Psalm 118, beginning at verse 1, O give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Out of my distress I called on the Lord, the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. And from the book of Acts, then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, rulers of the people and elders. If we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed. Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please be seated. On Easter Sunday, a pastor knows that there's a variety of people in the congregation. Some are faithful to come every Sunday. Some of you don't. We want you to know that you're welcome. But we also want you to know that there are reasons why people come and reasons why people don't come. And that's what we're going to be talking about this morning. I really want you to take the presuppositions that you bring this morning all of you and pause and rest them for a moment and consider the message that is before us. For those of you who come with lots of doubt I encourage you to do it so you might see something first. For those who have seen it for years, I want you to see again. The story that we're going to look at this morning begins in Acts 3 actually. Peter and John are in trouble. They've been arrested but why? If you brought your Bible with you, I want you right now to turn to Acts chapter 3. If you didn't, I want you to take the Bible that's in front of you. There's a pew Bible. And I want you to turn to chapter 3 because I'm going to read and explain a portion of this story which is quite remarkable. Acts 3 beginning in verse 1. Follow along as I explain. Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, and a man lame from birth was being carried whom they laid there daily at the gate of the temple that is called the beautiful gate to ask alms of those who are entering the temple. So here's the scene. The Jewish tradition was to go at specific times of day to pray and so Peter and John are doing that. They're being faithful to what they've always been faithful to. But they come up on a beggar whose faithful friends have brought him, perhaps each and every day, to lie here at this beautiful gate. It's quite a contrast. Here is a beggar who cannot walk. He's crippled and lame. And he's set truly at the beautiful gate which means that it's the gate that's the most ornate. It's gorgeous. Many people enter into the temple for times of prayer through this gate. And as they enter in, they have to deal with this beggar. And this beggar is there to receive alms to receive silver gold money. It's a good gig, but he doesn't get to go in. He's not going into worship. His moment of glory is when people enter and exit and give him money. And he's at a good place because it's the tradition that they are to give to those who are in need. So he does quite well. And here come Peter and John moving into the temple to pray. Verse three, 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. Now that's interesting to me. If we had a beggar who was crippled, lying outside on the steps just outside the sanctuary doors, I wonder how many of you would come through those doors or if you would not reroute and come through a different door. And if you did come through that door, I wonder how many of you would direct your gaze at the beggar. I know I wouldn't. I don't. When I take my car and exit the toll road on an orthodox highway and regularly see a beggar they're holding a sign, I don't look. I don't want to make eye contact. Do you? If I make eye contact, I feel like I need to do something. But I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. If I give him a little money, what will he do with it? If I give him a bit of food, what will he do with it? I don't know what to do. Just last Sunday, my wife Christina was late coming into the sanctuary because there were beggars in the parking lot. And they wouldn't speak English or maybe they couldn't. So they handed her a note. She had our four children with her, needing to hurry to get them to where they could go so she could come here in worship with the other three children. She didn't know what to do. She felt guilty the entire service. What was I to do? But here, Peter and John, they know exactly what to do because they know exactly what's in them and they know exactly what God is capable of. And so what does he say? Peter says, look at us. Verse 5, the lame men fixed his attention on them expecting to receive something from them. Oh, but how low his expectations must have been. I wonder how much gold or how much silver they will give me not knowing that soon for the very first time in his life he was going to walk. He had never stood. And for the very first time he would. Peter says in verse 6, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. Now, listen carefully. In the name of Jesus Christ. Listen carefully. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Some of you have been in the church too long that this story doesn't blow your mind. Let me remind you of something. It really happened. There was a real crippled man daily carried there by his friends who begged for gold and silver. Who would do who knows what with but he would return the next day as his friends bought him. That was his life. And now someone says to him, look at me. I have no gold. I have no silver. But what I do have I give to you. Well, what is it? What are you going to give to me? Rise, get up. And Luke tells us, verse 7, he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Luke is a physician. And he uses two words here for foot and ankle that are used nowhere else in the Bible. Their medical words to describe the body, the foot and the ankle. And then in verse 8 it says, and leaping up, he stood and began to walk and he entered the temple with them, walking, leaping and praising God, walking, leaping and praising God, Luke the physician also uses a unique word here, leaping. The word leap literally means that something was out of joint, something in this man's feet and ankle was out of joint. But God made it right. The word leaping means that something which was out of joint has now slipped in and it is correct. And when it was corrected, this man walked. It's