It is said that in our technology, internet driven age, we have become the most time-conscious people in the history of the world.

Nowadays, we are always people in a major league hurry for everything to happen immediately, instantaneously, most definitely, preferably sooner.

When we get our oil changed it is “quick lube”.

Our packages are delivered by “Federal Express”.

Our food is “fast”.

Our rice only takes 1 minute.

Our coffee faster “instant”.

We drive on “expressways”.

When we need a loan, we go to the internet, fill out some basic information. Then we click a button or two and quicker than we blink, “instant approval”.

When we deposit our checks into our bank accounts using our smartphones, it tells us that it is immediately available for our use – no more waiting 24 hours.

How much of our world – stock markets, financial institutions, multi-billion-dollar business decisions, diplomacy and world government actions depend on moment to moment, instantaneous and immediate means of communications?

Our computers and phones are equipped with “instant messenger”. Someone said, “Americans are people who shout at their microwave ovens to hurry up”.

That is probably true as my wife will frequently tell me: “stop shouting at the microwave to cook faster because it won’t, and you know it.”

We don’t like delays.

Delays are at best inconvenient, most of the time they are irritating and often they are downright infuriating.

Think of morning rush hour traffic, the expressway and road construction for a moment. Because of the work the speed limit has been reduced to 35 mph, you are going to take the fastest shortcut to the nearest Walmart it takes 10 minutes instead of the usual 5 minutes … that is irritatingly inconvenient.

Imagine those same conditions. You are headed to work; the traffic is down to one lane, and you are 10 minutes late for work… that is irritating.

You are on your way to work. You are taking the kids to school first, traffic is stopped, five men are standing around watching one man work, you look at your smartphone and angrily realize you are 20 minutes behind schedule…

that can be worse than infuriating.

Many times, we allow delays to ruin our day.

But if we knew what we may have encountered if we had been on time we would be eternally grateful.

When have you called on the Lord to move in your life and He did not respond instantly, immediately, when or how you wanted Him to?

Perhaps from moment 1 of minute 1 of hour 1 of day 1 this caused you to be more than a wee bit angry, frustrated, saddened, numbed out, even 100% doubtful.

Perhaps the absence of that “immediate” “instantaneous” response has ended up defining your whole existence – and you come to literally expect “nothing!”

No answers! No Miracles! No Nothing!

What does it do to your self-esteem to expect nothing from no one all the time?

Acts 3:1-10Amplified Bible

Healing the Lame Beggar

3 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), ² and a man who had been unable to walk from birth was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at that gate of the temple which is called ^[a]Beautiful, so that he could beg alms from those entering the temple. ³ So when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking [them] for coins. ⁴ But Peter, along with John, stared at him intently and said, “Look at us!” ⁵ And the man began to pay attention to them, eagerly expecting to receive something from them. ⁶ But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have; but what I do have I give to you: In the name (authority, power) of Jesus Christ the Nazarene— [begin now to] walk and go on walking!” ⁷ Then he seized the man’s right hand with a firm grip and raised him up. And at once his feet and ankles became strong and steady, ⁸ and with a leap he stood up and began to walk; and he went into the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. ⁹ All the people saw him walking and praising God; ¹⁰ and they recognized him as the very man who usually sat begging for coins at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement and were mystified at what had happened to him.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Pentecost having taken place, and the infant Church having been shown to be established, Luke now goes on to deal with the way in which the infant Church rapidly expanded.

In Luke’s summary of the life of the early Church, he has told us:

And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. (Acts 2:43 NASB)

Today, I pray we are going to see one of the “many wonders and signs” which the apostles did-the story of the lame man who was healed at the Beautiful Gate of the temple.

Evidently Luke has selected this miracle first in order that it might teach us something very significant.

Let us try to follow a timeline to these events.

Nobody knows for sure how much time passed between the events of chapter 2 and the beginning of chapter 3.

It was probably a relatively short period of time.

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. (Acts 3:1 NASB)

Peter and John being together seems to suggest that the apostles continued to go around in pairs as they had done while preaching during the ministry of Jesus (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:1), and as Paul would do with Barnabas in the future.

