So in Acts chapter 3, and we've got, of course this is taking place pretty much immediately
after the day of Pentecost, the great preaching that Peter did, and of course here at the
latter half he starts to do some more great preaching, we'll get to that.
But in the beginning there's that great miracle at the gate, beautiful there it
says in verse 1, Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour
of prayer, being the ninth hour, and a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was
carried whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called
beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple, who seeing Peter
and John about to go into the temple, asking alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes
upon him with John, said, Look on us, and he gave heed unto them, expecting
to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I
none, but such as I have, give I thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk. And I really love verse 6, I love what we see Peter offering here,
he's saying, you know, I don't have silver and gold to give you, but such as I
have, give I unto thee. And this is, you know, this is something I've
thought about over the years, just this great statement of that, such as I
have, give I unto thee. You know, when you kind of read it, you might kind of
get the idea, oh, it sounds kind of pathetic, oh, you know, I don't have
much, you know, all I have is the gospel. Sorry I don't have any silver and
gold, right? But really, I don't think that's how that's being said by Peter,
you know, that's probably my own kind of bias or whatever, putting that
inflection in there. But Peter, when he's saying it, said, you know, the
silver and gold I don't have, but such as I have, give I unto thee. And
really, that's the greatest thing anybody could offer, is the gospel,
right? And that's really what people need today. People need the gospel
more than silver and gold. You know, people need to hear the gospel. And
it's kind of funny, because today it's almost completely backwards. You
know, we see a lot of the social gospel taking over, where everybody
just wants to start a soup kitchen and hand out secondhand
clothes and fix people's fences. And look, I'm not against those
things, okay? The problem is, is that a lot of people, that's
all they do. And a lot of times, the reason that all the only
reason that's all they do is because they don't have anything
else to offer. All they have is the goods of this world. All
they have is the silver and gold. They don't have Christ to
offer. They can't give because they don't have, right? A lot of
times these social gospel ministries, you know, they don't
have the true gospel. They're not preaching salvation by
grace through faith. They're preaching, you know, some kind
of repenting your sins, some kind of works-based salvation.
And then they're just doing a bunch of other work. And it
kind of makes sense because if that's what they believe, that
it's our good works, that it's our good deeds that are
going to earn our way to heaven, of course, they're
going to be more concerned with, you know, just replacing
somebody's stove or, you know, just putting somebody up in a
hotel for a night or starting some bread line somewhere than
they are than actually preaching the gospel. They're
going to be more concerned with earning their own way to
heaven, okay? And this is something that's out there.
This is something that's very prevalent, this social gospel,
this just, you know, do good, you know, type of
attitude where the truth of the gospel is not being
preached. Again, I'm not against doing good. Obviously,
you know, we're to love our neighbor as ourselves. We're to
do good unto all men. We're to, you know, as we have
opportunity, you know, we're obviously we're supposed to be
doing other things. We're supposed to be helping one
another. But the greatest thing that you can ever give
anybody is the gospel, because the gospel is an
eternal gift. You know, what good is it if I, you know, fill
somebody's belly, if I put clothes on their back, if I help
them in some way, but then they die and go to hell? You
know, have I really helped them? You know, I mean, I've
alleviated their suffering, you know, very mildly
temporarily. And, you know, what they really need is to
hear the gospel. So I love this statement, such as I have
give ID in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up
and walk. He has something to offer beyond just silver and
gold. And what's great for us is that, you know, we're
in the same boat as Peter tonight. You know, if we're
saved, we have the Holy Spirit, we have the Bible,
where, you know, where there's no shortage of unsaved
sinners in this world. You know, we have the same
opportunity to go out and offer the same thing that
Peter's offering. Okay, obviously, there's this great
miracle where he causes the man to stand upon his feet.
That's not what I'm saying. That's not what we're
offering. You know, spiritually, we're going to
revive the lame. We can go out there and get people
saved. We can help them be strengthened, you know, to be
able to stand on their feet and spiritually and to
have a walk with God. That's what we have to offer. You
know, we might not have a lot of silver and gold at
this church to, you know, give people, you know, all
these earthly needs that they might have. But you know,
what we do have is the greatest treasure of all the
riches that are hidden in Christ Jesus. That's what we
have to offer. So that's what we need to be
offering. If you would go to 1 Peter, chapter number
one. And when you get to 1 Peter, bookmark 1 Peter,
because we're going to look at several passages in
1 Peter tonight. There's a lot in there, but Peter in
the story is going out and he's giving, you know,
the unsearchable riches of Christ. You know, that's the
same thing that we have to offer today. We don't have a
lot of stuff. We don't have a lot of things. You
know, maybe we can't soothe every, you know,
physical need that people have in this world. You
know, we can give that balm of Gilead. We can soothe
the soul. We can give that healing that is going to
lead to life eternal. Okay, so that's what we
want to offer. That's a great statement. Such as I
have, give I unto thee. But notice again, it's Peter
saying, what I have, I give. You know, what good is it
if we have this, but we don't give it? You know,
what good would have been, what kind of a story
would have been if Peter and John saw the man and he
asked in alms and they just went, whatever. You
know, just, well, we got other things to do. We
got to get in the tub. Oh, this guy again. And
they just sat on what they had. Okay, we don't
want to be like that. Such as I have, I give. Okay,
that's what we want to do. We have, the question
is, are we giving? Okay, we need to make sure
that we're giving. We don't ever want to slack
on this. We don't want to draw back from this.
