Walking & Leaping & Praising God

SERMON: 2010-01-31--ac1042--walking-leaping-praising-god SOURCE DURATION: 00:40:36.000 PROPOSED CUTS: 1 CONFIDENCE: 0.95 APPROVED: false REASON: The candidates from [10] onward exhibit highly repetitive and structured lyrics ('Come see the cross...', 'Then see his pose...') characteristic of a hymn or musical interlude. Candidate [9] is the last segment that maintains the narrative flow and thematic development typical of sermon content before this clear transition to non-sermon material. Acoustic segmentation found sustained music at the end edge and moved the boundary to the adjacent transcript segment. ACOUSTIC EVIDENCE: available ACOUSTIC MUSIC INTERVALS: 00:37:00.340-00:40:35.060 ACOUSTIC SPEECH OVERLAP: yes ACOUSTIC BOUNDARIES APPLIED: end Inline CUT markers identify each proposed audio boundary after the relevant word. --- ORIGINAL TRANSCRIPT WITH PROPOSED CUTS MARKED --- Let's pick up then where we left off last week. And we left off last week talking about the fact that no matter how crippled each one of us might be on account of living in a fallen world, God's grace in Christ tells us this. Either God will heal our infirmities or else He will help us to overcome these infirmities so that by His grace we can fulfill the life calling that God has on each of us. I firmly believe scripturally that there's a purpose and a destiny that God has for each one of His children. And when you start trying to pursue that destiny and when you start trying to pursue that calling, it doesn't take you very long before you discover there are places inside you that want to sabotage the fulfillment of God's purposes. And when that happens, it's very easy to lie down and die instead of laying hold of the blessings that God has for us in Christ. And one of the reasons God raises up somebody like Nick Voyachich is because he wants to demonstrate the greatness of His power in the most unlikely of candidates. And while sometimes a story like Nick's looks like a story of extreme instances with which perhaps we cannot identify, the scripture makes it very plain that one of the reasons God does that is to show us this, if I can do it for Nick, if I can help him overcome his limitations and his liabilities, his places of being crippled, then how much more can I help you in your places of brokenness? Here's how the Apostle Paul puts it in scripture when he says concerning himself, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of which I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life." Ever feel like you are the worst of sinners? Ever feel there are places of crookedness and brokenness deep inside your psyche that simply cannot ever be overcome? You're too bad, you failed too badly, you've gone too far down the wrong road. The message of scripture is that to paraphrase the Apostle Paul where sin or brokenness abounds, the grace of God abounds even more. And God loves to take the backdrop of our failures and use it for a demonstration of His glory. And that of course is the whole point here in Acts chapter 3 where we have this story of the crippled man being healed through the instrumentality of Peter and John at the temple. The first thing that I want us to notice is the context of this story. It happens in the context of Peter and John going to the temple. Verse 1, "One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon." Now that's one of those little details that it's easy to overlook but it's actually fairly significant in the context of the story because who here remembers what happened at the temple about two months previously? What happened? Who visited the temple? Jesus. What day? His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. What did Jesus do when He visited the temple? Well He got into a bit of a spat with the money changers. He turned their tables upside down. But what else did He do? Well the Bible tells us in Matthew's Gospel that He healed the blind and the lame that came to Him and the Bible says He healed them all. Now I don't want to read too much into that but it surely makes me ask the question, where was this dude when the miracles were being handed out? Like was he not there? Maybe he was home with the flu. Maybe his friends forgot to pick him up that day. Maybe he was way off some other place in the temple and he couldn't get to where Jesus was. But the point is this, whatever the reason, he didn't get his healing eight weeks earlier when Jesus was at the temple. And there's a rather important spiritual lesson in all of that that we easily overlook. And that is the fact that there is something very sovereign about the mighty acts of God. And both in His healings and in His judgments. I thought of that just in recent weeks as we have been hearing the news about the earthquake and the devastation in Haiti. And I was reminded as I listened to the stories coming out of that, of the verse of Jesus in Matthew 24 verse 40 and 41 when He says, "Two men will be in the field, one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill, one will be taken and the other left." And it occurred to me again, there is something so bizarrely arbitrary about both the healings of God in Scripture and in the redemptive judgments of God in Scripture. Do you remember going back to when the earthquake first hit, who was the first reported Canadian casualty? Do you remember that? It was a Christian nurse from Elmira, Ontario, volunteering her fourth mission trip to Haiti. She had been on the ground for 90 minutes, was staying in a guest house that collapsed