The Lame Leaping For Joy | Acts 3:1-11 | Pastor Bill Schneider
Pastor Bill Schneider preaches from the Book of Acts
Introduction
Good morning. I give praise to our God and the worthy name of Jesus Christ. Once again, it is good to be back here with you, back in the house of the Lord, worshiping with the saints of God. If you're visiting with us this morning, we are glad that you are here to worship with us.
I've been gone for two Sundays now. Pastor Joe and Pastor Evan preached, and I'm thankful to have them to be able to do that. Amy wanted to go drag racing for a couple of weekends, so she twisted my arm, and we went drag racing. We had a great time, we rested a lot, and it was good to be able to do that. We missed you. We know that you were praying for us, and we were praying for you, and we praise God for that.
The Apostolic Miracle
Let's go to the book of Acts once again. We start in Acts chapter 3. You see by way of a title there on the screen, "The Lame Leaping for Joy," and I think that's exactly what we see here in Acts chapter 3. The first apostolic miracle is a lame man healed. We've already come through Acts chapter 2, the birth of the church, the coming of the Holy Spirit. We've been through that great opportunity as that has taken place in fulfillment of prophecy—a new era beginning, if you would—the age of grace, the church age. This is the time now as even Peter preached to all of these Jews who came after the great rushing and mighty wind. You remember all of that; they hear that, they come, and Peter preaches a sermon. Basically, he doesn't pull any punches with them, does he?
"You crucified the Son of God. You actually took the Holy One, the one God sent, the Anointed One, the Messiah, God's chosen one, and you actually crucified him on a cross. He is who he says he is. He is the Savior of the world." So, as Peter goes through all of that, through scripture preaching and teaching them, we find out that in the end, there's around 3,000 souls saved. People repent, they turn from their sin, they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord, and King. We see the church all of a sudden go from 120 believers to 3,120 believers.
Life in the Early Church
What they're doing inside the church—we have a peek at the end of chapter 2 of the book of Acts. We have a peek at what they're doing: they're breaking bread, they're fellowshipping together, they're taking care of one another's needs, they're loving on one another, they're sitting under the teaching and preaching of the word of God, they're studying it daily, and they're praying together. It's magnificent.
Sharing the Good News
Then we come to Acts chapter 3, and it gives us a peek, I think, at not only are they sitting together corporately gathered, but they're also going out and sharing this amazing news of Jesus Christ. Sharing this amazing news of "This is the one who has set us free from our sins. Jesus Christ is the one who can forgive you and cleanse you and give you a right standing before God. Jesus Christ is the one who can pull you out of the condemnation that you're already under." That's good news, isn't it? It's amazing how they do it. They do it primarily based on what they themselves have witnessed: the crucifixion of Christ, the burial of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the miracles of Christ. They go out, and they proclaim Jesus, don't they? It's exciting. We're not that far off—or we shouldn't be, right? Isn't that what we should do?
If you know Jesus as your Savior, if you have by faith experienced the reality and the truth of divine grace in God sending his only begotten son down to this earth to live a life for 33 years, be perfectly obedient to the law, do all the miraculous things that he did, and then to be crucified and shed his blood on the cross—not because of anything that he did, but for the sins of his own people—there he is, bleeding and dying for you. If you have received that by faith and you believe that by faith, there should be power in you through that great miraculous, glorious truth of Jesus that you want to go out those doors and live for him and proclaim him and testify of all of the good grace that God has bestowed upon you. Is that right? That's what they're doing; that's primarily what we should be doing.
Living Out the Gospel
Don't let that scare you. Don't think, "I'm way off, but I..." Hey, it's—I've been off two weeks; I'm going to go a long time. Don't let that be something where, "Well, I don't know enough of the Bible," or "I don't know..." If you know Jesus, you know enough. Go out and live. Go live for him. Let them see your joy. Let them see your life. Let them see all that you believe about Jesus. Let them see it in how you go to work, how you deal with coworkers and families and friends, husbands with your wives and wives with your husbands and parents with your children. It all matters, doesn't it? It all matters. Learn the gospel, hide it away in your heart, and you'll live the gospel. Before you know it, you'll be speaking the gospel without even knowing it, without even thinking about it.