not just a story. It really happened to someone in history. And so he enters the temple. And as he enters, it says that the crowd was filled with wonder and amazement and what had happened to him. Now listen to verse 11. While he, the lame man, now walking, clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's astounded. Well of course they're astounded. Wouldn't you be? Wouldn't you be if that crippled man out on the steps somehow I or an elder or just a lay person could go out and say a prayer and say get up. I don't give you food. I don't give you anything except what I have get up and they did. And suddenly this crippled man who's been crippled for years has been outside our sanctuary for years is walking. He comes in walking and leaping and praising God. What else would you talk about today? Is you called friends that attend other churches to compare which one was better? What would you talk about? You would talk about a crippled man who is now walking and leaping and praising God is beautiful, is the choir is this morning. And I've got to hear them three times. And you've had to hear me three times too. And I'm trying to make it a little different. It's beautiful as that is. You would be talking about the man who walked in and was leaping and praising God. He was crippled and now he stands. Jesus was dead. Now he's alive as you come in this morning. Do you come in walking and leaping and praising God? Are you like the psalmist? Let us give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love. Too often Christians, we've lost the wonder of what God has done. We'll follow along the text with me. Verse 16, Peter has been preaching his first sermon. And what he says is amazing. He says, and his name by faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. The name is important. Peter is saying, it's not us. It's not our ability. It's not what we've done. It's the name of Jesus that has healed this man. And it's because of the name of Jesus. The Peter and John are arrested. Go with me to chapter four, verse one. And as they were speaking to the people, the priest and the captain of the temple in the Sadducees came up on them. Verse two, greatly annoyed. And oh, they were, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed and the number of the men came to about 5,000. So there's a problem. Jesus was killed. We saw him, but his body is gone. They proclaim that he's risen from the dead. And now thousands of people are beginning to follow him because the disciples are doing these miracles. This has to stop. And so they arrest them. And they ask him a question. And the question comes in verse seven. And when they had set them in their midst, they inquired, by what power or by what name did you do this? By what power or by what name did you do this? They couldn't deny the miracle. The man, they had seen themselves going into the temple. He's now walking and leaping and praising God. And what name? By what power did you do this? Impeter speaks. There's a lot of power in a name. We take great time to consider the name of a family pet. Little boys and little girls. You remember gathering as a family? Talking about what you would name your new puppy or kitten or groundhog or whatever it is you have? Groundhog, wow, that'd be a fun pet. What about parents? Your wife is pregnant for the first time. What will the name be? You get the books. You go online. You consider family names. You give a lot of attention to it. And then he asked the question, do you think they'll like their name when they get older? Well, some people don't. Lawrence Harvey, Ziegler, did not like his name. So he became Larry King. Paul David Houston, preferred to be called Bono. Karen Johnson, sounds like a member of our church. She preferred the name, whoopie. Whoopie, Goldberg. Reginald Kenneth Dwight became Sir Elton John. Gordon Matthew Sumner, simply known as Sting. And Francis Gumb. Who's that? Somebody in the eight o'clock service, new. Which proves my point that the people at eight o'clock are smarter. Judy Garland. I'm not really that excited about my name. Mark Davis. It's okay, but there's about 45 of us in Dallas. And one as a radio station. My name has been confused all my life. I graduated with another man who had the exact same name. In fact, the same middle name, which is Alan. I've often thought about changing my name. I've thought about a nickname that would be like an animal. Much like Tiger. Tiger Davis. But it's already taken. So if I was to pick an animal, I would pick one that's better. Falcon. Falcon Davis. Why? Because Falcon is the fastest animal that God ever created. And you should see me run. I had my opportunity during Indian Princess and Indian Guides with my children. We give a name to each other. I came in with the name Falcon. It was rejected. Every name that was given to me had an adjective before it. And I'm not sure why it was either the word silver or gray. Why? Names are powerful. But there's no more significant name than the name Jesus. And listen to what Peter says about it. Verse 10, he says, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you've heard it three times now. By the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, listen to that, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. And then listen to verse 12. And there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. There is no other name under heaven given by men by which we must be saved. Let's talk about that for a minute. And I really want you to listen. No matter what your presuppositions are. Listen, Peter said something very offensive. There's only one way. There's only one name and it's Jesus. There is no other way. Ferris season, Sadducees. There's only one way it's Jesus. Very, very offensive. So why would Peter say such a thing? Because it's what Jesus said. And it's the essence of Christianity. Jesus, as he walked on the earth said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No one here this carefully. No one comes to the Father except through me. There is no other way Jesus is saying, but it's so offensive. Let's talk about it for a moment. First, the vision of the world. The world hears a statement like that and is immediately offended by anyone who would say such a thing. They find it narrow, indulgent, insensitive, intolerant. They find it mean. How can you say there's only one way? There's billions of people in the world. Do you think Jesus is the only way and the Christians are only the ones going? How can you say such a thing? Because Jesus said it. Well, then I don't like Jesus. And I don't like the Bible. There's no reason to believe that. But that's the essence of Christianity. Dana Jennings in an article written on March 2nd, 2008 last year in the New York Times said this, our lives begin in mystery and end in mystery. In between, we try to explain ourselves to ourselves. Listen to that. In between this mystery, we try to explain ourselves to ourselves. All 6.5 billion of us who are wedged on to this improbable planet. 