A place of Beauty
by Raymond Sloan
July 31, 2022 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Acts 3:1-2, Acts 3:3-6

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/raymond-sloan--a-place-of-beauty
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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the year 1000 bc there was an incredibly wise smart guy the wisest if you will that ever really lived his name was solomon it was well known as david's son this guy solomon was gifted in a whole lot of ways anybody ever heard of king david you ever heard of all of the lineages there we got we got a guy here now that's known as the wisest man unlike his father solomon was be tasked to build the structure in jerusalem that would be simply known as the house of god place like no other place not to that point nor from that point to today never was there a building a building project that was so incredible and marvelous the design the details the materials what was required to go into it how how the wisdom had to be given to men that they would know how to do things it was all used because solomon was desiring to build a place where god would come the god of all creation wanted needed had to have a place in the eyes of man to where spirituality god if you will could meet with humanity so the temple was erected and it took years to put this project together seven years finally they came to the place where it was finished and done and and we all can read through the the chronicles and the kings how how many things were done the supplies that were used the materials that were that were given and donated and the things that happened all because they had a desire to build a place for jehovah god to come and be with man we know through history as well that some 400 years after the project was completed after it was dedicated and finished that a destructive hand came in and that temple was destroyed it was plundered it was knocked down the babylonians had come in they removed it they said we're going to get rid of it as if it never did exist a sad story a gloomy story in the details if you will once something so glorious and amazing as this temple was now on the ground in ruins finally 510 bc the temple once again was built for the purpose of reestablishing if you will greatness and and beauty in the things that god had done it was herod the great if you will that that put together a plan to make sure that the piece of land that solomon's temple was first built on would now house the second one resources that they weren't in that day like they were in the first but they did the best they could come on in those history buffs out there you know where to go to find the resources to read about it but one thing i've come today to tell somebody the temple was a place of splendor beauty and glory everybody say it with me wow come on wow see there come on one more time wow now modern days today's day you and i have a challenge in just simply visualizing what was done huh how many of you guys live in a house that's more than a hundred thousand square feet come on don't be ashamed it's nothing to be ashamed of living in that state of mind we don't get that in our mind the fact that a temple could be this huge incredibly ornate gold and silver and bronze and materials that were so far-fetched to even consider was the commonplace but but we have come in in 2022 to realize and understand that what was once that great building if you will has changed because jesus christ came lived on planet earth the word robed in flesh dwelling here among us but then he died anybody tell me what happened on the third day come out of the grave victorious and now he has declared that temple is no longer necessary i'm going to come live inside of humanity i'm going to be there when you get out of bed in the morning i'm going to be there in the midst of your darkest moment i'm going to be inside of you leading and guiding you and helping you through all of life's situations i've come today to tell you my heart now is a place where the power and presence of god can abide anybody here full of the holy ghost come on give him a shout of praise thank you thank you thank you for the holy ghost so for me to stand here today and establish with us that we in our next building project we will undertake one of these projects like solomon did it could happen just probably won't because we're going to need 45 cabajillion dollars we're going to need a whole stack y'all to win the 1.3 i'm just saying i didn't can't believe i went there jerome i just had to say it second temple herod the great all the impossibilities thing and then finally it was it was built back but it was not near what it once was an impossible task in our minds to understand how that this could actually happen but but i do want to declare to you that all that was done in solomon's and all that was done in the next one and all that was accomplished and they claimed they're building another one i look around me today and you know what i see brother daniel i see sheetrock i see aluminum or aluminum for all of you others i see sound panels and even black plastic i wonder if solomon what he would say if he walked in here today i see painted concrete floors i see a little bit of carpet y'all watch this over here we did this y'all listen it squeaks over here because it's it's wood and it's weak on that corner there ain't nothing to compare if you will to then somebody know what i'm talking about but yet the paint the trim the concrete all the things that that you and i stand here in the midst of we have felt in the last 30 minutes what the people in that day desire to feel their entire lifetimes that was the sheer power and presence of the god of all of creation that could stand up in the face of chaos and calamity and simply say let there be in everything in society everything in the world everything not in the world would come together in order because he said let it happen the fanfare all the things that were done for the temple at that moment i've come today and over the last few days this has rolled and and rolled in my mind and i've wondered and i've even preached about this before and considered the details of it i want to draw your attention out of the old testament time in history and i want to fast forward to what took place in what we call the acts of the apostles acts chapter three now peter and john went up together into