3:1 Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.
2 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 of them that entered into the temple;
3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
6 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.
7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God:
10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.
11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.
All right, chapter 3, verse 1: “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.” The ninth hour for a Jew would be around three o’clock in the afternoon. Beginning at six o’clock in the morning and running on in the afternoon. For a Gentile, it would be nine o’clock in the morning.
“Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.” The average Jew prayed three times a day if he was consecrated like Daniel, and prayed in the morning and in the afternoon and in the evening. This is the afternoon time.
“Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple.” Now, if you have Cornelius Stam’s book on the Acts of the Apostle, you’ll find Brother Stam suddenly getting as quiet as a sick sow in a snowstorm at this passage. And he won’t make enough comment on it to get you by.
And trying to make that man there Israel is just too much! Because he’s outside the Temple, and the Jews weren’t outside, they were inside it. And the Jews didn’t look at the Apostles expecting to receive anything from them.
That thing there is a picture of a sinner getting saved. And, though that’s just a healing in the passage that God uses to get a bunch of people together, you read that passage, and, boy, you can see New Testament doctrine all over that thing!
Now, for example: Verse 2: “And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb.” Now, what is that? That’s born in sin. That’s Pauline doctrine. “None that doeth good, no, not one.” “Dead in trespasses and sin.” “Child’s nature wrath.”
“His mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple.” He’s outside the Temple. Picture of an unsaved man.
“Which is called Beautiful, to ask alms.” The unsaved man’s a beggar.
“Of them that entered into the temple.” Alone in the world, without hope and without God.
“Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.” We’d say, “asked for a handout.” “Ask an alms” is asking for a handout, some money.
“And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.” That’s interesting, too! That isn’t like Simon Peter. What would Simon Peter have said normally, after he told somebody to look? He would have said, “Look on me!” That’s Simon. Simon learned something after being out there bawling in Gethsemane through all night long in a prayer meeting, and dealing with the Lord, and he’s not self-centered any more. It isn’t, “Lord, be you bid me come upon the waters.” It isn’t, “Though all men be offended, yet not I.” It isn’t, “You’ll never wash my feet.” Remember old Simon Peter? Now it’s, “Lord, look on us.”
Now, there is a Spirit-filled man. “Look on us.”
“And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.” The unsaved person has a right to expect something from the saved person.
“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none.” No works. “But such as I have give I thee.” The gift of God is eternal life. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.”
“And he took him by the right hand,...” there’s your part as a soul-winner “...and lifted him up: and immediately...” instantaneous salvation! “...his feet and ankle bones received strength.” That isn’t a picture of Old Testament salvation! That isn’t a picture of a man keeping the Law and going into the Temple. That’s a picture of grace!
“And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple,...” fellowship with the Lord’s people “...walking,...” Paul said, “Walk in the Spirit.” “...leaping,...” getting stronger “...praising God.”
“And all the people saw him walking...” testimony where they can see him “...and praising God.”
That’s a beautiful picture of New Testament salvation. You’re saved — SNAP! — just like that! But after you get up, you have to walk awhile. And then pretty soon you begin to leap, and begin to run.
Last night my little girl Rachel got saved. I don’t know what led me to preach that message last night. I thought to myself, “There ain’t nobody unsaved out there tonight.” That was an old one out of the barrel I hadn’t preached in about six years. But I felt led to preach it, and went ahead and preached it. Gave an invitation: “Is there anybody here who doesn’t know they’re saved? Raise your hand.” And Rachel raised her hand. And usually, when kids raise their hands, I just ignore them, you know. I don’t call anybody’s hand unless it’s an adult.
There was an adult right over here, a fellow over here about twenty years old, and came in with — who’s that dark-haired, good-looking kid, what’s his name? Is it Val? Yeah, it was Val — that fellow with him. Are they kin? That fellow he brought? What? They work together. Well, anyway, he was there, and he didn’t know he was saved.
So, after the service was over, Rachel got into the car. And she was crying. And Sherri said, “What is it?”
And she said, “Mama, I don’t want to go to Hell!”
And her mother said, “Well, you need to get saved.”
