Moses, Samuel, David, Jeremiah, Joel... and JESUS

“A Refreshing Experience” – Part 4

(Acts 3:22-26, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 27, 2011)

22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’

24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.

25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’

26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Moses said... (22-23)

Moses was a man, and not a god. He was a man whom God called and used to do things that were far beyond his ability. Moses did not want to be God's premiere representative to Israel. He begged God to choose someone else. During his lifetime the people of Israel often stood against him. He said to the Lord at a moment of crisis, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Yet after his death, he was greatly revered. The books that he wrote were recognized to be the word of God as well as the books of Moses. In the final of his five books, Deuteronomy, as he was preparing to leave this earth, he told the people of Israel that the Lord God would raise up for them a prophet like him from among them. The people had a responsibility to listen to that prophet, and to do whatever he told them to do. Peter told the assembled crowd in Acts 3, that Jesus of Nazareth was that great prophet.

Moses had said about that prophet who would come one day, that every soul who did not listen to that prophet would be destroyed from the people. Peter reminded his listeners about this, because it was through faith in the Name of Jesus that a man who was lame from birth had been healed. Peter wanted to remind them that the Messiah would not only be a great healer as the prophet Isaiah had spoken, making the blind see and the lame leap for joy. He would also be the Prophet that Moses spoke to them about. It was time for them to listen to Jesus, or to face what Moses said would come upon those who would not listen to the coming prophet. It was not enough for the people to be happy about the miracle that day. They had to praise God about the miracle, but they should also start listening to Jesus Christ as a part of His church.

And all the prophets... (24)

It was not only Moses that had prepared Israel for the Messiah. The books associated with the name of Samuel contained a major revelation about the Christ. In 2 Samuel God spoke to David about a descendant that would reign forever. David wrote about this in the Psalms, and this expectation of a great eternal King was something that the prophets added more information to so that when the Christ came, He fulfilled all of the words of many Old Testament prophets.

These prophets not only wrote about the Messiah figure, but also about the kingdom that he would bring. The people needed to connect this healing and the amazing life of the church in Jerusalem with those words that were also accepted by the Jews as the word of God. The books of Moses were the word of God. The books of Samuel were the word of God. The psalms of David were the word of God. The writings of all the prophets were the word of God. God used all of these writers to prepare His people for Jesus, and for this new moment in the history of the world. The New Covenant that Jeremiah spoke of was here. The Holy Spirit that Joel wrote about had been poured out. The age of resurrection life had begun in Jesus Christ. According to Peter, to reject Jesus, a devout Jew had to reject a correct understanding of Moses, of Samuel, of David, and of all the prophets. That's too much to reject.

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant... (25)

In their day, each prophet faced the mistreatment of the people who were their contemporaries. The people rebelled against Moses, and they rebelled against men like Jeremiah and all the others. They were afraid of them, since they were all great men of God, but they wanted to get their hands on them all the same. God spoke to Samuel about this when the people of his day insisted on having a king like the nations. He said, they have not rejected you. They have rejected Me. The prophets were abused because people stand against the Lord and against His Messiah.

But generations later, Moses and the prophets were revered. To hear them was to hear God. To accept their message and to receive the Messiah that they were patiently revealing was to be a son of the prophets, rather than a son of those who persecuted and killed them. To accept Jesus was to accept God's great covenant with Abraham, the father of Ishmael and the father of Isaac.

That great covenant of promise was the beginning of the entire people of the Jews. But it was more than that. The word of God to Abraham, who lived long before Moses and the other prophets, spoke of a future blessing that was far more than a word for Jews. God said to Abraham, “In your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Jesus of Nazareth is that offspring. It is four thousand years since those words were first spoken. In our day they are proving to be very true. All the people groups of the earth are being claimed in Jesus Christ through the preaching of His Name. Through His cross and resurrection, hope is touching people all over the earth.

And that he may send the Christ... (26)

First, after God raised up Jesus, he sent Him to His few disciples. That was where Christianity started. Soon it was growing among many Jews through the message of the church. The Jews received this message before all the other people groups of the earth. But now we have come to hear it along with many other people all over the globe.

