Tonight to Acts chapter number 3. Acts chapter number 3. And last Sunday night we were talking about... How the church has grown, they're continuing on in the apostles' doctrine. They're continuing on in fellowship and raising bread and prayers. They're continuing to be faithful. They're busy about the work of the Lord and doing the things that the Lord has commanded them to do. set for them to do, the things that He's put before them, and they are continually faithful in that. We come to chapter 3. One of the things I want to mention in chapter 2, they were doing these things in the temple. They were going to the temple. Again, they didn't perceive themselves at this point as something different from everybody else. They were simply Jews. that had seen the fulfillment of Christ. That's how they were viewing this, that they were simply the fulfillment of what was being promised to them throughout the Old Testament, throughout the Old Covenant. And so they come, they're still coming to the temple, still meeting together and proclaiming Christ as they came. And here in Acts 3, we have an example of that as Peter and John come to the temple for this time of worship. They're continuing on as they have all along, and they come to the temple for time of prayer, and this event here takes place in chapter 3. It says, Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. That's 3 o'clock. in the afternoon. In the scriptures, the day begins at 6 a.m. So the ninth hour is 3 o'clock in the afternoon. And so that's how you tell the hour there. And so it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, they come to the temple, it is the hour of prayer. About every three hours during the day, the Jews would come to the temple to pray. There's the third hour, which is at 9 o'clock, there's the sixth hour, which is at 12 o'clock, and then there's the ninth hour at 3 o'clock. They would come and spend that time in prayer at the temple. If possible, they were there. That's where they would go. They would spend that time in the temple in prayer. So they come for the hour of prayer. So that means there's a lot of other folks there as well during that time, that hour of prayer, that are passing through in the streets, and hey, it's 3 o'clock. Let's get up. We're here next to the temple. Let's get into the temple and pray. So there's a crowd, no doubt, that is gathered for this time of prayer. It says, A certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Hederpon. Vast alms of them that entered into the temple. This God was born crippled, He was slain from his mother's womb. This is the way he was born. There's not the medical advances that we have today. They would be able to help him in any way. How you were born, that's just how it was. There was nothing else, really, that they could do for you. And so he was dependent upon, first of all, friends to get him to the temple, and they would carry him there to the gate, the Gate of Beautiful. where there would be many people coming in through the temple grounds there, and so they would carry him there every day, and he would sit there at the gate of Udipal until his friends came back that evening to pick him up and carry him home, and while he was there, he would be there begging all. alms for the poor, alms for the needy, alms for the, in this case, the handicapped, as he was needing that help in order simply to survive, in order to eat, in order to live. Didn't have welfare that you could go sign up for. Didn't have any kind of Medicaid that he could sign up for. He was dependent upon his neighbors to give him funds in order for him to live. And so they come every day, and they set him at the gate of Eutyphol, and here this man would ask alms of all that would come through the gate of Eutyphol to enter into the temple. It says, he's seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asking alms. He sees Peter and John coming his way, and as he did with everybody, he asked them, Hey, y'all have any prayers? Hey, wouldn't care to give. Poor beggar man. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive... I'm sorry, let me read verse 4. Peter basked in his eyes upon him, and John said, Look on us. Look on us. So you can imagine, here he is begging for alms. I don't have any alms yet. We're not sold yet. But I would imagine that since he's there every day, that the same people wouldn't be giving him alms every day. I would just doubt that that be the case, but I don't know. I don't have any alms either. But no doubt there was probably a little bit of excitement in him when Peter and John stopped and took that moment with him. Look on us. Look on us. So there's a little bit of excitement. And right after that little bit of excitement, there's probably a little bit of a downer, as Peter says, silver and gold, have I none? That would probably be pretty depleting when you're collecting all. That's what you're there for. And this fellow stops when you've asked him for an all, and he says, look on us, and here you think, boy, he's got something for me. And Peter says, I don't have nothing. I don't have any money." Well, this is what he does have. He gave Peter, again, verse 5, expecting to receive something of 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. He took him by the right hand. and 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 which set for arms 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 which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the forks that is called Solomon's great wonder. health condition was concerned, he was hopeless. This was the way he had been since birth. He didn't know any other way. He watched as other people would walk and go into the temple. He'd be able to see what that normal activity was like for everybody else, but as far as he was concerned, this was all he ever knew. He was born lame. He was absolutely dependent upon his friends to take him from place to place, to bring him each day here to the temple, and for him to come that evening and pick him up and take him home. He had to have some trustworthy friends. Wouldn't you think that they would do this for him every day? Every day? That's some faithful friends right there. Let's go get her. Let's go get Bud and take him down to the gate this morning. Let's go get Bud and take