Miracle at the Gate

Acts 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.

An amazing miracle

This wasn’t just any old miracle. The apostles performed many miracles (Acts 2:43). This was a particularly miraculous sort of miracle. This was the healing of someone born with a defect. Did the man even dare to hope that he would one day be able to walk?

When Jesus healed the man born blind it was said that no one had ever heard of something like that ever taking place in the history of humanity (John 9:32). Now the followers of Jesus had just performed an equally marvelous miracle. A man born lame was instantly healed!

As we witness, through Luke’s testimony, the healing of this man born lame we are inspired to worship our miracle-working God. Certainly we are left with questions. Why didn’t the apostles spend their lives traveling around healing everyone? Why don’t we see more of these healings today? Have you ever known or even heard of someone born lame that began to leap and walk suddenly? Ultimately our questions will not be answered in this life. What is certain is God’s goodness and power. He is worthy to be praised!

Were it not for God’s goodness no one would ever be healed, Jesus would never have walked amongst us healing those who were sick and oppressed of the devil, and we would have no hope that our prayers for healing and deliverance would find answers. God’s goodness is beyond question.

This most miraculous of miracles also leaves us without doubt that God has unlimited power. That means that no matter how dark the night there is reason for hope. In this miracle we see a glimpse of God’s good plan for all of creation. What has been crippled and broken for thousands of years will soon be restored, revitalized, made new.

Not just for one man at one gate

What God did for that man outside of the gate called Beautiful was truly unique. Yet, it wasn’t. This apostolic miracle is strikingly similar to the activities Jesus had been performing during his days in the flesh. The work Jesus began on Earth is continuing through his church.

Jesus came to save his people from their sins. But that’s not all he came to do. He cared for our physical needs. He healed physical bodies. He gave food to the hungry. This man begging outside of the temple could count on the generosity of the Jewish people. He could count on their generosity because they had been taught by God to take care of the poor. This gives us a glimpse of God’s agenda. God intends to meet our needs both physical and spiritual. These days he largely accomplishes this through his people.

A beauty yet to be seen

The gate called Beautiful was likely a gate known as the Corinthian gate. Unlike the other temple gates, which were made of gold and silver, this gate was fashioned from bronze. This gate was considered to be the most beautiful gate of all because of its amazing artwork.

Somehow this beggar’s life was like that gate, made more beautiful, in spite of its smallness, than the silver and gold lives that surrounded. This was a life tried by fire. This was a life fashioned through terrible suffering. This was a life marked by a degree of thankfulness that could not be realized in the more comfortable lives around him.

Michelle, a young woman known by the church, spent her life crippled. She suffered from Spina Bifida. Not once did she get to play like a normal little girl. She never ran and skinned her knee. She never learned to ride a bicycle. She never skipped or jumped rope. Boys never lined up at her door to court her. Don’t get me wrong, she lived a good life. She loved her family and her family loved her. She graduated high school and went on to college. But she needed constant care from her supportive family. This October, at the young age of 40, she left us.

Michelle waits. We wait. We live by faith in this in between time. Jesus is Lord. Yet, we pray that his will will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus is King. But we wait to crown him King of kings and Lord of the lords. His kingdom has come and yet his kingdom has not fully arrived. It’s as though we live in a land where two maps overlap. We see hints in shadows, or rather in bright spots – like the healing of this lame man, of how things should be, how things will be. Michelle waits. We wait.

We wait in authority. Just as the Apostles performed miracles in the authority of the name of Jesus, so can we. Signs and wonders still follow those who believe. We wait in faith.

Isaiah 35:6 Then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

Hour of Prayer

Praise & Worship – 15 minutes

Praise God for the things he has done. Worship God for who his acts reveal him to be.

Examination & Confession – 5 minutes

We fall short. It is good for us to recognize our faults and sins. Confessing our failures helps us to grow. Ask God to reveal sins that you don’t know about. Prayerfully read Scriptures such as Romans 12, Galatians 5, Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, James, and 1 John.  You may not need to read much. Allow God to show you where you can improve. Confess your sins and ask for more grace to grow to full Christian maturity.

Intercession – 20 minutes

Prayer changes things. Make lists. Pray freely.
Pray for governments, universities, cities, nations, family, spiritual needs, physical needs, just pray.
Scripture and experience reveal that
prayer changes things.

Personal Petitions – 5 minutes

God enjoys giving good gifts to his children. Pray confidently.