This is what we're here to do. And people
suffer if we don't give, right? If they just
blown this guy off and just walked, went on their
merry way, he'd still be sitting there, you
know, begging at the gate. No miracle would
have been done, right? And there wouldn't have
been this great testimony. Such as I have, I
give. It's one thing to have. That's not enough
to have it. You have to be able to give
it, okay? Look there in 1 Peter 1 verse 17,
and if you call on the Father who without
respect of persons, notice this, judgeth according
to every man's work. Does the Bible say that
God is going to judge our works? Yes, it
does. Repeatedly, he's going to judge our
works. Without respect of persons, he what?
Judges according to every man's work. That's
what's going to happen. Our works will be
judged. The things that we did in this body,
whether good or bad, we shall all receive a
reward or have a lack of reward. Our works will
either remain or they will be burned when
they're tried by the fire of God's word. And
we'll either have a reward or we'll suffer
loss. Obviously, we can never lose our salvation.
Well, you know, Jesus said, behold, I come
quickly and my reward is with me to give to
every man according as his works shall be.
Okay? So, this is a major theme in the New
Testament. God puts a lot of emphasis on us
not just having, but giving. Giving what we
have. And obviously, you know, we can talk
about going beyond the gospel, you know?
Obviously, there's nothing wrong with being
charitable. We're not de-emphasizing that.
We're not saying, oh, don't worry about those
other things. We still want to help people in
need. We still want to do those things for
one another, you know, but the primary thing
that we need to be focusing on is make sure
we're giving like such as Peter had, which is
the gospel, to give the faith of Jesus Christ.
That's what he's saying here in 1 Peter.
He's saying, look, you know, God's going to
judge according to every man's works. Therefore,
the latter half there, pass the time of your
sojourning here in fear. Say, well, that kind
of makes me uncomfortable to think about the
fact that God might judge my works. Well, you
know, it should. I mean, isn't that what
Peter's saying? Pass the time of your
sojourning here in fear. You know, you
should be concerned about the fact that you're
going to stand before God and have given
account for the things that have been done
in your body. Obviously, we're not talking
about sinful things. You know, we're talking
about the sins, you know, that's a false
doctrine that's out there. But, you know,
there is going to be people, there are going to
be people who suffer loss. And that is, in
itself, is going to be a shameful thing. Okay?
You know, we want to, we don't want to be
ashamed at his coming, right? We want to be
able to hold our heads high. If we're going
to do that, we have to, what, pass the time
of our sojourning in fear. We should be
cautious about how we're spending our time. Ask
ourselves, what is the priority in our lives?
And I'm not saying we can't have other
things that we get involved in, have other things
that we're, you know, engage in different
activities and hobbies and things like that. But
when it starts to get in the way and comes
at the expense of us not giving such as we
have, then it's an issue. If it's going to
stop, you know, the things of this world are
going to start robbing us from our eternal
reward from Christ. You know, our priorities
are out of whack at that point, and they
need to get rebalanced. So I love this
statement from Peter, you know, such as I
have, I give. He is offering what has been
given him. Notice here in 1 Peter, it goes on
and says, for as much as you know that you
were not redeemed with corruptible things as
silver and gold from your vain conversation
received by the tradition from your fathers, but
with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot. He's saying,
you know what, you should pass your time, you
know, God's going to judge our works, pass
your time of sojourning in fear, for you
know that you were redeemed by the blood of
Christ, essentially saying, you know, there
wasn't these vain traditions of your
fathers, you were redeemed by the blood of
Christ. Okay. The reason I believe sometimes
people, if you would go to 1 Peter, chapter
four, kind of sit on their hands with what
they've been given is because they forget
how they got it. Sometimes we forget, oh,
why is it so important that I should go and
preach the gospel? Sometimes we forget how
precious the gospel really is. The price
that was paid for us to even have something
to offer the world, for us to even have
something to offer some, you know, poor sinner
out there. It costs the blood of Christ,
the great suffering. You know, we need to
offer what we have first received. And if we
find ourselves, you know, kind of waxing
cold in this area, kind of feeling, I don't
feel like doing a lot of offering, I feel
like a lot of giving, or that really not, I
don't find myself stirred to go out and
preach the gospel. We need to stop and
think about the fact that we received the
gospel, that somebody preached us the gospel,
that we also were just as lost and
destitute as a lot of other people in this
world. And without Christ, we would be just
as equally damned as anybody else. And the
price that was paid for us to have
salvation ourselves, you know, if we think
about that and meditate upon that, maybe
that would stir our hearts again into wanting
to go out and preach the gospel. Look at
1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10, as every
man hath received the gift, even so
minister the same one to another as
good stewards of the manifold grace
of God. The manifold grace of God, the
grace of God that passeth all
understanding. The grace of God that is
so immense and great that we can't
even, it's manifold, we can't even begin to
count it back to him. We can't even
measure the grace of God that has
been shown toward each and every
single one of us. And I said it
recently, I'll say it again, if we were
the only person on this earth, Christ
still would have come and died for us.
If we're the only person that needed
salvation, Christ had a love of God, the
grace of God, the manifold grace of
God would have extended towards us
because Christ loves every single one
of us that much.
