I appreciate Brother Shannon reading Acts 3 for me and you participating in the song that celebrates this miracle of the lame man walking and leaping and praising God. There's more here than meets the eye. This is not one of those passages, one of those sermons where you can just go in and do some word searches and look up times of refreshing or something like that and come up with a sermon. This is a very subversive occurrence here. What has happened is totally undermining the world view of the people that saw it happen. Now Betty and I, Sister Betty and I went to see a movie this last week, Valkyrie, and it's a story. about the last known assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler near the end of World War II. There were at least 15 or 16 of these attempts, and this is the last major one. And the storyline of how this develops is just fascinating. Of course, there had to be a plot in secret, and it had to be kept secret for a long time. But as the storyline unfolded, The plot had to be shared with more and more people. And along the way, people had to make decisions. People had to decide whether they were in or they were out of this plot. Everything was dangerous. If the conspirators were found out, they would be executed along with their family and children. That was a known fact. And, but as time went on, as the story went on, it became more and more obvious what was happening. And more and more people were being challenged as to would they participate in this insurrection, this rebellion, this sabotage of Hitler and his agenda? Or would they go with the rebels and their agenda? This is what this miracle is about. This is not simply a story about a poor beggar that sat somewhere begging for money, and all of a sudden he gets help in his legs and can walk. Neither is it a story about a man named Peter who was a great man, so great that he was invested with miracle working power. There's far more to this story than this. Israel's situation was much like the Germans in World War II. She had been in bondage for many generations. Perhaps Hitler's had not lasted so long. But Israel had been deported, gone into exile, because of her sins, And God sent her to Babylon to suffer as punishment for her sins. Well, sure enough, as God had prophesied, Israel returned to the land. But you know what her situation was when she was returned? Still in bondage. She was still under the overlordship of first the Babylonians, then the Persians, Then Alexander the Great conquered the area and ruled over Jerusalem. And then somewhere around, I don't know my history well enough, but somewhere around 65 B.C., Pompey the Roman general marched in, took over Jerusalem. And when this miracle occurs, Israel is still in bondage. She has never returned from exile. For her to return from exile in the fullest sense of the word would mean that she had complete occupation of the land, that she could enjoy the fruit of the land, that she could administer the rights of the temple as she saw fit according to God's law. There were certain things that defined what it meant to be an Israelite. These things included preeminently the temple. It included the land that God had promised to Israel. It included the observance of Torah, of the law fully. She could do none of those things. high priests were appointed by the Roman governors. The Roman governor himself was a pretend king, Herod. He was not the Messianic king, even though he had attempted to rebuild the temple and embellish the temple as a sign that he was the king that the Jews were waiting on. It was a farce. And the people knew this. They knew they were still in bondage and they looked forward to the time when their God would act in history and would liberate them and restore their fortunes to them and give them liberty and give them their land back so that they could live as God had called them to live as His holy people. This miracle fits into that story. This miracle is forcing people to say whether they are in or they are out. It's forcing a decision. Are you going to follow the agenda of Caesar? Are you going to be content under his regime? Or are you going to follow this subversive plot known as Christianity? The decision time has arrived. The climax of Israel's history is at hand. She must decide whose side she is on. And this miracle takes place in that scenario. I want us to see how this miracle... And by the way, Brother Matt covered the first part of Acts chapter 3 last week, and we're dealing mainly with verses 12 through 26, the aftermath of the miracle. But I want to call attention to some things about this miracle that forced the hand of those who saw it. Number one is the place where the miracle occurred. This miracle occurred in the temple. And as I've already mentioned, the temple was the preeminent symbol of what it meant to be an Israelite. When Jehovah acted, when Yahweh acted, The temple would be purified. It would be cleansed. The true high priests, those that were ordained by God, would rule and operate in this temple. I want us to learn to understand that meaning is conveyed in the Scriptures by more than just the bare words themselves or just the bare meaning. There are symbolic acts. There are symbolic places. There are symbolic timings of events. Do you know why the prophets, the false prophets that were abundant during