Today we're going to turn in our Bibles to Acts
chapter 3. The books of Genesis and Acts have
at least one thing in common. They both stand
at the beginning of a whole new era of time,
as God has proportioned history, and therefore
they both contain notable firsts. Chapters 3
and 4 are actually one extended account of an
incident which we will begin studying today.
They record for us the first opposition to the
newborn church. Our text today, verses 1 through
16, contains the first recorded miracle in this
new age of the church. This miracle was intended
to show the power and authority in the name of
Jesus Christ and the message regarding Jesus
of Nazareth, that he is both Lord and Christ.
Chapter 2, verse 43 kind of summarizes things
immediately after Pentecost. It says, and everyone
kept feeling a sense of awe. And many wonders
and signs were taking place through the apostles.
Our text today is an example of one of those
signs which took place. On the day of Pentecost,
Peter stood before the multitude and he commanded
them to repent and to be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ. And now in the might... Of that
name, Jesus Christ, a lame man is restored to
wholeness. You say, well, what's in a name? Well,
biblically speaking, the name of a person represents
his character and his authority. We sing that
gospel song, there's just something about that
name, Jesus. Jesus, Jesus. That should be sung
not merely in a sentimental way, but with a realization
that the something about that name is that it
is the name of the One who is Lord and Christ.
This miracle is done in the name of Jesus Christ
and reveals His divine nature and His supreme
authority. We'll begin reading in verse 1. Now
Peter and John were going up to the temple at
the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a certain
man who had been lame from his mother's womb
was being carried along, whom they used to sit
down every day at the gate of the temple, which
is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of
those who were entering the temple. And when
he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple,
he began asking to receive alms. And Peter, along
with John, fixed his gaze upon him and said,
Look at us. And he began to give them his attention,
expecting to receive something from them. But
Peter said, I do not possess silver and gold,
but what I do have I give to you in the name
of Jesus Christ the Nazarene. And seizing him
by the right hand, he raised him up, and immediately
his feet and his ankles were strengthened. And
with a leap he stood upright and began to walk.
And he entered the temple with them, walking
and leaping and praising God. And all the people
saw him walking and praising God, and they were
taking note of him, as being the one who used
to sit at the beautiful gate of the temple, And
they were filled with wonder and amazement at
what had happened to him. And while he was clinging
to Peter and John, all the people ran together
to them at the so -called portico of Solomon,
full of amazement. But when Peter saw this, he
replied to the people, Men of Israel, why do
you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us,
as if by our own power or piety we had made him
walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the
God of our fathers, has glorified his servant,
Jesus, the one whom you delivered up and disowned
in the presence of Pilate when he had decided
to release him. But you disowned the Holy and
Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be
granted to you, but put to death the Prince of
Life, the one whom God raised from the dead.
a fact to which we are witnesses. And on the
basis of faith in his name, it is the name of
Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you
see and know. And the faith which comes through
him has given him this perfect health in the
presence of you all. Jesus Christ is glorified
in the actions of his people. Hear Peter and
John. Likewise, by the actions of our lives today,
may his name be glorified in our world. This
incident easily breaks into three parts. First,
the situation. Secondly, the sign. And finally,
the sermon. And we'll only get started in the
sermon this morning, and we'll finish it next
week. In this situation, the stage is set for
the miracle to take place. Two of the apostles,
Peter and John, are said to have been walking
up the steps to the temple. Notice that in verse
1, verse 3, verse 4, again in 11, chapter 4,
verse 13, they are named in tandem, together,
Peter and John, Peter and John. Now these two
were of strikingly different personality and
outlook, yet they were together on this occasion.
It was Peter who did most of the talking, which
may not be entirely unusual. In chapter 3, verse
6, it's Peter who talked. Again in verse 12,
he's the one who preached. Chapter 4, verse 8,
which is a continuation of this same incident,
it is Peter who spoke to the rulers and elders.
