In this sermon from Acts chapter 3, titled 'A Miracle and a Message', Trent Moody explores the healing of a lame man by Peter and John at the temple. The sermon emphasizes the power of God to perform miracles and the importance of faith in Jesus Christ. The comprehensive summary covers the setting of the miracle, the response of the people, and Peter's sermon addressing the crowd. The concise summary highlights the significance of the miracle in relation to Jesus Christ.

Well, I'm happy to be back in the book of Acts so that we can get back to our exposition of this book. Boy, what a place to jump back in. I'm very excited about that. So if you would please turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 3. We'll read down through verse 16.

I do not expect to complete all of the exposition to verse 16, but we will give it our best shot. Acts chapter 3 thus says, the word of the Lord. 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 seen 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. And 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 and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.

And 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 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 all 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. Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven, we stand truly even now after 2,000 years, this story still amazes and thrills the heart of your people. Lord, it is a testimony of the power of our God to do all things. Nothing shall be impossible for you. In fact this is really a small thing for you to do. You created heaven and earth.

You raised Jesus Christ from the dead. How can you not also heal a lame man? Lord we are thankful that you have given us this testimony Lord so that we would believe so that we would believe all that the apostles have written all that the prophets have written Lord that we would believe all of the Word of God, and Lord, that we would be changed. Lord, not only reading this text with our minds, but Lord, believing it in our hearts. Lord, we pray that you would give us grace and faith to believe your word today and help us to live by your grace we pray in Christ's name amen you may be seated a miracle and a message that's what we have this morning a miracle and a message In Acts chapter 2 verse 43 I preached on it last time when we were in the book of Acts and we read this, then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

So in chapter three, we're given this example, if you would, of a sign and a wonder. It was a sign to the people, and it actually worked for that very end, that people rushed forward to see this amazing thing that had happened. They were filled with awe and amazement at what had just happened. And we will find that this passage of scripture here in Acts chapter 3 will be very instructive for us. We find much instruction in this case of the healing of the lame man and we will see that this works for the glory and honor of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the first recorded miracle that we see in healing of a lame man, of healing somebody after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's almost put there as if to say even though he was dead, even though he was buried, even though he was raised from the dead, even though he was ascended into heaven at the right hand of God, his authority and power have not ceased. He is still doing great and wondrous works among the children of men. And that's what the whole book of Acts is a testimony of and the New Testament is testifying. And in fact the greatest miracle of all is when he takes a dead man and makes him a living man.

He takes a dead sinner and he brings Salvation to that man and we still see this miracle every day Men and women and children being saved and coming to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is a glorious thing So when we see this in the setting that we have before us I want to begin with that the setting It is in the temple at the hour of prayer. It's interesting as you come to narrative sections of scripture, not everything in a narrative do we want to take and make a doctrine out of. It's a narrative. It's there to instruct us. It's there to tell us what happened, but not necessarily to instruct us in everything that we are to do.

We talked about this early on when we started the book of Acts. It's there as a descriptive description, but not necessarily prescriptive of how we should do every single thing. But we see such wonders in the book of Acts that it's hard not to stop and just drink in every syllable that we read, everything that we see in this passage, it's just really glorious as we look at what took place here in the temple at the hour of prayer. So here's this setting, the temple at the hour of prayer. What a detailed and amazing scene we have before us.

Luke, he spares no instructive detail to help us, and to help us almost, if you would, join the bystanders who are watching this thing unfold. That's really what Luke is doing. He's bringing us right into this same mindset and he's giving us this picture that we can see it with them. Yet we have something that they didn't have. We actually know the end of the story.

We have the clarity of knowing that God was setting the stage for something even more amazing than the miracle and we'll get to that. But God was doing a work that would testify of his greatness and of his power through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So here we are, the hour of prayer. What is this, the hour of prayer? There were three main times of prayer for the Jews.

The first hour being that of about 6 a.m. The second hour being that around noon and then this third hour being three o'clock in the afternoon. In Psalm 5517 David writes, evening and morning and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice. This was an encouragement. There's much help to be found in our time of prayer.

