Power of Jesus' Name

I'm sorry I keep doing this to you guys. I have to shorten the passage again.

There's just a lot in there.

Acts chapter 3 verses 1 to 16.

Acts 3:1–16

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 daily at the gate of the temple

that is called the Beautiful Gate, to ask alms of those entering the temple.

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, and said,

Look at us.

And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, 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.

And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk and enter the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple,

asking for alms.

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's.

And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people.

Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this?

Or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus,

whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him.

But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,

and you killed the author of life, whom God raised from the dead.

To this we are witnesses.

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.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Last week we saw Luke's summary description of the early church,

who devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship,

to the breaking of the bread and the prayers.

And among other descriptions of the church, we saw in chapter 2, verse 43,

it said that awe came upon every soul,

and many wonders and signs were being done among them through the apostles.

And we see one instance of such miracle wonder that's being done by an apostle here in chapter 3.

And through this account, Luke's intentions to teach us that we should demonstrate and proclaim the powerful name of Jesus.

That's how I'm going to go through this passage.

First, to demonstrate the power of Jesus and to proclaim the name of Jesus.

It begins in verse 1 this way.

Now, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

It's possible that Luke is adding this detail merely to provide some circumstantial context,

to tell us that this is the time and place when this miracle took place.

But I don't think that's what Luke is doing.

Because Luke, more than any of the gospel writers, emphasizes the importance of prayer.

And he peppers throughout the book of Acts examples of the early church praying together.

In fact, he just told us in chapter 2, verse 42, that the early believers devoted themselves to the prayers.

Matt pointed this out last week.

The prayers.

There's a definite article, and it's plural.

The prayers.

Which indicates that this is likely not a reference to the private prayer life of individual Christians,

but to designated times of corporate prayer.

We saw earlier in chapter 1, verse 14, and verse 24, and later in chapter 4, 23, verse 231 as well,

that this was a regular habit.

Early church gathered together to pray together at appointed times.

And we see that this was also a habitual thing for Peter and John.

It says, now Peter and John were going up.

The tense that that verb is in, the imperfect tense,

it frequently denotes habitual regular action.

A customary activity.

For example, the same tense is used in verse 2 to describe how people carry the lame man

and laid him daily at the gate of the temple.

So then Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, as usual.

This was their custom, their habit.

The Jews divided the day into 12 hours,

from dawn to dark.

So ninth hour would be 3 p.m. or so.

And this was when the Jews offered the second of their two daily burnt offerings prescribed in Exodus 29.

This was a really important occasion for the Jews.

The Jews considered these daily sacrifices and offerings to be so important

that when the temple complex was besieged by Pompeii-led Roman army in 63 BC,

they didn't stop.

They continued to offer the sacrifice while they were surrounded and besieged by the army.

This reminds me of the story of D. Martin Lloyd-Jones,

who was the pastor of Westminster Chapel during World War II.

He lived in the days of Hitler, Churchill, FDR,

and his church was a stone's throw away from Buckingham Palace.

And on one occasion,

a bomb fell just a few yards away from the church during Sunday worship,

causing the plaster of the ceiling to fall down from the roof

and onto the heads of the congregation.

And one parishioner recalled thinking,

she said that she thought she was in heaven

after seeing other believers around her coated in white dust.

And this happened during the pastoral prayer time of the service.

But Lloyd-Jones didn't stop praying.

He finished praying.

And then he paused for a moment to motion to the church members

to take cover under the gallery.

And then he proceeded to preach his entire sermon.

I find these stories inspiring

because they are examples of people

for whom the vertical reality,

the intercourse and transaction between God and man,

was more important than all horizontal realities.

Even more than history-altering wars.

Similarly, when King Darius the Mede

issued an edict that prohibited people

from praying to anyone but to himself,

it says in Daniel 6.10

that when Daniel knew that the document had been signed,

he went to his house where he had windows

in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.

He got down on his knees three times a day

and prayed and gave thanks before his God

as he had done previously.

Daniel could have prayed with his windows closed

in the privacy of his home

so that these malicious, envious officials

couldn't spy on him and report him to the king.

He could have altered his praying schedule

to throw off the people who are trying to watch him.

But he doesn't.

And there's something powerful about that defiance.

He's saying,

I will not let my prayers to God

be interrupted by what's happening in the world

because my relationship with him,

my allegiance to him,

is far more significant than any of those things.

My appointment with God Almighty is more important

than whatever else might be going on.

