 So with that said you know as you all know those who've been with us for a while we went through the gospel of Mark and what I wanted to do is I in our conclusion of Mark I wanted to tie in various gospel stories related to the the events that took place after Christ had been resurrected and so we went into different Gospels and saw various things and then I moved you into Acts into chapter one and chapter two and I did that so we could see some of the events that were taking place after the resurrection of the Lord and so as I was waiting on the Lord in prayer this last week I was seeking him concerning where we should go and and I have to be honest with you I kept falling on Acts chapter 3 and so I can't say that we're going to do the book of Acts now I can say that today we're going to look at chapter 3 and so I want to take you into the first 10 verses of Acts chapter 3 to continue what has taken place after the resurrection and after the Pentecost Sunday and the 120 receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit and so I'll be taking you today into chapter 3 verses 1 through 10 and so if you have your Bibles open to that portion that's what we're going to look at today now I may take you into chapter 4 because I keep thinking that there are so many events that that we as a church would benefit from studying but I won't say I'm going to take you through the whole book of Acts we'll see but we will look at chapter 3 a portion of it today and so let me begin reading to you out of Acts chapter 3 verse 1 I'll read to verse 10 and we'll get into our study Acts chapter 3 beginning at verse 1 reading to verse 10 Luke writes 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 then Peter said silver and gold I do not have but when 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 receive strength so he leaping up stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking leaping and praising God all the people saw him walking and praising God 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 so let me give you some background again lay a context so that we get an idea of what is taking place here in the third chapter of the book of acts the last time we were together we looked at the church that Jesus builds now in the book of acts in chapter 1 verse 8 there was a promise Jesus had made he said you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you you shall be witnesses to me and Jerusalem Judea Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth and so he had said they shall receive power when the Spirit came upon well this power would enable them to be witnesses throughout the world so on the day of Pentecost that's what happened they were baptized by the Holy Spirit God gave them the gift of tongues and that drew a crowd because each were hearing the Galileans speaking in their own languages as we saw somewhere amazed at what they heard but there are others who are there watching and they began to mock so when the crowd had gathered wondering what had happened the Apostle Peter spoke he boldly began to preach repentance and the remission of sin when Peter was baptized in the Holy Spirit Peter was completely changed the one who had denied and forsaken Jesus began to courageously preach the message and he said that they had accountability for the death of the Messiah we saw this in chapter 2 at verse 23 where it says you took Jesus with lawless hands and crucified and put them to death in verse 32 this Jesus God has raised up of which we are all witnesses and then in verse 36 he went on to say God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ now when the people heard Peter preaching in this way they were deeply deeply convicted verse 37 says when they heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles men and brethren what shall we do you see messages are intended to provoke people to ask what should our response be we're not just receiving information in other words we're receiving information that speaks to our heart and is demanding a response so I hope that when we come to church we're not expecting just to be lectured I I hope that as believers when we come to church we have that question okay what should I do and that's what happened here so they're saying men and brethren what shall we do and Peter answered by saying what Jesus had commanded him both to say and to do in Acts 238 Peter said to them repent and and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins you shall receive the Holy Spirit he went on in verse 39 to say that the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are noticed with me all to our afar off all who are afar off what does that mean is it speaking just to people who live in different lands Jewish people who are living outside of the nation of Israel and the answer to that question is no he's speaking to all all who are afar off that phrase afar off is a phrase that is used in reference to Gentiles are non-Jews and so the promise of the Spirit isn't limited to Israel it's to everybody how do I know that Ephesians 2 verse 13 now in Christ Jesus you speaking to Gentiles you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ and so this Pentecost experience is preaching of the gospel this moving of the Spirit is intended not for Israel alone but for all people all who need Jesus Christ which is all people in verse 40 tells us that he but he passionately urged them to be delivered from what he referred to as this perverse generation I mentioned to you that the word perverse speaks of that which is corrupt or unfair it speaks of that which is warped or crooked be saved from this crooked warped generation this age be saved from the opinions and the philosophy be saved from the influence and the fate of this age you see they crucified Messiah and for their sins they would be destroyed in verse 41 it says they gladly received the gospel they were genuinely saved the message brought conviction and they knew by the power of the Spirit that it was true so as in evidence