And I encourage you yet again as I have in weeks past that that we would come together for that hour of prayer and Believe as we pray in Hebrews 4 16 we have such a promise as this Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. You know if there's anything I've understood in being a pastor very long in fact just being a Christian very long is that there are many things of need in my life. Many times of need, many times that I need mercy and here we are given a door flung wide open to the glories of heaven that we might walk in to the throne of grace and find help and mercy in our time of need. Of course we can pray at all times. We can pray without ceasing and we should pray without ceasing.

But what help comes when we gather together at the hour of prayer? When God's people join their hearts and their voices together to petition that throne of grace. Here we are at the hour of prayer and we are located at the beautiful gate. What is so beautiful about this gate? He was laid here at this gate called beautiful.

One commentator says this gate which was between the court of the Gentiles and the court of the Jews is here called beautiful for the the richness of the metal of which it was formed. It is curious workmanship. It's turned by Josephus as the Corinthian gate. It's about 180 years before this the city of Corinth had been taken and burned by the Romans and in the burning of it, multitudes of statues and images of brass and gold and silver being melted down and running together made that mixture of metal which from that time was called Corinthian brass. I'm not saying that those things were used in this gate.

I'm saying that form of this metal working it was almost discovered by accident but when it happened it was a glorious picture is what history is telling us here and Josephus is telling us and it was all of these different materials melted down together running together and making such a beautiful picture here for us or a beautiful metalwork and they use that same thing here in this beautiful gate. This gate he says on the east side of the temple was made of that brass and it exceeded the other gates as in its dimensions so especially in its workmanship and splendor though most of them were covered over with silver and gold. And this one here, it was understood to be 30 cubits high and 15 broad. And it was added here by Herod the Great. And it has been said that this gate was so massive that it took 20 grown men to open the gate and to shut the gate and it was a glorious thing to behold.

Can you imagine what a picture? And here it was that this lame man was laid daily. Verse 2 we read, they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called beautiful to ask alms of those who entered the temple. And here we have Peter and John coming and they're walking right up to this gate and they laid this man here. What do we learn from this?

This poor lame man sits and he begs for that which only man could give him. He asked for alms. He asked for some charitable gift that would help him and to provide for his daily needs. We do not know the age of this man except that he was a man, except that the entirety of this man's life, he had been lame. And for how many days he was sat here at this gate, I do not know, but it says that this was a daily practice for him.

He was daily sat at the gate. He was daily laid here at this gate to do what only he could do was ask. Ask. And he asked for alms of only what man could do. Some charitable deed that would help him.

He had been lame for his mother's womb. He never expected more than this. Or did he? There's no doubt in my mind that this man perhaps did for a time have an unusual hope for more. This man was daily laid at this gate.

He was laid at the gate of the temple and had at the very least heard and perhaps even saw Jesus Christ at this gate. There were other lame men who had been healed but for some reason This man had not. Jesus did not heal every lame man. He did not heal every sick. He did not raise every dead.

But he chose very specifically those whom he would heal. In fact the disciples asked him about this early on about the man who was born blind who sinned, he or his parents. Jesus said neither, but it was for the glory of God so that God would be glorified through this man's blindness. It's really an encouragement to us as we think about our own plots. We may have some sort of sickness or thing, or maybe even something that is lifelong, something that we can't escape from, something that the doctors can't help, but we have this issue that we maybe have no hope of curing.

But we must realize that in God's providence, he determines whom he will heal and whom he will not, and he determines how he himself will get glory from either not being healed or being healed. It's for the glory of God. The time of his hope, though, had now passed. Jesus, he had been crucified. He was dead and buried.

There was rumor that he had risen from the dead. But where is he? Many rumors were flowing around the city and around Jerusalem because the high priest and the religious leaders paid those guards there to lie about what had happened. That the body was stolen and hidden away. So we're back to this was his lot.

Or so he thought. Here he is sitting at the gate. The hope of ever Jesus coming by and healing him was now in his mind past. And this man sees Peter and John walking in. This man, if you'll forgive me for this, but he set his sights too low.

He was only asking alms. The death of Christ was actually not the end of hope. The resurrection of Christ was the birth of all hope. It was the greatest thing that had ever happened and now God is sending Peter and John there to the temple. What a great opportunity, what a great place to preach the gospel to so many people who had supposedly been looking for that expected hope that there would be one who was to come.