The Healing of the Lame Man
A lot more could be said of that, but let's get into the text. Let's read Acts chapter 3, and I'm going to preach probably a little differently—the old Bill, I guess it's not the old Bill, Bill who wants to preach Acts chapter 3.
Acts 3:1-11 (KJV)
"Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
And a certain man, lame from his birth, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;
Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked an alms.
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, 'Look at us.'
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something from them.
Then Peter said, 'Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.'
And he took him by the right hand, lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.
And all the people saw him walking and praising God.
And they knew that it was he who sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.
And as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering."
Prayer
Let's pray together. Our Father and our God, as we come to this portion of Scripture, I pray, Lord, that you might exalt yourself, that you might exalt your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray, Father, that as he is exalted, that we might behold even just a glimpse of his glories, that we might stand in awe over who he is and over all that he's done. Father, that we might find ourselves worshiping you and that that worship would be acceptable in your sight, that it would be pleasing to you.
Father, I pray that for those who are here who are your people, they love you, they believe on you, they trust you, they know you. I pray that you would edify them, I pray that you would sanctify them, I pray, Lord, that you would churn up the faith that is in them and sustain it and grow it and cause it to become stronger.
Father, I yet pray for those who may be here that know not Christ as Savior, Lord, and King. They're not saved. They may have a historical faith in Jesus, but they really don't obey him or love him or walk with him. And I pray, Lord, that today might be the day of salvation for them. I pray, Lord, that today might be the day when they are delivered from their spiritual lameness, that they might rise up and leap and walk with God. Lord, do these things as only you can, and do them for the glory of your Son, our beloved Lord. And it's in his name I ask these things. Amen.
Miracles and Spiritual Realities
What a beautiful start to the outworking of what took place from Acts chapter 2. I'll start by saying this: The miracles in the Bible, as we look at them, this is a miracle, isn't it? Here is a man who was lame. Not only was he lame, it's not like he got into a construction accident or something; he was lame from his birth. But as we look at the miracles in the Bible, there is something that we should carry with us in understanding them. Oftentimes when you look at the miracles in the Bible—and we see most of them through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself—but when you look at them, they're somewhat a parable, they're somewhat a dramatization of a spiritual reality.
Let me give you some examples. So, Jesus comes, if you remember, in John chapter 11, and as he comes in John chapter 11, you'll remember that Lazarus is dead, right? Mary and Martha come out; they're a mess, they're a disaster. And what does Jesus say? "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes on me, even though he dies, yet shall he live." And here's this miracle that's about to happen, and Jesus is actually proving out that he is the resurrection and the life because he raises Lazarus from the dead, doesn't he? So there's a picture going on there. There's a spiritual reality of the truth that those apart from Christ lay spiritually dead, and the only hope that you have is that the Lord Jesus Christ will come as the resurrection and the life and speak life into you.
Perhaps we can look at the woman at the well—one of my favorites. What's the miracle there? He tells her everything that she ever did. Jesus knows everything there is to know about her, doesn't he? But you remember, as she starts talking, and they're carrying on a conversation, and he says, "If you knew who it was that speaks to you, you would have asked him for water, and he would have given you living water to drink." And as the account goes on, the story goes on, she—basically, Jesus tells her about her husbands and all the messing around that she's been doing, and he straightens all that out, and she runs back and tells her whole town—all of the Samaritans—"Come see a man who told me all things that I ever did." And the whole town comes out, and many believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that living water, isn't he? Are you thirsty for righteousness? Are you thirsty? Are you tired of trying to deal with sin and going through such dry, drought, difficult times in your life as you walk through? You don't know which way to turn, and all you want to know is that you can be at peace with God. Jesus is the answer.
