← Back to sermon library

Acts chapter 3, we're going through 
Acts in an expository way. We finished chapter 2 a couple 
of weeks ago, or a few weeks ago now, and we'll pick up here 
in Acts chapter 3. We'll focus on the healing of 
the lame man this morning in verses 1 to 10, and then we'll 
see later the apostles' sermon in the portico of Solomon based 
on that particular activity. You see that same sort of motif, 
say, for instance, in John 6. Jesus feeds the multitudes with 
bread, and then he preaches the bread of life discourse. And 
the same sort of thing is at play here. This healing sets 
the stage for Peter's sermon, where he does appeal to the healing, 
but he uses it as the means by which he can set forth the glory 
of Jesus Christ. So I'll begin reading in Acts 
chapter 3 at verse 1. Now Peter and John went up together to 
the temple at the hour of prayer, 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 
from those who entered the temple, who, seeing Peter and John about 
to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes 
on him with John, Peter said, Look at us. So he gave them his 
attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter 
said, silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have, I give 
you. In the name of Jesus Christ of 
Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right 
hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received 
strength. So he, leaping up, stood and 
walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, 
and praising God. And all the people saw him walking 
and praising God. Then they knew that it was he 
who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple. And they 
were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 
Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all 
the people ran together to them in the porch, which is called 
Solomon's, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded 
to the people, Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or 
why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness 
we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His servant Jesus, 
whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when 
He was determined to let him go. But you denied the Holy One 
and the just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed 
the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which 
we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in 
his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the 
faith which comes through him has given him this perfect soundness 
in the presence of you all. Yet now, brethren, I know that 
you did it in ignorance, as did also your fathers. But those 
things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, 
that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent, 
therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted 
out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of 
the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached 
to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration 
of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his 
holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said to 
the fathers, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet 
like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, 
whatever he says to you. And it shall be that every soul 
who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from 
among the people. Yes, and all the prophets, from 
Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have 
also foretold these days. You are sons of the prophets 
and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying 
to Abraham, and in your seed all the families of the earth 
shall be blessed. To you first, God, having raised 
up his servant Jesus, send him to bless you in turning away 
every one of you from your iniquities. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
thank you for the written word. We pray now for the ministry 
of the Holy Spirit who gave us the word. We pray that he would 
guide us and lead us and direct us to a consideration of just 
how wonderful the Lord Jesus Christ is. That power displayed 
through the agency of the apostles magnifies the glory of the one 
enthroned at the right hand of the Father. Forgive us again 
for our sins and anything that would darken our understanding. 
and help us to rejoice, and to praise, and to glorify You as 
we consider the Word of God. And we ask this through Jesus 
Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, verses 
1 to 10 are the miracle, specifically. Verses 11 to 26, Peter then preaches 
a sermon, and there he highlights the prime authority with reference 
to the healing of this particular man. But as well, that then moves 
us into a particular phase in terms of the book of Acts, a 
place of persecution. Remember that the church was 
told to be witnesses to Christ, first in Jerusalem, then Judea, 
Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. Well, in 
the wisdom and in the providence of God, God utilized problems. He utilized persecution. He utilized 
trials and difficulties to get the church to mobilize. In other 
words, they would have just sat content in Jerusalem if there 
were never any problems. But the Lord God, in His providence, 
moves things in such a way that we see already persecution in 
chapter 4 from the religious authorities there in Israel. But I want to look at this particular 
miracle under three considerations. First, the setting of the miracle 
in verses 1 and 2. Secondly, the execution of the 
miracle in verses 3 to 7. And then finally, the response 
to the miracle in verses 8 to 10. But if you note the setting, 
they are at the temple. Verse 1 tells us Peter and John 
went up together to the temple. Not likely that they would have 
engaged in the sacrificial system going on at the temple. Rather, 
they were there at the hour of prayer. There were hours of prayer 
in the morning, in the noon, and then in the afternoon. And 
this would have been three o'clock. So it's Peter and John who went 
to pray. And I know most of the kids already 
know this sermon because there's a wonderful Sunday school song 
that basically rehearses the truth. So if as I'm preaching, 
you start to sing it in your head, that's okay. It's a good 
way to remember it. It's a good way to envision it. 
