R217 When God Acts How Do You React?

The Encouraging Word.

Don Wilton. When God does act, what is our reaction to the action of God? Friends, I am more convinced today than I have ever been before that God is in the business of acting upon the lives of men and women and boys and girls right throughout the United States. I don't believe that you could find a better demonstration of the activity of God and of the action of God than right here at First Baptist Church. God is acting.

God is moving in a wonderful way. I wish that I could spend the next hour telling you about many, many times that I have been privileged to witness the action of God beginning with my own life. When I was converted, that was God acting in my life. Salvation is initiated by God.

I have nothing to do with it. I am completely laid open to the grace of God. That's God's acting upon my life. He has already acted in Christ Jesus. The Bible says that God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world himself. That is the ultimate action of God. I am convinced today that we need to do everything we possibly can to reach our young people for the Lord Jesus Christ.

We can give them everything in the world, but if we don't give them Jesus Christ and him crucified, God acted. I remember, I remember several years ago preaching in a place called Arkansas. It's got a real ring to it, hasn't it? And it had been a great revival. We got down to Wednesday night and God had moved and there was no doubt about it. And I was preaching on the Wednesday night in the final service and I hadn't got down into what we would call the invitation.

You know, where you do things that you're supposed to do and say, would if anybody here whom God has spoken to want you to come and take us by the hand, which we're going to do in just a moment. I hadn't said a word. All of a sudden, right down there near the end of my message, standing in front of me was this man. I mean, just right there he was in front of me. Now, I'm not usually a man who loses my train of thought, but I mean, there he was right in front of me. I wanted to say to him, what seems to be your problem, brother? Interrupting a man of my caliber like this. And I looked at him and I stopped preaching and I said, can I help you?

He said, preacher, I don't need to hear any more of this sermon. I thought, uh oh, this is it. I mean, I've heard all kinds of strange things and I knew that this was it. He was going to do something drastic to me. My mind was going back.

What did I say that I might have offended him? You know, don't misunderstand me, folks. I was and I am. I'm ready to die. There's no question about it, but not in Arkansas. Arkansas is a beautiful place.

I love Arkansas, but I lived in New Orleans. I want to get home to my family if I was going to die. And I said to him, what's going on? He said to me, preacher, I don't need to hear any more of this sermon. God has already spoken to me. I want to give my heart to Jesus now. I looked up, brother Frank, the pastor of the church was still seated up here. I said to him, brother Frank, there's a man who wants to give his life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now you've got to understand me, folks. We hadn't done what we supposed to do. We hadn't even begun to sing just as I am. And you know, nobody's going to get saved unless you sing just as I am.

Nobody had begun to play yet. I should have said to him, now listen, you go back to your seat right now. Nobody gets saved until it's time for you to get saved. Do you know, I'll never forget that evening in a place called Warren, Arkansas, with that pastor on his knees leading that man to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Folks, I had no alternative but to get into the invitation because other people started to come. By the time the service was over, God had poured out his Spirit upon us in a wonderful way. You see, the issue is not if God acts, but when God does act, what is your reaction to the action of God? I want you to turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 3. No pun intended in the book of Acts, but Acts chapter 3 and Acts chapter 4. We're going to read two great passages of Scripture this morning. We're going to discover first of all in Acts chapter 3 how God acted in the life of an individual person. Then in Acts chapter 4, we're going to discover how some people reacted to the action of God. Now, I'm going to give you a guarantee this morning.

Here it is. I'm going to guarantee you that every single person in this congregation this morning is going to react to the action of God. You may not walk down an aisle, you may not do anything outwardly, but I'm going to guarantee you, according to God's Word, that every person up in the balcony, orchestra, choir, every person listening to this program today, every person is going to react to the action of God.

I want us to read first of all and discover how God acted in Acts chapter 3, verse 1. The Bible says, Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple. Just by the way, I need to just say this. This is probably the most remarkable record of the intervention of God in all of the Scriptures. This is the only recorded instance where a man asked for alms but got legs instead.

I'm sorry, I just wanted to... Some of you will, you can ask your husband or wife when you get home. Verse 3, Who seen Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an alms. That means he was begging. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look upon us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. And Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but such as I do have, give I unto thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and he lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength, and he leaping up stood and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. Then we don't like to read verse 9 too often. Verse 9 says, And all the people saw him walking and leaping and praising God. You see friends, evangelism is incomplete until the evangelized become the evangelists. Discipleship, growth, is the essential commodity of the Christian conversion experience. It is impossible, my friend, to say that you have met Jesus Christ, and yet for other people not to see you walking and leaping and praising God in whatever form that might take.

There is no such thing as a secret service agent in the kingdom of God. All the people saw him walking and praising God. Look at verse 10, And they knew that it was he which sat for arms at the beautiful gate of the temple.

What was the result? They were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. The Christian life is contagious.

If you know Jesus Christ, I want you to know that knowing Jesus Christ is caught. It is not necessarily taught. It is my law and my influence upon the lives of others. We had teenagers in our church last night who walked down this hour, and I commend those young people.