The only exception is in verse 19 of chapter
4 where it says that both of them answered. Now
why are they both mentioned here? Why Peter and
John together? I believe it was because this
miracle was to be an official sign to the nation
that the Jesus whom they had rejected was in
fact their Christ and the Lord. Therefore there
were two witnesses needed. according to Deuteronomy
19, verse 15, to underscore the trustworthiness
of this incident. It was three o 'clock in the
afternoon, approximately, as they were heading
to the temple. There were several times a day
when the Jews prayed, apparently early in the
morning, then again at the ninth hour, three
in the afternoon, along with the evening sacrifice.
And then at sunset, there are some who say they
also prayed at noon. But the point is this, that
these early apostles and believers in Jesus Christ
continued to practice the Jewish forms of worship.
They found no contradiction in doing that. And
there was no opposition to it up to this point.
So they continued practicing the times of prayer
and so on, which the other Jews did. The focus
of their worship seems to have been the temple,
as was true with all Jews. We are very much in
this part of Acts, still very much upon Jewish
ground, a Jewish foundation. As you move through
the book of Acts, you will find that more and
more the Jewishness of the book drops off and
Gentiles come more and more onto center stage.
That is important to remember, for the book of
Acts is a transitional book from Israel to the
church, from the old economy to the new, from
the Jewish worship to that which is distinctively
Christian. The situation developed in this way.
Peter and John were apparently ascending the
steps to the temple itself. And just at that
same time, there were some people who carried
this lame man and placed him at his customary
spot next to the beautiful gate. Luke, who writes
these words, was a physician, of course, and
he notes that the man was lame from his birth.
In other words, he did not become lame because
of an accident, but he was congenitally lame.
It was a birth defect. He had never walked on
his limbs. Therefore, they were undoubtedly atrophied.
This was... A pitiful case of a man. There is
no gate outside of the Bible in secular history
which is called the beautiful gate to the temple.
But most scholars believe that it's probably
the same as the gate of Nicanor. That was the
gate which faced the east side of the temple
area. It was the gate from the outer court, where
even Gentiles were allowed to be, into the inner
court of the women. Josephus, the Jewish historian,
writes that it was overlaid, this gate was overlaid,
with Corinthian bronze, and on that bronze were
placed carvings of gold and silver. This was
no small door as we think of a door into our
auditorium. This gate in the temple area was
75 feet high and 60 feet wide. So you can imagine
something that large, made of bronze and ornamented
with gold and silver, how it must have looked
in the early morning as the sun came up over
the Mount of Olives and shone upon that temple
mount. It must have been a beautiful sight, thus
its name, the Beautiful Gate. It was the most
popular gate, because of its beauty, into the
temple area. And that's why the man went there
to beg. It was purely an economic reason on his
part. Almsgiving was considered meritorious to
the Jews. That is, it gave them a better standing
with God. in their Jewish traditions at this
point. And so it seemed like the right place
to be for this lame man. A lot of people going
in to worship God. They would feel better if
they gave him alms because they thought that
that gave them more merit before God. So it seemed
like the ideal place to be. And that's where
he had been for most of his life, day in and
day out. You think he was the only beggar there?
Probably not. Indeed, Jerusalem was, and still
is today, filled with beggars, people who make
their living by asking for alms from others.
He was not the only beggar there, but he is the
only one mentioned on this occasion. This man
was there for God's appointment on this afternoon.
The work of God's grace is evident here, apart
from any merit on this man, for he was no different
than any of the other people who were undoubtedly
there begging, and yet he is the only one who
received the miracle. In his pitiful situation,
this man illustrates the plight of every sinner.
In the first place, he was afflicted from birth,
and so is the sinner. For from the moment of
conception, an individual has within him a nature
of sin passed down from Adam, and he bears in
himself the guilt of Adam's sin, afflicted from
birth. Secondly, he was paralyzed and helpless
because of his problem, and so is a sinner. A
sinner is no more able to help himself than this
lame man was able to walk. A sinner is paralyzed
before a holy God, unable to do anything to better
his condition. Thirdly, he was outside the temple,
which was the only place he could be. He was
outside the temple, which represented the presence
of God. And thus it is with the sinner. For his
sin bars him from the presence of God. In the
sinner there is a great chasm between himself
and a holy God, a chasm produced by his sin.