this time led their followers out into the wilderness? Do you remember that discussion that they had about this movement of Jesus, and the rulers finally decided, well, you know, I think it was Gamaliel that gave them this bit of information. They said, well, you remember this guy that took his followers out into the wilderness so many years ago, and finally his movement petered out, and he was destroyed, and it came to naught. Why did that guy carry his followers out into the wilderness? This was very common in that day. It was because he was reenacting, they were reenacting the exodus and the entry back from the wilderness into the land of Israel, expecting God to bless their attempt to overthrow the then-in-power regime. There's more meaning to this healing than just a healing because of its place. It was in the temple. Now, Acts was written by the beloved physician Luke. This is the second work that Luke had written to describe what early Christianity was all about, what Christianity was all about, what this movement of Christ was all about. And I want you to understand that Luke emphasizes the role of the temple in a way that exceeds, I believe, any of the other gospel accounts. For instance, Luke is the only writer, if you will be turning with me back to Luke, the first chapter or two, Luke is the only writer that describes the events in the temple and surrounding the temple during the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want us to look at how he emphasizes this temple here. Now, remember, the point we're trying to make is that this healing in the temple had significance because of its place. In fact, let me go ahead and tell you this. Luke mentions the temple in Acts chapter 3 six different times. The temple, the temple, the temple, the temple, the temple, this occurred in the temple! Pay attention, people! He's saying, he's emphasizing this fact. The beautiful gate of the temple. That's where this occurred. But this is a continuation of his emphasis all through his accounts of this subversive movement. all the way back to the beginning. Luke is the only one that tells us that Jesus came to the temple, His parents brought Him to the temple, and all the things that occurred there. Now, look with me at what Luke says in Luke chapter 1, beginning with verse 21. The people waited for Zacharias. Now, who is Zacharias? Not Jesus' father, is it? The father of John the Baptist. In the temple is where this vision that Zacharias has. And Zacharias is told about the birth of his son, and because of his lack of belief, he's dumb, he can't talk for a long time, probably at least nine months, until they decide that, yes, his name is going to be John, even though none of his relatives were named John. But when Zacharias says his name is John, he wrote that out, on some kind of slate or something, immediately his tongue was loose and he began to praise God. And look at how he praises the Lord as we look through this in Luke chapter 1. He couldn't speak to them in verse 22. And then Elizabeth conceived six months later. The angel informed Mary that she was going to have a child and so forth. And I'm going to get my accounts mixed up here, so let's just follow it as it goes in the text here. Verse 26, the six-month Gabriel was sent from God and so forth, and Mary gives her praise to the Lord. Look what Mary says. He shall be great, and verse 32, shall be called the Son of the Highest. The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign. Do you begin to see the subversive element here? Jesus is going to reign, not Caesar. Jesus is the Lord, not Caesar. And then the Holy Ghost came upon her and she conceived and so forth. And then let's just follow the text on down. And I'm trying to find the place where that they brought Jesus into the temple. In verse 67, Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. He hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world. According to the oath in verse 73 that he gave to Abraham, think of the subversive nature of this. Do you think Herod wasn't worried when he heard the message of this king being born? Yes, he was. And he wound up killing all the children under three years of age in order to make sure that this king would not reach manhood. And then in chapter 2, look with me, let's just go to chapter 2 and verse 25. And this is when the, I'll start with verse 21, Luke chapter 2 verse 21. When eight days were accomplished for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus. Now, Jesus has been born. Eight days later they bring him to the temple to be circumcised. In verse 22, and when the days of our purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, of course, in the temple, and to offer a sacrifice. In verse 25, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same was suggested about waiting for what? The consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ. And when he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he up him in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Now lettest thou, servant, depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Now, we've got to understand, dearly beloved, Listen to me a moment. For a Jew who for centuries had considered himself to be in bondage, not fully returned from exile, not fully able to enjoy the temple, not fully able to practice