Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Brown's daily word
It seems that our world is full of tragedy. We hear countless stories every week of tragedies that have taken place all over the planet. So many, in fact, that the disaster has to be pretty extraordinary to hold our attention for more than a few minutes. It isn't that we no longer care about the hurts of people, but simply that we hear about so many things that we tend to become sort of numb.However, our attention is sometimes held captive by the story of someone whose tragedy has turned to triumph. We like to hear about the bad boy turned good, the poor man who became prosperous, or the nobody who became somebody. The account that we are considering today is just such a story. Acts chapter 3 tells us of a man who had experienced a terrible tragedy in his life, one that would perhaps depress and defeat most people. Fortunately, this man was graciously granted deliverance. Peter the preacher, after his explosive first sermon at Pentecost that demanded decision for Jesus, went with John to the temple with John to pray at 3 p.m. On the way to the temple Jesus used two of servants to perform the first miracle in the name of Jesus, the Risen One. This astounding miracle created a poisonous and explosive controversy with the religious leaders. That led Peter to preach his second sermon. As we look at nature and the content of Peters's second sermon and compare and contrast it with his first sermon they are the same. We know from experience every preacher has only one sermon, though he preaches it differently at different seasons.
When Cambridge University student Thomas Bilney bought a Greek New Testament, his interest was purely academic. However, when Bilney opened God’s Word, he encountered the Gospel and his entire life was transformed. Bilney felt led by God to join himself to a group that shared his beliefs. This occurred during the Protestant Reformation, so Bilney joined the Cambridge Protestants. He began preaching and teaching, but was arrested in 1527 and threatened to keep silence. Bilney would not be silent. He could not keep quiet the gospel that burned in his heart. He was arrested, and later released with another warning. In 1531, he was arrested one last time. Condemned as a heretic, Bilney died at the stake for the gospel of Christ. Like Thomas Bilney, the apostle Peter simply could not keep quiet about Jesus. The opportunity arose to address the crowd that gathered there in the temple courts and Peter seized it. You see, Peter was ready when the opportunity arose. Peter had a divine appointment that day at the beautiful gate with a lame man who was healed. Then God provided Peter the opportunity to preach to more than 5,000 people gathered there in the outer court of the temple. Like Peter, we need to be ready to share Christ with others as the opportunity arises. Paul instructs his protege, Timothy, to this in Timothy chapter 4, verse two, which reads – 4 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
Maybe you will have the opportunity to teach a crowd; maybe you won’t. Maybe you will get the chance to share Christ with one of your friends, or co-workers, and in God’s economy, you sharing Christ with one is just as important as sharing Christ with a huge crowd. God’s work is measured in hearts, not in numbers.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? 13 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. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 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. 17 Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 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, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 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. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 25 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.’ 26 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." Peter spoke the truth in love to the crowd gathered there. He didn’t let them off easily; he hammered his points home, and he didn’t really care if his message was “politically correct”, or whether it offended anyone. God’s Word is not something that we should compromise on. God’s Word is that standard by which we should live our lives. My professor at Princeton, Dr. Bernard W. Anderson used say, "To understand the Bible you need to stand under the Bible". We preach and stand under the authority of the Holy Spirit and Holy Scriptures and above all under the authority of Jesus the Lord of the church. So when Peter faced crowd and crisis, trusting Jesus Christ as the Christ of every crisis, 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 apostle Peter started off with a question. He saw that the crowd had gathered there because of the miracle that had just taken place. One thing that I notice right off is that Peter took the very first opportunity to direct them to Jesus - not to himself, or to the man that was healed, but to the healer. Jesus was a very famous (or infamous) figure in Israel around that time, depending on whom you asked. Many people had thought that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He would kick the Romans out, and set up an earthly kingdom. Once He had been crucified, however, this hope quickly faded. These people had been looking for a king, and a military leader. In fact and indeed, He was a king, but He came this time as a suffering Servant. Peter told them that they had traded their Savior for a murderer. By doing this, Peter saed, they sealed Jesus’ fate. The Prince of Life was killed because they had asked for a murderer to be released to them rather than Jesus. But, this didn’t stop Jesus. It was not a big deal to the God of the Universe. No, Jesus was raised from the dead. Peter and John had been witnesses to this fact. Not only Peter and John, but over 500 other people were witnesses. Peter and John had also seen the Lord ascend into heaven, to be taken up to the right hand of the Father. Jesus had healed people while He was on the earth doing His earthly ministry. The people gathered there knew about the miraculous healings that Jesus had performed. People brought sick from miles around, and word of that quickly spread around. It was little wonder then, that if Jesus could heal people on earth, then He could still heal people now that He had ascended into heaven. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Some in the church today believe that miraculous healings ceased with the death of the apostle John. Hebrews 13:8 tells me different from that. Jesus can heal people on earth, He can heal people after He ascended, and He can still heal people today. I am the living proof of His healing power even today. 16 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. 17 Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Jesus had risen from the dead.
