SILVER AND GOLD

Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.  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 from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do 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, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Acts 3:1‭-‬8‭, ‬10 NKJV The beggar was hoping for something material. Something with monetary value. The spot market price for an ounce of gold today is $1,229.41 and the spot market price for an ounce of silver is $ 17.43. These are referred to as precious metals. The beggar would’ve been happy with either one of these alms. When he looked at Peter and John he had no idea about what was coming. The power and glory of the name of Jesus Christ was about to be manifest in the beggar’s life. When Peter said to the beggar “Look at us”, he was expecting something that he thought would help him. But when Peter and John grabbed him and said arise in the name of Jesus Christ and yanked him to his feet, the Holy Spirit rocked the beggars world. The next thing the beggar did was stand up, leaping, walking and entered the temple glorifying God. The people were amazed because they recognized that he was the one who could not walk. The preaching of the gospel is followed by signs and wonders. When we preach the truth, signs and wonders follow. The miracles follow the Word; they do not precede the Word.