the temple everybody say at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour hear it 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 of them that entered the temple this temple this place according to historians this would be the closest thing that they would have to what was done by solomon the acts of the apostles we know that peter and john they had a habit of the hour of prayer of going into the temple it is a place that is mentioned if you will from centuries before had been destroyed and rebuilt back and forth but now this had become a place of called prayer according to the scripture peter and john something had just happened in their lives a few days earlier just a short time before this acts chapter 3 we realize that they are simply going through the feasts and the festivities of pentecost but lo and behold there's a sound from heaven that comes and it fills the house where they're sitting in their appears to them would be like fire sitting upon each of them and the scripture tells us that they spoke with tongues as the spirit of god gave them utterance it is these two gentlemen that coming into the house of prayer that something is about to change the birth of the church the assembly of believers was established of these guys that came together these men and women that gathered in an upper room and spilled out onto the road these guys that are there simply trying to be what god is leading them to be there is a set hour of prayer this one would be considered the evening prayer the ninth hour it would be the last one of the day the bible said they had custom of three times morning noon and evening to come in for prayer invited anybody who wanted to come in they could partake of this but yet there was still pump there was still circumstance there were still things that were religious at the moment and peter and john come in the bible gives us clear indication that these guys were coming to pray the place in the meeting of god for everybody who was alive at that time they would come and depending on who they were they would have their place in the temple stay with me for just a moment please something that i want to reference here today is in all of history that i read the building of the temple and the the construction and all the things that were accomplished and the destruction of it and the construction and the destruction and the construction of it we come to a place when the bible refers to in the new testament that the writer luke penned and acts that this was called the gate beautiful gate beautiful if you were to today when you get home get out your bible and your concordance you would begin to look you would notice that there was a direct correlation from the old temple to this one there was a gate to be seen there were entries there were doorways that went into the temple on all sides where depending on your position in your place you would find your every time that prayer was done you would go to that place that you were supposed to go into find me understand this for a moment the priest for an example had a gate that they would go through because they would carry in with them the animals they would carry in with them what was required for priestly duties at that time some historians declare that the gate that is talked about in this beautiful gate understand beautiful gate that it would be maybe the east gate on this particular site the east gate going into the temple would have been by history standard 75 feet tall and more than 60 feet wide the beautiful gate others declare that this would have been the southern gate which would have been more apt to produce what was needing to be done at that particular time for those people coming into the temple at prayer time some scholars say that the priests come through this gate the poor come through that gate the wealthy come through that gate listen to me carefully please all of these historians though have declared that there were different things that happened inside and outside the gate for an example this eastern gate do you realize that this was also known as the women's gate because the women were not allowed into the temple place so they would come to this gate and this is how they could receive blessings from god they could actually go through that gate and there was a porch area but they could go no further know this in history there were reasons and purposes for things i'm not here today to declare women's rights men's rights ups down and i'm just telling you there were things that had to be done correctly and in order also for those historians in here let me draw your attention to the history says there were 15 steps that went from the ground up to this gate that was the eastern gate 15 steps if you go back to the psalmist david we find in psalm 120 through psalm 134 that there were 15 decrees what they consider was when you it was your old god when it was your time to come into the temple you did on the first step you couldn't sashay into the temple ground you couldn't swaze in there with an attitude and all that you would have to stand on the first step and you'd have to repeat psalm 120 and then when you're ready to take the second step you would have to repeat psalm 121 and when you ascended to the third step you'd have to repeat it listen you go back today tonight before you go to bed and read come on they're the short ones they're the ones when your sunday school teacher asked did you read the bible this week you could say a whole chapter seven verses that's that one everybody memorize a verse yeah jesus listen to me if you came through the wrong gate there were workers in the temple that would kindly turn you around and usher you back out because to be in the wrong place was a great disturbance it was in fact a mark against those who were working there listen you had to know your place why do you think jesus oh i feel the holy ghost why do you think jesus in his instruction to those that were coming trying to learn he would say when you go into the wedding find your place when you go into a marriage understand where you are realize where you are because you don't want to be embarrassed because you thought you was all that in the box of cracker jacks i'm drawn to this account today in the book of acts simply for this they were going through their specific details of what peter and john knew to do number one there was evening prayer everybody say evening prayer