"Restoration"

Well, good morning. It's an exciting morning. We're going to have a baptism at the end of the service.

! That's something to look forward to. I want to begin this morning by asking you a question.

If you wanted to believe in God, what sign would you want to see him do to convince him to believe?

To convince you to believe. Woody Allen famously in The New Yorker said,

if only God would give me some clear sign like making a large deposit in my name and a Swiss bank account.

But seriously, maybe you would want to see the end of food scarcity in the world.

Maybe you would want to see a celestial fireworks show of shooting stars.

Maybe you'd want to hear God speak to you with an audible voice.

Or maybe you would want him to heal a broken relationship or a broken leg.

It's not hard to imagine what might be a significant and meaningful sign for us.

But this question brings us to our passage this morning.

Here at Trinity, we preach through books of the Bible and we're preaching through the book of Acts.

And we are in chapter 3 of the book of Acts this morning.

If you want to turn there, it's either page 857 or 868, depending on the printing of your Bible.

So you should be able to find it there.

And what we see is the book of Acts is about what God does after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

How he is at work through his people building his church in the world.

And specifically this morning, we're going to see God do a great sign and wonder.

And to meditate on what we ought to learn from this this morning.

So let me pray as we look at God's word together and ask God's help.

Lord, we thank you this morning for your word.

We thank you that in it you have revealed yourself to us.

Lord, that we are not left grasping or wondering or hoping that we might know you.

But you have made yourself known.

And Lord, in your word, we pray that you would help us this morning to see you more clearly.

To know you.

Lord, may our minds be awakened to know the truths of who you are.

May our hearts be set aflame to love you as we ought to.

Lord, I pray for your help that you would help me to speak as I ought with clarity.

And Lord, in dependence upon you that we might together sit under and be blessed by your word this morning.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

In this story, chapter 3 of the book of Acts, we're going to see that God does a great work to show us three things.

He's going to show us a great sign.

He's going to show us a great name.

And He's going to show us a great Savior.

So instead of reading through the whole thing, we're going to read it through in chunks.

So let's begin by looking at a great sign.

Starting in verse 1, we'll read 1 through 10 together.

Acts chapter 3.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the beautiful gate,

to ask alms of those entering the temple.

Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.

And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, look at us.

And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I do have, I give to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple asking for alms.

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

These verse 10 verses are a story of a great sign that God did.

Peter and John were on their way up to the temple.

This is where they would go.

In the very beginning of Christianity, they would go to the temple,

because this is where God's people historically had gathered.

And these followers of Jesus were going there to continue that practice.

And they run across a man who is in very obvious need.

The text is clear.

He was lame from birth.

This had been his whole life, being carried into public places where he could ask for help,

for food or for money or whatever it is.

And he asked them.

You know, you can imagine, because we see this in New Haven sometimes,

people sitting on the streets asking for help.

You can imagine how the streams would pass him by.

No one would pay attention.

Peter and John heard him, and they focused their attention on him.

And he asked for the help that he thought he would get.

He wasn't even asking for healing.

He was just asking for a bite to eat or a dollar to get some food.

Right?

And Peter and John say, we don't have a lot of money either.

We don't have anything to give you.

But what we do have, we will give to you.

In the name of Jesus, rise and walk.

And God, in that moment, worked.

That man was healed instantly and fully.

Peter and John grabbed him and pulled him up.

And a man who had never walked suddenly had ankles and feet that were strengthened

so that he could not only walk, but he could leap with joy

and go into the temple for the first time on his own power to worship God.

What an amazing thing.

And it was so amazing that it wasn't just he who saw this or Peter and John,

but all the crowd, the people around were amazed and full of wonder.

Isn't that the guy who never walked?

And now suddenly here he is walking and praising God.

God's supernatural intervention is a great sign.

God's supernatural intervention is a great sign.

Probably many of those seeing this would have thought about the passage

that Christina read earlier from Isaiah 61,

talking about when the coming of the Messiah

and the new season of God's blessing would come.

It would come with someone who would bring a renewal and a restored world.

The words that were read earlier from Isaiah was what Jesus read in Luke chapter 4

Luke 4 · chapter mention

when he began his ministry.

