The pastor started this morning with a passage from Isaiah about peace, and that's what my song is in regards to. I sing and play every morning, and it's such an inspiration for me. Most of these songs come right out of our hymnals. And this one's inspired by Isaiah 66, verse 12. And it says, "Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream."

I've got peace like a river  
I've got peace like a river  
I've got peace like a river in my soul  
I've got peace like a river  
I've got peace like a river  
I've got peace like a river in my soul  

I've got love like an ocean  
I've got love like an ocean  
I've got love like an ocean in my soul  
I've got love like an ocean  
I've got love like an ocean  
I've got love like an ocean in my soul  

I've got joy like a fountain  
I've got joy like a fountain  
I've got joy like a fountain in my soul  
I've got joy like a fountain  
I've got joy like a fountain  
I've got joy like a fountain in my soul  

I've got peace like a river in my soul.

Thank you, Doug, for that song. That was really good. Really good song. Good morning to everyone. Well, it was nice and warm this morning, 15 degrees. I was reading on Facebook the other day a guy in Texas, and he was complaining about 22 degrees. It was 22 degrees, and he had on all these clothes and three shirts and mittens and hats and all these things. I thought, boy, 15 felt pretty good this morning. So we're looking forward to a little warmer week. That's nice.

We're going to be looking at Acts chapter 3. We're continuing our study in the book of Acts today. And we just finished considering the birth of the church and the amazing day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 a couple weeks ago. We ended with the description of that early church in verses 42 to 47. We saw the main focus of the body of believers, the central core values of that first church consisted of the apostles' teaching, fellowship, and prayer.

As we discussed last time, these are the vital elements for the church which cannot be compromised or set aside by other endeavors. The apostles' doctrine is the central focus, the teaching of the Word of God. I was reading a story, I'm not sure it was a true story, but it said that someone had walked in on a church leader, and he was in there counting the money. He looked up and said, the church can no longer say that they have no silver or gold. And the man said, the church can no longer say either, get up and walk. 

I thought that was an interesting comment on the church in our world today. Plenty of gold and silver, but perhaps lacking power. So we need the apostles' doctrine; we need the Word of God to be the central focus of everything we do. I'm impressed more and more of my desperate need as a preacher of God's Word to stick to the words themselves, which form the verses and the chapters and the books and the meaning that God intends to convey.

We must go word by word, line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse, book by book, if we're going to rightly divide the Word of Truth, if we're going to cut the pieces straight and put them together into a picture that makes sense and maintains the integrity of the Word of God. This is because it is so very easy for any man, for any preacher to bring his own prejudices, his own experiences, his own philosophies and understanding of theology to a given text and put his meaning into it rather than taking out of it what God has said. 

When men pick topics and then search for verses to support their ideas, what we call topical sermonizing, there's a broad allowance for a man to put his ideas into the text, exercising imagination rather than receiving revelation from God's inspired Word. But when a man is deep in the thick of the context of the words, how they come together, the flow of thought, the intent of the author and the meaning of those words, the meaning they form, when he starts with the very words seeking what God says, then he is constrained by those words, by the meaning of the author within the context of the chapter or book rather than really the whole of the Word of God.

So we see in the first days of the church, the apostles' doctrine as a central focus of their coming together and meeting as a body of believers. We also saw that fellowship was a key component for these believers in Christ. They met daily, house to house, breaking bread, remembering the cross and what Jesus had done for them, proclaiming His death, looking forward to the day that He would come again. They encouraged and strengthened one another, stirring one another up to good works as they emphasized fellowship and their need for each other.

We also saw a continual dependence on God through prayer. This was a praying church. They understood their desperate need for the grace and power of God to work in and through them to accomplish His will. He was working mightily, even doing many signs and wonders through the apostles, bringing fear, reverence, and respect from every soul. God was working in this unique way in the early church for the express purpose of validating the words, the preaching and teaching of the apostles through these mighty works. 

In our text today, we see a specific example of this very thing. The first recorded miracle in the church, the healing of a lame man who had been so from his birth. Now, as we start, I just want to read the entire chapter because I think we should take it as a whole, because it all hangs together to give us God's purpose for the miracle that we see here and explains to us the signs of the times. 

So I'd like for you to turn to Acts 3, please, and we'll read the entire chapter beginning at verse 1. Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. A certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple. 

Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. Fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, "Look at us." So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk." 