the law, not fully in possession of the land, for that Jew to hear The announcement that salvation was now here would not think about going to heaven when he died. He would think in terms of all that the Gentiles are about to get that's coming to him. We're going to be free at last and we're going to part We're going to have the land. These pig Romans are going to be out of here. No more Antiochus Epiphanes defiling the temple. No more of this. Our salvation has arrived. I submit to you that's what he would think. My eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all the people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. Do you know how the Jews of this day thought about this day when the Gentiles would come, the day when the Gentiles would be blessed? They thought it was the time when either one of two things would happen. Either the Gentiles would start coming to Jerusalem to the temple to observe the law, or they would become the slaves of Israel. That's what they were expecting. quite a different agenda than what was understood in the temple as these words were being spoken. God has a different agenda that he will accomplish through him. Look with me in Luke chapter 2. We're already in this section following verse 25. He says in verse 30, "...my eyes have seen thy salvation." We've read verse 32 also, "...and Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed him, and said to Mary his mother..." Now listen, listen to what is being said in the temple at Jesus' birth, or at his circumcision. "...Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising." The word again is not in the original text. "...for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against." This son, this child, this baby is going to be the cause of many in Israel falling. You know what that word is right there? It's the same word, another little song we sing, about building our house upon the rock. You know that one, Jane? We'll teach you that one at lunch, after you do your harmonica. And the house that was built on the sand had a great fall. Same word. Jesus was set for the fall. of many in Israel." And he was set for the restoration and for the rising. You know what that word is there? Come on now. You were here Wednesday night. Resurrection! For the resurrection of many. The fall of many in Israel. The resurrection of many in Israel. This would be the decisive point. in Israel's history through this one Jesus. Let us go beyond then the things that surrounded Jesus' birth and His circumcision in the temple, and let's just say Jesus is saying, and Simeon, and Anna, and the angel, and they're all saying, they're pointing as it were, look at this Jesus. This temple that you're in right now is temporary. Jesus is the replacement of this temple. Luke is emphasizing this by dwelling on it so extensively. Let's go on to see the next time Luke tells us about Jesus in the temple. Luke chapter 2 and verse 46. It came to pass after three days they found him where? This is, of course, when Jesus was twelve years old. We don't have any 12-year-olds here today, do we? Have some close. You know the story. Jesus is in the temple, 12 years old, and his parents can't find him in the company going back home after visiting Jerusalem. They're worried about him. They're looking for this young boy, 12 years old. Where is he? Have you seen him, Uncle Joe? Have you seen him at Nancy? No, we haven't seen him. We thought he was with you. We thought he was with you. He must be back in Jerusalem. We'll backtrack. They go back to Jerusalem and they find this 12-year-old boy debating theological points with the doctors and the lawyers in the temple. Listen, what is Luke telling us? What does Jesus tell us? What is God telling us? Jesus' wisdom transcends the wisdom of the current regime. Let's go to see the next time Luke tells us about Jesus in the temple. In Luke chapter 4, this is the scene of Jesus' temptation by the devil, of course, and the very final temptation that Jesus undergoes from Satan is at the temple, at Luke chapter 4, beginning with verse 9. And he, Satan, brought him, Jesus, to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence. For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou should dash thy foot against a stone. Is that in the Bible? Satan can quote the Bible. Satan quoted the Bible to Jesus in order to get him to cast himself off the pinnacle of the temple. And of course, we know what Jesus said to him in verse 12. Jesus said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. What's Luke telling us by this next exchange in the temple with Jesus? He's telling us that the battle, even though it's going to shape up to be between the temple authorities and Jesus, it's going to shape up to be between the Romans and Jesus, behind this, the real enemy is standing. And that real enemy is Satan himself. And Satan is implying these rabbins and these Jews, these high priests, the typical administrators, if you will, as his agents to defeat the agenda of Jesus Christ. And Luke is telling us, Jesus is wiser than the devil, and Jesus is stronger than the devil, and Jesus will defeat the devil, just as he did. on the pinnacle of the temple. Now look at the next scene where Jesus is shown to us by Luke in the temple. Turn with me to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19, beginning