Rise Up and Walk

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 18th of April, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

This is the third Sunday in Easter and I’m trying for a while longer to stay close to the same timeframe of that very first Easter so long ago.  By the time of our scripture reading, Jesus has risen from the grave, appeared before hundreds of people who personally witnessed Him in the flesh again, and gone on to heaven to be with His Father God.  Some of His disciples have left Jerusalem, mostly out of fear of being arrested and executed themselves, but also out of their commitment to carry out their Master’s command to go into the world making more disciples.

Most of the faithful followers remained in the city, setting the foundations for the early church, with Peter and John being chief among them.  They too should have feared for their lives and stayed in hiding, but instead they continued their normal daily routines, even visiting the temple.

The Apostle Luke, in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, wrote of one such outing and a man these two met at a gate of the temple.  Please listen and follow along to the account Luke recorded for us in verses 1 through 19 of Acts chapter 3, And I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And 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 beg alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then 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.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them — walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. 12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

--Acts 3:1-19 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, by the mighty power of Your Holy Spirit, You raised Jesus from the dead.  It is that same Holy Spirit that Peter and John were able to call upon in the name of Jesus to heal the lame man.  And it is that same powerful Holy Spirit that resides in each of us that follow Your Son Jesus.  Thank You, Father, for giving us Your Spirit.  Please help us use Your Spirit as the Apostles did, in the name of Jesus, to glorify You and help advance Your kingdom.  Help us in our daily walk to be better followers of our Lord and to do as He commands, loving all others and making even more disciples.  Father, please keep us safe from Satan’s traps and snares, and from those who do his wicked bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and our service to Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these worrisome times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Take away the chains that cripple us and bind us to this world so that we might rise up and walk as a witness to Jesus and a testament to You.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

A couple, married for 15 years, began having more than the usual disagreements.  They wanted to make their marriage work, though, and agreed on an idea the wife came up with.  For one month they planned to drop a slip of paper in a "Fault" box for each of them.  The boxes would provide a place to let the other know about daily irritations.  The wife was diligent in her efforts and approach.  Examples of what she left for her husband included "leaving the top off the jelly jar", "wet towels on the bathroom floor", "dirty socks not in the hamper", that sort of thing.  This continued until the end of the month.  After dinner on the last day of the month, they exchanged boxes.  The husband went first, and quietly reflected on those things he had done that annoyed his wife.  Then the wife opened her box and began reading.  They were all the same - the message on each slip was, "I love you!"

Did that really happen?  Who knows.  Could it have happened?  Sure.  Could the roles have been reversed?  Sure.  But to me, whether this actually occurred or who said what doesn’t matter as much as the points the story makes, and I see two of them.  The first point is that usually, for most of us, it’s the little things that drive us crazy.  Those little aggravations and annoyances we have to deal with on a daily basis eventually break us down and we self-destruct.

And the second point is, as long as we have love in our hearts, those little things won’t matter to us after all.  We are created to love, we are called to love, we are commanded to love.  When we let love take full control over us, when we give in to love, the little aggravations will slowly pale in comparison to the love we feel.  

Everything that Jesus did and said was for our benefit, the benefit of mankind in general and each of us individually.  That goes for His command to love others.  It benefits the ones we love, and it benefits us, too.

Luke tells us about a lame beggar asking for money.  Have you noticed a lot of our Bible stories involve a lame or blind or otherwise handicapped person, one very often asking for financial or physical help?  Why is that, you may wonder.  So that we can more closely relate to them.  In a very real way, we are all blind and lame and handicapped, and we all need help whether we ask for it or not, whether we realize it or not.

This particular man had been lame since birth.  Each day, some friends or family carried him to the Beautiful Gate so he could beg for coins from those entering the temple.  Peter and John happened to be going in one day so naturally he asked them for anything they could spare.

Peter made sure he had the man’s full attention before replying, “We don’t have any money, but we can give you something else, something better.”  “In the name of Jesus, rise up and walk!”  And the man did just that.  Not only did he walk, he also jumped around, praising God.

All the rest of the people who saw him were astonished, for they knew the man to be lame.  Peter didn’t want them to think that he or John did this under their own power or authority, so Peter launched into one of his short sermons, letting the people know by what power they acted.

The power was in the name of Jesus, the Prince of life that they had put to death, who rose from the dead to live again.  Peter was willing to forgive them, for they had acted out of ignorance.  But now they knew better, so they needed to repent and believe in Jesus as the Christ and be reborn, refreshed in Him.  They, too, needed to rise up and walk.

Now if we think for a moment on all the times Jesus healed someone, it was usually associated with them truly believing in Him and His authority.  He would often say something to the effect, “Your faith has made you whole.”  But notice that Peter told the onlookers that it was the name of Jesus, through faith in His name, that healed the lame beggar.

We don’t know if the beggar himself had faith in Jesus or in His name, but Peter and John sure did.  Jesus had told them to ask in His name and it would be done, and they believed Him!  So it was their faith, not necessarily the beggar’s, that made the man whole.  It was by their faith in the power of the name of Jesus that the lame man could rise up and walk.

I mentioned how Jesus healed many people, usually because of their great faith and trust.  But it wasn’t always their faith that brought about the healing.  In the 5th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 17 through 25, Luke saved this incident for us…

17 Now it happened on a certain day, as Jesus was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.

20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins” — He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

25 Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 

--Luke 5:17-25 (NKJV)

“Your sins are forgiven you; rise up and walk.”  Jesus acted upon the faith of the men who carried the lame man and lowered him down through the roof to where Jesus stood.  Whether the lame man himself believed or not didn’t matter, only that those who were trying to help him believed.

But the interesting thing here is in the choice of words Jesus spoke.  He said, “Your sins are forgiven.”  As He explained to the scribes and Pharisees, who were thinking His words blasphemous, Jesus could have just as easily said, “Rise up and walk”.  The words don’t matter – it’s the power behind the words that performs the miracle.  Rise up and walk!  Faith has made you whole.

I said it earlier: we are all lame, we are all blind, we are all handicapped.  Our sin makes us infirm, our disobedience cripples us.  But now, family, by our faith we are healed!  Our sins are forgiven!  All we have to do is rise up and walk!

Let’s rise above our sins.  Let’s rise up and jump around and praise God, giving all honor and glory to the name of Christ Jesus.  Let’s rise up and walk into the world, loving all others, telling them about Jesus, making disciples, and advancing the kingdom of God.

From the cross Jesus said, “I love you, your sins are forgiven.”  Now rise up and walk!  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord!  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, while He walked this earth, You gave Your Son Jesus the power and the authority to heal the lame and the blind, all so that You would be glorified.  And then You gave those who believe that same power, the power of Your Holy Spirit, so that we too might do wondrous works in the name of Jesus.  Thank You, Father, for so great a gift.  But Father, so many of us think we do not really have the power to heal, to effect miracles of any kind.  Please help us truly understand just who it is that lives within us.  Help us realize that the power is not ours, but that through Your Holy Spirit we can wield it.  Give us true faith.  And help us do as our Lord Jesus commands us: to rise up and walk, to love others, and to be a witness of His goodness.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You rewarded the faithful by healing them or those they loved.  Their faith was real, true, and solid.  They had no doubt that You could do miracles, things far beyond the capabilities of mortal man.  Lord, we ask You to strengthen our faith, and to remind us that You still do miracles.  Reassure us that sometimes You work wonders through those who believe and call upon Your name.  Help us as we rise up and walk, sharing the Gospel with others.  Please hold us up and stand with us as we try to show Your love to a world that so desperately needs it.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.