Christian Living

Joy in Salvation

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
01/20/21
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“Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, “Look at us!” And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene--walk! And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. With a leap he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” (Acts 3:1-8)

In the Scripture, we see a scene of a man who, since birth, could not walk. He depended on others, possibly family or friends, to carry him to the Beautiful Gate near the Temple in Jerusalem. There they would place him to beg for money to support himself and his family. This man, a cripple and beggar, was far outside of society’s physical norm. We also see a picture of a man who is spiritually crippled in relation to his Creator. This condition did not come upon him by accident or mishap, as he was born in this condition that came from his mother’s womb. When age made it practical, he was taken to the Beautiful Gate to beg for his keep. Jesus had passed through the Beautiful Gate many times, and I am sure this beggar was there. But did the beggar call out to Jesus? No, but I am sure that Jesus knew that the beggar was there. The beggar is there at the gate, wanting money.

We can identify and understand the beggar’s physical troubles, and some of us can relate to them in one way or another. When the Apostles Peter and John came by that day not long after Pentecost, they did see him begging there. But Peter did not see a man needing a few mites for daily support but a man who had a greater spiritual need. Peter saw a man who was spiritually dead in his sins. I cannot help but think of the times I see panhandlers on the roadway with their signs. I never carry cash, but I do carry my heart always, and yet I carry on and at this moment feel ashamed for not stopping and helping one of the least of these.

Let us think about that conviction for a moment. Peter, who saw the true need, said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.” Peter saw the beggar’s spiritual need. The beggar had a disability, but more importantly, he was a sinner in need of salvation. A sinner is never a complete man, as a sinner is dead to life. He lives by his sin-nature, which is a miserable distortion of the nature that God had created man with in the beginning. The beggar was a sinner who lives in sin and is a man who lives in want, not physical want but a deep desire in the spirit, a desire that cannot find fulfillment.

Elsewhere in Scripture, we have read of people who have been put out of the Temple because they did not follow the Pharisee’s teaching. We know that Pharisees treated Jesus, who ate with sinners, had a dim view of associating with sinners. It would not surprise me then if the Pharisees had not made a law against a sinful cripple coming into the Temple to worship. So this poor beggar doesn’t have meaningful worship of God if he so desired. He was a sinner without hope.

Then we see the two Apostles who had the privilege of following Jesus. They are Peter and John, who have known each other for many years of their life. They have just spent the last three years of their life with Jesus, the Son of God. Between these two, there was a close intimacy. In Scripture, they are often named together. Peter was a man’s man, bold and forward and John earned the name of being one of the sons of thunder because of his temper. After meeting Jesus, Peter was a founder of His Church on the Day of Pentecost. John was now a man filled with his Lord Jesus’s love and shared that love with all that he would meet.

They each had d love and dedication for the House of God and were on their way to the Temple. A few days earlier, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in intimate communion with God. To them, the Temple has a greater meaning and reverence. They have spent three years with Christ, who is the Lamb that has been laid on the altar. The Lamb is the Psalm theme, and they could see Him in the High Priest’s vestments. They were on the way to the Temple to worship Christ while the others gazed at the spectacle.

They had a love of Christ that awakens in the heart of every Christian towards every man. They saw the cripple there at the Gate and had sympathy for him. Others passed by the cripple and would give him a glance of contempt and with a shudder of disgust look the other way. Peter and John looked at the beggar with love because he was a soul for which their Lord had died to save.

They knew that they must help this man. Peter looks down at the man and feels in his conscience the Divine’s power and in faith believed that he could heal him. It is not anything that Peter could do, and he humbly knows that it is the power given him through Christ that Peter would lift him up to good health and strength. Knowing the truth, Peter and John knew that they could not bring healing to the man’s physical body, but they could lead him to salvation for his soul.

I have listened to others testify how they won souls for the Lord. How they changed their hearts, and they made decisions to accept Jesus into their hearts. I was polite and did not want to discourage their work for the Kingdom. All the while, knowing that they were robbing God’s glory for the grace He had shown for the repentant. God uses His believers in the Kingdom’s work of spreading the gospel. The Disciple can plant the seed of truth and nurture it by water, but God opens and prepares the heart to receive it. It is God who causes the truth to blossom. We are God’s instruments that are privileged in His work. “Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” (1 Corinthians 3:8) We are to be as Peter and John, whom the power of God comes to a needy soul.

An opportunity comes to every life, that one moment of special opportunity. We don’t know how long that bagger had been lying at the Beautiful Gate, but on that day Peter and John came by, he met his opportunity. God’s call is true for the Samaritan women at the well, Matthew at his table, and the Ethiopian in the desert. Woe to the one who lets that opportunity pass them by.

Peter did nothing on his own but see and man in need and felt compassion for his soul. The power of the story is found in the power of Jesus’ name. Only God’s Divine power can heal a cripple, and that same Divine power can make a sinner whole again. There was an effort required of the cripple himself. He had to respond to the hand of Peter to lift him up. If he had passed that by, he would have remained a cripple. The effort the cripple showed was faith.

In these verses, we also see a scene of salvation. How exciting it is to see the once cripple man rejoice after gaining the ability to walk. The transformation is vivid, once a crippled man standing and leaping at the Beautiful Gate’s marble floor. It is the change we see in every converted sinner. We see the new privilege as now he first enters into the Temple. The greatness of his gratitude as he confesses the work God has done for him. a new birth in the image of Jesus. See the prominence as he attracted the attention of the others in the Temple. When men see the miracle of conversion, it always sparks interest and is evidence of the power of Jesus. “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, March 14, 2019