with verse 45. and went into the temple and began to cast them out that sold therein, and them that bought." Now listen. Do you remember what I told you about symbolic actions and not just the words? Now, the story has come a long way by this time. Jesus has been born. Jesus has been circumcised. Jesus has grown up to be a 12-year-old boy. All these things being shown in the temple about Him. Jesus has now defeated Satan on the pinnacle of the temple. What does Jesus do now? He goes into the temple and he overturns the money changers. He drives out the men of the temple that are making merchandise of the people of God. What does that symbolic act mean? Remember how the subversive story starts to be manifested more and more as time goes on? Jesus is now acting out that the temple and all of its system is doomed for destruction. He throws them out. He drives them out. You have corrupted my Father's house. It's supposed to be a a house of prayer and you've made it a den of thieves!" Jesus portrays the destruction of the temple through this act of overturning the money changers. Next time Luke mentions to us the temple in connection with Jesus is in Luke chapter 22. Turn with me please to Luke chapter 22 beginning with verse 52. Look at verse 50 while you're turning there. And one of them smote the servant of the high priest. Of course, we're in the garden of Gethsemane now. He cut off his right ear, and Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said unto the chief... Now listen, who is he talking to here? The chief priests and captains of the temple and the elders which were come to him. But you come out as against a thief with swords and staves? Was I not daily with you?" Where? In the temple. You stretch forth no hands against me, but this is your hour and the power of darkness. Making it very, very clear that it's the temple authorities versus Jesus. They are the ones that take it. We're talking about two opposing agendas. The chief priests and the temple authorities do not want things disturbed. They want things to continue the way they are. They have their nests feathered. They have a hope that someday things can be better. But whatever happens, that disturbs the status quo. We're okay right now, thank you, Jesus. They knew how to handle a subversive prophet. with a different agenda. They manipulated the Romans to take it. Now, we've bypassed one thing about the temple in Luke chapter 21. I didn't necessarily mean to do that. I would like to tell you that I did that on purpose for some kind of dramatic effect, but I didn't. I just missed it on my notes here. Luke chapter 21 is all about discourse. Brother Shannon, Jesus is in the temple. They're showing him the godly, the goodly stones and the gold and all this kind of stuff about the temple of Jesus. Isn't this really something? Herod has really done one of the seven wonders of the ancient world here. Isn't this really something? And, of course, you know what Jesus said. Before this generation passes away, there will not be a stone of this temple left standing on another stone. He prophesies in the clearest of terms the destruction of this temple. Of course, the Jewish leaders and the Romans knew how to handle this. They arrested Jesus in the garden, as we read a moment ago. They crucified Him. But something very interesting Luke tells us happened. And I'm not saying that Luke is the only one that tells us about all these. I'm just saying that Luke seems to be emphasizing this role of the temple here that this lame man's healing took place in. And there's something when Jesus is hanging on the cross that happens in the temple that is incredible. You know what it is? Well, He's dying on the cross. There was a huge veil that separated the holy place from the most holy place. The most holy place was where? God dwelt, His presence dwelt. If the temple was the symbol of Israel's nationhood, if it was the symbol of God's blessing, the Holy of Holies was the ultimate heart of that symbol. And while Jesus is on the cross, by the way, this curtain was not your ordinary curtain. I know we talk about hanging a curtain here from time to time to separate this view here, and I can imagine the curtain, if you ladies were talking about it at the time, some kind of velvet curtain or something like that, maybe. But this curtain that we're talking about, it was thick. I mean, it was huge. It was extremely strong. And all of a sudden, as Jesus is dying, that huge, hard... Have you ever tried to tear a telephone book, even one the size of Gadsden's telephone book? Take it sometime, boys and girls, and just try to rip it like that. And if you get one the size of Memphis, about that thick, It's almost impossible. You know, some guys know the trick about how to do it. It looks impressive. I don't know it, but it's extremely hard. I bet Andrew could do it, couldn't you, Andrew? But it's extremely hard. Think about what it took to tear that curtain. And it was torn from top to bottom while Jesus was on the cross. I want to read to you a passage in Hebrews. Forgive me. I'm going to read from the English Standard Version. Listen, I'm reading from this because of the tenses of the verbs. There are some tenses here that we need to understand are present tense verbs. When Hebrews was written, I want you to listen, Hebrews chapter 