Consider John chapter 6. Jesus feeds above 5,000 people, right? There's lots of people gathered, and they're hungry, and Jesus feeds them with a couple of fish and some loaves of bread, right? He blesses it. Remember the miracle? I like acting this one out. As the apostles take the baskets and they're handing it out, "Here's some for you, here's some for you, here's some—it's almost gone—here's some for—wait, it's full again. It's full. Here's some for you, here's some—how are you guys making it? We're getting pretty low. Wait, nope, full again." It must be how it happened, right? But he feeds all of those people. And then, of course, Jesus goes across the sea; he leaves. The next morning they wake up, they want to make him king, but they also want food for their bellies. And they go over; they're looking for Jesus, so they cross the sea, and they finally find Jesus. "We were looking for you." And he knows why they're looking for him. "You're looking for me because you're hungry, not because you want to believe on me." But remember the teaching. Jesus says to them, "I am the bread that came down from heaven. Eat from this bread, and you'll never hunger again." You see the picture behind it?
All through the Gospels, especially the Gospel of John, you see the Lord Jesus Christ doing all of these glorious miracles. How about John chapter 7? "I am the light of the world. He who believes in me shall not walk in darkness." And what happens in John chapter 9? He heals a man blind from his birth. That's what Jesus does. The truth of the matter is, you're as blind as—spiritually, you're dead in trespasses and sins apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. But I got good news for you: Jesus Christ can give you sight. Amen? And all through the Bible, it talks about this God who spoke light into darkness, has shone in our hearts through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't that what God does? He comes to those who are dark, who are lame, who are blind, who are totally thirsty and dry and can't feed themselves, and he comes to that heart, and he says, "Let there be light." And he does that through the gospel. He does that through the good news of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because apart from him, the truth is, you are dead, you are blind, you are lame, you can't walk with God, you can't see the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, "You're under the wrath and the condemnation of God." But if God, by divine grace, comes to you and says, "Let there be light," there will be light. Amen? Has that happened to you, Dean? That's happened to you, hasn't it, Dean? That's what's happened to me. One day, by divine grace, even though I walked according to the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, I fulfilled the desires of the flesh and of the mind and was by nature a child of wrath, even as others, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved me, saved me together with Christ, delivered me, rose me up with Christ, saved me by his grace. That was a miracle, a divine work of God. And that's exactly what we see here in Acts chapter 3.
The Condition of the Lame Man
So that's how I'm going to preach this first miracle. I want to relate the connotations of this lame man to those of us who perhaps are in Christ now, what we looked like before we came to Christ. Or perhaps there's someone here this morning—this is exactly what you look like apart from Christ. You are a lame man, unable to walk, and you are lame from your birth. We're born in trespasses and sins, the Bible teaches. We don't come out good and then somehow get bad; we come out bad and need to get good. And the only way to get good is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to repent of sin and believe. It doesn't matter what you do. A lot of people think that if my good outweighs my bad, then maybe up in heaven someday, when I stand before God, he'll put all that work on the scales, and if my good outweighs my bad, I'll be good with him. There's none good. Even the best of our works, even the greatest of our works, are as filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. His standard is perfection, beloved. It's perfection. He would be much less of a God if it wasn't, wouldn't he? I do not want a God who will take sin and sweep it under the carpet. I want a God who judges my sin. I want a God who condemns my sin. I want a God who can look at that which is filthy and ugly and literally and actually condemning because of his holiness and his righteousness. But I also need a God who can justify me in the darkness of that sin. And that's exactly what God has done in the person of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't suffering on the cross for his own sin; he was suffering on the cross for my sin. He's my substitute. And so if anyone says, "Bill Schneider has his own righteousness," no, he doesn't. He has the righteousness of another. He has the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed to him, given to him, deposited to him. I'm a very wealthy man, spiritually speaking. I can't get any richer because I have the righteousness of Christ. And if you're a Christian today, so do you. If you're not a Christian today, all you have is your own works. That's not enough. You're like the lame man.
