A CHANGE IS NEEDED!
Acts 3
INTRODUCTION:
Good evening everyone. It’s great to see you all tonight. For those of you that haven’t been with us in recent weeks, we’ve been walking through the book of Acts in a series we’ve called “The Story Continues…”, and that’s really what the book of Acts is all about. It’s one continuous story of God’s good work among His people.
It’s really a story about the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit empowering and touching people — day in and day out.
There’s a common thread that runs all the way through the book of Acts. It’s really easy to recognize in the first few chapters. And it’s this:
- The believers feel overwhelmed on their own.
- They recognize they’re deep need for a supernatural touch from God.
- And so, they pray and depend upon God — and then the Holy Spirit shows up and moves in them.
Well, as we begin today — I want you to turn to Acts chapter 3. While you do, I want to read a few verses from a fairly obscure passage in the Old Testament. It’s actually a prophecy found in Isaiah’s writings. In Isaiah 35 there is a prophecy that comes as a huge encouragement to the Hebrew people.
In fact, most of this chapter speaks of Christ’s coming and the impact he will have on their lives and community. This is very much a Messianic Prophesy. But it is also a message to the political and religious leaders of the nation.
Listen to what God says through the Prophet Isaiah. He begins with a command in verse 3…but then listen to what he says in the following verses. He says,
3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”
Isaiah 35:3-4
Okay, so that’s the command of God to those in leadership. The leaders of God’s people must to be people of faith and hope…offering goon news and optimism and expectation. Those leading the people of God — and today, the Church are to inspire an assurance that God ALWAYS honors His Word and His promises.
And so, Isaiah says, “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way…” But then he moves on to describe a better day coming!
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
Isaiah 35:5-6
Now you have to realize that these words were spoken during a very difficult and dark day in the life of the Hebrew people. Isaiah was the prophet to Judah (the Southern portion of God’s people). At this point in their history, the nation of israel had already divided following a civil-war of sorts and the majority of the nation was struggling in captivity to their enemies.
So, in the midst of this tough day of terror and war, God gives these words to the Prophet Isaiah to speak.Now, I think all of these words are worth considering and studying — but the phrase that I want to focus on is that statement found in verse 6.
Again, Isaiah prophesies: “…the lame will leap like a deer…” When? When will this happen? He says, when God comes in power — with salvation.
That prophecy was made, approximately, around 750 B.C. by Isaiah.
And in 750 B.C., people looked around and they said, “Well, God hasn’t come to save us yet. We don’t see the lame leaping like a deer.”
In 749 B.C., God still hadn’t come to save them. They don’t see the lame leaping like a deer.
In 748 B.C., 746 B.C., 700 B.C.—nothing.
In 650 B.C., God still hadn’t come to save them. The lame don’t leap like a deer.
500 B.C., 450 B.C., 250 B.C., 100 B.C., 50 B.C.—it’s still not happening.
Are you getting the picture yet? There had to be a sense of doubt when reading the OLD PROPHESY of Isaiah. Don’t you imagine that after 750 years of this on going disappointment that maybe if someone discovered this obscure little passage — that they would just wonder,
“Is God ever really going to come and save us, and are the lame ever really going to leap like a deer?”
For over 750 years, that prophecy in Isaiah 35 went unfulfilled.
Okay, so just hold on to that thought as we now flash forward to the book of Acts. Because, by this time — Jesus had already walked the earth, healed blinded eyes, restored limbs, raised the dead — and even Himself, overcome the grave.
So, as the Acts of the church unfold and the story begins — Jesus ascends into the heavens…but then comes again to live in the lives of people.
And so, Acts 3 begins to tell the story of the how Christ works in the lives of common people who believed and were saved!
Acts 3:1 begins with these words.
1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.
The verse doesn’t say that this was an extraordinary day. There was nothing about this day that would lead you to believe that anything exceptional was going to happen. It just says, “One day, at 3:00 in the afternoon, Peter and John were on their way to the temple for prayer.” Why? Because that’s what they did every day.
Because we read in Acts 2:46, just a couple of verses earlier, that every day they continued to meet in the temple court. Why did they go to the temple court every day to pray when they could pray anywhere? Why did they go to the temple court to do it? You know why? Because they wanted to go to places where people didn’t know Jesus yet.
They wanted to be in environments where people hadn’t experienced amazing grace yet.
