Acts 3 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Acts chapter 3.
2. 0:02Now Peter and John were going up to the
3. 0:05temple at the ninth hour, the hour of
4. 0:07[music] prayer.
5. 0:09And a man who had been lame from his
6. 0:11mother's womb was being carried along,
7. 0:15whom they used to set [music] down every
8. 0:17day at the gate of the temple, which is
9. 0:19called beautiful,
10. 0:21in order to beg alms of those who were
11. 0:24[music] entering the temple.
12. 0:26When he saw Peter and John about to go
13. 0:29into the temple, he began asking to
14. 0:31receive alms.
15. 0:33But Peter, along with John,
16. 0:36fixed his gaze on him and said,
17. 0:39"Look at us."
18. 0:43And he began to give them his attention,
19. 0:46expecting to receive something from
20. 0:48them.
21. 0:50But Peter said, "I do not possess silver
22. 0:54and gold,
23. 0:55but what I do have, I give to you.
24. 0:59In the name of Jesus Christ, the
25. 1:01Nazarene, walk."
26. 1:05And seizing him by the right hand,
27. 1:07>> [music]
28. 1:07>> he raised him up, and immediately his
29. 1:10feet and his ankles were strengthened.
30. 1:14With a leap, he stood upright and began
31. 1:18to walk.
32. 1:19And he entered the temple with them,
33. 1:22walking and leaping and praising God.
34. 1:27And all the people saw him walking and
35. 1:30[music] praising God, and they were
36. 1:32taking note of him as being the one who
37. 1:35used to sit at the beautiful gate of the
38. 1:38temple to beg alms, and they were filled
39. 1:42with wonder and amazement at what had
40. 1:45happened to him.
41. 1:49So,
42. 1:50this is a powerful pivot.
43. 1:53This is what it looks like not only to
44. 1:57be filled with the spirit of God,
45. 2:00and blessed, and changed, and renewed,
46. 2:03and empowered in your inner man, but to
47. 2:05also begin to operate in the same power
48. 2:09of the spirit that Jesus operated in.
49. 2:12So, they're coming
50. 2:14to the temple, and there's this guy
51. 2:16who's expecting something from them.
52. 2:19He's expecting coins. That's what alms
53. 2:22are.
54. 2:23So, he would have been holding out a
55. 2:25cup.
56. 2:26Help. Help. A little something for the
57. 2:29poor.
58. 2:31And Peter and John,
59. 2:33they want this guy to look at them in a
60. 2:35different way. He's holding up a cup, no
61. 2:38doubt, asking for something, but they
62. 2:41want him to ask with a different
63. 2:42expectation. So, it's like,
64. 2:45look at us.
65. 2:48Which is an amazing thing to say. It's
66. 2:50not pride. Look at us.
67. 2:53It's as if they're saying,
68. 2:55we're not who we used to be.
69. 2:58You can expect something different.
70. 3:00We're not just Peter and John anymore.
71. 3:03We're the church.
72. 3:04And we have the power to bind on earth
73. 3:07whatever God is binding in heaven, and
74. 3:10to loose on earth whatever God is
75. 3:12loosing in heaven. And we sense that God
76. 3:15is going to loose you from this
77. 3:17affliction.
78. 3:19And then he says, "Silver and gold we do
79. 3:21not have,
80. 3:23but here's what we do have."
81. 3:26So, Peter took ownership. He claimed
82. 3:29what he had. And what did he have? He
83. 3:31had the name of Jesus.
84. 3:34In the name of Jesus Christ the
85. 3:37Nazarene, walk.
86. 3:40And just like that, the man felt
87. 3:42strength flow into his body, his legs,
88. 3:45his ankles.
89. 3:46And then what does praise look like? It
90. 3:49doesn't look like, "Wow, thank you. That
91. 3:50was a meaningful moment.
92. 3:53He begins to walk and leap and praise
93. 3:57God.
94. 3:58And when he's leaping and walking and
95. 4:01praising God,
96. 4:03the people see it and they're thinking,
97. 4:05"Wow, this is the guy who used to be
98. 4:08very different."
99. 4:10Verse 11,
100. 4:12while he,
101. 4:14the paralytic man, was clinging to Peter
102. 4:17and John, all the people ran together to
103. 4:20them
104. 4:21at the so-called Portico of Solomon,
105. 4:24full of amazement.
106. 4:27But when Peter saw this, he replied to
107. 4:29the people,
108. 4:31"Men of Israel,
109. 4:32why are you amazed at this?
