Acts chapter number 3. And when you find that, if you'll stand to honor the reading of God's Word. Acts chapter number 3. We've been looking at the law of increase where God has intertwined in this entire universe that law of increase. I preached about it for a couple of Sundays now. I preached about it last Sunday, talking about brother Ray's hens and needing some increase and praise God to come walking in here with a flat of eggs this morning. Amen. thank god god still give an increase a man praise the lord i mean you can't compare the most or more dates to homegrown a i can't wait to get home for me at chapter number three we've been looking through the book of acts at every time that the church group or increased And what was going on that God blessed or God used or God incorporated in that church, in this early church, and what made it thrive, what made it get to the point to where here we are today, still a part of God's people, still the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. I'm thankful to be saved. I'm thankful to be in. Amen. I'm glad I'm not out. I'm glad I'm in the church. Amen. and so thankful that God, He said, upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The church is still standing strong today. Amen. Thank God for the church. Amen. I love the church. I want you to look in Acts chapter number 3. We're going to read a goodly portion of Scripture looking into chapter 4 just a little bit. But I want you to notice in verse number 1, it says, Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. The way of Jewish reckoning, that's going to be about three o'clock in the afternoon. It said, "'And a certain man, laying 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 in the 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 anon. 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 had sat at alms at the beautiful gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto Him. And as the lame man which was healed hailed Peter and John, all the people ran together under them into the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering." In the next few verses, verses 12 through the end of the chapter, Peter stands up and begins telling all the people exactly what just happened. They were wondering, what has just happened? This lame man is now healed. And so Peter begins telling them. He tells them about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, verse 14 and 15, how that they killed Him. And then he tells them in verse 19, they needed to repent and get right with God. Then he talks in the very last verse about how that God has blessed them in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Isn't it good to be saved? Isn't it good to be forgiven? Aren't you glad that God forgave you of all your sins? Aren't you glad that God took sin out of your life? And here you stand redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. But let's continue into chapter 4, because I'm interested in something that goes on. It's in, And as they spake unto the people, the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in hold until the next day, for it was now eventide. Howbeit, many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of the men was about 5,000. That's a pretty good increase. That's a good growth of the church, amen? And I want to preach for a little while this morning, and we're going to look further on into chapter 4. I want to preach about the boldness of this early church. We looked last week at the unity that the church held in Acts chapter number 2. how that they were all with one accord within the church, how that they were all unified, and they all believed the same thing. And how that God increased that church, it went from twelve men to three thousand and twelve, all by the grace of God. How that God unusually favored that church and God gave increase and the church grew. But here now we see in chapter 3 and chapter 4 the boldness of this church and we want to preach on that for a little while. Help me pray. Father, I pray in the precious name of Jesus Christ that You would bless this message, that You would please, Lord, help, dear Father, Lord, this Thy servant. And Lord, give me, as the early church had, the boldness to stand and preach the Word of God. that, Lord, I might preach it in the power and demonstration of the Spirit of God, that I might have the unction of God about me, that I might have the anointing of God about me, dear Father, and that understanding that I need, and that utterance from on high. Oh, God, bless every heart that's here. Touch every heart, and we'll thank You and praise You for what You'll accomplish in the precious name of Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. You can be seated this morning. If you'll study the book of Acts, beginning in chapter 1, you'll find out that we see in Acts chapter 1 the goodbye of Jesus. He had told His disciples that it was expedient for Him to go away. For if He did not go away, the Spirit of God would not come. He said, but if I go away, I will send the Comforter unto you. And in Acts chapter 1, we have the goodbye of Jesus. He tells His disciples, those 12 men that He'd been with for three and a half years, He tells them goodbye. But then we see in Acts chapter 2, the God-send of the Holy Ghost, how that God did exactly what He said He would do in His Word. Jesus has gone, but now the Holy Spirit has come. and has birthed the church into existence. The book of Acts is an exciting book to study. It's a wonderful book to understand. It's a book that goes through many different changes and things that happen. But we see in Acts chapter 2 the birth of the church of the living God. Aren't you thankful this morning for the church, the local church? Aren't you thankful to be a part of God's doings this morning? And we see that God began this church, and God blessed this church, and God baptized this church, and God grew this church into what it is, even into