The Power of His Name
Series: Acts
Chuck Sligh
August 10, 2014
TEXT: Acts 3:1-11 – “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. 2 And 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 into the temple; 3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. 4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. 5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. 6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. 7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God: 10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. 11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.”
INTRODUCTION
The Bible often pictures disease and infirmity as a visual picture of sin and healing its results as a picture of salvation. Our text today provides us with as a perfect picture of salvation as I know of. As well as any story in the Bible, it paints the picture of our condition without God, our inability to save ourselves, the way of salvation, and what happens when a person is saved.
Also, this passage is a beautiful demonstration of the power of Jesus. Peter and John did not have silver or gold to give this poor beggar. What they did have was Jesus Christ and His power to save and heal.
Peter said, “…In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” (verse 6) And rise up and walk he did! Not only did he rise up and walk: Verse 8 says he was “…walking, and leaping, and praising God”!
Let’s look at these verses and see what they teach us about our spiritual healing:
I. NOTE FIRST THAT THIS LAME BEGGAR WAS IN A DESPERATE CONDITION
1) Verse 2 tells us that he was born lame.
He was born with a debilitating handicap—he COULD NOT WALK. But he didn’t BECOME incapacitated later in life. Luke says he was “…lame from his mother’s womb…”
In the same way, you and I were born with a handicap. And like the lame beggar, it is a debilitating handicap. That handicap is called SIN.
Psalm 51:5 says “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Psalm 58:3 tells us “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”
2) Not only was he born lame…note secondly that he was powerless to help himself.
Note verse 2b says, “…whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple…” He had to be carried to the gate of the temple. There was not one thing he could do to help himself. He could not be healed by self-effort, sincerity, good intentions, enthusiasm, or by giving to pay doctors, or buy cures or medicine.
Like this beggar, we too are powerless to save ourselves from the handicap of sin. No amount of self-effort, sincerity, good intentions, tithing, or religious enthusiasm can help us save ourselves. Our condition is too desperate. We’re literally HELPLESS to do ANYTHING to save ourselves from God’s judgment and make us righteous before God.
Romans 5:6, 8 says, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.…8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
3) Note thirdly that this beggar was outside the temple – Verse 2
Physically, he was outside the place where God met with mankind. He was separated from God because of his condition, though right beside the door. Spiritually, before we encounter Christ in salvation, WE TOO are separated from God—no matter how close or far away we are to the door.
Listen to the words of Isaiah in Isaiah 59:1-2 – “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
4) Fourth, he was a poor beggar
Look at verse 2c – “…they laid daily at the gate of the temple… [why?—] to ask alms of them that entered into the temple.”
If you’re here today without Jesus, you too are a beggar, searching for peace and fulfillment, but you may be searching in all the wrong places.
• Some search for peace and satisfaction in PEOPLE (whether your spouse, your children, or friends) – But people will always let you down!
• Some look to THINGS to give them peace and fulfillment in life – Things like cars, houses, clothes, stereos, but things wear out and become outdated.
• Others think MONEY will bring them joy and happiness—
But money never satisfies.
Illus. – Someone asked the super-rich, early twentieth-century oil tycoon John D. Rockerfeller, “How much money does it take to be happy?” – His reply: “A little bit more.”
• Some hope for peace and satisfaction in PLEASURE and ENTERTAINMENT and ALCOHOL and DRUGS.
But these are forms of escape from the realities and problems of life—a vain search for fun, pleasure, thrills—something to fill an empty heart. But when you finish these, you have to face the real world again.
All of these things—people, things, money, pleasures, escapes—bring temporary pleasure and relief—but they don’t solve the root problem and ache of our souls. We’re just like this lame beggar—he was begging for money that would bring TEMPORARY relief, but what he REALLY needed was HEALING!
And so do you and I. We don’t need temporary escapes that really don’t solve the illness of our souls. We don’t need short-term relief. We don’t need any more Band-Aids. We need the healing hand of Jesus to come in and change us from the inside.
