit, I pray;

Come in Your strength and Your power,

Come in Your own special way.

 

Come as the wisdom for children,

Come as new sight to the blind;

Come as the strength to my weakness,

Fill me soul, body and mind.

 

Come as a rest to the weary,

Come as a balm to the soul;

Come as the dew to my dryness,

Fill me with joy evermore.

 

Come like a spring in the desert,

Come to the withering soul;

Lord, let Your sweet healing power,

Touch me and make me whole.

 See the results of this principle in the next portion of chapter 3. Friends or family had brought this cripple from birth to the temple, where people are most likely to feel a religious obligation to help the needy. There he lay, day after day, collecting alms (v. 2). God has a better way to carry out His will in people’s lives. The man already turned his attention toward Peter and John, but with this imperfect motive, that lay within the realm of human kindness and possibility. His confidence had always been in the benevolence of man (v. 3). 

The paralytic was already looking at Peter and John for monetary aid, “seeing Peter and John… asked for alms”. Peter calls this man to look at them differently, for a better result, something he had never, in his best moments, ever thought could be possible (v.4). When he was laid that day and up until three o’clock that afternoon, he did not have a clue, what was in store for him, but this way… God’s way… was powerful and would change him for the rest of his life (v. 5).  

 Back in the time of the Gospels, Jesus already taught His disciples to do the impossible, when He commanded them to feed the thousands, who came to Him in a desert place: “You give them to eat” (Mt.14:16; Mc.6:37; Lc.9:13), He said. They had five small loaves of bread and two fish. Peter learned the lesson well and a transition began to take place for the paralytic, when Peter confessed to him, his lack of temporal, monetary means: “Silver and gold I do not have.”

 The early church did not meet human need, primarily, through natural resources. This is Dr. Luke’s observation, as he followed the apostles’ activities through the book of Acts. I have already said that Luke never once recorded that he stepped in to help Jesus’ team with his medical knowledge.

 The disciples did not have the resources to feed the multitude, and Peter did not have the financial means to help this poor, disabled man.  He had had, along with other disciples, a physical part in handing the food to the 5,000 men, plus their families. “What I do have I give you” and what Peter had was the all-sufficient person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth living within him… divine life in the heart of a human being, to meet this man’s need.  Jesus said that this truth would bring the world to believe (Jn.17:23), and the next chapter, will tell of 5,000, who came to faith. The text is unclear, whether that was the total number of believers, greatly increased by the Pentecost manifestation and the result of this miracle. Perhaps, it was this miracle alone, which added 5,000 to the church.

 Notice again, the title used by the apostle… Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The Messiah, the Anointed One, came unexpectedly to Nazareth of Galilee and that fact formed one of the great stumbling blocks, which the Jew’s national faith could not overcome. From the despised territory of Galilee and from the insignificant town of Nazareth, His fame spread throughout Israel. The Jews earnestly waited for centuries, the One prophesied by Moses in the Pentateuch and by the prophets throughout the Old Testament. He was the Hope of Israel, the Prince of Peace, the mighty Conqueror. However, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (Jn. 1:11). Instead, they crucified Him.

 That did not alter the unchangeable truth that Jesus of Nazareth was heaven’s answer to every earthly need. When the lame man looked at Peter and John, he was gazing on men, indwelt by Jesus of Nazareth. They did not represent themselves, or any kind of religious movement, but they came to represent one Person and to declare His name. Remember another Bible principle, that taught that a name defined the character of the person, who bore it. To come in the name of Jesus, was to present His attributes and all that He is. His is a powerful and merciful name, above every name that has ever been named on this earth. Therefore, in full faith in His name, Peter commanded, “Rise up and walk!” (v. 6).

 Every earthly and heavenly being must bow in submission to that name. Peter, challenged human unbelief, by initiating and aiding faith, taking the cripple by the hand, and lifting him. The impossible gave way to omnipotence and, at that moment, spiritual power was released from heaven, strengthening the incapacitated, physical bones and muscle. That man, who was crippled before he was born, still in his mother’s womb, was instantaneously healed! (v. 7). It is no wonder that Dr. Luke put his medical knowledge aside, witnessing as he did, the power of Jesus of Nazareth. Peter and John left their boats forever to become fishers of men. We will soon learn that Saul of Tarsis abandoned his religion and profession, responding to a Light, brighter than the noonday sun.

