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Acts

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There Is Power In The Name Of Jesus

Acts 3:6-10

The lame beggar at the temple never expected to be healed or even asked to be healed (Acts 3:1-5).  He would have heard about the Jesus who had healed people; but now that time had gone.  The crippled man continued to ask for money.  So, Peter's intervention was a total surprise to him.  The apostle simply told him to walk, 'in the Name of Jesus', because Jesus had authorised him to do so (John 14:13).  Peter did not want the man to try to do the impossible, but to trust in the power of Jesus Christ.  If Jesus commanded him to walk, then he should obey.

Telling What God Has Done

Acts 3:11-16

The professional, unable-to-walk-from-birth, beggar was healed.  He had walked and jumped around because he had been commanded to do so in the Name of Jesus (Acts 3:7-8).  As a large crowd gathered in the temple courtyard, wanting to know why the once-lame man was walking, he made sure he was close to Peter and John. They could explain.  And indeed, that is just what God wanted to happen.

Repent And Be Forgiven

Acts 3:17-20

Following the healing of the crippled beggar (Acts 3:1-10), the crowd wanted to know who did it.  Peter and John were clear: it was not them but Jesus (Acts 3:12-13).  It was a shock to the religious people, who had only recently demanded Christ's death, when they were told that they had killed the Author of life (Acts 3:15) but He was alive again and has great power.

Unseen But Speaking

Acts 3:21-26

Jesus is not physically on earth now, but He is still speaking – through His Word and by His Spirit (John 14:26).  He ascended into heaven and will remain there until He comes again in His glorified body, and in great glory, to gather His people (Matthew 24:30-31) and make everything right and new (Revelation 21:3-4).

Reactions to the Gospel

Acts 4:1-4

Peter and John had commanded a lame beggar to walk, in the Name of Jesus (Acts 3:6-10).  Then they explained the good news about Jesus, and how He still had power to change lives (Acts 3:12-26).  However, not everybody happily praised God for what had happened.  The religious leaders with the same temple guards who had arrested Jesus, now seized the apostles and put them in prison overnight.

Spiritual Authority

Acts 4:5-7

After the lame man had been healed (Acts 3:6-10), many other people also trusted in Jesus (Acts 4:4).  They believed that He was alive and had powerful authority; they repented of their sins, welcomed His Holy Spirit and became part of God's family in a new way (Acts 2:38-47).  But that gave a problem to the official spiritual leaders in Jerusalem.  Only a few weeks previously they had agreed that Jesus must die because He threatened their powerbase (Mark 15:10).

Rejected but Supremely Powerful

Acts 4:8-11

Peter was being interrogated about the healing of a lame beggar (Acts 4:5-7).  The top religious leaders feared that a renewed interest in Jesus, whom they had crucified, threatened their position of power (John 11:48).  So, they ordered Peter to admit who gave him, and John, the authority to heal.  Although the clerics postured that they were in control, God was giving the apostles yet another opportunity to explain that Jesus is Lord.  Peter then explained that the once-crucified Jesus was alive again and still had power to change people's lives.

Unique and Mandatory Salvation

Acts 4:12

This sentence comes at the end of Peter's defence before the same religious court which previously sentenced Jesus to death.  Even though Peter and John had spent the previous night in the jail (Acts 4:3), the apostle spoke boldly without any fear for his own life.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit and able to speak freely about Jesus, whatever the consequences (Acts 4:8).

Confidence with Jesus

Acts 4:13-15

There is something irresistibly appealing about people who are quietly confident, despite overwhelming opposition.  When Peter and John were being interrogated about how a lame beggar was healed, they simply explained that the man had trusted in the Name of Jesus.  He had obeyed when he was commanded to walk, even though he had never walked before.  Jesus had healed him (Acts 3:1-10).

Loyal to the Truth

Acts 4:16-20

The religious court had a problem.  They could not deny the evidence that Peter and John had commanded a lame beggar to walk, in the Name of Jesus, and he was healed (Acts 3:6-10).  Neither could they say that such healing was anything other than a good thing.  But they still hated Jesus.  They feared that even though they had crucified Jesus, His followers would be more troublesome than their Master, claiming that He is alive.  If Jesus was more powerful than them, then what would happen to their powerbase (John 11:48)?

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