Do you know someone who cannot walk? You might think, “Sure, my baby sister, or my great grandfather who needs a wheelchair.” You might also have seen a beggar on the streets who can’t walk because he was hurt in a war or because he was born with legs that didn’t work right. Well, one day, not so long after the Spirit descended at Pentecost, Peter and John went into the temple, and they saw a beggar being carried to the Beautiful Gate. (They didn’t have wheelchairs then!) People carried him to that gate so he could beg for money from those who were going in and out of the temple. He probably begged there day after day, year after year. He was forty years old, and his whole life he never walked even once. He probably felt his life was not so beautiful.

When Peter and John walked by, the man begged for some coins. Peter responded, “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!” (Acts 3:6). Can you guess what happened? Immediately God gave strength to the man’s legs, and for the first time in his life he stood up. More than that, he began to walk and then leap. He was “walking and leaping and praising God” (3:8). What a beautiful sight at the Beautiful Gate! Everyone who saw this miracle was “utterly astounded” (3:11). They were totally surprised. But Peter used the opportunity to preach another Spirit-filled sermon about Jesus. He started that sermon, saying, “Why are you surprised? And why are you staring at us like we in ourselves had the power to do this? It is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who through Jesus, made this man walk. Our faith in the name of Jesus has made this man strong enough to walk and leap” (see 3:12–16). Through the Spirit’s power God used Peter and John to bring healing and salvation to this man. And through that same Spirit’s power God used Peter’s sermon to bring salvation to many who saw the miracle!