The Healing Miracle
Now to start, I'm going to look at a clock because I'll try to be kind—doing good. Let's look first at what the text explains. Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer. I believe that this is probably around 3:00 in the afternoon. As the 3,000 got saved, there's a lot of work going on within the early community. They're preaching, they're teaching, they're spending time praying together, but they're also going out. They're also going back up to the temple. This is the hour of prayer, and they're going up to the temple. I would say that they're not going up to the temple to give sacrifices; it says they're going up at the hour of prayer, probably to pray. But I think even more than that, I would say that Peter and John are probably going up to the temple because that's a very good atmosphere to share the gospel. That's a very good place where some of their—well, all of their kinsmen are going to be. This is where a lot of Jews are going to be, and guess what? They have good news to share with them.
Not only that, I think it was probably a good practice for both Peter and John at this point in time to go to the temple to pray. It's good for us to go to the temple to pray, is it not? Isn't it good for us to get together to have an hour of prayer in a place of prayer that we could go to so we can, what? Pray. Beloved, our God is a God who hears our prayers. Our God is a God who isn't distant, who isn't far away. We don't have to wait. We don't have to worry about having a busy signal when we call upon our God. Our God is always a God who hears our prayers. Peter and John, I think, understood that, and they're going up to the temple at the ninth hour.
In verse 2, we're introduced to this man. I love the way the Bible puts it. I love the way my Bible puts it anyway. In the New King James Version, it'll simply say, "And there was a man." I like the New King James Version, and it says, "And a certain man." This man is a certain man. This man is someone who is certain, and not just certain to Peter and John, but this is a man who is certain to God. I believe that this is a divine appointment. I believe that this is someone that God placed right before Peter and John so that what took place could take place. I believe that this is divine intervention, that God has his affection on this man because he is a certain man.
Divine Appointments
Are you a certain man? Are you a certain woman? Are you a certain child? Are you someone certain to God? That should cause your heart to beat a little bit more. I know that one day in my life, as the Lord saved me, I knew that I wasn't just an ordinary person anymore, but that I was a certain man. I was someone whom God had chosen from before the foundation of the world. I was someone who God set his affection upon. I was someone who God loved in eternity past and will love in eternity future. I am a certain man. Can you say that? You're here this morning. Whether you believe or you don't believe right now what you're hearing, you can be certain that God wants you to hear it, and he brought you here for the reason so that you can hear it and that you might start believing that you're a certain person, that God isn't just ignoring you or allowing you to run off or leaving you, but he brought you here for the very reason because he wants you to hear, "Jesus Christ died for you. He loves you, and he wants to save you."
Are you a certain man? If you're not, you need to start identifying like that. I'm amazed at the depression and the anxiety and the fear that consume so many people. They walk out those doors, and immediately they begin to think of just how wretched and ugly and terrible, and there's nowhere to turn. "I'm depressed, and my husband's mad at me, and my wife doesn't love me, and the kids are a mess," and all of this. You need to start knowing that you're a certain man, a certain woman, a certain child, that God is in control. This is a certain man.
The Lame Man's Condition
We're told about this man that this man was lame from his birth. We learn a little bit later that this lameness was in his ankle bones and in his feet. The Bible intensifies it. God wants us to see that this is a situation—this is a professional lame man. Let me put it to you that way. This isn't someone who's just—they got a busted ankle, they got—there's something wrong with their legs. It's not just some accident. This man is a professional lame man. He was born that way.
