Acts 3:1-11
I Spy
I suppose most of you know the game to which the title of the message
refers, but if you are too young to know that game, I tell you about.
One person picks out an object and begins to give clues. Each clue
starts with the words, "I spy…." After each clue, the person or
persons playing guesses until someone guesses correctly.
While we are not going to play that game tonight, I did notice some
things about this text that I thought were interesting. So let me
describe what I see and we will see if you see it too.
I. I spy…
A. I spy some normal men.
1. \\#1\\ I’m looking at Peter and John when I say that.
a. To be honest in this chapter, these men do not look
that normal, but they are.
b. This is the book of Acts but immediately before that
book, there are four books that mention these two men
quite often, and we find that they were very normal
men.
(1) Granted, here they seem so different from what
they were in the gospels, that you might think
much time had elapsed. It had not. Probably at
the most, we are only 7 or 8 weeks removed from
the crucifixion.
(2) Some might even think we are talking about
completely different men, but we are not. This
is the same Peter and John that the gospels
mention.
c. And they are very normal men.
2. This is the same brash Peter that followed Jesus around.
a. This is the Peter who would often speak first then
think later.
b. This is the Peter who often missed the point.
c. This is the Peter who wanted to be the greatest, who
wanted to build temples to Moses and Elijah on the
Mount of Transfiguration, and who denied Jesus at
the cross.
d. When it comes to being a normal man, capable of making
mistakes, being arrogant and foolish, Peter was very
normal.
3. This was the same rash John.
a. This is the same John that Jesus nicknamed "son of
thunder." \\#Mark 3:17\\
b. This is the same John that came up to Jesus to ask if
he could sit on the right or left hand of God the
Father \\#Mark 10:35\\.
c. This is the same John who wanted to call fire down
from heaven to destroy the Samaritans \\#Luke 9:54\\.
d. It would be hard to find a man any more earth-like
than John was.
4. While these men may not seem very normal in this chapter,
I see two men who were very normal.
B. \\#2\\ I spy a broken man.
1. I am looking now at the beggar.
2. The Bible described him as a man lame from the womb.
a. Here was a man who was somewhat less than normal.
b. He could not walk and never could.
c. His lot in life was to be a beggar.
d. He was probably a single man with no children.
3. This incident was taking place just a few months after
Jesus had walked these very streets healing all that came
unto Him, but somehow this man was missed.
4. I do not think we will ever run out of broken people.
a. More of them seem to be manufactured every minute.
b. This man happened to be broken on the outside which
made it visible but many more are broken on the
inside.
C. I spy a lost man.
1. Again, I am speaking of the beggar.
2. Granted, the text never speaks of this man’s spiritual
condition at all; however, I figure if he had missed out
on Jesus’ healing power, he probably also missed out on
Jesus’ saving message.
3. What happens to this man spiritual is far more important
than what happens to him physically.
D. \\#3-7\\ I spy some anointed men.
1. Again, I am looking at Peter and John.
2. These two men had some power on them.
3. People can say what they want, but that power was the
Person of the Holy Ghost.
a. The Holy Ghost gave them insight. They saw this
broken man.
b. The Holy Spirit gave them care. They walked up to the
man, not around him.
c. The Holy Spirit gave them healing power.
d. The Holy Spirit gave them boldness and courage to
think they could heal this man.
4. This was the first time that these men had healed since
before the cross.
a. A lot has happened since then.
(1) Jesus had died.
(2) They had fled and denied Him.
(3) Jesus had arisen and returned to heaven.
b. Now, they were alone, but they weren’t alone.
(1) They had the Holy Ghost.
(2) They had the anointing of God.
(3) They had power.
D. \\#8]\ I spy a helped and happy man.
1. I am not talking about the lame man anymore.
2. I am talking about the formally lame man.
3. He’s not broken now.
4. He’s awfully happy. In fact, he had a running, jumping
fit.
II. My observations:
A. We need the Holy Ghost of God.
1. I do not mean to be disrespectful, but salvation was not
all that was needed to empower these men.
a. I know salvation is all that is needed for heaven, for
forgiveness, and for fellowship with God.
b. But these men could not do what they are doing when
Jesus left.
(1) They had been with Jesus 3 1/2 years.
(2) They had seen and heard Jesus.
(3) They had believed and trusted in Jesus.
(4) But they still were not equipped to do this kind
of service for God when Jesus left.
2. In fact, Jesus told them as much.
Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with
them, commanded them that they should not depart
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days hence.
3. We need to remember that there are three Members of the
Godhead and they have divided their responsibilities
among them.
a. God is the Architect and Planner.
b. Jesus is the Lamb, the High Priest, and the Judge.
c. The Holy Ghost is the Connection between God and man
and the Power of the Christian.