with the earthquake, killed her and two other people who were with her. Now, at the same time, the prison walls shook, do you remember that? And thousands of criminals escaped to carry on their looting and their murderous activities. I don't know about you, but I look at stories like that and I say something is not adding up, and that's of course, always the challenge of faith. Why do the wicked prosper? Why do the righteous suffer? The Bible doesn't give us an answer why this particular person was not healed when Jesus made his rounds the first time around. Anymore the Nick has never gotten an answer to why am I born this way and why hasn't God heard my prayer for arms and legs to grow out? Certainly he could have done that too and that also would have been a big miracle. But you see there's something sovereign about the timing of God. Because if this man had been healed with all the other healings in the temple two months earlier, he would have been one of many and we would have never known his story. As it is in the divine wisdom of God, he gets healed in Acts chapter three and this becomes the setting as we'll see later Lord willing for Peter's proclamation of the gospel and as a result two thousand more people come to faith because of this miracle that has happened in front of everybody's eyes. You never know when God is going to touch you and that ought to be an incredible word of comfort and encouragement to each of us because sometimes when faith rises up and we start asking God for specific things and they don't happen, then it's very easy to slide into a place of depression that says well God loves everybody but he doesn't love me. Fact of the matter is he loves me. He's got a much bigger plan than I have yet begun to capture and when the time is right, he will give his revelation to what I need. For Nick, that revelation came when he was fifteen years of age. He went to church and he read the story of the man born blind in John chapter nine and all of a sudden the light dawned on him. This man was not sick because of his sin or because of his parents sin but that God's glory might be shown through him and that was the hour he gave his life unreservedly to Jesus and he said Jesus do with me whatever you want and the results you see in his ministry today. So this takes place in the context of the temple. Second thing I want us to note in this particular story then is that Peter engages the crippled man. Verse four, Peter looked straight at him as did John and then Peter said look at us. Peter said look at us. Now I don't again want to read too much into the story but details are important and sometimes details are very important and they give us insight into situations that otherwise we would never clue into and I believe the details here are important because notice verse three that leads us into verse four, when he saw Peter and John about to enter he asked them for money. Did you catch that? He saw Peter and John about to enter and so he asked them for money and yet here is Peter saying look at me. Do you get the picture? Here's the picture, the guy sees them come, asks for money and he holds out his little dish or whatever but he's looking away. Interesting isn't it? Here's the question, why when you're begging for money would you look away? Why do people avert their eyes? Well many different reasons but usually it's because you don't want to engage. How many of you here have ever been to a trade show? Let me see your show of hands. How many of you have ever been exhibitors at a trade show? Well I've been both and I can tell you from first hand experience that it's all about eye contact. If you've ever been in a booth and you have tried to get customers to engage you by your product or by your services then you're standing there with your eyeballs peeled hoping that somebody will look your way because the minute they do you know that you have engaged them and you can draw them in. Similarly, if you have ever attended a trade show and you have not been interested in engaging and somebody is trying to eyeball you, what do you do? You pretend you don't have any eyes, you just keep right on going. I didn't see you, I don't think you're there, I don't want to talk to you. But here's the point, when you meet a beggar on the street or you come up over against somebody who is a high needs person, what do you do? You refuse to engage. And when you refuse to engage the whole key is you look the other way. Now here's this guy then, he's begging but he's looking the other way. Why does he refuse to engage? Think that through with me for a little bit. How would you feel if you have sat there begging week after week and month after month and you know that you're crippled and you live in a world where the theology says that if you're crippled it's likely you sinned or your parents sinned? What would be the two dominant emotions in your life? You know why I believe that man looked away? He was filled with hopelessness and he was filled with shame. Shameless because how many times had he held out his dish looking for a handout only to discover that people weren't interested in helping him out? Shame-filled because how many times had he sat there being reminded of his broken condition, wishing for all the money in the world that he was someplace else and he didn't know how to cope with the brokenness of being seen? The Bible says the eye is the lamp of your body. Through our eyes we not only take in the world but through our eyes we mirror what lives on the inside. And if you have ever been in a place