It's a good way for it to make its way into your heart, because 
it really is an amazing thing, what God does in the life of 
this particular man. So Peter and John go to pray 
at three o'clock, probably as well to preach the gospel, to 
tell sinners about Jesus, who is the Messiah promised in the 
Old Testament scriptures. the description of the man, given 
to us in a bit of detail, tells us in verse 2, 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 
from those who entered the temple. The condition was a congenital 
defect. It was a congenital disability. He had not broken his leg, and 
the apostles come and set it. No, the man had been born this 
way. He was lame. Verse 22 in chapter 
4 tells us he was over 40 years. So this was a long haul thing 
for this particular man. Later, we know that everybody 
knows who he is. We know that this was not done 
in some private backroom sort of setting. It was very public, 
it was very open, it was very out there, so that the certainty 
of the miracle and the glory and the power of the God of the 
miracle would be conspicuous. This isn't a backroom dealing 
where persons come out and say, believe you me, that guy was 
healed. No, everybody knew it because 
his condition was congenital. He was in a bad state. We don't 
know which particular gate, some suggest 9th, 10th or or Shushan, 
we don't know. Why is it called beautiful? Most 
likely because it was beautiful. It was greatly adorned, it was 
higher perhaps than the others, but you can see the wisdom of 
this man, or at least the wisdom of his handlers. They carry him 
at the hour of prayer and they put him in the pathway that is 
heavily trafficked going to the temple for prayer. This would 
be the optimum place for one to beg. This would be the optimum 
place for one to ask for alms. It would be similar to what you 
find in downtown Chilliwack. Very often there at that intersection 
where you've got Tim Hortons and then Superstore and you've 
got what used to be Kmart, don't know what their the mall over 
there, that there's typically a fellow standing there with 
a sign and he's asking for money. He's not supposed to. He does 
it right in front of the sign that says, no panhandling. You 
know, talk about antinomianism, right? You see hitchhikers sometimes 
standing under the no hitchhiking sign. Just a flagrant disregard 
for all things law. But that makes sense. He's there 
in a heavily trafficked area. He's not standing out in the 
middle of Rosedale out in a field. He knows that he's got to be 
in the place where there are people with deep pockets and 
people that, by religious conviction, are going to dig deep and give 
money to this particular fellow. And so all things are in place 
so that the miracle will, in fact, be conspicuous, it will 
be obvious, and it will be a certain thing that demonstrates the glory 
of God most high. This was the means by which he 
managed a living, and he had people that would carry him. 
They would lay him daily at the gate of the temple, and he would 
ask alms from those who entered the temple. Now note, secondly, 
the execution of the miracle in verses three to seven. Note 
the request of this man in verse three, who, seeing Peter and 
John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. You've got to 
love the sovereignty of God. I mean, there were a lot of pilgrims 
traveling to the temple at the hour of prayer. There were a 
lot of people, population, in the city at that particular time. 
And who does the man meet? He meets Peter and John. Let 
someone try to tell you at some point in your life that God's 
not sovereign. He doesn't control whatever happens. 
The Psalter isn't accurate. Our God is in heaven. He does 
whatever he pleases. He most certainly does. Could 
it have gone better for this guy than to meet Peter and John? Could it have been a better day 
for this particular fellow standing at the gate, or rather lying 
at the gate, called Beautiful, when it was the hour of prayer? 
He sees Peter and John, and then note what he does. He asks for 
alms. And I think, I don't want to 
get too far afield here, but I think we ought to at least 
observe that persons in a desperate condition don't always realize 
the desperation of their condition. Let me just try to restate that. 
He's shooting pretty low here, isn't he? He's asking for alms, 
which again is understandable. That's been the way that he's 
made his living for his entire life. But he doesn't ask for 
a healing. He doesn't ask for salvation. I think at times sinners don't 
really, really know what their problem is. Sinners come to church 
because they want therapy, or sinners come to church because 
they want community, or sinners come to church because they want 
entertainment, or sinners come to church because that's what 
people are supposed to do. No, your need is desperate, your 
condition is bad, and you need salvation by grace through faith 
in Jesus Christ the Lord. He asked for alms. Again, in 
and of itself, not a bad thing. Longing to be a part of a community, 
not a bad thing. Wanting some help with your life, 
not a bad thing. But there is something far more 
important, and thankfully, Peter and John didn't pander to his 
perceived needs. Rather, they addressed him where 
he had the greatest of needs, specifically his salvation. Now, 
some will be inclined to say, well, they simply healed him. 
The text doesn't indicate that he was saved. Brethren, the text 
everywhere indicates that he was saved because that's the 
point of Peter's sermon in verse 26, the forgiveness of sins. Why would God use this particular 
fellow simply to raise him up from his bed And then this man 
cleaved to Peter and John if he hadn't been saved by grace 
through faith in Jesus Christ. So he's aiming quite low, but 
God in His sovereignty and in His mercy and in His grace saves 
him. It made me think about the sorts 
of signs that you see from people today that are asking for alms. You know, that one, we'll work 
for food or, you know, we'll, you know, just give me change 
or any little bit helps. There was a fellow back in Palmdale. 
He made the newspaper. Palmdale was a very aerospace-heavy 
sort of a city. And there were oftentimes layoffs. 
And there was a picture of a fellow in a three-piece suit with a 
sign on the side of the road that said, we'll work for competitive 
wage and benefit package. And I've always thought that 
was an interesting way to sort of approach that. But even then, 
that's still not a proper understanding of one's need. You see, you may 
think you just need some alms. You may think you just need a 
bit of therapy. You may think that you just need 
a little bit of help. But God's word says, you are 
wicked. You are sinful. You have gone 
astray. You stand with your fist raised 
to God. If not physically, certainly 
ethically. In your heart, you transgress 
God's law. You lack conformity to God's 
law. You are condemned as an evildoer by God's law. And the 
thing that you need most is not therapy. It's certainly not entertainment. It's certainly not community. 