Whether Jew or Gentile, anyone who will receive this message, anyone who will not be offended by the provision of a Savior who satisfies divine justice and reconciles us to God through His own blood, will receive an excellent blessing. God will turn us from our wickedness. Truly the promise to Abraham is being fulfilled in our lives. In Jesus we are being greatly blessed.

If you like to see the lame leap for joy, then start paying more attention to the words of Jesus. If you have never really gotten into the Bible and you don't know where to start, pick one of the four gospels that start the New Testament. See who Jesus is. Hear what He says. Pay attention to what He does. Find out if you agree with the church throughout the centuries who have found Him to be the Man from heaven. Once you have found Jesus, stay close to Him. He will lead you into the rest of the Bible. Then, whether you go to Moses, or to Samuel or to David, or to one of the prophets, Jesus will show you how they prepared people for Him.

1. What did Moses say about a future prophet?

2. How did God reveal the coming New Testament era through the prophets?

3. How were those hearing Peter that day the “sons of the prophets?”

4. What is Peter referring to when he mentions that God sent Jesus to them first?

OT Passage: Genesis 12:1-3

Life! Now!

“A Refreshing Experience” – Part 3

(Acts 3:17-21, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 20, 2011)

17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

19 Repent therefore, and turn again,

that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

And now brothers... (17)

Those who are guilty as a result of the death of Jesus are not just Judas for handing Him over with a kiss, Peter for denying Him three times before morning came, the Jewish leaders for scheming against Him, the crowds for asking for Barabbas and resisting Pilate's attempts to free Him, or the Roman soldiers who pierced His hands and feet. We who have had our eyes opened to the offensive nature of our sins against God should be willing to confess that the blood of Jesus was on our hands. Yet we also believe that the blood of Jesus by which we have been marked as guilty is the same blood that declares us to be forgiven.

We are guilty, and so were those who saw a lame man leaping for joy in the temple so many years ago. Did we and they act in ignorance? Did the rulers of the Jews who took counsel together against Jesus of Nazareth act in ignorance? We resist answering “Yes” because we know how easily people use ignorance as an excuse to evade their guilt. When Peter points to the ignorance of those who heard his voice that day, it is not to excuse their sin, but only to explore it more carefully.

The people of Israel had Psalm 22 in their song books. When they were singing “They have pierced my hands and feet” they were still in ignorance. When they read the words of Isaiah about a coming Servant of the Lord, where he wrote, “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” they were ignorant of the meaning of those words. When they sang the end of Psalm 22 that talked about the resurrection glories of the One who cried out “Why have you forsaken Me?” they did not understand about the coming Messiah's resurrection from the dead.

But what God foretold... (18)

Now with the coming of these great events and the preaching of the good news of Jesus and His kingdom by the church, the time for ignorance was over. Now was the time to know the truth that sets men free. God had known the truth from before all time. God was not ignorant. Just as our ignorance of the ways of God does not excuse us from the guilt of His blood, God's perfect knowledge and His planning of these events does not make Him guilty of the death of His Son.

The death of the Son of God for our sake that shines forth through the words of the prophets was a divine decree that both the Father and the Son fully agreed to long before Jesus became Man. This is why Jesus came. What God planned and accomplished was in perfect fulfillment of His commitment to both righteousness and love. What men did against Jesus in their ignorance was in malice, stubbornness, and wickedness. That is why we sing, “Mine is the sin, but thine the righteousness. Mine is the guilt, but thine the cleansing blood.”

Repent... (19a)

God does not need to repent about the death of Jesus. He knew what He was doing and it was all holy and good. What we did in our ignorance and sin, that is a different story. We are the ones who need to repent. Our attitudes and actions, our thoughts and our words toward God, His Law, His grace, and His Messiah have been wrong. Our ignorance of the Word of God and our blindness toward His Son and the way of the Holy Spirit does not excuse us from the guilt of the death of the Lamb of God.