110. 4:35Or why do you gaze at us as if by our
111. 4:38own power or piety we had made him well?
112. 4:43Don't look at us. This isn't about us.
113. 4:46Our piety and power didn't do this.
114. 4:49The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
115. 4:53the God of our fathers, has glorified
116. 4:56his servant Jesus, the one whom you
117. 4:59delivered and disowned in the presence
118. 5:02of Pilate, when he had decided to
119. 5:04release him.
120. 5:07But you disowned the holy righteous one
121. 5:10and asked for a murderer to be granted
122. 5:12to you.
123. 5:14Peter has lost his hesitation.
124. 5:17Peter has lost his self-protection.
125. 5:20Peter is not cowering and denying before
126. 5:22the rooster crows to a servant girl.
127. 5:26Twice he tells him, "You disowned Jesus.
128. 5:31You said he's not one of us,
129. 5:34and you turned him over to Pilate, to
130. 5:36the state.
131. 5:38But you disowned the holy and righteous
132. 5:40one and asked for a murderer to be
133. 5:42granted to you.
134. 5:44But put to death the prince of life.
135. 5:48The one whom God raised from the dead, a
136. 5:51fact to which we are witnesses.
137. 5:55And on the basis of faith in his name,
138. 5:58it is the name of Jesus which has
139. 6:01strengthened this man whom you see and
140. 6:03know.
141. 6:04And the faith which comes through him
142. 6:06has given him this perfect health in the
143. 6:10presence of you all.
144. 6:13We're not pious, we're not powerful, but
145. 6:16there's a name that's been given to men.
146. 6:19And on the basis of faith in his name,
147. 6:21this guy has been changed.
148. 6:24And now, brethren, I know that you acted
149. 6:27in ignorance, just as your rulers also
150. 6:29did.
151. 6:31So, he's saying, "You did this, but
152. 6:33I acknowledge you were stupid. You
153. 6:36didn't know what you were doing. You
154. 6:38acted in ignorance.
155. 6:40But the things which God announced
156. 6:42before by the mouth of all the prophets,
157. 6:45that his Christ would suffer,
158. 6:47he thus fulfilled.
159. 6:50God used your ignorance,
160. 6:52and he fulfilled his purpose.
161. 6:55Therefore, repent,
162. 6:58and return,
163. 7:01so that your sins may be wiped away, in
164. 7:04order that times of refreshing may come
165. 7:08from the presence of the Lord.
166. 7:11And that he may send Jesus the Christ
167. 7:15appointed for you,
168. 7:17whom heaven must receive until the
169. 7:20period of restoration of all things,
170. 7:23about which God spoke by the mouth of
171. 7:25his holy prophets from ancient time.
172. 7:28Moses said, "The Lord God will raise up
173. 7:31for you a prophet like me from your
174. 7:34brethren.
175. 7:35To him you shall give heed to everything
176. 7:38he says to you."
177. 7:40So, Peter is saying a lot here that we
178. 7:42need to we need to understand.
179. 7:44He says,
180. 7:46"Brethren, I know you acted in
181. 7:48ignorance,
182. 7:49but you fulfilled the purpose of God.
183. 7:51So, the answer is you need to repent.
184. 7:55You need to turn.
185. 7:56You need to do a full 180 pivot,
186. 8:00and you need to stop aiming in the wrong
187. 8:03direction. Stop aiming toward your own
188. 8:05ambition. Stop aiming toward political
189. 8:08kingdoms and the state and Rome. Why
190. 8:11don't you come around and face the
191. 8:13kingdom that God really has brought
192. 8:15through Jesus Christ?
193. 8:17Repent so that your sins may be wiped
194. 8:20away.
195. 8:22There's no wiping away of our sins until
196. 8:24there's a repentance
197. 8:25in order that times of refreshing,
198. 8:29times of grace, times of joy, times of
199. 8:34new strength and renewal
200. 8:36can come
201. 8:38through the presence of the Lord.
202. 8:41Peter's just been filled with the Spirit
203. 8:43the day before,
204. 8:45but he says, "You can have this same
205. 8:47refreshing in your life through the
206. 8:48presence of the Lord.
207. 8:50And that he may send Jesus the Christ
208. 8:52appointed for you."
209. 8:54And then he says this,
210. 8:57"Jesus, whom heaven
211. 8:59must receive
212. 9:01until the period of restoration of all
213. 9:04things about which God spoke by the
214. 9:07mouth of his holy prophets from ancient
215. 9:09times."