of guilt, if you've ever been in a place where you have been deeply ashamed, where you feel that you have failed in ways that you cannot lift your eyes then you will know the reality of not being able to look people in the eye because it is simply too painful. So here's this man, doesn't dare lift up his eyes to Peter and John and what does Peter do? He stops him dead in his tracks and he says, "Look at us." And those three little words are pregnant with meaning and power. Because those three little words not only mean I see you, they not only mean I care about you, they also mean I want to step into your world and I want to help you. And I'll tell you if there is one thing people filled with hopelessness need and if there's one thing that people filled with shame need is they need somebody who will step into their world not with judgment and condemnation, not with here's my loony so that I can feel less guilty about passing you by, not charity that comes from an attitude of superiority but a heart filled with love and compassion that says, "I know you, I see you, I know your pain, it is not too big for me, I'm willing to step into the world where you're living." And so it's very significant then isn't it that the scripture tells us this response from the crippled man. So the man gave them his attention expecting to get something from them. "Hope deferred," says the book of Proverbs, "makes the heart sick, but a hope fulfilled is what? It is a spring of life." Don't ever forget the hope that you can bring into somebody else's life if you refuse to be bowled over by the hopelessness of the situation and if you refuse to be bowled over by the horror of their shame. The world needs God's people to follow the steps of Jesus and the apostles and we need to learn to step into the messiness of a broken world because Jesus is bigger and who knows but that Jesus living in us and working through us might just be wanting to pull off a significant miracle of healing and restoration. So the setting is the temple, Peter sees the man, he engages him and then the third thing that is of interest I think in this particular passage is that having gained his attention Peter now fully steps in to the situation. Look again at how scripture goes on in verses six and seven. Peter says, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you." In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. Taking him by the right hand he helped him up and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. Three elements in those two verses that are highly significant for us this morning. The first is that Peter knows what his limitations are. Notice again how he puts it, he says, "Silver or gold I do not have." Even if Peter had wanted to help this man with his coping mechanism to do a work around his crippled condition, Peter was in no position to help him, why? Because he didn't have silver or gold. And you and I will often find ourselves in a situation where we are confronted by the brokenness of lives all around us and we will feel the demands that are being made on us, the desire to suck people into other people's problems and even if in a moment like that we wanted to help them, we discover we simply haven't got what it takes. The problems are too big, the sorrows too great, the hurts too huge, silver and gold I do not have. Very important to know what your limitations are. Very important to know what you cannot step into, that's an area known as boundaries. But notice Peter doesn't stop there because he goes on to say he's also very clear in what he does have. Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. Then he goes on to say, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Peter has the use of the name of Jesus. Now, if you remember nothing else I say this morning, please give this your fullest attention and your fullest heart. Peter as an apostle is a representative of Jesus Christ who has received all authority in heaven and on earth. Peter is an ambassador for Jesus and as an ambassador for Jesus on behalf of Jesus he has authority to step into situations on Jesus's behalf and Jesus will recognize his authority. Many of us will remember this exchange between Jesus and Peter in Matthew chapter 16. "I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock," and we know that's a play on words because Peter is Petros which means rock, "on this rock, the confession that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God, I will build my church and the gates of hell or the gates of Hades, the realm of the dead, will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." It is a mind blowing concept that Jesus who has received all authority from the Father because of his obedience unto death and trusts his authority to the church. And when the church is in union with Jesus and is listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, then when the church steps out into a situation, it has the power to open and to close the doors of the kingdom. It has a power that is recognized and supported from heaven on high. As I said, a mind blowing concept and one that has hugely practical implications for you and me because by faith we too are joined to Jesus, aren't we? And when by faith we are joined to Jesus, we share the anointing of Jesus. The Bible calls those spiritual gifts. And in those places of spiritual giftings, God gives us a measure of authority and power to stand for his kingdom in the world. And so you might be a person who is blessed financially. Not blessed financially because you have