an established time when prayers of the day would be offered according to the laws that god had established peter and john were two guys that had been in a group of guys that simply their life had been changed and now jesus had come and done this great marvelous work in them he was the messiah to them salvation has come in all the things that happened at the evening time when they came to pray there was something that changed at this moment in acts chapter 3 why because of that upper room experience they're not coming in now simply as men but they're coming in now full of the holy ghost and fire it's still there on them they're walking into the gate now with purpose they're walking into the house of god now with something underneath them helping lift them up and and carry them in i've come today to declare to you if you will find yourself right now in the house of prayer things can happen you can get a hold of a heavenly god through your prayer time through your commitment time well matter where you are prayer still is the answer but then i'm drawn closer to this through the gate called beautiful huge monstrous some would say that at this particular set of gates called beautiful that things were done here that other times was not done notice a certain man verse 2 says lama from his mother's womb was carried they laid him daily at the gate of the temple called beautiful to ask alms of them that entered in i don't mind saying to you why i was drawn to this particular series of scriptures one more time was because the bible says he was brought lame he had something wrong and he was born that way anybody heard that in modern terminology he was born damaged he was born different he was born depending on everybody else to carry him to where he needed to be the other morning and wee hours i woke up with this on my mind and i said god how could it be that a man who could not walk could not work could not bring anything could not do anything he had to depend 100 on somebody else listen how could that common dirty messed up man come to the place that's called beautiful how could this man so full of problems and issues and doubts and fears and neglect and years of pain and suffering and hurting and heartache and all of the things that happened in his life how can it be that you and i today read once the holy ghost was poured out that there's this place called the beautiful gate where a man who's so messed up he can't even get to church on his own how can it be that we have to focus our attention to this particular place why didn't he go around to the sheep gate why didn't he go around to a gate that the poor people came in why how how is it even possible that they allowed this man to sit at the beautiful gate as i stand here today i am reminded one more time and i've come to declare to you from the sacred desk that many times the most unlikely the most what we don't think should be the most things that we think ought to be they don't happen what we think it should happen doesn't but when you put god in it things that don't make human sense how can god be god in the midst of humanity i've come to declare to somebody that the story that's unfolding here how is it that god would allow the dirt to send the grossness and the messed up life to sit in the gate called beauty how can it be that the god of glory would allow this man to come i'm come to tell somebody why because he knew there would be an appointment a time when peter and john are full of the holy ghost would be walking into that beautiful gate with the purpose of prayer and there would be in a moment of encounter to where things would be changed even the priest of that day said what's going on here acts 3 3 who's seeing peter and john about to go into the temple ask in alms verse 4 and peter fasting his eyes upon him with john said look on us gave heed to them expecting to receive something of them peter says silver and gold have i none but such as i have give iv in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk the gate beautiful the man is dirty he's not able to do he's not able to go in hell he's doing is basically living his life with his hand outstretched i need something from you but on this particular day i am reminding us today through the reading of this story in this account in acts chapter 3 that god had another purpose in mind keep in mind friend this man was brought every single day but this is the only account we have of peter and john going in on that particular day it could be they knew fully well every day they went in and out it could have been they went early in the morning instead of the ninth house the night here they are they're doing this but i know this one thing here what the preacher says today there was something that happens and everything was different at this moment because of one thing peter looks at him and says you know what we all who we all understand the glory and the pomp and the circumstance associated with this beautiful gate it's called silver and gold it's called brass and bronze it's got all of this ornate stuff dug into it carved out made to look very beautiful you realize the beautiful gate would have taken 20 men to simply open it push it it was so huge and heavy and what peter was saying is look man i know you come here every day looking for something because you understand the power of this beautiful gate of what it means at this beautiful gate but i've come to tell you i don't have that but when peter commenced to talk now full of the holy ghost and fire there was an anointing and an unction that rushed to him and when he re i don't have silver i don't have the riches the physical things that you're looking for the splendor and all the things around me but there's something that i do have and what i have i freely give to you in the name somebody gotta understand in that hour it's repeats today it is all about the name jesus the power of the name jesus the glory of the name jesus the anointing of the name jesus the healing power of the name jesus the delivering name jesus the youngster named jesus you better know the name jesus it's the name of jesus that'll pick you up out of any problem it's the name of jesus that'll change every step of life that you take the difference that peter and john were declaring at that moment i don't have anything to give you but what i do have you i'm going to give to you in the name of jesus christ of nazareth get up and