That was a fact the Peter and John had been witnesses to. The crowd had to be feeling pretty guilty at this point. They had condemned the Savior. Peter presented them with the explanation of the man’s miraculous healing; it all stemmed from faith in Christ. Miraculous healings are a gift from God – totally. If He chooses to heal, then we need to get out of the way, just like Peter was doing here. If He chooses not to heal, that’s His prerogative, and it has nothing to do with our own faith. I have seen accounts of this that devastated people that weren’t healed. They think that somehow their faith wasn’t strong enough. This is sad, and it misrepresents God.These people were eyewitnesses to the perfect healing worked by the divine will of Jesus Christ. This resulted in a total healing of the man, by the total will and grace of God. Even though they had killed Jesus in ignorance, it was not a surprise to God; it was all part of His plan. It was God’s plan all along. God’s plan was foretold by His prophets down through the years. We see Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Zechariah, and Daniel, among others, foretelling the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and reign of Christ. I would imagine that the folks in the crowd were wondering, “What should we do?”, just like the crowd we saw back in Acts chapter 2. Peter’s general pattern for the gospel message is the same though, from his earlier evangelistic message and this one. Peter first tells them the bad news – that the killed the Messiah, Jesus. Then he would proceed to give them the good news, and that was that forgiveness was available to them by God’s grace. 19 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, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. Verse 26" God having raised up His servant, sent Him to you first, to bless you, in turning every one of you, from your wickedness".
The Risen Lord is at large in the world to bless every one who turns to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. He will be present during the Franklin Graham Festival, which will start This Friday at 7 p.m., at the EVENT Center of the Binghamton University. He will be there to bless people by thousands. He will forgive, he will restore, and He will refresh. He will find the lost and encourage the found.
Thanks be to Jesus. He is the same, yesterday, today, and for ever.
In Him,
Brown
When Cambridge University student Thomas Bilney bought a Greek New Testament, his interest was purely academic. However, when Bilney opened God’s Word, he encountered the Gospel and his entire life was transformed. Bilney felt led by God to join himself to a group that shared his beliefs. This occurred during the Protestant Reformation, so Bilney joined the Cambridge Protestants. He began preaching and teaching, but was arrested in 1527 and threatened to keep silence. Bilney would not be silent. He could not keep quiet the gospel that burned in his heart. He was arrested, and later released with another warning. In 1531, he was arrested one last time. Condemned as a heretic, Bilney died at the stake for the gospel of Christ. Like Thomas Bilney, the apostle Peter simply could not keep quiet about Jesus. The opportunity arose to address the crowd that gathered there in the temple courts and Peter seized it. You see, Peter was ready when the opportunity arose. Peter had a divine appointment that day at the beautiful gate with a lame man who was healed. Then God provided Peter the opportunity to preach to more than 5,000 people gathered there in the outer court of the temple. Like Peter, we need to be ready to share Christ with others as the opportunity arises. Paul instructs his protege, Timothy, to this in Timothy chapter 4, verse two, which reads – 4 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
Maybe you will have the opportunity to teach a crowd; maybe you won’t. Maybe you will get the chance to share Christ with one of your friends, or co-workers, and in God’s economy, you sharing Christ with one is just as important as sharing Christ with a huge crowd. God’s work is measured in hearts, not in numbers.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? 13 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. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 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. 17 Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 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, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 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. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 25 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.’ 