9 beginning with verse 6 through verse 10. These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly, present tense, still happening when Hebrews was written. The priests go regularly into the first section, the holy place, performing their ritual duties, but into the second the Holy of Holies, separated by the curtain. Finally, the high priest goes. By the way, the Jews had repaired, apparently, that veil. They went in, and just like they wanted to get rid of Lazarus as evidence, I'm sure they mended that curtain and put it back up so they could continue with their sacrifices and the high priest doing what he was supposed to do. The writer of Hebrews is saying that into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened, as long as the first section is still standing. which is symbolic for the present age. According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body, listen, imposed upon them until the time of reformation. I hope you remember what Brother Shannon read in Acts chapter 3 and where we're going with this. This temple worship, holy of holies, holy place, was imposed upon Israel until the time of reformation. Yes, the curtain had been torn symbolically, but there was coming a time when not only the curtain would be torn down, but every stone of the entire temple would be torn down. And that, brothers and sisters, the writer of Hebrews says, is the time of reformation. The time of reformation was not in the 1500s, in the 16th century. The time of reformation was in the last days of the Mosaic Age, culminated by the destruction of the temple. Now there's another place or two about the temple that I'm just going to skip in the interest of time because we need to hurry. I want us to see that this miracle that Peter was the instrument in performing, of course it was God that healed the man, not only forces a decision because of the place, but because of what it pictured. what it meant pictorially, what it was symbolizing. If Jesus was being, by Luke, shown progressively to be in opposition to the temple and its agenda and the agenda of its leaders, this miracle is showing that the long-promised age of liberation and blessings has now arrived. That's what this meant. Think about it. Jesus was a worker of miracles, right? Moses came, authenticated his mission by miracles, but he was dead. He was out of the way. He no longer was a problem. Right? Oh sure. Some, the authority said, some of his followers have got this rumor going that we need to try to squelch that this Jesus is alive. But we can handle that with time. Then all of a sudden, weird things start happening around the temple. Acts chapter 2, brother Matt, told us about the Holy Spirit being poured out. This was a blessing promise for the ultimate liberation of the people of God. This was the beginning of the new age. And then all of a sudden, in Acts chapter 3 here, You have not the cessation of these miracles worked by Jesus, but a continuation of the miracles worked by Jesus' followers. This tells the people that Jesus was still in the miracle-working business. Peter says it like this. He says, God has glorified His Son, Jesus. Wait a minute. I thought we were through with Jesus. You say He's alive? He's glorified? He's now healing people? Himself? His headquarters are where? What did you say about a king? Wait a minute. What are you saying, Stephen? You're saying that Jesus is going to come and destroy this place and change the customs? Whose side are you on? Are you going to continue to be loyal to the temple and its hierarchy? Or are you going to follow Jesus? Do you believe that He is the One that is now defining Israel is defining the temple, is defining the true way to worship God. Which do you believe? In Isaiah chapter 35, if you would just turn with me there briefly, and let's just read. There are many, many places that describe the blessing of this promised age. among the other prophets had described the time when Israel would be liberated. Listen to how he describes it here in Isaiah 35. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. Guess what? Wandering in the wilderness is over. The exile is over. No more desert to wander through. Now the desert is blossoming. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. He went walking and leaping and praising God. And the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto thee, and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the fables. Say to them of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance." Oh, we do know He had to come with vengeance, don't we? He said He was going to bring vengeance on Israel. Not what Israel expected. Israel expected Him to bring vengeance on everybody else. But Jesus is turning the table and says, You're the man. You're the guilty party, Israel. God will bring vengeance, even God with a recompense. He will come and save you. Yes, this time of vengeance will be the time of salvation, of deliverance, of ultimate delivery from exile. Then, verse 5, the eyes of the blind shall be opened. Were they? You understand that miracles on the physical plane picture miracles on the spiritual plane. It's not so important, beloved, that I be able to see with my physical eyes. This is a symbol, it's a picture that now we see, we understand with our spiritual eyes. He that has ears to hear, they all