It's Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior. It is salvation by grace 
through faith in this one and in him alone. So this man looks 
at Peter and John, this man asks for alms, and now notice what 
Peter says in verses 4 to 6a. On behalf of John, Peter and 
John are together. Then Peter said, silver and gold 
I do not have, but what... I'm sorry, back to verse 4. And 
fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, look at us. 
Why does he do that? You know, value me, prize me. 
No, he's gaining his attention because good things are coming 
his way. Right? He is capturing the man's 
attention because this man is going to experience wonderful 
things. So he says, look at us. And thankfully, 
the man looks at him. You know, today, I don't want 
to look at you. Just give me what I want. No, look at me. 
I've got something to say to you. I've got something to instruct 
you on. I've got something to teach you. The demand for his 
attention creates an expectation. Daniel Bach says, seeking the 
man's attention tells him that a response is coming, but it 
will not be what he expects. Can you imagine that man? Imagine 
being that man. You wake up that morning, and 
you know what your normal deal is. You don't have plans ahead 
of you, like several options. I can go golfing, or I can go 
to the park, or I can take the kids out for a walk, or I can 
go... You don't have those options. You're lying in your bed, you 
know that, you know, quarter to three, somebody's going to 
come, they're going to pick you up, they're going to, you know, 
take you to the gate called Beautiful, and they're going to lay you 
there, and you're going to just basically beg for your sustenance. I mean, 
this guy doesn't have any idea what's about to happen. The problem 
when we get a Sunday school song in our heart or we understand 
a particular narrative, it ceases to thrill us. Brethren, we need 
to be thrilled. This guy woke up a lame man and 
later on that day he's leaping and he's praising God. It's an 
instantaneous miracle. There's no sort of, you've got 
to deal with the atrophy that has set in. You've got to work 
up to that. As soon as God heals him through 
the agency of the apostles, he's leaping, he's praising, he's 
glorifying God. This is a beautiful and wonderful 
thing. And so Peter is going to do something 
here for him that he has not yet even entertained. And then 
notice what Peter says there in verse 6. Peter said, silver 
and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the 
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. The apostle 
does not have silver and gold. Now, there's a lot in the commentaries 
as to why that was, but suffice it to say he didn't. But what 
he does have, he has the name of Jesus Christ. Matthew Poole 
made the observation, the disciples, or rather the apostles, abounded 
in deed, but in grace, not in riches. And I think this is something 
very important for all of us, because sometimes we all want 
to find our niche in the kingdom of God. You know, what can I 
do to serve? Well, you have Jesus Christ. 
You can tell people about him. I ask her for me to tell people, 
then write to them, email them, blog to them, whatever you got 
to do. The point is, it's not necessary to have great amounts 
of financial resources to be able to do something for God. 
And I think there's something there in terms of how the church 
ought to operate. The church does engage in benevolence. We certainly try and look after 
the needs of those within the community of faith. The church 
tries to ameliorate the needs of those who have suffered great 
disaster in other parts of the world. We've tried to do that 
and pony up and render assistance and all those sorts of things. 
But the primary emphasis of church as church is not silver and gold. The primary emphasis of the church 
as church is Jesus Christ. It's the cross. It's salvation. You see, we need to understand 
what the Bible says concerning the various spheres in life. 
Individuals have a certain amount of responsibility for themselves. 
Families have a certain amount of responsibility for themselves. 
Society has a certain amount of responsibility for society. 
And church has a certain amount of responsibility for church. 
And at least here in Acts 2 and 3, we have seen an emphasis. 
Yes, the church engages in benevolence. Do not go from here and say, 
Butler is advocating that the church is stingy and tight-fisted 
and all that sort of thing. But the primary orientation affecting 
the church as church is the proclamation of the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. We don't have silver and gold. 
We don't have a bank. We don't have trees overflowing 
with money that you can go pluck from. But we have the gospel. We have the truth that speaks 
to something far greater than your temporal issues, your temporal 
conditions. We don't pander to, we don't 
cater to, we don't give credence to the modern cry that the church 
has to ameliorate every problem society faces. No, we don't. Our task is as an agent of healing. Healing in a redemptive sense, 
namely the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I really think 
that if you get sphere sovereignty now, what does the individual 
do? What does the family do? What does the church do? What 
does society do? I think it makes sense of life. It's when we try 
to make the church do what society or the government does, when 
the church is supposed to raise your children. Brethren, again, 
I'm all for kids' programs. I'm all for Sunday school. It's 
been unfortunate that our two Sunday school teachers, two families, 
left. I mean, that was an unfortunate 
reality. But the church's job isn't primarily 
to raise your kids. You want to take a big guess 
at whose job that is? Let's hear it together, my job. You see, when the church stops 
doing what church is supposed to do, she does nothing well. That has been proven time and 
time again. The church in Acts 2 continued 
steadfastly in what? In the apostles' doctrine, in 
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. That's 
what she's supposed to do, and she's supposed to do it Well, 
she's supposed to preach the word, she's supposed to administer 
the sacraments, and she's supposed to exercise discipline. Those 
are her marks, those are her operating instructions, and I 
think what Peter says here gives credence to that. Silver and 
gold I don't have, but what I have I give you. And I have something 
far more valuable than what the civil government can provide. 
