Now if you would, turn to Acts
4. We read there in Acts 3, but
I'd ask you to look in Acts chapter 4. Look at verse
9. Verse 9 says, if we this day
be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole. That's the title of the message
this morning is taken from that passage, by what means he is
made whole. That word made whole, it means
saved from suffering. You could ask this, you could
ask this question the same way, you could say, by what means
Is he delivered from the penalty of judgment? By what means is
he delivered? You could ask this question.
You'd be saying the same thing. By what means is he healed? By what means is he preserved?
By what means is he saved? That's a good question, isn't
it? I'd like to know. the answer to that question. I pray the Lord this morning
would be pleased to answer that question from his word. Now the account of this man's
condition, this impotent man, we read, we just read it back
there in Acts chapter 3. That's where we started this
morning, and it begins with Peter and John going into the temple. Look back there at Acts chapter
3, verse 1. Just turn back a page, Acts chapter
3, verse 1. It says, Peter and John, they
went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer. at the ninth hour, the hour of
prayer. Now, interestingly enough, if
we look back through the scriptures, this ninth hour is a pretty special
time. It was in the ninth hour, and
that's the time of the evening sacrifice. But it was in the
ninth hour that Elijah offered a sacrifice unto the Lord. Back there in 1 Kings 18, the prophets of Baal, remember
that? They met up there and they said,
we'll both offer a sacrifice unto the Lord, and the God that
answers by fire, let him be God. And the prophets of Baal, they
went first. They offered a sacrifice unto
a false god. They offered a sacrifice unto
Baal. And they called on the name of
Baal. They leaped up and down. They
got nervous. They started leaping up and down
on that altar. And nothing happened. And then
they cried aloud. No one answered. They began cutting
themselves and pouring out their own blood on the altar. And we
read that there was neither voice nor any to answer nor any that
regarded. There was nothing. Nothing happened. But Elijah, it was his turn,
and Elijah, he told the people, he said, come near. He gathered
all the people near to him, and he repaired the altar of the
Lord, and he made a trench. He had him dig a trench around
that altar. And he said, put these barrels
of water on it. And they dumped a bunch of water
on it, and he said, do it again. And then he said, do it again.
Twelve barrels of water were poured on that sacrifice. And it was at the time of the
evening sacrifice, the ninth hour, Elijah prayed. And he prayed these 63 words. He said, Lord God of Abraham,
Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day thou art God
in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done
all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that
this people may know." What was his desire that they know? That
thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart
back again. And listen, At the end of that
prayer, fire, the fire of the Lord fell. And it consumed not
only the sacrifice, but it consumed the wood and the stones and the
dirt, the dust. It just, it licked up even all
the water that was in that trench. And the people fell on their
faces. And this was their reply, the
Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God. In Daniel 9, 21, just listen
to this, Daniel was speaking. In verse 20 he says, while I
was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin
of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord
my God for the holy mountain of my God, Yea, I was speaking
in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I seen in a vision at the
beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me. When did
that happen? At the time of the evening oblation,
the time of the evening sacrifice, the ninth hour in the New Testament. in Matthew 27. Turn there with
me. Hold your place in Acts, but
turn to Matthew 27. Matthew 27, verse 46. Look what time it is here. About
the ninth hour. Our Lord's being offered up.
About the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli,
Eli, lamasambachthanai. That is to say, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them stood there
when they heard it, they said, this man calls for Elias. And
straightway one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with
vinegar and put it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. And
the rest said, let's see whether Elias comes to save him. And
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up
the ghost. And at that time, behold, The
veil of the temple was rent entwined from top to bottom. Why top to
bottom? You know, if it was from bottom
to top, it could be said a man did that. It was rent from top
to bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks did rent. The Lord Jesus Christ, in the
ninth hour, he died. He suffered and he died. And
the veil, again, the veil of the temple, that which separated
God and man was rent in too, opening the way in for man to
approach unto God. The ninth hour. And here, here
in our text, it's the ninth hour and we read that Peter and John,
they went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer
being the ninth hour. Look at verse two and three again
back in Acts, Acts chapter three. A certain man lame from his mother's
womb was carried. He had no strength. He had no
ability. He had to be carried. carried,
and whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which is
called beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered in to the
temple." Now, we have here not just any
man. Do you see that? This is a certain
man. This is a particular man. You know, God chose certain men
and women in eternity to be the objects of his saving grace,
objects of his mercy, and he predestinated them to be conformed
to the image of his dear son. God determined to do that, a
certain man. In Romans 8, 29, we read, for
whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren, a certain man. This is a certain man. And this man was lame from his
mother's womb. Is that not a clear description
of a sinner? Lame from birth. Born that way. Crippled. We were born with a
helpless, fallen nature. And we got it on us, too. It
came from our dad. It came from our father, Adam. from the womb, born dead in trespasses
and sin. In Luke chapter 14, the Lord
told a parable of a man who had a great feast and he bade many. And every one of them had an
excuse as to why they just could not come. One had bought some land he needed
to go look at. Another had some oxen he needed
to prove. The other one said, well, I just
married a wife, and I can't come. They all had an excuse as to
why they would not come. And the master told the servant,
he said, go quickly. Go quickly into the street and
the lanes of the city, and here's who I want you to bring to me. Bring hither the poor. bring
hither the maimed, bring hither the halt and the blind. That's who the Lord came to save. This certain man who was lame
from his birth, this man was asking alms. Here's another thing
we learn about. He's a beggar. He was a beggar. Pray the Lord would make us beggars.