Okay, we've received the manifold grace
of God. Every one of us is
individuals. But notice what he's saying
here. Verse 10, as every man hath
received the gift, even so minister the
same one to another. Peter said such as
I have, I give. Then he writes here, it
just as you've received, so minister.
You know, we don't want to just receive
this, we don't want to just receive the
gospel and then not minister the
gospel. We don't want to just receive
biblical knowledge and biblical
understanding and then not give it and
not minister it in our lives to those
around us. Okay, don't be someone who just
receives, receive and minister. Okay, now
let's move on here in the story. Again,
keep something in 1 Peter, we'll come
back. Moving on here in Acts chapter 1,
or excuse me, chapter 3 verse 7,
it says of course verse 6, such as I
have, give thy thee in the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand and
lifted him up and immediately his feet
and ankle bones received strength. Now I
love stories like this, these
narratives where these miracles are
happening to people. You think
about, you know, the woman at the
well, blind Bartimaeus and others.
When you read those stories, if you
look, you'll see an act of faith most
times. Blind Bartimaeus, you know,
left his robe, he's blind and went
to Jesus, right? He left his garment
behind. It's showing that he had the
faith that he was going to be able to
find that in a minute. He wasn't
going to need to go around and go,
where did I leave that garment? He
was going to go to Jesus and get
healed and go back and get it with
his own eyes. It's an act of
faith. Okay. The woman at the
well, you know, she leaves the
bucket and she goes and tells
other people, said, I'll be back,
right? Here you have him taking
him by the right hand. This guy's
asking for silver and gold. He's
just trying to get a bite to eat.
And now these two guys that maybe
he doesn't know or isn't familiar
with, he doesn't know if these,
Oh, this is the apostles. This
is the apostle Peter. This is
John. These are disciples of
Christ. That's not what he
says. He just says, Hey, you
got any silver? You got any
gold? He asks and alms. And
they say, such as I have
give I thee in the name of
Jesus Christ and as of rise up
and walk. And then he takes
him by the right hand. And
the act of faith we see here
is that this guy allowed
himself, he reached out and
grabbed that same right hand. It
wasn't like Peter's like,
give me your hand, you know,
give me your hand. Trying to
like pull it out against his
will. Right? He takes out his
hand. This guy that's asking
the alms, this cripple, he
reaches right back out.
That's a picture of the faith
that he had that if I
believe what he just said, if
I believe on the Jesus
Christ, if I take his hand,
I'm going to stand on my
feet. A guy who's never
walked a day in his life, he's
been crippled from the, from
his mother's womb. The Bible
says it's a huge act of
faith, right? So you could
see these little pictures of
faith here in a lot of these
stories, especially when it
comes to the ones of these
mere miraculous healings.
Okay. But he takes him, he
lifts him up and immediately
his feet and his ankle bones
receive strength. And he's
leaping up, stood and walked
and entered into with them
into the temple, walking and
leaping and praising God. So
it's not like he had to
figure out how to walk. What
a great miracle. And he's
leaping and praising God and
the people saw him walking and
praising God. Verse 10, and
they knew that it was he
which sat for alms at the
beautiful gate of the temple
and they were filled with
wonder and amazement at that
which had happened unto him.
And as the lame man, which
was healed, held Peter and
John. And I love that phrase
there. He's endeared to
these guys. He, he, which
was healed, held Peter and
John. I don't, and it's not
like he's like, Oh, okay,
let me get my bearings here.
Let me get my feet under me
because he's already
leaping. He's already
praising. He's already
jumping and walking, but
he's holding these guys, it
says. He held Peter and
John. I believe, you know,
this is talking about, you
know, like an affectionate,
affectionate embrace
almost, right? Look, the
people that you went to
Christ are going to be
endeared to you. You
know, the people that we
went to Christ and
disciple along in life,
those that we minister to,
you know, you develop a
bond there. You know, we
want those types of
relationships in our
lives. You know, there
should be people that we
hold to. There should be
people that become dear
to us in the ministry.
It's important. And I
talked about that last
week, about how the
church is a network of
support that we need to
have in our lives and not
forsake and not burn that
bridge. Okay. Won't
re-preach that, but
it's there in the text
again. He held Peter and
John. And then it says,
all the people ran together
unto him and the porch,
which is called
Solomon's Greatly
Wondering. And I want to
point again, I want to
point out this, another
part of the story here
in verse seven. It says
that he took him by the
right hand and lifted him
up and immediately his feet
and ankle bones received
strength. Obviously that's
where the weakness was.
Whatever it was that was
causing this man to not
be able to walk, you
know, it was located in
that portion of his body,
in his feet and his
ankle bones. You know, it
wasn't a problem in his
spine. It wasn't a problem
in some other part of his
body. You know, obviously
it was these specific body
parts, the feet, the
ankle bones are something
they're withered, they're
crippled. In some way
there's a dysfunction
there. They don't work
properly. And that was
what was strengthened.
Okay. That was what God
healed. You know, and
God always, when he
fixes, you know, God
fixes what needs to be
fixed in our lives. You
know, and this is
something we have to
kind of trust by faith
sometimes. A lot of
times we want to see
these great miracles. We
want these mountains to be
moved. We want things to
happen in our lives. But
God knows what we really
need, right? God wants
to fix what is actually
broken, what we actually
need help with, okay?