I have something far more valuable than what your hard work can 
provide. I have something more valuable than what even your 
family structure can afford. I have the gospel of Jesus Christ 
the Lord, that one who lived, that one who died, that one who 
was raised the third day, so that sinners may have everlasting 
life. See, brethren, we may be devoid 
of silver and gold, but that does not render us ineffective 
in the world. Rather, we embrace the call that 
God has given us, and we never, ever quit from pursuing that. That's what I see when Peter 
makes this statement. Silver and gold, I don't have. 
Notice the exhortation. He says, I don't have silver, 
I don't have gold, but what I have, I give you. In the name of Jesus 
Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. We've already seen the 
name alluded to in Acts 2.21, a quote from the prophet Joel. 
Whoever calls on the name of the Lord, Acts 2.38, repent and 
be baptized in the name of the Lord. Here in Acts chapter 3 
and 4, you'll see that reference to the name of Jesus Christ in 
several instances. What are we to make of that? 
Is it magic? Is it hocus-pocus? You just rehearse 
Jesus Christ of Nazareth and everything will work out hunky-dory 
for you? No, I think Calvin has a great explanation. For name 
is taken for power and empire or government. Neither must we 
dream that there is any magical force in the sounding or pronouncing 
of the word as the Jews do doubt about the word Jehovah. He says 
Peter meant to declare that he was nothing but a minister and 
that Christ was the author of the miracle. It's in the name 
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk. It's a beautiful, 
beautiful name. It's a glorious name. And back 
to what I mentioned previously, Peter knows what the man needs. 
The man has his handout for alms, and Peter says, I've got something 
far more valuable. Again, I think if the church 
appreciates her mission. We're often told what the church 
doesn't do. She doesn't this. She doesn't 
that. She doesn't this. She doesn't that. She doesn't. 
I mean, in some places, the church is probably the main cause for 
every evil that ever existed. You hear that? I don't go to 
the church because it's filled with hypocrites. I'm glad the church 
is filled with hypocrites. No better place for a hypocrite 
to be than under the sound of the forgiveness of sins. I get 
it. We don't want to be, you know, 
openly avowedly hypocritical in our walk and profession. But 
every act of sin is ultimately a hypocritical move on the part 
of God's people, right? We're never given a freebie. 
We're never told, okay, you get one. And if we did get one, how 
long ago, as R.C. Sproul would say, did we use 
that up? We're never, ever given credence to be wicked, or evil, 
or inconsistent. We are to seek, by the grace 
of God, to not be hypocrites. But the church, oftentimes, is 
blamed for a whole host of things. How often do you see in the local 
paper, or the national paper, and the church on Sunday met 
together and the gospel was preached? I don't care about that. But 
that's why we exist. What's the usefulness in being 
the church? We preach the gospel. Years and 
years ago, we used to run an ad in a local paper. And one 
time, a lady called, and she was really upset. And she was 
basically yelling at me about the content of that particular 
article that was in the paper. And God gave me some wisdom and 
grace to be able to talk to her. And she calmed the way down. 
And at one point, she said something to me like this. She said, you 
sound pretty smart. Well, thanks. And she said, why 
don't you become something useful, like a doctor or a lawyer? That reflects society, doesn't 
it? You know, there was a man in the history of the church 
who was a doctor, a very successful physician that left his practice 
to become a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. And 
he would later write that there is no greater privilege in the 
world to be a man standing and committed to preach the word 
of the living God. We know that man as Martin Lloyd-Jones. 
He didn't see it as something as a step down. He didn't see 
it as something ineffective or non-useful. We live in a materialistic 
age. Unless you can increase my bank 
account, unless you can make me grow limbs, unless you can, 
you know, enhance my life in some tangible way, then it's 
useless. Brethren, we know better. Silver 
and gold, we don't have. But what we have brings the best 
help ever in terms of the forgiveness of sins and a status with God 
based on the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ of righteous. There's nothing better than that. 
Those who have found that pearl of great price know exactly how 
useful it is. They know exactly how glorious 
it is, and they with the bride say, he is altogether lovely 
and chief among 10,000. We don't take our cue from what 
the world says, and we certainly, certainly ought not to ape the 
world in our approach to doing church. We do what God says. That's always played well for 
the people of God. What do we do? You do what the 
Bible says. That's another zany idea in this 
modern age of defecting to the world in order to try to win 
the world. So the lame man is healed. Peter says, rise up and walk. He took him by the right hand. 
