To set the stage of this scene. The day of Pentecost had finally come and the Holy Spirit as Jesus promised had been poured out into the heart of the disciples on earth, (those who believed, (1 John 5:1)(Matthew 16:13-20)(John 17:6-8) and belonged to Christ. In the power of the Spirit Peter had preached a most powerful soul saving sermon of repentance toward God and of faith in Jesus Christ and him crucified for the sins Israel and for all the world and that he was risen from the dead. 3000 souls there about received and believed the message and God added them to the church and wrote their names down in the book of life. Each day more and more were added. Such as should be saved by the preaching of the gospel were fished in by fishers of men(Acts 2:47).
In this great outpouring of the Holy Spirit and in this evangelizing of Israel, one day about 3 pm in the afternoon, Peter and John went to the temple to pray. There at the temple was a man who was lame and crippled from the day he was born. The lame man was begging for money (alms) when Peter noticed him. Peter fastened his eyes on the lame man who was crippled from his birth. Peter was in the Power of the Spirit of God and manifestation gifts of the Holy Ghost were in operation. Peter said to the man, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give you (Peter was full of faith and full of the Holy Ghost, those two he possessed richly): In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, he said, rise up and walk. Then Peter took the man by the right hand and lifted the man up; and immediately, instantly, in like the twinkling of an eye speed, the mans legs were CHANGED, they were healed and his ankle bones were made strong.
This miracle of healing was witnessed by many. The word of it traveled instantly all over the surrounding area until many people came to see and to get in on the MAIN EVENT of that days miracles.(Note: several miracles of healing's had been occurring, see Acts 2:43).
As the people were gazing and marveling at the miracle and at Peter and John, the Holy Ghost spoke to Peter and said, "Preach to them the faith and the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and remove their focus off of you and John"(Important Point There.....do you remember the scripture "and that not of yourselves, FOR IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD"--Ephesians 2:8-10). Lest you think you saved yourself by your own power, or by your own holiness, or by your own righteousness and boasted that you did.
So Peter being led by the Spirit, and by his love for the Lord (John 21:15-17), obeyed the Holy Spirit and said. vs 12) "You people of Israel, why do you marvel at this? and why do you look so earnestly at me or John as though we by our own power, or by our own righteousness and holiness have healed this man and made him whole(saved him, healed him, delivered him)? It was nothing of us that made this man whole, nor of him vs 16) it was Jesus' Name through faith in His Name that made this man strong(saved/healed/delivered) whom you see and know; Yes, the faith that is of Him has given this man his perfect soundness and healed body in the presence of you all". *Note the New Birth, Being Born Again is of the spirit and it is perfect soundness and a healed spirit, recreated in the image of the Spirit of Jesus Christ whose seed the new born heavenly child was born again by),
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Now A MOST IMPORTANT question has to be asked. What healed the man? What set him free? What delivered that man? What saved the man in that condition? What made his body perfectly sound, saved, and completely whole? Was it the mans own holiness, righteousness or power? NOT EVEN CLOSE. Was it anything of Peter or Johns Names, or Power, Or Righteousness or Holiness that saved that man in that situation? NO AGAIN......JESUS AND ONLY JESUS AND ONLY THAT WHICH IS OF JESUS AND THE FAITH THAT IS OF JESUS AND BELIEVING ON HIS NAME DID THE MIRACLE OF CHANGE TO THAT MANS BODY. Did you know that your spirit man can under go healings, deliverance, changes, and even be born again. Even made a New Creature IN CHRIST, a new recreated spirit. Now friends that is a REAL CHANGE.
Let's talk for a minute here about our spirit (James 2:26) and it's condition and need for change and healing etc.......Our crippled spirits needed serious healing as well, even more than the beggars body needed salvation. Our spirit man needed even a greater miracle of healing and recovery and salvation than what God did in that lame man flesh. Our spirits condition before God was far worse that that mans crippled condition. His crippled body would in time land him in the grave, buried under the dust of the earth. But the diseased spirit born in sin, unregenerated, and dead in trespasses and sins, it's condition could land you in hell and buried in the lake of fire if not remedied, if not born again, if not spiritual healed and raised from spiritual death (Ephesians 2:1)(John 5:24). That Makes The Subject Of Our Spirits Own Healing and Salvation EXTREMELY Important. For none else matters if ones own Soul is lost to Satan's own judgement in hell for all eternity.