him back home this evening. Every single day. As far as this man's health was concerned, as far as his condition was, Maybe he dreamed about watching others walk, but physically speaking, as far as his condition was concerned, he was hopeless. There was nothing that could be done for him physically. There was nothing that could be done for him medically. He was in a hopeless state. And then Peter comes to him, he and John, on their way to the temple. Peter says, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have provided. There's been many occasions here that we've had people come for financial help. Being all 90 here, we get all my people to stop in. Asked for money to do this, a hotel room for the night, money to gas, money to eat. We've given, as far as I know, we've given money about every time to those that are honestly seeking the help. But one of the things that I probably require of all of them, there have been a few that have refused to, but one of the things I probably require of all of them is before we Before we give you anything, you need to come in here and sit with us in service. Because what we have in Christ is far more valuable than what we can give them with the cash in our pockets. Far more valuable. It's far more important that those souls around us not only see Christ in us, but that they hear Him come from our lips as we speak Christ through them. He needs to be upon our lips. He needs to be heard of us as we declare Him to others. Peter says, such as I have, give I unto thee. Now Peter had some confidence here, didn't he? Peter and John were different people here in Acts chapter 3 than who they were in Acts chapter 1. And that's all because of what we've been studying about in Acts chapter 2. The Spirit of God has come on them, empowered them, they are confident in their service to the Lord. They have a great deal of confidence, they have a great deal of power as they are going out. And here, listen, there were a lot of people that would sit at those gates and beg for money. There are a lot of those helpless folks and hopeless folks that were in need of alms as they would come to the gate every day, just as this man did. Here the Lord fixed their eyes on this man. Here the Lord fixed their eyes on him. The Lord knows his people. He knows his people. And He knows when it's time for us to hear Him. He knows when it's time for us to hear Him. It was this man's time to hear Him. It was this man's time to find out who the Lord was for us. The Lord chose him and brought Peter and John to Him as they were coming in front of that dead beautiful. And it was him that was touched by the Lord. It was him that received that healing that day. Peter tells him there, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Rise up and walk. It says there, he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he lifted up still. This is a sensation he had never felt before. This is a sensation he didn't know anything about. Suddenly he's got power. Suddenly he's got strength in his legs. Suddenly he's able to stand. He's able to walk. And this guy doesn't start out slow. He's leaping and jumping and praising God and running into the temple and running back out to Peter and John. I mean, this man, he wasn't lightly healed. He was healed completely. Healed completely by the power of Christ. It says in verse 9, all the people saw him walking and praising God and they knew. That's that guy that was out at the beautiful gate. That's the guy that's been around his entire life. Some of them had given him alms maybe even that morning as they were coming into the temple. They recognized him, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed hailed Peter and John, for he was faithful, He was thankful for what they had brought to him there. He's holding on to them. He's rejoicing with them. All the people ran together under the dam and in the forts, and it's caused all of them great wonder. Here Peter gets another opportunity. Acts 2, they begin to speak with tongues and begin to declare the wonderful works of God in the tongues again. There's no languages. They weren't speaking some kind of gibberish. They were speaking actual languages that were understood by those that were in the crowd from those particular countries. They heard them speak their own tongues, and they were able to hear then that wonderful works of God, and Peter had that opportunity. They wondered, what's going on? And Peter stood up and said, well, let me tell you what's going on. And he preached to them Christ. Here, something takes place. This man's healed. Everybody's seen. They're wondering, whoa, what happened? What's going on? And Peter says, let me tell you what's going on. And Peter preaches to them here at Solomon's Fort beginning in verse 12. Because when Peter saw it, he answered to the people, you men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on us? And so by our own power or holiness, we made this man to walk. Peter said, it ain't about us. We didn't do this. We didn't do this. Why are you wondering what's happening? These folks, listen, again, this is just 50 plus days. After the Lord was present there in Jerusalem, before He was crucified, before He was killed there and placed on that cross, before He was resurrected from the grave, when He was walking about and going throughout Judah, going throughout Jerusalem, going into Samaria, in all of the Lord's ministry there, they've seen these things happening all the time. They watched him do these miracles. They've seen the results of these miracles. This should not be something surprising to them, you see. But here they are in surprise. What happened? What's going on? Peter said, he said, please Christ, it's not me and John that's done it. This is not because of who we are, he says. It's not our doing. He says, when Peter saw the answer to the people, he meant of Israel, why marvel ye at this? And why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this land to walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, had glorified His Son Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go, but ye denied the Holy One, and just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the prince of life whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in his name, hath made this land