26 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." Peter spoke the truth in love to the crowd gathered there. He didn’t let them off easily; he hammered his points home, and he didn’t really care if his message was “politically correct”, or whether it offended anyone. God’s Word is not something that we should compromise on. God’s Word is that standard by which we should live our lives. My professor at Princeton, Dr. Bernard W. Anderson used say, "To understand the Bible you need to stand under the Bible". We preach and stand under the authority of the Holy Spirit and Holy Scriptures and above all under the authority of Jesus the Lord of the church. So when Peter faced crowd and crisis, trusting Jesus Christ as the Christ of every crisis, 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 apostle Peter started off with a question. He saw that the crowd had gathered there because of the miracle that had just taken place. One thing that I notice right off is that Peter took the very first opportunity to direct them to Jesus - not to himself, or to the man that was healed, but to the healer. Jesus was a very famous (or infamous) figure in Israel around that time, depending on whom you asked. Many people had thought that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He would kick the Romans out, and set up an earthly kingdom. Once He had been crucified, however, this hope quickly faded. These people had been looking for a king, and a military leader. In fact and indeed, He was a king, but He came this time as a suffering Servant. Peter told them that they had traded their Savior for a murderer. By doing this, Peter saed, they sealed Jesus’ fate. The Prince of Life was killed because they had asked for a murderer to be released to them rather than Jesus. But, this didn’t stop Jesus. It was not a big deal to the God of the Universe. No, Jesus was raised from the dead. Peter and John had been witnesses to this fact. Not only Peter and John, but over 500 other people were witnesses. Peter and John had also seen the Lord ascend into heaven, to be taken up to the right hand of the Father. Jesus had healed people while He was on the earth doing His earthly ministry. The people gathered there knew about the miraculous healings that Jesus had performed. People brought sick from miles around, and word of that quickly spread around. It was little wonder then, that if Jesus could heal people on earth, then He could still heal people now that He had ascended into heaven. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Some in the church today believe that miraculous healings ceased with the death of the apostle John. Hebrews 13:8 tells me different from that. Jesus can heal people on earth, He can heal people after He ascended, and He can still heal people today. I am the living proof of His healing power even today. 16 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. 17 Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Jesus had risen from the dead.
That was a fact the Peter and John had been witnesses to. The crowd had to be feeling pretty guilty at this point. They had condemned the Savior. Peter presented them with the explanation of the man’s miraculous healing; it all stemmed from faith in Christ. Miraculous healings are a gift from God – totally. If He chooses to heal, then we need to get out of the way, just like Peter was doing here. If He chooses not to heal, that’s His prerogative, and it has nothing to do with our own faith. I have seen accounts of this that devastated people that weren’t healed. They think that somehow their faith wasn’t strong enough. This is sad, and it misrepresents God.These people were eyewitnesses to the perfect healing worked by the divine will of Jesus Christ. This resulted in a total healing of the man, by the total will and grace of God. Even though they had killed Jesus in ignorance, it was not a surprise to God; it was all part of His plan. It was God’s plan all along. God’s plan was foretold by His prophets down through the years. We see Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Zechariah, and Daniel, among others, foretelling the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and reign of Christ. I would imagine that the folks in the crowd were wondering, “What should we do?”, just like the crowd we saw back in Acts chapter 2. Peter’s general pattern for the gospel message is the same though, from his earlier evangelistic message and this one. Peter first tells them the bad news – that the killed the Messiah, Jesus. Then he would proceed to give them the good news, and that was that forgiveness was available to them by God’s grace. 19 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, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. Verse 26" God having raised up His servant, sent Him to you first, to bless you, in turning every one of you, from your wickedness".
The Risen Lord is at large in the world to bless every one who turns to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. He will be present during the Franklin Graham Festival, which will start This Friday at 7 p.m., at the EVENT Center of the Binghamton University. He will be there to bless people by thousands. He will forgive, he will restore, and He will refresh. He will find the lost and encourage the found.
Thanks be to Jesus. He is the same, yesterday, today, and for ever.
In Him,
Brown
Monday, June 4, 2007
Brown's Daily Word 6-4-07
The Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the believer and to the Church at large, not for private enjoyment, but to be used to bring others to Jesus. The power of the Holy Spirit is given to minister to the least, the last, and lost of the world. The Holy Spirit came upon the believers on Pentecost so they can could come out of their closets of hiding and be propelled into the main street, onto the market place, and become the instruments of His grace and His healing. We are praying and anticipating that the Lord of the Pentecost will give us a fresh move of the spirit so that we can be His instruments of love and compassion to the world around us during the upcoming Franklin Graham festival in our region . The Festival is going start the Friday at 7 p.m. at the Event Center of Binghamton University , the epicenter of the university.