This kind of attitude makes no sense to the world,

to people whose lives revolve around

not God,

but other things.

our leisure,

our friends,

our jobs,

our children,

our health,

our hobbies,

our romance.

Brothers and sisters,

I urge you to establish

this kind of habit of prayer

and worship in your lives

and let the other things in your life

revolve around it,

not the other way around.

It may well be that we don't see

the kind of power displayed here

in this chapter

in our own lives

precisely because

we don't access

and appropriate that power for ourselves.

And as Peter and John,

most likely,

John,

the son of Zebedee,

were going up to the temple to pray,

he says,

a man lame from birth

was being carried

whom they laid daily

at the gate of the temple

that is called

the beautiful gate

to ask alms of those

entering the temple.

This man is lame from birth.

He evidently can't walk at all

because he has to be carried

presumably by his relatives

who expected him

to contribute somehow

to the family fund

at least by begging.

And they drop him off

at the same time each day

where there's most foot traffic

in the temple.

And we find out later

in chapter 4, verse 22,

that this man was over 40 years old.

He's not young.

So for the 40 plus years of his life,

or 30 plus years of his life,

probably,

this man was begging,

has been begging.

He has never walked on his two feet.

And verse 3 continues,

seeing Peter and John

about to go into the temple,

this lame man asks

to receive alms.

He's just asking

for some spare change.

But apparently,

this man wasn't even looking

at Peter and John

when he asked

because verse 4 tells us

that Peter directed

his gaze at him

as did John

and said,

look at us.

This lame man

is used to the casual disregard

with which people

often treat beggars.

So he has ditched

the conventions

and courtesies

of human interactions.

He doesn't even look

as he asks.

Hey, can you spare some change?

He's probably expecting

Peter and John

to ignore him

and pass him by

like most others.

How often do we pray

and ask God

like this lame man,

expecting silence,

expecting God

to ignore us

and pass us by.

But Peter and John

do not ignore

this lame man

and they direct

their gaze at him

and ask him

to look at them

and at that point,

the lame man

fixes his attention

on them expecting

to receive something

from them.

Now he's expecting

something.

He's like,

you're driving

and there's,

if you're a homeless person

begging on the street

at an intersection,

you start to see

the window roll down

and now you're

paying attention.

You're going to get something.

So that's what

this man's doing.

But he's quickly

disappointed

because Peter says

in verse 6,

I have no silver

and gold.

He's not going to get

what he was expecting.

But Peter continues,

what I do have

I give to you

in the name

of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth,

rise up and walk.

Peter addresses

a more fundamental need.

He gets to the root

of this man's poverty,

the reason why he begs.

Peter has no silver

and gold,

but he does have access

to the power

that resides

in the name

of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth.

And by the authority

of Jesus Christ,

Peter commands

the lame man

to rise up

and walk.

A 16th century

pastor and theologian,

Cornelius Allipide,

once told this story

of Thomas Aquinas,

a 13th century theologian.

He says,

one day,

he was visiting,

Thomas Aquinas,

was visiting Pope

Innocent IV

while the Pope

was in the middle

of counting

an enormous sum

of money

in front of him.

Upon seeing Aquinas,

Innocent referenced

this verse

and quipped,

You see, Thomas,

the church

can no longer say

silver and gold

have I none

with some measure

of pride

in his voice.

To which Thomas Aquinas

replied,

True Holy Father,

but neither can she

now say

rise up and walk.

A church

that offers people

silver and gold

but has no power

to restore them

is a travesty.

A church

that depends

on earthly riches

and earthly means

to accomplish

earthly purposes

but has no spiritual

power to accomplish

God's heavenly purposes

is a tragic failure.

Instead of crowing

about the church's

great wealth,

Pope Innocent IV

should have been

weeping

at its loss

of spiritual

authority and power.

Often those things,

those two things

are inversely related.

The more earthly power

and means we have,

the more we depend

on them

and not on

God's power

which makes us

spiritually impotent.

We're not a big church

with great means.

we can't pay off

people's mortgages

like some churches do.

We can't host

big conferences

and festivals

but I pray to God

that he would make us

a church

with spiritual power.

When Peter says

rise up and walk

the result is immediate.

It says in verses

seven to eight

and Peter took him

by the right hand

and raised him up

and immediately

his feet and ankles

were made strong

and leaping up

he stood

and began to walk

and entered the temple

with him

walking and leaping

and praising God.