of their conversion they were baptized and as we saw the message added about 3,000 souls to the church and so last time we were together I spoke to you about this how how will this large group of strangers how will they become a community well they immediately were transformed from a crowd into a church they they continued in God's Word and fellowship in communion and in prayers the Spirit moved and as a result of the Holy Spirit moving amongst these believers there was respect from unbelievers they were doing so much good that the world itself saw value in them there was a loving concern for the members of the church there was fellowship there was joy there's praise to God and as a result there were new believers being added daily as the gospel went forth and so we have seen the disciplines that made the church healthy we now have an opportunity to see what the church did in the world we've been called the salt of the earth well the salt is about to leave the salt shaker Jesus had given the apostles a command in Luke 24 47 he had said repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations and he went on to say beginning at Jerusalem so God is manifesting his presence his power through the apostles the church is growing it's gaining favor with the great number of people God is blessing but the church doesn't remain behind four walls you see the Christian faith is lived out among people especially those who don't possess it and that's what we're about to witness the church in the world first one had said that Peter and John had gone up together to the temple at the hour of prayer and so in continuing my introduction we need to know that at first the believers still went to the temple acts chapter 2 verse 46 says continuing daily with one accord in the temple so they continued going to the temple that's because they never considered themselves anything but Jewish they never thought of themselves as being Gentiles now when you go to Israel even to this day if you are what is referred to as a messianic Jew if you're a Jewish person who has come to faith in Christ as your Messiah the Jews do not recognize you or regard you as Jewish any longer they say you're a Gentile and they don't show a lot of favor to you you know I just recently saw a video of a young lady there in Jerusalem I believe was Jerusalem and the response that people were having towards her because she had said that Jesus Christ is Messiah there's not a real welcoming air in Israel for those who are believers in Christ but more so for those who are Jewish in heritage in ethnicity who have come to faith in Christ and and yet you need to read your Bible to see that at the beginning the the believers in Christ were Jews and they did not believe that they themselves had suddenly become Gentiles they recognized that they had come to faith in their Messiah the Messiah so Jewishness was recognized from the beginning as being connected to God by faith and that's what Paul says in Romans 2 in verse 28 and 29 the apostle Paul said a man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly nor is circumcision merely outward and physical no a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly and circumcision is circumcision of the heart by the Spirit not by the written code such a man's praise is not from men but from God so we would we when I first got saved we would refer to ourselves in this way we would say we're spiritual Jews we were simply acknowledging the fact that we were a believer in our heart our heart had been circumcised by our faith in Jesus Christ and so because they had they were Jewish they had continued meeting in the temple and so that brings us up to what is taking place here on this particular occasion in chapter 3 so I'll begin at verse 1 by reading this Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer the ninth hour now what I'm going to do with this particular study is I'm going to attempt to make it into a very practical one I want it to be practical for all of us I try to do that every time I teach but this time especially and I'll be honest with you as I look at this passage and as I've presented it before I'm basically going to be teaching you in a similar way that I teach the leadership of our church or at pastors conferences or whenever I have opportunity to speak on these particular subjects and all of that I'll be speaking today concerning being a follower of Christ and and the ministry of Christ and what it means to be a minister because I'm assuming that everybody wants to be a servant of Christ I'm assuming that all of us in this room want to be used by the Lord and so I want to give to you a very practical kind of study to help us to know how we can be in a place where we can be used by God you see if you desire to be used by the Lord let me begin in this way if you desire to be used by the Lord a very important thing for you to do is cultivate relationships that encourage that cultivate relationships that are spiritually edifying there are a lot of friendships that Christians have that will actually bring you down instead of lifting you up you need to know the difference between a friendship and a ministry relationship there is a difference when I was a young believer coming to faith in Christ when in the service got out I began to fellowship at a another fellowship I made friends with with somebody who'd basically been raised in a particular church it wasn't a Calvary Chaplet it was a different fellowship but I started going to this church and I made good friends with somebody and to this day he's still a good friend of mine and he went through a season in his life I was a new believer he had been a Christian for a long time gone to Christian college in the whole nine yards been raised in in church you know but what I had I had been saved out of he began to kind of play with especially me in my particular case I was I was an alcoholic he had never had alcohol and now he wanted to start having beers and things like that and it began to stumble