So the first thing we see about this beggar was that he was in a desperate condition.
II. SECOND, I’D LIKE YOU TO SEE THAT SOMEBODY CARED FOR HIM
You see, somebody got him to where he could be healed. In verse 2 we read that “…they laid daily at the gate of the temple…”
Who laid him there?—Somebody who loved him; somebody who cared for him. If you’re here without Christ, you may be here today because someone loved you enough to invite you or bring you here where you could hear find Christ and sin’s forgiveness.
If you’re a believer in Christ—do you see the importance of your role? The lame man might never have met Peter and might never have been healed if someone who loved him and cared for him had not been faithful to bring him to where he could get healing. May we be faithful to share our faith with others and invite them to church to hear the Gospel and be in a place where they can get healing for their sin-sick souls.
III. NOTICE THIRDLY THAT THIS BEGGAR WAS HEALED!
• I’d like for us to consider four things about his healing from this passage:
1) First, he was healed immediately and he KNEW he was healed! – Verse 7 – “And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.”
One minute he’s lame and the next he’s jumping around like a crazy man! His healing was instantaneous—and he KNEW it. He couldn’t HELP but know that he was changed forever!
The same happens when a sinner is saved: True—seeing our need for Christ is a “process” that takes place over time. But salvation itself is AN EVENT, AN ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST that takes place in a point of time—in an instant. Years later this man could look back to the day he was healed.
And ordinarily, when you experience God’s forgiveness in salvation, you can look back to a time when that happened. It is something you can never forget.
Illus. – When I ask some people if they’re saved, they sometimes answer, “Well I think so” or “I hope so”…Suppose you came to me and asked me, “Pastor Sligh, are you married?”
Suppose I answer, “Well, I think so.”
You say, “Now wait a minute. You either are or you aren’t. I mean, do you have a wife?”
And I respond, “Well, I’m not quite sure, but I certainly hope so.”
You’d think I had a screw loose, wouldn’t you?
Listen, I KNOW I’m married! How do I know?—Because on August 10, 1974 I stood before a preacher… more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs…and he said “Do you promise to love and cherish, in sickness and health, in prosperity and adversity, this woman whose right hand you now hold?”
And I said, “I…I…I…d…d…do.”
And he said, “Do you take this woman to be your lawful, wedded wife, as long as you both shall live?”
And I said, “I…I…I…d…d…do.”
And he said a few other nice things, and there was some pretty music and pretty flowers everywhere…
And then he said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
The last thing he said was, “You may now kiss your wife.” And, son, did I ever kiss her!—Mmm-mmm…I’ll never forget THAT!
How do I know I’m married?—Because it was an event that changed my life! And that’s how you know you’re saved.—Something happened that forever altered your life. This man was healed instantly, and he knew it, and so it is when we find Christ.
2) The second thing about his healing is this: it gave him strength – The second part of verse 7 tells us “…his feet and ankle bones received strength.”
Now that he was healed, his legs and ankle bones had strength to walk.
Some people think, “Well, I’ll get saved one of these days, but I need to straighten my life up first.”
That’s all catty-wampus from what the Bible teaches. The Bible says that we get saved FIRST, and THEN when we’re saved, the Holy Spirit comes inside of us and HE gives us the power to straighten up our lives!
What if the lame man had said, “I’ll get healed some other day, Peter. First, I need to strengthen these legs and feet and ankle bones up. As soon as I get it all together and get strong enough, I’ll come back and let you heal me.”
That would be absurd wouldn’t it? But that’s the way some people look at salvation. The exciting truth of the Gospel is that you don’t become good to be to be saved; you get saved to become good!
3) Thirdly, his healing was complete.
Look at verse 16 – “And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”
When God healed this man, he didn’t get “a little healed”—he got FULLY, TOTALLY, COMPLETELY healed!
Verse 16 says he got “perfect soundness.”
Now I believe that “perfect soundness” means that his feet and legs were as perfect and sound as a young athlete’s:
• It wasn’t that he could put a little weight on his feet now and with the aid of a crutch, he could get around now.
