The Power of His Name
Chuck Sligh
TEXT: Acts 3:1-11
INTRODUCTION
Our text provides us with is a perfect picture of salvation. Perhaps as well as any other story in the Bible it paints the picture of our condition without God, our inability to save ourselves, the true way of salvation, and what happens to a person after salvation.
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.” (Acts 3:6) 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 salvation:
I. NUMBER ONE, NOTE THAT THIS LAME BEGGAR WAS IN A DESPERATE CONDITION.
1. First of all, he was born lame.
Verse 2 says he was “...a certain man lame from his mother’s womb...” He was born with a terrible, debilitating handicap---he COULD NOT WALK. But he didn’t become incapacitated when he was younger. Our text says he was BORN that way; 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 terrible, 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 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” 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, religious zeal, or giving (to doctors, or for buying cures, medicine, etc.)
Like the beggar, we too are powerless to save ourselves from the handicap of sin. No amount of self-effort, sincerity, good intentions, tithing, or religious zeal can help you save yourself. Your condition is too desperate. You are literally helpless to do anything to save yourself from your sins and make you righteous before God. Turn with me to Romans 5:6-8 - “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.” (EXPAND AS LED)
3. The third thing about this man’s condition was that he was outside the temple. - Verse 2
Physically, he was outside the place where God was. He was separated from God and His people because of his condition, though he was right beside the door. Spiritually, WE TOO are separated from God---no matter how close 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.” (EXPAND AS LED)
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 satisfaction, 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 satisfaction in life - Things like cars, houses, clothes, stereos, etc., 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 all of these are forms of escape from the harsh realities and the problems of life, or a vain search for fun, or pleasure or a thrill---something to fill an empty heart. But when you finish these, you have to face the real world again, and your life again, and your problems again.
All of these things---people, things, money, pleasures, and escapes---all of these bring temporary pleasure and relief---but they don’t solve the root problem and ache of your soul. You’re just like this lame beggar---he was begging for money that would bring temporary relief, but what he really needed was healing! Money was just a band-aid to help him get through life as a cripple. What he really needed was THE HEALING TOUCH FROM JESUS.
And so do you and I. You don’t need any more temporary escapes that really don’t solve the problem of your soul. You don’t need short-term relief. You don’t need any more band-aids. You need the healing hand of Jesus to come in and change your heart and life.
So the first thing we see about this beggar was that he was in a desperate condition.
II. SECOND, NOTE THAT SOMEBODY CARED FOR HIM
You see, somebody got him to where he could be healed. In verse 2 we read, “...they laid daily at the gate of the temple...”
Who laid him there? Somebody who loved him. Somebody who cared for him.
If you are a here without Christ, you may be here today because somebody loved you enough to invite you and bring you here where you could hear the Gospel and find Christ and forgiveness of sins. (EXPAND AS LED)
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. You need to be witnessing and getting people to church to hear the Gospel and be in a place where they can get healing for their sin-sick souls.
III. NOTICE THIRD THAT THIS BEGGAR WAS HEALED!
Note four things about his healing:
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.”
I mean one moment he was a lame man and the next we see him 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. Being saved is not a “process” that takes place over time. It’s an EVENT 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 when you are saved, you can look back to a time when you began a relationship with God. 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.” What if someone came up to me and asked, “Pastor Sligh, are you married?” Suppose I say, “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 was bonkers, wouldn’t you? I KNOW I’m married!
How do I know?---Because on August 10, 1974 I stood in front of a preacher...and I’d never been so nervous in all my life! I was more nervous than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs! And the preacher said to me “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!!
How do I know I’m married? Because it was an event that forever changed my life!
And that’s how you know you are saved. It’s an event that forever altered your life.
I know everyone’s salvation experience is not the same, and some of you may not have had as impactful an experience when you trusted in Christ, or you may have come to faith when you were very young and you just don’t remember the details, but you know that right now you are trusting in Christ alone for your salvation. But the main thing is that if you are truly a believer, you know it because Christ has made a difference in your life. This man was healed immediately, and he knew it, and when you truly find Christ, you will know it.
2. The second thing about his healing is this: it gave strength.
The second part of verse 7 tells us “...his feet and ankle bones received strength.”
Now that he was healed, his legs 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 the opposite of what the Bible teaches. The Bible says that we come to faith in Christ for salvation first, and then after 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 don’t want to be healed now Peter. First, I need to strengthen these leg 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. Third, his healing was complete.
Look down 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 COMPLETELY healed! Verse 16 says he got “perfect soundness.” Now I believe that “perfect soundness” means that everything wrong with him in his body was now totally cured:
--If he had a cold that day---that got healed too.
--If he’d had asthma all his life---that got healed too.
--If he’d gotten a little burn on his finger that morning---that was totally healed also.
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. Verse 8 says this man got the whole nine yards---he was “walking and LEAPING.”
--When you are saved by God’s grace, you don’t get just a LITTLE saved---You get 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 bad, or how wretched it 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 whole new life!
God doesn’t do anything half-way. And when He saves a person, that person gets saved “the whole nine yards.”
--He gets saved from sin---but he also gets the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
--He gets saved from hell---but he also gets heaven.
--He’s free from the control of Satan in his life---but he also gets the Holy Spirit to indwell and change him!
4. Fourth, note that his healing was a miracle accomplished by the power of God and not by any works or self-effort on his own part.
His healing was not by his good works, or self-effort, or religious zeal, or any goodness on his 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 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 is 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!
IV. LASTLY, NOTE 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, in verse 8, we read “And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered WITH them into the temple...” When people believe in Jesus Christ, they have a different attitude about church. Before, they have no real desire to go to church. But when come to Christ, 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 were brought before the magistrates to answer for their preaching and healing in the name of Jesus. 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. And when a person becomes a believer, you know where he stands---He stands with the people of God!
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 he could walk!
And why does the saved sinner praise God?---Because, as that precious song, “Amazing Grace” says---“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!
Note 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. They 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 the Old Testament, God promised that after the Messiah (Jesus) came to the earth, he would change people’s hearts - Ezekiel 36:26-27 - “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?
Are you like this beggar?---A sinner by birth? Powerless to save yourself? Outside God and His blessings for your life? Poor and destitute, looking for peace and satisfaction 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 saved believer? Witness to our loved ones, our friends.... (EXPAND AS LED)