me in some ways not that I'm so righteous and he was unrighteous it was just I had been saved out of that and he's wanting to do that and it just was a conflict and I didn't know um I didn't know at that time again I was two and a half three years old in the Lord and I was still trying to learn what it means to walk with Christ and and so what happened long story made very short Marie and I got together we began to date got married and he was still very much in my life our lives and I found myself when I'd see him Marie and I we would pull up to the the curb I remember doing this and and I would bow my head and I'd say father we're going to go in and see my friend he already knew that but I was just praying it and Lord it can be sometimes they'll say things or do something that is stumbling to me help me to be a ministry to him I began to pray that way when I was a young believer because I had to learn and so do all of us that there are friends and there are ministries and sometimes a believer does not realize that that friendship is not edifying sometimes they realize it after they've compromised their faith so let me at the beginning share this with you learn who you get edified by and spend time with them cultivate relationship with those who love Jesus and if you have people that you love who are having a tough time I'm not saying abandon them I'm saying be aware of that and be aware that you may be a lifeline to them and don't compromise your faith know the difference between a friendship and a ministry you see John and Peter not only were friends and brothers in the Lord but they had a relationship that was built on their love for Jesus Christ and so you need to know the difference between friendship and ministry relationship in in Amos in the Old Testament book of Amos chapter three verse three Amos asks the question can two walk together unless they are agreed so their friendship obviously had been deepened by their mutual love for Jesus Christ and so if you want to be used develop friendships that are built on serving the Lord together now as we see that notice verse one it is what is called the hour of prayer the ninth hour Jews had three daily times of prayer nine a.m. noon and three this is the ninth hour that means this is the the three p.m. time they had taken that out of Psalm 55 verse 17 where the psalmist said evening and morning and at noon will I pray cry aloud and he shall hear my voice now earlier Luke had recorded the marks of the early church in chapter two he had made it clear that believers were in the habit of prayer and so one cultivate relationships with those who love the Lord that they may be edifying but two remember that all true ministry comes as a result of prayerfully seeking the Lord be people who pray now there are those who use prayer as an excuse to not serve the Lord they'll say well I prayed and God didn't lead me to do that and in fact what it was it's just an excuse not to do something they didn't want to do you see when we pray God directs our footsteps to opportunities to serve him so these men are in fellowship with God with each other and and they're men of prayer and they're in a place where they can be used by God it's been said the the habit of prayer becomes a pathway to opportunity so if you're seeking the Lord and you're asking God for opportunity to to be used by him if you're seeking him he'll open doors for you if you're seeking God Lord I want to be used by you somehow I want to I want to reach people for Jesus Christ if you want that he'll open doors for you and you'll be surprised the doors he opens when you simply pray that way you mean you need to be ready you need to be prepared and we'll see that in a moment but but you seek the Lord for opportunity you know I especially when I was going to college and all I had numerous opportunities to be used by the Lord because I was praying and asking God can I you know would you use me I'm available would you use me and so I've had opportunities even prior to pastoring churches to be able to to be used by God in a classroom situation or whatever because you're seeking the Lord and that's how it begins so you you wake up and you say Lord it's a good day would you use me somehow today it may be that he'll use you just in the house to to be a minister to your family but it may be that on the job site or in the neighborhood or something he'll open a door but remember the habit of prayer becomes a pathway of opportunity and so as this is taking place verse two tells us 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 so there had a place that is referred to as the beautiful gate if you're looking at a an aerial of the temple the beautiful gate would be on the eastern side of the temple mount it was a gate that was separating the Gentiles the court of the Gentiles from the court of the women there's a historian by the name of Josephus and he gave us information concerning this particular gate he said it was made of Corinthian bronze it was plated with gold and silver that's why it was called the beautiful gate it was 65 feet high and was so heavy that it took 20 men to move it now at this gate verse two was a man notice who was crippled from birth it doesn't tell us here how old he was but in chapter four verse 22 it tells us he was over 40 years of age now he's crippled but it is obvious that he had friends who carried him and placed them there we see that in scripture more than once where friends will care for somebody the crippled man that we see in in mark chapter two for example whose whose friends brought him to the feet of Jesus well he was there daily he was daily at the gate why is that well because it was a good place to ask for alms he was at the gate because charitable giving was important to religious Jews charitable giving was called alms it's also referred to as acts of charity so giving alms was recognized as an act of righteousness as well as an act of kindness and acts of charity would include financial gifts to the poor in Deuteronomy 