This kind of thing

didn't happen regularly

in the ancient world

and it's not like

the people in the ancient world

were just more gullible.

A cripple being healed

is verifiable.

It's quite obvious

whether it's happened

or not.

That's why he says

later in verses

nine to ten

all the people

saw the formerly

layman walking

and praising God

and recognized him

as the one

who sat at the

beautiful gate

of the temple

asking for arms

and they were filled

with wonder

and amazement

at what had happened

to him.

So people are doing

double takes here

at this formerly

layman.

How is it?

Wait, isn't that the guy

that was begging

in front of the temple?

I've seen him for years.

How is he now

inside the temple

jumping around

and praising God?

And Luke,

remember he's

the author of this book,

is a doctor,

a physician by trade.

And the words

that he uses here

for ankle and feet

are technical medical terms

that are never used

in scripture beside here.

It's something

that only Luke

could have written.

It's like saying,

you know,

immediately his talus

and tibia and fibula

were made strong.

It's like technical terms.

I don't even know

what they are.

I knew when I looked it up

when I looked it up.

And Luke,

as a physician,

understands well

that this kind of thing

doesn't just happen.

From the ancient world

to the modern age,

people who are lame

from birth

have been considered

beyond healing.

Hippocrates,

the 5th century B.C.

Greek physician,

often called

the father of medicine,

lists lameness

as an incurable condition

in his book

on diseases.

The renowned

2nd century A.D.

Roman physician Galen

wrote,

some things

are naturally impossible

and the healing god

Asclepius

does not attempt

these things at all

but chooses from among

the possible

what is best to be done.

People in the ancient world

knew well,

just as well as we do,

that lame people

do not start walking

and yet that is exactly

what happened

by the power of God.

And like a man

who doesn't quite know

the new strength

that he now has

in his feet,

this man puts some weight

on his feet

and then he leaps up

from the ground.

And the verb leap,

which is repeated

twice in verse 8,

is the same word

that's used

in the Greek translation

of the prophecy

in Isaiah 35 verse 6,

Isaiah 35:6

which says that

when the glory of the Lord

is revealed

and when God's people

are restored to Zion

in the last days,

it says,

then shall the lame man

leap like a deer

and the tongue

of the mute

sing for joy.

So Jesus,

the promised messianic king,

fulfilled this prophecy

during his earthly ministry

and now through his apostles

as the prophetic heirs

of Jesus' ministry,

the apostles are continuing

to do the same work

and making the lame

leap like a deer.

This is a clear demonstration

of the powerful name

of Jesus.

The same power

of the Holy Spirit

now resides in us

and we are called

to demonstrate

this powerful name

of Jesus

in our lives.

Do you trust

that God can

and will demonstrate

his power

in you

and through you?

John Wimber

was a self-described

quote,

beer-guzzling,

drug-abusing

pop musician,

a pianist

and singer

for the Righteous Brothers,

two of whose members

were eventually inducted

to the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame.

But more importantly,

John Wimber

was converted

at the age of 29

quote,

while chain-smoking

his way

through a Quaker-led

Bible study.

After his conversion,

Wimber had a voracious

appetite for the scriptures

and spent many hours

poring over

especially the gospel accounts

of the life

and ministry of Jesus.

And when he and his wife

Carol visited a church

early in his spiritual journey,

John approached the pastor

after the service

and asked him,

hey, so when do we

do the stuff?

To which the pastor

replied,

the stuff.

What's the stuff?

You know,

John continued,

the stuff in the Bible.

Like healing the sick,

casting out demons,

the stuff.

Oh,

the well-meaning

but mistaken pastor

replied,

oh, we don't do the stuff.

We believe they did it

back in biblical days,

but we don't do it today.

With a rather confused

look on his face,

John thought to himself,

well,

and I gave up drugs

for this?

This is his own telling.

I'm not making stuff up here.

And many of us,

like that pastor,

we rationalize away

our disobedience

when scripture commands us

to pray for healing.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12,

27 to 28,

now you are the body of Christ

and individually members of it,

and God has appointed

in the church

first apostles,

second prophets,

third teachers,

then miracles,

then gifts of healing,

helping,

administrating

in various kinds of tongues.

The apostles,

prophets,

and teachers

are ordered numerically,

first,

second,

and third,

because that's the usual order

by which God establishes churches.

First,

apostles are sent out

into new areas

where the gospel

has not been proclaimed,

and then the prophets

and their close associates,

evangelists,

mentioned together

in Ephesians 4, 11,

they reveal God's will

and proclaim

the good news

of Jesus Christ.