Praise God that we're told that he had help. Apparently, on a daily basis, there were some—whether they were family members, friends—someone who would take this man, and they'd pick him up, and they'd carry him to the gate of the temple, and they'd lay him at the temple. What he would do is beg for money. He was a beggar, a lame beggar. Let's talk about his lameness for just a little bit because I believe that in the Scriptures—remember, the miracles in the Bible point to a spiritual reality. I would say all of them do. They point to a spiritual reality, and I think this is why Peter is recording this miracle. We're told in chapter 2, verse 43, I believe, that there were many, many miracles done by the apostles. They're doing many miracles. This is one Peter records for us, and I think he records it for that reason. He wants to show Theophilus, "Jesus is still at work." When you read the account, doesn't it sound just like Jesus? Doesn't it sound like when Jesus, in John chapter 5, I think it is, when he says to that lame man, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk"? Remember the religious leaders get mad at Jesus? "Take up your mat, rise, and walk. Your sins are forgiven you," he says. I love it. No one else could say it like that. Only Jesus could. They get all ticked off. "You don't have no right to tell that guy that his sins are forgiven." And I'm paraphrasing, of course. But Jesus Christ says, "Just so you know that the Son of Man has power to forgive sins on the earth, I say to the lame man, 'Rise, take up your bed, and walk.'" "I have power to forgive sins." Doesn't this sound just like Jesus as Peter and John are walking up to the temple? "We're going to go pray, share the gospel a little bit," and all of a sudden, this guy is sitting there. Someone laid him there. He can't walk. He can't go into the temple in his condition. According to the book of Numbers, he can't go in. And so there he is, begging. He's begging. "Money for the poor, money for the poor. I can't walk, I'm lame, I was born this way. You got any money? Anything, anything will help." And Peter fixes his gaze on him. John fixes their gaze upon him. "Look at me. Look at me," he says. "I don't have any money to give you. Silver and gold, I don't have any. But what I do have, I give unto thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk." And guess what happens? He rises and he walks. Sounds just like Jesus, doesn't it? It's because it is. Later on, that's exactly what Peter's going to say. "Why are you standing around here looking at me and John as if we did anything? This was Jesus Christ."
Jesus Still at Work
It's why this is recorded. Peter wants Theophilus to know, just like he wants all of us to know, Jesus isn't done yet. Oh yes, he was crucified. Oh yes, he died. He was dead. Oh yes, he was put in the tomb. But you can go and sweep that tomb clean, try to find him all you want. Guess what? He's not there. He ascended into heaven. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He rules and he reigns right now. And guess what? This is still his work. It's going to carry on all the way through to John chapter 4. We're going to see again, once again, like we saw in the Gospel of John, we're going to see light rejected and we're going to see light received. You're going to have a whole bunch of people come along to Peter and John and say, "These guys are preaching and teaching in that name again. This Jesus is still—he's still around. I thought we got rid of him when we crucified him." Nope. He's still living. He's still doing his work. Throw him in jail. Beat him up a little bit. That ain't going to work.
Spiritual Reality of Lameness
This is a man—not only is he a certain man, but we see the intensity of his condition. The intensity of his condition is that he was lame from birth. This man can't walk. This man can't do anything. And I believe that this is a spiritual picture of the reality of those apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. You're born in sin. You're lame from birth. You are an enemy of God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to me. I don't mean to say that in a way—let me be careful. I don't want you to feel beat up over that doggone it. We should, shouldn't we? What do you mean, preacher? I'm an enemy of God. That's what the Bible teaches. You're under his wrath. You're under his condemnation. You've sinned against all of that holiness, all of that glory, all of that beauty, all of that righteousness. You're lame. You don't walk with him. You don't believe on him. You don't trust him. You don't obey him. You're not a friend with him. You treat him as a cosmic Santa Claus, for crying out loud. When something goes wrong or something goes bad, you cry out, "God, why?" or "God, help me." In vain, you take the Lord's name. Of course you're under his condemnation and wrath. Let that beat you up. That's grace. That's God in his grace sharing with you your position and your condition apart from him. Don't think for a moment that you could work your way to earn my favor. Repent of your sin. Turn from it. Turn from the way you live. Turn from the way you think. Start looking at God as someone who is the