Verse 2 continues…
2Now 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. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
So, here’s another important piece of this picture. This man has been lame from birth. He cannot walk. And he has been going every day to the temple all of his life. How long has that been?
Has that been 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years? We read, over in Acts 4:22, that it had been over 40 years.
That’s how long he has been in this position.
- Never once in that time did he know the joy of standing up straight.
- Never once in that time did he know what it was to experience walking or running—things that many of us just take fore granted.
- Never once had he known a day where his legs were not limp, without movement or feeling.
- And probably, never once, did he ever even entertain the thought that things would ever change.
So every day he was set at the temple gate because that’s where people pass by to give their offerings at that temple. And so he would hold out his hand hoping to get something from them so that he could eat. This had been going on in his life for over 40 years now.
Think about that—every day, this guy face another day with absolutely no hope!
There is one other extremely important piece to this puzzle that’s kind of easy to overlook when you read these verses. How did this disabled guy get to the temple every day? People had to bring him. They had to carry him. He was totally dependent on his friends and family.
And yet every day, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, they’re bringing him to the temple. This has gone on for decades. On this day, they could have said, “We don’t think he ought to go today. We’ve been doing this for so long. We’ve been doing this for so many years. Maybe we could skip today.”
But they didn’t do that. Every day they were faithful to take him to the temple so that he could beg. But on this particular day that his friends brought him, he’s at the temple, and Peter and John are also there. They’re there for the 3:00 prayer meeting at the temple. And as they walk by, on their way through the gate at the temple, he reaches out his hand to them. He’s asking for some money. Now, he’s been there so long and he’s such a fixture at the temple that, typically, people just walked by.
They don’t even make eye contact with him. He’s just a fixture. He’s been there forever and ever. But Peter does something that most people don’t do. He looks him straight in the eye and he said, “Look at me.” And the lame man must have been thinking, “Well, finally. Somebody is going to give me something today. Maybe I’m going to hit the jackpot today.”
And so he looks at Peter and John. His ears are all tuned in with anticipation…and the bible says in verse 6,
6Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you…”
Now let’s just pause there for a moment. I know most of you know this story — and there’s not surprise here. But just imagine for a moment that you were this man — sitting on the side of the entrance at this great temple only to have Peter say, “Look at me.” And then he follows it up with…“I don’t have any silver or gold.” He basically says, “I don’t have a nickel to my name.”
Can you imagine how frustrated and disappointed that man must have felt?
Silver and gold is what he needed — because he couldn’t work. He needed the money to eat and live and provide a meager living. And yet, Peter is just about to waste his time. I mean, what could he have possibly offered that man? Was he going to give him some advice? And if so, how helpful would that have been?
But the scriptures tell us, that he went on to say,
“…In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Look at verse 7. It continues to tell the story. It says,
7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
He had never walked. When he was a child, his parents had never had the joy of watching him take his first steps.
And suddenly—not over time, not over a process, not gradually, but in an instant, there is this surge of strength in his legs. He jumps to his feet and he walks. Think about this— taking a step for the first time in his life. And this is a miracle. He doesn’t even have to learn to walk. He walks. And he’s so excited about walking, he’s not content to do that. The Bible tells us that he went on to run into the temple jumping and dancing and leaping!
All of this after 40 years of confinement, 40 years of abandonment and ridicule, embarrassment and loneliness and begging.
No wonder he was jumping and dancing and praising God. And people who had been watching this guy at the temple, day after day after day, they’re rubbing their eyes and they’re astonished, and they can’t believe what they’re seeing before their very eyes.
He’s walking. He’s leaping. He’s jumping.
And the bible tells us in verse 9,
9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they 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.
This is like the 4th time since we began this study from Acts that we’ve seen this happen. When this world sees God working through the lives of COMMON PEOPLE — ORDINARY PEOPLE — yet in SUPERNATURAL WAYS…they become AWE STRUCK or amazed and perplexed.
And I just love this! I love it when people who know us — see God working in us, and through us — and just can’t believe what they’re seeing!
Folks, God can do the impossible through you! When you submit your life to Jesus…you should expect the supernatural work of God to happen through you!
So, let me say it again — God can do the impossible through you!
On that day, in the name of Jesus Christ, Peter and John did the impossible for that man!
But beyond that — God fulfilled on that day, the very prophesy that was declared in Isaiah 35.