15 verse 11 there will always be poor people in the land therefore i command you to be open handed toward your brothers toward the poor and needy in your land proverbs 21 13 whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out not be answered and so giving to the poor was an observable practice of a religious Jew it was one of the three exercises of religious faith along with prayer and fasting one of the things about it is because it was observable it could also be hypocritical we know that because Jesus actually spoke about that when he was giving the sermon on the mountain he spoke concerning the people who like to pray to be seen who like to give to be seen and who like to fast in order to be seen and so giving alms was something that religious Jews did but sometimes it could be in a hypocritical way well this guy was there waiting to see a somebody who would perform a righteous act of generosity because he knew that religious people were generous so they're about to enter into the gate and as they're about to enter into this gate this man asks them for alms he's asking for support he's asking for money again the temple priest said precincts is a good place to beg for help because worshipers could give an alam and feel good or refuse and feel guilty and so now we have an opportunity to see how the apostles responded to a need now how did these spirit led spirit filled men respond well they're about to perform ministry they're going to minister now what is ministry we use the term a lot well Warren Wearsby a writer once said this he said ministry takes place when human needs are met through divine resources through the use of loving channels to the glory of God we're going to be looking at that notice verse two this man was lame from his mother's womb from the moment he parted the womb he was crippled it wasn't due to an accident it wasn't a disease he was born crippled and so as he's there and yet friends would take him there and lay him at the gate regularly it says in verse three who's seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple and he asked them for alms so he asked them he's asking for alms from everyone who entered the temple and he's begging and as he's begging he saw these men as they're about to enter in and he asked them for money the only thing he hoped for was a small amount of money to help him to make it through the day now again Wearsby said ministry takes place when human needs are met this man had a need he was crippled he was unable to sport himself the obvious need is he's trying to make enough money to eat but God had a different plan for him the man knew of his practical need which could be met in an ordinary way someone could give him money he could eat that day but in this instance God is going to provide divine resources God is going to do something he's going to heal him he's going to give him opportunity to provide for himself and that would not only restore his health but also would give him dignity there's a certain dignity in being able to provide for yourself that needs to be learned by this man he's been relying on others generosity an entire lifetime so not only does he need health he also needs to have a sense of personal value or dignity and God's about to give him that now notice again in verse three he saw these two men entering into the area and he's asking for something notice the response verse four fixing his eyes on him with John Peter said look at us look at us and so a third thing to learn is to be ready Peter fastened his gaze upon him he looked at him intently it would seem that as Peter was about to walk in and the man looks and says can I have something and Peter says look at us there's a voice of authority but also a sense of promise in that and so the man we're going to see looks up expecting to receive something from him because of the way that Peter spoke to him but Peter looked at him the word says that he he fixed his eyes on him that means that he fastened his gaze upon him and looked at him with intensity and what Peter was doing was spiritually reading the man you can do that the Lord will give to you insight sometimes when you're speaking to somebody that you're actually looking at him very deeply and you're reading them you can read people when you're talking to them you can you can see that you can see the way they respond you can you can read people it's not a very difficult thing to learn to do my mom taught me to do that even as a non-believer my mom was a person who would would she would lock eyes with me if I was at a table even as a kid and and she'd be speaking to somebody and my mom would look at me sometimes and she'd give me a look that I recognize which was look at this person closely so my mom taught me to do that as a as a kid to read people to look at him now Peter is reading him but not simply with the human effort he's reading him in a spiritual way and as he's saying look at me he's intently looking at the man and he speaks to him with an air of authority and promise and when he spoke and said look upon us it caused the man to give his full attention to them you see a miracle is about to happen and Peter wants him to know its origin and so in verse five he gave his attention expecting to receive something from them he could tell there was a voice of promise there so God is about to use them as loving vessels he set his eyes on Peter and John eagerly expecting to receive something he took Peter's invitation as a promise for a gift when people come to church services they come with expectations and they come with needs proper ministry helps people to differentiate real needs from false expectations where to give people what they really need hope in Christ see sometimes people will come expecting to get some kind of relief with some kind of message that's going to help them to survive but that's not what the minister is supposed to do the minister of the gospel isn't supposed to just give people an encouraging word alone they're supposed to equip