the book of Acts Week 6 | March 23, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So ever, since the Super Bowl, my social media feed,
in particular my Facebook reels, have been filled with nothing
but white people dancing poorly to Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us.
Maybe you've seen these as well. It seems like everyone
bridal parties, dentists, offices, house moms, elementary schools, even a
nursing home. It's not only pretty cringey to watch, but

(00:22):
it's also pretty obvious that the people dancing to this
song have missed, like the overall message of what the
song is about. Right, they have no idea what they're
actually dancing to. It's pretty clear they missed the overall
message of Kendrick Lamar's halftime show, no idea that he's
trying to make a social commentary to them. Man, this
is just a cool beat. I could dance. It's danceable.

(00:46):
Everyone's let's join this TikTok trend. Right, It's just very surfacing,
no depth, just a cool sounding song. Just want to
be like, yeah, look at me, I'm dancing. Right. So
here's the point. Without realizing it, I think we can
do the exact same thing when we run into miracles

(01:09):
in the Bible, we are so used to miracles being
a part of the biblical narrative, that we can miss
the point. We can reduce these down to just like
a cool detail. We can be surfacy, we can lack
depth of understanding when it comes to why these are
included in scripture. We can miss the point of the

(01:33):
commentary that God is trying to make regarding his kingdom
within the miracle. An example this John chapter six. We
see Jesus feeding five thousand people, and everyone's amazed. They
start following him, and then at that point Jesus turns
and challenges them. He challenges them to go deeper. John

(01:56):
six twenty six says, this is Jesus saying, I tell
you the truth. You want to be with me because
I say you want to bet with me because of
this cool detail, not because you understood the miraculous sign.
They're focused on this cool detail of Jesus. He can
do miracles, he can feed us. They didn't want to

(02:17):
go deeper. They didn't want to understand the purpose of
the miracle. They didn't want to see what the miracle
was pointing to. Regarding our passage today, theologian F. F.
Bruce said, the following this man being healed was marvelous,
to be sure, but it was more than a marvel.
It was a sign. It was a sign the big

(02:38):
idea for our time together today. Like the main focus
of what we're going to be talking about is that
miracles in the Bible are signposts pointing to God's kingdom.
That's their purpose, that they are a commentary on who
God is, what his kingdom is like, and our text today.
This man being healed points out us in four different

(03:01):
directions with regards to us understanding God and his kingdom.
This miracle points upward and points backwards, it points downward,
and it points forward. And that's going to serve as
an outline as we're dissecting our text today. Upward, backward,
downward forward. Miracles in the Bible are signposts pointing to

(03:24):
God's Kingdom. So as we're preparing to engage the Holy
Scripture applying it to our lives, let's first pause and pray,
Heavenly Father, thank you for another day on the earth,
another day within this community known as Indie Metro Church.
Thank you for all of the signs that you've left

(03:47):
for us pointing to your goodness and your glory, your
compassionate mercy, teach us to be attentive to these signs,
to follow the way. Help us to have more than
just a faith that's a cool detail of our life.
Will help us have a faith that is life altering.

(04:07):
We need your help in this Lord, so said your
precious and holy name, that we make this request. Amen.
So first, this miracle points us upward. Were read in
our verse or our text, starting in verse one. One day,
Peter and John were going up to the temple at
the time to pray at three in the afternoon. Now,
a man who was laying from birth was being carried
to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put

(04:28):
every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.
When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he
looked up or he asked them for money, But Peter
looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said,
look at us. So the man gave them his attention,
expecting to get something. When Peter said, silver or gold
I don't have. But what I do have I give
you in the name of Jesus Christ of Navzdareth walk So,

(04:48):
taking him by the right hand, he helped him up,
and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He
jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he
went into the temple courts, walking and jumping, praising God.
When all the people saw him walk, walking and praising God,
they recognized him as the same man who used to
sit begging at the temple gate, called beautiful, and they
were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened.