And then teachers

and their close associates,

shepherds,

also mentioned

in Ephesians 4, 11,

they teach and guide people

in the whole counsel of God.

But these are not

the only gifts

that God gives

to the church.

God also gives miracles,

gifts of healing,

helping,

administrating.

This verse

hopefully reorients us

because we tend to think

of helping

and administrating

as ordinary,

mundane gifts,

but according to Scripture,

they are just as much

gifts of the Holy Spirit

as miracles

and gifts of healing.

They are spiritual gifts.

But not only that,

we tend to expect

gifts of helping

and administrating

in the church.

Oh, she has

the gift of help,

he has the gift

of administrating.

But we don't tend

to expect miracles

and gifts of healing.

And that's unbiblical too.

God continues

to give these gifts

to the church

and we see

many such signs

and wonders

throughout the book

of Acts.

Even if you don't play

any video games,

you probably know

something about

the classic

Super Mario Brothers

arcade game.

You guys know

what I'm talking about?

Yeah.

Daniel.

So normally,

normally Mario

needs to take care

not to touch

the animals

that come out

of the sewer.

but when the star power,

you guys know

what I'm talking about,

enters Mario,

right?

He becomes

invulnerable

to these enemies,

right?

And so,

when that happens,

you know,

Mario has powers

that he could never

otherwise dream

of wielding.

And it would be

a waste

of that star power

if Mario

continues to move around

and jump around

and run away

from these sewer animals

while he had

the star power.

I almost feel

irreverent

using such a trivial

illustration

to describe

something so magnificent.

But Christians

have been

permanently indwelled

by the spirit

of the living God.

We have access

to the power

of the God

who created

the cosmos.

And yet,

so many of us

live powerless lives

and act like

our lives

are no different

from when

we didn't know

the Lord Jesus,

from when we

didn't have

the spirit of God

indwelling us,

and that's

not right.

Brothers and sisters,

let's live

according to

what scripture

says is the reality.

And let scripture

dictate what we seek

and not our experience.

Keep in step

with the Holy Spirit.

Let's not demean

the spirit's power

by expecting

so little of him

and pray to be

filled more

with the Holy Spirit

and use his power

and believe that

God will powerfully

use us

to proclaim

his good news

and to demonstrate

his good news

by doing good works.

But note well

that the healing

is not the end

of the story.

It's only the beginning.

Look at verse 8

with me.

The previously lame man

knowing that he was

a beneficiary

of a powerful work

of God,

he doesn't go home.

Instead,

it says he enters

the temple

with Peter and John

walking and leaping

and praising God.

This is a picture

of this man's

spiritual restoration.

As we see

in John 9,

1-2,

there was a stigma

against people

who were disabled

from birth.

Jews assumed

that some terrible sin

must have been committed

by his parents

or someone else

to make someone

be born with

deformities

or disabilities.

And Leviticus 21,

18 stipulated

concerning priests

that no one

who has a blemish

shall draw near,

a man blind

or lame,

or one who has

a mutilated face

or limb too long.

This commandment,

which was intended

to communicate

the holiness of God,

the perfections of God,

applied only to priests

who were offering sacrifices

and it didn't prevent

lame people

from entering

the temple in general.

However,

later,

extra-biblical

Jewish traditions

that developed

and the collection

of Jewish legal writings

known as the Mishnah

did explicitly

prevent

lame people

from entering

the temple.

They were allowed

in the temple complex

but not inside

the temple proper.

And so then

this man,

lame from birth,

had been begging

daily at the gate

of the temple

for what is likely

decades

but never able

to enter

into the temple

to offer

the burnt offering,

to pray.

And after being healed,

where else does he go

but straight

into the temple

with Peter and John

walking

and leaping

and praising God.

that's what's possible

by the powerful name

of Jesus.

And that brings me

to my second point.

We should not only

demonstrate

but also proclaim

this name

of Jesus.

Later in Acts chapter 4

Acts 4:22

verse 22,

Luke calls

the healing

of the lame man

a sign of healing.

There's a reason

why the Bible

consistently

calls such miracles

signs.

It's because

they signify something.

Because they point

to something

of the person

and work

of Jesus Christ,

the gospel,

the saving news

of Jesus Christ.

To fixate

on the sign

and not on Jesus

is like being

too busy

staring at the sign

on the highway

that you actually

missed your exit.