But truly, Jesus Christ's death and resurrection was but truly the beginning of even a greater hope for all of mankind. A hope that this man didn't even know to ask for. He only knew to say, alms, alms. The man asked for alms. But the apostles were going to give him what he didn't ask for.

In a sense this is not the blight, is this not the blight of natural man? Lame, without strength to do any spiritual good for ourselves, hopeless and helpless, not even knowing what to ask for in our greatest need. Natural man seeks only that which is temporal and perishing. We use it up and it's gone. Asking only from crumbs from the world's table, alms, until God gives us what we don't even ask for.

In our weakness he finds us And he gives us that for which we did not ask. Now for those of you who may think I'm loosening up on my understanding of the doctrine of the state of natural man, I'm not in the true sense of the state. This lame man was actually not just lame he was spiritually dead. He was dead in his sins and trespasses and in truth this the state of the natural man is actually much worse than the picture of this lame beggar. Spiritually speaking if you're here this morning without Christ you're not lame.

You're dead. You're dead in your sins and trespasses. You don't need just a little help. You don't need a little medicine. What you need is life.

You must be born again. You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. God must give you life. But there is no doubt a picture here in Acts chapter 3 of this lame man does give us some instruction into the natural state of man. That without God we are hopeless and helpless not even knowing what to ask for.

We're so ignorant. I never forget the time I slipped into the back of a little church and the first thing out of the preacher's mouth was is I'm glad I had enough sense to choose Jesus. No he didn't. He did not have enough sense to choose Jesus. If he was truly born again it was because God in his mercy gave him life and eyes and ears and a heart to receive the glories of the gospel.

I believe that there is another application here though as well. May I ask you a question? How much of what we truly need is not received not because God is not able, but because we do not ask. There's a temptation in having a reformed and robust theology of God. And that temptation there in my life has been regarding prayer.

I know that God is sovereign, He ordains whatsoever comes to pass. I know that God is sovereign in salvation, I know that there's not a butterfly that flaps its wings that God does not control. And yet God says to pray. He says to ask. He says to seek and He says to knock.

Jesus Christ healed the lame, he healed the sick, he raised the dead, he walked on water, he was transfigured before the eyes of his some of his apostles and yet he prayed. And yet he prayed and he knew what to ask for and God answered and heard his prayer. How many times are our prayers only within the realm of human ability? Alms please, Alms. Just some earthly temporal charitable deed will do.

Just some pill, just some medicine, just some more money. But yet James tells us, yet you do not have because you do not ask. And then at another time in James chapter 4 verse 3 he says, you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it upon your own pleasures and your own lusts. And so when we think about what God is showing us here through this passage, I believe at least some of this application needs to be for us to consider this lame man who is without help, who is hopeless, he doesn't even know what to ask for and how we should learn from this. Turn with me to Luke chapter 9.

Luke chapter 9. I'm always struck by this passage of scripture. I referenced part of it here just a moment ago. I'm sorry, I said chapter 11. Luke chapter 11 verse nine.

Luke chapter 11 verse nine. This is what Luke says in the gospel here, Luke 11 verse 9. He says, So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." And then he says this, If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asked for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asked for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? The answers to these questions are obvious. They don't need a response of an answer.

They're no, no, no. A father would never do that. Look at what he says in verse 13, if you then being evil, if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? Preacher years ago asked this great question. He said, How much more of God's how much more are you willing to live without?

God has a how much more. Our prayers are so tiny. We are as this lame man. In fact, our prayers are somewhat lame because we only ask so often for that which man can do. I want to encourage you to ask for what only God can do.

And when only God can do it, guess who gets the glory? God gets the glory. We don't get the glory. We can't say, man look at what I did, look at what I... No!

God gets the glory. We actually see Peter and John doing this very thing, and we'll look at that in just a few moments. They don't take the glory for what just happened. Why are you marveling at this? Why do you look at us like it was through our righteousness or something good that we've done?

Don't do that. But think about this. One of the striking components of this narrative is that the apostles give them man for what he did not ask. It reminds me of Isaiah 65 24, it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are still speaking I will hear. Think about it just for a moment how much of God's goodness have you received that you never asked for?

Every day, day in and day out, God is pouring blessings upon you and grace upon you that you didn't even have enough sense to ask for. How much would he give us if we did? So many times our merciful heavenly Father answers our needs before we even know to ask for them. Brothers and sisters you need to understand something, God cares for you. In your weakness He finds us.