them for works of service so that when people walk out of that church service they receive the word of God and a hope in Christ they need to hear when people when I go to church I don't go for entertainment when I and yes I go to church and yes I go in here people speak I don't go there to see how well they divide the word in in the sense of do they do they do they exposit the word in a way that's entertaining I go there to receive from them so that I can walk out with more hope in my life with more direction so that I know where I'm going and I know what God can do and and so there's an expectation people have when they come to church and I think today in our day especially that there are quite a number of people who go to a church service expecting to get something that's really not intended there in a church service I think that a lot of times people are going to church services expecting to get some kind of hope that's going to be transitory it's not going to last what you need is you need hope in Christ because the hope you have in Christ is never ending when you walk out and you know I can do this in Christ Jesus is with me that strengthens you not just oh you know it's always going to work out it strengthens you and that's what you're supposed to do so there needs to be an expectation what am I going to receive from Christ today not entertainment but from Christ what am I going to receive about God that's going to help me because once I leave these precincts once I walk out of here and get in the highway everything's in opposition everything my neighborhood my my job very often my family I need more hope I don't need a pep talk I need a powerful spiritual awakening within me so that I'm not only not only surviving but I'm thriving in Christ because I I need to know that this guy had expectation but it was for his daily need to be met but look what Peter does verse six 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 silver and gold I don't have you know there was a there's a doctrine it's still out there where they'll say to you being a Christian means that you're going to have lots of money it's still out there I heard two evangelists quote unquote speaking I'll leave them unnamed but they were discussing the need for a jet plane when they had a jet plane but we needed a new a new jet plane they're only multiple millions of dollars you know and so they don't want to be in tubes with people in the sky who are filled with demons and as I heard them saying that I thought that's the picture a lot of people have of the church and that's the picture that people have of of pastors and that's that's what people think of people like me that that we're in it for the money silver and gold have I none the apostles were not rich where we got the idea that they were is amazing I shared with you that they had what we would today call a general fund that people were caring for one another they gave it to the apostles to distribute as anyone had need we saw that last time they had a generosity of heart but the apostles were stewards they were not the owners of the finances they were responsible for its distribution and so as they're walking in the man looks at them expecting to receive something because Peter said look upon us and Peter was fastening his gaze upon the man so there was an intensity of the exchange and the man looking up expecting to receive something from Peter Peter looking back down said silver and gold have I none I don't have any money it's like Philippians 412 where Paul said it like this he said I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well fed or hungry whether living in plenty or in want I know the difference is what he is saying you see they abounded in the grace of God but not financial riches so he's saying I have no money but I have something better why because money will not heal you we have something that's more precious than money we have a message of life and we have a god who works wonders and so Peter's words teaches us to be open to the power of the Holy Spirit we need as believers to discover and exercise the gifts that God has given to us do you know what your spiritual gift is listen if you are a believer in Christ you have spiritual gifts you're more than likely have more than one they refer to it as a gift mix we're going to see that in just a moment what is your gift and you say that's the whole problem you're supposed to tell me no you discover your gift how do I discover my gift well one are you born again yes okay the spirit of God resides within you you have gifts okay what are they what is it that you love to do that you see spiritual fruit in what is it that you love to do oh you know I I'm not a preacher I'm not a teacher I just like to help people you have the gift of helps I'm I I'm not able well what it is that you do whatever it may be and I'll show you this in a second more than likely is your spiritual gift and you generally will discover it through its exercise what is it that you love doing that they're spiritual fruit in that's one of the ways to discover this that's one of the ways to know every believer has a gift given to them by the spirit more than likely more than one and in the New Testament you can find lists of spiritual gifts you can see it in first Corinthians chapters 12 13 and 14 you can see it in first Peter chapter 4 verses 10 and 11 as we're going through the book of Romans we're going to be looking at spiritual gifts soon in Romans 12 listen to what it says in verses six through eight Paul said it like this he said we have different gifts according to the grace given us if a man's gift is prophesying let him use it in proportion to his faith if it is serving let him serve if it's teaching let him teach if it's in encouraging let him encourage if it is contributing to the needs of others let him give generously if it is leadership let him govern diligently if it's showing mercy let him do it cheerfully we have gifts of the spirit we just discover them you see sometimes we