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And how would God perform for us this so great a salvation that our spirits needed? How would God do this even GREATER MIRACLE to our spirits than what He did to the beggars body? He would do so, Much the SAME WAY by also JUST ONE, THE SAME ONE, Jesus Christ....(For by grace are you saved(your spirit man healed and Born Again) in the same way......(Ephesians 2:8-10)For by grace you ARE SAVED (your spirit man healed and Born Again) thru FAITH and not by anything of YOURSELVES it is the gift of God.
Ok, Paul said it was by faith right? Yes he did say and preach that. BY BELIEVING. So we ask then the question (By Faith in what? Peter and Paul answer; By Faith in JESUS CHRIST. By faith in the authority and power in the Name of Jesus Christ. By faith in that He(Jesus) is the Christ, the Son of God. By Faith in that Jesus died for the punishment of our sins and rose again for our justification-Romans 4:24-25) and not by anything of ourselves, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD. It is not of our works, but by the Works of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. This Great Redeeming Work, nothing we do could ever touch or come close to its SAVING POWER. For all the times God saved His people from wrath, Blood of Lambs and of other ordained animals was shed and used and sprinkles on them and on the utensils of worship and upon DOORS as in Moses hour (Hebrews 9:19-26). This blood truth was (Always) and there own blood would not do, nor was it acceptable to God. Study the Book... Now go back and read Acts 3:11-16).
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Now brothers and sisters I share with you something the Lord opened my eyes to in these scriptures. This man that received his healing was born in that dreaded cursed condition. Lame and crippled from his MOTHERS WOMB (Psalms 51:5 & John 9:34). We too, were also all together born and conceived in sin and in that lame condition we entered into this world with a similar cursed condition as the beggar had in his flesh, but FAR WORSE. All of us together were born in sin and conceived in iniquity (Adams eyes wide open Sin, did this to all of us (See Romans 5:12). From our conception to our birth thru the canal we were all together born lame in our spirits, meaning in our spirits we were diseased and spritual dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1)(John 5:24) so much so that Jesus said WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN or we would perish having not entered into the Kingdom of God. Our spirits needed to be MIRACULOUSLY HEALED. MIRACULOUSLY RESURRECTED. MIRACULOUSLY REBORN. No work of man could ever make this needed miracle to happen to our spirits. Good works. Good clean living. Doing good deeds can never in themselves conceive, or resurrect a natural child; nor does good deeds, good clean living have the power to reach into the heavenly things themselves that are within us and conceive or rebirth or resurrect our spirit man within. If your saw you son and his wife working in the garden super hard and you went out to them with some refreshing drinks and said, Kids why are you working SO HARD? AND THEY REPLIED, "Well Dad/Mom we are working this hoe and shoves this hard because we are trying to conceive a NEW BORN babe BY DOING SO. Wouldn't you think that the heat of the sun had been roasting their head a little to much and effecting their thinking. For you know for a child to be conceived it takes A SEED planted in the womb and that hard laboring with a hoe and shovel in a field want cut. It want make it happen no matter how much those two think it will. Something has gotten to their thinking. Something has warped their minds thought processing and theology.
We were all born spiritually crippled, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins and separated from God. We were in bondage to the beggerly elements of this world, and we all needed our spirits healed and born again, made new and made alive unto God and re created. We tried everything in this world to get out of this spiritual maimed condition. We tried all sorts of things to try to save our selves. We tried religions, religious works, good deeds as good neighbors. We have tried Laws, rules, regulations. We tried mind altering chemicals, beers, wines, drugs, wild parties, music, hobbies. We tried all kinds of sensual acts to make us FEEL ALIVE and to fill the void we have all felt within at one time or another. But all that those things did was to eventually hurt us, more deceive us, and lame our condition even more, and condemned us. They even added to the wrath of God hovering over our heads. But God, yes our loving almighty God had the answer we all needed for our recovery. Lets continue the study and find out the Grace of God in Christ. THE ANSWER.
