Rise up and walk Acts 3:1-11

Introduction

We closed chapter 2 by looking at the 8 things a church must continue if they want to continue. A church must continue in the truth, we have to continue in fellowship, we have to continue in the ordinances, we must continue in prayer, we must continue in reverence, we must continue in generosity, and last we must continue in unity.

Here we come to one of the recorded miracles done by the apostles in the early church. The miracles, signs and wonders are what brought the Jews to hear to Peter speak in the first place. Throughout the book of Acts we will continue seeing miracles performed by the Apostles.

This morning I would look at the Apostles unity, the mans condition, the miracle, the reaction of the people.

The Apostles Unity vs. 1

Chapter 2 ended talking about the unity of the church and the unity started with the apostles

Peter and John were almost complete opposites, Peter was impulsive, John was well thought out.

Notice they went up together to the temple to pray. Prayer is what unlocked the power that God had give them.

Illustration: I think about the winter storm in February of 2021 where it was so cold for so long that they would do rolling blackouts or you would lose power all together. Because of how cold it was electicity demands exceeded 62.7 gigawatts which was much higher that the grid operators had planned for. ERCOT came within minutes of overloading and completely shutting down. The power source was overloaded by demand.

When we are plugged into Jesus as our source, we will never run out of power, He is all-powerful. All of us could go to Jesus at the same time and he could handle all of it.

The early church knew about the power they recieved through prayer and we have access to the same power, we just have to tap into the source.

Eph. 3:20-21 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

I think its important to note that the early church didn’t just go to pray when things were going bad, they prayed even when things were going good.

They were going to pray like they had done so many times before. They were going to the temple at the hour of prayer. The ninth hour or 3 in the afternoon they were headed to the temple to pray.

Peter and John though once rivals were now inseparable. I believe the reason is that the Holy Spirit brings unity.

They were unified in worship and in prayer

The mans condition vs 2-5

As Peter and John were walking to the temple they came upon a lame man.

The Bible gives us some insight to the man

he was lame

He had a disability that made it to where he couldn’t walk.

It didn’t happen because of an injury, he was lame from his mothers womb. His parents had never seen him walk, they knew from the beginning that something wasn’t right with his legs.

He was carried

Everyday someone would carry him.

Someone knew he couldn’t help himself and helped him get to the gate of the temple.

He was left every day to beg

They would leave him at the gate called beautiful, where everyone going into the temple would of had to go through. It would have been prime real estate for someone who was in need of money.

This man couldn't work a job so the only way he made money was to sit at this gate and ask for alms.

As Peter and John are making their way through this gate the man saw them and asked for an alms.

Alms- Any thing given gratuitously to relieve the poor, as money, food, or clothing, otherwise called charity.

Peter fastens his eyes upon the man

Peters eyes locked in on the man, the word fastened indicates a strong focus

Peter saw the mans needs and knew it was more than some money.

Peter and John could’ve walked on by this man and gone to do what clearly was a right thing to do, but I believe them stopping by this man is exactly what Jesus would’ve done as well.

We must be careful that we don’t get caught up in doing the good things that we miss the best things.

Do we get so busy, even in our worship, that we fail to see the needs of others?

Peter tells the man to look on them.

He was telling the man to notice who they were.

they were two men likely dressed in ordinary clothes, they didn’t have lots of money.

Most importantly they wanted the man to see Jesus in them

John Phillips says this in his commentary. “The poor lame man is a cameo of the human race. Men are born lame, with no standing before God. They stumble and fall through life. They have nothing. The very best person in the world, outside of Christ, is a hopeless spiritual cripple, born that way; the wealthiest man is a spiritual beggar.”

After they tell the man to look on them, he looks expectantly at them knowing they don’t have much but anything helps.

The Miracle

Just as Jesus knew the woman at the well needed more than just water, she needed the living water, Peter knew this man needed more than money.

Peter started by telling the man they didn’t have any silver or gold.

this would have destroyed this mans hope, his whole livelihood was contingent on people giving him silver and gold.

Peter says I don’t have any money, but I have something better.

I’m sure as Peter said those words, the man would’ve immediately been defensive saying something to the effect of, i’ve tried the braces for my ankles, i’ve done everything the doctor has told me to do and none of that worked. He had come to grips with the fact that he would be begging for money at this same gate the rest of his life.

Illustration: A story is told of a time in the medieval days when Thomas Aquinas visited the Pope. In the course of the visit, the Pope showed Thomas all the chests of riches from around the world. With a smile on his face, the Pope said, “You see, Brother Thomas, we cannot say as did Peter, ‘Silver and gold have I none.’” Thomas looked at the Pope and fearlessly replied, “No, but neither can we say, ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’”

Peter tells the man in the name of Jesus rise up and walk

You’ll notice the miracles done by the early church were done in the name of Jesus. Jesus was the power behind all the miracles.

Peter grabbed his right hand and picked him up and immediately a man who had never been able to stand, feet and ankle bones recieved strength.

A man who had never stood before leaped up, stood up, and walked into the temple with Peter and John.

Illustration: I think about my kids when they were learning to walk, they didn’t one day just get up and walk. They started by learning to roll from back to belly and belly to back, once they mastered that they started learning to crawl, and eventually started pulling themselves up on chairs or coffee table, whatever they could get a hold of. Then they would start trying to take a step, and then as they gained there strength they would eventually start walking, and they would try to run but they weren’t quite coordinated enough so they would fall.

Here a man who had never walked before was walking and leaping, it truly was a miracle of God.

5. He praised God

Psalm 107:8-9 “Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, And filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”

The reaction of the people vs. 9-11

What they saw

they saw a man who had never walked, walking.

Not only was he walking, he was praising God, the one who gave him the ability to walk.

I think sometimes we are so complacent with the blessings that God gives us every day that we fail to praise him.

Help us never to get complacent with the blessing God gives us everyday

What they knew

they knew this was the man that sat every day begging for alms at the gate called beautiful outside the temple.

What they felt

they were filled with wonder (something that arrests attention)

They were filled with amazement (Astonishment; confusion or perplexity, from a sudden impression of fear, surprise or wonder.)

All the people who had seen what had happened and witnessed the lame man rising up and walking came to solomons porch and the Bible says they were greatly wondering.

Our testimony as believers is very important, a lot of times people won’t read their Bible but they will read you. They are watching us to make sure our words line up with the way we live. These people came to hear what was going on because of the testimony of a lame man made whole. Does your testimony bring people to Jesus or push them away?

Conclusion

As the lame man is a picture of an unsaved person, the most important decision you can make is to come and allow Jesus to change your life. If you have never trusted in Christ as your personal saviour come today.

If you have trusted in Christ hows your testimony?