He said, in me, these scriptures are fulfilled.

I have come to do these things that the lame will be healed,

that the blind will see, that the captives will be set free.

This picture of restoration, that the Messiah would come and bring that.

All right, I have to admit, I watch videos on YouTube every once in a while.

And if you've ever seen SB mowing videos, okay,

it's this guy who does landscaping.

But what he does is he goes to places for free

when he sees a completely overgrown yard that's just a complete mess.

And he goes and knocks on the door and said,

can I restore your yard for you?

And he then goes and he cleans the sidewalk.

He discovers sidewalks that you can't even see

because they've been buried under dirt.

He cuts down grass that's like three feet high.

And this complete jungle of a mess,

at the end of the video,

is restored to this beautiful thing.

Friends, this is just a taste of what Jesus has come to do.

And the apostles get to be a part of it.

We see this restoring work in Jesus' ministry

as he healed the sick and he gave sight to the blind,

as he even raised people from the dead.

We see it in the apostles' ministry.

It's already been mentioned in chapter 2, verses 43,

that they did many signs and wonders.

And we'll see it continuing.

Paul will continue to do it in the book of Acts.

So here's the question that we wrestle with, don't we?

Should we expect God to be doing these things today?

All right.

This is going to be a bit of an aside.

All right?

Here we go.

First of all, the question is, can God do this?

Of course he can.

The God of the universe who made everything,

if he wants to do something supernatural,

of course he can do this.

God is not bound.

He is not unable.

Right?

Does God still do this?

That's the second question.

Well, yes, I think we have to say he does do this.

Right?

Because we see that people have been healed

and are being healed.

Now, okay, here's another rabbit trail.

Healing is an amazing thing, though,

under God's sovereignty.

Right?

Because how does God heal?

Every time our white blood cells fight off an infection,

God is healing us.

Every time a broken bone heals,

God is healing us.

Every time medicine fights back cancer

and puts us in remission,

God is healing us.

And sometimes God steps in,

and beyond any what we would consider normal

or natural means of ways that we've seen God

create a world that heals,

he intervenes like he did in this man's life.

And he made strong ankles and feet

where there had never been.

And God does this.

And I know, as I look out among you,

some of you have experienced this.

You've seen babies in utero

knit together when they weren't together.

You've seen chronic disease

lay waste to your life

and then be restored.

You've seen cancers go into remission

unexpectedly and gloriously.

God does still heal.

And he does it supernaturally some of the time.

So now we come back to the question I asked.

Should we expect God to work

in these particular supernatural sign-like ways?

Now this is a big conversation in the church.

Some people would say that these signs were given

particularly to the apostles

as they were beginning the work of the ministry of the church,

as they were preaching God's word

and establishing the church.

One of the reasons they argue this

is you see that there's lots of this

at the beginning of the book of Acts,

but as you go along it,

they seem to fade in relationship

to other works of God

among his people of evangelism and discipleship,

of sanctification and salvation, right?

So some people have thought,

no, that was just for the apostles.

Other people have thought,

well, God does continue to do this,

but particularly in places

where the gospel is just starting out,

where there's a particular need or desire

for authentication of the message

that's being verbally proclaimed,

just like it was here in Acts,

but also we see this in other parts of the world,

in new places, right?

So this is another argument

that some people in the church have put forth,

that it does happen,

but really we should expect it

where the gospel is taking new ground,

where it's reaching new cultures

and new peoples

and new places

where the church is not yet established.

Some people would argue,

yes, this does continue,

and they would point to things

like 1 Corinthians 12,

which lists healing as one of the gifts

in the body of Christ,

or James 5, where it says,

if any of you are sick,

call the elders

and pray that you may be healed.

So there's a breadth of understanding about this.

So how do we navigate this?

How do we navigate this?

Here's what I want to go to.

I want to say this pastorally.

We should neither deny nor elevate

these signs of healing in our church, right?

Some of you have experienced them,

and it's so wonderful.

You just want everyone to experience the same thing.

But listen, as I look out here,

I also know that some of you have walked,

sorry, have walked the hard road

of sickness that leads to death.

Some of you even now

are experiencing chronic disease,

and God hasn't healed that.

