Acts 3-4:1-4
Acts 3-4:1-4 Silver and Gold have I none, but what I do I have I give to you
Acts 3-4:1-4
Recap
Peter has just preached a very direct message at Pentecost
These devout Jews who had come to the Feast of Weeks were “cut to the heart” convicted
3000 of them were added to the church that day
I mentioned in Acts 2 how there was no better time or place for God to reveal Himself through the Holy Spirit then on this specific day
Devout Jews came from all over the world for the Feast of Weeks.
3000 of them get saved
Where do you think they go next? Home. Back to the nations they left with the gospel in hand. In countless other languages.
Thats the miracle!
Scripture
Acts 3:1-26 (NKJV) 1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth [hour.]
These is likely some time (a few days) between ch 2-3
Peter and John, 2 of the original apostles, are going to the temple at the hour of prayer
The hour of prayer followed the hour of sacrifice — they aren’t going to sacrifice
John Calvin writes that they likely saw this as a missionary opportunity
At Pentecost devout men had come and been convicted and were saved
Now we see devout men gathering for the daily sacrifice
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 (they were never wealthy, but their needs were met), but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
I want you to hear that — we don’t have any money, but we have Christ
Is this the message taught today? No, today the message is come to Jesus and you will have money
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.
This lame man sat outside the temple seeking daily provision amongst the people of God
But Jesus gave him no money
He gave him something far greater, Himself
Jesus spoke of this to the Samaritan woman at the well:
John 4:13-14 (NKJV) 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
We try and quench our thirst with the things of this world — but they leave us unsatisfied
But once you’ve tasted of the water He provides (His Holy Spirit) — you’ll never thirst for the things of this world again
This is what we see in the apostles (they had no money, and they didn’t seek it either)
Hellen Lemel wrote the hymn “turn your eyes upon Jesus” in 1922
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God.
His pursuits and interest changed
He still has no money!
He’s now 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.
Luke tells us in Acts 2:43 that the apostles did many wonders and signs after Pentecost
He chooses this one as an example
Just like at Pentecost, devout men were gathered and witnessed a miracle
The purpose of the miracle was to attest to the authenticity of Jesus and His apostles
Now once again devout men are gathered to sacrifice and pray and witness another miracle
And it has the same effect — drawing these men to Christ
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?
Just like at Pentecost Peter used the miracle to point them to Christ
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 [You] 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.
And just like at Pentecost Peter hits them with the truth
You delivered up the messiah to Pilate, to Rome whom they hated — he’s calling them traitors against their faith and against their people
You denied the Holy One
You killed the Prince of Life
Then He brings them back to the resurrection — but God raised Him from the dead and we are all witnesses
Peter tells them that the miracle you are witnessing has taken place by faith in His name
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,
Peter preached a non-seeker sensitive message at Pentecost in response to God drawing men through a miracle
And 3000 were added to the church
Now he repeats the same process
In ch2 at Pentecost they are cut to the heart and ask “what must we do to be saved”
And Peter responds “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins”
I mentioned that in my opinion he was telling them to be immersed in Jesus name, not necessarily the act of water baptism
Notice peters response here follows the same exact evangelistic method
He says, “repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out”
To remit sins is to take away sins — to blot out is to erase the record of sins
It’s the same response and the same result told differently
To be immersed (baptized) in Jesus name is to be fully immersed, fully surrendered to Christ
To be converted is to be changed from faith in their sacrificial system to faith in Christ
Not just faith in their fact that Christ died — they all knew that — they were present for it and even voted for it.
But faith that Jesus is the messiah — to be fully immersed in Him — converted from Judaism to Christianity
According to Hebrews what happens to them when they do this? It costs them everything
And their ok with it… because the things of this world have grown strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace
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,
Refreshing - to have that thirst quenched
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.
Jesus who was taught to you before — prophesied in the OT
Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father — until He sends Him to restore all things when He sets up His kingdom
The prophets foretold this would happen
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.
Moses spoke of this prophet — Jesus
All the prophets from Samuel onward foretold of His coming and His kingdom
And even Moses spoke about the exclusivity of Jesus — that those who won’t hear Him shall be utterly destroyed
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.’
Who is he talking to? Jews
Are they believers in Jesus? No, not yet
So he says the Jewish non-believers are the sons of the covenant
And that they are the ones that God said in Genesis 12 that, “through your seed (the seed of Abraham) all the nations would be blessed”
Peter associated that promise and the promises associated with it, with ethnic Israel — not a spiritual Israel
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.”
God sent the gospel to the Jews first to turn them away from their sin
Acts 4:1-4 (NKJV) 1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put [them] in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
So we see peters direct, “unloving” evangelistic approach
And once again it bears fruit
2000 more are added to the 3000 that were saved at Pentecost
Why was Peter’s approach fruitful? Because it is God who saves. It is God who draws, who convicts. We are not responsible to save anyone. We can’t. Our only responsibility is to carry the truth forth.
We preach the truth. Motivated by love. In faith, trusting that God will work in those whom He calls.
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