I definitely believe there was a significant reason for this; They were sent out in pairs for Koinonia, keeping company, encouragement and mutual support.

Even today we see the greater effectiveness of believers working together and ministering to each other, encouraging each other, supporting each other.

Here we see the new followers going to the Jewish temple to worship as is their usual daily practice.

At the end of the Gospel of Luke it says:

And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple, praising God. (Luke 24:52-53 NASB)

And then in Chapter 2 of Acts it says:

And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, (Acts 2:46 NASB)

So, their place of worship hasn’t changed, but they now understand that Jesus is the Christ, and they are worshiping Him.

Later they will separate from the temple.

“The ninth hour, the hour of prayer”-It appears that there were three hours of the day devoted to and destined by the Jewish people to public prayer; perhaps they are referred to by David:

Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice. (Psalms 55:17 NASB)

There are three distinct times marked in the book of the Acts.

The THIRD hour, Acts 2:15, answering to our nine o’clock in the morning; the SIXTH hour, Acts 10:9, answering to about twelve with us; and the NINTH hour, mentioned in this verse, and answering to our three in the afternoon.

This afternoon prayer time immediately preceded the evening sacrifices, so by an overwhelming margin this would have been the most highly attended of the prayer times.

We’re talking about literally thousands and thousands of people flooding through the gates through this magnificent structure called the temple.

And a certain man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to set down every day at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple. (Acts 3:2 NASB)

The Scripture tells us that this man was crippled.

But more than that, this man was crippled from birth.

Think about the tragedy of that.

He had never been able to stand and walk, to run and play like the other boys.

His parents had to carry him everywhere.

I’m sure many opportunities had been denied him because of his affliction.

Now, he’s a grown man and every day friends must carry him to the temple so he may beg for a living.

A tragic situation indeed.

We can only speculate concerning what effect this must have had on his heart.

He could easily have been bitter.

There had never been a day in his entire life when he had not been a burden to somebody.

He could not walk; he could not work.

This was not a day when there were concrete wheelchair ramps for those who were this extensively, severely physically disabled.

In fact, there were no wheelchairs or handicapped parking places! All he could do was beg, sit there, and hope that people would have pity on him.

Evidently, he had been brought to the temple habitually for a long, long time, and Jesus must certainly have seen him as He passed into the temple.

We are not told what this man had heard about Jesus or whether he had ever tried to reach Him to be healed.

It would seem that the man might have or even would have given considerable thought to Jesus during those times when He visited Jerusalem and especially that final week of His public ministry, before His death.

This was a week characterized not only by daily appearances in the temple for teaching but also to heal:

And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. (Matthew 21:14 NASB)

Many had been healed, but here he sat, still lame, and now since Jesus had been crucified, maybe even hopeless.

Beggars regularly sat at the gates of temples and shrines hoping to benefit from donors when they would be feeling at their most pious.

The Beautiful Gate.

The Beautiful Gate was in the courtyard of the women.

This beggar didn’t go through it to the temple itself, the holy place.

Josephus observes (Bell. Jud. lib. v. cap. 5, sect. 3) that the temple had nine gates, which were on every side covered with gold and silver.

Josephus also tells us that during the siege (66-70) this gate opened of itself. The Jews saw this as a sign that God was leaving the temple.

And when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms 4 And Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze upon him and said, “Look at us!” (Acts 3:3-4 NASB)

“Look at us,” we don’t usually look at beggars, we look away. Peter looks right at the man, and tells the man to look at him to get his full attention.

And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. (Acts 3:5 NASB)

Notice that he was “expecting to receive.”

He expected to receive because giving of alms was a required duty of Israel:

“For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’ (Deuteronomy 15:11 NASB)

So, it was a constant custom for all who entered the temple to carry money with them to give to the treasury, or to the poor, or to both.

It was on this ground that the friends of the lame man laid him at the gate of the temple, as this was the most likely place to receive alms:

But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-walk!” (Acts 3:6 NASB)

This man had never walked-he had no clue how to walk.

Yet this is what Peter tells him to do.

This is a cruel thing to say to a lame man.