That's why he's
strengthening a very
specific part, right? It
doesn't say he's
strengthened his biceps,
you know, and
strengthened some other
part of his stroke. He
strengthened that which
was broken. And a lot of
times what we really
need help with is
what's inside. It's
things, it's issues of
the heart. It's issues
of, you know, internal
things, right? A lot of
times there's, there's
attitudes that need to be
adjusted and things like
that. Not everything that
we want to have happen
is necessarily what we
need. God fixes what we
actually need to have
fixed, okay? But there's
a great, another great
picture here of walking
with the Lord, right?
Because when he, when
he's risen to his feet,
when he's lifted up by
faith, when he reaches out
and takes that hand by
faith and it's lifted to
his feet, it's his feet
that are strengthened and
then he's walking and
praising. You know, and
in a sense, you know,
when we get saved, that's
what we're called to do,
to walk in newness of
life, right? Walk in
newness in life. And I
love the fact that he
was walking and praising.
That's the phrase that
we see there, right? He
was walking and praising
God. And that's a great
application for our own
lives. You know, if we
want to have real joy,
if we want to have real
peace, the peace that
passes all understanding,
if we want to have
contentment, if we want
to have these things, then
we need to walk, right?
We need to walk with the
Lord. We're called to
walk in newness of life.
Keep something in 1 Peter
and Acts, go over to
Galatians 5. Galatians
5, familiar passage, I
know we all know it. But
here's what I've noticed
is that people who walk
with the Lord praise the
Lord. He was walking and
praising. People who walk
with the Lord are those
that praise the Lord.
Because they know what
they have in Christ. They
have a fellowship through
the Spirit, through God's
word. They have a spiritual
outlook on life. They
have an understanding that
you only get when you
walk in the Spirit. And
what I've noticed is that
people that are very down,
a lot of the times, and
I'm not saying every time
you're down that you're
backslidden or something.
Obviously we have
emotions that we go
through. But people who
are just in this
perpetual, just always
down and out, never just
always depressed, always
out of it, never seem to
have any joy, never seem
to have any peace, or
never content. A lot of
times those same people
don't have much of a
walk. Where the praising
is lacking, a lot of
times the walk is
lacking. I mean, I know
that's true in my own
life. I know it would
probably shock you to
think that I don't always
or haven't always had
this close walk with
God. You know, but I'm
flesh too. You know, I'm
human too. And you know,
the times in my life
when I've been down the
most, the times of my
life, and I get it,
there's exceptions,
there's things that we go
through. I get that. But
you know, these other
innings, you know, these
inexplicable times where
there isn't some good
reason where we're just
kind of, for no good
reason, a lot of times
it's like, well, maybe
we need to check if
we're walking with the
Lord. Have we been in the
flesh? You know, are we,
you know, cause the
flesh, you know, it has
its, you know, we can
entertain the flesh. We
can please the flesh,
but ultimately the flesh
is just never going to
be satisfied. A lot of
times the flesh is going
to lead us into things
that are contrary to
walking in the Spirit,
right? That's what we
see in Galatians. But
we are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus
unto good works which
God hath foreordained
that we should walk in
them. You know, God
expects us to walk in
certain works. There are
things that God wants us
to do and that the
people that are walking,
the people that are the
ones that are praising,
they're the ones that
are doing the things
that they're supposed to
be doing, they're the
people that typically have
the most joy. They're the
people that can weather
storms in the Christian
life. The people that
I've seen go through
the hardest things, the
most difficult things, the
most trying things, and
it just seems like they
go with such grace and
dignity and even joy. I
say, well, how is that?
Well, it should be pretty
obvious because they have
a walk with God, because
they know the Bible,
that, you know, bless
or you would mention or
vial you and persecute
you. You know, leap for
joy when that happens.
They're so persecuted
they, the prophets which
are before you, they know
that, that they have a
reward in heaven. Other
people, they don't know
that. That's just an
example. They don't know
that kind of thing.
Something difficult comes
into their life. It's
just like, oh God, you
know, what's the point of
all this? God, you
know, is God even there?
Does God even care? Why
go through this? Why
struggle? You know, and
then they turn to
something else, right, to
soothe them. People who
walk with the Lord, they
praise the Lord. That's
what we see with this
guy. He gets saved, he
stands on his feet, he's
walking, and he's
praising, okay? Jesus
said, if you know these
things, happy are you if
you do them. You know,
if we do, we're doing
the commandments, they
might not always be
easy, but you know what,
we'll have joy. Galatians
5 verse 16, this I say
then, walk in the
Spirit and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the
flesh. So if you don't
walk in the Spirit,
what's going to happen?
You're going to fulfill
the lust of the flesh.
And is that going to
bring joy in your life?
No, that's going to
bring the opposite
because sin brings forth
death when it is
finished. Verse 17, for
the flesh, lusteth against
the Spirit and the
Spirit against the flesh
and these two are
contrary one to the
other so that you cannot
do the things that you
would, right? This is the
Christian life. This is
the key to joy in the
Christian life, is this
understanding that there's
a battle going on between
the old man and the new
man all the time, 24-7.
And it's never going to
go away in this life.
That's closing order
prayer, I'm just kidding.
Some of you got really
excited there for a
minute and thought,
well, quick one tonight.
Now, I just want to
leave you an extreme
down note. You know,
life's a struggle and
then you die, right? But
it's true. But I mean,
can't life be a struggle
and, you know, a source
of joy at the same time?
