"What We Have to Give" Sermon: Acts 3:1-10

“What We Have to Give”
[Acts 3:1-10]
July 12, 2009 Second Reformed Church

Last week, we saw Luke summarize the marks of the Church – those four things that a church must have to be a church: preaching and teaching of God’s Word Alone, fellowship – in the sense of giving and sharing our blessings in the Church, the orderly and frequent reception of the sacraments, and prayer. We then saw examples of how the believers lived each day as Christians, and we saw that the apostles were given the gift to be able to do works that amazed all people.

We remember, as Mark records, “Afterward [Jesus] appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover’” (Mark 16:14-18, ESV).

This morning we heard the first part of one of the awesome works that God the Holy Spirit did through the apostles – the healing of a lame beggar. If the Lord is willing, we will look at this healing and what happened because of it over the next few weeks. Today, let us consider what we have to give as the Church, and, remember, as we saw last week, the Church is not defined by programs. So let us consider, in this text, what we have to give as the Church. What do we have to give that cannot be found in the world? Let us also keep in the back of our minds over the next few weeks that the reason Luke gives us this one example of the amazing works that they did is to show us how it makes the Church grow.

Peter and John went to the temple at 3 P.M. for the prayer service, and when they arrived, they saw a man who had been born lame being laid down at the Beautiful Gate. This was the gate that led into the temple, itself. And the man had been laid there every day, as we will learn, for the past forty years, and as he lay there, he begged those going in to worship for money to be able to survive. He was unable to work, but he had friends that would carry him to the gate each day so he could beg for money for food and shelter. This is a man who was well-known by everyone who came to worship – he was always there. They had seen him year after year, day after day.

Most of us can picture this – most of us have been asked at one time or another for money from someone who is out of work or disabled in some way. Some of us have encountered the same person on multiple occasions. There are people who have been on the streets for years and we have gotten to know them. The lame man at the Beautiful Gate was like that.

As Peter and John made their way towards the Beautiful Gate to enter the temple, the man saw them and called out to them, “Can you spare some change?”

Peter and John had been fishermen, but they had given up that work three years before to follow Jesus. They had families of their own to support. They may have been living, in part, off the offerings made to the work of the disciples. But the Holy Spirit opened Peter’s mouth, and Peter said, “Look at us.”

And the man look directly at Peter and John. He could see that they were not wealthy men, but perhaps they would give him a coin or two – something to help him get through the day. He just hoped to have enough for the day.

Each Sunday we pray the Lord’s Prayer and ask that God would give us what we need for this day, and that is what God has promised us – that He will provide us with exactly what we need for each day.

But God is able and willing and does give us more than we need. I hope we all understand that God has given us more than we need – more than we have asked for – enough to help others with. Paul breaks out in joy in the midst of his letter to the Ephesians, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever, Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV).

If that is true, we ought to ask God for great things Yes, we ought to ask Him for our daily needs that He has promised us, but we should also ask for great things that we understand and pray are according to His Will. Understand, there is little good in praying that some celebrity will give each one of us a new sports car – it’s unlikely that is God’s Will for us. But we should all be in prayer, in this church, that God would be pleased to bring His people in to worship here – that God would build up this congregation, in faith and understanding and in numbers and influence for Jesus’ Sake in this area. I hope we are all praying for this church and for God’s continued use of us.

When we pray – and when we ask God for great things – we need to do so in faith, believing that God is able and if He is willing, it will be so. As James wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8, ESV).

The man at the Beautiful Gate just wanted to get through the day. Perhaps he had once hoped and prayed for healing but had given up. We’re not told, only that now he just wanted a few coins to get through the day, and then he would be back the next day to beg for coins for the next day’s sustenance.

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”

Peter and John really didn’t have any extra coins for him, but what they had for him, what the Holy Spirit had made known to Peter that God had to give the lame man, was greater than a few coins, and even greater than being healed.

Notice, Peter, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, calls on the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth – the recently crucified rabbi that even the lame man would have heard of. Why? Remember that we saw last week that Jesus promised that if we pray in His Name, He will do whatever we ask – if what we ask is according to His Will. The Name of Jesus is not a magic slot machine to get anything and everything we want. We pray in the Name of Jesus to submit ourselves in faith and trust to Jesus and His Will for us.

Peter called on the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to indicate to the lame man and all those around them that what was about to happen was not something that came from them – it was not of their own power that anything was going to happen, but according to the Power of the Son of God. Jesus had healed people in His Own Name while He was on earth, and now the apostles were carrying on the same work in His Name, by the Power of Jesus and according to His Will.