216. 9:11So, Peter is saying, "Jesus is going to
217. 9:13stay in heaven
218. 9:15until God does a restoration among us
219. 9:18here on earth."
220. 9:20And that restoration is going to fulfill
221. 9:23everything that was spoken through the
222. 9:25prophets.
223. 9:27So, when the prophets said that God was
224. 9:29going to exalt the mountain
225. 9:32of the Lord's house above all the
226. 9:34mountains, that hasn't happened yet, but
227. 9:37it's going to happen through the church.
228. 9:39When he said that all the nations would
229. 9:41be gathered to the the mountain of
230. 9:43Judah, that hasn't happened yet, but
231. 9:46it's going to happen through spiritual
232. 9:47Israel.
233. 9:49When he said that what was missing is
234. 9:52going to be restored, that hasn't
235. 9:54happened yet. We haven't yet become what
236. 9:57God wants us to become. We haven't
237. 9:59filled the purpose.
238. 10:02Paul would later say that he must reign
239. 10:05from heaven until he puts all things
240. 10:07into subjection under his feet. That's
241. 10:09us on earth.
242. 10:11And then he comes the end when he
243. 10:13delivers up the kingdom to God the
244. 10:15Father, but that hasn't happened yet.
245. 10:17So, now is a time of restoration. Now is
246. 10:21a time of bringing everything into
247. 10:23obedience to Christ as he spoke in
248. 10:25Ephesians 1, but that hasn't happened
249. 10:28yet. And how we know that the church is
250. 10:30not restored to what it's supposed to be
251. 10:32is that Jesus hasn't returned. His
252. 10:35return will mark the culmination of the
253. 10:38restoration.
254. 10:39But he says you can repent so the times
255. 10:42of refreshing can come.
256. 10:45And it will be that every soul that does
257. 10:46not heed the prophet shall be utterly
258. 10:49destroyed from among the people. He's
259. 10:51quoting from Moses. And likewise all the
260. 10:54prophets who have spoken from Samuel and
261. 10:57his successors onwards
262. 10:58>> [music]
263. 10:59>> also announced these days.
264. 11:02It is you who are the sons of the
265. 11:04prophets
266. 11:05>> [music]
267. 11:05>> and of the covenant
268. 11:08which God made with your fathers. So, he
269. 11:10says you're you're not just sons of the
270. 11:12prophets, you're sons of a covenant and
271. 11:15that covenant is being fulfilled now.
272. 11:18Saying to Abraham,
273. 11:19"And in your seed all the families of
274. 11:22the earth shall be blessed."
275. 11:25For you first God raised up his servant
276. 11:28[music] and sent him to bless you by
277. 11:31turning every one of you from your
278. 11:33wicked ways.
279. 11:34So, he says,
280. 11:36"You are heirs of the prophets, and you
281. 11:38are heirs of the covenant." And what
282. 11:40covenant are we talking about? The one
283. 11:42God made with Abraham when he said, "In
284. 11:45your seed all the nations of the earth
285. 11:48would be blessed."
286. 11:49>> [music]
287. 11:49>> And Paul would later show us that Christ
288. 11:53is that seed because Christ was
289. 11:56conceived of the Holy Spirit. But then
290. 11:59he says, "We are that seed if we've been
291. 12:03clothed with Christ."
292. 12:05So, that's the
293. 12:06the one to whom the promise has been
294. 12:08made. The promise of life, the promise
295. 12:10[music] of refreshing, the promise of
296. 12:12blessing, the covenant of salvation was
297. 12:15made to Abraham and to [music] his seed.
298. 12:18And Jesus was that seed cuz he was born
299. 12:21of the Spirit. But when we're born of
300. 12:23the Spirit, [music] the same Spirit that
301. 12:25filled him, then we become part of that
302. 12:28same seed. We [music] become that heir.
303. 12:31Not many heirs,
304. 12:33but that one heir, which is Christ.
305. 12:36Do you understand?
306. 12:37"For you first, God raised up [music]
307. 12:40his servant."
308. 12:41So, he says, "You're the first ones
309. 12:44to be able to respond to this."
310. 12:48And he sent him to bless you
311. 12:51by turning every one of you from your
312. 12:53wicked ways.
313. 12:55The blessing that God wants to give you
314. 12:56is freedom from yourself,
315. 12:59freedom from your wickedness,
316. 13:01and to become part of the heir of
317. 13:03salvation,
318. 13:04his servant Jesus Christ, through the
319. 13:06[music] baptism of the Holy Spirit.