And fourthly, he is a man who is begging, a man
who is in desperate need. And so it is with the
one who is a sinner, who is without Jesus Christ
as Savior. He is in a desperate condition. And
though he may not be willing consciously to admit
that desperate condition, it is there. It is
evidenced by his life, by what he does to try
to fill that God -shaped vacuum within him. Sinners
are desperate by their very nature, inherently
in need of what only God can give them. And so
this man illustrates the plight of every sinner.
He may illustrate the situation of someone who's
here this morning and has not yet trusted the
Savior. But I want you to know that even though
you are as much in need as was this lame man,
that the one who had the answer for the lame
man has the answer for you today. That brings
us to the second part of our text, and that's
the sign, verses 3 through 10. The drama now
begins to unfold. The first contact between the
apostles and this lame man was a visual one.
This man saw them coming, and therefore he began
to ask for alms. The idea does not seem to be
that he particularly saw them so much as he saw
a group of people. And he probably had his head
down, which would have been the normal custom
at that time, looking only out the top of his
eyes as he held out his hand or whatever he had
to beg. That is why Peter and John fixed their
gaze on this man and said to him, Look at us.
And so the man was drawn in his attention just
to them. And then he began to give them his attention,
expecting to receive something. He was not drawn
to them because he expected a miracle, but because
he expected some money, for that's all anyone
had ever given to him. Peter responded by saying,
I do not possess silver. He was not apologizing
here because he did not have silver or gold.
The point is that he had something better in
mind for this man. He said, what I have, I give
to you. And what did he have? He had the Holy
Spirit indwelling him. The Holy Spirit who had
brought power to Peter. and a special gift of
healing. And so he said to the man, in the name
of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, that's the same
one Peter had preached on the day of Pentecost,
the same one who only a few weeks before this
had been crucified in the city of Jerusalem,
and who when he was crucified, the very veil
in this temple, was rent in two in the name of
jesus christ the nazarene he said walk walk what
a simple word and how we take that for granted
don't we yesterday my wife bent over at one of
our local stores and when she did that she felt
something searing through her back and could
hardly get up I was almost late for church this
morning because I had not only to get the kids
dressed, but I had to get her dressed. She can
hardly walk. Now, yesterday morning at this time,
that didn't seem like such a big deal. I don't
suppose any of us even thought about her walking
around the house, but we thought about it this
morning. We take walking for granted. We learn
it young, and for the rest of our lives, unless
we have... A situation like happened with my
wife, we just walk around. But look at it from
the perspective of this man who's there who's
never walked, whose feet are curled up under
him, whose legs are emaciated, whose ankle bones
are twisted, and the language suggests they were
out of socket. A man who had only been carried
all of his life. anywhere he wanted to go, he
would have to say to someone, would you please
take me to... And now a man says to him, walk.
How do you think he responded? I personally think
he was stunned. Perhaps amazed that this person
was so ignorant of his condition. I do not think
that this man had faith to expect a miracle.
I don't think he was singing that morning as
he went on his way to the temple, something good
is going to happen to me today. I don't think
he was thinking that. Such a thing was foreign
to him. But now Peter says, walk. And because
he apparently made no response, it says that
Peter seized him. with his right hand, and he
raised him, at least part way. Now imagine how
this man must have looked as Peter began to pull
him up. And somewhere in that process, when Peter
grabbed and began to pull until he stood up,
it says very simply, his feet and his ankles
were strengthened. Peter did what he could do.
But God did what he alone could do. He wrought
a healing for this man. Now Luke again is a physician.
He uses a technical word for feet found only
here in the whole New Testament. It literally
means his heels or his soles were strengthened.
And again, ankles means ankle bones, and it's
found only here in the New Testament. It says
that they were strengthened, and the language
suggests that they were put back in the socket.
So that fast, that man's legs straightened, and
his feet, instead of being curled and atrophied,
went straight upon the ground. And he was able
to stand up and notice that it happened immediately.
immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.