Absolutely. You know, a
lot of times the
struggles and things that
we go through, they make
life worth living. When
things are hard and
difficult, we appreciate
the good times more. We
go through suffering, we
appreciate the times that
we're not suffering.
No, suffering makes us
better. You know, the
heart of the wise is in
the house of mourning.
You know, we should lay
that to our heart. So,
you know, we're going to
have this struggle
throughout the whole
Christian life. There's
going to be the flesh
and the spirit. They're
going to be at odds with
one another. You have to
decide which one you're
going to walk in. And
if you walk in the
flesh, you know what?
It's going to, it's
going to, it's going to
lust against the spirit.
It's going to be a
contrary to the spirit.
You won't be leaping and
praising because you're
going to be walking in the
flesh. Let's move along in
the story here. He goes
on in verse 12,
And Peter saw it, and he
answered unto the people.
So all the people, they
see him come in there,
and they're wondering
greatly at the end of
verse 11. And when
Peter saw it, the people
wondering, he answered
unto the people, ye men
of Israel, why marvel ye
at this? Or why ye look
so earnestly on it, on
us, as though by our
own power of holiness, we
had made this man to
walk? He's like, why are
you so surprised by this?
Why do you think it's
something we did? The God
of Abraham and Isaac and
of Jacob and the God of
our fathers hath glorified
his son Jesus whom he
delivered up. So he's
saying this miracle is
being done in order to
glorify his son Jesus in
their eyes, right? And
this goes back to where
we were starting, you
know, as I preached a
couple weeks ago when
we got into the book of
Acts, we'll see
miracles that were done by
the apostles and that
are still to this day
have only been done by
apostles for the specific
reason of confirming to
those at that time, you
know, the truth of the
gospel, the truth of
Jesus Christ and to, you
know, validate the
church. Okay. So that's
kind of what he's saying
here, right? He's saying,
you know, why, why are
you looking on us? You
know, he did this, that
he might have glorified
his son Jesus. You know
why this miracle has
happened? Because he's
glorifying Christ. But
then he goes on and
says, whom ye delivered up
and denied him in the
presence of Pilate when
he determined to let him
go. But he denied the
Holy One and the just,
desired a murderer,
remember they asked for
Barabbas, right, to be
granted unto you and
killed the Prince of
Life whom God hath raised
from the dead, whereof we
are witnesses. Now again,
it was the Romans that
actually crucified them,
but it was the Jews of
that day that were
specifically blamed for
the death of Christ.
Okay. That's what Peter
said, you killed the
Prince of Life. You know,
the Romans were simply
the instrument that they
used. But he goes on and
said, whom God hath raised
from the dead, whereof we
are witnesses. And his
name through faith in his
name hath made this man
strong whom ye see and
know, yea, the faith
which is by him hath given
him this perfect soundness
in the presence of you
all. He's saying, this
is all done through the
name of Christ, the same
person that you delivered
up and murdered and God
raised, it's through his
name that this miracle is
happening. Again, it's
just, it's all going back
to what I said earlier.
These miracles were given
for a very specific
reason. And now,
brethren, and that's
important. And I know I'm
kind of repeating myself,
but again, I'll remind us
why, because of the fact
that we're living in a
day where people get so
excited about all these,
you know, weird things,
all these Charismaniacs
that are out there that
want to speak in tongues
and the Benny Hinn, you
know, concerts, if you
want to call the church
service where they're
slapping each other with
a coat and, and the man
has a fake and a charlatan.
Okay. And he's saying,
Oh, I have the gift of
healing. So, well, you
know, I know a few
hospitals that could use
you. Okay. But you know
why he'll never go in
there? Cause he's a fake
and he's a phony. That's
why I'm kind of repeating
it. Okay. Because people
get caught up in this,
the healings and the
speaking in tongues. And
but as I pointed out,
they don't want to do
the other miracles. They
don't want to hold the
serpent and drink the
battery acid either. Okay.
Anyway, I got to move
on. And he says, and
now brethren, I want
through ignorance. He did
it as did also your
rulers. So yeah, he's
kind of preaching the
hard message here,
right? You know, we get
accused a lot of times
of preaching, you know,
difficult, hard messages,
right? Well, it's nothing
new. You know, Peter,
even back then was
saying, you guys kill
Jesus. You're to blame,
right? But he's not just
jumping down their
throats, right? Obviously
he's laying guilt and
blame where it belongs.
Okay. But he's also
saying it's there for a
purpose. It's not just
there to make them feel
bad, right? And now
brethren, although they
need to feel bad,
although brethren, I want
through ignorance, he did
it as also rulers, but
those things which God
has showed by the mouth
of his prophets, that
Christ should suffer, he
hath so fulfilled. He's
saying this was supposed
to happen. This was
unavoidable. You guys
fulfilled scripture, but
probably not in the way
you want it to. Okay.
And ultimately he's going
to call them to
repentance, right? But
before we get to that, I
want to point out again
the fact that Christ
suffered, okay? And this
is something that was
prophesied. He's saying
those things, verse 18,
which God hath before
showed by the mouth of
all his prophets, we go
through the prophets, we
see the suffering of
Christ prophesied, right?
The crucifixion, the
beating, all of that,
okay? That Christ should
suffer, he hath so
fulfilled, meaning Christ
did it. Did what? Christ
suffered, okay? Christ
suffered. And again, this
is something that sometimes
we need to meditate on.
