Please turn in your Bibles this morning to Acts chapter 3 as we are going to read the story of the crippled beggar who was asking for alms and he got legs!  As you are turning there listen to this true story that shows how easy it is to give up and not finish the race that is before you, in a sense, being lame in your walk.  The story goes like this:

            In 1952, a very brave and strong young lady waded into the Pacific Ocean.  Florence Chadwick was determined to break another record. To date, no woman had ever crossed the channel between Catalina Island and the California coast.

            Long-distance swimming wasn’t new to Florence.  She was a seasoned long-distance competitor.  In fact, she was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.

            But this was a twenty-six-mile stretch. And the conditions that July morning were not optimal.  Not only was the water incredibly cold, but a thick blanket of fog had settled in.  And to make matters worse, there were sharks who trailed her course and had to be driven off several times!

            Florence’s coach and family followed along in a small boat, cheering her on.  “Go for it, Florence!  You can do it!”

            But it was foggy.  Real foggy. And even when she’d been swimming for fifteen hours, Florence still couldn’t see the shoreline.

            A bit discouraged and very tired, she finally took her last stroke, telling her family she just couldn’t go on.

            She quit.

            They all consoled Florence as they pulled her aboard, and she collapsed with exhaustion.

            Well, as it turned out, Florence quit much too soon that cold July morning. She swam twenty-five and a half miles, but because she couldn’t see the end – couldn’t see the coast – Florence fell short of her goal by just half-a-mile. Had she only known!  One half mile!

                                                                                                            - Leadership Journal

            With that in mind, let’s jump into our text this morning in Acts chapter 3, beginning in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this morning in regards to our walking in Christ!

            Here we see a man who has been born lame, never able to walk, and according to Acts 4:22 he is now over 40 years old!  To survive, to try and provide for himself, someone would carry him to the gate beautiful where he would beg for money. On this particular day, at 3 PM, Peter and John walked by, heading to the temple for prayer.

            Now Jesus and His men must have past this lame man many times as they went to the temple. But now this encounter was going to lead to a life that will be radically changed.  This man is looking to receive money but Peter tells him that is not what he is going to get, and he tells him, “. . . ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.’”  Acts 3:6.  Peter then reaches down to this lame man and lifts him up to his feet, and the man is healed, so much so that he is jumping for joy and praising God.

            Some of you may be thinking “Nice story, but what in the world does this have to do with me?” I believe this story applies to all of our lives and thus, it is important not only for us to understand it but to apply those lessons to our lives so that we grow in the Lord and not fall back.  There are two ways to look at this story and both apply to each of us as you will see.

            First of all, no matter who we are, where we came from, we were all born into this world lame, unable to walk with God or for Him because sin has separated us from Him. Now that may offend some people but it is the truth, the Scriptures testify to these things.  Notice carefully to what Isaiah 59:1-4 says, “Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.  For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.  No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth.  They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.” 

            Thus, how in the world can you walk with God when you have been separated from Him?  You can’t!  Man, in knowing that, tries to build that bridge back to God, they try to reach God. How do they do that?  Very simply man tries to reach God by doing good works, trying to be a good person, going to church, observing the sacraments and-so-on.  I am sure you have heard that before or maybe you have even said that yourself or are thinking that way now.  Before I got saved I thought I was a good person, I didn’t kill anyone!

            But notice what Paul says in Romans 4:2-5, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.  For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’  Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.  But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”  Paul is saying very clearly that we are not justified by good works!  So what can we do? How can this gap between us and God be restored if we can’t do anything about it?  Peter tells us in I Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.” 

            Do you see what Peter is saying here?  Do you see who restores that broken relationship with God?  It is not by man reaching up to God through his good works but God reaching down to sinful man and pulling him out of the mire of sin he is drowning in and this is done by the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary.  He brings us back to God by paying in full the penalty for all our sins!

            How do we receive that forgiveness into our lives? By receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, asking Him to forgive your of all your sins!  Paul makes that point in Ephesians 2:4-9 where he says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” 

            Thus, if you remain lame in your walk with God this morning, reach out to Him and receive that free gift of life that He is extending to you and you too will jump for joy praising God for all He has done for you, forgiving you of all your sins and adopting you into the family of God. But the choice is yours as Paul said, “For the wages of sin is death, but the [free] gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23.

            Now the second point we need to talk about is our Christian walk.  You see, we too can become lame in our walk with God as we allow silver and gold to get in our way. We too can become lame in our walk with God as we allow things to distract us from Him.  We too can become lame in our walk with God as we allow difficult times, as we allow the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life to get in our way and we become controlled by these things, these distractions instead of by the Spirit of God!

            How many Christians start out on fire, they are running for the Lord, but then, over time, things get in their way, difficult times come, and they slow down to a jog. Then other things come up and they are walking now. And before long they are at a standstill or moving backwards.  It can and does happen.  Maybe it has happened to you or you are in that condition right now, your walk with the Lord is lame.