(05:09):
While the man held on to Peter and John, all
the people were astonished. They came running to them in
the place called Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he
said to them, fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you?
Why do you stare at us as if by our
own power or godliness we made this man walk. The
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers,
has glorified his servant Jesus. So the first thing I

(05:33):
want us to notice is that both the man who
was healed and Peter himself, the first words out of
their mouth was drawing attention upward to God. Both of them.
This man was described twice as praising God. He wasn't
rejoicing that he was being healed. He was praising God.

(05:55):
He went with us into the temple courts, walking, jumping,
praising God. When all the people saw him walking and
praysing God, they recognized him. This was repeated. This is
detail that's repeated. Likewise, listening again to what Peter says,
he says, fellow Israelites, why do you stare at us
as if by our own power or godliness we made
this man walk. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,

(06:16):
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. Right,
what happened was a marvel. It was amazing. A crowd
had started to form. They were focusing on Peter and John,
and what temptation that is in that moment to sort
of bask in that attention, to sort of solidify themselves
as like, yeah, we're important people. But they didn't do this.

(06:40):
Their immediate response was to direct the attention upward at
the Lord. It's like they were saying, this, indeed is amazing,
but what has happened is a sign pointing to the
power in the authority of Jesus. It's not our godly
this is not our power that made this happen. This

(07:00):
man was healed so that you will know that our
message about the finished work of Jesus Christ is true.
In other words, don't look at us, look at Jesus,
listen to our message about him. And this is a
pattern that we see repeated throughout scripture, this idea of
a miracle, sort of accrediting the messenger, that what the

(07:23):
messenger is saying is of God, what the messenger is
saying is true. As an example, let's consider the life
of Moses. Right, Moses has this interaction with God and
this burning bush, and God says, I'm gonna send you
to Egypt. You're gonna be my ambassador. I'm gonna free
my people through your leadership, and Moses starts making excuses. Immediately.
He's like, not, no, not me, I'm not the guy.

(07:45):
I don't speak very well. Lord's like, well, I'll send
your brother Aaron along. That'll solve that problem. And then
he starts backpedaling more. It's like, well, they're gonna think
I'm crazy. I'm gonna show up saying hey, the Lord
sent me to rescue you, and they're gonna look at
me sideways like you are out of your mind. And
we pick up this account in Exodus four one through
five but Moses protested again, what if they won't believe

(08:06):
me or listen to me. What if they say the
Lord never appeared to you. Then the Lord asked him,
what's that in your hand? A shepherd's staff. Moses replied,
throw it down on the ground. The Lord told him.
So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into
a snake. And Moses jumped back, and the Lord told
him reach out and grab its tail. So Moses reached
out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a
shepherd's staff in his hand. Performed this sign. The Lord

(08:30):
told him, perform this miracle. Then they'll believe that the Lord,
the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, really has appeared
to you. Right, there was a purpose behind the miracle.
It wasn't just like a cool detail. It wasn't just
like a flex. It accredited Moses to the people. God

(08:53):
really did send him. We really do need to listen
to him. This is what we see happening in our text. Right.
This is miraculous healing was a signpost proving that what
Peter was about to say about Jesus is true. We
are messagers of the good News of Jesus Christ. This

(09:17):
miracle is a signpost pointing upward, but it was also
a signpost pointing backward. Did you notice that in Peter's
description of the Lord from our text today that this
closely paralleled what the Lord said to Moses about himself
in Exus Chapter four, Acts three thirteen. Our text says,

(09:37):
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of
our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. In Exus four
to five, the Lord said, performed this sign. Then they'll
believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,
really has appeared to you, right, Peter, using this description,
that's not a coincidence. This was purposely done in order

(09:58):
to direct the alle He gainst his attention backwards, remembering
everything that the Lord had promised them about his redeeming
work in their life. He's trying to trigger this prior knowledge, Like,
if you pay a careful enough attention, you're going to
see that this lines up with everything that God has
already told you about what he was going to do.