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Now notice with me about the lame man in our text, notice with me, that all his crying and begging NEVER SAVED HIM, nor delivered him (HELLO). His crying in itself with all his tears never made him one bit better. He had been a beggar for years. He had begged God to heal him, and he begged men to help feed him. All he knew was the way of begging, but such did him little good with his infirmity, with his condition, and nor did all that begging help him in his deliverance from his condition, not at all. Such will also do us little good to meet our SOULS SALVATION NEED. No where in the gospel does it say beg and beg and beg God and you will receive salvation or you will be saved. You can't find such in the Word of life. Even the ones like blind Bartimaeus, Jesus told him, You Must Believe. It is not because you begged, but because YOU BELIEVED. Go read that truth for yourselves (Matthew 9:27-30)(Mark 10:46-52)(Luke 18:35-43). Jesus healed thru two avenues. Thru faith which was always the guaranteed way or thru having compassion. But friends let us all note what I am about to say very carefully. No one, no not one souls is saved simply by the compassion of the Lord Alone. If so then God would just have compassion on ALL THE WORLD and save ALL whether they believed in Jesus or not. But such is not scriptural. Jesus said Go preach the gospel to all nations, to all creatures. Those who believe shall be saved. Those who do not believe, shall be damned. No compassion is given them, not even a single drop of cold water.
We must be as Jesus said to Thomas, we must BE BELIEVING. From the start to the finish line. Holding fast to the beginning of our confidence (which was and is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified and Risen for the dead (Romans 4:23-25 & Romans 5:1) steadfast to the finish line. As Peter said in, (Acts 15:11) We believe that through the grace of our lord Jesus Christ WE SHALL BE SAVED....that perfectly lines up with what Paul taught in Ephesians 2:1-10)
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So we see in this light that begging God to save us is out of the picture. It is not scriptural. It want work. That is a harsh reality. None the less it is the truth. If the billions of tears of the world saved the world and moved God, then listen very attentively, then there would be no lack of breakfast, lunch and supper on any table through out the whole world. But we all must face the truth all those tears have not and cannot remedy the worlds poor, or the hunger in the world, nor does tears save any soul. While in the body TEARS can express human feelings, and emotional states, and they can help relieve emotional knots and stresses, but beyond this they have not the needful absorbing power to draw from Christ the Power of God that heals the body or saves the soul.
This truth about begging God and about tears is a harsh reality. When the Lord first opened my eyes up to it, I ADMIT, it bothered me a little, even a lot. It even rubbed me a little wrong and in some measures startled and scared me. It was effecting my little Sunday School image of God and Jesus and the world. But the more I saw this truth, the more I had to accept it's reality even though, it in itself, brought tears to my eyes. I wept because of it. But I saw it in His Word and He opened my eyes to it, so I had to make the adjustment to its truth within. I had to again rearrange what I formerly thought and believed. It is amazing how when your eyes are opened you have to do this. From old religious wives tales, to false beliefs and former traditions of theology. Jesus can open your eyes and deliver you from vain worship and vain powerless thinking.