And the lame man had faith in Jesus and what they called on Him to do for the lame man. How do we know that? As we just saw in James, God will not answer a prayer that prayed in doubt. God expects us to believe that God is able to do what we are asking, or there is no point to our praying. We know that the lame man had faith in Jesus and what they called on Him to do for the lame man, because Luke records, “And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.” He was healed!

What do we understand from this? We profit from God’s Blessing by believing in His Promises. If we believe what God has said and what He has promised, we can be sure that God will bless us according to what He has said and promised. God rejoices in Himself to answer the prayer that asks Him to do what He has willed and promised. On the other hand, as we have said, if we doubt God’s Word, if we question if it is true, we have no reason or right to believe God will answer us according to His Word. In fact, if we question the truth of God’s Word, we make God out to be a liar, and that is blasphemy.

The lame man had faith in Jesus, the One in Whom Peter called to heal the lame man, and the lame man was healed. But even greater than that healing, was His newfound faith and belief in the Gospel of Jesus. That is something all believers have, and that is what we have to give – the greatest thing anyone can ever receive – the Gospel of Jesus Christ – that God came to earth as a human, lived, died, rose from the dead, and ascended back to His Throne in Heaven, having defeating sin and death and the devil, and having secured salvation for all those who would believe in Him, by paying the debt for our sins and crediting us with His Righteousness.

If we have nothing in the world but Jesus, we are rich – richer than we could be with anything and everything else in the world. Paul wrote, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way; by great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet we possess everything” (II Corinthians 6:2b-10, ESV).

Brothers and sisters. No matter what we have, no matter what we face, you and I are rich in Jesus Christ through His Salvation. This is what we have to give – and it is Jesus’ Call upon each of us, whether we are a pastor or not – we are to give the Gospel away. We are to let others know that Jesus Alone saves. In whatever way we are able and gifted, we are to let others know about Jesus, and giving the Gospel away only increases the riches of Jesus Christ. We lose nothing in telling others Who our Savior is, but, oh!, the riches that are gained as each one comes to faith in Jesus Peter and John became richer as another brother entered the Kingdom. The lame man became richer by having his sins forgiven and being imputed – credited – with the Righteousness of Jesus. And, as an added bonus – and added blessing – he was given the ability to walk.

“And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.” What more appropriate response could there be? He didn’t thank Peter, he went to the Source – to His God and Savior – and rejoiced, not merely in his healing, but in the salvation he received.

Are you thankful for your salvation? Do you thank God that He sent His Son to take your place on the cross to suffer under God’s Wrath and die? Do you thank God that Jesus lived a Perfect and Holy Life, so He was raised and will also raise us with Him on the last day? Do you thank God that your eternal future is secure in the Kingdom of God – in His house with many rooms? Do you thank God for the “smaller” blessings – like this building and the people who worship in it, for there being oxygen in the air, for waking up this morning, for being able to come to worship, for having clothes to put on and food to eat, and so on and so on and so on.

Thanking God first and foremost is the appropriate response to receiving a blessing. That is what the lame man did. Let us follow his example and give thanks, even for the “little” things. Is not God worthy of our thanks?

When the people saw the lame man walking and leaping and praising God, they recognized him – this miracle was notorious and public – it was done to a man that they all knew – year after year, day after day, he lay on his mat at the Beautiful Gate and begged for money to make it through the day. There was no mistaking that this was that same man, but now his feet and ankles were healed and he was walking and leaping and praising God. Peter and John could not have slipped a look-alike in – this was a man they had intimate contact with daily for decades. So, Luke tells us, “they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him.”

Lord willing, we’ll see what happened after this next week. For today, let us understand that we are rich because we know Jesus as our Savior; we have believed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter what ever happens to us and our things, we are rich, and we have manifold reasons to give God thanks for all that He has and continues to do in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

And let us understand that the greatest blessing we can be to another person is to tell them Who Jesus is – that His Gospel is true, and there is only salvation in Him. We will do that in different ways, according to how we are gifted. Some will talk about Jesus and what he did. Some will invite people to worship to hear the Gospel. Some will give out books or tracts or other information that explains who Jesus is. But we are all to do something. If we truly believe in Jesus savingly, if we believe that He is worth the effort, if we believe our neighbor needs to believe in Jesus to escape eternal suffering, if we desire to see God glorified and receive His blessings as others come to know Him, we will do something to let others know about Jesus, and we will give thanks to God.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for the Gift of Salvation that You have given us through Jesus. We thank You for choosing us to be Yours and for giving us joy in our salvation. Help us to give what we have to others that they may come to faith in Jesus. And make us ever more thankful, for You are ever worthy, In Jesus’ Name, Amen.