Creator of heaven and earth, the Majesty of majesty, the King of kings, the Lord of lords. Start thinking of him not like he's just some guy or like he's like you. He's not. He's not common. He's not ordinary. He is most magnificent, most glorious, and you are like a lame beggar before him. Start thinking of yourself like that. The good news is God in his grace has shared with us, has given to us that report, that truth, that this is the condition you're in. And yet, that holy, righteous, magnificent God is like this to you: Come on. Come to me. I'll save you. I'll unite you to my Son. I'll propitiate my wrath. I'll have it appeased by his shed blood. I'll unite you to him in such a way where I see his righteousness in you, and you will become my child forever. That's grace. God doesn't tell you you're a sinner and get away from me. God tells you you're a sinner, and he says, "Come to me because I'm in the business of cleansing sinners. I'm in the business of making spiritually lame people walk." That's what I do. Lame from his birth. He cannot walk. There's a lot of lame folks among us, beloved. There's a lot of lame people. There's lame people in this room right now. They cannot walk with God. They cannot serve God. They don't know how to. They don't have the ability to. They cannot. The natural man receiveth not the things of God, nor does he understand them. He cannot because those things are spiritually discerned, and they're spiritually lame. They can't. Neither can this man. So he's carried to the temple. He's carried to the Beautiful Gate to beg and ask for money. And the interesting thing is, as he's doing that, Peter and John walk by. As we dramatize that out, I guess that's a word—we looked at that. Peter and John, they hear this man. "Money. Got any spare change? Can you help?" That's interesting, isn't it? I would say we would be able to say beyond the shadow of a doubt that both Peter and John here are Christian men, aren't they? They have compassion on this man, don't they? They're not living their life apart from the church in a different way. They're doing outside of the church exactly what they do inside of it. This man has a need. This man needs something. He needs our help. And boy, does he get more than what he asks for, doesn't he? So Peter, as he hears him pleading, as he hears him begging, he looks at him. He takes notice of him. I love the way the Bible says it. "And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John." You know, oftentimes what we do when we walk by someone like that, you know, you take notice, and then you keep walking. You take notice of a bum, a homeless, charity, whatever it might be. You take notice, and you walk the other way. That's not what these guys did. They took notice, and I believe in the very heart of Peter and John, both of them knew that they had something that this man can benefit from. And the truth is, Christian, you have something that any bum or any wealthy person or anybody on the street, whether it's a beggar or whether it's a millionaire, you have something that they so desperately need, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. You have him. Give him. Isn't that what Peter does? "Look at me. Look at me." It's amazing. Here's this guy begging. "You got any money?" And Peter says, "Look at me. Look at me. I don't have any money to give you. Silver and gold I don't have, but what I do have, I'm going to give to you. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk." And Peter grabs him by the right hand. Now think about this for a minute. We already discussed the lameness of this man. Someone might think, "That's kind of a cruel thing to say to someone who's so lame. Rise and walk." Boy, the man could have said, "You fool. I was born this way, and here you are telling me to rise and walk. You know how mean that is, how ugly that is?" There's something going on here that we all need to understand. Do you realize that God commands you to do that which you cannot? Sinners need to understand that. So do saved people. God commands what we cannot do, but he also gives the power to give what he commands. Amen? I'm stealing that from Augustine, by the way. Pretty old stuff. God, command what you will, but grant what you command. This man can't rise up and walk on his own strength. He's born that way. This man can't do anything. How mean is it for you to say, "Rise up and walk"? Oh, but if you're God, the God who you proclaim, the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, if he commands me to do it and supplies the power for me to do it, guess what? I'll willingly walk up, and I'll rise up and walk. I'll leap for joy. I'll praise him. Isn't that what happened to you? Has that happened to you? Has God come along in your spiritual lameness? You can't walk with him. You can't serve him. You don't love him. You're an enemy of him. You're in a depraved condition. But God says, "Repent and believe." You can't repent and believe unless he grants you repentance and faith. "For by grace are you saved through faith. That's not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Glory be to God that he commands such things, but he also gives the power in which to have them