6.5 billion potential paths to the Holy. Really? I mean, really. You really believe that there's 6.5 billion potential paths to the Holy. And we just depend on ourselves to understand well, most of the world finds that statement more inherent than they would the Word of God. And the scary thing is that many who would profess to be evangelical Christians agree with her. Chuck Colson was here on Friday night giving a lecture and he shared a recent stat from a survey that said that 57 to 58% of evangelical Christians, those who profess to be born again, 57 to 58% now believe that Jesus is not the only way to heaven. Why? Because someone in the Bible, Jesus said something different? No, because the pressure of the world on that statement, because it's so offensive. So what's happening? Many churches and many leaders are now saying there is more than one way and they're still calling themselves Christians. But it's not Christian at all. Jesus either was lying or telling the truth. Indow us alone. If you look in the yellow pages and you're looking for a church, you'll have to thumb through around 17 pages. They're nearly 3,500 churches listed in over 50 different denominations. So you know this day, many are teaching many different things, but anything that is taught other than that Christ is the way the truth in the life and there's no way to the God except Him is wrong. That's what God said in His Word. If you go online and are looking for a church, there's a listing of 4,037 churches here in the Dallas area. 162 web pages with 25 churches on each one. It's a lot of churches. But if Dana Jennings is right, there are 6.5 billion ways where there's room for a lot more. Jesus was either right in what He said or He was a liar. That's really what you have to address. You see the issue for people in the world that hate what Jesus said. It's a theological issue. It was a theological issue for the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious rulers. Are we going to accept His authority for who He says He was or are we not? And they witnessed the power of what He was capable of doing and they killed Him and now He's gone. They were annoyed. But there's a second view that we have to consider this morning. The world views it as harsh and insensitive and offensive. But you aren't responsible for the world. You're responsible for yourself. How do you view it? I want you to understand something. Jesus is either who He said He was or He isn't. If you're a doubter, I hope you have great reasons for your doubt that are based on something greater than your own opinion because I have 6.4 billion other opinions to listen to as well. Do you really want to base all of life and death and eternity on your opinion or do you want to be an educated seeker of what is true? You see if Jesus is who He says He was and by His name and only His name we are saved then that changes everything about anyone who would profess faith in Christ. It changes our identity. It rules everything. Last May recognizing that my body was often quite sore and had gotten a little bit weak even though I really don't have a weight issue. I decided it was time to take serious getting in shape. And so after nearly 25 years of trying to do it on my own since 1985 high school football my wife said get a trainer. Okay, they're expensive but we thought it would be a good investment. And so I did. I also had a desire that I would have a trainer that did not know God and that through this painful experience there might be an opportunity for me to share my faith. So I joined a little gym and my trainer was named Shane. Shane and I began to work out and he pushed me hard and I actually loved it though it was very brutal. And then about three weeks into it he finally asked me what do you do for a living? And I was so grateful that he wasn't spotting me with heavy weights when I told him that I was a pastor. I told him I was a pastor and he said so like what do you do? I said well I play a lot of golf. Actually I never play golf. I said I teach God's word and I love God's people. I pray things like that and he goes oh I don't believe in God. I said really? That's all I said. I worked out a little bit longer. Trickery times went by. He said I have a couple of questions about God. Okay, you want to talk about it? Yeah I figured your preacher you could help me. I'll try. First thing he says, I don't believe Jesus is the only way. I said Shane how come? He had never thought about why. The world and it's a thin set what I've said this morning has shaped so many people who really don't know why they don't believe they just don't. And so I said well why don't you seek? Because I think I'm going to seek our religions. I said you can do that. Or you can try one that says that's the only way. And if it is you can continue to seek those others but you'll see it in a different way. So I got him a Bible. I said read John. He read it in three days. Pretty cool. The next visit he said I've got a lot of questions. We had lunch at Black Eyed P just down the street south of the church and there he professed faith and Christ. His body was out of line so to speak. His soul was out of line. Something wasn't in joint. And in that moment though he spends his life helping people get in shape. God aligned the joint so that he could walk and he could leap and he could praise