 What kind of reaction did that act of love and power demand from this poor lame man? In verse 8 the cripple, crouching in an effort to stand, suddenly leaped and stood upright. Something else happened inside that man. He had been accustomed to wait at the temple gate to fulfill his temporal needs. Now, he becomes a worshiper, accompanying the apostles into the temple. He did not simply walk by their side, but he went “walking, leaping, and praising God!” Perhaps, Peter and John did, as well, but the Scripture does not reveal their response to the miracle.

The Mouk people rejoice in salvation

 The miracle was not only physical, but brought salvation to the man’s soul. I cannot think that anyone could criticize his actions at that moment. I also cannot imagine that anyone reading this account would blame him for excessive emotionalism. No, his reaction is totally justified by the life-changing work that had been done for him, and by the greater work that was created in his inner man. If the reality of receiving eternal life becomes real to the soul, it seems to me that any lesser reaction should be unacceptable. Perhaps you have seen the video of an entire native town among the Mouk tribe, leaping and forming teams that threw one after another into the air, in their joy of hearing of eternal salvation. What I cannot imagine is how a preacher can be emotionally unmoved as he declares the gospel, dispassionately. Is the message real to him or have his emotions been dulled by an intellectual theology that has not reached his heart? (v. 8).

 This man was an immediate testimony of the power of Jesus of Nazareth to the people around him (v.9). The glory of the gospel came into the center of the city of Jerusalem and was seen before their eyes. They had noticed this 40-year-old man in his impotence and some, since childhood, knew him from the first day he came to beg at the temple. Now, they witnessed the ecstatic joy that their rejected Messiah could bring to a dejected, hopeless human being. The manifestation of the true gospel, then, now and forever, brings wonder and amazement, like nothing else in this world (v.10).

 I think it legitimate to remark that, when the lame man “held on to Peter and John,” he was holding on to the Christ within them. In the same way, the women held on to Jesus’ feet after His resurrection (Mt. 28:9). He had heard Peter say, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,” and he believed.

 Not so, the crowd that observed the crippled man, who was healed (v. 11). They only see the two men, whom the Lord was working through. Peter had to correct their mistaken focus, as the disciples, and later Paul, always did. They looked intently at two simple human beings and marveled, because they did not recognize the marvelous, divine life of the risen Christ within them. The people needed the instruction of truth from John 17:13: “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” It was neither by the ability nor the holiness of the vessels, whom God employed in His service. Jesus Christ alone is worthy of the glory for the healing, as Peter will now inform (v. 12).

 

Acts 3:13-26

 Peter’s second sermon

 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. 

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. 

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. 

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."  

It was the God from Israel’s history, the God of the patriarchs, who was moving again among His people. They could not escape the truth that Jesus of Nazareth, Whom they crucified, was the Messiah. Peter blamed them above Pilate, the Roman governor, whom they hated. The individual Jew must see his guilt, before he could be saved (v. 13).

 In verses 14 and 15, He continues to press them for the magnitude of their sin: “You denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the Prince of life.” Can you see and understand the heavy accusation Peter was hurling at them? It is an intentional effort to bring the sinners to feel the hopeless situation, in which they exist. Nothing less is needed for the sinner today, under the preaching of the gospel. The Spirit of God has come to “convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (Jn.16:8). Much of the evangelism in this century is not biblical. Again, Peter claims that he and the other disciples have witnessed Christ’s resurrection.

 Jesus the Healer, that is His name (Ex.15:26), and through faith in Him, this undeniable healing was performed. The people knew the cripple that this man was and they witnessed what has happened to him. This is the pure and perfect healing, that God wills to do, as manifested in the book of Acts. This is the testimony that the church should be reaching for today. The faith that Peter is preaching is “the faith that comes through Him” (v. 16). It is not a faith that is inherently natural in human beings, it is a faith that “comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Ro.10:17).

 In verse 17, Peter sees the need, now, to lighten the burden of guilt upon the people, so that Satan will not take advantage of it, and bring them to “be swallowed up with too much sorrow… lest Satan should take advantage of us” (2 Co. 2:6-11).  It is time now to comfort, and He points to ignorant action which, although it does not excuse them, lightens the punishment. Jesus taught that ignorant sin was less than intentional sin: “He who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few” (Lk. 12:48).