• It wasn’t that he could walk now, but with a limp.
• And when Peter said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk,” it wasn’t that he could just stand up and walk baby steps like a baby first learning to walk and repeatedly falling down.
Verse 8 says this man got “the whole nine yards”—he was “walking and leaping”!
When you’re saved, you don’t get a “little” saved—You’re saved ALL THE WAY!
• You don’t just get SOME of your sins washed away—You get every sin you ever committed forgiven, no matter how wretched you may have been.
• And I’ll tell you something even more remarkable—you get every sin you ever WILL commit forgiven too!
• You aren’t just saved for as long as you can “hold out”—you’re saved FOR ALL ETERNITY!
• You don’t just get a new outlook in life—you get a new nature; a new life!
God doesn’t do anything half-way! And when He saves a person, that person gets “the whole nine yards.”
• He gets saved from SIN—but he also gets Christ’s full RIGHTEOUSNESS.
• He gets saved from HELL—but he also gets HEAVEN.
• He’s freed from THE CONTROL OF SATAN IN HIS LIFE—but he also is given the Holy Spirit to indwell and change him!
4) Fourth, note that his healing was a miracle accomplished by the power of Jesus’ name, and not by any works or self-effort on his own part.
He was HEALED FOR ONE REASON ONLY. When Peter gave him the invitation to be healed, he BELIEVED that God would heal him through Peter, and then he RESPONDED.
And the sinner comes to God the same way—not through his church, or his religion, or his baptism, or his good deeds, or his goodness. He’s saved when he takes GOD at His word, and he BELIEVES that God will save him by His grace because God has promised to do so in His Word, and he RESPONDS to God and comes to Him for salvation!
IV. LAST, I’D LIKE YOU TO SEE THAT ONCE HE WAS HEALED, HIS LIFE WAS PERMANENTLY ALTERED
Our text shows us at least two changes in the life of this beggar:
1) First, he entered the temple and stood with the believers.
Before, remember, he was OUTSIDE the temple. Now, verse 8 says that he “entered WITH them into the temple…”
When people experience salvation, they have a different attitude about church. Before, they have no real desire to go to church. But when they’re saved, they love the people of God and want to be identified with them.
Look over at Acts 4:14 – “And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.”
Here Peter and John had been arrested and brought before the magistrates to answer for their preaching and healing in Jesus’ name. And who is standing right there with them?—That former lame man! Now that he could stand, there was no question WHERE he stood!—he stood with the people of God, even willing to bear His reproach. Likewise, if you’re a believer, you should stand for Christ.
2) The second change we see is that he praised God – Verse 8 – He was “…walking, and leaping, and praising God.”
Why was he praising God?—Because he once was lame, but now could walk! And why do believers praise God?—Because, our hearts echo the words of Isaac Newton’s famous song, Amazing Grace—“I once was lost but now am found; was blind but now I see.”
Before, the lame man had nothing to praise God about. His life was a mess. Now he had EVERYTHING to praise God for!
Now notice how the people were astonished at the change in him!
Verse 10 – “And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.”
They marveled and couldn’t believe what had happened to him!
And you know what?—People always marvel at the change that takes place when a person is converted.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God promised that after the Messiah (Jesus) came to the earth, He would change people’s hearts – “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
That’s exactly what happens when people get saved.
CONCLUSION
Now, what is your spiritual state this morning?
A.
• Are you like this beggar?—A sinner by birth? Powerless to save yourself? Outside God and His blessings? Looking for peace and joy in empty things that can never fill and satisfy?
Like this lame beggar, you too can experience a healing of your soul—
You can be saved by God’s grace today.
You can have your sin forgiven.
You can receive a new life and a new nature.
You can KNOW that you are saved and on your way to heaven.
I invite you to come to Jesus…Right now…Today.
• Are you already a believer?
Be a witness to your loved ones, your friends, your neighbors. Someone defined a witness as “One beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” May you and I be faithful to tell others where to find the Bread of Life.