            We will deal with what we can do to be restored in a few minutes, but right now I want to share with you a story of a godly man who became lame in his walk. This story is found in II Chronicles chapters 14-16, it is the story of king Asa, who was the king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  And, like I said, he was a godly king; he did what was right before the Lord.  In fact, in II Chronicles 14:2 we are told, “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God.”  You see, not only did he do what was good, but also what was right!

            He brought spiritual reform to the nation, removed the idols from the land, for the most part. He even removed either his mother or his grandmother from her position as the queen mother because of her idolatry, which I’m sure didn’t win points with his family but he did what was good and what was right in the eyes of the Lord!

            Then trouble started as the Ethiopians gathered their million man army against king Asa and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Asa and his forces were outnumbered 2 to 1!  What would you do in a situation like this?  What did Asa do?  Listen to what we are told in II Chronicles 14:11, “And Asa cried out to the LORD his God, and said, ‘LORD, it is nothing for You to help, whether with many or with those who have no power; help us, O LORD our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; do not let man prevail against You!’” 

            Asa had a proper perspective of the situation, he didn’t let his emotions get control of him and all the “What ifs. . .”  He knew that God can do anything, He can win this battle with many or with just a few, and the battle is His and not ours! He knew God and he trusted in the Word of God and it brought him peace and God gave them a great victory over the Ethiopians even though they were outnumbered!

            As we can see, Asa’s walk with the Lord was strong, moving forward and then, as they return to Jerusalem, Azariah meets the king and says to him in II Chronicles 15:2,   “. . . ‘Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.’”  Azariah is admonishing Asa to continue walking with the Lord because if you don’t, you will not have those victories in your life.  Now for Asa, he must have thought this guy was a nut case, his walk with the Lord was strong, he would never forsake the Lord!  Be careful, pride comes before a fall and that is what we will see here with Asa.  Also, keep in mind that when the Lord says something to you, listen, He knows us better than we know ourselves.

            For Asa, he enjoyed many years of peace and prosperity, the kingdom became strong and very wealthy.  And for Asa, it was a time of complacency, a time that he was not building up the inner man, the spirit, and when trouble comes his way, who is he going to call?  As we are going to see, it is not going to be the Lord.

            Now let me set the stage for this, you see, during times of peace and prosperity many people from the Northern Kingdom of Israel traveled down to the Southern Kingdom of Judah to live.  So Baasha, the king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel tries to stop this flow southward, losing people to the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  So to try and stop this he builds up Ramah, which was located about five miles north of Jerusalem, on the boarder between the two kingdoms.  He was not only stopping this migration southward, but he was also preparing for war against Asa and the Southern Kingdom of Judah! 

            What did Asa do this time?  He brought the sliver and gold from the house of God and made a deal with Ben-Hadad, king of Syria to go and attack the Northern Kingdom of Israel. And the plan worked beautifully, Ben-Hadad and his forces attacked the northern part of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, which caused Baasha, king of Israel to take his forces from Ramah and fight against the Syrians in the north.  Thus, as this was taking place, Asa came in and destroyed this build-up in Ramah.

            What a great plan, it must be of God; it worked so well, so beautifully!  Let me say this, you never make an alliance with the enemy, you never ask them to assist you, no matter how bad the situation may be. You see, don’t you think that God can give you the victory if there are many with you or just a few?  Of course He can!  Let’s see what God had to say regarding what Asa did beginning in verse 7 of II Chronicles chapter 16, “And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: ‘Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the LORD your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand.  Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand.  For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.’  Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.  Note that the acts of Asa, first and last, are indeed written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel.  And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians.  So Asa rested with his fathers; he died in the forty-first year of his reign.  They buried him in his own tomb, which he had made for himself in the City of David; and they laid him in the bed which was filled with spices and various ingredients prepared in a mixture of ointments. They made a very great burning for him.”  II Chronicles 16:7-13.

            Asa didn’t trust in the Lord, why?  Because his walk with the Lord was lame!  You see, he was diseased in his feet, he couldn’t walk, and the implication here is if he would have turned to the Lord he would have been healed but instead he sought help elsewhere, and his walk remained lame, and he finally died! Why did this happen to Asa?  Because Asa no longer had that intimate relationship with the Lord, his spiritual walk was hindered by this, and thus, he was lame!

            Folks, brother’s and sister’s in the Lord, make no mistake about it, the same can happen to us if we do not cultivate our relationship with the Lord, our walk can be hampered, it will be lame!  Paul, in Colossians 2:6-7 put it this way, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”  And in Colossians 3:5-10 we are told, “Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.  But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”

            Don’t let the things of this world cause you to take your eyes off the Lord, to be distracted.  The Christian life is not a sprint but a marathon and we must keep moving forward, keeping our eyes on the finish line, on Jesus Christ so we might finish the race, not become lame in our walk, and be able to say as Paul did, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”  II Timothy 4:6-8.