The people who were listening to Peter that day needed to repent. So do we. We need to turn again. We need to turn from sin, and turn toward God, His love, and His ways. If we will do this, there is a great lifting of our blind ignorance in the light of the glory of the Son of God. If we will repent, it is because of the amazing grace of God. John Newton's hymn of that title is not extreme. It is truth that must not be resisted: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”

That your sins may be blotted out... (19b-20a)

This unveiling of our stubborn ignorance, so that we see Jesus by the Spirit, and see our sins and repent; this is the way that our sins may be blotted out. This is the way that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

For a man who was lame to receive strength in his feet and ankles by the Name of Jesus Christ, to even be permitted to see such a heavenly gift was a refreshing experience. But we want more than just an isolated experience. We are looking for something for our families and our communities. We are looking for healing for our nation, and for the world. We are looking for times of refreshing.

When people give themselves over to blind sin, especially among those who call themselves Christians, that takes away the freshness of life, not only for those who sin, but for all who must breathe the air all around them. But when you repent, when you move toward the Lord in faith rather than away from Him in fear, the grace of God working through you makes the air sweeter for those around you, if they are willing to breathe the air of heaven. When one person knows the presence of the Lord and acts in obedience, that does something positive beyond that one life. Repentance brings not only individual forgiveness. It brings times of refreshing.

And that he may send the Christ... (20b-21)

But we are looking for something more permanent than any temporary improvement in this world. We are looking for God to send the Christ, the Messiah, appointed for us. Now He is in heaven. Heaven receives Him with all glory and honor until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago.

The glorious conclusion of Psalm 22 must be fulfilled. Repent, therefore, not only because it will be the best thing for you, not only because it will help to bring a time a refreshing for everyone around you who is willing to rejoice in what is true, good, and beautiful. Repent because it will hasten the coming of the Lord, and God's wonderful gift of a new heaven and earth, where there is no sin, and where no one is left at a beautiful gate every day just to beg. See 2 Peter 3:11-13.

1. In what sense did the Jews act in ignorance concerning the killing of Jesus?

2. Is God responsible for the evil of the death of Jesus?

3. What blessings flow forth now from Christ for the repentant?

4. What blessings flow forth from Christ for the repentant at His return?

OT Passage: Psalm 22:25-31

The Glorious Name

“A Refreshing Experience” – Part 2

(Acts 3:11-16, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 13, 2011)

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's.

12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?

13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus,

Whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life,

Whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

While he clung to Peter and John... (11)

There is a present power in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the power of heaven that makes the lame walk and the blind see. We do not always see that power, but we believe the promises of God, and trust that there is more to the kingdom than what we presently see. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, witnesses that we cannot see.

The Head of the church, Jesus, the firstborn among many brothers, is not alone in heaven. He is in a society of human beings and angels, and He is the King of that society. I would like to visit there today in person, but I know this: I can see that place right now by faith in the Name of Jesus. As the psalmist had written so many centuries before the death of the Messiah, Jesus would live after he had died as the Lamb of God. He speaks. He tells of the great Name of the Lord to those He calls His brothers. He praises God in the midst of a congregation that we cannot fully see with our eyes. In that portion of the church that is above, there is no one who suffers bodily affliction. In that place the man who was once lame, even from birth, leaps for joy.

Here in the church below, those who live long enough eventually lose their ability to leap. When they come home to Jesus, they are able to leap for joy. We, like those above, can experience the power of Jesus Christ in worship. We who fear the Lord, can praise Him. The offspring of Jacob, can glorify God. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we know that our God has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. The Father has not hidden His face forever from the Son. He heard when Jesus cried to Him. In Him, your prayers are heard. When you pray through Him, your prayers in the Holy Spirit, perfected through the Son, and offered up to the Father in heaven, are heard. This is happening in our worship together and in the heartfelt cry of the faithful wherever they may be. God still hears prayer for the weak. Even when a man has no strength left below, he goes above, where Christ lives, where everyone leaps for joy!

But when we see that actually happening on earth, it is utterly astounding, Peter had spoken in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who reigns at the right hand of the Father on high, and before the eyes of witnesses, a man's feet and ankles were strengthened, and heaven spilled over on to the earth. Keep your eyes open for signs of the power of heaven taking place in the church throughout the world. It is no time to keep your distance from the Lord's lowly church. Stay close to the people that the Lord refers to as His brothers, speak forth the Name of Jesus, and pay attention to the wonderful healing that is taking place in the family of God.