we may begin to neglect exercising God's gifts and and the result is going to be an apathy in our walk and a failure to see God move through us that's why paul when he was writing to timothy and second timothy one verse six said it like this he said for this reason i remind you to fan into flame the gift of god which is in you through the lane on of my hands stir up the gift within you don't allow it to go dormant use your gifts and discover the joy of serving god you see peter goes on in verse six he said silver and gold i do i do not have but what i do have i give to you in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk as a brand new christian within the first year or so i forget exactly now we learned this as a song it's one of the first verses i can remember memorizing we used to sing it 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 then he says a walking and leaping and praising god walking and leaping and praising god in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk we used to sing scriptures that's how we memorized it in the early days of our walks and that's what he's saying i don't have money but what i do have i will give to you you see in jesus i've been given the authority to perform a miracle on your behalf now this kind of work by the way isn't new for either peter or john early in their training jesus had sent them out and and they had performed miracles in in mark 6 13 it says that the apostles cast out demons they anointed with oil many who were sick and they healed them so peter said in the name of jesus christ of nazareth to reveal who was doing the work and it made it clear that it was by the authority of jesus and and not himself and the man is miraculously healed notice verse 7 he took him by the right hand lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength i wouldn't do that you never see me walk up to somebody in a wheelchair and just grab and say get on up i will not do that this was an exercise of gifts and we'll see this in just a moment but i want you to notice something some of you are well aware of this notice how it says his feet and ankle bones receive strength his feet that it's a greek word that one commentator pointed out not as speaking just of your feet per se but it's speaking of from the souls up his feet is speaking of the souls from his souls up his feet from his souls to his ankles and it's speaking about strength that he's receiving now any parent in this room will understand exactly what what's taking place once i just say it like this our babies when they learn to walk it takes it's an awful lot more than just standing and walking we know that they learn to crawl they learn to lift themselves up they learn to balance themselves then they learn to step after a long while they will learn to jump but they don't do that as when they're just learning to walk they have to combine all those skills over time to develop the ability to walk and to leap this was instantaneous part of what happens when you learn to walk is you also learn equilibrium you also learn how to be balanced if you're not balanced you can't jump and so what's taking place is an instantaneous miracle of a sort that that is just unbelievable this man was crippled from his mother's womb he's never taken a step in his life let alone standing up and leaping that's never happened and so what we're seeing here is an incredible miracle and peter takes him by the right hand and he lifts him up he's exercising supernatural faith when he reaches down and pulls him up he's also exercising the gift of miracles as a man experiences the power of god he's also bringing about a physical healing as he does that now jesus had said in mark 16 18 that his men would lay hands on the sick and they would recover and that's what we're seeing take place notice verse 8 leaping up he stood he walked and he entered into the temple walking leaping and praising god walking leaping praising god and not peter again we have a tendency of giving glory to the vessel instead of the one performing the work god receives all the glory always does god doesn't share his glory with anybody i am the lord that is my name my glory i will give to no one else neither my praise to graven images i the lord he says i'm a jealous god he doesn't give his glory to anyone else i think that we're really really treading on very thin ice when we begin to take upon ourselves the glory that belongs only to jesus christ something to be very aware of god receives all the glory again ministry takes place when human needs are met through divine resources through the use of loving channels to the glory of god now what happens and we'll close verse nine all the people saw him walking and praising god they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate at the temple and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him they were filled with wonder they were amazed what they saw this had already started to occur as god was forming the church we saw that in book of acts but this miracle confirmed that the apostles were anointed by god you see when the spirit works his servants do not receive glory and they never take the credit we don't serve for people's attention all the glory goes to the lord and so let me develop this in my conclusion when to develop a couple things with you one if you desire to grow in the lord develop godly friendship if you want to be used by the lord make prayer a priority and if you want to be in the place where god can use you then be prepared and finally be ready and prepared to serve when given unexpected opportunity first service was an interesting service today i was sharing this and i was sharing with with our church how you have to be ready you know you it's like when i used to play little league you know and i i wasn't if i wasn't playing at the time i had my my glove next to me because i wanted to get into the game i didn't want to just go there and and watch a game i wanted to participate so i was ready i was i always is was