Chuck Swindoll tells about a man who went to see a psychiatrist because he was extremely depressed. The psychiatrist just could not get him to snap out of it. So he said to the man, “Tonight I want you to go to the circus in town because they have a clown named the Great Rinaldi, he is the funniest clown I have ever seen. Whenever I go to see the Great Rinaldi it always lifts my spirits.” The man responded. “You don’t understand doctor, I am the Great Rinaldi.” This world is full of Great Rinaldis, who are empty. They are desperate and can find no relief, not even in the comedy of a clown. They may put on masks of happiness, to appear fine to everyone, but when they return to their homes at night they cry themselves to sleep because their life is pointless and they long to find something in life to make them happy and give them a sense of meaning. They look at their lives and wonder what it is all about. Life must have more to offer me than this, they say. God has given us the responsibility as Christians and as churches to reach these hurting people. The church, above all else, is a place for people who have problems. The church was designed for the single mother who works two jobs to support her kids. Church is for the drug addict who can’t stop his habit. Church is for the man who can’t stay away from pornography on the internet. Church is for the young person who struggles with self esteem. The church is for the alcoholic who is ready to admit he needs help. Ezekiel 34:16 instructs, “Search for the lost, bring back those that stray away, put bandages on those that are hurt, and make the weak strong." But the problem with so many of our churches is that we often pass by the hurting souls in our world and ignore them and in doing so we miss an amazing opportunity to lead them to Christ. It is often hurting souls that make the best converts to Christ. They are broken and they have nowhere to turn and Jesus is the visible answer to their predicament. We need to be perceptive enough as Christians to notice the hurt in people and give them what they need and that is Jesus. In Acts chapter 3 we read of a hurting soul that was brought into the church. Acts 3 is an account of a crippled beggar who Peter and John, two disciples met one day outside the temple in Jerusalem. This beggar was hurting deeply. He had sat near the temple everyday and no one noticed him sitting there? To me this crippled beggar represents exactly the kind of person the church is trying to reach. Those who have been crippled by life’s circumstances. From this story I think we can learn some valuable lessons about how to minister to those people around our churches who are hurting like this crippled beggar. Acts 3:1. Verse 1, “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.” Let’s stop here and keep in mind that this is at the beginning of the church and so believers in Christ were still attached to the temple. In fact, Acts 2:46 says that the believers were meeting in the temple area on a daily basis. So it is not uncommon to see Peter and John going to the temple to pray , “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.” The temple gate called beautiful was one of the favored entrances into the temple and thousands passed through it on a daily basis. That is why we see this crippled man being put there. He knew exactly where the most people would enter the temple at one time. And the more people who entered, the more money he could mooch off them. Verse 3, “When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter, said, ‘Look at us!’ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.” The Bible says the beggar expected to get something from Peter and John. Most likely, his immediate desire was money. People often think money is the answer to their problem. But Verse 6 records Peter’s words. “silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And verse 7 says, “Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.” Peter had no money for this man, but he had something much better. He had healing. This says Peter healed this man in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. What that means was that he was doing the miracle “by the authority and power of Jesus Christ.” Peter wanted to let this man know that it was not him, who was doing this. It was Jesus. Peter would take no credit for it. Jesus was working this miracle. It was Jesus alone who had the power to change lives. Verse 8, “Then he (the crippled man) went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple and they were filled with wonderment and amazement at what had happened to him.” This man no longer was confined to stand outside the temple, he now entered the holy place and gave due praise to the Lord. Those around him took note that he was the same man, who just seconds before was confined to begging. There was no mistake, a miracle had taken place. Jesus had made the lame to walk. We notice that PETER AND JOHN GOT OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY AND MET LOST PEOPLE. Peter and John went as a team out to where the people were.Peter and John were not hiding themselves away from the world. They weren’t content to sit around the church and discuss the Bible with the other ten apostles they got out into the culture of Jerusalem. We could learn a very valuable lesson from Peter and John. They weren’t satisfied to just associate with Christians and those like them. They got outside the church walls and were intentional about mingling with the crowds