AFTER THE PENTECOST, WHAT NEXT? (4)

“¹Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. ²And 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; ³who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. ⁴And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” ⁵So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. ⁶Then 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.”(Acts 3:1-6 NKJV)

After being filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of the Pentecost, the apostles went about their normal daily routine but with a new mindset.  They believed that they received a definite impartation from the Holy Spirit and that there now exists a clear possibility that they could do things they were not able to do before.  Though they could not determine the full implication of their encounter, they were certainly willing to try new things. The fact that they spoke in other tongues and that Peter preached with such unclouded utterance and boldness leading to the conversion of 3000 converts in a single sermon represented an evident token that they got something real on the Pentecost.  Peter and John evidently believed that they received power after the Holy Spirit came upon them, as our Lord had promised; and were willing to test the reality of that power by trying to do the humanly impossible. The crippled beggar at the gate of the temple provided a good opportunity for them.

Peter and John had gone up to the temple for their routine Jewish hour of prayer –“the ninth hour.” It seems the Jews right from the Old Testament had three officially designated times of prayer. David referred to it –“Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice’ (Psalm 55:17NKJV). All of these three official prayer times were mentioned in the book of Acts and the early church seemed to have followed that routine. These are: The Third hour – this corresponds roughly to our 9 am (Acts 2:15 NKJV).  The Sixth hour –about our midday (Acts 10:9) and the Ninth hour –this corresponds to about 6 pm (Acts 3:1). As Peter and John were about to enter the temple crippled beggar asked alms of them. In response, Peter said to him, “Look at us... “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.”

Peter was able to know what he lacked and what he had. It was easy for anybody to know when the person had no money in his or her purse. Peter and John had no money in that instance and they explained that to the beggar. But then, Peter knew they had something else. He knew they had power! “...but what I do have I give you...”  How did Peter know they had power to heal the crippled? They knew by faith. They simply believed what Jesus had promised them – “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 NKJV). Peter and John took this promise serious and believed that they received real power after the Holy Spirit came upon them. They recalled the words of Jesus that if you ask for bread you will not receive a stone. If men who are evil know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him. They asked for the Holy Spirit and that was what they got and with Him the power to do signs and wonders. To prove this, they had to do what they could not do before –command a cripple to walk!

What proof did Peter and John had that God would honour their faith? There was no way they could know apart from trying. You too have no way of knowing whether you have the power to heal the sick or do signs and wonders unless you try. Since God is not a respecter of persons but “in every country God accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right” (Acts 10:35 NCV), He will most likely honour your faith. You worship Him and would be doing what is right if you lay hands on the sick in obedience to Him. Peter had inner struggles as we often experience now, but his respect for God’s word was more powerful than his fears of failure. He stepped out in obedience and trusted God to stand by His word. The crippled walked! “So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.(Acts 3:8 NKJV). You need to try what you have with the confidence that God will not let you down. You too can be a miracle worker and bring joy to your world in Jesus name.