in the position of being ready i think you always need to be ready to be brought in you never know when it's going to happen and and so i learned to do that at very early age and so i asked the lord a long time ago lord help me to be prepared when you put me into the game and i was sharing that i was sharing that kind of thing just as service for service let me share you share with you i had said to them that when i was in in college in a secular college our professor had said to us that he was going to supply us with a word and he said um i'll give you the word you won't know what that word is but i'll give it to you when i bring you up here everybody in this class is going to do this and he said i'm going to give to you an opportunity to take that word and to give an extemporaneous speech using that word and so i waited with all the others there were about 30 or so students in the class at that time again it was a a secular college it wasn't a christian college and then he finally after a few weeks in the class he said david it's your turn come on up and i shared this before but i walked up and he said your word is freedom and so i still remember how i began i said freedom when you say freedom freedom is you need to be free from something jesus christ said to us that you would know the truth and the truth will set you free i said the freedom that i want to share about today is freedom from sin and the freedom from sin that you can have is by giving your heart to jesus christ and i preached the gospel to that to that class and there was a woman who was sitting next to me who was also a believer and she turned to me when i sat down and she said to me you don't say much but when you say something you say a lot well i was sharing that today and i believe that when you came in today this wasn't happening but first service it was at the end of first service today jared told me that there are people that were at our gate today and that they were filming people coming in and i don't know if they were there when you pulled in maybe they were so jared told me we prayed for them because the bible tells us very clearly that we're to be ready in season and out of season be instant be ready and so i said okay and i teasingly said i'll go take care of them to the church but we prayed for them but john can tell you what happened at the end of the service i went out to the and walked out the side john followed me and two or three of my ushers did too and i walked up to the guy who was standing over in the skate over here and i walked up to him and i said hi how you doing what are you doing and he started just babbling gibberish at me just making sounds it was kind of odd it's kind of like talking to john huh but he did that i said why are you here why are you here and he goes he made noise and i said you're here to monetize right you're here to get some clicks get some money right that's what you're here for right well why are you here he says to me why are you here i said i'm the pastor of the church i said i'm here to find out why you're here but why are you here and he's filming me and i was told by john uh he has like 250 000 followers so i said why am i here because jesus kind of gave him the gospel because 250 000 people what an opportunity what an opportunity you know jesus died on the cross for you that's why i'm here he died for your sins so he could set you free and i shared it yet i shared the gospel and and and he's just looking at me and i said you know what i said that's what he's that's why i'm here so you have to be ready instant in season and out of season when god gives you an opportunity take the opportunity and who knows maybe somebody who is watching online to make fun of believers maybe that person is hearing the gospel for the first time and maybe they'll get who knows we don't know the grace of god is so amazing see so you have to get your you have to be ready you have to know what you believe you have to be prepared here are my lord send me i want to be used by you send me use me why because the days are dark and they're getting worse and the light needs to shine so may god use us be in a place of prayer be in a place of fellowship be willing to be used take a step of faith exercise your gifts and watch what god will do through you watch what god will do he will use you he used a donkey to speak speak to bail him he uses donkeys today and we can still speak in the name of christ he uses us be ready in season and out of season two final things jesus had passed by this man many times and he didn't heal him this guy had been in this place for years so remember god has a time in a season for everything and secondly the people were filled with amazement but they were still unsaved miracles do not save but served a point to the savior who does because in verse 11 and 12 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 when peter saw it he responded to the people men of israel why do you marvel at this why look so intently at us as though by our own power and godliness we had made this man walk the miracle became the podium that he preached of jesus christ who had died on a cross for them miracles are intended by god to draw attention so his message can be communicated you are a transformed person you are a miracle of rebirth you have a platform use it your friends and your family who know you knew you as what you were now i know i have some great people in this church great testimonies of your goodness all your life you think but i wasn't one of those i was the opposite and my life that was transformed was a miracle that god was able to use to reach others you probably are the same as me you have been saved you've been washed you've been set apart and you glorify god and use your opportunities you'll be surprised at the amount of people out there who are just wanting to hear the truth give them the truth tell them how much jesus loves them and reveal through a life transformed what he can do in a sinner who is saved by grace may we learn that