(10:20):
In fact, there's another word in Peter's response, that may
have triggered their thinking even more in the direction of
the Messianic prophecies, says, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.
Within the Messianic prophecies. In the Old Testament, this word
servant is often used to describe the coming Messiah. Examples,

(10:44):
Isaiah forty two to one says, look at my servant,
whom I'm strengthened. He is my chosen one who pleases me.
I've put my spirit upon him. He will bring justice
to the nations. To what Peter's doing is he is
actively pointing back to scripts. He's pointing back to everything
that they already know about the coming Messiah. This miracle

(11:06):
lines up prophetically with what you know to be true
about the rule and the reign of the coming Messiah.
On top of this, Peter, in his sermon, he quotes
the Old Testament sort of directly reminded like this was
what was prophesied, this is being fulfilled in Christ verse
twenty two, Peter says, for Moses said, the Lord your

(11:27):
God will raise up for you a prophet like me
from among your own people. You must listen to everything
he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him
will be completely cut off from their people. Indeed, beginning
with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold
these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and
of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said
to Abraham, through your offspring, all peoples on earth will

(11:49):
be blessed. When God raised up his servant, like when
God raised Jesus from the dead within the resurrection. He
sent him first to you to bless you by turning
each of you from your wicked ways. It's like Peter saying,
this man was miraculously healed. So that you understand that

(12:13):
all of the promises of the coming Messiah are being
are fulfilled or manifested in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Messiah.
The second Moses has arrived, the second Exodus has begun.
You rescue out of your slavery to sin and death

(12:33):
that is underway. This is being fulfilled in the person
of Jesus. Repent. Believe this news. This miracle is a
signpost pointing back to everything that you know to be
true about God's promises to you through Jesus' those promises
are fulfilled. In fact, Peter says this explicitly, as he

(12:53):
shows that this miracle is also a signpost pointing downward.
A third description, this miracle is a signpost pointing downward
verse thirteen. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the
God of our fathers, has glorified his servant, Jesus. You
handed him over to be killed. You disowned him before Pilot,
though he had decided to let him go. You disowned
the Holy and Righteous One and asked how a murderer

(13:15):
be released to you? You killed the author of life.
But God raise him from the dead. We are witnesses
of this by faith in the name of Jesus. This man,
who you see and know, was made strong. It is
Jesus's name and the faith that comes through him that
has completely healed him. As you can all see, this
is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all
the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. According to Peter,

(13:40):
even though the Jewish people may have not understood it directly,
one of the clearest pictures of the Messiah as described
in the Old testament is that he would suffer. Look
again at the text, Look at the words which cast
our eyes downward to the grave, to the suffering and
torment that Jesus endured for us. You handed him over
to be killed. You disowned him. You just owned the

(14:01):
Holy righteous One. You killed the author of life. Our
gaze is being directed downward. This miracle is a signpost
pointing down to the grave. It was through the power
and authority of Jesus that this man was healed, and
that power and authority was solidified through Jesus's willingness to die.

(14:23):
He was willing to fulfill God's plan for him. He's
willing to condescend himself even though he had all power
and authority. It's like, look at this man. Look at
the power of Jesus on display. Jesus has the power
to miraculously heal, and yet he didn't wield any of
that power and keeping himself from suffering. He allowed himself

(14:44):
to suffer even though he had the power not to.
Look at this huge disparity between what Jesus can do
and what he chose not to do. For you, the Messiah,
I would suffer. This was foretold. An example, This Isaiah
chapter fifty three, verses two through twelve. My servant, there's

(15:07):
that messianic word again. My servant grew up in the
Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, like a root
and dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about
his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was
despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him, right, we disowned him,
As our text says, we turned our backs on him

(15:29):
and look the other way. He was despised. We didn't care.
Yet it was our weakness he carried. It was our
sorrows that weighed him down. We thought his troubles were
a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins.
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so that we could be made whole.
He was whips that we could be healed, all of
us like sheep. We've strayed away. We've all left God's

(15:49):
path to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on
him the sins of us. All. He was oppressed, He
was treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He
never wielded his power. Who's led like a lamb to
the slaughter, and as a sheep is silent before the shearers.
He didn't open his mouth. Even though we could have
unjustly condemned he was led away. No one cared that

(16:11):
he died without descendants, that his life was cut short
in midstream. He was struck down for the rebellion of
my people. He had done no wrong, he had never
deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal. He
was put in a rich man's grave. But was the
Lord's good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet,
when his life has made an offering for sin, he
will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life.