And she said, “Well,” she said, “take me home; I want to get saved at home.”
And they drove home and got back there, and back in the bedroom and got down on their knees with the Bible, and ol’ Rachel was crying and chewing her fingernails.
And Sherri said, “Do you know you’re a sinner?”
She said, “Oh, yeah, I’m a sinner. I’m a sinner.” She said, “If I died, I’d go to Hell.”
And Sherri said, “Well, you know how to get saved?”
She said, “No, I don’t know how to get saved. Tell me how to get saved.”
Which is interesting, see. Because up till then, if you asked her how to get saved, she’d say, “Let Jesus come into your heart.” That’s what they teach the kids.
But that shows you that some of this child evangelism stuff is kind of thin, you see. Because when a sinner sure enough gets under conviction, he doesn’t think for a minute that salvation is by “letting Jesus come into your heart.” Which it’s not. Christ doesn’t come into their heart, that believes on Him as a blood atonement, see. You leave out the blood atonement, and the rest of that stuff won’t work.
So she said, “No.”
So Sherri showed her, and she bowed her head and got saved.
When I came home last night about fifteen minutes later and walked through the door, she came up to me and she said, “Guess what, Daddy? I got saved! I got saved! I got saved!”
And I said, “Good! Good! Did the right thing!”
And she said, “Come here, I’ll show you where!”
Yeah, that’s it, that’s it, you know.
And she went to bed.
About an hour later, after she went to bed, I went by the bed and heard her in there singing. On the bed, she was singing, “I’m saved, I’m saved, I’m saved, I’m saved...”
Now, you know, it would be such a blessing if grownups had that much sense! But they don’t.
All right, now, here’s a picture of a person saved right away, and notice in this passage here that we’re saved by receiving a free gift in the name of Jesus Christ. Now, that is not New Testament salvation, but, boy, it sure is a picture of one!
“And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s.” That’s the name of a porch around the Temple. “Greatly wondering.”
3:12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
“And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?” Now, this is a big difference from the old cussin’ salt-water fisherman that’s denying his Lord. This fellow is bold as a lion now, man! Boy, he’ll stand up, he’ll tell ‘em off!
“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up.” BAM! See, personal application. Hadn’t gone on into that message two minutes: “YOU!” See that business? None of this business of “We did this,” and “We did that,” and “If we do this, we’ll do this.” It’s “YOU!”
“Ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.” See that charge brought against them?
“But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you.” Get a man like Peter saved, boy, it’s just like a battery of 105’s firing in unison!
“And killed the Prince of life.” Murder! He accused them of murder.
“Whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.” Now here’s the proof: “And his name through faith in his name...” see that picture of New Testament salvation? You never read anywhere in the Old Testament about anybody getting healed or saved through faith in a name. Nowhere in the Old Testament.
“And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him” — by Christ — “hath given him” — the man — “this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
“And now, brethren,...” here it comes: “I wot...” I know “...that through ignorance ye did it.” See that? They’re still having a chance. Christ said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” They know not what they do! “Ignorance.” “I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.” So, you see, in the early part of the Book of Acts, Israel is having a second chance.
Now, Stam and Bullinger and O’Hair mistake that, and they say, “Well, then Acts chapter 2 is dealing with the last days of Israel, not the first days of the Church.” Well, that’s a bothersome exposition. It’s dealing with both! In the Book of Acts, you’re dealing with a second chance for Israel, which they’re going to reject. And you’re dealing with a Body that started here, and is going to replace Israel — like that. It’s a transition.
QUESTION: Isn’t that stretching the truth a little bit, that they did it through ignorance?
ANSWER: Well, only in this sense. Turn to 1 Corinthians. You’re right; there’s a lot about it that wasn’t ignorance. But the ignorance is in 1 Corinthians 2:8. There was nothing ignorant about their sin, their wickedness. They knew they were killing a good man. Here’s the ignorance; 2:8: “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Then men directly responsible for the Crucifixion did not know that Jesus Christ was God manifest in the flesh, or at least they weren’t convinced. But the rest of it’s willful.
QUESTION: Is it going to take a direct repentance of the Jewish rulers who crucified Christ, and the leaders, for God to bring a revival back to Israel?