Now, don't misinterpret. Peter's not sort of helping the 
miracle along. This is an unbelief on the part 
of Peter, grabbing him by the hand and sort of yanking him 
and giving him a bit of a running shot. No, he saw Jesus do this. Oftentimes, miracles spoken would 
be accompanied by a healing hand. Our Lord raises Jairus' daughter 
in the same sort of way. Peter is imitating, Peter is 
observing, Peter is watching how his Lord did what he did. 
It communicates not unbelief, but it rather communicates his 
love and affection for this man and the healing that has transpired. 
Now let's look finally at the response to the miracle in verses 
8 to 10. I love the response of the man 
first. He does what you'd expect him to do. What? Doesn't he? I mean, there's a 
little lack of decorum there. Perhaps there were some fastidious 
ones on the way to prayer in the temple and said, oh my, that 
man is leaping about, he shouldn't do that. Remember in the history 
of the people of God, that happened with David. David comes back 
victorious from battle and he dances before the Ark of the 
Covenant of God. And Michael hates him for it. 
Michael despises him for it. What's David's response? I'm 
going to keep doing it, because God Most High is glorious and 
wondrous and excellent, and He is worthy. Now, we saw in our 
study of that passage, that does not authorize dancing in the 
church. So don't think for a moment, I'm saying, okay, based on this 
and David, you can go ahead and just, you know, stand up as the 
mood grabs you and start dancing. No, no, no, that's not what I'm 
suggesting. But you can see with reference to this particular 
man, this is the legitimate response of somebody that's been healed 
from lameness, isn't it? He's not polished. He's not, 
well, thank you, Peter and John. This has been quite nice to meet 
you today. That's not what he does. He's got strength in his 
ankles again, which many have observed Luke the physician. 
You and I would say, he started walking again. Luke tells us 
the nitty gritty. His ankles were strengthened 
again. Luke the physician knows what's 
happening, or is reporting to us where the malady lie for this 
particular fellow that had been affected from birth. But he is, 
in the first place, a fulfillment of Scripture. He is a fulfillment 
of Isaiah 35. I read it, the outset of worship, 
then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the 
dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth 
in the wilderness and streams in the desert. You see a similar 
allusion to the prophet Isaiah chapter 35 in the ministry of 
Jesus in Matthew chapter 11. When John the Baptist is languishing 
in a prison, he tells his disciples to go and ask Jesus, are you 
the coming one? Again, I don't think for a moment 
that John mistook who Jesus the Christ was. But John understood 
that the arrival of Messiah would indicate glorious and wondrous 
things. And as far as the Baptist was 
concerned, him being in a prison wasn't a glorious and a wondrous 
thing. But when these disciples of John come to ask Jesus, Jesus 
says, go and tell John, these things, and he pulls it right 
out of Isaiah 35 to show and to validate that what the prophet 
wrote there in Isaiah 35 comes to fulfillment and fruition in 
the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. The lame shall rise and 
leap like a deer. That's what this man is. You 
see these fulfillments of the Old Testament all through the 
book of Acts. When you get to the book of Acts 
chapter eight, that Ethiopian eunuch, You know what's significant 
about that Ethiopian eunuch? The prophet Isaiah told us of 
a time when eunuchs would be allowed to come into the assembly 
of the Lord. That's all prophecy. That's all 
given. That's all scripted. And you 
see it fulfilled in the life and the ministry of these apostles. 
The Lord Jesus enthroned at the right hand, working his power 
through the agency of these apostolic man. So he was a fulfillment 
of scripture, but as well, he was a worshiper of God. Look 
at verse eight. So he, leaping up, stood and 
walked and entered the temple with them. Where was he previously? He was outside the temple asking 
for alms. He's outside the temple begging 
to try to get his daily sustenance. He's outside the temple and now 
that he's healed, what is his natural response? It is to go 
into the temple and to worship. You want to know how you're saved? 
You want to worship God. And sometimes that comes out. 
People say, well, how do I know I'm really believing the gospel? 
How do I know I'm really in a state of grace? How do I really know? 
Well, do you worship God? Oh, yeah, I love God. He's great. 
That's a good sign. Pagans don't say that. Pagans 
just don't say that. You'll never meet a pagan that 
says, oh, yeah, I just really want to worship God and love Him. 
And they might say that of a God that they built or construct, 
but not the God of the Bible, not Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
You see, the person healed by the grace of God wants to worship 
the God of grace. It's that simple. It's your thought 
of the Lord's Day. It's your thought of worship. 
See, brethren, if anything, at this point in Acts chapter 2 
only, we ought to have a high view of church. This happens 
within the church. The world tells us what we are 
guilty of not doing or doing or what, you know, all of our 
problems, but within the church, we've lost sight of the centrality 
of church in God's redemptive plan. I'm not saying there's 
no salvation outside the church, but I am suggesting that more 
often than not, salvation is to be found in a church that 
preaches the truth of the gospel. And a low view of church, a low 
view of the Lord's day, a low view of public worship are inconsistent 
with people that have been healed by the grace of God. See, when 
we are forgiven, when we are given that righteousness, our 
heartbeat is that of David in Psalm 122. I was glad when they 
said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. You know, 
when you wake up on Sunday morning and you go, oh no, it's Sunday 
morning, there might be problems in your soul. Now get it, if 
this church repulses you or it's offensive or you've got problems, 
find a church that you can embrace, that preaches the gospel, that 
sets forth the glory of Christ, that underscores grace through 
faith in Him. But this antipathy to the public 
means of grace is not indicative of people conquered by grace. We wanna be with God's people. 