As was proclaimed by Isaiah 800 years earlier, on that day — in front of the gates to the temple, “the lame leaped like a deer”.
Folks, 800 years had gone by, and that prophecy seemed dormant, or worse — maybe dead. But on that day — in an instant, this man’s life was changed — and God fulfilled His promise!
I think that is a wonderful and powerful testimony to God’s power! Wouldn’t you agree?
I love the fact that what we saw Jesus doing in the Gospels — we now see the Church doing! No longer was the powerful and supernatural and the extraordinary resigned only to Jesus. But now, because of the gift of His Spirit — the Church (those who follow Jesus) are Anointed to Serve others and are empowered to do the miraculous. But as incredible as the healing was, the healing of the lame man wasn’t the greatest miracle that occurred on that day. The greatest miracle that happened that day at the temple on that day was the miracle of faith.
The greatest thing that Peter and John had to offer was Jesus Christ!”And that’s why they were at the temple that day. Because there were so many lost people there and they weren’t content to just sit by and do nothing. They weren’t content to just say, “Well, you know, 3,000 lost people were already saved on the Day of Pentecost. That’s pretty good.” They were convinced that everyone mattered to God! Peter and John went to the temple that day because they were on a search-and-rescue mission for lost people. And they knew — that even at the Temple Courts, this place of great religion would be full of hopeless, lifeless people far from God!
This reminds a lot of our city — where people have a tendency to be fairly religious…(they know the right words and phrases to speak), but really have no hope and are in desperate need of Jesus! Like Peter and John — we must be on mission for the lost. If there’s anything that God is passionate about, it’s finding the lost and bringing them home.
Do you remember when that happened in your own life? Do you remember what it was like to be lost? Maybe you’re wondering if Peter and John really were concerned about telling the STORY OF JESUS like I am saying they were. Well, let’s look at the result of this man’s miracle to wrap up this morning.
Look again at verse 11. The story continues…
1While 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. 12When 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? 13The 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. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16By 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.
17“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’
24“Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ 26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
What does Peter do?
He uses this man’s healing as an opportunity to tell others about a greater kind of miracle that can happen in their own lives when Jesus Christ changes it.
In verse 19, Peter told them,
“…Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”
Another version of the Bible translates this verse: “It’s time to change your ways.”
Peter wanted them to know that following Jesus Christ involved change. After all, if we didn’t need to make some changes in our lives, we wouldn’t need Jesus Christ, right?
We follow him because we need to make changes in our lives.
If you were here last week — you’ll remember, I offered you ONE VERY IMPORTANT WORD to assist you in your personal walk with Jesus. Anyone remember the word?
RENEW!
This morning I want to give you ONE MORE VERY IMPORTANT WORD. And this word applies to anyone who wants to COME and FOLLOW JESUS. And the word is:
REPENT!
You and I have a call to do the miraculous and expose people to the SUPERNATURAL WORK of God by sharing His Story with those in our world.
And when we REVEAL JESUS to them, we must let them know that “It’s time for them to CHANGE!” It’s time for them to CHANGE their WAYS…to REPENT of their sin…and follow Jesus!
REPENTANCE is required by all who will come and follow Jesus. CHANGE IS NEEDED!
If we didn’t need to make some changes in our lives:
- We wouldn’t need His amazing grace.
- We wouldn’t need His forgiveness.
- We wouldn’t need His love.
- We wouldn’t need His sacrifice on the cross.
- We wouldn’t need His resurrection.
- We wouldn’t need His Word.
If we didn’t need CHANGE in our lives, then we wouldn’t need Jesus!
BUT WE DO — we do need change!
Now, this deal of repentance that’s talked about here, this deal of change is not just a one- time event. IT’S A PROCESS!
It’s a process that those of us who follow Jesus are in for the rest of our lives. It’s a process that we’re in whether you decided to follow Jesus two weeks ago, two years ago or twenty years ago.
So, how are you doing at walking in REPENTANCE? How are you doing at daily releasing the “DUST” of the world and the sin that we pick up as we walk through this world?
What marks a person who is genuinely attempting to turn their life in a new direction—who’s been changed? I think it’s probably worthwhile for us to spend a few minutes tonight just unpacking this change or this thing of repentance a little bit.
And I want to give you four marks of a person who is genuinely repentant, how you can tell there’s real change going on, who is authentically changing. The first mark is:
- A Conviction About Sin.