This is something we need
to think about. It's not
always a pleasant subject,
but this is reality.
Christ suffered and Christ
suffered for me and you.
And again, this goes back
to my original point. If
we think about that, you
know, we realize what it
is that we've been
given, maybe that would
motivate us to not just
have received, but also to
give, okay? When we dwell
upon the fact that Christ
suffered, Christ should
suffer. Go back to 1
Peter, chapter number 3,
1 Peter, chapter number 3,
a couple of things about
Christ's suffering, okay?
You know, Christ's
suffering wasn't just an
example of how, you
know, we ought to live.
Although it does, it is
an example of that,
right? We'll see that in
1 Peter. He reviled not
again, right? He suffered
wrongfully. We should be
willing to do that.
Let's also not forget
that one of the reasons
Christ suffered was for
our benefit. So why did
Jesus go through that?
Just for an example, how
to love your enemies?
No, yes, but also
because of the fact that
it was for our benefit.
You and I benefit
immensely from the
suffering of Christ. And
that's why Peter said
there that Christ should
suffer. It was necessary.
He had to become sin for
us. He had to suffer
that. He had to shed his
blood because without the
shedding of blood, there
is no remission of sin.
Christ had to suffer. It
wasn't an option. It
wasn't something that, you
know, he just wanted to
do to show us a better
way of living, you know,
a philosophy that we
should adopt. No, it was
there. It was necessary
for our salvation. It was
suffering. He suffered
for our benefits, okay?
Look at verse 18, for
Christ also has once
suffered for sins. Why
did he suffer? For
sins. Whose sins? My
sins. Your sins are what
nailed Christ to the
cross. The just for the
unjust. Christ for us. He
suffered for the unjust,
right? That he might bring
us to God. So you're
getting a sense of what
we benefit in Christ and
through his suffering.
We're justified in Christ.
We are brought to God,
being put to death in
the flesh, but quickened
by the spirit. That's a
pretty big benefit,
isn't it? So now we go
back and think about those
words that Paul or Peter
said earlier, such as I
have, give I unto thee.
What is it that we have?
We have been brought unto
God. That is what we're
offering. That's what
Paul said when he said
he has committed unto us
the ministry of
reconciliation, that we
are ambassadors for
Christ. That's what we
have been given. That's
what we've received. We
are able to go out and
bring others also unto
God, even as we have been
brought unto God. Through
what? Through suffering.
And it just might be in
this life that we have
to suffer a little bit in
order to do that. Did not
Christ have to suffer for
our benefit? You know, we
might have to suffer for
the benefit of other
people. You know, we
might have to inconvenience
ourselves to preach the
gospel. We might have to
go out in the heat when
it's uncomfortable and do
these things. We might
have to go through the
awkwardness of learning
how to preach the gospel,
of knocking that door. We
have to suffer in those
ways. But, you know,
whenever that makes us
reluctant or hesitant to
do that, what we need
to do is just stop and
think about the fact that
Christ has suffered for
us. Compare your
suffering to Christ's, and
that will probably motivate
us. And we'll probably
just suck it up and
just go do what needs to
get done, right? Hopefully
you're feeling inspired
now. But that's one of
the reasons why he
suffered, was for our
benefit. But as I said,
also, go back to 1 Peter
chapter number 2, he also
did suffer to be an
example unto us of
suffering. Look at 1 Peter
chapter number 2 verse 21,
For even hereunto were
ye called, verse 21,
because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving
us an example. We'd like
to just read right
through that. Leave us
an example that we
should follow his steps.
What are our steps?
They're the steps that
wearied themselves in the
ministry. They're the
steps that went to the
poor and lowly. They're
the steps that walked up
Golgotha and drug that
cross with them. They're
the steps that went down,
yea, even into hell.
Those are the steps that
we follow in. That's the
example of suffering that
we are to follow. And
we have not resisted
unto blood, striving
against sin as Christ
has, not even close. That
is our example. You know,
what is the Christian
life? You know, it's
suffering. You know, it
doesn't mean it's a life
devoid of joy, doesn't
mean it's a life that's
just misery and woe, but
you know, it's also not
a life without suffering.
Life in and of itself is
suffering. I mean, that's
just part of life.
People are going to
suffer in this world to
some degree or another,
some more than others.
But there's a suffering
reserved for us. We should
be willing to go through
whatever suffering we have
to go through for Christ
in order to give as we
have received. You know,
just because you got
saved, that doesn't negate
suffering in your life.
And this is another false
doctrine out there,
another false, you know,
philosophy that is
promoted out there in the
world today among the
prosperity preachers
and things like that. If
you have any sickness or
illness or poor finances,
if you go through any kind
of difficulty in your life,
then you just must not be
right with God. You must
have some kind of sin.
You know, that's not
biblical. You know, we
can think about the
example of Job, who
suffered greatly, but you
know what? He was a
perfect and upright man,
such as, you know, there
was none like him in all
the earth. That's what
God said. God lifted him
up as an example of
righteousness. Yet he
suffered immensely,
physically with the loss
of his children,
loss of his business,
and he suffered more
than I have and more
than anybody I know,
as far as I know, he
suffered, right? Does
that make him a wicked
person? No, but that's
what his, you know,
his miserable counsel
counselors, those
friends that came to
him, that's what they
were accusing him of.
They're the modern day
prosperity preacher. Oh,
you're going through
suffering. You're going
through a hard time.