Do you know why? Because other people are watching. When people see God working, they become influenced by the contagion of the Spirit of God. God acted in chapter 3.

Now turn to chapter 4. We're going to see how some people reacted to the action of God. Verse 1, And as they spake unto the people, I want you to notice who these are, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved, being unhappy that they taught the people, and that they preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands upon them. That means that they arrested them.

And they put them in jail until the next day, for it was now late. Howbeit, by the way, I love that little word, howbeit. Do you know what it means? It means contrary to public opinion.

It means despite the opposition. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed. And the number of the men was about 5,000. They had a Billy Graham Crusade right here in the institution of the New Testament church. May the Lord write his word upon our hearts this morning. There is no doubt that God acted upon the life of this man. In Acts chapter 3, the Bible says that he was lame from his mother's womb. He was helpless. He was hopeless.

And it would seem from all perspectives that there was nothing that he could do to alleviate his own physical predicament. I believe that that's the most perfect picture of our relationship outside of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that all of us are conceived in sin. In fact, the Bible puts it like this, that we are dead in our trespasses and in our sins. And before we give our hearts and lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible says that our sinfulness has rendered us completely helpless.

There's nothing that we can do for ourselves. Now this man tried to do all kinds of things. The Bible says that he went and lay at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful. There are people today who are endeavoring to lie at the beautiful gate. There are people all over society who are trying to find a man-made solution to their spiritual predicament. There are people who go to church in order to try and get their sins forgiven. There are people who do good deeds in order to try and get their sins forgiven. There are people who sing in the choir in order to get their sins forgiven. There are people who try to become preachers and who become preachers who enter into the ministry in order to get their sins forgiven. There are people who accept nomination to become a deacon in a church in order to get their sins forgiven. There are people who become ministers of music who try and get their sins forgiven. But the Bible says that none of these things can ever bring about forgiveness of sin. Only Jesus Christ can.

He's the only one. And that's what happened here in Acts chapter 3. Did you notice that this man, lame from his mother's womb, suddenly came into the company of two preachers.

Now I like that folks. I appreciate this passage because it tells me something about what I need to be doing. And these two preachers looked upon this man with compassion in their hearts. They said, listen, we might have a few dollars.

I don't know what he was thinking. Maybe he had heard that that these two preachers had just preached revival down at the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem. And they knew that you get good love offerings down there.

And maybe he thought that they could give them some money so that he could go to the Tel Aviv Medical Center to get some kind of medical solution to his physical need. These two men, knowing about the action of God and the purpose and plan of God, looked upon him with compassion. And in verse 6, they said, silver and gold have I none, but such as I do have, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And the Bible says immediately, strength came into his feet and ankle bones, and he was healed just like that.

And he went walking and leaping and praising God. And I want to submit to you today, my brothers and sisters in Christ, that salvation is absolutely instantaneous. You don't have to wait.

Forgive the interruption. We'll be back with the rest of today's message in just a moment. But Dr. Wilton wants to remind you, we're connecting 24 hours a day on the phone at 866-899-WORD and also on our website, TEWONLINE.ORG. Don't forget, we're in the middle of a remarkable $200,000 matching challenge from a sweet couple, loving the ministry and encouraging us all to give our best gift.

You can do that online at TEWONLINE.ORG or call with your financial gift to 866-899-9673. You can say to me today, Dr. Wilton, my life is in a mess. My marriage is falling apart. I'm a sinner. I deserve to go to hell. I'm lost. I want you to know that right now, you don't have to wait for us to sing, just as I am. You can say in your heart right now, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart and He'll save you instantaneously, just like that. And He'll take us in and cast it as far as the east is from the west and remember it no more. Isn't that great?

Isn't that incredible? There's hope in Spartanburg. There's hope in Moldavia. There's hope in Brazil. There's hope in Indochina. There's hope among young people, Jack. There's hope among young people, Hope.

There's hope for America today. Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world. God had acted. But the issue is, what was the reaction of certain people to the action of God? You see, in Acts chapter 4 something staggering happens. And I want to share with you just very briefly out of Acts chapter 4, three reactions that took place in the life of certain people in response to the action of God.

Number one, and I'm going to draw this not directly from this passage as I usually do. I'm going to draw this from the consistency of the life and ministry of Jesus. You're going to find this everywhere Jesus went. You're going to find this in this congregation this morning. You're going to find it in the choir. You're going to find it by with those who are watching by way of television. You're going to find it in every segment of society. Number one, when God acts, some people will always resort to silence. Some people will always resort to silence.

You see, friends, there are always the bystanders every time God acts. I'm going to say something. I've just told you how wonderful last night was. I went to visit a family a couple of weeks ago here in Spartanburg. You couldn't find a finer family. They're not members of our church.

Someone told me about them and I got to know them and I just went to love them. You know that this man who comes out of the top drawer, you couldn't find a finer gentleman in all your life. I mean, he's a family man. He loves his wife. He's committed to his community. He's active in society.

