The Birth of the Church: A Rebirth of Healing

Intro:

Acts 3:10 NKJV

10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

As we lead up to Pentecost Sunday, I want us to continue to study [The Birth of the Church]. The subject of my message is, [A Rebirth of Healing].

I was raised near Oklahoma City, in a suburb called Midwest City. Oklahoma City had a larger group of homeless people, who often begged. They are called panhandlers.

When I got in the youth group, we would go to the Jesus House where we would feed the homeless and hungry. Our pastor’s wife would go there everything Thanksgiving and Christmas and help.

Our church did many outreaches to help those who had needs. We didn’t give money, but we would feed, clothe, pray, and help in any way we could.

I had always had compassion on those who were in such difficult circumstances. It made me appreciate that I had a “roof up above me, a good place to sleep, food on my table, and shoes on my feet!”

It made me want to help and show the love of Christ. But we also would pray for them. We would pray for God to heal them and help them.

Throughout history, God has used the church to help meet the needs of those who struggle. In our text we read of the first time God used the New Testament church to walk in their newfound power to heal the sick.

As we studied last Sunday, Jesus promised His followers they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. True to His word, on the Day of Pentecost, Jesus baptized 120 people in the Holy Spirit.

They all spoke in tongues, which attracted a crowd of people. Peter stood and explained what took place and then declared the truth of Christ’s resurrection.

With the power they recieved from heaven, 3,000 of those in the crowd were saved, baptized in water, and filled with the Holy Spirit.

While Pentecost was a phenomenal event, Acts 3 is just as important. Today we will see how the power God birthed to the church was not intended to be a one-time event.

Jesus planned for His church to walk in power. Acts 3 shows us how this power manifested through supernatural healings.

As we prepare for Pentecost Sunday next week, I have felt a strong stirring in my spirit. I am thoroughly convinced that God wants to REBIRTH within us what He birthed in the New Testament Church.

Our culture and time is vastly different, but the need is the same. There are people who have needs ONLY Jesus can meet. Therefore, God wants to use US to walk in His supernatural power, so we can become a conduit for healing.

As we look at a rebirth of healing, I want to look at two types of healing: [Physical Healing] and [Spiritual Healing].

Let’s begin

1. Physical Healing

Acts 3:1–3 NKJV

1 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, 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 from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms.

Less than three months after the Day of Pentecost, Peter and John go to the temple to pray at 3:00 pm. Remember, it was just weeks before when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Now, we see how God’s power worked through them. When they got close to the temple, they heard a man call out to them. The man was unable to walk, and suffered with this condition his entire life.

His situation was so difficult, he became a beggar. In the Bible, begging was understood as an extreme condition. They were often looked down upon and ignored.

Beggars would often congregate around the temple, hoping someone would have enough compassion to give them something.

When he saw Peter and John, he called out to them asking for alms, which was money given out to the poor. Interestingly, if the man was lame from birth and Peter and John prayed regularly at the temple, this was not the first time they passed each other.

Peter and John might not have noticed the man, but he probably noticed them. What could have become an intrusion on the Apostles schedule became a divine appointment.

Acts 3:4–7 NKJV

4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: 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.

Peter called out, LOOK AT US. That was peculiar for the time, beggars did not make eye contact with people. Therefore, Peter calling to him showed he wanted personal contact with the man.

He looked up hoping to get some money. He knew it wouldn’t be much, just enough to get him by. But Peter had another plan. Remember, God birthed within him the same power Jesus had on earth.

Therefore, he was ready, equipped with power from God to meet this man’s need. He told them, I do not have silver or gold for you. Think of how the lame man felt.

“Great, I don’t need a pep talk or an encouraging word, I need money!”

But Peter spoke with delegated authority, not by my power or might, but in the NAME OF JESUS get up and walk. Immediately the man was healed.

The pain in his feet and ankles that plagued him from birth miraculously disappeared and he was healed! Notice what he did:

Acts 3:8–9 NKJV

8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God.

He stood for the first time, he leapt for the first time, and he walked for the first time. Then he started to praise God for how He used Peter and John to meet his physical need.

At the birth of the New Testament church, God used His people to preform physical healing! But what about...

2. Spiritual Healing

Acts 3:10–11 NKJV

10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.

Imagine the excitement that day at the temple. People went for the regular hour of prayer, then they heard an irregular noise. A lame man started shouting his praise to God. People were amazed and astounded.

I can see it in my mind. They probably thought, well that is good for the poor beggar. He has had a hard life. He has had many problems, and something good like that needed to happen to him.

What they did not realize though, they were as needy as the crippled beggar. Sure they could walk, talk, and work, but their condition was just as bad as his was, and Peter knew this.