Lets together look at this. Please do not get angry with me for fact facing. You will feel some of the emotions I felt when I first faced this tear fact and truth, but God will see you thru. He will strengthen you. He will restore your souls and you will rejoice again.....Tell me something. Has all the tears of the starving children and people in the nations fed them breakfast, lunch, and supper every day by the power of God? Has all those tears caused God to move and perform more miracles of the loaves and the fishes on behalf of the tears they've cried? The tears of many parents and of loved ones, have they kept the evil kidnappers, or the rapist off their children and loved ones, or when they came up missing did there tears alone have such power as to bring them back untouched and unharmed. Nor has the tears of parents of children who have fallen in war brought their children back from the grave. I know friend. I know exactly what your feeling right now. Been there. It is the feeling we get when we face what we have called the UGLY TRUTH sometimes. It is like a lie in the last days so preached that the church will not face severe harsh persecution in the AntiChrist days. Such goes against the will of the flesh and against our pre taught and pre-conceived idea that God loves us so much that we as believer, as His children will never have to face the lions of the coliseum, or the sword, or the fires of rejection of this world. Christ own words and history itself shatters such hurtful fables. The real truth of the matter is Jesus said we would face perilous opposition from satan and from this world, and that for his sake some of us would be killed. Even church history for that matter destroys the myth of that false illusion. But a gospel that is preached for the comforts and for the tantalizing of the flesh, is and can be very dangerous when the time comes for being put under the pressure of the sword and of the gun of the worlds rejection of us for what we believe and for who we love, the Son of God. For in the last days when Satan know he has left only a short period of time, the world is filled with his hatred against Christ, against God and against the saints on earth.\
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To help us see even more facts and more truth about tears powerlessness to save, let us look into this some more. Notice with me this truth of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemene. The evil murdering, raping Satan and his kidnapping of all of us was heavens most horrifying sight. God's world, Mans Dominion, Mans Crown of glory and honor, and all God's children to come Satan got and kidnapped and spiritually seduced, striped, raped and spiritually murdered us in the spirit thru Adams willful disobedience to THE ONE saving or ruining everything ONE COMMANDMENT found in Genesis 2:16-17). His plan was to hold all of us hostage in hope to win him some time or maybe even to save him from hell and the lake of fire. And not only this but he knew how good and how wonderful and how loving God really was (Satan sinned against 100 % GOODNESS, and He knew Man and Woman was Gods Special and God So Loved. They were to be the children of God and heirs with Jesus of all Gods goodness for the rest of Eternity. This Satan hated and this Satan envied. When he got Adam to willfully \ hand over to him by sin connection all his crown of glory and honor that God gave Adam, Satan got the world, and he got man. He got a legal tie to our souls and every souls without God stepping in and intervening would have been lost forever. The situation was grace and the situation was the most serious one of all for man and God. For God would have to give His Son for the ransom of the world and all the fulness thereof including man his descendants.
And God did send His Son to be the Savior of the world. But here comes another revelation to prove the powerlessness of tears to redeem us, their weakness to save us, or to heal us. We know that it took God and Jesus more than just simply saying I Forgive You to fix everything that Adams transgression cost. It took much more, even far more than applied compassion or cried tears to remedy our situation. Our condition and kidnapping Satan did for sure. BUT ADAM ALLOWED IT, by handing over us and the keys to the worlds kingdoms and all the glory of them that was to come to Satan in the transgression that was also a great transaction (See Luke 4:5-7).
When Jesus came to the earth sent by the Father, he in time entered the main reason for his becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us. He enters into the garden of Gethsemene. There Jesus fell to the ground and cried STRONG STRONG TEARS. Jesus' tears in the garden of Gethsemene to save us and to RANSOM US did not move God from the scriptures that had to come to pass.(Important Light & Truth There).
Christ had to give His Life and shed out HIS Blood for the SALVATION and for the RANSOM of the World. Just his crying about it would not save us. All His tears that night did not change God, nor sway God, nor moved God to side step the Cross. Tears of the Son of God did not altar or change God or change the situation he was in at that moment in His earthen life and LAMB CALLING. Nor did all his tears change our dire situation. All the tears in all of Jesus and the worlds eyes, they in themselves were powerless to redeem and powerless to reconcile.
Tears, though cried STRONGLY could not change the harsh reality and harsh fact that THE SCRIPTURES OF THE CHRIST PASSIONS HAD TO BE FULFILLED. They had to one and all come to pass to the very last drop of blood. Even so it is with salvation. One can cry and cry all day long in his own personal garden for this or for that, but God will not come off the scriptures if scriptures have to be fulfilled: God will not come off His Word.