You're having
difficulty. You're not
in perfect health.
Your finances aren't
anything they should be.
You know, what kind of
sinner are you into?
You must not be right
with God. No, the fact
is, is that Christ is
an example of suffering.
We're going to go
through suffering in this
life. And look, there's
a whole other sermon
that really could be
preached on this point,
you know, to explain the
purpose of that. Why
does God let us go
through suffering? You
know, why is it that
God allows us to go
through these things? You
know, and part of it, I
believe, is because, you
know, when we go through
suffering and we are
suckered of God, when we
are comforted by the God
of all comfort, we are
then able to, you know,
comfort all others also
who go through suffering.
Okay? And the suffering,
when we go through
suffering, here's another
point. We know what it's
like for Christ. We get
a glimpse of what Christ
went through, don't we?
We become a little more
Christ-like through
suffering. Right? People
who go through hard
things, they understand a
little bit more about what
Christ went through than
we do and other people
who maybe haven't gone
through things. You know,
people who are going
through great physical
affliction, people who
are, you know, going
through great pain in
their lives, they know
something about what
Christ went through, maybe
more so than others
because that is a part of
Christ's suffering. What
is it referring to? It
talks about the Christ,
that Christ suffered for
sins. He was whipped, and
his beard pulled out, he
was spat upon, he was
beaten with rods, he had
a crown of thorns smashed
into his head, and then
he was ultimately
humiliated and crucified.
Which is not a, you
know, that's some severe
suffering, right? It's a
physical suffering that he
went through. It wasn't
just some emotional
discomfort. And look, when
we go through things,
even physically, we can
relate, we can
understand a little bit
more what it must have
been like for Christ, and
maybe that will cause us
to realize what it is that
we've received and how we
received it, okay? Just
because you get saved
doesn't mean you get to
skirt suffering. That's a
false doctrine. The
comfort is, if you would
go to 1 Peter 5, is that
suffering is temporary.
Christ, who suffered more
than any of us, is not
suffering today. Who, for
the joy that was set
before him, endured the
cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at
the right hand of God in
heaven, right? Yes, he
endured the cross. Yes,
he suffered that shame.
But you know what? He
did it for the joy that
was on the other side of
it, and now he's sitting
at the right hand of
God. His suffering, as
immense as it was, was
temporary. You know,
suffering is not negated,
but it is temporary
through salvation. Not
everybody can say that in
this world. Look, there's
plenty of people that are
going to probably maybe
have a lot of, maybe
minimal suffering in this
life, maybe not go
through a lot of things,
but they're not saved.
They're going to suffer
immensely in hell, more
than we would even want
to think about or attempt
to describe. Those people
will suffer, and it will
be permanent. It will not
end. You know, as
Christians, we are going
to go through suffering.
We're still going to go
through the suffering
that's just inherent in
life. We're going to go
through suffering that
God allows into our
lives, maybe even brings
into our lives to make
us better and to make
us, you know, for his
reasons and his purposes
that aren't always fully
understood in this life.
God is going to allow
us to suffer, but it's
temporary, and there's a
joy unspeakable that
waits for us in heaven.
And when we get there,
we'll understand, and
we'll look at the
suffering, we'll say,
worth it. It's easier to
say that on this side of
things, but it's the
truth. Okay. Paul said in
2 Corinthians 4, I'll
just read you, for which
cause we faint not, but
though our outward man
perish, yet the inward
man is renewed day by
day. The old man is
going to perish, but it's
the inward man that is
renewed. And I love the
way, what Paul says next
in 2 Corinthians 4, I'm
just reading to you. For
our light affliction is
but for a moment. Now
consider the source on
that one. Paul, calling
what he went through a
light affliction. I mean,
we all know the things
Paul went through. I
don't know that I would
call that a light
affliction. To me, a
light affliction is like
stubbing your toe.
Anything beyond that, not
light affliction, heavy
affliction, moderate
affliction. You know, I
wouldn't call being
beaten with rods and
stoned and shipwrecked. I
wouldn't call that a
light affliction. And
he's saying, it's not
just my light affliction,
he's saying our light
affliction. He's saying,
anything we suffer, it's
light. Light affliction,
which is for but a
moment. It's temporary. And
what? Worketh for us a
far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory.
He's saying, look, the
more we suffer, the
greater our reward. The
more we're willing to go
through whatever it is God
has for us and to walk.
You know, not only do we
have joy in this life,
but we'll have that
eternal weight of glory.
Here's the key though,
while we look not at the
things which are seen,
the things which are
not seen. For the things
which are seen are
temporal, they're not
permanent, but the
things which are seen are
eternal. Those are the
things that last. So the
key here to be able to
call our suffering, to
whatever degree it is, a
light affliction, which
is for but a moment to
have that perspective
that Paul had, the key is
that to look at things
which are eternal. You
have to keep that in
front of you. How do you
do that? By walking in the
Spirit. And now you can
start to understand how
people who walk in the
Spirit, they walk and they
praise, they leap, even
in affliction, even
through trials, even
through difficulties, even
through suffering. It's
when we just focus our
gaze here and we think
about only the things
that we're going through
that we get drug down and
we lose that joy. Look
at 1 Peter chapter five,
verse 10, but the grace,
the God of all grace who
has called us unto his
eternal glory by Jesus,
Christ Jesus, after that
you have suffered a while
make you perfect.