Again, that is a term that is a medical term
which Luke uses. It's found 19 times in the New
Testament, 18 of those times it's used by Luke.
It refers to the prompt effects of a remedy.
When I was a child, I remember a quick remedy
which the doctor gave to my mother. My mother
had a severe case of pneumonia. The doctor came
to our house. That was back in the old days.
He came to our house and gave her a shot of penicillin.
Unknown to him or to my mother or any of us,
she was allergic to penicillin, or at least became
allergic. He left to go back to his office, which
was 15 miles away. My father had died. My uncle
was there. That day with us, he had come up to
help us with our farm work. And I'm glad he was.
Because no sooner had the doctor pulled out than
my mother began to get hives all over her body.
And it was obvious that she was going into a
severe reaction to the penicillin. She asked
me to rub her hand. She said, the room is going
dark. I'm getting cold. My mother was dying.
We were finally able to get a hold of the doctor
as soon as he got back to his office. He rushed
back to our house and injected my mother with
something. I do not know what it was. But I do
know that in the next few minutes, a marvelous
thing took place as she began to be restored
to life. Now that was quick. But this was quicker.
Because Luke says it was not a process, but...
That fast. It was done. Immediately, the remedy
was there. And he goes on to say, and with a
leap, he stood upright and began to walk. He
didn't just stand up. He jumped three feet in
the air and came down on both of his feet. And
then he began to walk around. And in verse 9,
or verse 8, it says, and he entered the temple
with them. walking and leaping and praising God.
Now, there were a lot of people going into the
temple at this point, but there was one guy who
was like a kangaroo in the crowd, jumping up
and down, up and down, praising God out loud.
It was this man who was healed. He kept on doing
that, and of course, created a little bit of
disturbance. A crowd gathered with amazement.
They could not get their minds on anything else
than what had taken place. Now this was a sign.
This miracle was a sign to Israel. Of what, you
say? That the one that they had rejected, Jesus
Christ, the Nazarene, is Lord and Christ. And
that he was still working in their midst. though
he was invisible. He was working through his
people. Thus, Peter uses this occasion to begin
preaching again. And here we have the meaning
explained, all that's taken place. Verse 11 pictures
this lame man clinging to Peter and John. He
had his arms around them. He would not let them
go. And it says, all the people came running
together to what is called the Portico of Solomon.
That was a porch, as it were, on the east side
of the temple area. It had many columns down
it. It was a large area, accommodated a large,
hundreds and hundreds of people in this crowd.
And they were amazed, it says. And when Peter
saw this crowd being a good preacher, he could
not help but let loose. And he did. Now the sermon
that's recorded here is not quite as polished
as Pentecost, which probably indicates that as
Luke was writing that sermon, he polished it
up a little bit. But here he perhaps is a little
bit more recording the authentic words of Peter
when he says, Men of Israel, why do you marvel
at this? Why do you gaze at us? He asks a question
here, which in effect... is denying the assumption
of the crowd. And that was that by their power
or their piety, their reverence, their godliness,
they had made this man walk. He denies that by
the question. Then he goes on in verse 13 to
give his declaration. And essentially what Peter
says is this, that God is still glorifying Jesus,
his servant. If you take the whole sermon and
boil it down, That's the one sentence summary.
God is still glorifying his servant, Jesus. Now
we might ask a question at this point. Who is
this God that Peter, the apostles, and the early
church was declaring? Peter makes it very clear.
He is talking about the God of the patriarchs,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Jews had no question.
as to who Peter was talking about. He says it's
the God of our fathers. It was the God of themselves.
So what Peter does here is to draw a line of
continuity with the nation's past. He says this
is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our
fathers, our fathers. You see, he's saying this
is a continuous, line from Abraham to us today.
And he says, he goes on to say, this God of our
fathers, you have rejected. He wants them to
see the terrible, heinous nature of their crime.