He cares for you. Your sickness and your difficulty and your trial and whatever it is, is not overlooked or unnoticed by God. He cares for you. And Then we see this encounter here, this Peter and John engaging this man in conversation. This has been rather convicting as I've thought about this.

Look in verse 3 he says, speaking of the man who seen 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. We do not have any indication that the man recognized Peter and John as being the disciples of Jesus. In fact, it seems rather that he didn't. How could he? I mean think about how many people were coming in at the hour of prayer into the temple to pray and hear this man and it seems as if he's asking alms.

He sees Peter and John but apparently his eyes were not lifted to them. But he sees Maybe the feet or maybe from the waist down, he sees these men coming in and he asked for alms. He saw them as a possible means of something that he could get from them, something that he needed. Two Jewish men going to the temple at the hour of prayer. Perhaps he thought compassion would move them and they would offer him some help.

However this was not going to be a silent transaction of slipping the man some money so that they could go about their business of prayer. But rather this became a divine engagement. Not passing by this man, Peter and John stopped and fixed their eyes on him and then called the man to look at them. This detail strikes me. It strikes me because there's something about eye contact where God has made men and women and humankind is what I mean there.

He has made us in which when we look at each other there is something that happens. We teach our children when you speak to someone look them in the eye. It's respectful. There's something about eye contact that is intimate. It's allowing somebody in to a place that you don't let everybody in.

And I'm sure that you've seen people standing on the street corners, if you've driven anywhere around this area, and you've seen them with signs asking for alms. It doesn't say alms. Usually says money, food, something. And depending on your perception of that situation, I know for me I'm careful with eye contact. They're looking at you.

They're waiting for that eye contact. And when you don't give it, what do they do? They walk past you to the next car, hoping for eye contact. It's interesting isn't it how God created man. He in this case it seems that though the lame men saw Peter and John coming was not fully looking at them, I wonder if there was some sense of shame.

The disciples had asked Jesus the question earlier, who sinned? This man who was born blind, was it him or was it his parents? In this culture they understood that there's some sort of a sickness or some sort of a lameness that it was a direct result of either the sin of that person or the sin of their parents. So perhaps there was some form of shame that was involved with this man's sense of not wanting to look up but yet asking for help. I don't know.

There's certainly no shame for many of those able-bodied people I see standing at red lights, but rather a boldness to look you in the eye and ask for money. That's not to keep you from ever helping them, but it is something that in our culture and our society I believe that we should be wise about that we need to use discernment in and do our best under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discern the situation to understand the need and and perhaps do help. But yet in this culture it was different. I'm interested because this, it causes me to reflect upon the actual nature of the people that we see, that they see their needs, but here Peter does something so different and he makes eye contact. He says, look at me, look at us.

So this man does what is natural. He gives them his attention. Hey, expecting something to receive something from them. Man, these actually stopped. It wasn't a walk-by drop in the cup.

It was actually something where they stopped and they engaged the man in conversation. They wanted eye contact with him. These men were serious. I'm sure that such a statement caused some hopeful anticipation within this man's heart. Hey, this is going to be a good one.

Maybe this man wanted to show his friend just how religious he was on his way to pray. He's not dressed like a Pharisee, but perhaps he has the heart of one. Now, perhaps I'm taking too much liberty. Please forgive me. But I can't help but see these things when I read this passage.

But Jesus actually did warn us and certainly it was not for no reason. Matthew 6 chapter 6 verses 1 and 2 says this, Jesus gives this warning, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward." Where did he get this kind of scenario that he's bringing up to be warning them about? Apparently it was a custom of those who he describes as hypocrites.

I'm sure that these type of hypocrites did not bother the beggars too much. Peter quickly dashes his hope. Listen to what he says. Then Peter said, silver and gold I do not have but what I do have I give you. We're going here from the setting here of the hour of prayer in the temple at the gate, beautiful of this lame man who had been lame from his mother's womb and he's asking alms.

We've been seeing, we have seen now this setting, this picture if you will and now we're moving into this sign. I call it the sign. The lame man is healed. This is going back to chapter 2 verse 43 where he speaks about it. They did many signs and wonders.

