Missions Paul

Acts 3:18

“But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.”

I read yesterday that there are 354 prophecies regarding Jesus birth, life, death and resurrection. That’s an incredible amount. Though of course people like the Jews didn’t interpret these prophecies the way God told them. They were ignorant, v17.
For example, the suffering Servant in Isaiah was not the Messiah, it was their nation Israel.
What people don’t understand about Christmas is that it is celebrating what was foretold. This is the most powerful word of Christmas for me.
Foretold.
It helps me realise that God was, is and will be in charge of my life as He was for Jesus.
No surprise (His birth) and no suffering (His death) will ever be unknown by God.
In your preparation during this advent make sure you pause on the many scenes of the Christmas story and speak the word ‘foretold’ thanking God that who you are and where you are has always been known by Him.

Acts 3:17

“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.”

In the Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens highlights the 2 extremes still found today in our society, the want of the poor and the ignorance of the wealthy. If you have never read it I encourage you to do so this Christmas time.

Ignorance is found in every class not just the wealthy.
Ignorance cause people to believe things that are not true, like the earth is flat!
There are many humorous examples of people’s ignorance. But ignorance also causes pain, division and prejudice. Ignorance causes war. The world is in a mess in many places because of ignorance.
Ignorance is passed down the generations.
Ignorance can be taught from temples, mosques, synagogues and churches.
Last night I saw my neighbour put her Christmas tree up.
Ignorance takes God’s gift and hangs him on a different tree. A tree of wood that was the act of salvation for everyone.
This month many will be ignorant.
It’s up to us to enlighten them.

Acts 3:16

“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.”

And now to the crux of the matter. This is how the crippled man who they knew very well for they had seen him daily begging at the temple gate became healed.
Faith in the name of Jesus.
This commences what would become central to the church’s message. Nothing happened without faith in the name of Jesus.

The Church needed to be able to answer the following questions:
Who is Jesus?
Is Jesus alive and present before this problem?
Is there faith from the one speaking the name of Jesus and the one receiving from Jesus?
The Church still needs to answer those questions as it preaches the gospel to a lost world.

In our sophistication and experiences. In our disappointments and tiredness, perhaps today we need to bring our problems to Jesus. The problems at work, at home, in your body or your finances. Answer these 3 questions today and perhaps you will see this first reported miracle in ‘Acts’ happen again today!!

Acts 3:15

“You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.”

This reference to the Old Testament God, ‘Author of life’ is given to Jesus. He is the Christ. The coming Messiah. More than this He is the one you killed. You killed who you worship and who you ancestors followed. The can be nothing more damning than this.
But!
God raised him!
The fact is you cannot kill off the author of life!
The wonderful thing is that He is the author of our lives too and although through many mistakes and the circumstances of life our enemy has sought to kill off our story, he cannot kill the author! The author is still writing your story through the highs and lows of your life.
We are witnesses of this!

Acts 3:14

“You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.”

Jesus is the Holy and Righteous One, not me.
To realise this is like a heavy weight lifting off the shoulders.

The Jews brought the charge against Jesus, but the Roman law said he was innocent.
Jesus in my today would still be found innocent of any wrongdoing, in work, leisure, home, unlike me.

The Jews accused him of blasphemy and offence against God but the only people offended were the Jew not God.
Jesus in my today would still have no fences between Him and God, unlike me.

Jesus was just. He kept the religious law, he fulfilled it. The commandments and the teachings of Moses, Jesus kept.
Jesus in my today would keep every commandment in deed and heart and mind, unlike me.

The “unlike me” is written because it is true and I see it in Peter’s response.
I am not seeing an angry Peter but someone who is quiet but serious in tone. How do I see that?
Peter repeats the same word that he said in verse 13. “Disown”.
That’s his word, that’s his story, that’s his failure too. He was not accusing them angrily and trying badly to hide his own failings. He was and will always be known as the denier. Peter is saying “unlike me”.