We wanna sing his praises. We wanna open our hymn books 
and our psalters. We wanna hear that tune and we 
wanna belt it out. It's one of the things I appreciate 
about our church. The singing, not one, I mean, 
there's a lot, but the singing is wonderful. Been to churches 
before, we can barely hear anybody. Open your mouth, man, and sing 
praise to God. He saved you by grace, and you 
don't have the wherewithal to let it flow back to him? You 
wouldn't be a dancing David whirling about before the Ark of the Covenant 
because Yahweh brought you victory. You're the Michael that disdains 
that or despises that or says, well, that's untoward and that's 
off-putting. Brethren, those conquered by 
grace want to serve. they want to praise, they want 
to worship, they want to love, they want to express that, and 
that's precisely what is true of this particular man. He walks, 
or he leaps up, he stood, he walks, he enters the temple with 
them, and he's walking, leaping, and praising God. This man went 
from a beggar, a cripple, a man that had nothing, to a man now 
in the temple with eternal life. Beautiful thing. And I submit, 
this is the natural response, or this is the way it ought to 
look when sinners come to the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a 
spring in their step. There's joy. They're happy. They don't carry satchels of 
lemons and bite on them all day long and just look miserable. 
I get it. Sorrow comes. Hardship comes. The Psalter is so real and true. Why aren't thou cast down, O 
my soul? Hope thou in God. I get it. Brethren, Jesus was a man of 
sorrows and acquainted with grief. Lloyd-Jones suggests that Jesus 
never smiled. I find that difficult to grasp. Children came to Jesus when he 
needed them for an illustration. He wasn't austere. There was 
a joy about our Lord. So while there's sorrows and 
while there's hardships and while this world is just terrible, 
isn't it? I mean, can we all just agree 
when you read the papers of that or the internet, wherever you 
get your news today, it's bad out there, isn't it? And it lends 
itself to the people of God being burdened and heavy-laden at times 
concerning and considering what's happening. But the overarching 
trajectory in the life of the people of God ought to be joy. 
It ought to be hope. A text came up in our morning 
hour, 1 Peter chapter 3. What does Peter tell us there? 
We're to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, and we're always 
to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have to 
those who ask us. What does that assume? That somebody 
out there is going to ask us about our hope. Doesn't it assume 
that? It implies that. It doesn't say 
that, but it's assumed that you have hope if somebody's going 
to say, how come you look so hopeful? You know, you're going 
down, the plane is going to crash, and you're the only guy sitting 
there and smiling because you know you're going to go be with 
Jesus. The person next to you might say, why are you smiling? 
Why do you look like you have hope? Brethren, yes, there's 
sorrow. Yes, there's an occasional lemon 
in life to bite on. I'm not discounting that or diminishing 
that. Hopefully, we all weep with one 
another when we weep. But this man leaped, and he praised, 
and he worshiped. And that's what's true of the 
people that are conquered by sovereign grace. It's not that 
they just become great debaters on Facebook. Polemicists, they 
become worshipers. This is the context of Ephesians 
chapter one. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. He chose us in him 
before the foundation of the world. In him we have redemption 
through his blood. The Holy Spirit is the seal and 
the guarantee. That triune or that reflection upon the triune 
God in terms of salvation wrought, salvation accomplished, salvation 
applied, is Paul praising God. Blessed be the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have been saved to praise. You have been saved to worship. You know, that's almost like 
secondary today. It's like, that ought to be primary. We spend time defining what worship 
is, what the proper parameters are. Why? Oh, you're just always 
in those details. Those are the reasons we exist. It's coming to God in worship. 
It's praising. It's honoring. It's glorifying 
Him. And then note the people's response. 
They saw that the man was healed. They couldn't deny it. Notice 
in verse 10, all the people saw him walking and praising God. 
Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the beautiful 
gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement 
at what had happened to him. You see, this is conspicuous, 
as I said earlier. This wasn't done in a corner. 
This wasn't some sort of a side meeting. This wasn't, you know, 
off the beaten path. Everybody saw him leaping and 
walking and praising, and everybody knew that it was the man who 
had been carried to the gate beautiful to beg. They knew the 
guy. He was over 40 years old. They 
had probably given shekels to him along the way to the temple. 
They knew who he was. He was part of the scenery. Calvin makes this observation, 
and I think it lends itself to what I'm about to bring out. 