And when Peter saw it... (12)

The preaching of the Lord's church should draw attention not only to the signs of heavenly grace that the Lord brings. We should also speak as Peter spoke that day, making it clear that anything good that God brings does not come by our own power or piety. There were many men of Israel there in the temple who were able to see the man they knew to be that beggar who was normally placed at the gate called Beautiful. In heaven, you will be called beautiful, and you will know that the true Source of that beauty will not be from your own power or righteousness. Nor will you give glory to doctors, special diets or exercise routines. You will not be speaking about the beauty treatments of Babylon that day. You will be beautiful to the King who has washed you by His blood. You will acknowledge His power, His gentleness, and His perfect holiness.

The God of Abraham... (13a)

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus. The glory of God poured forth from Jesus in His Word and in His deeds of power. Even when Jesus died on a wretched cross, there was something of glory that could be seen in the way that Jesus died. Surely this Man was, and is forever, the Son of God. There was glory in His resurrection appearances and in His ascension to another realm upon the cloud of God's presence. We can only imagine His glory now that He reigns at the center of heaven.

He is a descendant of Adam, and a Son of Israel. But He is also the eternal Son of God, and the eternal Father has glorified the eternal Son who is also the Son of Man and the Savior of sinners. Peter does not own the glory for this miracle. He casts that crown at the feet of Jesus in heaven, where everyone can leap for joy in the presence of God in the company of myriads and myriads of angels and of so many human beings already rescued from this place of loss.

Whom you delivered over and denied... (13b-15a)

Do you desire to be associated with this Jesus and His glorious kingdom? Acknowledge your sin and see Him as the solution to all of your needs. Peter was not content to leave the crowd in utter amazement concerning one heavenly sign. He directed them not only to the glory of Jesus on high, but also to their own guilt. “You delivered Him over to the authorities.” But Judas did that. Yes, but do not evade your own responsibility, and see something of Judas in you. “You denied Him in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.” But the crowds in Jerusalem, stirred up by the religious leaders, did all of that. Yes, but you must see your own guilt, and how that same evil spirit of denying Jesus Christ has shut your mouth at a time when you needed to speak, and opened your mouth against Him when you needed to walk away from a worldly mob that you had no business being a part of. “You killed the Author of life.” But the Roman soldiers did that. Yes, but He died for your sins. This is God's mercy if you will own your guilt before God, guilt that Jesus has fully taken away by His blood. Those who will acknowledge their sins are fully forgiven. This is why Peter spoke to the crowd about their sin regarding Jesus that day.

Whom God raised from the dead... (15b-16)

But then He drew their attention to the fact of the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This was not a mere story for Peter and the apostles. This was not wishful thinking for hundreds of people who were in Jerusalem that year. They were witnesses to the greatest spilling over from heaven of the glory of God. Resurrection is life after death. True life after death is what heaven is all about. That life comes from God, who is the Author of life. Jesus undeniably rose from the dead.

Real church people, we poor beggars, believe in His Name. That Name can rescue the oppressed, and lift up the downcast. That Name can strengthen weak limbs, and make the woeful heart to sing. That Name is the source of eternally perfect health of body and soul. Sickness is a sad fact of life in a world where sin and death have invaded. But Christ has come, and He owns us as His family. We will walk in the Name of the Man of heaven, and we will speak His Name in love.

1. Why where the people utterly astounded?

2. How does Peter give glory to God in this amazing miracle?

3. Why does Peter draw their attention to their sins regarding Christ?

4. How does Peter connect Jesus' resurrection, the gift of faith, and the miracle?

OT Passage: Psalm 22:22-24

Lame Man Leaping

“A Refreshing Experience” – Part 1

(Acts 3:1-10, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, March 6, 2011)

3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.

4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Now Peter and John... (1-3)

The Christian church was born in Jerusalem. It was in that place that apostles such as Peter and John were preaching, and that people were responding by the power of the Holy Spirit. By every reasonable understanding of the evidence available to us, there was much more going on in the Jerusalem church than just good preaching. The Lord was building a new society of Jesus, a way of life that proceeds from worship. It was evident to many that God was present with His people.