Beg for his mercy. Beg for his salvation. Beg for
his grace. And you know, I wonder, I just
tend to believe he had no idea. He came asking for money. He
had no idea he could be healed of this lameness. This which
had plagued him since birth. He just wanted alms to supply
this body. Isn't that us by nature? Taken
up with this flesh. I don't know how many times I
see that on TV or hear it on the radio. I was in a bookstore
recently, I was looking for a commentary and I went to the religion section
and I never found the commentary, never found the one I was looking
for. I don't believe I found any commentaries. It was nothing
but how to be wealthy, how God wants to make me wealthy,
how God wants to make me healthy. Isn't that, again, the religion
of this world? This body, this flesh, health,
and wealth, no concern for the soul, no concern for salvation. I heard a man recently say this. He said he was a so-called preacher. He said that he gave himself.
That's what he was telling the people. He said, I gave myself
out of debt. I just struggle to believe that.
His congregation may have gave themselves out of his debt. He
didn't. Asking alms. Let's read on in
our text. Acts 3 verse 4, and Peter fastening
his eyes upon him with John said, look on us. And he gave heed
unto them, expecting He was still expecting to receive something
of them. He was still expecting to receive
some money from them. And Peter said, silver and gold
have I none, but such as I have, I give to thee. In the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. It was the ninth hour. It was
the time of the evening sacrifice. We have a certain man, a particular
man, a man that was lame from birth, a man that's a beggar. And you know what happened? He was healed. He was made whole. Peter said this, he said, silver
and gold have I none but such as I have give I to thee in the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk and he took
him. He took him by the right hand
and he lifted him up and immediately, he didn't gradually get better. immediately. His feet and his
ankle bones received strength and he, leaping up, stood and
walked and entered into the temple, walking and leaping and praising
God. And all the people saw him walking
and praising God. I just find it hard to believe
that if the Lord has mercy on a man or a woman or a young person, it doesn't have an impact on
them. You can't not see that. If Christ
dwells in a man or a woman or a young person, people took notice
of that, didn't they? That's what we read here. And
what had happened here, listen, it couldn't be denied. Everybody
knew what manner of man this person was. They knew his previous
condition. And now he's up walking and leaping
and praising the Lord. Look at verse 10 again in Acts
chapter 3. And they, the people, everyone
that had gathered together, They knew it was He which set for
alms at the beautiful gate of the temple. And they were filled
with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to Him. And they preached the gospel.
They preached the gospel to these people. Now turn over to Acts
chapter 4. Turn back to Acts 4 and look
at verse 1. And as they spake unto the people,
the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees
came upon them being grieved. They were troubled. They were
displeased. They were offended. They were
pained. This word even means they were
worked up about this. Why? How could you be troubled
about something like this? They taught the people. They
preached unto them the Lord Jesus Christ. They preached the resurrection
of the dead. How is it that men and women
can be grieved that the gospels preached. Grieved that this man
that was lame from birth was healed. You know it's no different. It's
no different in our day. Nothing has changed in that manner. I can assure you, and you know
this, there are folks in this community that are grieved. that the gospel is preached in
this place, and not just here. Across this country, around this
world, folks are grieved that the gospel is preached. And look
what happened here, verse 3. Shouldn't surprise us, look at
verse 3. They laid hands on them, and they put them in hold until
the next day. For it was now eventide, howbeit
many of them which heard the word believed. And the number
of the men was about five thousand." Five thousand believed. And it
came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and their elders
and the scribes, Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander,
And as many as were of kindred of the high priest, they were
gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they'd set them in the
midst, they asked. They asked this question, by
what power or by what name have you done this? Again, they were
speaking about the healing of this impotent man. And look at
verse 8. filled with the Holy Ghost, he
said unto them, ye rulers of the people, ye elders of Israel,
if this day we be examined of the good deed done to this impotent
man, by what means? By what means is he made whole? If they'd have paid any attention
at all, if they'd have been listening when this man was healed, they
would have known the answer to this question. Back there in
Acts 3, 6, Peter said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk. If they'd have been paying any
attention at all, they'd have heard that, wouldn't they? By what
means? By what means is he made whole? Again, I wanna know the answer
to that question. I want all of us to know the
answer to that question. We'll look at it here in Acts
4, look at verse 10. Here's the answer. Be it known unto you
all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, What's the name? By what name? Well, he gives his full name