Some of you have experienced deep loss

as you've seen this happen.

And so we need to hold these things together

as we do this.

Neither elevate nor deny.

Why do I say this?

Well, I have three reasons, right?

First, it's because in the weight of the Christian life

and in the scriptures,

it's not these supernatural signs

that are the key to spiritual growth,

life, or maturity.

It's knowing Christ.

It's growing in Godliness.

It's transformed character.

It's all sorts of other things

that have to do with God convicting us of sin

and changing our hearts

so that we love Him more than sin,

and these sorts of things.

This is what we see as the normal Christian life.

Right?

So that's the first reason.

The second reason is that the sign of healing,

the wonderful, is temporary

because the man who was healed in the temple

still died.

Right?

And this is the one thing

that we've never been able to see

God transform.

All of us, our bodies will decay and die

until the final resurrection.

Right?

And so we recognize that even something

as wonderful and as miraculous

as this healing for this man

was temporary.

And the third reason is

because I believe that this passage itself

says that as great as this healing was,

it was pointing to something greater.

If you want to look for someone

who has great perspective on healing,

I recommend Johnny Erickson Tada.

If you have not read her books,

she has a book called When God Weeps.

She has another book called

A Place of Healing.

She became a quadriplegic

through a diving accident

when she was a teenager

and then wrote particularly

A Place of Healing.

Forty years later,

she was experiencing both debilitating

chronic pain,

which is odd for a quadriplegic,

but there it was.

And she ended up getting cancer

in the middle of it.

God has preserved her

through all these things.

This is what she writes

about how she prays.

Yes, I pray that my pain

might be removed,

that it might cease,

but more so,

I pray for the strength to bear it,

for the grace to benefit from it,

and the devotion to offer it up to God

as a sacrifice of praise.

For all the concentration

I can muster in prayer,

I must not dissipate it

in seeking physical blessings only.

Rather,

I must spend a good portion of it

seeking spiritual growth

and praying for Christ's kingdom

to go forth

into this dark world.

For such prayers are a way

for me to know God

and to know Him deeper,

higher,

richer,

wider,

and fuller,

more fuller

than if I comfortably

cruise through life

in my wheelchair.

So yes, pray.

Pray for God's healing

because He does work.

But neither elevate it

nor deny it

in your heart

because

when God does this,

it is

meant to give us

a foretaste.

It is a sign

of something else.

Right?

You know what signs are.

You know,

when you're driving to New Haven,

there are those green signs

that point you to

if you want to go to the courthouse,

you go this way.

If you want to go to Yale University,

go that way.

If you want to go to the art museum,

go that way.

A sign points to a destination

and Peter has a destination

in mind

as he begins then

to respond to what he's seeing

in the next section of our passage.

So let's look at it briefly.

We're now in

verses 11 through 16

of Acts chapter 3.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

Let's read it together.

While he clung to Peter and John,

all the people ran together

to them

in the portico

called Solomon's,

astounded.

And when Peter saw it,

he addressed the people.

Men of Israel,

why do you wonder at this?

Or why do you stare at us

as though by our own power

or piety

we've made him walk?

The God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob,

the God of our forefathers,

glorified his servant Jesus,

whom you delivered over

and denied in the presence

of Pilate

when he had decided

to release him.

But you denied

the holy and righteous one

and asked for a murderer

to be granted to you.

And you killed

the author of life

whom God raised

from the dead.

To this

we are witnesses.

And his name,

by faith in his name,

has this man

strong,

has made this man strong

whom you see

and know.

And the faith

that is through Jesus

has given the man

this perfect health

in the presence

of you all.

Peter sees the amazement

of the crowd.

They're wondering,

how could this happen?

And he wants to clarify.

The first thing he says

is,

this is not about us.

This is not about me

and whether I healed you

or not.

Right?

He says,

it's not my,

I have no intrinsic

ability to do this.

But instead,

he says,

it is the God

of Abraham

and Isaac

and Jacob

who

did what?

Glorified

this man,

Jesus,

by raising him

from the dead.

And he goes to the end,

he says,

and it is in the name

of Jesus

that this man

has been healed.

Right?

Now,

what is a name?