Their crime of rebellion against God. And who
is this Jesus that he speaks about? He describes
him in the text here with several titles, Christological
titles, important titles assigned to him. He
calls him in the first place God's servant, verse
13. Now that would not be a particularly significant
word to you and me today, but to the Jews it
was very significant. because that was one of
the names given to the Messiah. It is the theme
of their most popular of the prophets, Isaiah,
in chapters 42 through 53 of his book. So when
you talked about the servant of the Lord, there
was only one that you had in mind as a Jew, and
that was the Messiah. And so he says he is God's
servant. Now the Lord Jesus, perfectly exemplified
all that a servant should be by his obedience,
his humility, his diligence and devotion. He
furthermore calls him the Holy One. Verse 14.
Once again, Isaiah refers to that name. Hosea,
likewise. It was a common name again for Messiah.
Luke uses this same term back in his gospel,
chapter 4, verse 34. And a most amazing source
here uses it. On this occasion, Jesus came to
Capernaum and was teaching there. And again,
they were amazed at his message, that it was
with authority. In verse 33 of Luke 4, it says,
And he cried out with a loud voice, Ha! What
do we have to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are,
the Holy One of God. And so even the demons used
this name for Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy One.
An unclean, unholy demon says, you're the holy
one of God. The one who's without sin. Peter
uses that term as he proclaims Jesus of Nazareth
to the Jews. Then would you notice again in verse
14 that he calls him the righteous one. The righteous
one. Once more, Isaiah. refers to Messiah in
that term. Isaiah 53, 11. Zechariah 9, verse
9 speaks about him in those terms. Even two of
the pagans in Jesus' ministry referred to him
as a righteous man. For example, the man, the
soldier at the cross, said he was a righteous
man. Peter says he's the righteous one. Then
again in chapter 3 of Acts, he calls him the
prince of life in verse 15. The prince of life.
The word prince here I think could be better
rendered. For actually the word means the originator.
It's the same word that is translated author
in Hebrews 2 .10 and 12 .2. He is the originator,
the source of life. Or the word can mean the
leader. It was a word that would be used for
the one who led a file of people. For example,
a soldier who leads his battalion, perhaps, behind
him. He's the point man, out there in front.
That is the word here that's used for Jesus.
He is the originator of life. He is the one who
is out in front of a whole line of people who
follow him. And among those people were Peter
and John. And you, me. He is the prince of life.
And then there's one other reference that is
Christological, and that is in the name. Verse
16. And on the basis of faith in his name, in
the name of Jesus. The name. When you would use
that word to a religious Jew, he would immediately
associate the name with how they referred to
God. For they considered the name of God most
holy. They would never pronounce it. And so they
would use a surrogate. They would use another
reference other than his actual name. They would
never call him Yahweh or Jehovah. They would
simply say the name. when they wanted to refer
to God, the name. And so now Peter comes along
and he says, in the name of Jesus, walk. The
man walked. And so do you see how over and over
again in his brief sermon, Peter refers to Jesus
of Nazareth as being the one that the Jews had
long anticipated, the Messiah. And yet whom they
had rejected. And notice how he puts that in
verse 13. He says, God has glorified his servant,
the one whom you delivered up. He says, you delivered
him up. And disowned him in the presence of Pilate.
In fact, twice, again in verse 14, he says, you
disowned him. The word means denied. And what
do you think that word meant to Peter? He knew
what he was talking about. He says, you've denied
him. In verse 14, he says, in his place, you
ask for a murderer to be granted to you. Barabbas,
of course. And in verse 15, he puts the knife
into the hilt when he says, and you put to death
the prince of life. Notice the paradox there.
The prince of life you put to death. And yet
that's what they did. You put him to death. But
he goes on to say that this one that you have
delivered up, disowned, replaced with a murderer,
the one you've put to death, God has glorified.
Verse 13. And in verse 15 he says, God has raised
him from the dead. A fact of which we're all
witnesses. We're witnesses, he says. And now
he proclaims it is Jesus Christ who has healed
this man. That's the meaning of verse 16. That,
in fact, a notable miracle had been done they
could not deny. Look over in chapter 4, beginning
in verse 13. This is a little bit later in this
whole incident when the Jewish leaders had called
these people in, Peter and John and the healed
man. And questioned them. Now it says in verse
13, As they observed the confidence of Peter
and John, and understood that they were uneducated
and untrained men, they were marveling, and notice,
and began to recognize them as having been with
Jesus. Haven't I seen? Yes. I've seen you before.