Men like Peter and John had been chosen by Jesus of Nazareth at the inception of His earthly ministry. He had spent three years with them prior to His betrayal and death, and then an additional forty days with them after His resurrection. They had seen Him fulfill the signs of Messiah that prophetic passages like Isaiah 35 had foretold. Those passages spoke of a coming age of great heavenly refreshment when “the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.” They were witnesses to those great signs, and now they were looking for even greater future blessings in the Kingdom of God. They were looking for daily signs of the glory of God moving His church toward the great day of salvation. In the words of Isaiah 35, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

But now there were well over three thousand people in the new world of church life together. They were dedicating themselves to the apostles' teaching in the temple, to worship gatherings meeting in many homes, to the care of the poor that required even the selling of property just to make sure that everyone had enough bread to eat, and to the spiritual oversight of a wildly growing multi-site congregation. The apostles had to be extremely busy.

On top of all their responsibilities for this vibrant community of faith we call the church, they were also observant Jews that were taking part in the public gatherings of prayer at the temple. But they had the eyes of Jesus and the heart of the One who died for the lost and the weak. They saw a man lame from birth, and they directed him and a larger crowd that would soon gather around them, toward the source of heavenly refreshment in the ascended King of the kingdom.

And Peter directed his gaze... (4-5)

This lame man was simply doing what He did every day. He was counting on the kindness of those who worship God, that they might give him a little something. That was what he was looking for, but Peter and John looked back. They directed their gaze at him, and they addressed him. They asked him to look at them. They established a visual connection in the midst of busy place. Two men were sent by their King to bring something much better than what was expected. This man who was lame from birth only expected some money. But Peter and John expected that the Lord of glory would work through them to extend His heavenly kingdom.

But Peter said... (6)

He expected a little money. That they did not have. Peter tells the man plainly, “I have no silver and gold.” We set our sights so low. Jesus and His church come bringing the kingdom of heaven, but how many people want money more than anything else that Jesus could give them?

Peter and John had no silver or gold because the church's funds are going to care for others. These men are not taking salaries. They have their needs taken care of so that they can do what they are called to do. That means that they have food and clothing, a place to stay, and whatever other basics that are being supplied by the church. The remaining silver and gold that comes to the church is used to care for all these people, some of whom are far from home, and have stayed in Jerusalem to experience Jesus Christ through the life of His church.

So Peter and John do not even have the silver and gold that this man is seeking. What they do have is the power of the ascended Christ from heaven working through His disciples. They use what they have for the good of this man who just wanted some money. They speak a Word of healing from heaven in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They tell him to rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand... (7-8)

They do not stop with words. They get him up. How I wish that we could do this kind of sign from heaven. Don't you wish that that you could be an agent of the Lord's grand project that has come to us through Jesus. This Jesus, Paul writes to Timothy, “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light.” We want to be used by Him. Paul says that he did these great things through the gospel. That we do have. We can speak, and then we can take people by the hand and lift them up by the power of God. We can look at them, talk to them, and be with them.

This healing by Peter and John brought the refreshment of heaven and heaven's God to a man who could not walk. It was done in such a way that all the glory went to the Lord. They spoke to him and helped him get up, but the Lord healed him. He did not just struggle to his feet. He was walking and leaping and praising God. He praised the Lord, not Peter and John.

And all the people saw... (9-10)

Others who saw him walking and praising God came to the same conclusion. They recognized him as someone they had seen before at his familiar spot. He had come to expect the same old things every day. He was placed in a corner and received a little bit of money to get by. But this healing from God was different.

What can go forth from your hands this week that could only be explained by the love and power of Jesus Christ? Is there a way for you to serve the Lord that would bring others to sing His praise? Does Jesus want you to look someone in the eye, knowing the power of the gospel, and then to care for that person in such a way that he would have to say that God did it?

1. What was the expectation of all those involved in this miracle?

2. What did Peter not have and what did he have?

3. What did the man conclude concerning his healing?

4. How did the people react?

OT Passage: Isaiah 35