Dancing with the Scars

Welcome to this edition of Power Point with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's evangelism bundle. But first, here's the message, Dancing with the Scars. I want to invite you to take God's Word and turn with me once again to the book of Acts as we are studying it together, the power of spiritual engagement. That's the story of the book of Acts and the Spirit of God is filling His people. The church is flourishing, reaching people for Christ. The city is being captured with the words of the Gospel. Not only are great crowds coming to Christ but one by one people's lives are being transformed as these believers, followers of Christ are now scattering across the city. And in the power of the Holy Spirit they are engaging people with the Gospel. They are sharing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of His name. The title of the sermon is, Dancing with the Scars.

Not the popular show that you may watch on television each week, but a man who was born, lay, disabled, who now is on his feet in the name of Jesus with scarred limbs, emotional scars, hurts, hang ups, habits of the past, now dancing and leaping and praising God. Worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ and He becomes a powerful exhibit in the testimony of the case for Christ. Look at verse 1 chapter 3, the book of Acts. And Peter and John were going to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour which was 3 o'clock in the afternoon. And a man laying from birth was being carried whom they lay daily at the gate of the temple that is called the beautiful gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him as did John and said, look at us. And he fixed his attention on them expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk and entered the temple with them walking and leaping and praising God.

He was dancing with the scars. And all the people saw him walking and praising God and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him.

You look at this man in Acts chapter 3. The Bible tells us he's 40 years of age and every day for day after day, month after month, year after year someone brought this man who was born at birth, disabled. His limbs, his legs did not work. He had a congenital birth defect of some kind. He was paralyzed. He was immobile. And every parent of course looks along to the day when those children take the first steps and his parents never saw that day. Here was a young man, a boy who never played with the other kids.

He never chased a ball. Someone began to take him as a business proposition down to the beautiful gate where he would sit in this particular arena where worshippers would walk by on their way to prayer, on their way to the temple to worship God. And there was the assumption of course that people who were on their way to worship God, especially devout and pious Jews that if he sat there that perhaps they would open their hearts of compassion and give him something and he subsisted like that.

Can you imagine this? Perhaps you've seen beggars before either on our own streets here in America or maybe you've traveled abroad and you know that this kind of life still exists today. If you go to Israel and walk through the gates of Jerusalem even to this day you see beggars deftly placed there doing the same thing that this man was doing, crying out begging just to live, just to get by, just a little money to eat another meal.

So day after day this man is there laid daily at the gate of the temple begging for money. And along come two men that day on their way to church, on their way to worship. Their worship has been transformed because now they know Jesus Christ. And being good Jews they continue to practice their Jewish faith knowing that they have received the Messiah, knowing that they understand the fulfillment of their faith and knowing that Jesus is alive and they are filled with the Spirit of God and so they are on their way to worship. And an incredible and amazing experience awaits them there on the way to worship. And did you know that when you come with an expectant heart and a Spirit filled life to worship the Lord Jesus Christ there is always something amazing, something wonderful that awaits you when you go in His name.

These men are witnesses. Peter and the others have been preaching boldly and large crowds of the day of Pentecost had responded but ultimately the powerful witness of the church included not only the public proclamation of the Gospel as crowds were coming and hearing the message but they were doing exactly what Jesus told them to do. They went out and as they were going Jesus said, as you are going wherever you go, wherever your feet take you, you talk about me.

You tell people about me and how they can know me. And so on their way as they are going to worship, now they have a new sensitivity. Now the Spirit of God has given them real love and compassion for people. Now they are responsive to the needs of people around them. So when they're walking in the gate and this man is crying out, arms for the poor, arms for the poor, arms for the poor, as he's crying out they stop.

Most likely in the past they have done what many of us do when someone cries out in need. We go on but this time full of the Spirit of God engaged in following Christ, Peter and John stop. And the words of the Scripture tell us that they fix their attention on this man. They fasten their eyes on him. And Peter said, look at me, look at us. And he said that because, think about it, a man who every day was begging, maybe you've seen this, every day begging his hands out that his head bowed.

Living a life of shame and failure and defeat. Now of course we know that disabled people today so often lead productive lives and meaningful lives and I know the stories of men and women who have faced incredible difficulties and disabilities in their life and they've overcome them so often in the power of faith and the power of Jesus. So certainly we're not suggesting that every disabled person is somehow hopeless and helpless but this man was hopeless and helpless. He was empty and his head must have been down. Looking at that same spot, that same pavement, those same rags that he was wearing every day, his head is down.

I love the Scripture which tells us that the Lord is the lifter of our heads. So Peter said, look at us. He wanted to make eye contact with this man. So he looks up. He sees a couple of former fishermen and he's thinking, great, these guys probably got nothing to give me. Just a couple of Galileans. While he was expecting to receive something from them, Peter said, listen, I have no silver and gold but what I have I give to you in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk.