great coping mechanisms and therefore you have learned to become rich, no, an ability to make money because it flows authentically out of your heart. God has a calling in each of our lives and a place where God gives us the anointing of his Holy Spirit. And while a lot of people develop their coping mechanisms to try to succeed in life, always to fail in the long run, there is such a thing as strength and power and anointing that is truly mine, a giftedness and a strength that is truly and authentically mine. And when you listen to Nick Vujicic, what you hear is a strength that God has imparted to him partly because he comes out of a very healthy family, partly because the Lord through his suffering has built his character, has developed his skills, and has given him the perseverance to see things through. And so you might be the kind of person who has the ability to make money. Or you might be the kind of person who carries a lot of authority with you. Maybe you're part of a corporation or part of a business or even at home, you know how to rule your family in a godly, serving way. Or you have wisdom or insight. You hear other people's problems and you know where the answer lies. Or you have a servant heart. This is what you have that has been given to you in Christ. Notice Peter isn't all of a sudden starting to drum up something that he doesn't have. No, this is what is his deposit by faith in Jesus. If you listen to Nick talk, then he says, "I am where I am not because somehow magically it all fell from heaven. No, God gave me what he gave me and I stewarded faithfully what God has given me." My question to you is what is it that you have in your hand? What is it that God has blessed you with? Because you see, that's what Peter does here. Power or gold I don't have, but what I have I give you in the name of Jesus of Nazareth walk. And so Paul writing about spiritual gifts in the book of Romans among other places puts it this way. He says, "We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve. If it is teaching, let him teach. If it is encouraging, let him encourage. If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously. If it is leadership, let him govern diligently. And if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." So Peter knows what he doesn't have. Peter also knows what he does have. And then, of course, knowing what he has, he takes action. Notice again how the passage goes on, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth walk, taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong." Again, notice a couple of things there. Do you notice how Peter not only steps into the situation, but he steps into it with a voice of command? He says, "In the name of Jesus of Nazareth walk." Ponder that with me for a little bit, because that's not the kind of thing that we're accustomed to, is it? I mean, it's hard enough for us to pray over somebody with the degree of faith hoping maybe that they will get up and walk. But to speak authoritatively is a dimension that is largely lacking from the church today. And yet, it is so much a part of the biblical revelation. What does Jesus say about the mountains that get in the way? Does he say, "Pray for the mountain to be removed"? No, he says, "You speak to the mountain. If you have faith even at the grain of a mustard seed, that mountain will move and it will be thrown into the sea." And every time I want to feel just a tad bit inferior about my faith, I look at that verse and I say, "Oh Lord, God have mercy, because who of us has even that kind of faith?" But God gives authority to the church. And Peter uses that authority to speak into that situation on behalf of Jesus' name. And then what else does he do? He takes the man by the hand and he pulls him up. Because you see, a lot of times when we're helping people out of their trouble, it's not enough just to speak into their lives to tell them what it is that they're supposed to be doing, because when you've been crippled for 40 years, you don't even know where to begin, do you? And so Peter does more than give him good advice, Peter does more than just speak into his life, Peter actually reaches out to him. And he says, "Listen, I'll come beside you, I'm going to take you by the hand, and I'm going to help you back up on your feet." And then what else happens? Because he takes him by the hand and lifts him up, what do the scriptures tell us? Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. It is in the going that God meets us. Have you ever noticed how often we sit around? We sort of have an idea of what it is that the Lord is inviting or calling us to do, maybe visit a neighbor, maybe invite somebody over to church, maybe pray for somebody that's sick, or step out into a whole new situation and we know that we don't have, we're not too aware of what we do have, and we keep waiting for God to give us more before we step out into it and then nothing ever happens. You know why? Because the miracle happens in the going. The miracle happens when in faith you step out and pray about that impossible situation. The miracle happens when in faith you reach out, take that brother or sister by the hand and say, "Let's seek God's grace and God's mercy in your life." The miracle happens when in obedience to the call of God, we lay hold of the promised blessing. Of course it means we have to walk with Jesus. We can't just be like Don Quixote, you know, fighting windmills, but never let us underestimate the importance and the power of the keys of the kingdom that has been entrusted to the children of God. So where does this all lead to? Final point just very quickly, the man's faculties are restored. