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16 THE PRESBYTERIA1
Sunday School
THE LAME MAN HEALED.
Acts 3:1-16.
January 24, 1S09.
GOLDEN TEXT.?"His name, through faith in his name,
hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know."?Acts
3:16.
SHORTER CATECHISM.
Q. 39. What is the duty which God requireth of man?
A. The duty which God requireth of man is obedienoe
to His revealed will.
DAILY HOME READINGS.
M.?Acts 3:1-11.
T.?Acts 3:12-26.
W.?Luke 5:17-26.
Th.?Matt. 10:1-15.
F.?Isa. 35.
, S.?1 John 1.
S.?John 3:9-21.
TOPICAL OUTLINE.
A Specimen Apostolic Miracle?
The lame beggar, vs. 1-5.
Healed and praising God, vs. 6-10.
The subject of Peter's second sermcn, vs. 11-26.
LESSON COMMENTS.
The exact time of this occurrence is unknown. It was
doubtless some time during the first two years after Pentecost.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the hour of the evening
sacrifice, Peter and John went up into the temple to
pray. Behold, at the Beautiful Gate of the temple a lame beggar
lay. He must have been seen there many times before.
Jesus Christ may have passed him and the apostles may
have seen him many times. The set time for his healing
had not yet come, but at the ninth hour of a certain day the
clock struck the time' for his redemption. Why not before?
Why not later on? Why at this time? The answer to each
question is, God reigns and this was God's time. It was best
for the beggar, best for Peter and John, best for the church
and the world, best for God's glory that the lame man should
have suffered forty years and not have been healed until
this day. Let all questions about times and seasons be answered
by the word, "The Lord God Omnipotent, reigneth!"
Expecting alms the beggar reached out his hands to
Peter and John, and then followed the command Rise up and
Walk. What was naturally impossible took place at once.
The man arose and went into the temple, walking and leaping
and praising God. This was a wonderful occurrence.
From birth the man had been lame, a poor cripple. He not
only received strength to walk but knowledge and skill to
walk.
Of all the wonderful miracles that were performed during
those early days in Jerusalem, why is this the only one
^recorded. For it is a fact that many signs and wonders
were done in the name of Christ at Jerusalem during these
early days, but leaving out the case of Ananias and Sapphira
and Peter's rescue, both of which occurred Inter en the
miracle of healing the lame beggar Is the only one that Luke
has ever seen fit to record.
The reasons for it are satisfactory. First, this miracle
was more conspicuous than others, because it was the occasion
of the arrest of Peter and John, and, second, it was the
beginning of that long persecution which burst upon the
church and scattered its members far and wide. It was
the first occasion, too, for the appearance of Peter and
John before the rulers of the people. Then, too, the lame
man is a type or at least a picture of the peoples to whom
)the gospel should be sent, and his healing is an illustration
of the manner in which sinners are converted, and a type of
the methods to be used in the evangilization of the world.
One great feature of the gospel is that it is to be preached
to the poor. See Luke 4:18, and 1 Cor. 1:26-29. In these
passages we find that God hath chosen the foolish things of
r
SI OF THE SOUTH. January 13, igog.
Ihe world to confound the wise. So the poor cripple! He
illustrates the condition of lost sinners?He lies at the Beautiful
Gate of the temple, the most beautiful place in the
world, perhaps, a wonderful gate forty-five feet high, made of
Corinthian brass, was behind him and before him a panorama
of moumaius. The glory and grandeur of nature and art
were around him, but he was a cripple and a beggar. Naaman
was a king's general, hut he was a leper. Poor sinners
today are surrounded with glory and splendor, nature all
around, above, beneath, beautiful, splendid. But the poor
sinner is a cripple, sick unto death. Despite the environment
of beauty and glory, even kings and princes are like
this poor cripple. King Solomon had tasted of every cup of
pleasure, but he too, was a cripple and a beggar. All is
vanity and vexation of spirit. No greater contrast could be
'found anywhere, between the pride and pomp of the world
ciu i ciguiug weanness and want, than is to be found in the
case of this lame beggar. Down through the ages it has
been the work of the gospel to bring a comfort and joy to the
poor and needy. Out of the ranks of the poorest and lowest
it is God's plan to fill the higher places of the earth.
In this case of healing, we see again the pictures of a
God meeting a helpless sinner. First, a picture of the agelong
struggle of faith. Jesus said to the paralytic, "Take
up thy bed and go to thine home." Peter said to the cripple
"Rise and walk." In both cases the thing commanded
twas the very thing that could not be done. But in both
; cases the power to do came with the word and both men walk-,
ed. Dry bones hear the command Live. They cannot live.
But they do live by the power of God. The voice that commands
brings life, and because the healing of the beggar
illustrates it, therefore, Luke records it.
We see in the miracle again a type of the methods to
be used in church work. All through missionary fields today
the gospel of good health is proclaimed and the medical
missionary goes forth to heal the bodies of men. It is simply
a world-wide expansion of Peter's work with the lame man.
No other religion does this for the bodies of men. The
dv..|?uicd icacu mai xne DOdy or a man Is redeemed by the
blood ot Jesus Christ as well as his soul, and this poor beggar's
body bought with blood was precious In the eyes of
Jesus.
The miracle is also a type of individual work. Peter
said: "Such as I have give I thee." This is true under all
conditions. At the battle of the Granlcus, Alexander Imported
his courage to the Greeks and Darius, his timidity to
the Persians. Each one could say "Such as I have give I
thee." A man in our church whom we all know has a cherry
smile for every one he meets. A stranger with his face
RhfldrfcWO/l on/1 u~1- *
uuu muc, koui iicm miming wnen fie meets our
man. "Such as I have give I thee." So in every home,
in every community, in every church, men and women import
what they possess by nature or have received by grace,
and these gifts of nature and grace are oftentimes too costly
to be bought by gold. The poor cotter upon the mountain,
who has no silver nor gold enwraps his child with a love that
is priceless. The poor sick woman lying upon her bed without
gold Or Silver Or Comfort insnlroa nnrcnc, "i-i*?
muiovo auu viouuio
and physicians with a faith that is born of God. A drunken
man, dying of delirium, filled with horrors, imparts those horrors
to others. "Such as I have give I thee" is the law of
nature and the law of grace. "Covet earnestly the best
gifts" thai when we give we may give the best.
To the wondering people gathered around, Peter preached
this second sermon and again it was "More about Jesus."
'He gives all the glory of the miracle to Christ. Without reserve
he proclaims the great fact that the woman was
wrought through faith in Jesug Christ. Peter had faith in
'Jesus. He spoke to the cripple and took him by the hand
and lifted him up, all of which were aids to faith and so
the beggar had faith: and through faith in His name on the
part of both, the beggar and Peter the wonder was performed
he spoke as follows: "Maid, I say unto thee, Arise!"
ministers to all our needs. The hand of some agent is always
present to encourage us to believe. When Jesus heal
ed he spok as follows: "Maid, I say unto thee, Arise!"
'Lazarus, come forth!" "Waves, go to sleep!" He Invoked
no authority, for he was* the Son of God, and the glory was
his. When the apostles healed they hid behind the name of
Jesus and gave all the glory to hint. Thus it becometh all
the saints to do. None of self, but all of thee.
C. W. Grafton..