Many who read the books of Acts are impacted reading about the many awesome miracles God did to expand His kingdom using His Apostles, faithful servants and His church as a whole. As we read the book of Acts, we should always ask ourselves this important question. What can I learn from what I am reading and how can I apply what I learn to my relationship with Christ?
Reviewing what we already have studied in the past two weeks, as we saw in the first half of chapter three there were some important points we learned that apply to many believers in Christ today. Such as, in spite of our daily routine and the importance of what we have planned to do, we need to put aside our plans, to listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice, and then obey in order to see God move in ways we could not even imagined. We see this with Peter and John in verses 1 to 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.
Another point we learned was from verses 4 to 6. 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. Peter and John could have easily just passed by the crippled beggar, ignoring him as they had done many times before every time they went to the temple to pray. But that day was different. The difference between that day and all the other days before then was that the Holy Spirit spoke to Peter and John and also their obedience to Him. What Peter said demonstrates to us the importance of us knowing Who we have and what we have in Him.
We had previously studied the importance of not just verbalizing with confidence our faith in Jesus but also the actions we take that demonstrate our faith in Christ that we verbalized. Acts 3:6-9, 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.
Continuing our study. Acts 3:9-12, 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.
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.
As we previously saw it is important to have the faith to speak and act on what it is God wants to do, as we read what Peter did with the crippled beggar. However, it is just as important to be discerning of the opportunities for further ministry that presents itself as a result of what God did. Peter recognized the opportunity to continue to minister because of the results of the miracle that God performed with the crippled beggar. The opportunity was that a crowd had gathered of which the number is not specifically stated but we can estimate it was approximately 2,000 people. Acts 4:4, “But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.”
Trusting God and acting in faith for a specific thing is important, but we must always realize to be ready or anticipate that God will continue to do more than we can think or expect as we to continue to trust Him, act and speak in faith in agreement to His will. Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”
In verses 3:11–26 we read of “Peter’s explanatory sermon”. Most of our Bibles will probably have a title similar to this, “Peter Speaks to the Onlookers”. These verses are a good example of Peter recognizing the opportunity that presented itself as a result of the crippled beggar’s healing. Again, as we stated previously, Peter and John could have said to themselves after God healed the crippled beggar, “Now let’s go do what we had originally come here to do”, which was to pray, but they did not. Some of us can be so task oriented we sometimes do not see the additional opportunities to be used by God to minister.
When we are obedient ministering in agreement in God’s will, it will get the enemy of our soul’s attention and even will be a threat to him. This is what exactly what happened with the result of Peter’s sermon as we saw in Acts 4:4 with the addition of about 2,000 more believers to the already 3,000 plus already existing. Paul explains this clearly in Ephesians 6:10-13, 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our battle is spiritual but the enemy uses “flesh and blood” against us which are the people and or religious or secular institutions. This is clearly seen with the integration of the Jewish leaders of Peter and John in verses 1 to 5 and 13 to 22.
We also must not forget that Jesus taught the disciples precisely this which is clearly seen in these portions of scripture. Luke 12:11-12, 11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
Some important points we need to take notice. Why was Peter’s sermon troubling to the Jewish authorities? Verse 2, They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. What was their reaction? Verse 3, They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. In addition, they were ignorant of some important facts. Verse 7, They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” The Jewish authority’s dilemma and possible solution are seen in verses 13-17. In this portion it is important to note what they saw in Peter and in John in verse 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.” How many of us are known and or noticed by those who do not know Jesus as were Peter and John?
Finally, we see Peter’s response to the Jewish authority’s threats in verses 18 to 23. What Peter and John specifically said in verses 19 and 20 should be every Christian’s conviction and personal goal to strive for. 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.” We might not be threatened as harshly as Peter and John were. However how important is it to us who we obey and what we testify about regarding how we have experienced Jesus in our lives?
Next week we will study how the church reacted to the threats of the Jewish authorities and what we can learn from their prayer and the results of that prayer.
Pastor John