Right?

We think about a name,

it's just like

what you put on your,

you know,

name tag

or something like that.

But in the Bible,

the name has more significance.

A name signifies

someone's power

and authority.

Kind of like

in the old days

in the movies

where they say,

open up in the name

of the king.

Right?

They have authority

and power

to open that door.

They're asking the person

to open it nicely,

but if they won't,

they'll break it down

because they have

the authority

to do that.

Right?

Right?

And in verses 13 through 15,

Peter's unpacking

the richness

of what Jesus' name

signifies.

Right?

He is the one

who has been glorified

by the God of Israel

by raising him

from the dead.

And he sets this

in contrast.

You denied him.

You didn't ask for him

but asked for a murder instead.

You killed him

who is the author

of life,

who by the resurrection

of the dead

is able to give life

to people

and you killed him.

But God raised him up

and God is the one

who made him

this glorious savior,

this wonderful name

by which we may be healed.

And so Peter's first thing

that he wants to tell

these people

about this healing

is not about the healing.

It's not about

how to get there.

It's not how to get more.

It's about Jesus

and it's about

the name of Jesus,

the exalted,

resurrected one

whom God affirmed.

That he is not merely

a healer of sickness

or a defeater of evil

but more centrally

he is a defeater

of sin and death

and a king who brings

an eternal kingdom

of life

that we get to taste now

maybe in healing,

more certainly in joy,

and hope.

So this is what Peter says

to us in verses 11 through 16

is what is this healing about?

It's about Jesus

and the name of Jesus

and then he expands

on this understanding

even more so, right?

So when we get to verse 17

we're going to read this.

We're going to see this expansion

where it's not only a great name

but a great savior.

So let's read this section together.

Verses 17 and following.

And now brothers,

I know that you acted

in ignorance

as did your rulers

but what God foretold

by the mouth of all the prophets

that his Christ would suffer

he thus fulfilled.

Repent therefore

and turn again

that your sins

may be blotted out

that times of refreshing

may come

from the presence of the Lord

and that he may send

the Christ appointed for you,

Jesus

whom heaven must receive

until the time

for restoring

all the things

about which God spoke

by the mouth

of his holy prophets

long ago.

Moses said

the Lord God

will raise up for you

a prophet like me

from your brothers.

You shall listen to him

in whatever he tells you

and it shall be

that every soul

who does not listen

to that prophet

shall be destroyed

from the people.

And all the prophets

who have spoken

from Samuel

and those who came after him

also proclaim these days

you are the sons

of the prophets

and the covenants

that God made

with your fathers

saying to Abraham

in your offspring

shall all the families

of the earth be blessed.

God having raised up

his servant

sent him to you first

to bless you

by turning in

every one of you

from your wickedness.

So in this last section

after doing the healing

and then claiming

that this is fundamentally

about Jesus

he now confronts the people

and remember

he's preaching

to a primarily Jewish audience.

He's in the temple

preaching to people

who were almost certainly

almost all Jewish people.

Right?

And he's saying to them

this Jesus

is not only the name

he didn't spring out

out of nowhere

in history

but instead

he is the fulfillment

of everything

that you have known

as Jewish people

about what God

is doing in the world.

He is the fulfillment

to believe in him

and trust in him

because he is the fulfillment.

And then he unpacks

this incredible picture.

Right?

This passage

is actually really weird.

You're like

where is he going?

He's all over

the Old Testament.

He's mentioning

Samuel and Moses

and Abraham

and all the prophets.

He's saying

where is he going?

Right?

Well what he's saying

is Jesus is the fulfillment

and he paints

really briefly

but beautifully

this Old Testament

tapestry

of God's

redemptive promises.

And so I want to

lead you through that

really briefly

this morning

as we close

as we look at this.

Right?

One of the things he does

you see in verse 13

and then again

in verse 26

what does he call Jesus?

He calls him

my servant.