 As in his first sermon, Peter shows them that the will of God was accomplished through their hateful deed. God informed them by the prophets, throughout the Old Testament, of His plan. Again, I am reminded of Joseph, relieving his brothers of their guilt in kidnapping and selling him into slavery, by showing them the salvation that God brought, working through their hideous crime (v. 18).  

 The remedy is the same as in the second chapter… repentance, which will be followed by conversion. God is involved in repentance, as surely as He is in conversion and forgiveness of sins. Only He can turn the sinner from his selfish ways to Himself. Man naturally runs from God and cannot do otherwise, unless the Lord sovereignly intervenes. The transformation from the heart, that is, conversion, is a miracle. Through the cross, forgiveness of sins has been provided, but man’s responsibility is to yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in his inner being. Peter states it clearly… “You repent and you be converted.”

 I want to point to the encouraging words in the last phrase of verse 19, for God’s people, who are not satisfied with the status quo in the church, but are yearning for revival. I am speaking of Peter’s expression, “times of refreshing.” He writes about the same thing, using different words, in his letter: “They may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 P. 2:12). We look for a heavenly downpour, expressed in a hymn by D. W. Whittle in 1883: 

There shall be showers of blessing, precious reviving again,

Over the hills and the valleys, sound of abundance of rain;

 

There shall be showers of blessing, send them upon us, O Lord,

Grant to us now a refreshing, come and now honor Thy word;

 

Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need,

Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.

 Waiting for times of refreshing or a day of visitation is totally consistent with waiting for the coming of Christ. James puts the two together in the last part of his epistle: “Be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain” (Jm. 5:7). The farmer waits for an abundant harvest, but he must first see a latter rain to prepare the harvest, according to Middle Eastern climate and agriculture (v. 20).

 Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father in heaven, where He intercedes for us, and I am so thankful for His intercession at this very moment. He returns to earth the second time to reign. He will reign in righteousness and His reign will also bring joy and peace to earth, as has not been seen since the time of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. The prophets pre-told the entire story from His incarnation to His millennial reign (v. 21).

Moses pitched a tent outside the camp

 Peter quotes Moses, the great hero of the Jews, who was an intimate friend of Christ. He knew Him through heavenly revelation, as a supreme Prophet, who cannot be ignored, as former prophets were ignored (v. 22). We all know, I presume, that the Scriptures teach that Moses talked to God, as a man talks to a friend (Ex. 33:11). Before the official tabernacle was built, Moses pitched a tent outside the camp, where he communed with God. Anyone in the congregation was able to go there and Joshua stayed there permanently (Ex. 33:7-11). The writer of Hebrews points to his personal knowledge of Jesus Christ: He esteemed “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Heb. 11:26). He prophesied that the consequences, for not hearing this One, will be utter destruction, signifying the worst destruction that ever could be. It means eternal damnation (v. 23).

 Here in verse 24, Peter again speaks similar comments that he will make in his epistle: “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you… To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering” (1 P. 1:10, 12). The voice of the prophets continued to speak, far beyond the First Century, reaching into the 21^st Century (v. 24).

 As in chapter two, Peter does not stop at an accusation of his listeners’ deserved guilt, but now happily opens the door to their salvation. God’s covenant applies to their generation and in His quote of His covenant with Abraham, He included us: “All the families of the earth shall be blessed” (v. 25). Paul declared, by this same promise, that Abraham is the father of us all, Jew and Gentile (Ro. 4:16).

 Jesus humbled Himself to the level of servanthood and by it, He blesses us. How does He bless us? “In turning away every one of you from your iniquities." Peter surely remembers how Jesus removed His outer garment and picked up a towel to wash His disciples’ feet. He also remembered his reaction, that he would never allow the Lord to wash his feet. Jesus then taught him that, what He did on that occasion, was symbolic of what he is now preaching to the multitude. The principal blessing, in the Lord’s service to us, was to wash us from our iniquities.

 The Apostle Paul cements this doctrine into God’s holy creed in Philippians 2:5-11, particularly verse 7: “(He) made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant.” In that position, Paul taught, He humbled Himself further and went to the cross, washing us from our iniquities, transforming our character, and turning us away from our sins (v. 26).