Acts - Part 3
September 10th 2023,
A couple of weeks ago, we began a study of the Book of Acts as our new series. It’s a bit of a fly-over of the Book of Acts & not necessarily a chapter by chapter study but I do encourage you to do a full study of the Book of Acts on your own!
The physician, Luke wrote the book of Acts… This is Volume 2 of Luke’s writings after the Gospel of Luke. The Gospel was all about the life of Jesus, what he did & said, how he lived. The book of Acts is a first-hand account about the life of the Church & the Christians who started it.
In John 16 Jesus said, “it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And [when He comes, He] will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; … when He, the Spirit… comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; … 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
Then in Acts 1 JESUS predicted the Holy Spirit again and told them that the Holy Spirit will be ‘power’ so they could do the work he’d called them to do (“Acts 1:8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”)
That verse has become the thematic verse for this series to keep in mind… you and I need power to live the life God has called us to… we can’t do it alone and if we want to be included in the ‘still-not-concluded’ Book of Acts that we’re still living in, we have to live by the power of the Spirit.
The big question that we’re asking during this series is: What would you do for the kingdom of God if you were given the unlimited power to do it?
The point behind Acts is to help us see that when the people of God become filled with the SPIRIT of God they now have the power to DO the Christian life.(Whether it’s the the disciples there in the upper room or you & me–when we’re filled with the Holy Spirit just like Jesus promised–they can live the Christian life with the same Power that Jesus Himself lived in.
We already talked about how the Spirit fell on the Day of Pentecost & how the first three signs of His arrival were the sound/wind, the tongues of fire that rested on their heads and the ability to speak in other languages so that the people around them could see the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit & hear the Gospel in their own languages. And today I’m praying that we see even deeper how the power of
the Holy Spirit shows up in the life of the church so that we can learn to live in the same power.
We mentioned last week that when the Spirit fell, the LEADING POWER of God for the children of Israel–the cloud by day & the pillar of fire by night–was no longer just ‘way out there in front’ like it was for Moses and the Israelites during Exodus, but now the leading power is resting on each individual, visible as the tongues of fire.
Acts 2: 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”
Peter’s Sermon
14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;
And Peter continues to preach… He tells them about how Jesus came to free them, perform miracles & show them the way back to the Father but he also accuses them saying, “you nailed Him to a cross & put Him to death…but God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death.” jump to v 32
32 This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. ::
37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. … … 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
So this story of Peter’s first real “sermon” is a very obvious 180* turnaround for the guy who was a crazy, uneducated Galilean fisherman. Peter is no longer just running his mouth off like he was before, he’s no longer denying Christ in fear like he was just a month or two earlier during Jesus trial & accusation… This version of Peter is articulate, well-spoken and able to use the exact same kind of logic from the Torah that these religious Jews used in their teachings from the Law to prove to them this same Jesus that they had crucified was
the Messiah & was the true way to salvation with the Father. All of these Jewish people from all over the known world could SEE that Peter had been filled with power because he was VISIBLY & DEMONSTRABLY DIFFERENT. “Something’s happened because this is DEFINITELY not the same guy from last week.”
In Chapter 3, Peter & John actually HEALED a lame man who had been begging at the temple gate, the Gate Beautiful, for many years… this is the famous passage from Acts 3:6 where Peter says, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” then look at Acts 3:9-10…
Acts 3:9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God; 10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. ::
So by this power that Jesus had predicted & now they were filled with, they’re now performing the same kinds of miracles that Jesus did–and people are taking notice.
- In chapter 2 the Jews from all over the world NOTICE that these are the uneducated Galilean men who were now speaking fluently in many different languages. - When Peter gives his first sermon immediately after that, the people NOTICE that Peter is amazingly different from the Peter they knew just a few days ago… - Then in chapter 3, it specifically says, “9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple…”
All this TAKING NOTICE is about to get them into trouble with the Jewish leaders too…
Acts 4: 5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! …
Here we have a direct reference to the power of the Holy Spirit filling Peter SO THAT he could respond to the elders & leaders who were accusing them. If you’re interested, a very similar encounter happens in CH 5 as well… The Holy Spirit is giving these disciples POWER to live through the hardships & issues they’re facing… For Peter in Ch 2 & 4, the Holy Spirit gives the power to SPEAK & ANSWER… in Chapt 3 it’s the power to HEAL…
Let’s read the end of the story & we’ll see ANOTHER power that’s given by the Holy Spirit…
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. … …
29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. ::
Here the disciples specifically ask for BOLDNESS and when they are filled with the Holy Spirit, they have the ability to SPEAK BOLDLY. So the disciples receive the ability to SPEAK & DEFEND this new belief in Jesus as well as the power to DO MIRACLES like Jesus… and now power for BOLDNESS.
Now, what’s crazy is that while Luke is writing this passage in Chapt 4, he’s ACTUALLY referencing something Jesus said back in Luke 21
Luke 21: 12 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. 13 It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. 14 So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; 15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.
Jesus promised here that ALL of this same stuff would happen and it did… and he said, “... make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; 15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom”.
My prayer for us tonight is that we be filled with the Spirit just like Peter & John … so that we can SPEAK with authority… walk in MIRACLES exactly like Jesus did and just like the prayed for, to live in BOLDNESS.
This is the kind of life I believe that we should be able to live as Christians. The power of the Holy Spirit is evident in the life of a Christian as they now have the ability to SPEAK BOLDLY about what God has done… share the Gospel. It leads to a new kind of LIFE… Look at what happens in Acts 4 for the believers who are SPEAKING with authority, walking in MIRACLES and living in BOLDNESS…
Acts 4: 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them.
This sounds like EXACTLY what we need in America now… Unity of heart… Unity of mind… and the authority & ability by the Spirit to help one another… not offer handouts like governmental socialism, but true UPLIFTING that leads people OUT of darkness & spiritual/emotional and even physical poverty.