Thanksgiving – 5 minutes

Express thanks for what God has done. Give thanks for what you expect he will do in response to prayer.

Praise, Sing & Listen – 10 minutes

Delight in God’s presence. Make sure to take time to be quiet in his presence. God still speaks.

Jesus the Stranger

John chapter 1


He made the world. Yet, it considered him a stranger. 


Everyone wants to go where "everybody knows your name." But Jesus came where he knew there would be no room for him, where he would be considered a stranger. 

We do well to remember that he was unrecognized and be careful not to miss him 

• He is still met in the stranger 
• His people are still strangers, still rejected 

 Is there room in your heart for the stranger?

Lust or Purity?

 Lust or Purity

1 Thes 1:1-8

Purity is God’s will for you (1-3)

-          Sanctification (holiness) not fornication (sexual sin)

-          Society today and in biblical times is dirty (incest, homosexuality, bestiality, adultery)

o   If lust ended our economy would take a nosedive

o   Russian man who built a special coffin to take his porn with him.

o   A growing number of divorces from porn addiction

o   Most children have been exposed to pornography by age 10

§  Phil Burress: Found a pornographic magazine when he was young. "For 25 years, he says, his waking hours were dominated by the need to view pornography. It destroyed his ability to be a loving husband, cost him financially and kept him emotionally estranged from people who should have been close." Twice-divorced. Now free!

-          Sex is not unholy. The marriage bed is honorable

-          Please God by being pure

Satisfaction is God’s will for you (4-5)

-          God doesn’t want you to be ruled by passionate lusts

-          God created sex

o   Unconditional love in marriage is the goal of our natural desire for physical union

o   Married people are more satisfied with sex (statistically)

o   Selfless union is to overflow into new life (babies)

o   Lust replaces the natural desire for love

o   Lust is selfish rather than selfless

o   Lust is "love" without selflessness

o   Lust can never produce the unconditional love marriage is about

§  Wilt Chamberlain (basketball star) said he slept with 20,000 women but said he’d trade them all for one woman that he wanted to stay with forever.

-          An itch that the more you scratch it the worse it gets

o   Perpetuates the division created at the fall

o   Addiction happens quickly and easily

-          Satisfaction in purity is God’s plan for your life

God will punish lust (6-8)

-          Do not cross the lines!

o    Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

o    Looking intentionally lustfully, let alone touching, crosses the line.

o    Intentionally attracting looks of lust crosses the line.

-          Tape loses its stickiness and hurts when removed – sex is like that tape

-          This message is from the Lord and carries his authority

-          God has called you to be clean

o   Guard your children – filter your internet

o   No private internet access

o   Careful about movies

o   Avoid chat rooms

o   Books

o   Xxxchurch.com/x3watch

Wounded to be Healed and Separated to be United

Acts 2:37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 ¶ And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

A wounding message
On the day of Pentecost Peter preached a wounding message. The word of God penetrated human hearts, causing pain. It was a good pain, the pain of the great Surgeon’s knife. He cut through layers of self-righteousness and self-justification to expose a deadly cancer – sin.

God is still doing this sort of work, a work only he can do. Human wisdom can persuade us, bringing us to the place of mental assent. Without the convicting power of the Spirit there is no salvation. God cuts us to the heart, hurting our hearts so that he can heal us.

God’s victims, the ones he had wounded, did not seek to explain away their guilt. They responded in the only fitting way. They asked, “What shall we do?”

Called to separation
The answer was repentance, and baptism in water and Spirit. Repentance was to be demonstrated by obedience, confessing the Lord Jesus Christ and being baptized in water. The promise of the Father, the gift of the Spirit was to follow. This gift of the Spirit must not be confused with the gifts of Spirit. All of God’s people are promised the Spirit himself – gifts will follow. The initial sign of his coming is speaking in new tongues (Acts 2, 10, 19).

No one could repent and receive the gift without cutting ties with their evil generation. The call to discipleship is a call to separation.

Joined to a new community
Every day God is adding people into his new community. The Christian life begins with separation. It ends in matchless unity. When we look at the Pentecostal church we see a church in love. This new community gives us a glimpse of what we could, should, and eventually will be forever – a selfless community ruled by love for God and neighbor. No envy, no greed, no mean jokes, no backbiting, no hatred, no pride, no fear, no poverty, just love. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this?

What does speaking in tongues mean?