ANSWER: Sure is. Turn to Deuteronomy 21. Matter of fact, till the rulers do it, it will never be done. Deuteronomy 21:1; we’ll have to close here for tonight. Deuteronomy 21:1. I could trigger the Rapture if I could find who the Levites are. Of course, allowing God would let me get over there — which He wouldn’t, if it wasn’t His time for the Rapture — and allowing for the fact that God wouldn’t kill you before He could trigger it. But I know what to do to trigger it. All right, you take Deuteronomy 21. Now look at the context, verse 22. Look at the context. Twenty-two. Now look what they call Jesus Christ, verse 20. Now look at the firstborn in verse 17. Now look at verse 1: “If one be found slain” — Christ — “in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” — Palestine — “to possess it, lying in the field,” — the field is the world — “and it be not known who hath slain him” — you don’t know who did the actual killing — “Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man,” — Jerusalem — “even the elders of that city” — has to be the official leaders — “shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley” of Gehenna — city dump — Judas. “And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man,” — Jerusalem — “shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.” The untoward generation. “Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood” — Matthew chapter 27, Judas — “unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.”
So, if you want to trigger the Rapture, go to Palestine, get the elders and judges and Levites, and go out in Gehenna, get a red heifer, strike off the neck, have them go through that — and I’ll guarantee you, you won’t have five minutes to stand on the ground! Because that thing there will take place probably after the Rapture. That’s the restoration of Israel.
QUESTION: Why does it require the repentance of the rulers?
ANSWER: Because the Lord is not going to take that guilt away from them, until they acknowledge publicly as a nation that they rejected their Messiah.
QUESTION: They’re going to do that?
ANSWER: They’re going to do it, just as sure as you’re looking at that page. And the quicker they do it, the better of they’ll be. And every orthodox Jew has Deuteronomy 21. And every orthodox Jew can read it. And every rabbi in the country has read it; it’s in every synagogue in the world. Deuteronomy 21.
QUESTION: What do they say about it now?
ANSWER: Oh, they probably say it’s just any innocent fellow who was killed. But as the age draws on, draws on, the Holy Spirit takes up His dealing with Israel, every time a Jew reads that, boy, the Holy Spirit will say, “Hey boy! Hey boy! Christ! Christ!”
QUESTION: When you say the nation of Israel acknowledge their guilt of the Messiah, do you mean all of the people or just the rulers of the nation?
ANSWER: The people have to put pressure on the elders and judges, until the elders and judges submit to the will of the people and officially represent the people, and do what God tells them to do. And they’ll do it.
QUESTION { female} : May I give a testimony?
ANSWER: Yeah.
QUESTION: My little boy was eight years old, and he was talking to another little boy in school. And my little boy said, “Do you know Jesus?” And the little boy said, “Yeah.” And Tommy said, “Are you saved?” And he said, “No.” And Tommy said, “Would you like to get saved?” And the little boy said, “Yeah.” And Tom said, “Bow your head, close your eyes, tell Jesus you’re a sinner and you want the blood to wash away your sins.” And the little boy bowed his head and closed his eyes and said, “I’m a sinner, and I want the blood to wash my sins.” And he was saved. And my little boy came home from school, and he was about to burst, and he said, “That was the first time, Mommy, I’ve ever witnessed, and I knew it that I should, and I said ‘No,’ and the Spirit said, ,’ and look what happened!”
ANSWER: You know, I heard a fellow say one time, he said the guilt, the thing that the world couldn’t stand about the early Christians, were they took Jesus Christ out of the Temple and spread Him all over the town.
All right, that’s all.
All rights, Acts chapter 3, verse 11. Mr. Ortiz, lead us in prayer. { Mr. Ortiz praying audibly, but in the background.} Thank you, Lord, you’ve been so good, thank you Lord. Amen. Amen. { Dr. Ruckman in the foreground.}
All right, Acts chapter 3, verse 10. Now, in the passage, they just healed a lame man here. Anybody find out what happened to that chair? I’ve been standing up taping all day; I’ve been standing up six hours; I’m ready to sit down.