Unless you have the power to make him walk, and Peter did.

By “name” he implied “the full revelation of the person mentioned.”

The title that the angel gave to Joseph for the baby, “Jesus,” meant “Jehovah saves.”

It was our Lord’s given name and “refers to his birth, ministry, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension.”

It was a title that encompassed His saving work.

The title, “Christ,” means “Anointed One” or “Messiah,” and emphasizes that Jesus is the “exalted Son of God.”

Or as Peter adds in his sermon a bit later, Jesus is “the Holy and righteous One…the Prince of life.”

What Peter carried with him was the authority of the name of Jesus the Messiah of Nazareth.

He was here with all the authority of the Messiah.

And by that authority he now commanded him to rise from the dust and walk.

He thus turned the man’s attention wholly on Jesus as Messiah.

The mention of the Beautiful Gate combined with the mention of silver and gold had to immediately draw his reader’s attention to the connection between the two comparing, the old temple with its splendor, but ineffective, with the new temple of His people founded on the power of the Lord Jesus Christ:

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1 Peter 1:18-19 NASB)

That old system with it’s silver and gold couldn’t redeem, but Jesus the Lamb could.

And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. (Acts 3:7 NASB)

Peter commands the man to walk (literally, continuous action-“be walking”) and grabs him by the right hand to raise him up.

If Peter had not grabbed this man, he may never have attempted to get up.

Let’s remember here that our author is Luke, who is a medical doctor.

Several of the terms used in this text are very precise medical terms.

For example, when Luke is talking about feet and ankles, he uses two words that are very unique, very specialized.

This is the only time these two words show up in the Scriptures.

They’re medical terms to describe the deformity, the problem with the feet and the ankles.

When Dr. Luke talks about the man leaping up, it’s a medical term that basically means for the long-deformed sockets to fall back into place where they belong.

And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. (Acts 3:8 NASB)

He didn’t have to go slow until he built up his weak leg muscles.

He didn’t have to go for months of physical therapy to learn how to walk (remember, he had never walked before!).

He not only could walk, but he could also leap, and leap he did, over and over again! He was instantly healed.

The healed man knew where his healing had come from.

He didn’t shout praises to Peter and John.

He didn’t praise his own mental attitude, saying, “I knew that if I just kept a positive mental attitude, someday I’d be healed!”

He didn’t boast in his great faith as the cause of his healing. No, he simply praised God. God and God alone, by His great mercy, was the cause of his cure.

The very behavior of this former cripple was a sign to those who had eyes to see.

The word “leaping” is the same Greek word used in Isaiah 35:6 in the LXX:

Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. (Isaiah 35:6 NASB)

When does this happen?

In the new age of Messiah. Speaking to true Israel God says:

Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6 Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. (Isaiah 35:4-6 NASB)

The word used in Isaiah 35:6 is of the leaping of the lame when they are healed in the new age.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/isa/35/6/t_conc_714006

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Thus, this lame man’s leaping indicated that the new age was here.

How could Peter heal this man like this?

Well remember what Jesus had told him:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father. (John 14:12 NASB)

When Rabbi Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, they must have sounded incredibly mystifying to them considering the miracles they already witnessed.

Yet what he had promised was happening.

It was as if Jesus were still with them working through them in great power.

Peter could do this because he had the gift of healing.

Peter at will healed this man.

There is no indication that the man had faith in Jesus to be healed.

In 3:16, Peter explains to the crowd that it was on the basis of faith in the name of Jesus that this man was healed, but Peter seems to be referring to his own faith, not to the man’s faith.

We’ll talk about this more in a few moments.

This lame man at the Beautiful Gate had not been healed by the Savior Jesus in the days of His flesh, though He so frequently taught in the temple; but he was healed by the power of His Name, now that He was glorified in heaven.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God; 10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:9-10 NASB)

They all recognized him as the lame man who had for so long begged for alms at one of the gates of the temple.

He was a well-known, local man and crippled from birth.

There could be no question about the authenticity of his condition.

And now here he was walking and praising God within the temple.

And while he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. (Acts 3:11 NASB)

That word “clinging” is an interesting word.

Most of the time in the New Testament it is translated “arrested.”