God over the summer. He did, his life changed and he quit his job. Took his life serious and went back to college. And I haven't been back to trading since. When we come to realize that Jesus is everything he said he was it changes everything. But until then the temptation is even after then we really live for another name. What name are you living for now? What name are you trying to be saved by? Some of you this morning have come simply because it wasn't worth the hassle of upsetting your mother if you didn't. Some of you have come because it's just your religious thing to do a couple times a year. I understand that. I was just like that. But when you understand what Jesus has done something changes you see there's only one name by which you can have access to eternity in Christ. It's his name. Some of you are thinking I know because I thought this way for a long time. My family's religious. My mom prays a lot. I'll get in on her coat. I'll get in on her name. It doesn't work that way. Nor for a friend. I mean, can you imagine the crippled man out on the mat saying one damn going to walk? Well, how do you know? Because my parents walk and I have their name. It doesn't work that way. Some of you are relying actually on a religious affiliation, an organization, a cause that you're a part of. Some of you have said to me many of you actually, Mark, nice to meet you. I'm a charter member. Good. Don't tell Jesus that when you get to heaven. It's not going to matter. Tell him you know him because he knows you. I'm glad you're a charter member. But you could be a charter member of a lot of things and a lot of people are that have nothing to do with eternity. There's only one name. But the name that gets in the way for most of us. It's our own name. I'm a good person. I'll get in because the way I've lived, my own self-righteousness. To me, you won't. Jesus spoke with a rich young ruler who opened up with him and said, I've kept all of these commandments, essentially saying, I'm good. And Jesus said, there's only one who is good. And it's Jesus. And it's his righteousness by which we stand. That's what we've been singing about this morning. The crippled man had no way of ever walking if it wasn't for the name of Jesus. But there are many more things that cripple us besides bad ankles and bad feet. What are you crippled by this morning? Some of you are crippled by a faith that once in high school or middle school seem to thrive. But since time in college, it's just been somewhat dead and distracted. You have come face to face with the world that really doesn't believe what Peter said. You have come face to face with the world that doesn't believe what Jesus said. And it's caused your own faith to dwindle. It's crippled you. Some are you are crippled by real doubt. You just can't believe it. Others of you are crippled by fear. Deep fear of the future. Some of you are crippled by guilt. There's something that you did in your past that might be decades old that you just could never imagine God's love could forgive that. Did you hear what we confessed earlier about the depth of God's love? Some of you are crippled by a bad marriage or by your children's rebellion. Others are crippled by anger, depression, addiction. Many probably are crippled by success. I just don't feel the need for a savior other than a couple times a year. And some are crippled by what the world thinks. I don't want them to think. I'm a narrow-minded, intolerant, offensive Christian. Whatever you're facing, the greatest crippling you will ever know is death and you will know it. You can't escape it. That's why you need to wonder about your opinions and are they based in truth. Jesus went to the cross and he was staked there. He stayed on the cross. He died. He was ultimately crippled. He went to the tomb and then his body was risen. He was alive. When Peter preached the sermon, he said, you crucified him and they did. And so did I. And so did you. And so did you. And so did you. But he's risen. God raised him. He's alive. And we, by his grace, can stand before the Heavenly Father just as this crippled man was standing before those religious leaders. And we will be standing there for the same reason he was by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And that's it. There is no other way. So what does the world need to see? More than anything, the world needs to see Christians who were walking and leaping and praising God because they understand that they were crippled and lame. But he has come, being crippled himself, that they might live. The cover of Newsweek, this week, had a cross. And the article talked about the decline of Christianity. This time of year, that article always comes. One article that would be beautiful would simply say, but Christ is always victorious. Jesus is going to return. And when he does, you will be crippled. You will fall flat. Every knee will bow. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Those who do not know him who are not saved by his name will remain forever separated from him. But those who know him will rise and walk and leap and spend eternity praising God. That is why he has come. That is why we are here today to worship what he did. Whatever it is this day that is crippling you, I promise Christ is the answer. He is the way, the truth, and the life, Father in heaven. There are bound to be some here today who wrestle with what I've said. And may they not be wrestling so much with me, but with you. And may you reveal yourself in such a way that they just see the truth of who you are. There are some here today, Father, who have known you for a long time. But their identity has begun to be shaped by a different name, namely themselves, and they still are trying to make themselves righteous enough before you. It won't work. And I know there are some here today who simply have come as a favorite to a parent, our friend. Oh God, break through that that they might see the glory of the gospel. And all of us today, Lord, we pray for sight that you would help us to see our condition and our need for a Savior and that you came, that you died, and that you have risen. You have risen indeed in your name we pray. Amen.