To be saved scriptures have to be fulfilled. I want to say that again. In order for you to be saved SCRIPTURES HAVE TO BE FULFILLED and those scriptures you have to believe. You must believe and obey those scriptures. Crying and crying will not altar or change God on this. For the mouth of God hath spoken it and it is impossible for God to lie. You must line up with the scriptures just as Jesus HAD TO. No way around this truth. For just as all those deepest cried tears of Christ could not save him from the scriptures of the Cross that had to be fulfilled,l nor do our tears save us. Repent friends. REPENT AND BELIEVE the Gospel of Your Salvation. You Must Be Born Again.
Begging, begging and more begging and all those tears of the lame man born crippled from his mothers womb, did not heal or save the crippled man one I otta, neither will the same save the soul just as tears by themselves cannot rid the hurting and the hunger that is in the world.
The sobering fact about our situation on this earth is Men either Repent & RECEIVE CHRIST AND BELIEVE ON HIS NAME AND RESURRECTION or they die in their spirits & souls sinful condition. (John 8:24 & John 6:66-69). AND just as the crippled man could not heal himself, nor deliver himself, nor could the disciples by their own power, or self righteousness, or holiness do his situation ANY GOOD. Even so YOU CANNOT SAVE YOURSELF. NOR HEAL YOUR SPIRIT AND SOULS TERRIBLE & HORRIBLE CONDITION & SITUATION. You like that beggar and like the disciples, YOU NEED THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF ON THE SCENE AND ON YOUR SPIRITUAL CASE AND SITUATION. YOU NEED SOMETHING THAT IS NOT OF YOURSELF. YOU NEED SOMETHING THAT IS NOT OF YOUR POWER, THAT IS NOT OF YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, THAT IS NOT OF YOUR OWN PERSONAL FRAGILE AND FLAWED HOLINESS. YOU NEED SOMETHING AND SOMEONE THAT IS NOT EVEN OF THIS WORLD....YOU, LIKE THE REST OF US, NEED JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED AND RISEN FROM THE DEAD BELIEVED AND RECEIVED FOR THE CROSS OF CHRIST IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION. Tears, nor even the strongest human will or desire, or determination can altar or change this fact and TRUTH.......So much the Lord has revealed in these words. Let us continue in them until their truth registers within us.
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But one day with God knowing the mans condition, God led Peter and John to that man. They believed God for that mans healing salvation and recovery. They believed mightily in the Power of the Name Of Jesus for they had for three years seen THAT NAMES glory manifested in the casting out of devils, the sick healed, and the dead raised to life. So Peter comes up to that man. He comes up to him possessing inside him the gift of faith and of healings in the Power of the Spirit of God. The healing gift and power of God flowed out from Peter into that mans body and into his bones and healed him instantly. Peter said, Silver and gold I do not have but such as I do possess I give you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. God's power hit that mans legs and feet and he rose up instantly healed.
Now the people standing about saw this miracle. They were astonished and began to sound out the glory of what they just saw. A crowd began to mount up on the scene and the People began to worship Peter and John in amazement. Peter then being alerted and led by the Holy Ghost and given what to speak and preach by God's Spirit preached the real grace of the salvation of the Lord to them. He said, Men and brethren, Why do you look at me and John and think that it was by our Power, or by our own holiness, or by our own righteousness that this man is healed before you all. It had nothing to do with our own power, or it had nothing to do with our own righteousness, or holiness that saved us, excuse mean, I mean that saved and healed this man and his legs and feet. No it had nothing to do with our own power, or our own righteousness, nor to do with our own holiness. We are out of this equation. What happened was this. This man was saved and healed thru the Name Of Jesus Christ and thru believing assuredly in that name. It was the Name and the Faith of Jesus Christ that saved this man in this lame condition and that not of anything of ourselves. It was the gift of the grace of God in Jesus Christ that healed him.