And at that moment, now think about this. Think about the bold faith of Simon Peter and John. Here's a man who has been laid here for all these years. He's 40 years of age and never walked. And Peter is bold enough in the name of Jesus to extend his hand and say, alright, get up. Would you do that? Would you walk by someone in a wheelchair and say, in the name of Jesus get up and offer your hand?

Let's go. It was an incredible act of faith. As a matter of fact, later on when Peter would explain this miracle, he would say it was faith in this name. Faith in this name of Jesus Christ. Whose faith was it? It wasn't the man on the ground. It wasn't this lame man's faith.

He had no faith apparently at this point. It was the faith of the believer, of the Christian who had so much confidence in the power of Jesus Christ that he knew if he offered his hand that the power of Jesus would do the rest. It was the hand of Peter, but it was the power of Jesus that changed us.

You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, Dancing with the Scars. You have a God-given calling to take the gospel to the world. That's why we've put together a special bundle of resources to help you grow in your love of the gospel and share it with others. This evangelism bundle includes three of Pastor Jack Graham's books, The Hope of Easter, Life Book, and God's Promises for Doubt-Filled Days. This evangelism bundle is our thanks for your gift today.

And thanks to a generous matching grant, your gift today will be doubled. So call now to request your evangelism bundle when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, Dancing with the Scars. It was the hand of Peter, but it was the power of Jesus that changed this man. Now that's an incredible example, isn't it, of our own witness and what we're to be about as followers of Christ. We have the most amazing, the most wonderful, the most life-changing message of all.

It is the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Yes, we believe God still heals. He makes people whole and yes, God does in His own time perform miracles, physical miracles such as this one. Read Psalm 103 as I have been reading Psalm 103 recently and just meditating upon it. Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all of His benefits.

Who forgives all of your iniquities and heals all of your sicknesses, your diseases, who lifts your spirit and crowns your life with righteousness. Yes, God is still at work. God can still perform miracles of power and grace and glory in people's lives. But the greater miracle that takes place in this man's life was not the fact that he walked but the fact that he became a worshiper.

Here is a man that is outside the gate. According to the laws of the Jews, a broken man like this, a disabled man like this was not allowed in the inner sanctum, in the inner circle of the people of Israel in the place of worship. And so he's laid outside the gate. He is cut off from God. He is cut off from the worship of the one true God and he's helpless, he's hopeless. He was dependent upon someone to carry him there and lay him there every day. And he's illustrative you see of all of us who were born unable to walk with God, unable to know and to worship God, disabled by a fall. There was a man in the Old Testament by the name of Mephibosheth.

And Mephibosheth was crippled when his nurse and when David's army was pursuing the army of Saul, he was the grandson of Saul and Mephibosheth was a little child and the nurse dropped him as a baby and he was crippled in this fall. And he like this man is illustrative of every person on the face of the earth that we have a congenital heart defect, a birth defect and that we cannot know God and we are helpless to do anything about it. We are hopeless and our future is dark and we have no life. We're just existing and it matters not if you're a lame beggar or you are a sophisticated skeptic or atheist.

We are all born incapacitated, incapable of living life and enjoying life. No matter what pleasure you may find, if you don't know God, if you don't have Him in your life, you're just like this man laying at the gate beautiful. I can't ever read this story without thinking about how many people are laid near our gates and they're just waiting for some spirit-filled Christian to come along and in the power of the name of Jesus to extend a hand and say in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk. Well that's exactly what happened. Immediately instantaneously Dr. Luke a physician who gave us the account of the book of Acts actually uses medical terms to describe what happened to this man. Apparently there was a disconnection in the ankles and the feet and immediately this man is changed. He is on his feet and I love the fact that it says that when Peter took hold of his hand, he uses a word which says he seized him. He didn't say, okay careful now, careful, careful, careful, get up, get, get, get.

No, he seized him and he jerked him. He pulled him up and immediately this guy jumps up and he's walking and he's leaping and he's praising God. He is celebrating recovery. You can recover in the power of his name. You don't call upon just a higher power but you can call upon the name of the highest power, the Lord Jesus Christ and then you can be free from your bondage. You can be on your feet leaping, dancing, praising God and celebrating recovery.

That's what this man was doing. He was dancing with the scars. All this emotional baggage, all the scars of a lifetime, all the sin and the failure. Now, he's a worshiper. He's praising God. Peter said silver and gold, I don't have what I have, I give to you. What he wanted was money but he got something far better than money.

He got his life for the very first time. I heard about a seminary student who was preaching for his professor and he preached on this sermon. You know this man, he didn't get what he wanted, he got what he needed and the title of this preacher boy's sermon was, He Asked for Alms and He Got Legs.

