Study #22: God used a miracle to open a door for Peter and John to preach the Gospel to a large crowd of Jews

Acts, Chapter 1.2: The Sanhedrin violently rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Apostles (3:1 - 42)

§Unique Introduction: God used a miracle to open a door for Peter and John to preach the Gospel to a large crowd of Jews (3:1 - 11)

¶Opposite A disabled man asked Peter and John for a gift as they were going into the Temple (3:1 - 5)

¶Opposite God healed the disabled man, providing an opportunity for Peter and John to preach the Gospel to the Jews in the area (3:6 - 11)

§Complement Body: The Sanhedrin Council of Jews vainly attempted to stop the preaching of the Gospel in Jerusalem (3:12 - 5:16)

¶Opposite Peter indicted the Jews for their participation in the execution of their own Christ (3:12 - 16)

¶Opposite Peter called the Jews to repentance and faith in the resurrected Christ (3:17 - 26)

¶Complement The Sanhedrin Council of Jews commanded Peter and John not to speak anymore in the Name of Jesus (4:1 - 22)

¶Complement The Apostles prayed for the power and protection of the Holy Spirit (4:23 - 31)

¶Unique The Holy Spirit slew Ananias and Sapphira at the word of Peter for attempting to corrupt the Assembly in Jerusalem (4:32 - 5:16)

§Complement Conclusion: The Sanhedrin Council of Jews arrested and beat the Apostles; and then released them (5:17 - 42)

¶Complement Peter rebuked the Sanhedrin Council for their attempts to stop the preaching of the Gospel of Christ (5:17 - 33)

¶Complement The Sanhedrin Council released the Apostles after beating them and commanding them not to speak in the Name of Jesus (5:34 - 42)

This study will look at the Introduction Section to Chapter 1.2 of Acts.

The Golden Ratio design in this text is very simple, so I will show how it works; and then we will make some brief applications from it afterward.

§Unique Introduction: God used a miracle to open a door for Peter and John to preach the Gospel to a large crowd of Jews (3:1 - 11)

¶Opposite A disabled man asked Peter and John for a gift as they were going into the Temple (3:1 - 5)

Unique Now Peter and John went up together into the Temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

Complement And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried there; whom they laid daily at the gate of the Temple which is called Beautiful, to ask charity from them that entered into the Temple.

Complement Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the Temple repeatedly asked for a gift.

Opposite And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, “Look at us!”

Opposite And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something from them.

Comment: The UCC-OO (one unique, two complements, and two opposites) Golden Ratio design of the sub-paragraphs for paragraph 1:

Unique Peter and John went into the Temple at the hour of prayer

Complement A lame man was lying there, asking charity from visitors to the Temple

Complement The lame man repeatedly asked Peter and John for a gift of money

Opposite Peter told the lame man to look at them

Opposite The lame man gave heed to them

¶Opposite God healed the disabled man, providing an opportunity for Peter and John to preach the Gospel to the Jews in the area (3:6 - 11)

Opposite Then Peter said, “Silver and gold, I have none; but such as I have, I give you: in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up.

Opposite 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.

Complement And all the people saw him walking and praising God; and they knew that it was he who sat for charity at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple.

Complement And they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to him.

Unique And as the lame man who was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

Comment: The OO-CCU (two opposites, two complements, and one unique) Golden Ratio design of the sub-paragraphs for paragraph 2:

Opposite Peter lifted the man up in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

Opposite Jesus instantly healed him; and the man leaped up and walked with them into the Temple, praising the Lord

Complement All the people saw the man walking and praising God, and they recognized him

Complement All the people were filled with wonder and amazement at this miracle

Unique This miracle caused the people to run together to Peter, John, and the man who was healed

Comment: Notice how the Golden Ratio design works in the subparagraphs of the Introduction Section: UCC-OO | OO-CCU.

It works this exact same way in every Book in the Bible, with certain exceptions: smaller Chapters (e.g. 2 and 3 John), the Psalms, and Lamentations.

In the Book of Acts, every Chapter has this exact same Introduction design.