The sign is there

to point you

in the right direction,

not to distract you.

And that's exactly

what Peter does

in the following verses.

He brings the attention,

the focus

to Jesus.

It says in verses

11 to 12,

while he clung

to Peter and John,

all the people

utterly astounded

ran together to them

in the portico

called Solomon's.

And when Peter saw it,

he addressed the people.

Men of Israel,

why do you wonder

at this?

Or why do you stare

at us?

As though by our own

power or piety

we have made him walk.

The formerly lay man

clung to Peter and John

and all the people,

he says.

And noticing this healed man,

people flock

to Peter and John.

The portico

is basically

an extended porch.

It has a roof,

but it's a colonnade.

It's open on the sides,

but it has a roof

on the top.

It offers shelter

from the elements,

but because it wasn't

completely enclosed,

it could accommodate

a lot of people,

large crowds.

And seeing an opportunity

to proclaim the gospel here,

Peter addresses the crowd,

but the first thing

he says is,

why do you wonder

at this?

Why do you stare at us

as though by our own

power or piety

we have made him walk?

The healing of a man

lame from birth

would be a wondrous thing

indeed if humans

by their own power

or piety did it.

That would be amazing.

But if God did it,

then it's nothing

to wonder about.

Our society is obsessed

with self-promotion

and celebrity.

But as Christians,

we have to take our cues

from Scripture

and not from the culture.

Instead of being preoccupied

with making much

of ourselves,

praising our athleticism,

praising our intellect,

our ingenuity,

our beauty,

our capability,

our righteousness,

our power,

our piety,

we ought to be preoccupied

with making much of God

in God's wisdom,

God's righteousness,

and God's mercy,

and God's power.

It would have been

so easy.

And I would have been

sorely tempted

if I were Peter and John

to bring attention

to myself.

Men of Israel,

well,

we do spend

quite a bit of time

praying every day.

I mean,

I did spend

several years

with Jesus.

But they don't do that.

they insist

that it's not

by their own power

or pie

that the lame man

was made to walk.

It's so beautiful

what they do

here.

Something I struggle

with in my own life.

We should have

this deep desire

desire to be hidden

behind the glory

of God

to bring all glory

to Him.

No matter how fine

an instrument

might be,

without a musician

to play it,

he cannot play

a single note

of music.

It's the musician

who deserves

the credit

for beautiful music.

Likewise,

though God

used Peter

and John

to heal

the lame man,

they are mere

instruments.

And it is God

who deserves

all the glory.

Peter then

explains

more specifically

in verses 13

and 15

that it was

by the power

of the name

of Jesus

that the lame man

was healed.

And he begins

by establishing

common ground

with his Jewish

brethren,

but then takes

a sharp torn Jesus.

He says,

the God of Abraham,

the God of Isaac,

and the God of Jacob,

the God of our fathers,

glorified his servant

Jesus,

whom you delivered

over and denied

in the presence

of Pilate.

And when he had

decided to release him,

but you denied

the holy and righteous

one and asked

for a murderer

to be granted

to you,

and you killed

the author of life

whom God raised

from the dead.

To this,

we are witnesses.

The phrase

glorified his servant

is an allusion

to the servant songs

in the book of Isaiah.

In particular,

Isaiah 52,

Isaiah 52:13

verse 13,

to 53,

verse 12,

which is the only place

in the Old Testament

where those two words,

glorify and servant,

occur together,

are combined.

That passage begins

with God saying this,

Behold,

my servant

shall act wisely.

He shall be high

and lifted up

and shall be exalted

or glorified.

But the path

of this servant

of the Lord's glorification

goes through humiliation.

As it says

in the following verses

in Isaiah 53,

Isaiah 53:3–5

verses 3 to 5,

He was despised

and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows

and acquainted with grief.

And as one

from whom men

hide their faces,

He was despised

and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He has borne

our griefs

and carried our sorrows,

yet we esteemed Him

stricken,

smitten by God

and afflicted.

But He was pierced

for our transgressions.

He was crushed

for our iniquities.

Upon Him

was the chastisement

that brought us peace

and with His wounds

we are healed.

The glorious Son of God,

the heir of God Almighty,

humbled Himself

by taking the form

of a servant,

being born in the likeness

of man

and being found

in human form,

He humbled Himself

by becoming obedient

to death,

even death on a cross,

and therefore God

exalted Him

to the highest place

above every name.

