The Power to Get Up
1. One day, Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the time of prayer (at three o’clock in the afternoon).
2. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the Temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the Temple courts.
3. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.
4. Peter looked straight at him as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”
5. So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you … in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
7. Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.
8. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the Temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.
Acts 3:1-8
Crippling Conditions
The Bible is filled with testimonies of individuals who have been rendered powerless by circumstances in life and yet have found the strength through God’s Mercy to rise above those conditions. We consider them heroes and yet they would boldly proclaim that “it would have been impossible if I didn’t have the Lord on my side.” Abram and his wife Sarai faced impossible conditions. They were old. They were barren and without children. They were citizens of a country that offered no opportunities to apply their faith. In that crippling condition, God spoke to them and led them to the Place of great Promises. The critical key is to believe that there is a way of escape from the condition. A person must believe that there is power to get up.
Believe it or not, there was a time in young David’s life that he too faced crippling conditions. It seemed that his lot in life was to tend his father Jesse’s sheep. Each day, he had to go out to the pastureland and watch sheep. Yet it is one thing to be in a crippling condition and another thing to believe that you are stuck there. David would later be anointed by God to take on a greater task of being Israel’s anointed king. While there in the shepherd fields, young David learned that the Lord was his Shepherd. He would discover that the Power of God Almighty would deliver him from every evil. He would learn that God gives you the power to get up.
There is a story that I love and it is found in 2 Kings 7, regarding four men plagued with the disease of leprosy. Not only were they lepers, but their community was under attack by a foreign army. With their city under siege, they faced starvation and pending death. There was no doubt that they were in a crippling condition. One of them spoke up and asked, “Why should we just sit here and die?” … “let’s go out to the enemy … if they kill us, we were going to die anyway, but if they save us alive, at least we will have food.” The Scripture says that as they approached the enemy’s camp, God caused their shuffling foot steps to sound like a great army. This caused the enemy to run in defeat. It all went back to that moment when they made the decision to “get up.” Their critical decision not only saved their lives, but also saved the lives of their neighbors inside the town of Samaria.
In the Scripture text, there was a man who faced a crippling condition. He was lame from birth and had to be carried every place. Imagine that – having to depend on others to lift you up because you cannot get up. That is a crippling condition. The family had come up with a fund raising plan that was not too noble. They laid him at the Temple gate where he begged for money in order to survive. Some would conclude that he was “getting by” and that would have been okay. But God was not pleased with the man simply getting by. It was God’s will for the man to rise up from that crippling conditions. But that would take power and obviously the man did not possess such a force of energy that could release him from his infirmities. That is until God sent two of His Apostles to care for the man’s needs. I refer to this as caring and compassion.
Caring and Compassion
This raises some questions as to how the Apostles knew that God would raise the man up. After all, we live in a world where it is quite common to “put men down” but to raise them up does not happen that often. Here is the first key point regarding caring and compassion. You must see something that is worth saving. To put it plainly, a caring and compassionate person must value people regardless of their condition.
The crippled man was into his routine of asking alms or gifts from people passing by and happened to ask Peter and John. The easy thing to do would have been to give the man what he asked for (just throw some spare change at him). That way he would be content and they could have been content. But that is not how the Holy Spirit operates. He gives compassion and compassion demands action. That is where the caring comes in. If the Church is to have that compassion today, it must get rid of the critical and judging spirit that hinders compassion from working. Making eye contact helps you to see people in a different light. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money … Peter looked straight at him as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” … So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Looking into the eyes of others allows you to look beyond the faults, the failures, and even frustrations in order to see the other person’s needs.
This brings us to the second key point. In order to take action and allow the compassion to work, you must know something that is worth doing. This was probably not the first time the Apostles had seen this man. Dr. Luke gave a detailed account of the man’s condition and diagnosed him with paralysis from birth. Another fact was that the man was taken to the Temple gate “daily.” It is almost as if Luke is reading the man’s medical chart prior to a procedure. This knowledge meant something to the Apostles. If we contrast that with our fast-paced society, it is highly uncommon to take the time to know another person’s situation. It is even more uncommon to take the time to do something about it. I have always said there are two forms of ignorance. One is the lack of information or knowledge. The second form of ignorance is due to the lack of concern. We simply “ignore” the information and walk on by on the other side of the street. To know something that is worth doing puts us in the operator’s seat of God’s Plan. It is exciting but it is also challenging. A million uncertainties will try to flood your mind. “What if I make things worse?” “What if the offer of helping is rejected?” “What if I’m just imagining things and getting ahead of God?” While the word faith is not mentioned in the text, it was certainly in the atmosphere that day. Peter and John was now committed to acting on what they knew that the Holy Spirit had shown them. They knew that the man would “get up.”
Sadly, there are far too many today with the wrong things on their minds. To simply know data means nothing, but to know something of eternal value is priceless. God had stirred the hearts of Peter and John. God had filled Peter and John with His precious Holy Spirit. Now, God was using them to deliver a healing message to the heart of a man who appeared to be hopeless. Peter said, “Look at us!” … So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. The stage was set for a miracle so that the man could get up.
The third powerful point is that you must have something in order to give something. Bankrupt lives can only share misery and more depression. Souls that have been enriched by God can share the life-changing Power of God’s Goodness. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you … in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” … Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. They did not give the man a lecture about begging. They did not give them man tips on how to accept his condition. They gave the man what they possessed: Jesus Christ. Notice they used the words “such as I have I give to you.” They knew well what Jesus could do because they had been down themselves. No, they did not have paralysis, but they did suffer from sin. Jesus had lifted them from that sinful state and strengthened their feet to walk right. Jesus had restored their life that had been wasted by the burden of guilt. Therefore, they gave the man what they knew could work in his crippled condition. What if the world had Jesus today? Well it does, but someone must start giving Him. That is the only way that people will gain the strength to get up.
Confidence in Christ
All it took to help the man to his feet was to speak the right words and then reach out a helping hand. What I do have I give you … in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” … Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. The question that goes through my mind is what is hindering us from doing the same today? The obvious answer is that we don’t possess that same Holy Confidence in Christ Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, we believe but our belief has a few handicaps that keep us from operating at full power.
The first handicap has to do with our focus on meeting our own needs that we fail to see the needs of others. Far too many of us simply want to get our own praise on that we just don’t see there are others who can’t even stand to their feet. Another handicap is busy-ness. We simply have too much to do that keeps us from stopping and asking those who are down to “look at us.” If we do ask them to look at us, it generally is to show off something that we possess. The center-stage mentality has pushed others aside so that we can be the star attraction and that’s not good. Another handicap is that we try to play goody-two-shoes and try to accomplish the work of God in our own strength. That too is a ploy where we want to claim recognition rather than to give God the Glory. The Scripture adds that after the man was healed, Peter and John were interrogated by the religious leaders as to how the man was able to walk. At that point, Peter and John basically said, “don’t look at us – we did not do this by our power.” They responded by saying that “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has glorified His Servant Jesus Whom you crucified.” It was clear that the Apostles knew how to give God’s Power to others. That is the lesson we must learn so that we too can help others to get up.
It takes confidence to get up. If we are to get up or if we are to help others to get up it will take confidence in the Power of Christ. Confidence is not based on need or what a person deserves. Confidence is not based on finding your season as some say. Confidence is based solely on what God can do. Confidence depends totally on God’s Mercy and Goodness to accomplish the task. Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:19, but my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus. With that confidence, we too can join in praise with those who have found God’s Power to get up. We will join in the celebration of those who joyously go walking, and jumping, and praising God. To God be the Glory!