            How can we keep our walk strong?  How can we keep from becoming lame in our walk with the Lord?  How can we finish the race that is set before us as Paul did?  Turn with me to Acts chapter 20 and I will give you a few things to help you to stay steady on the course that God has for you and keep you moving forward for the Lord.  In Acts chapter 20 Paul is making his way to Jerusalem and he stops off in Miletus to say good-bye to the Ephesian elders there.  And Paul is encouraging them to move on in the Lord, forge ahead, don’t give up, finishing the race that is set before them, and he uses his own life as an example to them.

            Then, in Acts 20:24 Paul says “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”  Paul makes three different points that I believe we can apply to our own lives to keep us walking in the Lord and finish the race that is set before us.

            First of all Paul says “But none of these things move me . . .” What is he talking about?  Look at Acts 20:22-23 and you will see. We read “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.”  In other words, Paul is not going to let persecution, threats, discouragement, he is not going to let anything move him off the course that is set before him.  Tragically, I have seen many Christians get thrown off course because of this.

            How did Paul do it?  Because he knew the call of God for his life, he knew the course that was set before him, and thus, nothing got in his way.  For myself, as some of you know, over the past 7½ years as Pastor of this church, there have been many things that have come my way to throw me off course, and I will tell you that if I didn’t know that God called me as the Pastor of this church, I would have moved!  But I knew the course that God set before me and none of those things moved me.  How about you?  What is your course?  Whatever God has called you to do; be a mom, work in the Sunday School, clean the church, usher, whatever, don’t let anything move you off the course that God has set for you.  Be like Paul, stay focused, stay determined, and don’t be moved in your walk away from God and what He has for you!

            The second point that Paul made is this, he says “. . . nor do I count my life dear to myself. . .”  It is as Jesus said in Matthew 16:25-26, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  Instead of trying to hold onto something that you have no control of, give it to God, trust in Him, and continue walking, knowing He is in control.  I have told you before the safest place to be is in the will of God and the most dangerous place to be is outside His will.

            Think about this, millions of Christians were put to death in the Dark Ages by Rome for their faith in Jesus Christ. In Spain alone between 300,000 and 400,000 died in the Spanish Inquisition!   You see, they did not count their life dear to them but gave their life as a sacrifice to the Lord. Now I think it goes even farther than that, are we willing to give our lives to the Lord and live for Him, to die to the old life and live anew in Christ?  Or does the world have such a pull on you that you are self-centered instead of Christ-centered?  Is it all about you or all about others?   It is when we give our life that we truly find it; we see what we are all about, what we have been created for!  For Paul, his life was not dear to him but it ministered and still ministers mightily to others today!  This too will help you from having a lame walk with the Lord!

            And lastly, Paul says, “. . . so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”  Nothing was going to get in his way; nothing was going to distract him from the course that was set before him.  It is as Paul said in I Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 

            Too often we get distracted and we lose sight of where we are going.  We let difficulty, persecution, relationships, jobs, money, prosperity, all kinds of things distract us in our walk and they help to get our eyes off of Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith, and what happens is we become lame in our walk, we don’t finish with joy!

            Let me show you what I mean by this story that once again tells us we must stay focused on the finish line and not become distracted by things.  This true story goes like this:

            On March 6, 1987, Eamon Coughlan, the Irish world record holder at 1500 meters, was running in a qualifying heat at the World Indoor Track Championships in Indianapolis. With two and a half laps left, he was tripped. He fell, but he got up and with great effort managed to catch the leaders.  With only 20 yards left in the race, he was in third place – good enough to qualify for the finals.  He looked over his shoulder to the inside, and seeing no one, he let up. But another runner, charging hard on the outside, passed Coughlan a yard before the finish, thus eliminating him from the finals. Coughlan’s great comeback effort was rendered worthless by taking his eyes off the finish line. It’s tempting to let up when the sights around us look favorable. But we finish well in the Christian race only when we fix our eyes on the goal: Jesus Christ.

                                                                                                            - Source Unknown

            May we keep that in mind, not lose sight of the finish line, being distracted by things or just placing our life on cruse control – it doesn’t work!  Finish the race with joy because you are looking to Jesus!  I remember when I got married, as I stood at the altar, I looked back to see my soon to be wife waiting to come down the aisle to me, and the joy that was in my heart was ready to burst forth.  That is how it should be with our relationship with the Lord!

            For those of you who are lame with God because of sin, repent and receive Him into your life and He will cleanse you of all your sin and make you whole again. And like this man, you will jump for joy and desire to spend time with Him. 

            For those of you who know the Lord and are struggling, your walk is not there, you have become lame, repent and return to your first love, Jesus Christ.  Don’t be moved by the things of this world, don’t be loving your life to death, but love Him to death!  And purpose in your heart to finish the race that is set before you, not looking around and becoming distracted from the finish line!  God will strengthen; He will help you if you would only walk with Him!

            As we saw with our opening story, none of us know how close we are, it is not time to give up but to forge ahead in the work.  Paul put it this way in Ephesians 5:15-17, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  May we walk according to the high calling by which we have been called in Christ Jesus!