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God. And probably Lord willing, we'll need to come back to that in more detail. But how do you know you have really seen God at work? How do you know the power of the kingdom has been made manifest? How do you know a true miracle from a false miracle? How do you know reality from deception? There is but one test, it's always the fruit. God's work of grace will always restore broken faculties or give power to broken faculties to accomplish the purposes of God. And so I leave you this morning again with two questions then. First question is this, what place of brokenness has the Lord been pointing out to you in your own life? Most of us don't know what those places of brokenness are until we start trying to serve the Lord and be faithful and obedient to his will and all of a sudden we discover fears that we never knew existed. Places where the devil whispers lies that we don't know what to do with. And before you know, we are effectively put out of commission because we're paralyzed by the spiritual darkness that comes at us. Where is the place of your vulnerability? Where is the place of your brokenness? And would you take that place of brokenness and faith to Jesus and recognize that he died and he was raised from the dead to break through those places in you and me so that every part of our being will be fully restored for the glory of God. And we might never grow arms and we might never grow legs, but you know we can use that little chicken limb and we can do some amazing things in the kingdom of God. You know that he can type 43 words a minute with that foot he is? Cool. He's got two degrees in accounting and in financial planning. He's made all kinds of money in the real estate business and he travels all over the world bearing witness to Jesus. And I see a story like that as you do and I can't but ask myself the question, what's your excuse? Remember David Ring? A number of you will remember him years ago. David Ring was born with cerebral palsy and is a noted evangelist and is an incredible preacher despite his cerebral palsy and one of his favorite lines is, "If I can do this by the grace of God, then what's your excuse?" What's your excuse? That's with us, but my second question is this. Who is there in the sphere of your life as you go about your daily business as Peter and John did on their way to the temple as was their custom? Who's crippled in body or in soul or in spirit? Who is there whom God providentially and circumstantially places in your life where you might well have the temptation to pass by on the other side because you don't really want to be sucked into that situation because you know you don't have what it takes? You might need to be reminded that you have what you have by the grace of God. Don't you take what God has given you, step into those situations in faith, speak a word of hope, engage, proclaim the coming of God's kingdom, take that person by the hand and stand in awe and amazement at the power of God to make the lame to walk and the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the poor to have good news proclaimed. That's the mission of the church. That's why he has called us together, that's why he anoints us with the power of the Holy Spirit as the Father has sent me, said Jesus to his disciples, so I send you. And I'll tell you something, we can sit around in our behinds from now until kingdom comes, it'll never happen unless by faith we learn to listen to the voice of God, we learn to look for divine opportunities and with fear and trembling we step into those situations and we take people by the hand and we raise them up for God and all it takes is one or two miracle encounters like that is described here and your life will never ever be the same because you know that in a world filled with brokenness the church has the answer [PROPOSED CUT 1 START at 00:37:00.340; remove through 00:40:36.000] for the [CUT] glory of God. Hear the call of Christ our Captain, for now the weak can say that they are strong in the strength that God has given. The shield of faith and belt of truth will stand against the devil's eyes. An army bold whose battle guide is love, reaching out to those in darkness. Our call to war, to love the captive soul, but to rage against the captor and with the sword that makes the wounded whole, we will fight with faith and power. When faced with trials on every side, we know the outcome is secure, and Christ will have the prize for which he died, an inheritance of nation. Come see the cross, where love and mercy lead, as the Son of God has taken. Then see his pose, like crash beneath his feet, for the conqueror has risen. And as the storm is rolled away, and Christ emerges from the grave, his victory march continues till the day, every iron heart shall see it. So stand you in love, for the strength in every stride, in place for every hurdle. Come see the cross, where love and mercy lead, as the Son of God has taken. Then see his pose, like crash beneath his feet, for the conqueror has risen. Then see his pose, like crash beneath his feet, in place for every hurdle. Come see the cross, where love and mercy lead, as the Son of God has taken. Then see his pose, like crash beneath his feet, for the conqueror has risen. Then see his pose, like crash beneath his feet, in place for every hurdle. [CUT] [PROPOSED CUT 1 END at 00:40:36.000; resume after this marked segment]