in Jerusalem. That’s why they went at three in afternoon because that was the hour of prayer and they knew people would be flocking to the temple. Peter and John had probably met this crippled man before, they knew who he was. They had probably talked with him before. They had built a relationship with him. They probably walked by him everyday, deliberately just to greet him. PETER AND JOHN WERE PERCEPTIVE AND RESPONDED TO HIS HURT. Peter and John were not too busy or too much in a hurry to notice this hurting man. The Bible says that Peter looked at him attentively. Thousands of religious people walked by this man everyday oblivious to his condition but Peter and John two Christians noticed. They were perceptive. Jim Cymbala in his book Fresh Power writes, “Peter responded exactly the opposite to how most people respond to beggars. Most of us try not to make eye contact with them. But by the spirit Peter perceived that God was about to do something for this individual. Peter did not feel drawn to everybody at the gate but only to this particular man.” Too often we are not like Peter and John. We are too distracted by the routine of life, to notice a hurting soul. There are people we come in contact with on a daily basis who are hurting and crying out but we never notice. I mean, here were Peter and John, two hotshots of the church whom thousands of people were flocking to hear preach each day and yet they noticed one single little beggar. Do you notice the needs of people? Have you looked around, have you seen the pain and suffering of people? In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus tells of a man who had been beaten and robbed and left alone to die on the roadside. A priest happened to be going down the same road and when he saw the man, the Bible says he passed by on the other side. And so too a Levite, a religious man, when he came to the place and saw him, he too passed by on the other side. We are too often like the priest and the Levite, we pass by a hurting soul. We are too busy or too numb to notice a need. Peter and John did not pass by on the other side. They stopped and noticed this man’s condition. PETER AND JOHN WERE WILLING TO TOUCH THE UNWANTED. Verse 7 says that Peter took this man by the right hand and helped him up. Peter was the only one among thousands of people that day who was willing to touch the untouchable. Would you be willing to reach down and touch a filthy homeless crippled beggar on the street? That is, this man was an irritant to society, harassing people as they entered to worship! No one wanted anything to do with him, except these two disciples of Jesus Christ. The world had kicked him to the curb. But Peter and John wanted to bring him into the church. As churches we need to be willing to help people like this man who the world has kicked and dragged through the mud. . . The single mother who has been abandoned by her husband, The widower whose wife committed suicide, The drug addict, whose pusher still calls him everyday trying to hook him again, The homosexual who has HIV, The teenager whose parents kicked her out after she told them she was pregnant, The guy who is covered with tattoos and is pierced in all kinds of places. Sadly, most churches are not willing to deal with the untouchable. Instead, we want perfect people who come dressed in a suit and tie and come carrying a leather bound Bible. They don’t dance, don’t play cards, don’t drink. We have an idealized person who belongs in church and it is certainly not someone with AIDS or with tatoos. Sadly many of our churches are certainly not wanting to touch the stripper or the prostitute or the teenager with blue hair. But Peter and John show us who as Christians we need to be trying to reach. . . Those who are crippled by circumstances,Those who are hurting, Those who are untouchable and who the world passes by. If we as Christian churches say we really want to reach lost souls then we had better be willing to touch some “beggars.” PETER AND JOHN GAVE THE MAN WHAT HE TRULY NEEDED. What he truly needed was Jesus! He didn’t need money though that was what he was begging for. He needed divine intervention. He needed Jesus. That is precisely what Peter gave him. Silver and gold I have none, but I have Jesus, he told him. And that is what he gave him. We must keep in mind that what people really need from us as churches is Jesus. It does very little good to bring people to our churches if they aren’t a place where non-believers can encounter Christ. Len Sweet tells about one Gen –X church planter in Chicago who began a new church that attempted to reach younger people. One of his younger members admitted to him, “Pastor, I hope you know that if it weren’t for Jesus, I wouldn’t be a Christian.” There is a dying, hurting world out there and we must look around and we must give them Jesus. Warren Wiersbe, a commentator sums up this story for us. He writes, “It is easy to see in this man an illustration of what salvation is like. He was born lame and all of us are born unable to walk so as to please God. The man was also poor, and we as sinners are bankrupt before God, unable to pay the tremendous debt we owe Him. He was “outside the temple” and all sinners are separated from God. The man was healed wholly by the power of Christ, and the healing was immediate.” Lord, help us to reach out the hurting and the dying. Help us love people enough to notice their pain. Help us to love you enough to want to bring people to you