This is the beautiful paradox

of the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

And note the contrast

between the actions

of God on the one hand

and the actions

of the Jews

on the other

in verses 13 to 15.

God glorified

His servant Jesus,

but you delivered Him

over and denied Him,

despite the fact

that even Pilate

wanted to release Him.

You killed the author

of life,

but God raised Him

from the dead.

He whom God Himself

honored and glorified,

the Holy and Righteous One,

we mere humans,

delivered over

to die on the cross

like a piece of trash,

like a low-life criminal.

He whom God Himself

chose and anointed,

we denied Him.

He whom God

would raise from the dead,

we by our sins

killed Him.

How dare we?

And yet,

that's what we did.

And the Holy One

and Righteous One

are both titles

that are given to God

throughout the Old Testament,

especially in the book of Isaiah.

And interestingly,

both of those terms

are also used

to refer to the promised Messiah.

Isaiah 53, 11 says,

By His knowledge

shall the Righteous One,

My servant,

make many

to be accounted righteous,

and He shall bear

their iniquities.

It's precisely because

Jesus is the Righteous One

that He's able to make us

to be accounted righteous.

If He were guilty of sin

and deserving of death

like we are,

His death would have been

insignificant and inefficacious.

But because the innocent one

died in the place

of guilty sinners,

because the righteous one

died in the place

of the unrighteous,

our penalty is paid

and we are counted righteous.

Instead of the death

that we deserved,

we receive life eternal

because we killed

the author of life,

the source of life Himself.

But God raised Him

from the dead.

The word translated

author here,

we saw this earlier

in the assurance of pardon

from Hebrews 12

when it describes Jesus

as the founder

of our faith.

It's the same word,

the author of our faith.

We see that in Hebrews 2, 10 as well,

the founder

or the author of salvation.

Later in Acts 5, 31,

the same word is translated

as leader

to refer to Jesus

as the one who leads

the charge.

Jesus is the one

who initiates.

He's the author

and the pioneer

of our salvation and faith.

This is why later

in Acts 26, 23,

Paul calls Jesus

the first to rise

from the dead.

Jesus is the firstborn

from the dead

who imparts eternal life

to those who follow

in His footsteps.

That's how He is

the pioneer of life,

the author of life.

And it's by the name

of this glorified servant Jesus

that the lame man

was healed.

Look at what Peter says

in verse 16.

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.

Just as the person

and work of Jesus Christ

is the grounds

for our forgiveness of sins,

the person and work

of Jesus Christ

is also the grounds

for our healing

from sickness.

Matthew 8, 16-17

make precisely this point

by quoting from

the Servant Song of Isaiah.

That evening,

they brought to Him

many who were oppressed

by demons,

and He cast out the spirits

with a word

and He healed all

who were sick.

This was to fulfill

what was spoken

by the prophet Isaiah.

He took our illnesses

and bore our diseases.

This is a paraphrase

or a loose citation

of Isaiah 53, verse 5,

Isaiah 53:5

where it says,

by His wounds

we are healed.

Sin, sickness, and death

are wrapped up together

and are all characteristics

of a fallen creation

that is groaning for redemption.

And the life, death,

and resurrection of Jesus

is the basis for healing.

So Peter is here

calling his audience

to faith in Jesus.

You seem quite enthusiastic

about this sign of healing,

but you were not so enthused

about Jesus last month

when you killed Him.

But it is precisely

by the name of this same Jesus

that you killed

that this healing

has taken place.

And this miracle

is proof that Jesus

has been raised from the dead

and is ascended to the heaven

as the Lord over all.

And now you must turn to Him

and trust Him for salvation.

That's the main point

of Peter's sermon

in Luke 3 and 4,

Acts 3 and 4.

The powerful name of Jesus

must be believed in

and appropriated by faith.

Peter emphasized that,

and His name,

by faith in His name.

And the faith that is through Jesus

has given this man

perfect health.

Faith was the means

by which the power of Christ

was appropriated

for healing.

Most likely here,

it's the faith of the lame man

that is intended,

not the faith of Peter and John.

This is confirmed later

in Acts chapter 14,

Acts 14:8–10

verses 8 to 10,

by another very similar account

of healing.

There Paul encounters

a lame man

who was crippled from birth

and had never walked.

And it says,

Paul, looking intently at him

and seeing that he had faith

to be made well,

said in a loud voice,

stand upright on your feet.

And he sprang up

and began walking.

Paul perceived prophetically

that this lame man

had faith to be healed.