He should get an F for that sermon title. But he got his legs and he got his life. And as a result of this witness of these two Spirit-filled men who saw someone laying at the gate outside of the place of worship and picked him up and they just didn't offer a handout or a help up.

They gave him something far better. They gave him the power, the presence of Jesus Christ because you see these two men knew that Jesus is alive. You have eye witnesses to the resurrection saying Jesus is alive and to prove that he is alive in the name of Jesus stand up and walk because what happens now the people who had known this man, maybe even Peter and John had known this man. Maybe they had passed this guy on the way into the temple scores of times and everyone in the area knew about this guy and now he's on his feet, he's in the temple, he's worshiping, the family is astonished, everybody is wondering.

The Bible says they're wondering, they're astonished, they're saying what happened here? So Peter, the bold heart, the brave heart stands up and preaches and that's what you have in the rest of the third chapter of Acts. It is the words of Peter as he preaches the gospel. First you've got the witness of these men and then you've got the wonder of the man transformed and then you have the words, the testimony of faith and he takes advantage, he seizes the moment, does this man to say to everyone who's running up there wondering what's happened to this guy to tell them this has happened because Jesus is alive. The same one that you crucified and put on the cross turned over to evil men to crucify him.

The same one who is the savior and redeemer and Lord, he calls him the author of life, he uses some wonderful descriptive names of Jesus. He calls him the servant of God, he calls him the son of God, he calls him the savior and the redeemer and the author of life and he preaches Jesus Christ. He proclaims the gospel because now this man is standing and the Scripture says that this man is clinging.

I mean I don't know if he's exhausted from all this dancing or what but it says he's clinging to Peter and he's standing right there and Peter just goes at it and he's saying look at this man. Look what Jesus has done in his life. Here's how you can know this same Jesus and he preached the cross and he preached the resurrection and then he told them to repent and receive Christ before it was too late. He said you have done this thing in ignorance.

I mean he shows them a lot of grace. He said you did this thing in ignorance. You crucified the Messiah, the savior, you did it in ignorance but now you know. I challenge you if you are a skeptic, if you are an unbeliever, if you wonder if Jesus is real and Christianity is true, I challenge you to investigate the claims of Christ upon your life because when you stand before God you're not going to be able to plead ignorance. We live here at the so called buckle of the Bible belt. Churches are on every corner. Many of these churches are preaching Christ and the gospel.

You live in the lights. You can't claim ignorance. Do yourself a huge favor and make the case for Christ in your own life. Investigate the claims of Jesus. What Jesus did for this lame man he will do for you. If you will do what this lame man did then that is reach up and touch Jesus.

You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message Dancing with the Scars. 3.2 billion people in our world still have no access to the good news of Jesus and we must do whatever it takes to reach the lost with the hope of Christ. That's why we're excited to tell you about a matching grant that will double whatever you give today to help reach more people through PowerPoint. Your support will help broadcast the gospel into some of the most spiritually dark corners of the earth. We'll say thanks for your gift by sending you three of Pastor Graham's books to help you share the gospel right where you are.

This evangelism bundle includes the hope of Easter, Life Book, and God's promises for doubt filled days. So call now to have your gift doubled by the match and request your evangelism bundle. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789.

That's PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? Today we've been talking about people whose lives were radically transformed by Jesus and how they became exhibits of His power. Their amazing testimonies prove to everyone around them that Jesus was at work in their lives and as a result many people came to know the Lord and salvation in Christ through their testimonies, through their stories. I love to hear testimonies of God's work in people's lives, of miracles, of healings, of dramatic conversions. They're always so encouraging. And it's important for us to remember that God is in the business of changing people's lives and the greatest miracle of all is the miracle of salvation.

You know what? Not every person has experienced something as dramatic as a great healing or a miraculous deliverance. The truth is when you ask Christ to come into your life He begins to work and He continues to work and that is a miracle. Each and every day He is changing you, restoring you, making you more like Himself.

He is transforming your life just as He transformed the lame beggar's life. With all the distractions of daily life it's easy sometimes to overlook the ways that God is working, working and answering our prayers, speaking to you through His Word, arranging your circumstances or encouraging you through other people. Yet in all of this God is trying to show you how real and how present He is in your life. And He is giving you your own story to tell with others, your own testimony of what Christ has done in your life. The Lord Jesus is powerful and He is powerfully at work in you. So I encourage you to look for the daily evidence of God in your life.

Tell other people about it. Don't wait for some spectacular demonstration of what God is doing but just share the way that He is loving you, ministering to you, speaking to you in His Word, the daily demonstrations of His power that are happening every single day as you look to Him. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint your gift will be doubled by a matching grant. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how you can stand strong for Jesus in the face of opposition. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.