Chuck Swindoll tells about a man who went to see a psychiatrist because he was extremely depressed. The psychiatrist just could not get him to snap out of it. So he said to the man, “Tonight I want you to go to the circus in town because they have a clown named the Great Rinaldi, he is the funniest clown I have ever seen. Whenever I go to see the Great Rinaldi it always lifts my spirits.” The man responded. “You don’t understand doctor, I am the Great Rinaldi.” This world is full of Great Rinaldis, who are empty. They are desperate and can find no relief, not even in the comedy of a clown. They may put on masks of happiness, to appear fine to everyone, but when they return to their homes at night they cry themselves to sleep because their life is pointless and they long to find something in life to make them happy and give them a sense of meaning. They look at their lives and wonder what it is all about. Life must have more to offer me than this, they say. God has given us the responsibility as Christians and as churches to reach these hurting people. The church, above all else, is a place for people who have problems. The church was designed for the single mother who works two jobs to support her kids. Church is for the drug addict who can’t stop his habit. Church is for the man who can’t stay away from pornography on the internet. Church is for the young person who struggles with self esteem. The church is for the alcoholic who is ready to admit he needs help. Ezekiel 34:16 instructs, “Search for the lost, bring back those that stray away, put bandages on those that are hurt, and make the weak strong." But the problem with so many of our churches is that we often pass by the hurting souls in our world and ignore them and in doing so we miss an amazing opportunity to lead them to Christ. It is often hurting souls that make the best converts to Christ. They are broken and they have nowhere to turn and Jesus is the visible answer to their predicament. We need to be perceptive enough as Christians to notice the hurt in people and give them what they need and that is Jesus. In Acts chapter 3 we read of a hurting soul that was brought into the church. Acts 3 is an account of a crippled beggar who Peter and John, two disciples met one day outside the temple in Jerusalem. This beggar was hurting deeply. He had sat near the temple everyday and no one noticed him sitting there? To me this crippled beggar represents exactly the kind of person the church is trying to reach. Those who have been crippled by life’s circumstances. From this story I think we can learn some valuable lessons about how to minister to those people around our churches who are hurting like this crippled beggar. Acts 3:1. Verse 1, “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.” Let’s stop here and keep in mind that this is at the beginning of the church and so believers in Christ were still attached to the temple. In fact, Acts 2:46 says that the believers were meeting in the temple area on a daily basis. So it is not uncommon to see Peter and John going to the temple to pray , “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.” The temple gate called beautiful was one of the favored entrances into the temple and thousands passed through it on a daily basis. That is why we see this crippled man being put there. He knew exactly where the most people would enter the temple at one time. And the more people who entered, the more money he could mooch off them. Verse 3, “When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter, said, ‘Look at us!’ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.” The Bible says the beggar expected to get something from Peter and John. Most likely, his immediate desire was money. People often think money is the answer to their problem. But Verse 6 records Peter’s words. “silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And verse 7 says, “Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.” Peter had no money for this man, but he had something much better. He had healing. This says Peter healed this man in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. What that means was that he was doing the miracle “by the authority and power of Jesus Christ.” Peter wanted to let this man know that it was not him, who was doing this. It was Jesus. Peter would take no credit for it. Jesus was working this miracle. It was Jesus alone who had the power to change lives. Verse 8, “Then he (the crippled man) went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple and they were filled with wonderment and amazement at what had happened to him.” This man no longer was confined to stand outside the temple, he now entered the holy place and gave due praise to the Lord. Those around him took note that he was the same man, who just seconds before was confined to begging. There was no mistake, a miracle had taken place. Jesus had made the lame to walk. We notice that PETER AND JOHN GOT OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY AND MET LOST PEOPLE. Peter and John went as a team out to where the people were.Peter and John were not hiding themselves away from the world. They weren’t content to sit around the church and discuss the Bible with the other ten apostles they got out into the culture of Jerusalem. We could learn a very valuable lesson from Peter and John. They weren’t satisfied to just associate with Christians and those like them. They got outside the church walls and were intentional about mingling with the crowds in Jerusalem. That’s