here, doesn't he? First, and he starts with Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. There's
just something, we sing that song, there's just something
about that name. Call his name Jesus. Why Jesus? for he shall save
his people from their sin." That name, Jesus, it means Savior. It means Jehovah is salvation. Jesus, that one with power to
save. He has all power in heaven, all
power in earth, Listen, He that is our Redeemer was also the
Creator of everything that exists. All things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. He sustains all things. By Him all things consist. He
is the Savior. and a great, great savior at
that. Long before his birth, long before
that birth in Bethlehem, Isaiah wrote, his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. in the name of Jesus. But he
doesn't stop there. In the name of Jesus Christ. Christ. Christ the Anointed. Christ the Messiah. Christ, Jesus
Christ, the Son of Almighty God. God spoke from heaven and he
said this, this is my beloved Son. in whom I am well pleased,
Jesus Christ." In the name of Jesus Christ. In the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth. That name which connects to our
fallen nature of Nazareth. He was made a man. In John 1.46,
Nathanael said this. He asked this question. Can any
good thing come out of Nazareth? Do you still have Acts 4.10? By what means is he made whole? In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth. And he doesn't stop there. He
says, whom you crucified. whom ye crucified, him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have slain." He says, you
did that. God determined it. God purposed
it. Man had no trouble carrying it out, did they? By wicked hands
have crucified and slain. He was made, the Lord Jesus Christ
was made a sacrifice for sin, a ransom for the sins of his
people. His sacrifice was at the hands
of men, yet it was appointed by God. He put him to grief. He made his soul an offering
for sin. He laid on him the iniquity of
us all. But here he speaks to these chief
priests, these so-called religious leaders, to the scribes and to
the elders. You know, Pilate delivered him
up to be crucified. Those Roman soldiers did crucify
him, but it was their instigating. These words were spoken to them,
but they could just as easily be spoken to us. Whom ye crucified. Maybe you sit there and say,
I never crucified him. Maybe we should consider our
guilt in relation to our sin against the Lord of glories. in blaspheming his name, in laying
claim to a righteousness that is anything but Christ and Christ
alone, by refusing to bow to him, bow to his will, bow to
his sovereignty, in treating him as nothing. Listen, is it
nothing to you? all ye that pass by, treating,
again, treating him with contempt and refusing to bow to him as
Lord of all. You know, if Pilate stood before
us this day, and I think about this, and asked this question, whom shall I release unto you,
Christ or Barabbas? I know what we all say we'd answer,
right? But how would we have answered that question? How would
we answer that question? Oh, I pray the Lord would let
us see ourselves as David did. Remember that, to not just say
this, but to know it in my heart, against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. I ask this question again, by
what means is this man made whole? Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom
ye crucified, read on, whom God raised from the dead, he's arisen, exalted, successful,
victorious Savior. Jesus Christ of the seed of David
was raised from the dead according to this gospel, according to
His Word. The Lord Jesus Christ took the
sin of His people upon Himself, He bore the consequence of it,
and He did so in His own body on a tree. He died. And having died, he paid the
penalty. And he paid it in full. Yet,
he lives again. And for all whom he died, all
his people for whom he bore their sins, they're made free. Free from the guilt of sin, free
from the penalty of sin, free from the punishment of sin? By
what means? By what means is this man made
whole? Jesus Christ, whom you crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, even by him, Peter said, the
Lord Jesus Christ, does this man stand here before you whole? Read on in verse 11 of Acts 4. This is the stone which was said
it not of you builders. He was talking to those religious
folks that were standing there. He said, it was said it not by
you guys, but he's made the chief, he's made the head, he's made
the cornerstone. That which on everything, everything
relies. Verse 12, neither Is there salvation
in any other? For there is none other name."
What's that name? Jesus Christ of Nazareth. There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. How can this man, how can this
certain man, This man that's lame from birth, this beggar,
helpless to do anything about his condition. Can we carry that a little bit
further? Is that just this man or is that a description of every
one of us by nature? Does that describe you, a sinner? By what means, by what means
is he made whole? What do we read there? Neither
is there salvation in any other. None other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. Saved from what we
read there to begin. Saved from suffering. Saved from the penalty of judgment. Healed. Preserved. Saved. How can a man be made
whole? It hasn't changed. In the name
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I pray the Lord would enable
us to see our condition just as that man, lame from birth,
Oh, that He'd let us see the Savior, that He would let us
see Jesus Christ of Nazareth and rest in Him.