(16:32):
The Lord's good plan will prosper in his hands. When
he sees all that accomplished by his anguish, he will
be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant
will make it possible for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all of their sins. I will
give him the honors of a victorious soldier. Because he
exposed himself to death, he was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many, and interceded for rebels.

(16:59):
In other words, the miracles of Jesus, the miracles that
are done in his name, These show the length that
Jesus was willing to condescend himself for you. Jesus has
all power, all authority, and he did not wield that

(17:22):
for himself. He relinquished it for you. It's like Peter
and John are saying, listen, this is just a trickle
of the power of Jesus, man being made well repent.
Save yourselves. There's so much more. There's so much more
dysfunction in your heart that needs to be rooted out.

(17:45):
There's so much more slavery and captivity that the Lord
can release you from if you would just trust him.
Look at his power. There's a huge disparity between what
Jesus allowed himself to endure and the power and authority
that he had that could have prevented his own suffering.
Huge disparity, huge disparity between what Jesus endured and what

(18:08):
he deserved. And that's a perfect transition to our last
point this morning. This miracle is a signpost pointing forward.
There is a huge disparity between what the world is
right now and what it will be like when Jesus
comes again and sets everything right, when everything comes fully
under his rule and reign. This miracle is a signpost

(18:31):
pointing forward verse sixteen. By faith in the name of Jesus.
This man you see and know, was made strong. It
is Jesus's name and the faith that comes through him
that has completely healed him. As you all can see, Repent,
then turn to God so that your sins may be
wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

(18:51):
that he may send the Messiah who has been appointed
for you. Even Jesus heaven must receive him until the
time comes for God to restore everything as he promised
long ago through his holy prophets. There isn't a single
miracle of Christ or done in his name, and all
of scripture that just shows off his power. Every miracle

(19:15):
of Jesus, every miracle done in his name, they are
always aimed at alleviating human suffering, every one of them.
In other words, the miracles of Jesus. They always point
to what God's coming kingdom will be like one day,
all suffering, all disease, all poverty, war, hatred, wickedness, brokenness, prejudice, fear, mongering, disability, pain, guilt, shame, division.

(19:44):
One day, all of these things will be wiped out.
They will all be taken away. They'll be gone forever.
Everything dysfunctional will one day be removed. This man was healed,
he had the inability to, and that was taken away.
In fact, the text describes him as leaping, which is

(20:06):
a clear allusion to Isaiah thirty five, which is a
description of what God's people are like when his kingdom comes,
they leap for joy friends. When Jesus comes again, when
his rule and reign is fully set into motion, this
is what it will be like. Humanity will be perfected.
There will be complete harmony and peace and thriving. The

(20:29):
miracles of Jesus. These are signposts pointing forward to that day.
One day it will be like this. One day I
will return and make everything perfect and good. So what
does all that mean for us right now? Especially since

(20:51):
miracles are not super common occurrences in our lives, at
least as we see depicted in our text today, What
does that mean for us? A lot of times miracles
are just difficult to understand. Their mysterious even when we
understand the miracles point to the goodness and the glory,
the power, the compassionate love of Christ, even when I

(21:13):
fully understand that, even when we're when I'm placing my
focus upward into God and his kingdom, praying and being
fully prepared to give God glory when he answers, even
when we're placing our focus forward, speaking back to God,
I know your kingdom is like this, and I'm asking
your kingdom to come, even when we're placing our focus
backwards and downwards, remembering all that the Lord has already

(21:34):
done and promised. Even when that's true, we don't always
see our prayers answered. We don't always see that the
miracle that we're hoping for. Sometimes the Lord seems to
be silent, and it's hard to make sense of that.
Regarding this thought, Bible teacher Sharon Haday Miller wrote the

(21:57):
following in a personal reflection. This is somewhat lengthy, so
I'm not going to put it up on the screen,
but I will read the quote in its entirety. This
is her own personal reflection said, most of us have
been there. It's not just painful, but confusingly painful. Didn't
God hear me? Doesn't he love me? Didn't I have
enough faith. Why wasn't it at a yes, These are