actually operate within us. That's what happened to me when I got born again. Listen to me. This is the big debate. "No, no, no, no, no. I used my free will." Yes, you had a will. Yes, you made a decision. "I chose to follow Christ. I chose him." But it wasn't until God renewed my heart and caused that dead, lost, broken, lame heart, and he spoke life into it. And once that life came, that newborn babes cry, "I believe." That's what happened to you. Apart from divine grace, you simply have faith being a work. But if divine grace ignites that fire, brings that life, then you owe glory to God. That's what happened to me. The truth is, if you're in Christ Jesus this morning, that's what happened to you. We owe it all to grace. We owe it all to mercy. We owe it all to his sovereign love, his divine power. Peter understands, and I believe that this man who is lame understands as well, for he obeys the command, does he not? God not only gave the command, which was impossible for him to do, but he gave him power to obey the command. How do I know that? Look what it says. "Silver and gold have I none. Such as I have, give I to thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he took him by the right hand, lifted him up. Look—the beautiful word—beautiful word—immediately. Don't you like that word, immediately? Because the day of regeneration, the day of new birth, the day when you come to a full understanding that you are a child of God, that day when God delivers you, you immediately become a child of God. God doesn't write rain checks. God doesn't say, "Okay, I got my eye on you. I'll keep up." No, if you truly repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if that new birth experience where God comes in his divine grace and grants you new life, guess what? Immediately, you become a child of God. You're his. You're his. You're his forever. You'll never fall out of his love. You'll never go back to a state of lameness. Oh, don't get me wrong. Every now and then, you might have your own little limp, but you will not be lame. This man, immediately, something took place. I think there's a reality as we look at this miracle and other miracles in the Bible. This is the picture behind it. Something supernatural, something miraculous, something divine is happening. And if that hasn't happened to you, it so desperately needs to. Almost done. Notice the record of what takes place afterward. So we saw him in his condition. We described the depravity of that condition. We saw the divine work of grace through the—through ultimately what we would say is through the Lord Jesus Christ himself—that's Peter's testimony. And then we see the result of that. What's the result? Of course, he rises up. He walks. Not only does he rise up and walk, he leaps. Hence the title, "The Lame Leaping for Joy." By the way, we've already been told that this was going to happen all the way back in Isaiah 35:6: "The lame shall leap like a deer." That's what's going on here. How is this lame man leaping like a deer? Because the Lord Jesus Christ delivered him from his condition. The Lord Jesus Christ took him out of his lameness. And now, as a result of Christ taking him out of that lameness, as a result of him being healed from his condition, he is now leaping and praising God. He's filled with joy. He's filled with praise. He's filled with, "I'm able to go into the temple now." He has a whole new life, doesn't he? Has that happened to you? Did you get a whole new life when you came to Christ? Were you made a brand new creature in Christ Jesus? Behold, all things are passed away. All things have become new. I remember when I finally woke up to the reality of, "No, being a Christian is what life is all about—glorifying God, doing things for the glory of God. Dare I even say it? Drag racing for the glory of God." It's simply amazing. My world was turned upside down. Do you know that? Or do you think you're going to walk out those doors and, "Oh, I done did so bad. I'm going to try and do better." Or, "Look at how good I am. I went to church on Sunday. Heard the preacher. He was long. We didn't really like it, but I was there. Took communion. Everything was so good. Oh, look at me. Look how good I..." You think that's going to last? About an hour from that, something's going to happen. If you're a construction worker, you'll hit your hand with a hammer or something like that, or, Brian, a hose is going to break on the machine, or the truck won't start, or something's going to go wrong. And guess what? It isn't going to last. It ain't going to last. You're going to—all of a sudden, you're going to start cursing and condemning, and you're not going to understand what's going on here. But if life is lived for the glory of God, even a broken hose on an excavator makes all the difference in the world. That's the Christian life. Why is it that way? Because of God. That's why. It's knowing him for who he is and what he's like and what he's done. He's leaping. He's running up and down those temple floors praising God. Not only that, he's living that life. Here it is. You don't hear this guy running up and down the aisles, "Repent and believe. Repent and believe. Repent and believe." I'm