Brothers and sister do you know this is the true gospel message being REVEALED AND preached here by Peter. It is Ephesians 2:8-10 clearly seen in living format. For by grace you have been (Miraculously Saved/spirit healed) thru faith in Jesus Christ, and not by any power, or holiness or righteousness of yourselves; IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD....It is not of anything you do. It is by what Jesus did.
So many think they can save themselves by doing this good thing or that good deed etc. But just as this crippled man in our text had a severe PHYSICAL CONDITION from his mothers womb that tears, begging, and GOOD DEEDS could not heal or change, or save him from, EVENSO it is with your spiritual condition. WE ARE HELPLESS AND WITHOUT STRENGTH IN THIS SAVING MATTER. The worlds spirit health and spirit condition is far worse than the beggars physical infirmity, (FAR WORSE). And there is nothing of yourself that can heal your spirits terminal disease or save you from that spiritual infirmity and horrible threat that it is to your eternities life. You need Jesus Christ as your Savior. You need the Power of His Sacrifice. You need the Power of The Cross of Christ. You need the Power of His Resurrection. You need the Power of His Blood and Mighty Day unto Day Intercessions for you. You need Jesus Christ and Him Crucified doing the work for you EVERYDAY....And it is these gospel truths that are all of Jesus Christ and of His Name that you must trust and believe and obey ALWAYS with all consistence and firm unwavering trust. For Romans 14:23 tells us that whatsoever is not of faith (the faith of the Son of God) then it is Sin. Even as Peter answered those inquiring people about that miracle of healing and deliverance that was done to the crippled man, He said, "it was not by our own power, or righteousness, or holiness that saved this mans legs and life. It was Jesus Christ. It was Name and THRU BELIEVING ON HIS NAME that delivered this man and made him whole. This same FAITH RULE & THIS SAME FAITH LAW saves our souls and spirits from the spiritual disease of spiritual death, spiritual separation from God and from sin, Satan and from hell.....
For by Grace YOU ARE SAVED (Your Spirit Healed) THRU FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.......( For by grace you ARE BORN AGAIN thru faith in Jesus Christ and that not of yourselves, or of your works and doings, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD.....THE gift of God purchased for you in the paid price of the blood of His own Son thru the Cross.
So friend, I ask you, Why stand ye here starring at YOURSELF in the mirror of salvation thinking that by YOUR OWN POWER, OR BY YOUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, OR BY YOUR OWN HOLINESS you have saved yourself, or healed yourself, or caused yourself to be born again. It was the Lord Jesus Christ that is our Savior and not we ourselves. Christ and Him Crucified and Risen from the dead believed causes Gods saving grace and power to ENTER INTO YOUR SPIRIT MAN just as Gods healing power entered into the beggars legs and healed him perfectly, THAT HEALS THE SOUL, CAUSED IT TO COME ALIVE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. PASS FROM SPIRITUAL DEATH UNTO SPIRITUAL LIFE, BE BORN AGAIN.
People who are trying to save themselves lack spiritual understanding. Any work a man does trying to save himself whether it is a religious type good deed or not, is Nicodemus trying to crawl back up into his mothers womb and be born again and save himself. Such is impossible. Such false theology seduces ones eyes off of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified and Risen from the dead and puts it on oneself (This is Satan's subtle Religious Trick). As the beggar could not heal himself, nor can you cause yourself to be born again. YOU CAN'T.... Such is a creating work of God. You are not the author or giver of life. You are not the Creator. You are not your own Savior. Jesus Jesus Jesus is All and in All them that Believe the Good Report that God gave His Son.
Therefore do we Believe and Preach ROMANS 10:1-13, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Ephesians 2:23-24, Galations 6:15, Ephesians 2:8-11. All these scriptures you should read, study, and meditate on. I personally study from the KJV, NKJV, NIV, TNIV, NAS, AMPLIFIED, NCV versions of the bible, plus others but these I was raised on in the faith of Jesus Christ.....
I hope these Words help you in the understanding of the grace of God and our so great a SALVATION that we have in the Cross of Christ and His Resurrection.....God Bless You.....please share freely never even needing to mention
