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BEGINNING OT THE CHURCH’S WORK
Tabernacle Sermon by Reb. Len G. Broughton, D.D.
Stenographically reported for The Golden Age.—Copy right applied for.
Third in a series of sermons on" The Acts
of the Apo sties. ”
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N chapters three and four, we find a rec
ord of the beginning of the work of the
disciples after the Church was formed.
We find Peter and John leaving the rest
and going up into the temple to wor
ship. At the door of the temple they
find a man about forty years of age who
has been a cripple since his birth; be
ing poor he has to beg for a living, as
there is no way for a cripple man to provide for him
self. In those days professional beggars were very
common. So Peter and John have their attention ar
rested by this man, doubtless holding out his hand
asking for alms. Peter says, “Look on us.” Os
course the man thought they were going to give him
something and so he eagerly gave them his atten
tion, and Peter then commanded him to arise and
walk. Then Peter takes him by the hand and helps
him upon his feet, and as he gets upon his feet he
finds that strength has come into his ankles, and he
is able to walk. Peter and John, after he is healed,
take him with them into the temple. I would like
to have you remember that sact —they took him into
the temple for to worship.
I am desirous that we get the practical lessons as
they are presented in this section, and the first one
that I find here is that Peter and John are doing the
work that the Church of Jesus Christ is set to do.
This lame man at the door of the temple asking alms
is today at the door of every church in all this land
and in every other land where the Church of Jesus
Christ is found. He may not be there in person,
but he is there in condition. His cause is at the
door of every church in all the wide world.
The man in need may not be a cripple; he may
not be a man asking for money; he may not need
money; but Tie is there. He has gone to the door
of the Church, and it is the duty of the Church to
supply his need if possible. It may be that he needs
sympathy. He is in trouble. His heart is sick and
sore. He may have been disappointed. He is sim
ply there that some interested and sympathizing
Christian man or woman may smile on him, or give
him a brotherly touch, or a sympathizing look. He
is there to get comfort. He may be a man who is
out of employment and he has gone to the Church
for help. Why does he go to the Church? Why is
it that he does not go to some place that is con
ducted for that purpose, an employment bureau or
agency down town among the business men? Why
has he gone to the Church to get a job? Simply be
cause, to begin with, the jobs, for the most part,
that are to be given out, are held by men who hold
membership in the Church, and he goes there be
cause he expects to find some man who has jobs
to hand out. In the next place, he goes there be
cause he has heard the professions of the men ia
the Church. He has heard their prayers. He has
heard their testimonies. He has heard the sermons
preached from the pulpit. He has been taught that
there is a brother feeling in the Church, and that
that brother feeling will lead the Church to help him
in his hour of need.
He may be a man who is sick and he needs some
place where he may go to be treated. He is a
stranger and he presents his cause at the Church.
Why go to the Church when he needs medical aid?
Why not go to the city for aid, or to some private
enterprise? He goes to the Church because the
Church is supposed to supply just that need as far
as it possibly can. He goes there because he wants
this need supplied by a Christian hand, he wants to
be environed by a Christian atmosphere. He wants
this attention to be given him by men and women
who love and honor Christ. He goes to tne Church
because he supposes it to be obedient to Jesus
Christ.
The needy one may be a woman who wants a
place to stay, she may simply need a warm, sym
pathetic hand grasp, or she may need some other
kind of help or comfort. Never mind who it is seek
ing alms from us, the question for us is, what is our
The Golden Age for September 22, Idld.
answer to the world in need? That question is a
question that beats and throbs upon the heart of the
Church of Jesus Christ as never in all of its history.
What is our answer as the Church of Jesus Christ
to a world in need? W*hat would we have done had
we been in the .place of Peter and John, finding a
man upon the steps of the Church, a beggar asking
alms? I tell you what most of us would have done.
We would have looked upon him with a kind of sen
timental pity and said, “I am sorry, but I am on
my way to worship. I can’t stop now.” We would
have gone in and taken part in the song service, and
in the prayer service, and listened attentively per
haps to the preaching then we would have sung the
Doxology and sought a side door to get out so that
we would not come in contact again with that man
in need. Some would have said, “Well, wait until I
come out and then I will come and help you if I
can.” Perhaps some would have been outraged to
find a beggar there and would have called a police
man to take him off the streets.
What would have been our answer? I want to say
to you that we have no right under God to send that
man who comes to the Church for aid to any Christ
less institution to get help so long as we have a sin
gle solitary thing at our command. Until the Church
wakes up to realize that it stands before God and
the world for the purpose of solving as far as pos
sible every solitary problem that has to do with hu
man need, it will never in all the world win the
world for Jesus Christ.
Peter and John, before they dared to go into wor
ship, stopped to minister to the man in need. There
is no such worsnip in the world as that worship that
expresses itself in a helping hand to a brother in
need. There is no prayer that sounds so sweet to the
ear of God as that prayer that expresses itself, not
in words, but in helpful deeds. Peter and John stop
ped to inquire into that man’s need, and when they
had supplied it, they went into the temple to wor
ship, and what a worship it must have been, with
this man sitting by their side who had been lame
and begging for forty years. And as they worship
ped, no doubt they enjoyed it as never before.
