October 14, 2018

The Kingdom Pledge

Tim Gorbey ~ Acts 3:1-10

Sermon Quotes

Acts 3:1-10
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 and 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.

Isaiah 35:1-6
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.  The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.  He will come and save you.”  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.  For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;

“At the dawn of the last days, selective and temporary previews of complete, eternal restoration (the leaping of a lame man) provided divine confirmation of the apostles’ testimony about Jesus.  He is indeed the righteous Servant by whose “wounds we are healed”.  The healing comes not all at once, but in phases. Now “things fall apart”, and suffering and death dog our steps, but the reversal of cosmic entropy has begun in the resurrection of Jesus.  Faith in the name of Jesus, germinating from the Spirit’s witness, is the seed from which will grow the restoration of all things.”
–Dennis E. Johnson, The Message of Acts in the History of Redemption