(22:20):
the questions that we asked when the miracle doesn't come.
Perhaps it was the cancer that wasn't cured, the chronic
illness that never healed, the marriage that couldn't be saved,
the money that didn't come through, and the absence of
a miracle. These stories about Jesus can be tough to swallow.
They can even feel cruel. Why are they here if
not to tease us? God knows that we feel this tension,

(22:42):
which is perhaps why he included Matthew eleven two through
five Here. John the Baptist asks Jesus if he is
in fact the one who is to come the Messiah,
and Jesus answers by pointing to Isaiah sixty one. Go
and tell John what you hear and see the blind
receive their site, the lame walk lepers are cleanse the
deaf hear the debtor raised up. He's essentially saying, yes,

(23:04):
all the things that are been foretold, I am fulfilling them.
Jesus's answer to John tells us a lot about the
purpose of his miracles. They're a sign of the prophecies fulfilled,
a sign that Jesus is a long way to Messiah.
They are a sign of his authority, his power, his glory.
They are a sign of God's love for us, a
sign that we can trust the Lord. But here's what

(23:24):
we shouldn't miss about Jesus's answers, because John certainly wouldn't have.
Isaiah sixty one also says this, of the coming Messiah,
he will proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening
of the prison to those who are bound. It's a
message of hope for prisoners, which is exactly what John was.
John received Jesus's message while sitting in a prison cell,

(23:47):
and yet John the Baptist was never set free. Three
chapters later, He's beheaded. Scripture tells us that when Jesus
got word of John the Baptist's death, he withdrew from
there in a boat to a decent place by himself.
Our God is not indifferent to our pain. Matthew eleven
two through five contains all the power and glory and
complexity and confusion of Jesus's miracles to attest to Jesus's

(24:11):
divine identity, but it also attests to the reality that
miracles don't always come in that tension, we learn more
about what jesus miracles mean. Jesus's miracles weren't only about him,
but about the kingdom to come. Tucked into every miracle,
we can almost hear God whisper, this is what my
kingdom's like. It's complete healing, it's total wholeness, it's freedom,

(24:33):
awe and joy. Miracles provide a foretaste of that inbreaking
kingdom that they were never meant to replace it. We'll
never have the perfect peace and restoration we desire this
side of eternity, but miracles point to the place where
we will. We'll never have the perfect peace and restoration

(24:58):
that we desire on this eternity, but the miracles of
Jesus point to the place where we will. They're a
signposts pointing forward to the future when the full reign
and rule of Jesus is unleashed on this world. The friends,
as we start to wind down and we're transitioning to
a time of communion, here's my invitation to you. Even

(25:22):
though we don't witness miracles today, maybe with the same
regularity or the same sort of like weirdness that we
see in our passage today, that doesn't mean that God
is not busy leaving you signposts pointing to his kingdom.
The Lord is still busy communicating to you. He is
still drawing your attention upward to his beauty, his power,

(25:45):
his glory. An easy example this is when we go
out in nature and we just quiet ourselves down and
we just behold the universe? Does it not draw our
attention upward to the power and the beauty and the
majesty of God. God is busy drawing our attention backward,
reminding us of his faithfulness. We have examples from our

(26:07):
own lives that we could go back. We just remember, God,
You've been so faithful to me. We see as we
study scripture, this is the point of studying scripture to
remind yourself of the faithfulness of God, to become well
acquainted with his promises, so that we can see those
promises fulfilled. God is busy drawing our gaze downward to
the cost that Jesus willingly paid for you, because He

(26:29):
loves you that much. That's what we're going to be
reminded when we take communion in a few moments, our
gaze is directed downward to the cost of the cross.
God is drawing our attention forward into the moments where
his kingdom is breaking in. When we've witnessed things as
they should be. God is always speaking, but we're not

(26:52):
always listening. Our miracles don't always come, our prayers aren't
always answers in the way that we wish they would be.
But that doesn't mean that God is absent. It doesn't
mean that he's not with us. In fact, God is
with us. He will never forsake you. One day he
will return, He will set everything right. His kingdom will come.

(27:18):
So let's remember that good news now as we transition
to a time of communion.