have ears to hear the vibration and the sound. But they didn't all have ears that would allow them to understand the message and what was really being said. This messianic time of blessing would be the time when the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an heart. and the tongue of the dumb sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert." No more exile. We're home. We're in the land. We're now the recipients of the salvation that God has promised. When we start seeing the lame walk, and leaping and praising God in the temple, then we know the time of Messianic blessings has arrived. What are you going to do about it, Israel? The picture is before you. God has glorified His Son. The lame are walking and leaping and praising God. Look with me quickly, all too quickly. The decision was forced by the place of the miracle. The decision was forced by the picture of the miracle. The decision was really forced by the prophets. The decision that Israel had to make was really forced by the prophets. Whose side was she on? Some of the prophets And some of the prophecies had already been fulfilled. Acts 3, verse 18, But those things which God had before showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. All through the Old Testament prophets, beginning even in Genesis 3, 15 and 16. He shall bruise Satan's head, but Satan will bruise his heel. all the way through David's description in the Psalms of Psalm 22 that's so vivid about the crucifixion, even down to the casting of lots for Jesus' garments, Him being pierced, His hands and His feet. Isaiah 53, the suffering servant, He gave His face. They pricked up His beard. They beat Him. His back, His visage was so marred that we couldn't recognize who He was. Peter's saying, oh, that's happened, folks. That's already happened. All the prophets spoke about this, and now it has happened. But let me tell you something. There's an implication here in that this had already happened because, turn with me just quickly to Acts chapter 26, And I want you to see how Paul works this out, this suffering of Christ out in history. Acts 26, verse 21. For these causes the Jews caught me, where? In the temple. This is Paul, of course. and went about to kill me. Why? Why did they want to kill Paul? Because he was affirming that Jesus' agenda was right and the temple and its rulers and Caesar were wrong. They seized Paul because of this. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. Verse 22, having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both the small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come, that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, the Jews, and to the Gentiles." In other words, Let's get the picture. The prophet says, yes, Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, will suffer. But after his suffering will be the time that God blesses not only the people of Israel, but also all of the Gentiles. So Jesus' suffering, according to the promise of the prophets, was to be followed by these great times of blessings. And this prophecy and this sequence of events are just magnified time and time again in the prophets. A whole list of them we will just bypass. But now we see the urgency of the exhortation. And Peter's confrontation of the Jews is repent. You see the evidence. You see the place. You see the picture. You see the prophets. Repent and believe what they've said. Can I say something to you? He's not merely saying, stop sinning. This is not a new message. The message of all the Old Testament writers was quit sinning, obey God, do His law. This is not a new message. The pointed message of Peter was, to these Jews, save yourself from this untoward generation. Abandon the tether! Abandon the sacrifices. Abandon the high priests. Abandon Caesar as your trust. And buy into Jesus' agenda. Buy into His definition of who Israel is. Buy into who He says the temple is. Buy into His definition of circumcision. Buy into His definition of the new heart. Buy into His qualification of what birth brings you into Israel. Abandon the temple. Get on board with Jesus' agenda. become part of the subversive plot to overthrow everything and turn the world upside down. Be part of this movement that will change the course of world history. See yourself as Israel, not according to the old definition, but according to the new definition that God has promised so long. One time Josephus Josephus was first a general in the armies of Israel as they were going to try to overthrow the Romans and win their independence back so they could have their temple and their land and their Torah. And these rebellious Jews thought that they could overthrow mighty Rome. And Josephus was a leader in that. Of course, Josephus had been to Rome. He understood the might. He knew it was hopeless. And when his own army was defeated and he was captured, you know what his agenda became? Josephus became convinced that the God of Israel had gone over to the Romans. Josephus became convinced that Vespasian, being declared emperor in the land of Israel, was the fulfillment of the universal Messiah. The Jews had misunderstood their own prophets, Josephus declared. They were really talking about Vespasian, the Caesar. And one time in discussing the situation with one of the Jewish rebellious leaders, Josephus says, repent and