He took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch, which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?" 

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. But you denied the Holy One and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 

In His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given Him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 

Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 

For Moses truly said to the fathers, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things whatever He says to you, and it shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people." Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 

You are sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." To you first, God having raised up His servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.

I've given you three points on the outline this morning. First, we see the signs of the times. Second, as we saw in chapter 2, we'll see another message from Peter, a salient message. And third, a sustaining promise. 

Well, in the first few verses here, Luke sets the stage for us, forms a picture in our minds. Here's a man who is lame. He had been so from his mother's womb ever since he was born. For perhaps 40 years, this man had been living unable to stand up, to walk. For a long time, they had been bringing him here to this gate called Beautiful to beg, to ask for money to support himself, because he had no way to work. He had no ability to support himself. This was a choice begging spot because so many were going in and out of the temple daily to pray and offer alms or sacrifices. 

This was the time of the evening prayer, and many people would be flowing in through this gate. So this man lay here day after day, seeking alms, begging, asking for a few coins to sustain himself. It reminded me of when I was in India, and it was always a struggle to know whether to give money to the beggars. Everywhere you went, there were beggars.

I remember we were in a car, stopped one time, and there were three or four women there begging. I gave some money to one woman, and boy, the rest of them came and all the arms were in the car reaching at us and begging and crying and asking, and then we kind of drove away. I thought, man, that was really something. It reminded me of that picture, seeing those beggars. 

So this man lay there day after day, seeking alms, begging, asking for a few coins. This is really a picture of the helplessness of man, the effects of sin and disease and deformity, sickness and death. All men are affected by sin, to some degree or another, by the curse of sin, the corruption that resides in every man born in Adam. 

But here was a man who had no pretense. He was lame. He could not walk. He could not work. He had to humble himself, laying on his mat day after day, begging others to give him enough money to live. And there he lay before the magnificent gate to the awesome structure of the temple, the gate called Beautiful. All those religious Jews went in and out, day after day, performing their rites and rituals, maybe giving him a coin or two.

Along come Peter and John. They're going up to the temple to pray. It's interesting that the believers in the early church were still going up to the temple. As we have said, this is a transition time, and it had been their custom all their lives to go to the temple and to pray and give offerings. They were meeting together house to house, having communion and teaching, but they had no church to meet in, no building, and they were still going up to the temple to worship and to pray and to be together. There were thousands of them at this point.

So Peter and John are walking in among the people to the gate to go into the temple, and they see this beggar laying on his mat asking for money. In verse 1 it says, "Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour." A certain man, lame from his mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple. 

Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. Fixing his eyes on him with John, Peter said, "Look at us." So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." 

He took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was the one who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 

Here we see Peter heal this man, a man who had been lame all of his life, who had never walked all of these years. Peter takes him by the hand in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and lifts him up and commands him to walk. Now, it's Jesus who healed this man. He delegated this authority to Peter and the other apostles, and the Scriptures tell us that He was working through them to do these amazing and wonderful signs. And we see Peter quick to give the credit to Jesus. 

Just as when Jesus had healed people on this earth, we see that he was instantaneously, totally, and completely healed. It was not like a Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland meeting with lots of smoke and mirrors and false teaching, and go home and in six months you'll feel better. This man was lame from his birth. Luke tells us that the weakness was in his feet and ankle bones, but when Peter lifted him up by the hand and healed him in the name of Jesus, the bones were strengthened. They were recreated, really, instantaneously and perfectly. 

The man not only walked, but he ran and he leaped for joy, praising God. He didn't have to learn to walk. He'd never walked before. He didn't have to go for physical therapy and wait to heal and grow in strength. He was literally made new, fit and functional in every way so that he could now even walk and leap, and he was praising God and giving thanks to the Lord. What a picture coming into the temple that day. 

It was indeed an amazing event, but what was the purpose? What was God's reason for doing this kind of sign in the beginning of the church age? We see the answer in verses 9 to 12a. "And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him." 

Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people. Now we've discussed this before in chapter two, but it is important to understand why it is that Jesus worked through the apostles in this way with signs and wonders in this time. These were the signs of the time. 

We must remember the time and this ties in so beautifully to the whole of this chapter. We're still in Jerusalem at this point. The believers who became part of the church that first 3,120 or so, and perhaps some more, were being added as we see at the end of chapter two, they were all Jews. Peter and John are walking into the temple to pray amongst all the Jews. The gospel has not gone out into Samaria and Judea and to the ends of the earth, not to the Gentiles yet. 

