I would like to teach on chapter three from the Book of Acts as I continue my series on this powerful book of the Bible. Let’s look at Acts 3:1 (NKJV) which says, “Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.”. There are a few things to take away here to help us get a good picture of the setting. First John and Peter are going to the temple, anytime a passage takes place at the temple you can expect for there to be crowds of people. Next, we will see this is taking place at the ninth hour of the day which is the hour of prayer. Now the ninth hour of the day according to the Jews would be 3 pm on our clock.
Acts 3:2 (NKJV) goes on to tell us, “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;”. There was a lame man left at the gate of the temple, and he was asking people for alms which is money, food or donations for the poor. I looked further into the word alms and found it comes from the Greek word eleemosyne which means compassion or pity. Acts 3:3-4 (NKJV) continues on and says, “who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.””. The lame man sees Peter and John coming and he asks them for alms, well we are going to find out he will get something much greater than alms.
Acts 3:5-7 (NKJV) tells us, “So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.”. Peter and John did not have anything to give this man, except a miracle through the healing power of Jesus Christ. This man expected to receive something from Peter and John, even though he was expecting a donation he was in the right attitude to receive a healing. When we come to Jesus in prayer, we need to come expecting for Him to do the supernatural through the promises found in the Word of God. Also, notice how Peter did not pray a long prayer, he simply commanded healing in the name of Jesus Christ. John 14:13 (NKJV) tells us, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”. This type of miracle was one of the ones prophesized to be done through the power of Jesus Christ by Isaiah in Isaiah 35:6 (NKJV), “Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.”. Acts 3:8-9 (NKJV) continues, “So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.”. The man gave praise to God for his healing, this is a reminder for us to praise God when He does the supernatural for us. Psalm 107:1-2 (NKJV) tells us, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,”. This miracle caught the attention of the crowd of people who were at the temple, Acts 3:10 (NKJV) tells us, “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.”.
We will now look at Peters second sermon that we will find in the Book of Acts. If you have been following my series on the Book of Acts, you will see Peter’s first great sermon that is recorded in the Book of Acts. Peter sets the example of what sermons should be like today. Too often we have a watered-down gospel infiltrating our churches, especially the ones on mainstream media. I like to look at Peter’s sermons as ones that bring people to the conviction seat, which many churches today are lacking. The ministers of today’s churches need to get back to the basics of salvation and true conviction, we have too many unconverted people in the church today. Salvation is more than just saying the sinner’s prayer,
there should be evidence in someone who is truly saved that they are a new creation through salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) reminds us, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”.
Acts 3:12-13 (NKJV) continues and says, “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? 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.”. Peter is taking the opportunity to talk about the Power of God to the crowd. Peter also goes onto say in Acts 3:14-15 (NKJV), “But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.”. Peter takes the time to also remind the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that they crucified. Peter also tells them about the power in the name of Jesus in Acts 3:16 (NKJV), “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.”. We need to always be reminded that we have power and authority in the name of Jesus. As we read on in this passage, we will find out why the Jews rejected Jesus. Acts 3:17 (NKJV) tells us, “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.”. The Jews rejected Jesus because of their tradition and love of sin, this caused spiritual blindness. People will often have difficulty understanding the Bible because of spiritual blindness, we need to look at the Bible with spiritual eyes rather than intellectual eyes.
Let’s look at how Peter reminds the Jews that Jesus is mentioned throughout the Old Testament. Acts 3:18 (NKJV) tells us, “But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.”. The prophets in the Old Testament foretold of Jesus precisely. Isaiah 53:10 (NKJV) tells us, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.”. Continuing Acts 3:19 (NKJV) tells us, “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,”. Peter is calling for the Jews to come to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, he also mentions for them to be converted. This reminds us to get back to the basics of salvation when we lead people to Christ. We need to stop focusing on not only on how many people we can get to repeat the sinner’s prayer but, also how many people are truly converted from their old ways for Jesus Christ.
Peter continues speaking about how the Old Testament points to Jesus Christ. Acts 3:22-23 (NKJV) tells us, “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. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’”. Moses foretold of a rising prophet, we will find this written out in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (NKJV) which tells us, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.”.
Let’s now look at the seed through Abraham. Acts 3:24-26 (NKJV) says, “Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 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.’ 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.”. If you know the Old Testament well enough you will find out that God’s covenant with Abraham points us to Jesus. It is critical to understand the seed that is mentioned in this Blood Covenant between God and Abraham. Genesis 26:4 tells us, “And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;”. Now if we go to the New Testament and look at Galatians 3:26-29 it says, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”. So, the seed that will bless many nations is pointing to Jesus, isn’t that amazing to know this is one of the many ways the Old Testament points us to Jesus!
I covered a lot in this teaching from the first healing in the Book of Acts to how the Old Testament points us to Jesus. I would encourage you when you pray to expect God to do the supernatural for your situation according to His word. Just remember your prayers don’t need to be very long, you just need to pray with authority in the name of Jesus Christ. Also, many people view the Old Testament as unnecessary to read, this is incorrect thinking. We need to read the Bible in its entirety multiple times through our walk with the Lord. I encourage you to fully read the Old Testament and then go back through and study it slowly and you will begin to see how it points to Jesus. In my next teaching, I will continue onto Acts chapter four which will talk about the imprisonment of Peter and John.