Chapter 3 begins with Peter and John going to the temple for the 3pm time of prayer. Peter and John are seen together quite often in scripture.
In Luke 5 we see they were partners in the fishing business before they gave their hearts and lives to Jesus.
Luke 22 has them together as they prepared the Last Supper in the upper room.
In John 20 they’re running together to the empty tomb on that 1st Easter morning.
In Acts 8 they are ministering together to the Samaritans.
These two seemed to always be together yet they were somewhat opposites of one another. Peter was outgoing and always had something to say. He never hesitated to give his opinion. Many times, it looked as if the only reason he’d open his mouth was to change feet! Peter was possibly the most outspoken of all the disciples.
John, on the other hand, was thoughtful and tender. John seemed quiet and reserved.
These two didn’t always get along either and because their personalities were so different they often rubbed each other the wrong way.
But now that Jesus has ascended and filled these men with His Holy Spirit, they come together…and here they enter the temple together…not competing for greatness or focusing on each other’s faults, but striving to work together for God’s glory, never allowing anything like petty disagreements or hurt feelings to come between them or hinder the building of the Lord’s Church.
I want to look at 3 things this morning and I pray that God will use this message to speak to your heart today. Prayer...
1. The man: Look @ verse 2
In verse 2 we see a man who was born with a crippling birth defect.
Most likely his parents knew something was wrong and he’d always be different. While the other kids played in the streets, all he could do was watch. His parents carried him as a toddler. They carried him as a little boy, as a teenager and even as a man he had to be carried everywhere he went!
He couldn’t get job and in those days there was no such thing as rehab or even a wheelchair…all he could do was to beg for a living. Now he’s in his 40s and his parents are possibly dead or at least out of picture. With no other family to care for him, his friends would lay him by this gate where people had to pass by, and he would beg. “Alms for a poor man?” [hoping for a few coins to purchase his daily needs]
• His physical condition is an illustration of our spiritual condition. He was born that way and you and I were born spiritually crippled by sin.
[Psalm 51:5 NLT] “For I was born a sinner--yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.”
Secular psychology says that man is born neutral at worst, and at best, with a spark of divinity!
That’s not Biblical nor is it logical!!
How many of you had to teach your kids to say “mine!” or throw tantrums when they don’t get their way?
Wrong comes natural to human beings and right must be taught and disciplined.
• This man reminds us of the fact that sin cripples all it touches. Let sin get into your home and it will cripple that home. Let it find its way into the church and the Body becomes crippled. It’s the same for the individual believer.
This man couldn’t walk. He couldn’t work and he couldn’t worship.
Jewish law prevents anyone like him from entering the temple because he is ceremonially unclean! He’s not good enough to come inside. He’s not worthy of being in the presence of God’s holy people…
So he sits outside the door and listens. Aren’t you glad that because of the blood of Jesus the worst of the worst can come inside and be made clean? Jesus isn’t waiting for you to clean yourself up. He’s waiting for you to come to Him and HE’LL clean you up!
• In verse 2 we see that the entrance where the man is placed is called “The beautiful gate”…historians tell us this was the eastern gate, made of Corinthian brass, overlaid with gold and silver…the sun would rise over the eastern mountains and this entrance to the temple was a sight to behold! This entrance gate was worth a fortune but lying right there against it is man who is flawed, a man who is disfigured, distorted.
Lying against this beautiful gate was an outcast of society. This gate is treasure and this man is considered trash. Loveliness verses lameness and that’s a picture of me, of you and Christ Jesus. Because of sin I have become an outcast, yet I’m resting against the beauty of Christ. I’m ugly because of sin, yet I’m covered by His beauty.
• It is true that people can make some things beautiful and a person can make himself/herself externally beautiful BUT man cannot make himself internally beautiful. Only God can do that!
Oh, you can do some things to the outside…this man could have cut his hair, he could have shaved.
• He could have at least put on some decent church clothes. How many times have we seen this play out in churches? As if a thousand dollar suit will impress God.
I don’t care how much you scrub a pig or how many bows you put in its tail, the problem still remains. A pig, no matter how clean he is on the outside is still a pig… this man, no matter how washed and dressed he could have been would still be lame! No matter how much makeup and polish I cover myself with or how much aftershave I use; SIN IS STILL SIN.
We spend so much time cleaning up our lives and going to church…but we need to understand that without the Lord coming INSIDE to cleanse, to forgive and to save, we are still spiritually lame!
Crime goes up and the authorities say, “We need more education!” What do you get when you educate a thief? You get a smarter thief and now instead of petty theft they learn to embezzle millions!
We don’t need reformation, we need transformation! My meeting with Mitch, director of House of Hope for Men…They do more than REFORM they TRANSFORM men.
We’ve seen the man…now
2. The miracle: look at verses 3-8:
a. This miracle could not be logically denied. Verse 10
Every day the people who entered the Temple walked past this man. He was a nuisance, problem and most who stepped over him resented him…and now he’s running, leaping, praising God! You cannot argue with truth. You cannot deny reality!
b. This miracle could not be humanly explained.
Peter and John tells the crowd in verse 12 “don’t look at us, we didn’t do it!”
c. This miracle could not be casually dismissed.
Look at verses 13-16 “Jesus healed this man…this Jesus Whom you denied, whose blood is on your hands! You tried to dispose of Him BUT you can’t get away from Him…He is your Messiah, and you must face it!”
It always comes back to that…life ALWAYS brings us around to the same point of decision. Will we accept Jesus or not?
This miracle could not be logically denied or humanly explained nor could it be casually dismissed…
That is the man, the miracle…Now finally:
3. The message:
In verse 6 Peter was not apologizing for the fact that he and John were in a financial bind. He was bragging!
Listen, even if Peter could have given him money, the man’s condition would remain unchanged. He still would have been the same man!
Peter gave him something much better. Peter gave him a new beginning!
How about you? Do you need a fresh start today? I can’t write you a blank check but I can give you something even better.