What we see here in chapter three in Peter's words is again a sermon directed to the men of Israel. It is very Jewish in its context and content. Peter in his preaching emphasizes again that Jesus is the Messiah, that the times of the Messiah of Israel had come. Look down to verse 19 with me, please. He says, "Repent therefore and be converted to the Lord your God, that your sins may be blotted out so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that He may send Jesus Christ who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

For Moses truly said to the fathers, "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren. He will tell you all things, whatever he says to you. It shall be that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people." Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, "And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." To you first, God having raised up His servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. 

The phrases, the times of refreshing and the restoration of all things refer to the time of Christ's kingdom on this earth and the promise to Israel. All of this language, much like Peter's sermon on Pentecost was geared to explain to the Jews that the Messiah had come and Jesus of Nazareth is that Messiah. The times are the times of the Messiah. The new covenant promises are in effect. And when Israel repents and turns to Jesus, He will come and set up His kingdom on this earth. National restoration of Israel will be preceded by national repentance of Israel.

The time is what Peter calls these days in verse 24. All the prophets of God foretold of these days, the time when Jesus would come and that He would suffer and then there would be a second coming where He would deal with Israel in the tribulation and come back again to set up His kingdom. The Jews are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with Abraham of a land, of a nation, of a kingdom, of a blessing to all nations through His seed. 

And who is that seed? Paul tells us in Galatians 3 that the seed is Jesus Christ. Peter says to you first, to Israel, God having raised up His servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you in turning you away from your iniquities. The promise remains for Israel. Paul tells us in Romans 11 that the promise of God to Israel will be fulfilled. 

During the time of Jacob's trouble and up to the point of the second coming, all national Israel will turn to Jesus, their Messiah in faith and be saved. The times of refreshing will come. The times of restoration of all things will come, and God will keep His covenant. He will keep His unconditional promises that He made with Israel. 

So we see in this third chapter of Acts, the signs of the times. We see a salient message, the gospel truth and a call to repentance. We also see the sustaining promise for Israel. But it is important to note that at this time in Acts 3, Israel did not repent. They did not turn to Jesus, the Messiah. 

As we move through the book, we will see the apostles fulfill the great commission and move out into all Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, offering salvation to all men, Jew and Gentile, through faith alone and Jesus alone and what He accomplished on the cross. This is God's plan for the church. This is Christ's instruction to His apostles and to all who would believe in Him through their words. 

That includes you, my brother, my sister in Christ. We are here that the world may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that salvation only comes through Him. So now God's doing a work in the church age. We can understand that better in Ephesians. If you'd turn to Ephesians chapter two, I'd like to read beginning at verse 11. 

As Paul describes God's purpose in the church, Ephesians 2:11, Paul says, "Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. 

Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

This is God's intention in the church age and these days for all believers around the world. For the body of Christ to go out into all the world and to reach men by the power of the gospel preached, we preach Christ crucified. This gospel message is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. For the Jew first, but also for the Greek. 

It all began back in Jerusalem where the believers received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Peter stood up and preached Christ. They came together daily and focused on the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and prayer. God worked mightily through them with signs and wonders to give them opportunity to preach the gospel so that men would know that what they spoke was indeed the words of God—the truth about Jesus of Nazareth. 

This is what we see in our text today in the first miracle done through Peter and John in the preaching of the clear message and the response of faith by no less than 5,000 men. It's amazing to study and think about these events. My brothers and sisters, I believe it is even more amazing to continue to see God work through us today. Not with signs and wonders, but through the preaching of His Word, His truth about Jesus, this good news message. 

Still today, seeing men saved who choose to turn to Him in faith and to believe. Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. We thank You for the word of reconciliation that You've given to us as Your ambassadors in this world, that Jesus Christ came and took on flesh, became a man and died a death He did not deserve in my place for my sins. That He was buried and that He rose again the third day. 

Thank You for the truth that if we hold fast to that truth, if we take it for ourselves, if we believe Jesus, then we can know that we are saved and we are placed into Christ, into the body, Jew and Gentile, one in Christ. That this is Your plan, that this is Your purpose. This is what You'd have us to be doing, Lord. For Your glory, in Jesus' name, Amen.