Pastor Arty Hart
Introduction: How many people remember their first job? What was it? Did anyone ever get "left in charge", when you weren't sure you should have? How did you feel?
Did anyone feel inadequate? How would you feel if Jesus left, and left you in charge? I think that the first disciples must have felt like the boss had left and left them in charge, only they didn't really know what they were doing.
A couple of weeks ago we read about Pentecost. At Pentecost the timid disciples came of age . Weeks earlier they had run away, they had denied Jesus, they had hidden.
At Pentecost they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to do some of the stuff Jesus said they would do. Pretty cool, huh? But how would you like to have been the first one to attempt a Jesus sized miracle?
Today we are going to look at the first miracle performed by one of the disciples following Pentecost. (We watched a video clip). You may recognize the lame man, carried to the temple every day to beg. His story is found in Acts 3.
The big guy with the beard is Simon Peter, you remember, the one who denied Jesus a few weeks earlier. The one you see looking on with disgust at the end is Paul, before he got knocked on his butt on the way to Damascus .
At Pentecost the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and Peter preached. Three thousand were saved that day. The young Church enjoyed rich fellowship, and listened carefully to apostles' teaching. God did miracles and the believers practiced radical sharing. Daily new people came to believe in Christ and join the Church.
This is what church is supposed to look like. Let's look a little more intently at this first recorded miracle, from Acts 3.
AC 3:1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer--at three in the afternoon. 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. 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.
AC 3:6 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." (They prayed short prayers back then!) 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. (As John Wimber used to say "That guy knew how to get healed!") 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.
Note that the disciples didn't all pack up and move to the uttermost parts as soon as Pentecost occurred. They went on with some sense of normalcy, awaiting further instructions from God.
When God anoints us, or gives us a vision, it doesn't mean it is time to be impulsive or irrational. God anoints us for a purpose, and He will show us what that purpose is, whether it is healing someone he puts in our path, or calling us to some great ministry.
Peter and John weren't out looking for someone to heal that morning. They were just going to pray, like they had many times before. The guy at the gate had been there many times before too. In fact, the Scripture ways he was daily, perhaps for years. Why is this important? Because, Jesus had likely walked past him without healing him. It just wasn't time yet. But today it was time.
We should be patient when it comes to miracles. Miracles aren't magic, (Boy, talk about someone who got in trouble when he got left in charge!) and God is not a vending machine. Don't let " nothing happening" deter you from praying for miracles.
(Arty shared a story of Brenda Mooney getting healed when Jackie and Bethany were sick at home.)
Peter didn't have what the guy wanted, but he did have what he needed. And Peter was not deterred by what he didn't have. He was empowered by what he did have .
Peter "saw" something when he looked at the man. This wasn't a formula prayer. Peter didn't pray this was all the time. He saw what God was doing and did it, just like Jesus had modeled for him. This is what we want to learn to do. This is why you should come to the Healing Seminar next month.
Don't be deterred by what you do not have.
You have what you need to do what God is giving you to do right now.
Be encouraged by what you have been given, and give it away.
What do you think Peter's response was when the guy was healed? Do you think he looked cocky and said, "I knew that was going to happen."? I think he probably went, "Whoa!" Like Neo in the Matrix when Morpheus jumps off a building.
The immediate result of this healing was gratitude on the part of the man who was healed and amazement on the part of those who witnessed it. But let's look a little bit further.
People ran up to Peter (they hadn't been doing that for long) and acted like Peter was something special. Maybe he could feed five thousand, heal their diseases, or set them free from Rome 's tyranny. Peter quickly let them know he was just a man, but his preaching is getting still bolder.
12 ".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. 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.
Peter continued to preach, recounting the purpose of Jesus' death, and how it had been foretold by the prophets. He calls them to repentance so that they can be changed in the Father's presence, and then the bad guys show up.
They were arrested and threatened, but a couple of thousand more people were saved. Religious spirits don't like it when their status quo is disturbed. They ignore truth and try to stop change. Yet Peter and John were undeterred. Peter spoke as strongly to them as he had to the crowd. He had received authority that was much larger than himself, and he used it.
They were released and gathered with the others for prayer (found in Acts 4:23 -31). Rather than being discouraged they prayed for boldness, and the place where the met was shaken and they were filled again with the Holy Spirit and their boldness increased.