our prison hour. And then we see in chapter 3, we see the gospel and its effect in Jerusalem. You've got to remember that the early church began all Jewish. There was no Gentiles among them. It was happening at Jerusalem. And by the way, what we believe today happened at Jerusalem. Amen. It was Jesus Christ who died on an old rugged cross in Jerusalem. They buried Him, but thank God, He got up the third day, and we serve a risen Savior. He's not dead, but He's alive this morning. Aren't you thankful to know that Jesus is alive this morning? Amen. In chapter 3, we begin reading about Peter and John still exhibiting that unity of two preachers together. Amen. That's a glorious thing. Amen. Get two preachers going up to the temple together at the church. Amen. And it said that they come upon this certain lame man. Now, every story in the Bible is told for a reason. It paints a picture of salvation, whether it be a leper man, whether it be a lame man, whether it be somebody dead in the grave, no matter what it is, it always paints a picture of salvation. But it also is given to us to point us to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. And here in Acts chapter 3, we have this beautiful painting of this picture of a lame man. Who was lame, it said in verse number 2, lame from his mother's womb. You know what that's a picture of? That's a picture of you and I. We were all born in sin. We were all sinners by birth and by nature and by experience. All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And here this man is born lame from his mother's womb. And it said that they carried him and laid him at the beautiful gate so he could ask alms of whoever came by. The Bible doesn't tell us who it was. that laid him there, but they were doing all that they knew to do to help this man. This man could not get around on his own. This man could not carry his self. This man could not motivate himself. This man could not move himself. And so somebody got together and they said, this man needs help. And so it's a picture of the world trying to help those that are lost in sin. They're doing all that they know to do. They've got psychologists, they've got psychiatrists, they've got all the efforts of man. trying to help man today, but can I tell you, there's not but one that can help us, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they came and laid this lame man at the beautiful gate. He's laying there. And it's about church time, and so Peter and John, they get together and said, let's go to church. Amen. I like going to church, don't you? I like it when God shows up and God shows out at the church house. Well, they start on the way to the church, And it said that they come across this lame man, and he cries out to them expecting something of them. And it said that Peter looked upon the man and said, Look on us. That's what the church needs today. It needs to realize that we've got the answer. The church is the only place that has the answer for this world's woes. And it is the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not matter what shape you're in this morning. Jesus is the answer. Amen. And so they come and Peter says, on us, and it said that He expected to receive something of them. You know, there's a lot of people that'll walk in a church house, and they've exhausted everything that the world has to offer. They've exhausted the drugs, they've exhausted the drinking, They've exhausted the friends of the world, and nothing has satisfied, nothing has helped for them. But when Peter gets there, he says, look on us, and that lame man was expecting to receive something of Him. I'm glad to tell you that the church has still got something for this world, and His name is Jesus Christ. He 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. You know what that's a picture of? That's a picture of somebody getting saved. Amen. I once was blind, but now I see. I once was lost, but now I'm found. And here this lame man does something that he's never done in his life. He gets up and he walks on his own. That's a picture of what God has done for us all that are saved. Hey, we were once lost, but now God has saved us and given us something to live for in life. This man had nothing to live for. All he could do was beg, but now he's been made a child of the King. I wish I could get the church in here with me this morning, but now he's been made a child of God. He's saved by the grace of God. Oh, the most wonderful thing that ever happened to anybody is to be saved by the grace of God. I'm glad He saved me back in 1982. Have I ever told you when it was? November 21st, 1982. I realized I was on my way to hell, a sinner deserving to go to hell. But I heard about Jesus that died for my sins. I went to that church, and on that Sunday night, Brother Kim, I asked that preacher some questions, and he answered them for me. And he said, John, I want to know something. Are you saved? And I said, No, sir, I'm not saved. He said, Well, Jesus died for you, and He'll save you right now. And he said, John, don't you want to be saved? I said, yes, sir. I think it kind of shocked him, amen. He wasn't expecting me to go for it right then. But I said, yes, sir, I want to be saved. I backed up against that old brick wall of Morton Avenue Baptist Church. There was a little 110 plug in down there at the bottom of the wall. I backed up to that, but I didn't get plugged into 110. I got plugged into Holy Ghost salvation, amen. God convicted me and saved my soul. I walked off of that porch that night, a child of Almighty God, saved by the grace of God. My sins washed away, my name in heaven's book, and a mansion waiting on me. I walked off of that porch, a new man in Jesus. Amen. There's nothing else that can satisfy your life. There's nothing else. I tried the drugs of the world, and they didn't satisfy it. I tried the booze of the world, and it didn't satisfy it. I tried the friends of the world, and they could not satisfy