I want you to notice that in the beginning of the sign in verses 6 through 10 we're going to look at this. I want you to notice the poverty of the Apostles. Silver and gold have I none. Was Peter lying? I don't think so.

I don't believe Peter was lying when he said I don't have anything to give you. I don't have any alms. I don't have any silver or gold. It's interesting, this turns my thought to Matthew 19 27, then Peter answered and said to Jesus, see, we've left all and followed you, therefore what shall we have? These men had counted the cost, They had understood that to serve Christ does not mean riches, unlike some in our day think that serving in a church or in some sort of a religious fashion, that that is the way to wealth and manipulating people's emotions and trying to go after their wallets.

But these men realized that in order to follow Christ there was a cost. It actually cost them to follow Christ. And brothers and sisters and those of you who have never followed Christ, it will cost you something to follow Christ. Salvation is a free gift of God but it will cost you something. And these apostles are understanding and have understood the cost of following Christ.

Jesus told them about it. Rarely do you find riches with the servants of God so that their faith would not be in their own abilities but the power of God. What a letdown this must have been for this lame man. His heart rate no doubt leaped when they said, hey look here. But then it must have plummeted when they said silver and gold I do not have.

However, may I note we're still in the middle of the sentence so that heart rate drop didn't last too long. It is in the middle of this sentence where silver and gold I do not have. I want you to note here the riches of the Apostles, their poverty is no doubt evident but what about their riches? But listen to what Peter said, but what I do have I give to you. So he has something.

He has something better than riches. He has something better than silver and gold. He says to him in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. What a glorious riches this is to possess. That they did not have earthly means to aid the man in his need for money.

They couldn't pay for his doctor. They couldn't pay for some mode of transportation for him. But oh boy, what they did possess was so much greater. It was greater than anything man could do for him. It was greater than anything that they had ever done since Jesus was walking with them and they were watching the miracles of their master and they were eager to give it.

Brothers and sisters, Matthew Henry says, those who are poor in the world may yet be very rich in spiritual gifts and graces and comforts. Certainly there is that which we are capable of possessing which is infinitely better than silver and gold. The merchandise and gain of it are better. They had the authority and the power of Jesus Christ to heal this man's disease and that they freely gave him in abundance. No doubt this man would have gladly given up all the silver and gold he had ever received in asking alms in order to be healed.

But what they gave, they gave freely and they gave it abundantly. He received it for free And here's a situation where free does not equal cheap. The complete healing of the lame man is seen in verse 7. Look at what we see here. And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

Much in the way of his master, Peter touched the man and lifted him up. Peter's faith took action. He grabbed a hold of the man and lifted him up. He didn't just say, yeah, get up. He, get up.

Let's get up. And Peter's fate took action and no doubt and no hesitation, only faith in action, knowing what Jesus Christ could do. And may I note there was no physical therapy needed. Let's take you down to the doctor and see if he can help your muscles that have been so long atrophy. No physical therapy needed.

Isn't it amazing that there was not only healing but a full and complete strengthening of his body? This man was completely healed. And I have my own thoughts about this next section, walking and leaping and praising God. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. I was just thinking about this.

This man had been lame from the time he was born. He missed out on a lot of leaping and walking as a child. And ladies, this may come as a surprise to you, but men don't actually ever really grow up. There's still a lot of little boy left in here. And when something like this happens to a man who had never walked, he's got some leaping and praising to do.

He's going to be walking about, and that's what he did. Can you imagine? Can you imagine? I have a good friend who has a little boy that I used to go to church with. He has cerebral palsy.

He's the happiest little boy you'll ever meet. And we went when we would go to church together he was always the one with the biggest smile on his face and the happiest tune in his heart when he tried to sing. He blessed my soul. And as happy as he was in his illness, I can only imagine how happy he would be without it. How would he then come into his gates to worship God?

How have you come this morning? Have you come thinking about all of your problems? You may have them, they may be real problems, they may be hurtful, you may have pain, but can you think about how this little boy and how this lame man must have felt, how would my little friend sing? He sang before. How would he pray?

I'd long to see it on this earth but I most likely never will." And you say, preacher, that's a lack of faith. No, it's not. Because my faith is not in earthly healing, although God can do all things. God can heal people if he chooses to heal people. I'd long to see it here, but listen, there's coming a day when I will see it.