Let's look at what we can learn and apply from this story:
• Jesus promised to empower His Church .
In Acts 1:8 Jesus said this would happen. We receive power when the Spirit comes upon us. But the power isn't for our own benefit. It is so that we can "do the stuff" Jesus did, for the reason Jesus did.
My greatest passion is "watching the lights come on" for people. It can be for salvation, for being filled with the Holy Spirit, for revelation about giving. I love to see people "get it" and respond to God.
I remember years ago being in a conference and getting a young guy, who had never prayed for anyone before, to lay hands on someone and pray for them. This was a big tough guy, but he didn't really want to pray because he wasn't sure anything was going to happen.
I took his hand and placed it on the other guy's chest and told him to say "Come Holy Spirit". When he did he felt a jolt as the power of God went through him into the other guy, and he looked at me and his eyes filled with tears, as he realized God had empowered him to minister to others.
Jesus promised to empower all of us to share with others, with words, with actions, with prayers. He is good for His promises.
• The purpose in the power is evangelism.
The Holy Spirit is given to believers for a lot of reasons. But in Acts Jesus told us why the power would be given. It wasn't merely to give us better worship services or to help us succeed in life (though He does both of these as well). The Holy Spirit was given to us in order to enable us to be witnesses. A witness is someone who tells what he knows to be true.
Virtually every miracle found in the book of Acts is accompanied by some proclamation of the Gospel.
God uses miracles to soften the hearts of people so that they will come to faith.
Clark Whitten is the Pastor of Calvary Assembly in Orlando . But he used to pastor a small Baptist church in Roswell New Mexico .
God told Clark that his church was going to lead the SBC in Baptisms one year. Clark doubted it, but believed God. He led the church in receiving the power of God for Evangelism. The learned to ask, "God, please give me someone to share with today." They asked for God to direct them to people He was preparing, and they were faithful to pray for people when given the opportunity. The church baptized nearly 1200 people that year.
• We are not limited by our limitations .
It isn't about our abilities, but our availability, and God's ability. Throughout the Scriptures we see men and women with serious limitations (speech, sin, age, poverty.) who wind up be greatly used by God. It is the way of God to choose us despite our limitations, or perhaps because of our limitations, and then do wonderful things through us.
D.L. Moody, when asked, said God chose him because He looked the world over and found no one less worthy.
In fact, when God does chose to use someone with great abilities, He first sends them to the school of "I ain't all that!"
• Expect opposition, but be willing to press through it.
Fruit is on the other side of the opposition. Peter and the others were opposed, but the more they were opposed the more they prayed, and the more they prayed the more mightily God used them. God is with us during opposition. Years ago there was a move to remove militaristic hymns from some church hymnals It seems it wasn't politically correct for a peaceful religion such as Christianity to use words of war in the songs.
But the word war appears 136 times in the NIV Bible. Battle appears 201 times. Fight appears 107. Enemy also appears 107. This book tells many stories of battles, literal and spiritual. But the backdrop to the whole Bible is a cosmic war that has been waging in the heavenlies for thousands of years.
When you chose to serve God you will face opposition. The New Testament is clear about this, and warns us to prepare for spiritual battle every day.
Tomorrow we celebrate Memorial Day, when we honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to this country. Throughout the years tens of thousands have sacrificed their lives defending the ideals we hold dear as a nation.
We don't think of the battle we fight as Christians in the same terms. To be sure, we don't carry guns, fly jets, or drop bombs. But the battle is real.
Satan (whom the Bible calls your enemy) will oppose you being obedient to God. He doesn't want you to share your faith. He doesn't want you to pray for the sick. He doesn't want you to experience the power Jesus promised. But that's okay, because Satan doesn't get what he wants, unless we let him.
Conclusion: Jesus promised power to make us witnesses. That means we don't have to be great, just available. How many here want to allow God to empower them, to use them, to advance His Kingdom through them?
Are you focusing on what you do not have, your failures or your limitations? God wants you to focus on what He has, and on what He has given us.
Moses started out with a stick. Samuel was taking a nap. David was just a kid. Jeremiah was probably even younger. John the Baptist didn't know how to dress. Peter was a foul mouthed fisherman. Paul was blinded before he learned to really see. What is your excuse?
Don't focus on what you lack. Admit it, and then proclaim what God has given you, His Word, His Spirit, His power, His mission.
Let's stand up. I want to pray for you.
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