strong, who ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." What does Peter do when he tells them what's going on? He proclaims Christ again. He glorifies Christ Jesus. It's Jesus. That's why this man is standing before you all. This man is healed today. And you all know. That's what he says to you. You all know this was crippled before. You all know this man was the one that was outside of you. Yet you know this is the same man from his mother's womb that was unable to walk to the temple on his own. The reason he's in here before you now, the reason he has strength now, the reason he's standing now is not because of something that's in me and God. It is something in Christ Jesus alone. He's the one that's healed. Now, Peter makes sure they understand their position in Christ. He makes sure they understand this just like he did in Acts chapter 2. Jesus was here, he did these exact same things and you all rejected him. Jesus was in your presence and it was proven to you over and over and over again that he is the proof of God, that he is the Christ. You all rejected him. You denied him before. You desired him. And it goes further here in Acts chapter 3. It says you desired a murderer instead of him. Prediction tells us, I don't know if it's true or not, but I pray it is. It'd be interesting to talk with him one day. But prediction tells us that Barabbas will stay. He became a believer because of this very thing. that Jesus took his place, knowing that he was the guilty one that should have died that day. I don't know, that's what tradition does. And you can't always depend on tradition, but it'd be interesting to find one day that that would be proved. But they decided to murder her instead of the healer. the desire to murder instead of, as Peter calls him here, the prince of life. They denied him before Pilate, they desired him to be killed, the holy one, the just one. Because it's not holiness in us, it's the holiness in Christ. It's the power of Christ. It's the work of Christ. It's what Jesus has done. That's what this main scripture for you to hold. Christ Jesus. He's the one that's worked this. He's the one that has accomplished this. He denied, he said in verse 14, the Holy One and the just. The desire to murder to be granted unto you and killed the Prince of life. He didn't leave it there. Just like in Acts chapter 3, he didn't leave it at the Lord's death. He made sure that they understood he's alive. God has raised him from the dead. Whereof, he says, we are witnesses. We are witnesses. That's what John tells us that he's writing for. In the Gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, John says he's writing these things to you because that's what I've seen. I'm witness to these things. I'm simply declaring to you what I have seen with my own eyes. We beheld, he says there in John 1 verse 14, we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. We saw him. We watched him. We saw him do these miracles. We saw him as he raised the dead. We watched as he performed these things. We saw him after he came forth out of the grave. We're witnesses to these things. This is what Peter declared, we're witnesses to it. We've seen it. We were present with Him. We walked with Him. We talked with Him. We know He lives. And this was a testimony. His name through faith in His name had made this land strong. whom ye see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him, which is by Christ, hath given him, this lame man, his perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Give him perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I was, that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers." Peter says, I know that that's probably the case, that you all did this in ignorance. Caught up in the mob mentality of the moment. They would cry before it would be crucified. Pilate would say, who will you have? Do you have Jesus or Barabbas? Give us Barabbas. The one about Jesus. Crucify. And they cried out all the more. Crucify. Crucify. Because I know y'all did that promptly in ignorance. Promptly in ignorance that you did this. But those sinners which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should not suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Peter said, listen, I know you all did it, didn't you? I know you didn't do sin, he says, but this is exactly This is exactly what God's Word had declared to us over and over again of what would take place. I've watched a video a little while back of a man, he was in Israel, in Jerusalem, and he's going around stopping the people on the streets there in Jerusalem. Most of the video is in Yiddish, so you actually have to read subtitles on it. And he reads to them from Isaiah chapter 53, supposedly in synagogues today. Isaiah 53 is the forbidden chapter. Why is Isaiah 53 the forbidden chapter? Because it describes to a teen the sufferings of Jesus. Tells us exactly what he would endure to pay for our sin. And he goes around reading them Isaiah 53 and he asks them, who's this talking about? Who's this talking about? Can you name somebody? Was this Isaiah? Was Isaiah talking about himself here? Yes? No, Isaiah's not talking about himself. Remember, in the video, it's a long video, probably about 30 minutes or so, that this man goes around and is witnessing with these folks, and the remarkable thing is, You can see it on their faces. There were two or three of them in the video. You can see it on their faces when the light of Christ comes on in them. And it says, Jesus. That's what they're talking about. We've heard about this. That's Jesus! Bill comes in each of the units here in Acts chapter number 8. Now you can go to the unit's reading there from Isaiah 53, that's a great chapter to be reading from. But Philip, I see you. Do you understand what you're reading? Do you need to sit and talk to him? Sit somewhere and talk to him? What does the Bible say there? It says Philip began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Peter said it. That's what all of it was talking about. That's the whole of the Old Testament. That's everything the prophets were declaring to you. Jesus is coming. He's going to die. He's going to be hung on a cross. He's going to be buried. You're going to find Him and pay Him for that sacrifice. He's going to die there