(1) Without the presence and the filling of the Holy
Ghost, we are missing what we need to do the
service of God.
(2) I do not necessarily think we need the laying on
of hands to have the filling of the Holy Ghost.
(a) They did not have the laying on of hands in
either Acts 2 or 10.
(b) But I do think we need to empty ourselves of
Satan, sin, and self.
(c) And I don’t see it would hurt us any to ask Him
to come and fill us.
4. Considering the shape the Christian, the church, and the
country is in today, I believe we need the Holy Spirit of
God!
B. I believe the Holy Ghost’s ministry is a ministry of helps.
1. The Holy Ghost helps the lost to be saved.
a. Jesus has paid the price for our sins but people are
not rushing to Him for salvation, are they?
b. Why? Because the Holy Spirit has a work to do.
(1) The Holy Spirit gives conviction.
(2) The Holy Spirit gives understanding.
(3) The Holy Spirit gives faith.
(4) The Holy Spirit gives repentance.
c. I am thinking He does those things not only for the
lost person but for the saved as well.
(1) They are not coming but then neither are we
knocking the door down going.
(2) If the Holy Spirit does not do a work on us, we
will not go.
(3) What work? It is the same work.
(a) He must convict us.
(b) He must give us understanding.
(c) He must give us the faith to go.
(d He must give us repentance or we won’t go.
2. The Holy Ghost helps the sick to be healed.
a. Some people wonder that I, a Baptist, believe in
healing. Friend, what is the point in praying for
the sick if I do not believe God is going to heal
them?
b. Understand that I do not believe in contemporary faith
healers.
(1) I do believe the Holy Ghost will give some people
the gift of praying for healing.
(2) I believe there are some in this church that are
far more effective at praying for the sick than
I.
(3) But I do not believe that faith healing works
like the faith healers on TV indicate.
(a) It should be on the streets not in a church.
(b) It should be everyone not just a few.
(c) It has nothing to do with the faith of the
sick, but the faith of the person praying.
(d) There should be a few dead raised and a few
hospitals emptied.
c. Buy I do believe the Holy Ghost heals people today.
In fact, if you are healed supernaturally by God, it
will not be the person of Jesus Christ or the Father
who does it, but it will be the Person of the Holy
Ghost. That’s His role in this age.
3. The Holy Ghost helps the sad to rejoice. \\#8\\
a. It wouldn’t hurt for the Holy Ghost to show up here.
b. I don’t think dentures will crack or filling will pop
out if some people got a little happy in Holy Ghost.
4. The Holy Ghost helps the saved to find their purpose.
a. Our purpose is to serve.
b. How much better it would be if the preachers, the
teachers, the prayer warriors, and helpers had a
little bit more of the Holy Ghost of God.
5. The Holy Ghost helps the doubters to believe.
a. \\#10-11\\ says the people gathered in wonder.
b. Don’t you know that after Peter and John healed that
man, some doubters turned to Jesus Christ?
C. This is the time of the Holy Ghost’s ministry.
1. I know that the Bible says some gifts which are
manifestations of the Holy Ghost will cease.
1Cor 13:8 Charity never faileth: but whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether
there be tongues, they shall cease; whether
there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall be done away.
2. The Bible says some things will stop when the "perfect"
thing comes.
a. Three gifts are mentioned here as stopping.
(1) tongues
(2) prophesying
(3) knowledge
b. I believe these gifts have stopped because it seems
to me that they did stop.
c. That makes me think the perfect thing was the Word
of God.
3. I cannot prove my views on these things, but whether I am
correct about this or not, under no circumstances do I
believe the Holy Ghost has resigned His work and
stopped!
a. If the Holy Ghost is going to stop empowering us, then
I’d have to believe that Jesus has stopped
interceding for us.
b. If the Holy Ghost is going to stop empowering us,
then I’d have to believe that the Father is going to
quit working for us.
4. No friend, even if some of the manifestations of the
Spirit have stopped, the work of the Holy Ghost
continues on!
D. The Holy Ghost’s ministry in this age in primarily THROUGH
the believer.
1. The Holy Ghost works as the devil has worked, cloaked and
camouflaged.
3. Neither of them desire to draw attention to themselves,
but they both work though human beings.
a. If you look around, you will see the devil through the
people he uses.
b. And if you will look around, you should be able to see
the Holy Ghost through the people He uses.
I repeat, considering the condition of Christians, the church, and
this country, we NEED the Holy Ghost! The title of the message is I
Spy. One question. Are you seeing the Holy Ghost use you?
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