And Peter may have had

similar insight.

We don't know.

It doesn't tell us.

But the point Peter is making

when he says that faith

in his name has made

this man strong

is that just as this lame man

was healed by putting

his faith in Jesus,

you too should put your faith

in Jesus' name.

If Peter were pointing out

the great faith that he had

that enabled him

to heal this man,

it would contradict the spirit

of what he just said

in verse 12.

When he said,

Men of Israel,

why do you wonder at this

or why do you stare at us

as though by our own power

or piety we have made him walk?

It was not Peter's power

or piety that made

this man walk.

Peter's faith is assumed.

In fact,

we can't sincerely pray

for God's healing

unless we have faith

that God can heal.

It's not a remarkable thing

for Christians to believe

that God can heal.

After all,

we believe in the God

who raises the dead.

It's the lame man's faith

that is in view.

Peter commanded the cripple

to rise up and walk

in the name of Jesus,

but the name of Jesus

is not some incantation

or magical formula

that affixed to an end

of a sentence

to make things happen.

The cripple would have

received no healing

had he not responded

in faith to what Peter said

by putting weight on his feet

and standing up.

Faith is important.

This role of faith

is helpfully illustrated

in the Gospel of Mark.

In Mark chapter 9,

Mark 9 · chapter mention

the father of a boy

who is demon-possessed

and is having seizures,

he asks Jesus,

if you can do anything,

have compassion on us

and help us.

To which Jesus replies,

if you can,

all things are possible

for one who believes.

And now here,

Jesus is not talking

about his faith.

He's not saying,

all things are possible

for me because I believe.

No, he's saying,

telling the boy's father

to believe

because he's not satisfied

with if you can

because that's not exactly

a vote of confidence.

He says,

if you can,

of course I can.

All things are possible

for one who believes.

Jesus is challenging

the father of the child

to have greater faith,

which is why the father

responds by saying,

I believe.

Help my unbelief.

And Jesus immediately

casts the demon out.

Now contrast that

with Jesus' interaction

with the leper

in Mark 1, 40 to 42.

The leper comes to him

imploring him

and he says,

if you will,

you can make me clean.

Now that's a prayer of faith.

Not if you can,

but if you will,

you can.

So Jesus' response to him

is very different.

He says,

move to pity.

Jesus stretched out his hand

and touched him

and said to him,

I will be clean.

When it comes to Jesus'

power to heal,

it's not a question of ability,

but a question of willingness.

This is why at the end

of Matthew 13, 53, 58,

it says that Jesus did not

do many mighty works there

because of their unbelief.

Because these miracles

are supposed to be signs

that point to Jesus,

Jesus doesn't perform

these miracles

for people who have no faith,

for people who are not

interested genuinely

in believing in him,

but are simply looking

to use him like a genie

in a bottle.

But we have to take care

not to use this

to bludgeon Christians

who have genuine faith

in Christ

and earnestly seek healing

yet are not healed.

Because there are people

like that.

We have people like that

in our church.

We shouldn't blame them

for not having enough faith

to be healed

because that's a totally

different situation.

God doesn't heal

every bodily ailment.

Even the Apostle Paul

who was used by God

to heal many,

says in Galatians chapter 4,

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

12 to 20,

that he had a bodily ailment

that he was afflicted with

that the Galatian believers

had to attend to.

He also mentions

a thorn was given him

in the flesh

in 2 Corinthians 12.

We don't know exactly

what this thorn in the flesh is,

but most people speculate

that it was some kind

of bodily ailment

because he describes it

as something that's

in the flesh.

But the fact that God

does not heal everyone

should not make us

stop praying for healing.

In the same way,

the fact that God

does not save everyone

should not make us

stop praying for people's salvation.

As John Wimber used to say,

I'd rather pray for

1,000 people,

even if only one gets healed,

than not to pray for any

and none gets healed.

And please note that,

and I thought this might be helpful

for us as we're

talking about

it's getting into

people getting vaccinated

and whatnot.

I'm not saying that

by saying we should pray

for healing

that God

doesn't use other means.

God does use medicines

and doctors

to bring healing as well.

1 Timothy 5.23

where Paul

enjoins Timothy

says,

no longer drink only water

but use a little wine

for the sake of your stomach

and your frequent ailments.

Paul's telling Timothy,

hey,

you have stomach ailments

from drinking

unclean water.

It's okay to drink

some wine

from time to time.