for you in your place. He's going to suffer this punishment for you. He's going to be placed in a borrowed tomb. And in three days and three nights, He's coming out of it. Alive! Peter said this is exactly, EXACTLY what the prophets described for us. This is EXACTLY what they've declared. Those things which God, verse 18, God is before His show by the mouth of all His prophets that Christ should suffer, He has so fulfilled. over 300 prophecies of his birth, his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection 300 plus prophecies and he fulfilled every single one of them to the detail he didn't miss he didn't miss a thing he didn't miss a thing The statistics of that, the statistics of that, the fact that some random person would be able to fulfill all 300 of those prophecies and fulfill them to the detail is an absolute impossibility. You have a greater chance of winning the lottery several times over. I love what one man said. He said the chance of this happening, naturally the chance of this just by coincidence taking place is like a tornado going through a junkyard and assembling a 747 airplane. It can't be done. It's just not done. Jesus fulfilled every one of them. Why did he fulfill every one of them? Because he's the one the prophecies were talking about. He's the one! He's the one that declared what he would do to those prophets, and he's the one that did what the prophets said he would do. He fulfills them. He fulfills them. Peter says, repent ye, therefore. Repent ye, therefore, and be convergent, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of repression shall come from the presence of the Lord, when the times of repression shall come from the presence of the Lord. The times of repression are in reference to the millennial reign of our Lord. Peter said, listen, you want to be there. You want to be there when he takes his throne. You want to be there. When he establishes peace, you want to be there, but he changes this old vile world by the blessings of this millennial kingdom. You want to be there when Christ comes. And so he says, believe, repent and believe on and be converted that your sins may be watered out when the times of repression shall come from the presence of the Lord. It is in these times of repression that all Israel will at last be saved. Romans 11, Paul tells us there, verse 25 down through verse number 27, he describes this event there when he says, again Romans 11, verse 25, For I would not break, and ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be coming in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, that shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. He said, listen, you want to be in that number, you want to be in that crowd that gets to see those signs of repression that comes from the Lord. Verse 20 says, He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, which again, what all the Old Testament said, whom the heavens must receive, until the times of restitution of all things. He's ascended now. He's in the presence of his Father, and he's awaiting the time that he's coming again. That's the reason the next thing we're looking for is Jesus coming. Because that's what we're waiting on. That's what we're looking for. Because everything else that Peter's talking about here, everything else is fulfilled. He's there with the Father. He's at the right hand making intercession for us. The next thing that we're looking for is His coming. The heaven must receive until the time of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. This is the thing, ooh, you know, this rubbed all over them here, especially these that were haters of Christ that were in that crowd. Her favorite person was Moses. And Peter said, even Moses declared this of him. Even Moses said this would be the case. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord Your God raised up unto you of your brethren like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you, and it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. Peter said, even Moses told us Jesus is coming. Even Moses said, when he comes he will declare the truth to you and those that will not hear him will be destroyed from among the people. It shall come to pass that every soul that will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after Who knows that? Every single prophet of the Old Testament. As many as have spoken, every single one of the prophets of the Old Testament declared Christ. Every single one of them. If you're reading through those Old Testament prophets and you're trying to figure it out, What they're talking about in your struggle, what does that part mean right there? Remember, they're declaring Christ to you. Start looking for Jesus in the things they are writing. Start looking for Jesus in what they are writing there in your prayer. Peter tells us that's exactly what they are writing about. So when you go over there and read those Old Testament prophets, and you read there what Habakkuk said, and you read what Amos said, and you read what Solomon wrote there, and you read what David wrote in the Psalms there, man, over and over and over again David wrote in the Psalms, be looking for Christ. Because He's throughout. He's the common theme of the book. He's the object of the book. He's the one the book is about. He's the author of it. He's throughout those prophecies. Author and finisher. The beginning and the end. He is throughout. Verse 25 says, Ye are the children of the prophets and of the covenant which God hath made with our father's name unto Abraham, and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. When he sat there studying through that book of Genesis, how is it that all the seed of the earth is blessed? Because Jesus came through Abraham's seed. That's how he came forth. Through the line of Abraham, Jesus is born. Through the line of Israel, Jesus would come forth and it is through him that life is given to all of his people. Verse 26, unto you first God having raised up his son Jesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities God has sent him first to you that he would bless you and turn every one of you away from his iniquities. And Peter says, repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out. Did you get it right? Somebody get it? Let's all say it.