it. But one day I went to Jesus, and Jesus has satisfied me ever since 1982. Thank God that this man got changed. Amen. It meant a picture of what happened to you when you got saved. I mean, don't get happy about it. Don't get happy that your life has gone from nothing to something. Don't get happy about the fact that you once were lost, but now you're found. I mean, it's the greatest thing that ever happened to anybody is Jesus saving a soul. I want you to look, number one, at this man. the deliverance of this lame man. It said that he was lifted up, and that he leaped up, and then he began leaning on Peter. In verse number 11, it said that the lame man which was healed hailed Peter and John, and all the people ran together unto them in the porch that called Solomon. greatly wondering. This man got changed. He got converted, and he started clinging to those that had told him about Jesus. I don't know about you, but when I got saved, I'll tell you what, I didn't like the church. I didn't like preachers before I got saved. But when I got saved, I couldn't wait to get back to the house of God. There was a change made in my heart. There was a change made on the inside. And I still believe in old-fashioned salvation, that when somebody gets saved, there's going to be a change made in their lives. Amen. I used to dislike preachers, but now I am one. What about that? Thank God for the change that God will make in people's lives. Hey, I'm going to tell you something. There's a salvation going around today. Brother Khalid touched on it. There's a salvation going around today where a change has never, never happened in somebody's life. They go down and they smack their chewing gum and they get in an altar and they say, they go through a little prayer. But I'm going to tell you what salvation is. It's being passed from death. Under life, from the devil's side to God's side, there's going to be a change made in somebody's life when they get it saved. Can I get a witness, church? There's still going to be a new creature in somebody's life if they get saved by the grace of God. The deliverance of this lame man. But I want you to notice, secondly, the detesting of the leaders in chapter 4. Did you realize that not everybody loves the gospel? Not everybody likes preaching. Not everybody likes somebody to get up and ride back and preach it. They want a little smooth message given so that they can feel woozy about themselves and just feel good all over. And they want Joel Osteen to stand up and tell them how great it is to be saved. Something good gonna happen to you today." God, help me. I watched him preach the other day just for an object lesson. He'll never mention hell. He'll never tell them the truth about salvation. He just tells them motivational speaking. Hey, the world don't need motivational speaking. They need preaching in the Holy Ghost. There's still a hell out there, and people are dying and going to hell, but not everybody likes preaching like that anymore. They want you to just get up and tell them something good about themselves, but there's still a heaven, there's still a hell, and the only way out of hell is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Amen. The Bible tells about a man that died and went to hell in Luke 16, and the one that told that story was none other than Jesus Christ Himself. If you're going to dispute with Jesus Christ, you've got a big dispute going on. Amen. This world don't like that book. This world will let you mention God. They'll let you talk about God, but don't you mention Jesus Christ. That's why they want to take Christ out of Christmas, because they don't like the name of Jesus Christ. But there is no other way. There is no other... to be saved by than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not in Buddha. It's not in Mohammed. It's in the lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. And without him, you'll die and go to hell. You'll die devil's death and burn for eternity in hell. And without Jesus Christ, there is no salvation. There's none. And that's what they began teaching and preaching to people. They preached by Jesus Christ the resurrection from the dead. Thank God. Thank God He arose. I'm not serving a dead God. I'm not serving a God still in some tomb and you can go visit His bones. You go visit the tomb of Jesus Christ and there's a big old sign on the outside. They tell me, I've never been there. But there's a big old sign on the outside. He is not here. For He has risen. Thank God. We preach about Jesus Christ dying on an old rugged cross. You say, what was He doing there preacher? He was dying there for my sins and your sins. And He died and they took Him off that old cross. They buried him in a barred tomb, and for three days that body laid there motionless and still, and 24 hours passed, 48 hours passed, but on that 72nd hour, Jesus Christ got up out of that grave, and He conquered death, hell, and the grave. He rolled the stone away so that we could get in. Amen. Not that He could get out, but that we could get in. Amen. Not everybody likes preaching. Under them that perish, preaching is foolishness. Maybe some of you sitting here this morning thinking what we've experienced today is foolish, but under us that are saved, preaching is the power of God. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. He said, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that'll believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. I've never been ashamed of somebody getting up and bragging on the name of Jesus. I've never been ashamed of somebody that'll get up and tell about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If that makes you ashamed, you better check up on your salvation because that is the power of God that saved you and that'll save whosoever Thank God for Jesus Christ! Amen. They got to talking about Jesus and the resurrection. Man, they couldn't take that. You know what they did? They came and gathered them up and bound them and put them in a prison and kept them for a while. But I want you to notice what this early church did. I want you to look in your Bibles with me in chapter number 4. It said that the verses that we read out of chapter 4 said, verse 2, they would grieve that they taught the people and preached through Jesus a resurrection. It said they laid hands, it said, verse 4, howbeit many of them which heard the word believed. And the number of the men was about 5,000 people. And then you know what happens? Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, stands up and begins preaching. And notice in verse number 7 it said that they asked them, By what power or by what name have ye done this? Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to this infinite man, by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel, by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of the builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of Him that they had been with Jesus. The one thing that marked these men is that they had been with Jesus. When they saw the boldness, they weren't scared to stand up before this Sanhedrin court and preach Jesus Christ and Him being the only way. That's what we need out of preachers today, is for them to have boldness of the Holy Ghost to tell this world that Jesus is the only way. The deliverance of this lame man, the detesting of the leaders, but I want you to notice the declaration finally of the Lord's people and their desire. They questioned them, said, by what name have you done this? They asked Jesus, said all the time, what authority do you do this by? And they were just asking to question Him, but they said about Jesus Christ, said they never saw a man stand and teach with authority like Jesus Christ taught. I may not be much of a preacher, but there's one thing I believe. I believe that book's true and all men are liars. I believe that book's right, and it does not matter who thinks differently about it. I believe it's going to happen just like that book said it's going to happen. That's the only way to be saved is what this book declares, and that salvation is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. If the blood has never been applied to your life, I've got good news for you. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Whosoever shall call upon the name of Jesus Christ shall be saved. That's good news to anybody lost. That's good news to the church today. Thank God it's never changed over 2,000 years. It's still the same message that Jesus saves whosoever. Amen. Amen. It's said that they took knowledge of them that they had been spending time with Jesus The reason preachers don't have much power today and have to resort to gimmicks and get fog coming out of the floors and all kind of backdrops and all like that because they ain't spend enough time with Jesus. You spend time with Jesus and you'll have some boldness about your life. You'll have some confidence. That's what that word boldness means. It means public, public confidence. Paul said, I know whom I have believed. I want you to notice what they did. In verse 29, they're praying, the church is praying. And they said, And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word. Look in verse 31, And when they had prayed, the place was shaken, where they were assembled together, And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with boldness. Sis, would you come to the piano? Play without one plea, just as I am. We were down there at Brother Mike's camp meeting, and there was a group of young people over to one side, young guys. Every service them little guys had on their suits and their ties. And they would never outstand the whole service. They never would sit down. And God just doing a work in those young people's life. You'd see them every once in a while, one of them just lay prostrate out on the floor and begin praying. Here come the others, just pile on top of them and get to praying. Those young guys, they prayed. You remember seeing them over there, Brother Darin? Members of Brother Mike's church, young men. Some of them called to preach, some of them not called to preach, but they were just... One of them got to standing up one night, and he just started lifting his hands. He said, I love Him! I love Him! I love Jesus! I love Jesus! And boy, I mean that thing, that worship just got to spreading through that house, and we all got to praising God and worshiping. I like it when it gets like that. I don't know about you, but I like it when worship's on. Old Brother Dean McNeice was there. Brother Dean's just this side of a prophet. He's crazy, but boy, God's on that man. He looked over there at them young men, and he pointed to them. He said, God's filling them with the Holy Ghost. He said, that's the future church. And this is what he said. He said, those men, when they get behind the pulpit, they're not going to be dealing with church splits. They're going to be dealing with, this is what Dean said, this is how he did it. He said, they're going to be dealing with head splits. He said, them Muslims are coming to this country. and they're taking this country over. We're getting scared to where preachers don't even want to mention the name Muslim. They've been politically correct behind the pulpit. He said, them Muslims are coming and them young men, God knows that they need to be filled with the Holy Ghost to stand up for what we're going to see in this day and hour in which we live. Church, I want to just serve notice on you. We need to be filled with the Holy Ghost. It's not just for the preacher, the deacons, it's for every church member. We need to be filled with the Holy Ghost and we need boldness to be able to speak the Word with confidence, to tell sinners about a lost and dying world that needs salvation through Jesus Christ. We need boldness in our hour like never before. I want you to stand this morning with your heads bowed and eyes closed.