I will worship God with this little friend of mine, who is fully made whole, who was once lame. But the greatest part of that is, he will be more than whole from his lameness. He will be healed from his sinfulness and we will then in glory worship God sinless and whole that is what my heart longs for I long for that day to see his face Can you imagine you see this man walking and leaping and praising God? Oh what that must have been like for that man. Can you see that picture of this man?

His whole life he couldn't walk. People carried him everywhere he went. He had a lot of leaping left in those legs. Those fully made whole legs. He couldn't help but leap.

I love how the Word of God does it. And Josh, thank you this morning for telling us to... I'm getting some emotions out. Is that okay? Praise the Lord!

I see what God has done for this man and he was walking and leaping and praising God what a response that should be our response but listen our response should be just as great when we consider that we have been made fully whole in Jesus Christ. You have been forgiven for the penalty of your sin and God by the Holy Spirit is breaking the power of sin in your life. How about we start walking and leaping and praising God for all that he has done for us? This is our God. He is glorious and Then note the crowd in verses 9 and 10.

They were filled with wonder and amazement Sometimes the Bible writes things and you think, well yeah, they were. That's wonderful, they were. And all the people saw him walking and praising God and 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. What in the world is going on? I want you to realize Luke is now bringing us to the main event.

You thought, wait a minute, I thought the man being healed was the main event. It's just like humans to get so focused on the miracle that we don't see the greater purpose of the miracle. Guess what? Miracles are not the main event. In the evenings at my house, just before supper, my children are often outside playing in the yard.

And when supper is ready, my dear wife will oftentimes tell me, go ring the bell. Go ring the bell for supper. The children now know that when they hear the bell ring, that there's something inside that is better than what is going on outside. The bell signals that. The bell declares something greater.

Miracles are the dinner bell. Miracles are the dinner bell. Never once have I seen my children come running to stare at the bell. They fly right past that bell and they go right inside and they gather around that counter to see what's cooking. They love it.

They're excited about that. They go flying through that door, or almost taking it off the hinges. Hey, listen, the miracle is only declaring something better than what was outside. The bell is not the main event. Don't get hung up on the bell.

Praise God for that bell. Don't get hung up on the bell. The sermon is our last point. We've gone from the setting and then we went to this miracle or this healing and now we're in the sermon. I'm not going to be able to get through all of this.

There's no way, but I want to get us started and wet your appetite for two weeks from today. The lame man is seen here in verse 11 doing something that seems so wonderfully natural. Listen, Now the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John. I wouldn't want to let go either. These men just gave me what they had.

And now I'm walking and leaping and praising God. And he held on to them and all the people ran together to them on the porch which is called Solomon's greatly amazed what in the world is going on. Matthew Henry says we need not ask why he held on to them. I believe he scarcely knew himself but it was a transport of joy that he embraced them as the best benefactors he had ever met with and hung on to them to a degree of rudeness. He would not let them go forward but would have stayed with them while he published to all about him what God had done for him by them.

Thus he testified his affection to them. He held on to them and would not let them go." What a picture that gives me just thinking of the joy of this man. But he's giving praise to God and he's thankful for his now brothers that have brought healing to him through the power of the gospel. The commotion drew a crowd for a great opportunity to proclaim the gospel. Peter and John did not get stuck with the miracle.

It's really telling in their response to them, to the people. He says all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's and they were greatly amazed. Verse 12, so when Peter saw it he responded to the people. Yeah did you see that? That was something else, wasn't it?

That's not what he said. He said this, men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? What an odd question. Who wouldn't marvel at this? Or why look you so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

The crowd was amazed at an undeniable miracle that had taken place and they wanted to see what and who and why and how, but Peter would not have any glory for himself. Why look so intently at us? As though by our own power or godliness we made him made we had made this man walk? These people for the last three years had at least heard if not seen Jesus perform all sorts of miracles in the temple, in the synagogues, but he'd been crucified. They no doubt had heard rumors of the resurrection and now they had heard some strange thing happening around the day of Pentecost of men speaking with different languages and tongues and so all that could be under and so that all could understand what was taking place and now this a miracle right in front of their eyes that the Jews of all people should know that God is the source of all miracles.