Now if you were

a first century Jew

that would ring bells

to think of

the prophet Isaiah

who talks about

the suffering servant

in chapters 42

through 55

and in the central

most clear passage

about who

who this suffering servant

is and what he would do

we see in Isaiah

53, 46

we'll put it up

on the screen

so you can see it together

he says this

about the suffering servant

surely he has borne

our griefs

and carried our sorrows

yet we esteemed him

stricken

smitten by God

and afflicted

but he was pierced

for our transgressions

he was crushed

for our iniquities

upon him

was the chastisement

that brought us peace

and with his wounds

we are healed

all we like sheep

have gone astray

we have turned

everyone to our own way

and the Lord

has laid on him

the iniquity

of us all

friends

this is the centerpiece

of the fulfillment

that Jesus came

and lived

a perfect life

and then died

on the cross

for sins

he was pierced

he was crushed

he was killed

why?

for the forgiveness

of our sins

and you see how

Peter connected it

he told them

to repent

so that their sins

might be forgiven

he's not talking

about healing anymore

he's not talking

about their present

day challenges

as great as they may be

he's talking about

their sin

and he's saying

this Jesus

is the fulfillment

of this promise

in the Old Testament

that the healing

that this Savior

would bring

yes it would

may

he may overflow

with healing

of a broken bone

or of a disease

but more so

he's going to heal us

from the sickness

of death

and sin

through forgiveness

dying on the cross

for us

being raised

from the dead

so that he's able

to give life

to all who believe

in him

and so this is

where Peter starts

as he's saying

don't you see

Jesus is the fulfillment

of this servant

and he's saying

and he's also

the fulfillment

of what Moses said

that a prophet

like him

like Moses

would come after him

who would be greater

than him

and what did Moses do?

Moses led his people

from slavery

to Egypt

into the joy

and the freedom

of the promised land

this was the exodus

right

from captivity

to freedom

and this is what

Jesus does

again

not from

socio-political oppression

but from the oppression

of sin

and the captivity

that sin

captures our hearts

Jesus comes

as a greater Moses

to set us free

from these things

and it's not just

setting us free

for these things

but these things

are the fulfillment

going back even further

in the Old Testament

to Abraham

where we see

in verse 24

and 25

all in your offspring

all the families

of the earth

will be blessed

and he's saying

don't you see

the blessing

that you see

on this man

who is now

walking and leaping

and rejoicing

in the temple

this is just a foretaste

of the blessing

this is a little taste

of the blessing

that comes more fully

through the salvation

of people

both Jew

and Gentile

not just the offspring

of Abraham

genetically

but the offspring

of Abraham

who are like him

because they believe

in Jesus

this is the blessing

that God has brought

this is the amazing sign

do you want to see

a sign

friends

this is what the Bible

tells us above

everything else

a sign of healing

or provision

we praise God

for it

but Jesus

is a greater sign

and he has already

lived and died

and risen again

we don't need to wonder

what new thing

he has to done

he has already done

everything that is

sufficient for us

that we may know

his

the surpassing glory

of this sign

if all the healings

and provisions

and protections

that God does

which he does do

in this world

if they are like

the stars in the sky

Jesus is the sun

and his light

it all fades

we are eclipsed

by the glory

of this Jesus

and this is why

Peter wants us

in light of the healing

of a man

who was lame

from birth

to respond

not by saying

give me more of that

can I get more healing

can I get more blessing

can I get material blessing

can I get more stuff

here's the thing

it's fine to ask

for those things

but it's

better to ask

for those things

in the context

of asking

for the most

important thing

right

that you may know

Jesus

and this is what

Peter calls

his first century

audience to

and what he calls

us to today

repent

repent of being

so focused on

our physical comfort

our current

circumstances

that we lose

sight of the

greatest

sickness

that we have

which is our sin

repent of our

thinking

that if we had

those material

blessings

that we would

finally be okay

with God

and turn

to Jesus

the Savior

the blessing

the sign

that is greater

than any other

sign

for us

for our hope

for our salvation

for our good

and for God's glory

let's pray

together

Lord we thank you

that you are a God

who is able to do

immeasurably more

than we ask

or even imagine

Lord we pray

that you would

open our eyes

to see the glory

in your salvation

greater than

all other blessings

Lord we know

you are a loving

Father

and you are abundant

in your goodness

Lord may we

above all

know your goodness

in our salvation

we pray these things

in Jesus name

Amen

Amen