You were out there by that fire the night that
Jesus was tried. You were standing there in the
courtyard with him, weren't you? They began to
recognize that these two men, Peter and John,
had both been there in the courtyard when Jesus
was tried. And seeing the man who had been healed
standing with them, they had nothing to say in
reply. But when they had ordered them to go outside
of the council, they began to confer with one
another, saying, What shall we do with these
men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has
taken place through them is apparent to all who
live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. They
could not deny that in the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, there was a man who stood before
them, who had never walked, who was now jumping
up and down, walking, And praising God, they
could not deny it. My friend, people can deny
your theology. They may be able to argue better
than you can regarding spiritual facts. They
may insist that the faith you hold dear is a
myth. But they cannot deny the miracle. that
Jesus Christ has wrought in your life. For that,
there is no reply. And so it was with the healing
of this man. He had been healed through faith.
The faith I take it in verse 16 was not his faith,
but it was rather through the faith which Peter
and John exercised. Faith which came through
Jesus. And gave this man perfect health. What
a marvelous sign this was. And how Peter drew
upon that sign to declare once again the truth
of Jesus. Now we're going to stop at that point
in the sermon. We'll take it up next week as
he begins to apply it. But let's just draw a
couple of observations. The first observation
that I see is this. I see it in the way that
God worked in having Peter and John come into
the temple just as this other man was brought
in and put into his place. It all happened at
the same time. The observation is this, that
God can still be trusted to work out the details
and circumstances of our lives. You know, as
we're walking with God, there are things that
happen to us that we may wonder about. And at
the time we say, why, Lord? Or we may say, isn't
it a coincidence that the fact is that God can
still be trusted today to be working out all
the details of our lives? He makes no mistake.
I've been reading the biography of R .A. Torrey,
great evangelist, a man who pastored in Minneapolis
100 years ago, right at this very time. He was
there from 1883 until 1889 when he went to Moody
Bible Institute to become president there at
the request of D .L. Moody. R .A. Torrey had
several children. Perhaps his favorite was Elizabeth.
Elizabeth was nine years old when very, very
suddenly she became ill with typhoid fever. Now,
they didn't know it was typhoid fever at that
moment. They just knew that she had quite a fever.
And so they worked with her in their home, and
the fever seemed to break, and so they did not
call the doctor for any remedy. But they simply
felt that whatever it was that had afflicted
her had passed. And Torrey prayed for her, as
was his custom, whenever any of his children
were sick. And he felt that she was going to
be restored, and praised God for it. But the
next day, very suddenly, the fever shot up again.
And before they could get a doctor there, little
Elizabeth died in his arms. It broke Torrey's
heart. He went out for a long walk in the cold
of Minneapolis in the winter. Before he could
get to the church office, he broke down weeping.
And yet, the Holy Spirit, in that very moment,
ministered in a way in which he said was the
most powerful he had known up to that point.
And it seemed as though there was a voice that
he heard, it was internal of course, which said,
Torrey, this is one of the all things of Romans
8 .28. We know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to those who
are the called according to his purpose. And
though Torrey was tempted and indeed did for
some time blame himself that Elizabeth died,
because he had not called a doctor the very moment
that she became ill. He nonetheless was finally
able to rest in this fact that I'm talking about
now, that we can trust God to bring together
the details and the circumstances of our lives
for our good and for his glory. It was that way
for this man and Peter and John. Secondly, What
we have, we can share with others. What we have,
we can share with others. We can't share what
we don't have, but what we do have, we can share.
It is interesting that the early church did not
embark on a campaign to care for all the poor
in Jerusalem, nor to heal all the diseased and
the crippled in the city. They did not do that.
But what they did have, they gave. For the apostles,
it included this ability to perform signs, wonders,
and miracles, confirmations of the truthfulness
of their message. We are not given that ability.
Now, that was a part of a special assignment
to the apostles and the prophets, according to
the Word of God.