He says, in that being healed, he walked in the temple at the 
time of prayer. This served to spread abroad 
the fame of the miracle. The people are filled with wonder 
and amazement at what had happened to him. Brethren, chapter four 
ought not to surprise us. The enmity of the Sanhedrin toward 
Peter and John ought not to shock us. This ought to be expected. When did the religious leaders 
get really up in arms about Jesus? When he had favor with the people. When the people marveled at his 
teaching and at his works. When the people saw him, he wasn't 
a teacher like their scribes, but he taught as one having authority. 
That threatened the establishment. That threatened the religious 
autocracy. It threatened them where they 
lived, and they sought to neutralize Jesus. The same is taking place 
here in Acts 4. Peter and John are going to be 
called before the Sanhedrin and asked to give an account. We're 
going to see increasing persecution upon the people of God. And as 
I said earlier, it's under or in the scope of God's providence 
to get the church mobilized. We may not have chosen this way. 
We may not choose the hardships and the trials to get us in a 
place where we need to be, but God does. And he does that here. J. A. Alexander makes the observation, 
he says, the new religion, this is Christianity, was not to be 
a national or local one, but Catholic and ecumenical. Don't 
recoil when you hear the word Catholic. Roman, Catholic, bad. Catholic, good. Catholic simply 
means universal. The people of God from every 
tribe and tongue and people and nation. We should all love that 
Catholic Church. It's the Roman version. It's 
the Roman sort of abomination that is problematic. But he says, 
the new religion was not to be a national or local one, but 
Catholic and ecumenical. Again, ecumenical, good. Ecumenicism, 
bad. When you try to get people together 
at the sacrifice of truth, that's bad. But when you try to bring 
people together under the banner of truth, that's good ecumenicism. The early creeds of the church 
are called ecumenical. Intriguingly, they all end with 
pronouncements of anathema on anybody that would disagree with 
them. Imagine that as an ecumenical movement today. Anathema, if 
you disagree. The idea was biblical ecumenicism. The idea was gathering 
the people of God together, rallying under the banner of truth. That's 
where he's using these terms. He says, in order to attain its 
end, it must be spread. And in order to be spread, it 
must be scattered. And in order to be scattered, 
it must undergo strong pressure from within and from without. 
The history now presents to us the series of providential causes 
by which these effects were brought about. So yeah, it's a glorious 
and a wonderful thing. Jesus heals this man through 
the agency of the apostles. It's a wonderful and a glorious 
thing that God conquers this man and makes him a praiser and 
a worshiper of God who had enjoyed the forgiveness of sins and now 
had everlasting life. But the narrative is absolutely 
crucial for us to appreciate what God is doing in terms of 
causing the church to fulfill her mission, to be witnesses 
in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts 
of the earth. How does he do that? by command in Acts chapter 
1, but when they don't, there's persecution. They're going to 
leave when Saul of Tarsus comes and starts to arrest people. 
They're going to leave, they're going to scatter about, and they're 
going to preach the gospel. Now, one final response that 
we'll appreciate more or see more next week, God willing, 
is Peter. Peter's sermon. We're not going 
to develop this too much, but Peter's sermon here does exactly 
what he does on the day of Pentecost. He tells him what it doesn't 
mean, and then he tells him what it does mean. Remember that on 
the day of Pentecost? These men are not drunk as you 
suppose. It's only the third hour. But this is that which 
was spoken by the prophet Joel. He tells him what it wasn't, 
and then he tells him what it was. Well, Peter in verse 12 
says, it wasn't me. It wasn't John. But I will tell 
you who it was. It was Jesus. Now, I only bring 
that out to sort of parallel Peter with the modern purveyors 
of miracles. It is all about them, isn't it? 
It is all about their praise and their bank book. It is all 
about their ministry ink. It is all about their book sales. 
It is all about their internet, social media presence. Peter 
is self-abnegating. Peter is self-effacing. Peter fades to the background 
so that Christ may be all in all. That's the mark of a minister 
of the gospel. He does not crave praise for 
himself, but rather he seeks to direct the people of God to 
the Lord Jesus. It's a beautiful thing, and that's 
what Peter does with the man and with the hearers. Well, in 
conclusion, we see the presence of wonders and signs. Go back 
for just a moment to Acts 2. Acts chapter 2, something we 
need to appreciate once again. Acts 2.42, they continued steadfastly 
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of 
bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul and many 
wonders and signs were done through the apostles. The apostles were 
the authorized representatives of Jesus Christ. They were given 
this power and authority to confirm, affirm, and authenticate that 
they were indeed God's spokesmen. A biblical theology of miracles 
will recognize that miracles always accompany eras or epochs 
wherein God is revealing himself. In other words, the miracles 
are not the end of the game. The miracles confirm that Moses, 
the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles were men sent from God. That's the function. And so this 
sort of craze for miracles today, and again, I'm not saying God 
can't do miracles. I would never say God can't heal 
cancer. God can't heal your lame state. God can't. God certainly can, 
but in terms of a particular ministry within the church that 
is tasked with physical healing, I think that's barking up the 
wrong tree. These things were given to affirm that the men 
associated with the miracles were God's spokesmen, and the 
lasting and abiding reality that the church has today is the Word 
of God Most High. As far as the appropriate responses 
to the miracle, notice in this passage the man praises God. It goes along with what I said 
earlier. Peter doesn't seek praise for himself. Peter doesn't want 
affirmation. Peter's not some insecure guy 
saying, wait a minute, you're praising God. Where's mine? A true gospel minister doesn't 
need that kind of validation. I mean, they might, but they 
try to bury it and say, no, I need to be faithful. See, the man 
praises God. He knows from whence his healing 
comes. He doesn't start a Peter cult. He doesn't start a John 
cult. He doesn't say, wow, there's massively, wonderfully good things 
coming from your fingertips. Let me just follow you. And in 
verse 11, when it says that he held on to them, I think it's 
because they're brothers now. There's love, there's affection, 
there's affinity, there's solidarity. He is with his brothers now. 