Following the healing of this lame man the people
were amazed. They knew the man. They had known
him all his life. He had been begging from them
all those years, and to see him who had never walked
a step now walking, they were amazed and struck
with wonder and, of course, began to crowd around,
staring at Peter and John with wide open eyes. They
began to ask them questions, and as the result of
their questions we have Peter standing on Solomon’s
porch preaching a sermon.
There are three points in that sermon that I want
us to get. First, he denies that the power with
which this miracle was worked was in them. Most
people would have claimed a bit of the honor of this
miracle, this wonderful thing that had been done,
but Peter desired all the glory to go where it be
longed. He knew that every whit of it had come
from God, and so Peter denies that it was his power
that had been revealed. Then he begins to exalt
Christ, showing that the power He had was from
Him. This leads the way for him to call for re
pentance. He reminded them that they had cruci
fied Jesus; that He had risen from the dead and
ascended to the right hand of God the Father; and
that there He was pouring forth His power which
they had received and which had expressed itself in
this healing.
Following Peter’s sermon the priests and the cap
tains and the Sadducees came together. The priests,
the captains of the temple, and the Sadducees, all
high officials of the Church as it then existed, came
upon Peter and John, because they did not like what
they had been teaching. They had seen the healed
man and could not deny that he was healed, but
they did not like what Peter and John said about
the power with which it was done. The Sadducees
were especially stirred up, because they did not be
lieve in the resurrection, and in this sermon of Pe
ter’s he had taught the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If there was anytTiing they hated it was the doctrine
of the resurrection. And Peter had dared to stand
up before the people and tell them that this man
whom they killed had risen from the dead and had
gone to He'aven and was now at work on earth
through the agency of the Holy Spirit. This was
the first persecution that the disciples had to en
counter. But please note that following this the
number of believers was increased to five thousand.
So we have two thousand men being converted as
the result of this miracle and the arrest of Peter and
John. I think their arrest and the trial had about
as much to do with the conversion of the two thou
sand as the healing of the man born lame or Pe
ter’s sermon. It is always true that the children of
God shine brightest in persecution. It is then that
their light seems most penetrating. One reason why
the Church is not growing more rapidly than it is,
is because there is so little persecution. There is
practically no persecution today. If we had more
persecution, there would be more fidelity. Our num
bers might not be so large, but it would mean more
to belong to the Church.
After their arrest they came together for the trial.
When they come for trial the charge against them
is stated. The accusation against them was that
they had preached the doctrine of the resurrection,
and that they did wonders in the name of “one Jesus
who was dead.” Peter during the trial is “filled with
the Holy Ghost” and testifies. I have heard it taught
in reference to this filling that Peter had lost the
Holy Spirit after the Day of Pentecost and it was
necessary for him to receive Him again for this tes
timony. I believe in the second filling and the third
and the one hundredth, but I do not believe that
after Peter was filled with the Spirit on the Day of
Pentecost that the Spirit ever left him. I believe
he was as much filled with the Holy Ghost when he
took that lame man by the hand and lifted him up
as when he stood up to give his testimony in this
trial. I believe he was just as much filled with the
Holy Ghost when he stood on Solomon’s porch and
preached that sermon as he was when* he testified
before the Sanhedrin. I think that the mention of
the fact that he is filled with the Spirit here is for
the purpose of calling attention to the fact that he is
a Spirit filled man, and that he was guided in every
thought and word by the Holy Spirit.
At the conclusion of the trial the verdict is ren
dered. Knowing the popularity of Peter and John,
they decide it is best to release them. So with a
threat, they release them, charging them that they
must not again speak in the name of this Jesus. I
wonder what we would have done under such cir
cumstances?'Suppose we had received such a charge
from such authority? I am afraid most of us would
have proved weak-kneed. We would have been in
for a compromise. But not so with Peter; listen to
what he says, “Whether it is right in the sight of
God to hearken unto you rather than unto God,
judge ye; for we can not but speak the things which
we saw and heard.” “We have seen this man when
he was lame, and ye have seen him; we see him now
that he is healed; and we know where the power
came from that healed him; that it came from this
Jesus whom ye crucified; we know that He has
arisen from the dead because we have seen Him; we
have talked with Him; we were present when He
ascended. You tell us we are not to speak in this
name? We can but speak of what our eyes have seen
and of what our ears have heard.”
What follows? Even in the face of this, they are
forced to release them.
What did the disciples do after being released?
Read the last part of the chapter from the 23d to
the 37th verses and you will see that the first thing
they did was to go to their own company; their
band of Christian friends. A Christian man will al
v ays find his companionship with Christian men.
No doubt that was a glad meeting. These friends
of Peter s knew of his arrest and many prayers had
gone up for both Peter and John, and they had
talked together about the outcome and what it would
be, and so now whernthey see Peter and John it must
have been a glad time. And the first thing that
Peter and John did was to call for a prayer-meeting.
I hey celebrated the occasion by going down on their
knees in thankful prayer to the Deliverer; and it
(Continued on page 14.)