why they went at three in afternoon because that was the hour of prayer and they knew people would be flocking to the temple. Peter and John had probably met this crippled man before, they knew who he was. They had probably talked with him before. They had built a relationship with him. They probably walked by him everyday, deliberately just to greet him. PETER AND JOHN WERE PERCEPTIVE AND RESPONDED TO HIS HURT. Peter and John were not too busy or too much in a hurry to notice this hurting man. The Bible says that Peter looked at him attentively. Thousands of religious people walked by this man everyday oblivious to his condition but Peter and John two Christians noticed. They were perceptive. Jim Cymbala in his book Fresh Power writes, “Peter responded exactly the opposite to how most people respond to beggars. Most of us try not to make eye contact with them. But by the spirit Peter perceived that God was about to do something for this individual. Peter did not feel drawn to everybody at the gate but only to this particular man.” Too often we are not like Peter and John. We are too distracted by the routine of life, to notice a hurting soul. There are people we come in contact with on a daily basis who are hurting and crying out but we never notice. I mean, here were Peter and John, two hotshots of the church whom thousands of people were flocking to hear preach each day and yet they noticed one single little beggar. Do you notice the needs of people? Have you looked around, have you seen the pain and suffering of people? In the parable of the Good Samaritan Jesus tells of a man who had been beaten and robbed and left alone to die on the roadside. A priest happened to be going down the same road and when he saw the man, the Bible says he passed by on the other side. And so too a Levite, a religious man, when he came to the place and saw him, he too passed by on the other side. We are too often like the priest and the Levite, we pass by a hurting soul. We are too busy or too numb to notice a need. Peter and John did not pass by on the other side. They stopped and noticed this man’s condition. PETER AND JOHN WERE WILLING TO TOUCH THE UNWANTED. Verse 7 says that Peter took this man by the right hand and helped him up. Peter was the only one among thousands of people that day who was willing to touch the untouchable. Would you be willing to reach down and touch a filthy homeless crippled beggar on the street? That is, this man was an irritant to society, harassing people as they entered to worship! No one wanted anything to do with him, except these two disciples of Jesus Christ. The world had kicked him to the curb. But Peter and John wanted to bring him into the church. As churches we need to be willing to help people like this man who the world has kicked and dragged through the mud. . . The single mother who has been abandoned by her husband, The widower whose wife committed suicide, The drug addict, whose pusher still calls him everyday trying to hook him again, The homosexual who has HIV, The teenager whose parents kicked her out after she told them she was pregnant, The guy who is covered with tattoos and is pierced in all kinds of places. Sadly, most churches are not willing to deal with the untouchable. Instead, we want perfect people who come dressed in a suit and tie and come carrying a leather bound Bible. They don’t dance, don’t play cards, don’t drink. We have an idealized person who belongs in church and it is certainly not someone with AIDS or with tatoos. Sadly many of our churches are certainly not wanting to touch the stripper or the prostitute or the teenager with blue hair. But Peter and John show us who as Christians we need to be trying to reach. . . Those who are crippled by circumstances,Those who are hurting, Those who are untouchable and who the world passes by. If we as Christian churches say we really want to reach lost souls then we had better be willing to touch some “beggars.” PETER AND JOHN GAVE THE MAN WHAT HE TRULY NEEDED. What he truly needed was Jesus! He didn’t need money though that was what he was begging for. He needed divine intervention. He needed Jesus. That is precisely what Peter gave him. Silver and gold I have none, but I have Jesus, he told him. And that is what he gave him. We must keep in mind that what people really need from us as churches is Jesus. It does very little good to bring people to our churches if they aren’t a place where non-believers can encounter Christ. Len Sweet tells about one Gen –X church planter in Chicago who began a new church that attempted to reach younger people. One of his younger members admitted to him, “Pastor, I hope you know that if it weren’t for Jesus, I wouldn’t be a Christian.” There is a dying, hurting world out there and we must look around and we must give them Jesus. Warren Wiersbe, a commentator sums up this story for us. He writes, “It is easy to see in this man an illustration of what salvation is like. He was born lame and all of us are born unable to walk so as to please God. The man was also poor, and we as sinners are bankrupt before God, unable to pay the tremendous debt we owe Him. He was “outside the temple” and all sinners are separated from God. The man was healed wholly by the power of Christ, and the healing was immediate.” Lord, help us to reach out the hurting and the dying. Help us love people enough to notice their pain. Help us to love you enough to want to bring people to you
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