believe in me. What he was saying was, Change your ideas about what God's programs are for Israel and believe the story that I'm telling you. It's Vespasian we must serve. God has gone to the Romans. This is what Peter was confronting the Jews with. He wasn't saying repent in the sense of stop sinning per se. That's always the message of the prophets. For him to say repent was much deeper than that. It was to say abandon whatever world view you have and adopt the one that says Jesus Christ and his agenda are the true world view. He goes on to quote Moses. in Deuteronomy 18, I believe, where Moses has said, a prophet like unto me God will raise up. Him you shall hear. Peter changes one little part of that, and he says, Peter says to the people, that if you don't accept this prophet and his agenda, you will be destroyed from among the people. You're no longer an Israelite because of who your mom and dad were. You're no longer an Israelite because you worship at the temple. You're now an Israelite by definition if you follow the prophet that God has now raised up like Moses. And if you don't follow him and buy into his program, you're not among the people. You're not among the people of God. So the decision is here. We know what most of the Jews decided. Most of the Jews decided Peter was wrong. And Paul, 30 years later, could write to the Thessalonians and say that wrath, the wrath, has come upon them to the uttermost. They were about to be utterly annihilated. By grace, there were some that repented in the sense that they believed on Christ. They believed Him to be who the prophets said. They believed Him to be who the apostles were now saying that He is. Before we close, I want to read a quote This is from John Gill, whom many of us respect. And he's commenting on Matthew 19, verses 28 through 30. I keep saying this is the last thing. I want to just read those few verses, just a moment. Matthew chapter 19, and I'll just read verse 28. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me In the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. John Gill says the regeneration means not the grace of regeneration, but the new state of things. in the church of God, which was foretold and is called the time of reformation, or setting all things right, which began upon the sealing up of the law and the prophets and the ministry of John the Baptist and of Christ, who both, when they began to preach, declared that this time, which they called the kingdom of heaven, was at hand, just ushering Now, the twelve apostles followed Christ herein. They believed and professed Him to be the Messiah. They received what the Jews called the New Doctrine and preached it to others. They submitted to the new ordinance of baptism and followed Christ and attended Him wherever He went, working miracles, preaching the gospel, reforming the minds and manners of men. This new dispensation is called regeneration, deregeneration. What about us today? Are we concerned about following Christ simply because we want to die and go to heaven? That's a good objective, for sure. Are we followers of Christ because we want Him to make us feel good? I like to feel good. I don't like pain. In fact, I had an oral surgery done the other day, and they said, you want to be put to sleep? And I said, mm-hmm. I really do. I don't like pain. Is the whole point of Jesus that He could heal a layman? Have I bought into the program? Am I committed to the overthrow of imaginations and thrones and principalities and powers and everything that exalts itself against God and His Christ? Am I bought into this? Does it define who I am? Am I among the people? Because I've repented and believed. That's who it is to be the people of God. It's not our denominational name. It's not our heritage. It's Jesus and His program. That decision has to be made by the Jews. Most of them didn't make the right decision. But we're faced with that today too. Is this about me? Is it about my little church? Even about my family? How does all this fit together? Have I really bought into the program? Let's pray. Father, we thank You that there's been a great change in the history of the world. We praise You and magnify You that You have sent Your Son so long awaited And He has shown us great light. Father, we as Gentiles are so much like moths that fly to the light at night. The prophets held that picture up before us. They said that when that light would arise, the Gentiles would flow and just flock to the light. Help us, Father, to realize how amazingly subversive this message is that we proclaim. It's not just talking about our personal morals. It's not just talking about our personal condition, although all those are included. We understand, Lord, that there's blessings here personally and individually far above what we're able to expect or even think. Father, help us to see the real significance of what it would mean for Peter and John to be the agents whereby you heal this man in the temple. The time of blessing having now come. Help us to see the pointed message of the prophets that if we don't hear and heed and follow this one, this prophet, then we'll be destroyed from among the people. Lord, we thank you for the message you've given us in Christ Jesus. Thank you for his great revelation. May his kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.