The apostles took a position in one of the open colonnades which faced the inner side of the temple wall, called Solomon’s Portico and this man who was healed hung on to them tightly.

It also tells us that the people came running in amazement.

We’re talking about thousands of people.

We’ll see in chapter 4 that there were thousands and thousands of people gathered here that came running from all over the courtyard.

These people were astonished by this, so much so that they ran.

Now there is another crowd and another opportunity to preach, and Peter takes it. What did Peter say? Come back next week and you’ll find out.

What is the significance of this story?

Well, I suppose that Luke’s purpose for incorporating this story is many.

First, it illustrates the wonders and signs spoken of earlier (2:43).

Secondly, in order to illustrate that those who will come to Christ are those who have recognized their spiritual lameness and need and have looked to Him as the only One Who can heal them.

Both the Hebrew Testament and the teaching of Jesus stress that those who will be saved of old Israel are like the lame.

In Isaiah we read, in the context of the coming of the Lord as Judge, Lawgiver, and King:

Your tackle hangs slack; It cannot hold the base of its mast firmly, Nor spread out the sail. Then the prey of an abundant spoil will be divided; The lame will take the plunder. (Isaiah 33:23 NASB)

The thought here is that it is God’s weak and helpless but restored people, who will finally, in God’s Day, triumph and enjoy the spoils of victory.

In Jeremiah we read:

“Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together; A great company, they shall return here. (Jeremiah 31:8 NASB)

The blind, and the lame will be among the very first people of God who return triumphantly from far off to enjoy God’s coming Rule.

In Luke the maimed and the lame were the ones who were to be called when someone gave a supper”

“But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, (Luke 14:13 NASB)

This was immediately followed by the parable of the man who made a great supper representing feasting in the Kingdom of God.

Here the Holy Spirit through the apostles makes clear that in the Name of Jesus salvation is offered to ‘the lame’, and that something better than the temple is among them.

This lame man represents those of Israel who recognize their need and are open to God’s call.

The later mention of his having been lame for “over forty years” may well have been a reminder of the “lameness” of Israel in the forty years in the wilderness.

I think there is a comparison here of the old and new temple. The old temple-was no help to him. The new temple-body of Christ brought life.

And thirdly, in order to evidence the fact that the new age had come by the fulfillment of Isaiah 35:6, “then shall the lame man leap like a deer,” Luke is telling us prophecy was being fulfilled. The kingdom had arrived!

We see in this text in Acts 3 a remarkable miracle.

And because it occurs here in the book of Acts, there are many people who say,

“This is what ought to be occurring in the Church all the time. People ought to be healed like this every day.”

Acts 2:43-47 the new Church devoted to the Apostles doctrine and fellowship, which consisted of breaking of bread and prayers.

This should be a pattern for the Church for all time.

If that is true, shouldn’t the Church also expect miracles of healing today just as they saw then?

Are there people today like Peter who can heal people?

As you know, the Church is divided on this and a myriad of other issues.

So, let’s try to justify our position from the Scripture alone. Peter could heal people like this lame man, because he had the gift of healing:

to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, (1 Corinthians 12:9 NASB)

This is the spiritual gift of being able to restore to health.

A spiritual gift is a God-given capacity through which the Holy Spirit supernaturally ministers to the Church.

According to Ephesians 4:11-16 the gifts were to be used to bring the Church from a state of infancy to adulthood.

The purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the body; once the body is mature, we no longer need spiritual gifts.

There is a lot of confusion today about spiritual gifts; do you know why that is?

It’s because they were for the last days, and when the last days ended, so did the gifts.

This is why so many believers have no clue as to what their gifts are, they don’t have one.

Just as the manna ceased when Israel got in the land, so did the spiritual gifts end when New Israel entered their inheritance in A.D.70.

At the end of the forty years the miracles ended.

There is a difference in Scripture between God’s healing of individuals and the gift of healing mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12.

If this were not so, we would find no healing before Pentecost.

But we see God healing many people in the Hebrew Testament.

He calls Himself:

And He said, “If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.” (Exodus 15:26 NASB)

God says, “I am your healer”.