The Bible says if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves.
John 16:8 is an interesting verse relative to our study that we’re in here in Acts.
“When he comes (THE HOLY SPIRIT), he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin…”
So the first mark of a person who is genuinely repentant — is that he experiences a CONVICTION ABOUT SIN.
When this begins to happen, you’ll know it! There’s no denying the power of God’s conviction in our lives. And so, when that happens, it opens the door to a second mark, which is…
2. A Brokenness Over Sin.
Brokenness is an important part of true repentance. Genuine repentance in your life–genuine change–is marked by brokenness.
Peter himself is a great example of this. Remember when he was so bold before Jesus? “I will never deny you, Lord. I will follow you to the death!”
And that night, he denied him three times. And then the rooster crowed.
What did Peter do? He ran outside and he wept bitterly.
What’s going on inside of him? It’s brokenness. He’s just broken over his sin.
And once there’s been conviction about sin and brokenness over sin, it will lead to,
3. A Confession of Sin.
Confessing our sins to God means we don’t just announce our particular sins to him. It means we agree with God about our sins. It means we agree that we have changed our mind about that sin. It’s not right. It dishonors God. It dishonors other people. It dishonors our own body. It means we agree with God that this sin is harmful, and it cost the life of Jesus who died on the cross to pay for that sin.
Friends, God knows our motivation when we confess. He knows if we really mean it or not. He knows if we just want to be forgiven to get out of a tight squeeze, or we agree with him and that we genuinely want this area to change in our lives, and we want it to be a turning point in our lives.
There is one more important mark of a person who’s genuinely changing, turning from their sins, and that is…
4. A Change From Sin.
I want you to look at what John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:8. He said,
“Prove by the way that you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.”
Do you know what will happen in your life if you just get convicted over your sin and you get broken by your sin and you confess your sin, but you’re not serious about changing your sin?
Your relationship with God will become very distant.
When there are un-reconciled differences between you and God — you will become distant and almost cordial with God. As so, you may still show up at gatherings and religious events –maybe you’ll still go to church…but your relationship will become stale.
Maybe you’ll show up for your small group — but it won’t be life giving and encouraging…because you’re distant in your walk with Jesus.
Maybe you’ll be cordial in that — you’ll still be a part of a ministry team, but it will be distant. Because when you get too close to real change, it gets too convicting, and so you keep your distance.
You know, churches are famous for having “buildings that are full of people” who are distant and cordial with God.
People who are distant and cordial with God can get by with anything in their lives, and they still feel good about themselves and they still go to church.
Folks, you never want to be content with a distant relationship with Jesus.
So I’m just asking you, if God brings you to a point of real change in your life, don’t say “no” to God.
- Saying no to God is what got you in trouble in the first place.
- Saying no to God is what messed up your marriage in the first place.
- Saying no to God is what got you in that relationship you never should have gotten into in the first place.
- Saying no to God is what created all those problems and hurts and feelings and misunderstandings.
If God has brought you to the place of real change, don’t say no! That’s just more of the same. There are some people who do this for years in their relationship with God. But even as John the Baptist said,
“Prove by the way that you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.”
That’s the kind of call that Peter was issuing. He said in verse 19,
“…Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”
Well, what do you think happened after that message of REPENTANCE?
There was a huge response to God because of this message. Acts 4:4 tells the rest of the story. It says,
“Many who heard the message believed, and the number of believers grew to be about 5,000.”
Friends, do you see the bigger picture of what’s happening here? Peter and John go to the temple every day to pray so that they can be around lost people. Some friends bring their lame buddy to come and beg, but on that day — he was healed.
It created such a commotion that again, crowds of people gathered to see and hear what was going on. And Peter proclaimed to them a message of change. And on that day, not only did the prophecy from Isaiah 35 get fulfilled, but God saved thousands of people from their sin…and He CHANGED THEIR lives and gave them hope!
came and he saved, and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were convicted of their sin and broken by their sin and confessed their sin and changed from their sin, and followed Jesus Christ living in newfound grace. It’s an amazing story.
I want to remind you of the message of Isaiah 35 again.
“Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6Then will the lame leap like a deer,…”
The response of Isaiah was fulfilled. “God will come to save you…and the lame will leap like a deer.” And it’s not just the lame man leaping like a deer. It is everybody dancing and leaping because the lost have been found.
CLOSING PRAYER