Holiness and righteousness is a gift given to us by Jesus, but we don’t own it, we have not achieved it, we have not accredited it by some good behaviour.
When it comes to the passing of judgment on another person we are often loud. Like the crowd before Barabbas, “Release him!” And before Jesus, “Away with him!” In our quickness and loudness we are often wrong.

Jesus is Holy, unlike me.
Jesus is Righteous, unlike me.
All I need to do is own Jesus, belong to Him. I don’t hold the badge of who He is, I hold the badge of belonging to who He is.
He is unlike me and that is what gives me freedom.

Acts 3:13

“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.”

Peter doesn’t want them to think they belong to any God but the one and only true God. That’s why he uses this title known throughout Scripture. It is this God who glorified Jesus.
The glorification is the resurrection and the ascension.
The glorification came because you handed him over and you disowned him even though there was an opportunity for freedom.
And the point is ….
Whatever man throws God uses.
When man does their worst at you, God will do the best.
You may be in the hands of evil men. You may be in the control of a manipulating person. Or perhaps your very own no longer want you. The feelings are nothing but torturous. But these feelings will not last. For God will not leave His servants to rot.
He will not leave you hanging in your suffering.
He will raise you. He will glorify His children.
That’s what a true Father does and He will do it for you!

Acts 3:12

“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?”

The red carpet. Oh how so many love to roll it out.
Oh how so many more love to walk on it!
Healing hands.
Financial influencers.
Inspirational communicators.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are so privileged tonight to have with us 2 men who have been used mightily by God in the complete healing of the well known temple gate crippled beggar. Put your hands together … Peter and John!”

Can God trust you with success?

Acts 3:11

“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.”

Solomon’s Colonnade, a grandiose place with high pillars making an inner walkway within the temple courts. Beautiful in architecture, many historians would speak of its majesty in their writings.

On this day a crowd ran to see the miracle for themselves. The atmosphere was electric. They had seen nothing like this before in their lifetime nor in this place.

But this is not the first time we have seen activity reported in the Colonnade.
In John 10 Jesus is walking in this same place and is being hounded about his identity. In fact we see a scene which can only be described as warfare. Demands that he reveal who he was led the Jews to pick up stones twice within the same occasion, but using Scripture he embarrassed the stone-throwers into foregoing their judgment. But they were undeterred and again tried to seize him but he somehow escaped their grasp.

The point I want to make is this: today’s attacks can herald tomorrows miracles!
Separated by several years, the Colonnade has a story to tell. It is the battle for your identity. The war against all that you are and have and done may be severe. You may not even know if you will survive. This may be the dark night of your soul. However, fight with all your might. Hold on. Don’t give up in anyway. You may only get through this like an escape. There may be no victory in the today. But your tomorrow will come. The story is not over. The miracles are ahead of you if you can resist the attacks today!

Acts 3:10

…. they recognised 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.

What did you use to do?
This man used to beg at the temple gate called Beautiful.
He begged every day.
What did you use to do?
He was trapped in a lifestyle of relying on man.
He had no capacity to change.
How would you describe how your life was?
It never entered his mind that life would be different.
This was it, for the rest of his life.
He would die a beggar.
He lived for today.
There was no dream.
How was it for you?
Your story is being told.
By others, amazed by what has happened to you.
Your story is never about only you.
It is always about others.
God touched you and changed you that He may reach others.
Let God continue to have your story and use it powerfully.
There are people who need filling with something divine.
With wonder and amazement at what has happened to you.
Just think … Today could be simply a new chapter of that story.
May it be so.

Acts 3:9

When all the people saw him walking and praising God,

This man was used to drawing attention to himself. Every day he would call to the worshippers walking past him for money. He was well known. Whatever his name was and that wasn’t important to them, he was the beggar at the gate Beautiful.
These same people were surely now seeing his twin?!
How was it possible that this same man was now walking and praising God?
But he was and more importantly they saw him.
When people see something it is hard to disprove it.
“We stepped over him in the temple courts, then he joined us of his own accord!”
“He couldn’t stand now he is walking!”
May people testify more and more of what they see!!