Jesus Christ Heals You Series

JESUS CHRIST HEALS YOU

Text: Acts 9:32-43

Introduction

1. There are some well-meaning Christians who believe that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. They teach the gifts of the Spirit were only for the apostles, and once the cannon of Scripture was completed, these gifts ceased.

2. I am not one of those Christians. I am a Pentecostal, and rather than a cessasionist, I am a continuist. I believe, and I believe that Scripture bears this out, that the gifts are still available today for any Christian that asks for them in faith.

3. Personally, I can attest that I have seen those gifts in action. One of those gifts is the gift of healing. In my ministry, I have witnessed several, medically verified, miraculous, physical healings.

4. Jesus Christ still heals today!

5. Read Acts 9:32-43

Transition: According to Scripture…

I. Jesus Christ Still Heals (32-35).

A. Jesus Christ Heals You

1. After introducing us to Saul, Luke now changes his focus back to Peter. We have not heard from Peter since back in chapter 8, but now he takes center stage in Acts. In v. 32 Luke tells us, “Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda.”

a. Luke points out that Peter goes on a traveling ministry tour in the ministry of an evangelist.

b. He went from town to town to teach and encourage the believers as he went.

c. Luke tells us about one of the towns he went to called Lydda.

d. It was a predominantly Gentile town about twenty-five miles west of Jerusalem.

e. The fact that it was a Gentile town is going to become important over the next several chapters.

f. Lydda was a large commercial center that connected Egypt, Syria, and Jerusalem.

g. The gospel came to Lydda because of Pentecost.

2. While he was there, “he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly.”

a. Aeneas was a man in Lydda who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. Since Peter went to encourage believers, we can assume that Aeneas was a Christian.

b. When Peter saw him, he said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you!” Notice that Peter doesn’t say, “Aeneas, I heal you,” or even, “Aeneas, be healed.”

c. Instead, he said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you!”

d. Let me be clear, people don’t heal people. No human being on his own ability or power has ever healed anyone.

e. It is Jesus who heals people, and if someone prays over someone and they are healed, it is because of the power of Jesus!

f. Nowhere in Acts does Peter heal anyone, it is always in the power or name of Jesus!

g. Another thing we should notice is Peter requires that he take a step of faith.

h. This is a man who has been completely paralyzed for eight years, and Peter tells him to “roll up your sleeping mat.”

i. Peter was asking him to take a step of faith and respond to what God wants to do in his life. As a result, he is healed instantly!

3. This news has a major impact on the community. Luke tells us, “Then the whole population of Lydda and Sharon saw Aeneas walking around, and they turned to the Lord.”

a. As a result of Aeneas’s healing, the entire community saw him walking around, and they all came to faith in Jesus!

b. His healing had such a profound impact on the people in Lydda that they all gave their lives to Christ.

c. Imagine what would happen in our community if Mike Williams were completely and totally healed?

d. It would have a major impact on our community. You see the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and that’s what healing is, a gift of the Spirit, aren’t only for our personal benefit.

e. They are meant to bring people to faith in Jesus. “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere...”

B. Gifts of Healing

1. Pastor, how do you know that God still heals people? First, nowhere in Scripture does it say that any of the gifts have ceased until Jesus returns. Second, because I have seen people healed. When I pastored in Ohio, there was a lady in the congregation who had COPD, and it was getting progressively worse. We had a revival at our church, she came up to the altar to be prayed for, and God healed her. That was the last time she took her COPD medicine. She’s still going strong at the age of 90.