Speaking in tongues is a sign that the Spirit has been poured out. This amazing sign is a testimony to the resurrection of the Lord and Christ. The Spirit baptism and the new tongues that follow are reminders that God's grace is being poured out in abundance, but not for long. Today is the day to call on the Christ and be saved. The day of the Lord is at the door.

Acts 2:14 ¶ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

What meaneth this? (14-21)

They are not drunk at 9 AM (Jews did not even normally have a meal before 9 AM)

This fulfilled Joel 2:28-32

Prophecy (including tongues), visions, and dreams are a sign of the last days Spirit outpouring. God gives his Spirit right after we crucified his Son! Jerusalem becomes the new Bethlehem.

Matthew 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: 34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. 35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. 40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

Grace and Judgment are intertwined here. The Spirit baptism comes with fire and foreign tongues -- signs of judgment. Still, the judgment is not yet.

In this age of the Spirit everyone who calls on Jesus will be saved.

Acts 2:22 ¶ Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 29 ¶ Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; 31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. 32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Who is Jesus? (22-36) A godly man through whom God performed miracles.

This was not denied by the Jews of Jesus' day nor by later Jewish writers. They simply rejected the miracles as coming from Satan's power.

God planned his execution and you performed it through the lawless Romans

But God raised him up!

David prophesied about this (Psalm 16:8-11).

David is dead and buried, so verse 10 must not be about him.

Psalm 110:1 (vv 34-35)also predicted Christ's exaltation.

Jesus is Lord and Christ

Speaking in Tongues: instantly learning a new language?

I like the idea of testing theories by tentatively accepting them and seeing if they fit the evidence. So, I want to suppose that biblical tongues is the supernatural learning of a known language for the purpose of proclamation and to test that supposition by the evidence available to me.

Expected:

The person who speaks in a tongue is speaking (or praying) in the language God has given him for the purpose proclamation.

Instead:

The person who prays in a tongue is not speaking to men at all. In fact, no man understands him. (1 Cor 14:2)

Expected:

If there is no interpreter then only the person who speaks (or prays) in a tongue will understand this speech, since God has given him this new language.

Instead:

The person who prays, speaks, or sings in a tongue does not understand what he is saying. Nevertheless, he gives thanks well and builds himself up. His duty is to pray that he will be enabled to interpret. (1 Cor 14:4, 13-15)

Expected:

The natural limits of tongue speaker's knowledge are not changed by the reception of this new tongue.

Instead:

The person who speaks in a tongue speaks mysteries in the Spirit. (1 Cor 14:2)

Expected:

If a person comes into a multi-lingual congregation such as Corinth it might be a good time to speak in tongues.

Instead:

Speaking in tongues would not profit them. They need to hear revelation, knowledge, doctrine, or prophecy. (1 Cor 14:6)

Expected:

Tongues is a means of instruction. Those who have received the gift should rejoice because they have been enabled to teach those who they could not otherwise teach.

Instead:

Paul rejoiced that he spoke in tongues more than any of the Corinthian believers. Yet, he contrasted his tongue speech with the teaching work that goes on in the church (1 Cor 14:18-19)

Expected:

Tongues is used to communicate whatever the recipient wants to communicate. The woman who has received the gift of English can now share a Psalm or a doctrine in the American church.

Instead:

A tongue is not a Psalm or a doctrine. (1 Cor 14:26)

Expected:

Tongues should be manifested in order to communicate the Gospel.

Instead:

Tongues are used in private prayer with thanksgiving and public praise. (Acts 2:11; 10:46; 1 Cor 14:2, 14, 17)

Expected:

There is probably historical evidence that the 120 disciples who spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost continued to minister in their newly received languages.

Instead:

Though the 120 did speak in tongues (Acts 2), I have never seen any evidence that they retained the ability to speak in those languages. Please share any you come across.

Expected:

Tongues, as a sign of God's work, should be seen in church history. There should be many cases when people instantly received and subsequently retained the ability to speak in a new language for the purpose of Gospel proclamation.

Instead:

Though there is evidence of xenolalia, documented cases are rare. More importantly, the retention of these new languages must be exceedingly rare. Please correct me if I'm wrong.



It troubles me that so many disregard the commands to "desire earnestly the best gifts", to "desire earnestly to prophesy", and to "not forbid to speak with tongues". Though other places may feel the pressing need to bring public meetings into greater order, my burden is for the lukewarm churches in America who have "quenched the spirit" and "despised prophecy". We need to rightly understand and welcome the gifts of the Spirit. The Spirit comes bearing gifts. We need to welcome him, gifts included. We need revival.