not saying that's the wrong message. It's the right message. But he's living out of the newness of his life. "Look at me. I'm a changed man. I'm no longer that beggar. You're not going to be hearing me out there anymore. I'm going to be in here praising God. I think I'm going out to get a job. I'm not going to have to beg anymore. I'm going to go do some things that I always wanted to do that I could never do before." Why? Because I was in a lame condition. No, out of the newness of his life, he praises God. You see what your life is for? You see why God said—listen to me. God doesn't save you because you're good-looking or because you're smart or because he needs you. He doesn't save you because of that. He saves you because he is worthy of all of the glory that can be given through the way you live your life. He's worthy of it. And so we end with this, and we'll run right into the communion service, which gives me another few minutes to preach. I'm teasing. It's true, though. The lame man is holding on to Peter and John. I think rightly so. I mean, I remember—I would say Nate Osborne is my spiritual father, and I love that man so much. I'm so glad that God had him preach what he preached that Sunday. I'm so glad that he came to my house looking for my dad and bumped into me. I'm so glad that he got on the back of that Harley. I'm so glad that he invited me to church. I'm so glad that the people in that congregation welcomed me with open arms, with my long hair and my Harley-Davidson t-shirt. Don't get me wrong. I still love Harley-Davidson motorcycles. But I went in. I've shared it before. I can't stop sharing it. Debbie Barrett wrapped her arms around me, gave me the biggest hug. "We're glad you're here." This woman's nuts, man. She's crazy. God used all of that. That holds a very dear place in my heart because that's what God did. I think that's what's going on here. And I know that all of those people, many of you are here now. Many of you are members of Faith Baptist Fellowship Church. I got saved with them 30 years ago, and now I'm pastoring them. Man, God is amazing, isn't he? And I know that each and every one of them, if you were to talk to Nate Osborne and you said, "Boy, you know, I listened to this preacher, and he told me about the testimony of how you went on the motorcycle ride." I know there's no doubt in my mind what he would say. He would say exactly what Peter and John say here: "Why are you looking at us as if it was our power that did anything? We really didn't have much to do with it at all." This man, this man stands here well—and I'll say it more intimately—this man, this man stands here as a saved man. This man stands here as a Christian man. This man stands here as one who is loved by God. This man stands here as a friend of God. This man stands here in the love of God. This man stands here united to the Lord Jesus Christ as a child of God because of God. Amen? Because of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He saw fit to pluck me as a brand from hell. He saw fit to save me by divine grace. He saw fit to love me in spite of me, not because of me. That's grace. That's grace. That's what Peter and John begin to promote here. And we'll see how much further he goes. This leads into a second sermon from Peter, and even more people get saved. It leads into—and this is where I'll end the sermon today for you—it leads into, if you notice, forward in chapter 4, verse 4: "Many of them who heard the word believed, and the number of men was about 5,000." There was light received. So if you're here this morning and you don't know Christ as your Savior, Lord, and King, don't take this message and say, "Ah, you know, that's for them but not for me." No. Receive it. You've heard the light. You've heard about the light of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, and how he saves from such conditions. Don't reject the light. Receive it. Repent, believe, trust the Lord Jesus Christ. There are 5,000 people here saved. Of course, Peter preaches and all that. But notice there's also light rejected. Chapter 4, verse 1: "And as they spoke unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in custody unto the next day, for it was now eventide." There's also light rejected. Which one are you? Are you going to be the one who receives the light and says, "Yes, shine that light. I see all kinds of dark cracks and crevices, but the light can cleanse me from all of it. Reveal it all, and I can do business with God. I can repent of all of that darkness and be saved through the shed blood of Jesus Christ." Or are you going to reject the light, and you're going to go, "Get that light out of my face. I love the darkness." What Jesus says in John chapter 3, doesn't he? "Men loved darkness rather than light." Don't be one of those people. Don't reject the light. Receive it. Come into it. Yes, at first, you're going to look ugly. You're going to look ugly. There are still parts of me I need the light to shine on me. A lot of ugly spots yet, but God isn't done with me yet. But whatever you do, don't go, "Get the light away from me." Come to Christ. Receive. Believe on Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Amen?