Establish, strengthen, and
settle you. Does it sound
like we're going to avoid
suffering here? Well, he's
called us to this and he
says, after that you've
suffered a while, you be
strengthened and settled.
You'd be established,
right? But notice it's a
suffering for a while.
After it's, you know,
this never-ending permanent
state of suffering that
there's no escape from.
No. Maybe even if it's not
in this life, it's still
that eternal weight of
glory that is waiting for
us. Let's move along
here in the story. I'll
probably have to close on
this point, but he says
there in verse 19 of Acts,
and we're done in Peter,
first Peter, you can leave
first Peter, but picking
it up where we left off,
he's saying in verse 18,
he's speaking to the
rulers. He's saying those
things, which God before
to shade by the mouth of
all its prophets that
Christ should suffer. He
has so fulfilled, right?
So again, he's putting
the blame where it
belongs on them for what
they did. They murdered
him. And obviously that's
a very hard message, but
he doesn't just leave it
there. He doesn't just
say, you know what, you
guys are to blame, go to
hell. No, there's a purpose
behind that. Like there's
a purpose behind hard
preaching. There's a
reason why we preach the
things that we preach,
even if they're not
popular, even if they're
hard to receive. We
preach hard things
because we want people to
get right or to be able
to discern between right
and wrong. And people
today get very confused
between what is right
and what is wrong. The
Bible is not, oh, you be
quiet. I wasn't talking to
you. This new found
technology, you know, the
Bible is not this, this
murky kind of muddled up
book that we're just
kind of like, it's this
gray area. What's moral,
what's immoral, what's
right, what's wrong? It's
like, nah, just how does
God feel about this or
that? God draws a very
clear line right down
the center and says,
right, wrong. And when
everyone's over on wrong
and you start preaching
from the side of right,
everybody on the wrong
side sometimes go, wow,
that doesn't sound very
nice. Yeah, but it's
right. That's the
question. That's what
you have to ask yourself.
Is it nice? Is it, is it,
is it pleasing? Is it
going to make everybody
happy? Maybe not. But the
question is, is it right?
Peter, I mean, that that's
a hard message. Hey, you
guys killed Christ. You
killed the Messiah. It's
your fault. That's, you
know, I haven't, you
know, I've preached a lot
of hard messages. I've
never laid murder at
anyone's feet. I've never
walked up to anyone and
said, you're a murderer.
You know, this person's
death is your fault.
That's a hard message.
But why did he preach it?
Verse 19 is why he
preached it. Repent ye
therefore and be
converted. He's saying,
get right. I know you
did this through ignorance.
Repent. Repent ye
therefore and be
converted that your sins
may be blotted out. Get
saved. That's what he's
saying. You know, and this
is just a general
principle when it comes
to hard preaching that
you can apply. You know,
you come here long
enough, you know, I'm
going to eventually get
to something in the
Word of God that's going
to rub you the wrong
way, that you're not
going to like. And I
might even preach it in
a way that you don't
appreciate. Okay. But
what you have to ask
yourself is what's the
motive behind it? And
who's right? Is the
Bible right? Is the
Word of God right? Then
you know what? If the
Bible's, you know,
rubbing the fur the
wrong way, the cat can
turn around. That's what
needs to happen. Not the
other way around. Okay.
So again, you know,
Peter here, he's not just
being a big ol' meanie.
He's trying to get
something accomplished with
these people. And he's
hitting them where it
counts for a reason.
Repent ye therefore, be
converted that your sins
may be blotted out. When
the times are
refreshing, ye shall come
from the presence of
the Lord, and ye shall
send Jesus Christ, which
before was preached unto
you, whom the heavens
must receive until the
time of the restitution
of all things. So that
was his reason behind
it. Okay. And I don't
have time to wrap this
up here tonight. Maybe
I'll finish it here
this Sunday night. But,
you know, the main point
I want us to walk away
from is that, you know,
peace is found in
salvation. You know,
that's where we have
real peace. That's where
we have real joy. You
know, the guy gets
saved, he stands on his
feet. You know, that's,
he's walking and
rejoicing. You know,
walking with the Lord,
that's where peace is
found. But life is
suffering. That is the
example that has been
set for us through
Christ. You know, it's
not this other, the
other way around where
it's just Christ has
negated all suffering for
us. No, he set us an
example of suffering. That
is part of life. And
look, the suffering in
life that people go
through, it's a 10 times
harder, I can't even put
a number on it. It's way
harder without Christ. I
mean, imagine the things
that you suffer in this
life. We all do. We all
have some form of
suffering. We've all
suffered or are suffering
or will suffer in this
life. It's guaranteed.
Now imagine doing it
without Christ. I don't
know how some people get
up in the morning and
face the day without
Christ. I mean, some
people, they get up and
they watch, just, they
look, just go look at
the news. It's just
horror story after horror
story after horror story
after horror story on the
news. And people just,
they go out there and
live their lives. And I
just, I don't know how
they do without Christ. I
can't imagine. But then,
you know, they're not, a
lot of people aren't the
happiest of people today
either, right? But isn't
it amazing the people
that are going through
difficult things, the
people that are having
trials in their life who
also have Christ are
able to go through it
with such grace and
with such joy? Because
yes, life is suffering,
but salvation is peace and
walking with God is joy.
Let's go ahead and close
an order prayer.