IN THE NAME OF JESUS

Acts 3:1-26

Key verse 3:6

Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 

Part 1 - In the Name of Jesus:

Look at verses 1-3:

1One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 

 The crippled man lived an unfulfilling life due to a problem that was beyond his control. 

While Peter and John were on their way to pray, they met a man who had been crippled from birth. This man's daily routine was to be carried to the temple gate called Beautiful and beg for money from those who were going in to pray. It seems unfair that he had to live such a life. He never knew the joy of walking. As a child, when other kids were playing outside, he had to crawl around on the dirty ground. When other kids grew up and became independent and self-sufficient, starting jobs and even getting married, this man remained totally dependent on the charity of others for his survival. He could not even beg without help--he had to be carried to the temple gate to ask for money with the hope only to receive enough to buy some bread so he could live to beg the next day. 

 He might have wondered why? He might have doubted God's love for him. 

Like this crippled man, many people suffer from things beyond their control. Some people have physical problems, while others suffer because of other people or circumstances. 

Look at verses 4-7:

4Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" 5So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." 7Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 

When Peter said, "Look at us," the crippled man hoped he would get a dollar, but Peter said, "Silver or  gold I do not have, but what I have I give you." The crippled man might have been surprised and disappointed. What could Peter give him that would be of any use except for money? Yet he didn't have much time to think about it. Peter said to him, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Then Peter took the man by the right hand, helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. 

For Peter, faith in the name of Jesus was not some intangible, impractical thing existing somewhere in his head or in his feelings; it was something incredibly practical, powerful, and effective. Faith in Jesus' name was the key to the power and riches of the kingdom of God; and Peter freely accessed this power with amazing effect. 

The Peter we see here looks quite different from the Peter we see in the gospels before Jesus' resurrection. Once Peter was in a boat with the other disciples of Jesus during a storm and he saw Jesus walking on the water. He wanted to walk on water, too, so he asked Jesus to call to him. Jesus said, "Come," and Peter got out of the boat and started to walk on the water, too. Then he started looking at the waves and the wind; doubt came into his heart, and he began to sink and cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus pulled him up and said, "You of little faith; why did you doubt?" Peter's faith had been unstable and undependable; but now his faith had matured so that he had complete confidence that Jesus would do whatever he asked in Jesus' name. 

What was the result? Look at verses 8-10: 8He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

The result of Peter's faith was phenomenal: a complete life transformation. The crippled man was made well; for the first time in his life, he could walk and even jump. What did he do with these new abilities? He went into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. Once, this man was a tragic, pathetic, burdensome, and sad figure; now he was the picture of joy, pouring out his heart in thanks to God, and all the people saw him and saw the power of Jesus' name. Now he could live as God intended him to live, and by his walking and jumping and praising he became a messenger of God's grace through Jesus. 

Part 2 - Repent, then, and turn to God:

Look at verses 11-16:

11While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade. 12When Peter saw this, he said to them: "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.

Peter used this event to testify about Jesus. All the people were looking at Peter and John as if they had healed the crippled man by their own power or godliness, but Peter testfified that this healing came through the power of Jesus' name. He used this even as an opportunity to help the people accept Jesus. 

Peter taught the people two things: about Jesus, and about themselves. He testified that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of their fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. Yet, they handed Jesus over to be killed and disowned him before Pilate, even though Pilate had decided to let Jesus go. What a shocker this message must have been for these people. Probably most of them were in the temple to worship and pray to God, yet it turns out that they were the ones who disowned and killed God's servant. It turns out that they were working in opposition to God. They disowned the "Holy and Righteous One," and asked that a murderer be released. They killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. Again, they thought they were servants of God, but their actions show that they were working as enemies of God. What was the evidence against them? It was not only the testimony of the Peter and John, but also the testimony of the former crippled man. This man was made strong and received complete healing in the name of Jesus. The power of Jesus' name is the greatest evidence that Jesus is alive and has been glorified by God.  Through Peter's message, the people could see themselves as sinners worthy of God's judgment and wrath. 

Look at verses 17-18:

17"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 

 After Peter exposed the people as sinners, he also gave them hope. Peter acknowledged two things about their sin in killing Jesus. First, they did so out of ignorance, as did their leaders. Second, God used their ignorance to fulfill his plan.  Sins committed in ignorance are still sins, but there is hope that we can change direction when we come out of our ignorance by hearing the truth. Now they knew the truth about Jesus, what should they do? 

Look at verses 19-21:

19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 

Peter gave them three things to look forward to if they would repent and turn to God. First, their sins would be wiped out. Second, times of refreshing would come from the Lord, and third, God would send Jesus as the Christ. 

The first two go together. When your sins are wiped out, you experience times of refreshing from the Lord. It's like taking a shower for the first time after walking through a dusty and dirty land for weeks. After washing away all the dirt and grime and grease, you feel refreshed. It feels so good to be clean. 

When we follow our sinful desires, our souls become burdened by the dirtiness of sin. It weighs us down and makes us feel terrible. When we repent, however, we feel that a great burden has been lifted from us; we feel fresh and light and joy comes into our hearts. Do you feel burdened, weighed down, and generally unhappy all the time? Then there's a good chance that what you need most is to repent. When we repent deeply of our sins and turn to God, we experience times of refreshing. 

Jesus will return and restore all things. The third promise is the ultimate hope of all believers: the coming of Jesus, our Savior. When we look at people who suffer like the crippled man who was born that way, we feel that something is wrong. Why are there so many bad things going on in this world? Why are bad things happening to me? Why does God let these things happen? The truth is that God is not happy with the way things are either. In fact, God has a plan to change everything. More specifically, he has a plan to restore all things. The word "restore" means to bring back to an original condition. Originally, God created this world to operate without sickness, tragedy, or other such miseries. Yet sin messed everything up, so God sent Jesus to purchase forgiveness of sins on the cross, and God plans to send Jesus back some day, maybe very soon, to restore all things to the original perfection. Why doesn't God do this already? The answer is obvious: he is waiting for us. He wants to fill his kingdom with many people, and so he is being patient with this sinful world so that the full number of people may be brought to the kingdom of God. This means that if Jesus does not come back today it is only because there was at least one person whom God wanted to save today. If you haven't accepted Jesus as your Savior, today is your day--don't miss the chance! Don't miss out on the beautiful perfection God has in store for all who turn to him through faith in Jesus.

Look at verses 22-23:

22For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.'

God appointed Moses to lead the Israelites into the land of promise. Moses could not lead the people in, however, so God promised to send a prophet like Moses to lead the people. If they listened to this prophet, they would be able to take hold of all that God has promised them. Jesus is the prophet God promised to send; and if we follow him (by obeying him) he will lead us to take hold of all the goodness that God has in store for his children. 

Look at verses 24-26:

24"Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' 26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."

Here Peter helps us to see how blessed we are, for we are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant of God. When we study the Old Testament, we see throughout it that the covenant and the prophets were all looking forward to Jesus. Now that Jesus has come, we are blessed to take hold of these promises. We are like people who inherited a great fortune even though we did nothing to work for it. God has opened up the way for all people on earth to be blessed through faith in Jesus. This is God's blessing for us. Many people say, "God bless America," or pray, "God bless me," thinking that blessing means having good health, money in the bank, and good relationships. Yet all of these will pass away. God's true blessing is different. Look again at verse 26: "When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." God's true blessing is that he sent Jesus to turn us from our wicked ways. Our wicked ways bring only misery and death; but following Jesus leads to refreshing and life. This is the greatest blessing, and it is available to all of us today! Thank God. 

One word: In the name of Jesus

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