God has always healed independently of any gifts of healing bestowed upon an intermediary.

God healed Abimelech in Genesis 20:7; Miriam in Numbers 12:14; King Hezekiah in Isaiah 38:4-5.

They were all healed in answer to prayer.

All through the Hebrew Testament God graciously intervened in the sicknesses of men and healed them.

With the gift of healing God was now doing a new thing.

He was endowing individuals with the ability to heal as the Lord heals.

Peter had this gift.

We see it used here in our text in Acts 3, we see it in again in Acts 5.

The gift of healing was an endowment of specific individuals who could exercise the miraculous gift at will, independent of faith or expectancy in the individual being healed.

As I have already said, there was absolutely no expectation of healing on part of the lame man at the gate Beautiful.

Neither is there any question of whether he had faith to be healed, he wanted money, not a healing. Faith is not mentioned. According to verse six, Peter exercises this gift and heals this man independent of anything in the man.

What was the purpose of the gift of delayed healing? 

Did God want everybody to be immediately, instantaneously healthy so they could immediately and instantaneously enjoy life more?

Does God want everyone to be healthy and wealthy?

Absolutely not!

But there are those today who say it is actually wrong for a Christian to be sick.

They tell us that Jesus died not only for our sins, but for our sicknesses as well.

Quoting Isaiah 53, “by his stripes we are healed”.

They say that this means that in the atonement there is physical healing for everybody.

That is a gross misinterpretation of Isaiah 53. It has nothing to do with physical healing.

The gift of healing was a sign!

And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. (Acts 2:43 NASB)

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/act/2/43/t_conc_1020043

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The Greek word used for sign is semeion, which means: “a mark, an indication or a token.”

It is used of miraculous acts as tokens of divine authority and power.

The gift of healing was given as God’s signature as it were on the Christian Gospel to demonstrate that it was of Him.

The key to understanding Peter’s healing of this lame man starts in verse 12?

Peter got the crowds attention and then began to preach Christ.

I. You May Request a Miracle Today – Everyone here has needs, wants and desires. But there are also some who seek instead a mighty move of God.

We encounter those situations that are so severe that it is clear that God is our only hope! For those who are in that situation today….

A. There Is A Desire –

v1 ¶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.

As Peter and John approach the temple, they encounter a man with a certain request.

He asked them for “an alms”.

This is defined as money or food given to poor people.

This was a simple request, and it was how he spent each day of his life.

But it is safe to assume that this man possessed a much greater desire.

He had condition that prevented him from walking.

He was unable to live as others lived and to do what other did.

Being lame was an issue that greatly impacted his life.

You and I may be facing complex issues and circumstances which are having a tremendous impact on our lives.

In vast this vast assembly today called “the Body of Christ” the church, there are many diverse people with many diverse and different problems.

Perhaps you and I are facing a situation at this very moment, and it seems that there is no hope for you and there is no hope for me.

Our greatest desire is for the Lord to immediately and instantaneously come on the scene and work a mightily impactful instantaneous miracle in our life!

Let the story of this man encourage you.

All he wanted was some pocket change, but he received an entire life change!

As Peter and John met with him that day, he received more than he could have ever asked or hoped for.

And Jesus is still working miracles today!!

But Jesus doesn’t always work when or how we would choose.

Not only is there a desire, but we also must one day observe that:

B. There May Be a Delay –

v2a 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.

This man had endured this struggle his entire life.

We are told that he was “lame from birth”.

Your issue… your need for a miracle may be something that you have dealt with for many years.

Because of your waiting you may be frustrated, discouraged and even angry at God.

Notice:

1) Delayed Miracles May Cause Disappointment

– Consider the location of this miracle. When Peter & John found this man, he was at the gate of the temple.

There were some compassionate people who would take this man each day and place him beside the beautiful gate.

At this point in history Jesus has already ascended to Heaven.

But is the very recent past Jesus had been in this very area.

It is possible (I believe even probable) that this man was present on many occasions when Jesus was in the region.

He may have heard the news of this Man from Galilee and all of the miracles that He had performed.

