Day 313

XVII The Ministries of Paul and Peter
A. First records the early church at Jerusalem
1. From the resurrection to Pentecost - Acts 1:1-26
2. Pentecost and the first church - Acts 2:1-47
3. Power and persecution of early church
a. Peter's second sermon - Acts 3:1-26


I love this portion of scripture:



Act 3:2-10  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 ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 

And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 

 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 

 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. 

And all the people saw him walking and praising God: 

And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. 

I've broken my right leg twice {hey, if you're not living life on the edge, you are taking up WAY too much space!  :-)}  - without a miracle there is no way, and I mean no way, one up and walks.  This man was lame from his mother's womb.  He hadn't even had the privilege of having learned to walk the first time.  No memory to sustain or encourage him.

Typically when you learn to 're-walk' it takes time - everyone is different - but I can guarantee you that once you do, you are not leaping or walking normally.  All the man's muscles were atrophied - to perform this feat is mind boggling.

When you walk again - normally you can't even place your foot flat on the ground - the muscles have to be st-st-stretched and stretched some more.  You take steps but, you're not walking, you're hobbling around, partially dragging your leg along with you.  Trying to make 'it' remember what it means to put one foot in front of the other.  Gimp, gimp, gimp along.

Can we even grasp, in a small, teeny, tiny way the magnitude of what it means when the scripture states, 'he leaping up stood?'  When you have one leg that does not function or is healing you can (trust me I know) accomplish a LOT with the other.  Not with 2 legs which have never stood, leaped, walked.  Never.  Not without the power of God Almighty healing and infusing.

Peter states - verse 16  - And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness it the presence of you all.

I so want to make a y'all comment - but will refrain myself.  Perfect soundness.  Was that only physical?  Or did that mean on all levels?

E-sword to the rescue.

Perfect soundness - G3647 - From G3648; integrity, that is, physical wholeness.

G3648 - From G3650 and G2819; complete in every part, that is, perfectly sound (in body).

Okay, that did not answer my question.  Hmmm...commentaries?  Gill, Henry and Poole were similar in stating the man was obviously physically healed, that the miracle was done publicly and that the man was known to the people there.  That Peter and John did not know him previously and this was not some sleight of hand.

This is from Jamieson, Fossett and Brown - his name, through faith in his name, hath made this man strong, etc. — With what skill does the apostle use the miracle both to glorify his ascended Lord and bring the guilt of His blood more resistlessly home to his audience!


I didn't get my original question answered, yet.  :-)  Moving along, I found the remainder of the text interesting - specifically verse 24:  "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days."


Someone recently posted a comment (not here) relating a question asked of them, "Are you a New Testament Christian or an Old Testament Christian?"  The person's response was that the Bible is entire, complete.  They provided a link to the article Thoughts on Evangelical Neglect of the Old Testament.  Link to it here:  OT


There seems to be a great need within the Bride to grasp, understand, and learn about her heritage.  That the OT is in the NT revealed, the NT in the OT concealed.  We, as the Bride, for the most part, are quite deficient in our knowledge of the OT.  The apostles would have grasped the magnitude of all that had just taken place within the last 50 days.


Passover - (yeah, I'm gonna make another dig on this one) NOT easter - the pagan fertility goddess.  She or some of her little henchettes didn't die and shed blood for you so that DEATH could PASS OVER you.  The nation of Israel did this yearly, in remembrance of the first PASS OVER, when the angel of death went throughout Egypt killing all the first born.


Jesus fulfilled the requirements for PASSOVER - 1 feast down - 6 more to go.


Then came Feast of Unleavened Bread - is the day following Passover - unleavened = w/out sin - Jesus was w/out sin.  2 down - 5 more.


Then the Feast of First Fruits - Jesus is the first fruit of resurrection from the dead.  Waiting on the remainder.  3 down - 4 to go.


Then...Pentecost - according to one site, if I have read it correctly, states that the Israelites when they came out of Egypt traveled to the foot of Mount Sinai and there 'heard' G-d give the 10 commandments.  I don't remember hearing the connection between Pentecost and that before, another interesting thought.  For the New Covenant believers they were given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Poured out, filling them.


I was kinda whipping through the first 4 pretty quickly - I've studied them out - researched - but hadn't really taken the time to grasp some of the magnitude of what Pentecost was for the Israelites out in the desert and then to compare it to what Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for...and to even BEGIN to ponder the significance for the Bride today.


The Israelites HEARD God speak - said they would obey - I liked a portion of one site - how it relates to a person coming out of Egypt and being made cognizant of their sin and Father whetting our appetite for HIS word.


Here is the portion to which I am referring:
"The believer inYeshua spiritually experiences Shavuot (Pentecost) when the Holy Spirit of G-d (Ruach HaKodesh) reveals the Word of G-d to him in a deeper and more powerful way, and his understanding and desire for the Bible increases accordingly."


Here is the link for the article above:  Biblical Feasts Here is the link for a graphic:  Feasts Graphic and one more site I reviewed: Jesus Fulfilling Feasts

Lord that Your Bride would grasp the magnitude of Your word revealed to us - that we would embrace and allow it to infuse us in such a way that we turn the world up side down, just as our brethren before us were accused of doing.  Lord, grant Your Bride to be cleansed from her harlotry with the world, to turn from the fleeting pleasures of this life, to look fully upon You, to desire to hide Your word in her heart, to go forth and proclaim Your truth to all peoples and nations.  O Lord, revive and fill us.  Create a rich depth of understanding of Your Word in our hearts and minds, overflowing us, and spilling out and touching the lives of those who are lost, hurt and perishing.