I mean, this guy's got everything you could ever imagine. He looked at me and he said to me, Dr. Wilton, he said, I'm so glad that my wife and children have an opportunity to go to church. I'm all for it. Man, I hear great things are happening at First Baptist Church. I want you to know if you ever need my help, you just let me know.

I'll be available. I want you to know I'll do anything to help anybody in our community. I believe in education. I believe in reaching out. But listen, preacher, I'm just not going to get involved in all this Christian stuff.

It's not for me. You know, one of these days, you know, man, the time will come that I'll... But, preacher, you know, I... Listen, man, I've got nothing... Listen, I want you. Man, I... Man, this is you, the greatest thing that has happened. And I... Man, this is... Man, I tell you, I'm so glad you came to our club to speak to the men.

But, preacher, just... You know, I just... Man, I don't want to go. Some people are always going to resort to silence. Many years ago, a famous pop group made famous a song entitled Silence is Golden. There's something about being silent, isn't there? Moms and dads know all about it. Chuck Wallington knows all about it.

I tell you, when that baby lets rip and blesses the entire family half the night, and you're up and down this way and out that way, and there's just a whole lot of noise, and then all of a sudden... Oh, it's just so good. It's when you want to kick back with your chocolate cake and your Diet Coke to make you feel better and just sit down and mind your own business, that I want to tell you something, friend, as far as God's Word is concerned, that silence is anything but golden. The Bible says that a silent vote as far as God's Word is concerned is a negative vote. There is no such thing as neutrality as far as God is concerned. There is no such thing as an onlooker.

There is no such thing as a bystander. The Bible says choose you this day whom you will serve. The Word of God says you are either for God or you're against God.

You cannot serve two masters. When God acts, some people are going to resort to silence. The greatest heartbreak, my friend, is that the majority of the silent people are some of your best people that you've ever met.

Number two, and I don't like to preach on the second point, but I'm going to. When God acts, yes, some people are going to become positively angry. When God acts, some people are going to become positively angry. The Bible says in verses one and two that there was a group of people who became absolutely distraught. They were so unhappy that they even went out and arrested the preachers and put them in jail.

I'm going to say to you according to God's Word, my friend, that there were some people who were so mad that they took Jesus and they offered Barabbas in his place and those people chose Barabbas and they said, crucify the Son of the living God. There are people, my friend, who every time the gospel is preached, every time, I can't believe that God could have honored me by bringing me amongst a group of men and women who seem to love the Lord Jesus and love one another, the incredible spirit of unity and Christ-likeness and Christ-mindedness, the integrity and the responsibility and the oneness that we experience in this congregation is an incredible trust that God has entrusted to us, my friend. The Bible says that when God acts, some people are going to become positively mad about it.

I wish you could travel with me around America. I'll show you churches, my friends, that are torn apart. I'll show you deacons that are divided. I'll show you one group that's against another. I'll show you backbiting and slandering. I'll show you preachers being terminated and thrown out. I'll show you unhappiness of every kind, churches splitting down the middle, left, right and center. I want to tell you something, friend, that what God has given to us at First Baptist Spartanburg is one of the most unbelievably cherished gifts of grace that God has ever given to us.

And the Bible says when God acts, some people are not only going to resort to silence, but some people are going to become positively mad. I want you to notice who these people were. As hard as it is, my friend, God outlines, He names them.

I don't like this. Let's have a look at them. It's right there in verse 1.

He nails me. Note, do you see who the first one is? As they spake unto the people the priests. Well, who are the priests? You're looking at him.

I am. God's words talking about me. God's words saying that in all likelihood, some of the greatest opposition to the gospel of the grace of Lord Jesus Christ comes from preachers. Do you know that in America today, folks, that there's been more damage done to the cause of Christ by preachers than you could ever imagine?

I remember when I was in Scotland with Billy Graham a number of years ago, and the team made statements, one of which was that it is sad to say that in many instances, many of the Crusades have great difficulty because of the opposition of the clergy. That's why in Spartanburg, I not only endorse, I've called meetings of the Ministerial Alliance. We get together.

We have lunch together. I'm going to pastors' conferences and getting amongst my brothers in Christ on Tuesday. I'm going to the South Carolina State Evangelism Conference. I've preached there twice already at the entire State Evangelism Conference, but I don't only want to go there when they invite me to preach. I want to go there when I need to sit in the pew because I need to be blessed by my brothers in Christ. The Bible says watch out. What a powerful message from Dr. Wilton has he's been preaching and teaching each and every one of us.

But now as he steps in the studio, open your heart to what he wants to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin, and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you prayed along with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Jesus or rededicate your life to Christ, you need to know we're here for you to stand with you in the next steps to encourage you, and Dr. Wilton has wonderful free resources he wants you to have if you'll call us and let us know your story at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673 or online as well at tewonline.org. And while you're on our website, you'll discover we're in the midst of a remarkable matching challenge gift, $200,000 from a couple who challenged us to give our best gift. Would you consider prayerfully investing in the ministry of the encouraging word? We have an opportunity to share this biblically based preaching with even more people around the globe as we raise these funds together. You can give online right now at tewonline.org or call 866-899-9673.