Not because he wants them to be the new guys in Jerusalem 
that have the big ministry. The man praises God, not Peter. The people are filled with wonder 
and amazement, and the apostle does not take credit for himself, 
but he rather directs his hearers to the person and the work of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then I think the final thing 
that we need to appreciate, it kind of comes from what we're 
going to see God willing in the sermon that follows in Acts chapter 
3. Calvin says, we have in this 
history, this miracle of healing, a type or figure of our spiritual 
restoring. Namely, that as the word laid 
hold on by faith did restore the cripple to his limbs, so 
the Lord pierceth into our souls by the word that he may restore 
the same. In other words, God's sovereignty 
ought to be appreciated at the level where he runs into, he 
accidentally meets, the kind of language that we say, Peter 
and John. But then God's sovereignty ought 
to be appreciated at this particular level. This guy was not seeking 
a healing. This fellow was not seeking forgiveness, 
he was not seeking salvation, and yet God, in Christ, bursts 
into his life and brings him from a death state to a state 
of everlasting life. That is most blessed, and that's 
what gives us hope to come to preach, to call sinners to repent 
and believe, because God is, or all things are possible with 
God. The text is very specific in 
verse 19. The language might scare some 
of us. Repent, therefore, and be converted? You mean Peter's 
actually telling us to repent and be converted? That's what 
Peter's saying. Don't know how you can wiggle 
out of it. Repent and be converted. But God is sovereign, and God 
in his sovereignty put it upon Peter's heart, under the inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit, to tell sinners to repent and be converted. You 
see, if God commands you to do something, you're not outlandish 
to do it. Now, certainly you need His enablement, 
certainly you need His grace, certainly you need the power 
from on high, but the thought is that we can't do anything, 
and we can't, but when God moves our hearts, that's precisely 
what we're supposed to do. Repent and be converted. And 
then that last statement of Peter in the sermon in verse 26, he 
says, to you first, and again, the priority here, Jew first, 
and then to Greeks. To you first, God, having raised 
up his servant, Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away 
every one of you from your iniquities. I think that's an emphasis that 
we see repeatedly in the apostolic preaching. It's on the forgiveness 
of sins. Yeah, the gospel answers to our status with God, the gospel 
answers to the righteousness received from God, imputed by 
faith alone, imputed the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us and 
received by faith alone. The gospel answers to every need 
that we have. But one conspicuous need that's 
continually addressed by these apostles is forgiveness. Peter 
probably loved the doctrine of forgiveness, didn't he? Peter 
probably delighted in the doctrine of forgiveness. Why? Because 
Peter, not long ago from the time that he is speaking here, 
had denied Jesus Christ three times. We talked about this yesterday 
in our study in Perseverance of the Saints. Our confession, 
reflecting accurately the word of God, tells us that real saints 
can fall into grievous sin. And there's a few reasons why 
I think the Confessions say that. One of them is because David 
and Peter did. who those two men both rehearse 
and celebrate the forgiveness of sin. That is a boon that if 
you do not have this morning, may I say to you to come unto 
the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe on him, to look to him who lived, 
who died, and who was raised the third day. You are a sinner. You have violated that law. You 
have fallen short of the glory of God. You, like a sheep, have 
gone astray. But there is forgiveness with 
thee that thou mayest be feared. That's David, Psalm 130, verse 
4. Take his encouragement, listen 
to the Apostle Peter, and come to the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
your sins will be forgiven. Well, let's close in a word of 
prayer. Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you for this 
wonderful display of the power of Jesus Christ through the agency 
of the disciples in the healing of this man. And what a blessed 
picture of salvation wrought in the heart of a sinner, where 
he leaps up and he praises God, and he wants to be with the people 
of God. May you increase that in us. 
We confess at times we grow cold, We grow dull and we need reviving 
grace from on high. We pray that you would breathe 
fresh life into us. Help us to love the public place 
of worship. Help us to love the Lord's day. 
Help us to love the things of God most high. And we pray this 
in Jesus name, amen. Well, let's close by singing 
the doxology. You may stand with me and we 
will sing the doxology.