walk the difference was the name of jesus i've come to declare the beauty of what happened on that day it's still happening today it is called the name of jesus it is still the name of jesus what peter was saying at that moment you need something it is here in the name of jesus it wasn't in the name of peter it was not in the name of john it was not in the name of that beautiful gate it was not in the name of those going in another temple it was this man with a need that jesus could meet hang on to me for a moment longer i'm watching the clock the food warm yet hang on we understand that what these guys were doing as they were coming to the place of beauty called the house of worship the house of prayer but when they encountered this man that was lame something changed and i'll wonder again to my myself i'm not sure that i understand everything and i i want so much to understand more why didn't peter and john say to all of the lame oh y'all get up uh he could have in the name of jesus everyone y'all get up because see some of us in here today 2022 we're expecting the same thing to happen lord if you'll just come in and breathe and do everybody in this place can be changed we agree god can do that but tyler i don't know your testimony and can't nobody love god like you can love god because you know what god done for you lebron i don't know your testimony and can nobody love god like you can because only you know what god's done for you you understand where i'm coming from some of y'all can sit here all day long wonder with your arms crossed god when you're gonna bless the multitude i've come to tell somebody lord i don't care if you bless anybody else in here i know what you've done for me you picked me up when i was down you gave me life lord when things fell apart all i know is when i remember the goodness of the lord jesus christ and all that he's done for me my soul cries hallelujah you want to know why because i know the depths that i was in and therefore i stand here today and i declare if peter and john would have come through would another person in that place had the testimony of this lame man nobody but when they reached out to him he reached up to them something changed listen to it you know the story he leaped up his ankle bones receiving strength he began to jump and leap and shout and he went into the house of god with them leaping jumping and shouting hear this they are now between the women's gate and the man's gate on the porch and there's such a ruckus going on with this guy who from birth was brought to this place to beg but he's not begging now he's in worshiping now and because he's worshipping now everybody in the church is walking over saying ain't you the one whoa wasn't you the one that sat out there every day megan yeah wasn't it you out there that came stinky every day smelly depending on everybody else yeah aren't you the one that was out there that was couldn't get up and do anything you just scream and shout and yell out there trying to get something from yeah and we even got the story come on go read about it they come up the priesthood what's going on here wasn't this you that was down there hold on and the young man all he says is what i'm going to tell you what happened guys listen scout's honor i was down there and now i'm up here and then nobody bring me from down there to up here i know what it's like to trust somebody else to get me somewhere and i can tell you right now preacher man priest ain't nobody down there pick me up and carry me here well then how did you get here i'll show you one more time it's worth telling again excuse me while i testify i got up and there's something happening in my leg something happened and pardon me one more time i think i'll tell it again i'm gonna testify again god's been good to me he stood me up he changed my life i'm gonna tell you what preacher this is what god's done this is who i am i came through the gate beautiful because he's changed me he's rearranged me he's made me a new creature i don't walk like i used to nobody carrying me any longer i'm coming in with worship with prayer and with praise stand to your feet somebody ron come on give him some false hope i believe today in this room there are those of you you feel like you get to the place of beauty you even reach out but for some reason you don't climb the stairs and come through see about every week the lord graces us with guests and really cool people that come into our church and and and sometime in the service or after the service the question is many times asked did you enjoy the service today never have i heard anybody say terrible ugly awful dumb didn't like it no were the gifts in my right sometimes tears man i never been in such beauty now hang on this sheetrock concrete carpet yeah but you gotta understand something i see beauty here really tell me more yeah but when i got here i was lame i had issues i depended on everybody else but nobody else would help me i had a routine i'd get up close to beauty but i'd walk on by it or somebody would drag me by it i'd come into it but then i couldn't do anything about it i've come today that might be you and i declare to you right now under the unction of the holy ghost i don't have silver and gold but what i have i give to you in the name of jesus christ of nazareth get up and go into the temple to pray not only that you know what i'll take you by the hand and i'll bring you into the porch will climb every decree of ascension you are god and you are good you are holy your name endureth god you are gracious and kind and every step i get closer to beauty i'm going to realize lord there is a place for me in the house of prayer what are you going to tell i'm going to tell you what i'm going to tell them i was lame but i'm not no more what if they ask your mom and dad y'all know the story oh look here what we know is he went out the house today all bound up and we don't know we never seen him walk before all i know is he was messed up but now i believe our boy's gonna beat us home in a foot race because god of glory has changed you know what this test do you realize do you all know how smart these preachers were at that time these priests were these religious folk you know how smart they were you know what they said listen don't tell nobody now go now how smart was that they told me not to say nothing i have my fingers crossed i won't because i guarantee your friend i