Acts 3:12 NKJV

12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

Peter asked the people, why do you look at John and me? It is not as though we are the ones who healed the man. Then he took the opportunity to tell the crowd about Jesus.

He recounted the events that took place within the last four to five months. Remember, they were in Jerusalem, the same place where Jesus was tried and crucified.

It is not as though Jesus was out of sight, out of mind. Something so horrific as Jesus’ death and the controversy surrounding His resurrection was still fresh in people’s minds.

He explained:

God sent Jesus

You sent Him to Pilate

Pilate wanted to release Him

You asked for the release of the murderer

You denied the Holy One

You killed Prince of Life

But God raised Him from the dead

Acts 3:16 NKJV

16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

He clarified, faith in Jesus’ name is what healed this man. God used us, but it happened because of our faith in the name of Jesus who is the Son of God!

As Peter spoke, reality set in on the crowd. Sure they might have been physically well, but they were spiritually sick. The Holy Spirit convicted them of the sickness they had.

Their ailment was not lameness in the ankles or feet, it was the sin that so powerfully consumed them.

BUT, Peter, who walked in the power of God, knew the remedy:

Acts 3:19 NKJV

19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

If they would repent, turn from their sins, and God would wipe away their sins. Then, with sin out of the equation, God will send a time of refreshing.

Peter wanted them to experience spiritually what the lame man felt physically. The message worked, as a result of the crippled man’s physical healing, thousands experienced a spiritual healing:

Acts 4:4 NKJV

4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

God saved thousands of people who at first looked at the sick beggar with pity, only to discover they had a similar condition.

Close:

Notice the progression, God used Peter and John to preform a physical healing. And remember, it was not they who healed the man, but their faith in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit working through them that brought healing to this man.

As a result of the physical healing, God brought spiritual healing to thousands that day!

Let’s bring this ancient story to our day. I believe the same Jesus who used Peter and John to bring healing is the same Jesus who can use us to bring healing to our world!

I still believe Jesus HEALS! I do not claim to have all the answers on healing. I do not understand why I have prayed for some to be healed and instantly their God healed them and I have prayed for others who never got better.

I cannot answer why God heals some people on earth, and why He allows others to receive their healing once they get to heaven.

What I do know is Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not expect us to have all the answers. But He does want us to keep praying for God to heal!

And here is the connection I want us to see: when God preforms a PHYSICAL healing, it can draw people to realizing their need for Spiritual healing.

I want to share a few stories:

When God poured out the Holy Spirit in the early 1900s, people would flock to the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles, CA. The phenomena of speaking in tongues piqued their interest.

But while they were there, God would heal their bodies and convict them of their sins. Many people entered with physical problems, God healed physically and spiritually.

Pastor Tucker told me his father held tent revivals in the 1920s. His father was in a town and three teenage girls went to see what they Pentecostals would do.

They listened and mocked as they shouted, danced, and spoke in tongues. People would get healed and start walking, leaping, and praising God.

Pastor Tucker’s mother was one of the girls and she went for two nights, laughing at them. But she went one night too man, for on the third night, the power of God flowing at the altar convicted her and she went and gave her life to the Lord.

Pastor Tucker’s father-in-law had a similar experience. At twelve years old he was dying of Tuberculosis. The doctors couldn’t do anything, so his mother took him to a service.

They were Methodist and were unsure of the Pentecostals. But as soon as the evangelist laid hands on the twelve-year-old boy, he was instantly healed and at the same time his mother burst out speaking in tongues!

I could go on, even in my life, I have experienced the healing power of God. I remember when I was seventeen, I cracked my ankle and tore a ligament.

After the cast and boot were removed, I had an ankle brace and struggled with pain. But one night in service, the Holy Spirit fell on me and I felt like that man, walking, leaping, and praising God.

At a young age, I encountered God’s physical healing, and it made me want to stay close to God’s so that I might stay spiritually whole.

And I believe the Lord wants to REBIRTH His healing power at Vulcan Assembly of God!

We have seen healings before, just within the last few years:

God touched Lynn’s mouth as she struggled with numbness

He healed Clyde from a terrible brown recluse bite

He helped Mike Middleton back

Recently he touched Sharon’s eye

But there is SO MUCH MORE!

What would happen if God healed someone in our church and it was noised abroad, you should see what God’s doing in Vulcan.

For there is a sickness far worse than the virus called COVID-19. This sickness is called SIN and only Jesus has the cure.

So what would happen if God would rebirth within us a hunger for God’s power and demonstration of healing.

I will tell what could happen, people would see God’s physical healing and it would open a door for us to declare the Gospel of Jesus, and people can leave physically and spiritually healed!