All right, Acts chapter 3, verse 10. And this is a type of salvation. And we talked about the various things in it. “And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered...” well, I covered this, down to verse 13:
“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers,...” Jewish father “...hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.” That’s quite a thing there. Look at that passage in 13. It says, “Pilate was determined to let him go.” Now, look at this thing in chapter 4, verse 27. And in 4:27, it says Pontius Pilate was gathered together against Christ. In 4:27 it says Pilate was against him, and in 3:13 it says Pilate was determined to let him go. Now, that’s a picture of a double-minded man that’s unstable in all his ways. Pilate was against Christ and tried to be against Him and for Him at the same time. And no man can serve two masters. And he just couldn’t do it. So he just wound up, just losing his shirt.
“But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you” — Barabbas — “And killed the Prince of life.” He accused them of murder, see? Murder! “YOU killed.”
Now, we know that nobody could have killed Christ. He could lay down His life and take it up again. But, as far as God is concerned, the Lord judges a man for his intent. And their intent was to kill him. So he says, “You killed him.”
“And killed the Prince of life.” So they’re murderers.
“Whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him” —I’ve covered all this! Why didn’t y’all stop me? I remember I covered 17 now.
We’ll begin at verse 19. I ran a cross-reference on 17 in Corinthians.
3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
23 And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
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.
All right, 19. Now watch these words carefully. This is a very important passage: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,” — NOT at Calvary! That your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Now, Simon Peter doesn’t know that a person’s sins are blotted out at Calvary.
Now, you know that, but where’d you get that from?
QUESTION: Is he talking about two different times? The first time when people’s sins are removed at Calvary, but for the purpose is when the person comes in the presence of the Lord? Is that personal salvation there?
ANSWER: No. Because he says, “the times of refreshing.” “The times of refreshing” are the Millennium.
Look at 21: “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things.”
QUESTION: So he’s still preaching John the Baptist’s doctrine?
ANSWER: Just about. Just about. Go to Isaiah 44, and look at this promise on the “blotting out.” Isaiah 44. And Isaiah 44, look at verse 21: “Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” But everywhere in the Old Testament that “redeeming” and “blotting out” of the sins of Israel, that restoration, everywhere it’s always spoken of is in connection with the Second Advent. The Lord says, “I’ll forgive their iniquity, and I’ll pardon those whom I reserve.” At that time — Second Advent — the sins of Israel shall be sought for and not be found.
In the Book of Hebrews, chapter 8, “This is the covenant I’ll make for them, when I take away their sins.” Turn to Hebrews chapter 8. Notice in all of these places, he’s talking about Israel’s sins, not being blotted out at Calvary, but being blotted out at the Second Advent. And this is what Simon Peter is preaching.
Hebrews chapter 8. It’s still a national message. Now, the Lord’s doing things to individuals, but they don’t know it. Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8, verse 10: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days.” Verse 12: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Talking about the Second Advent.
All right, Acts chapter 3, verse 20: “And he shall send Jesus Christ” — Second Advent — “which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution” — Second Advent — “of all things.” There’s the Millennium. Times of reformation; the time of restitution. And he said, “Which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me.” Deuteronomy 18. “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. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after,” — Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, all of them — “as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.” Second Advent. “Ye are the children of the prophets,” — it’s to Israel — “and of the covenant which God made with our fathers,” it’s Israel — “saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 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.” So he does know that Christ’s death has something to do with getting rid of sin, but simply says He “raised up his Son Jesus,” and He sent down Jesus down here to bless Israel and to turn them from their iniquities.
So, in Acts chapter 3 Peter doesn’t yet have “by grace are ye saved through faith,” and Peter doesn’t yet have a finished blood atonement and eternal redemption. It hasn’t been revealed to him. He’s still preaching the message to Israel as a nation. And that’s very important to remember. It shows the revelation in the Book of Acts is progressive.
And they don’t know everything Paul knows. You can’t read Paul back into that. Paul wouldn’t tell a fellow, “Repent, that your sin may be blotted out when Christ comes back.” He wouldn’t tell a fellow that. Paul said, “He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it unto His cross.” See? A different message.