guarantee you right now somebody in this room god's gonna deliver you today from a messed up life and you're gonna stand there and say you know what i know what the lord's done for me i ain't about to be silent i know i was headed for a devil's hell but now i'm headed to a place called heaven i'm headed to a place called heaven i'm headed to streets of gold i'm headed to go see my lord all i know is i once was lost but now i'm found i know that i was blind but now i can see i know that i was down and out but now i'm up and in the house of god is there anybody in this place right now you want to come to an altar and recognize one more time this is the gate of beauty and i can come through here today and i can worship you well god i can pray great god i can magnify you today i can exalt you oh come on this altar's open for worshipers today remember what the lord has done for you recall what god has done in your life yes what this world needs now is jesus your family needs jesus your health hates jesus your problems need jesus that's right oh god you've changed me you've changed me you have forgiven me you have washed me you have made me whole i once was bound up and messed up but now i am free hallelujah listen carefully what should have been an ugly messed up life didn't belong at the gate beautiful but it was the work that was done there that changed the church forever because when the miraculous begin to happen people began to say who are these folk who are these folk i can tell you they are they're turning the world upside down why because they're believing in something that was ugly and messed up has become a thing of beauty so this is the way i want you to worship for the next few minutes i want you to remember what the lord has done in your life what he has accomplished in you and in your family in your home in your health and everything you are and i want you to begin to love the lord as like you were this guy back in the new testament all i know is i was messed up but now i'm leaping now my feet and ankle bones have strength come on sing now all i know is god you've made a difference in my life and you have made things happen in me there's no way that i could explain it i can't express it i can't tell anyone else about it but one thing i do know god you've done a great work in me and for that i am faithful that's right come on young folk call on the name of the lord come on mom and dad give him glory and praise right now come on grandparents worship the lord right now yes go into the prayer closet go into the prayer room go into the place of worship go into the house of god jesus holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy holy worthy worthy worthy is the land go find somebody and pray with them come on the young folk here need the holy ghost come on go pray with somebody somebody needs a word from the lord today somebody's a healing touch in their bodies someone needs to get closer to the lord god today come on go help them go into the presence of the lord they try to pray with somebody oh that's right come on run into the presence of the host i've come today worshipping you loving you praising your blessings come to magnify you we've come to magnify you worthy is your name jesus jesus jesus somebody say in jesus name come on in jesus name it is the name of jesus that makes the difference it is the name of jesus that changes lives in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up and walk i don't mind telling you friend the lord began to work with me on this i i i wondered you know y'all know pastor got a strange brain i wonder what solomon would have thought if he could have stepped sideways a couple three hundred four hundred five thousand years or so and stepped up there and looked at that beautiful gate probably would have had disgust on his mind you know what in the world are they made this is a terrible probably would have stood at the bottom of the stairs hands on his hips mad they don't realize the glory and the splendor that happened in there all the animals that were killed and sacrificed all the stuff happened and as solomon stood there in my mind i'm seeing him look down at this lame man they let beggars in here they allow that to happen and then there's the shuffling of feet behind solomon would have backed up peter and john would have come by excuse me excuse me pardon me hey silver and gold we don't have solomon listen i said i got a strange brain going what and you're coming to the temple without silver and gold don't you know you got a bro don't you know you need to bring that but what i do have i give to you in the name of jesus christ of nazareth rise up walk solomon's standing here saying who in the world are these guys and instantly this guy jump up i know beyond the shadow of a doubt because solomon's wisdom he would have said i never knew the power of the name all of the cows all of the sheep all of the ox and all the things i sacrificed i wish that i could have come into the house of prayer with the name jehovah has become salvation on my life i've come today to declare to you church there is no greater name than the name of jesus there's no greater power than the name of jesus come on before you go home before we sit down and eat i want us unanimously to lift our voices under the king of glory and praise and worship him come on shout that name jesus come on declare that name jesus jesus jesus all power is yours jesus yes yes jesus it's all about jesus it's all about jesus pray with me lord today we are thankful that we've come to the house of the lord thankful for the time of singing and worship and testimony and honoring those lord and for the word thank you so much for the word god that you're doing in our lives we we love you for it i plead your blood right now jesus over every heart and every home that's in this place i rebuke the enemy that would try to discourage and disguise the good things of god and try to cover them i i declare the glory of the lord in this place devil you're a liar get your hands off the church in jesus name as we go our separate ways god go with us let angels camp round about us lord and protect and be with us daily bless our babies god this week some of them head back to school our teachers lord the staff god be with them i love you lord i honor you and i ask you for guidance and direction for our church every day jesus name somebody said thy kingdom come thy will be done