Jesus Christ testified of who he was and he had been doing miracles for them to see and that was the dinner bell. He rang it and he rang it and they refused to come. There are times when my children are so happy outside, they don't come inside. These Jews had done that. They heard the bell but they didn't come.

What was the purpose of this miracle? God wanted them to understand. Peter wanted to make full use of this opportunity that God had laid right before him. This is what God wants you to understand. And he goes in, and again I'm going to go over more of this next time, but he says here in verse 13, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of your fathers glorified his servant Jesus.

It's interesting here he uses the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You think of all of what God had done with the Israelites through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and he says it's the God of your fathers. This is not some newfangled religion or sect. This is the gospel from the beginning. It is the God of your fathers.

He glorified his son 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 you asked for a murderer to be granted to you. One commentator says it this way, it was important to show that it was the same God who had done this that had been acknowledged by their fathers and that they were not about to introduce some new form of worship of some new God. And it was especially important because the promise had been made to Abraham that in his seed all families of the earth would be blessed. And he is glorified, has honored his son Jesus Christ. You denied, you despised and murdered him, but God has exalted him and honored him.

This miracle was done in the name of Jesus. It was by the power of God that had restored this man and putting forth this power God has shown that he approved the work of his son and was disposed to honor him in the view of all the people. It was there. That bell was ringing in that miracle so that everyone would understand that it was God who was doing this. And if God is doing this, guess what?

We ought to listen. When the bell rings you better be listening. What is God trying to say? He's not trying to say come look at the bell. He's trying to say there's something greater inside than there is outside.

Peter says they killed the Prince of life whom God raised from the dead of which we are all witnesses. There's so much there I can't get to it this week. They killed the Prince of Life? Think about how Peter preaches. There's no handy-pandy soft tiptoeing through the tulips with him.

He is hitting it. I mean, Sledgehammer Peter is knocking it down. Bam, you're the one who did this. What are you gonna do? Remember in Acts chapter two, what did they do?

They were cut to the heart and said, men and brethren, what shall we do? A few weeks we're gonna see in chapter four, there's gonna be others pricked to the heart. You know how they respond? They're going to gnash their teeth. So as we think about these glorious things in this chapter three and all that we should learn from the healing of the lame man and the message of the apostles, I just want to leave you with a few things just to chew on.

And again, let's just put a big comma right here and we'll pick up in two weeks. Number one, know your true need. Know your true need. Your greatest need is not alms. Number two, ask God for that which man cannot do.

I'm not limiting you to that. We do ask God for temporal pleasures and temporal benefits and daily food, all of these things that God does, but ask him also for things that man cannot do. And can I add a comment or a But trust God to always do what is right and best and in accordance with His will? Because guess what? God is smarter than we are.

He's wiser than we are and he's more loving than we are. Number three don't Number three, don't marvel at the dinner bell. Signs and wonders are to point you to Christ and your greatest need. Your greatest need if you're here this morning without Christ, your greatest need is Christ. Your greatest need is to be forgiven of your sins.

That's your greatest need. And Number four and last, I'll close with this one. It is only the faith that comes through Christ that you can be given perfect soundness. I didn't quite get to that in the text, but that's where we're going. It was through faith.

And it was the faith that comes through Christ that gave this man perfect soundness. So I hope that we have much to meditate upon today as we consider our need, our true need, and as we consider our prayer life and what are we asking for? Let's pray. Our God in heaven, we come to you as lame, weak beggars, not even knowing what to ask. So often Lord our eyes are focused upon the temporal.

We ask for things that will be used up in a day or a week and there'll be no more. But Lord I want to ask this morning that you would give us living water that would spring up into eternal life and Lord that living water would flow and pour out through this congregation and it would just pour out on every one of those who do not know you. Lord you, you're the savor of souls, you're the redeemer, You're the King of Kings, you're the Lord of Lords. You're the one at which every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And Lord my prayer is that your word by your spirit would wash over every soul in this building.

And Lord that you would save people today because you're more than able to do that. It is not a hard thing for you. With men this is impossible but not with God for with God all things are possible. And Lord we ask big things from you today and We glorify your name and I pray it was glorified today Lord. I Pray for your people help your people Ask it in Jesus name Ask it in Jesus name, Amen.