Maybe he heard that Jesus had spit on the ground and made clay, placed it on the eyes of a blind man and he received his sight.

Maybe he heard that Jesus put His finger into the ear of a deaf man, and he began to hear.

Maybe he heard that Jesus encountered 10 lepers and at the sound of His voice they were cleansed.

Maybe he heard that there was a Centurion who approached Jesus on behalf of his servant and without even being at the same location the servant was healed.

Maybe he heard about a woman who has an issue of blood for 12 years and when she touched the hem of His garment she was instantly healed.

Maybe he heard about a man named Jairus whose daughter was sick and then died, who was healed by this Jesus.

Maybe he heard about a man named Lazarus who had been dead for 4 days and was raised to live again when Jesus called his name.

Perhaps he heard these things and was resentful.

With all of these miracles in the very region where he lived WHY was he left out!

Perhaps he lived for years thinking that “today could be the day that I receive my miracle”. And for years it didn’t happen.

You and I may be in a similar situation.

For a very long time you have longed for God to move in your life.

Perhaps you have prayed day after day for God to intervene to no avail.

You look around and see God working in the lives of others.

You trust Him and you call on Him… you plead with Him, and it seems you are wasting your prayers and your time.

Your delayed miracle may have caused you great disappointment.

After a while that disappointment may turn into doubt.

Notice also:

2) Delayed Miracles May Cause Doubts –

You pray and pray, and it feels that your efforts are futile.

You may ask is it worth it?

You may wonder if God is there?

You may feel that He just doesn’t care.

You are tired of waiting.

You are weak and weary.

Some of you may have gone beyond doubts and now you are angry at God.

You blame Him for your situation.

You ask why He let this happen to you?

Because of your doubts you have given up on God!

I hope that you will see through the story of this lame man that just because God doesn’t act when you want Him to…

Just because He doesn’t respond exactly how you want Him to…This doesn’t mean that He has forsaken you!

God always has a plan and a reason for the struggles in the lives of His children. You May Request a Miracle Today, and you may not receive it.

But there may come a day when you least expect it that God shows up and does something amazing. And that day could be today.

– Notice:

II. You May Receive A Miracle Today

– As this man was placed at the beautiful gate that morning, he had no idea that this was the day his life would change forever. All he wanted was some money or some food. But he didn’t get want he wanted, he got something much better!!

You may have been calling on God to do something specific in your life.

As of now it has not happened, in fact it may never happen!

But today may be the day that you receive a miracle.

And you may find that God has an even greater plan than you could have ever imagined.

Look with me to Acts 3 verses 4-6 as we consider:

A. The Method Of God’s Miracles

– v4 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.

God is absolutely Sovereign, and He absolutely knows best.

He knows the reason for your struggle.

And when He works a miracle, there is a reason for that as well.

If this lame man had his way, he would have never been born with his condition.

And I am sure that he would have loved to be healed many years earlier.

But God was not ready!

God had a plan that would literally amaze those who were present. As a result, this man was used by God in a mighty way. (More on this in a moment.)

You may not have chosen your current circumstance.

You may feel that you know what God should do.

But God may have another plan concerning your miracle.

At times, all we can do is trust Him to do what is best!

The great lesson for us in this rather long devotional is not so much about the miracle, but the reason behind it.

– I want to look to verses 7-11 and consider:

B. The Motivation For God’s Miracles –

v7 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.

Peter lifted this man up.

His legs received strength.

He was filled with Joy.

He walked,

He leaped and

He praised God.

Something that had long seemed impossible had FINALLY happened.

This was truly a “DELAYED” miracle that would change his life forever.

Maybe you are in a similar situation.

For whatever reason you NEED a miracle.

We believe that God is still working miracles today…right???

1. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
was blind, but now I see.

2. Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.

… RIGHT?

… RIGHT?

… RIGHT?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord, my Rock and Redeemer, thank you that you are my ever-present help in times of trouble.

When all I can see around me is trouble, help me to trust in what is unseen. Remind me of the truth of your power, that you surround me and no one can pluck me from your hand.

Remove my crippling fear, replace it with wholehearted faith in you, my God. You are the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God. To you be honor and glory forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.

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