The purpose of this miracle from God was to give Peter and John and opportunity to preach the Gospel to thousands of Jews who were in the area of the Temple at that time.

And the result of this sermon of Peter:

Acts 4:4: “Nevertheless many of them who heard the Word believed, and the number of the men was about five thousand.”

This was not some kind of “lucky coincidence”. No, God was in complete control of that situation; and God wanted the Gospel to be preached to them; and God abundantly blessed the obedience of Peter and John to preach the Gospel with about 5,000 men who trusted in Jesus Christ to be saved.

Peter and John were walking in obedience to the will of God, being filled with the Holy Spirit; and as they obeyed the Spirit of God, God opened a door for them to preach with a miracle.

God can do the same thing with us today. Perhaps not with a miracle of healing like in this situation, but with other kinds of miracles. God is able to do great things with those who walk in obedience to his will.

On the other hand, God cannot and will not greatly use any Christian who is half-hearted in his walk with Jesus Christ. I have known many over the nearly 38 years since I trusted in Christ that were “double-minded” (James 1:8) and divided in their loyalty to God, because they still loved the world and the things of the flesh.

James 1:8 “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

I John 2:15 - 16: “Love not the world; neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him: for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

Psalm 78: 40 - 41: “How often they provoked him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert! Moreover, they turned back and tested God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.”

Are you saved? If so, are you walking with Christ each and every day, and serving Him with all of your heart? God wants to use you to do great things; but God can only use you if you are obedient to his Word and to his Spirit, which never disagree with each other.

Surrender your heart to the Lord right now, and let Him take full control of your life. Confess every sin to the Lord, and turn away from them with all of your heart. Commit yourself to obey the Word of God with all of your heart, and follow Jesus Christ all the way to the end of your life, no matter what anyone else thinks, even if they claim to be a Christian.

“Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him; and he shall direct your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear Jehovah, and depart from evil. It shall be health to your navel, and marrow to your bones.” Proverbs 3:5-8

Are you not saved yet? Then I urge you to realize that this is the most important question that you have ever been asked, because it doesn’t matter how much education you have, or how much money you have.

Frankly, God doesn’t care about your education or your money or your property, because God already owns everything. God only cares about your soul: where will you spend Eternity after you die? Will you go to Heaven or go to Hell?

This is the Gospel: Jesus Christ died for your sins on the cross almost 2,000 years ago; He was buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day, victorious over death and the grave.

If you believe this, then you CAN be saved. If you don’t believe this, then you cannot be saved. It is really that simple.

I say CAN be saved, because even if you believe the Gospel of Jesus, you are still not saved! It is only the first step toward being saved:

1) Repent: realize that your sins are dragging you down into Hell, and you must turn away from them or they will destroy you forever.

2) You must confess to God that you are a sinner;

3) You must confess to God that you believe the Gospel (He died on the cross for YOUR SINS, was buried, and rose again on the third day);

4) You must ask God to save you because you believe in Jesus Christ and want to be saved.

Romans 10:9 - 13: “that if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved: for with the heart man believes into righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made into salvation: for the Scripture says, “Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.” For there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him: [for it is written], “whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.”

It’s really very simple, but you must understand how a person can be saved before you do it, or saying a prayer alone without true faith will not do anything. Many have “prayed a prayer”, and then nothing happened, because they did not understand the Gospel, and did not pray with the correct understanding.

Now you have the correct Biblical understanding as I have just explained it to you. Even if you have prayed before, and “nothing happened”, you can still be saved: if you truly believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ (He died on the cross for YOUR SINS, was buried, and rose again on the third day), and want to be saved, you can use this prayer to trust in Christ right now:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned against YOU. I am no good, and you are righteous! I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, were buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day. I want you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Please come into my heart right now. Forgive me for all my sins, and save my soul. In the mighty Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen!”

Now, follow your prayer of faith with a lifetime of obedience to God and his Word. Read his Word daily, and do what it says. Find a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church (Independent Baptist churches are the best), and serve the Lord there each week.

If you have turned from your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and only Savior from sin, please message me through Facebook and let me know that you have done that, so that I can pray for you and rejoice with you in what God has done in your life. Amen.