In fact,

Paul traveled

on his missionary journeys

with a doctor

named Luke.

And in Joshua 5.10-12

after the Israelites

finally crossed the wilderness

and entered the promised land,

they celebrate the Passover

and it says there,

the day after the Passover,

on that very day,

they ate of the produce

of the land,

unleavened cakes

and parched grain.

And the manna seized

the day after they ate

of the produce of the land.

And there was no longer manna

for the people of Israel,

but they ate of the fruit

of the land of Canaan

that year.

This is because

God can provide

supernaturally

by raining bread

from heaven

as He did for the Israelites

when they were in the wilderness,

but He can also provide

naturally

by raining rain

from heaven

so that they can farm

and produce fruits

that they could eat.

And God deserves

the credit for both.

Whether you make

the blind see

by the miraculous power

of God

or make the blind see

by doing cataract surgeries

on people's eyes,

using the knowledge

that God has granted you

in the means of healing

that God has embedded

in the principles of nature,

you're both doing good work

and you can do it

for His glory.

To use a recent example

that might be on your mind,

God can protect you

and heal you

supernaturally

from COVID.

There's no question

about that.

but God can also

protect you

by using people

that He has given

knowledge and insight to

in order to develop vaccines.

There's nothing wrong

with using these human means

provided that the vaccines

were not developed

or procured

through immoral means.

With all that said,

we still need to ask ourselves

where our ultimate trust lies.

In our part of the world,

it's easy to idolize science

and human intelligence

and put our faith in them.

The popular slogan,

science will win,

captures the sentiment.

With all due respect,

science does not win.

Every doctor gets sick.

Every scientist will die.

If not from COVID,

from something else.

It's Christ who wins

in the end.

Life and death

are ultimately

in God's hands,

not ours.

And this is very important

for us to remember.

There is a difference

between trusting God

to provide through people

and trusting people

in the place of God.

And lastly,

we must remember

the priority of proclaiming

the name of Jesus Christ.

Return with me to verse 16.

Note that it's not our faith

in and of itself

that heals us,

but it's the name of Jesus,

His person,

His power,

His authority

that heals us.

The sentence in the Greek

is even more awkward

than the way it is in English.

It literally says,

by faith in His name,

has the name made strong

this man whom you see and know.

It's almost like

Peter's taking special care

to not say

that it's our faith

that heals.

Jesus heals.

Jesus heals.

We merely appropriate

Jesus' power

through faith.

That's why we can never

boast of our faith

and never take credit

for healing

with our faith.

This is why Peter

is careful to add

at the end of verse 16,

and the faith that is

through Jesus

has given the man

this perfect health

in the presence of you all.

Even faith in the end

originates from Jesus.

Jesus is the author

and perfecter of our faith.

He's not only

the object of our faith,

He's also the origin,

the source of our faith.

So it's from beginning

to the end,

it's all of Him.

The main point

of this passage

is not Peter's power

or piety,

nor is it the lame man's faith,

nor is it the importance

of signs and wonders

in the ministry

of the church.

The main point

of this passage

is the powerful name

of Jesus.

The healing

is a sign

that points to Jesus

because He is the basis

not only for our

miraculous healings,

but also our salvation

and eternal life.

As I've said before,

sin is a spiritual disease

with a hundred percent

fatality rate.

Every single person,

young and old,

weak and strong,

dies when infected

by sin.

And sin is unsurpassed

as an infectious disease.

Once the disease spreads

to multiple continents

throughout the globe,

it's declared a pandemic.

Sin is a perpetual pandemic

that infects

every single human being.

And there is no human vaccine,

no medicine,

that avails against it.

Every single one of us

will die and perish forever

apart from divine intervention.

There's salvation

in no one else but Jesus,

for there is no other name

under heaven

given to mankind

by which we must be saved.

If you had an unlimited supply

of COVID vaccines,

would you not give it out

liberally?

Would you not tell

the whole world about it?

the flow of the blood of Jesus

which cleanses us from sin

is limitless.

And we are the people

whom God has sent

to share this good news

with the world.

So let's go in the name of Jesus.

Command people

not only to rise up and walk,

but also tell them

repent and be forgiven.

Please take a moment

to reflect on this message.

what is the Holy Spirit

particularly pointing out

to you from this passage?

What is He

convicting you of in your heart?

Spend a few times

on your own

praying through that

and then we'll respond

by praying corporately

out loud together.

And

don't

come to this

or

ask

who

I

are

who

are

you

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