There Is Power In The Name Of Jesus

Context

Good morning Church!!!

I want to say how good it is to be with you this morning as we get ready to get into the Word of God! I love this book, Amen!!! I hope you love it too!

We are going to be in the book of Acts 3:12-26.

Acts 3:12–26 CSB

12 When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer released to you. 15 You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you. 17 “And now, brothers and sisters, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your leaders also did. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had predicted through all the prophets—that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning. 22 Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you. 23 And everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be completely cut off from the people. 24 “In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also foretold these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring. 26 God raised up his servant and sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”

So, last week we saw something amazing happen. Peter and John were on their wat to the temple at the time of prayer. Something they did every single day. As they passed by the lame man sitting at the gate called Beautiful, he asked them for some money. Peter responded, “I don’t have any money, but what I do have, I give you”. He healed the man, and this man went into a fit. At least that is what everyone else thought.

He began running and leaping inside the temple, praising God for being able to walk. As this took place, people began to gather to see what was going on. As they did, they finally notice that this man was the man that used to sit by the gate and beg for money. They were all amazed at what had happened, and that gets us to where we are in the text today.

Content

Their Heritage

How many of you have checked into your family tree? Have any of you ever really checked into the history of your family?

I have heard some stories about my great grandfather Howard Clayborn and how good of a man he was. I have even heard just a few times when someone would mention a great, great grandparent here and there. Past that, I don’t know much.

I want you to imagine for just a moment what it would be like to have a family history that impacted the world so much, that there were still expectations on you that had passed down from your family tree that reached back three or four thousand years. This is what Peter is diving into.

He starts in vs. 12 by calling his listeners “Fellow Israelites”. He includes himself in that heritage as well. He again in vs. 17 calls them brothers and sisters. He is trying to set the stage for what they are about to hear by calling to remembrance where they came from. “Remember who you are”, he says.

In verse 13 he takes it a step further by pulling our some big names. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are considered to be the patriarchs of their faith. Vs. 25 tells us that the covenant concerning Israel was made with Abraham, and therefore Abraham is considered by most to be the father of our faith. It started with him. That covenant came partially into fruition with his grandson Jacob, who is mentioned in vs. 13. Jacob’s name was changed by God to “Israel” at one point in his life and then Jacob had 12 sons, thus creating the 12 tribes of Israel.

This is why in vs. 13 Peter says, “The God of our ancestors”.

This mattered so much in Bible times. God had made so many promises to Israel over the years, and it was important to know what God had said. They also still lived under the law at this time. The law came from the time of Moses, so Moses was right up there at the top with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The law governed every aspect of their lives, so it was very important for them to be familiar with the Word of God. It literally governed their lives.

Man what statement that is. The Word of God literally governed their lives. I know we live in different cultural times. I know we live in different technological times. I know we live in a completely different world from them, but my what a difference it would make if we would do as they did and let the Word of God govern our lives.

If we would allow the Word of God to penetrate our lives the way it did theirs, many of the problems we have today would be nonexistent.

Peter continues by bringing prophecy into the message. He begins to mention the words of Moses in vs. 22-23, and references something that Moses says concerning the Messiah that God would send “from among your brothers”. He wants them to know that their heritage, as well as Christ’s heritage plays a major role in what was going on. He uses their heritage to make it personal, and then he really digs in. He addresses their sin.

Their Sin

The prophecy of Moses in vs. 22-23 speaks of a prophet that would be raised from among the people of Israel. It then explains that this prophet that is raised up would have authority. It says that they must listen to everything he tells them. Those who do not would be separated from the people.

He then explains in vs. 24 that all of the prophets foretold of these days. He wanted them to know that this was a common theme throughout the Word. It wasn’t just something that popped up here and there, and was something that Peter and the other disciples were trying to twist around. No, there was ample amounts of prophetic scripture concerning this coming Messiah.

He bridges the gap from Prophesied Messiah to Jesus in vs. 13 when he says, “God has glorified his servant Jesus”. Peter is now saying that Jesus is that prophesied Messiah.

Glorified of God - vs. 13

Innocence - vs. 13

Falsely Judged - vs. 13

Handed Over - vs. 13

Denied - vs. 13

Servant of God - Vs. 13, 26

Holy One - vs. 14

Righteous One - vs. 14

Source of Life - vs. 15

Resurrected of God - vs. 15

Power in Jesus’ name - vs. 16

Messiah - vs. 18

Appointed - vs. 20

Prophet - vs. 22

Brother - vs. 22

Leader - vs. 22

Blessing - vs. 25

Then he reminds them of their sin concerning Jesus.

vs. 13 - you handed Him over to Pilate and denied Him

vs. 13 - You forced Pilate’s hand into crucifying Jesus after he found no fault in him.

vs. 14 - You denied His holiness and righteousness.

vs. 14 - You chose a murderer over the Messiah

vs. 15 - You killed the Messiah, who is the source of life.

This man named Jesus was indeed the Prophesied Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and killed Him. Instead of embracing what you had prayed for, you denied it and killed it. You did this simply because you refused to recognize it. He came differently than you thought He would. His ministry was different than you thought it would be. He came from a town you considered to be unworthy. The very answer to your prayers was sent by God, and you hung Him on a cross to die because He wasn’t what you expected Him to be.

Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus was the one anointed by God to save us. Not from the Romans, but from our sin. He came to die in our place that we might live, and God used your hardness and unbelief to accomplish that very thing. You killed our Savior.....

Their Opportunity

When I first read this, I thought to myself, “Man, Peter just can’t help it. Can he? He is using this as an opportunity to let these religious people have it.” I thought this message was coming from a place of bitterness and anger.

As i continued to study the text, I found myself forgetting how we got to the text in the first place. What lead up to this point? What made it possible for this message to be delivered?

It was a miracle! A man got healed, went running and screaming through the temple, and that drew a crowd. As the crowd gathered, they began staring at Peter and John as if they had done this. This is what sparked the whole notion to speak in the first place.

Listen to what I am saying. Peter healed a man who had been crippled since birth. He then looked out at a crowd who had also been plagued with a deficiency since birth, but they were yet to be healed. Their deficiency was sin. They had been sinners since birth and still were. Peter knew that the only way for them to be healed was to recognize the one who had the healing power. That was Jesus Christ.

Look at vs. 17. He tells them that he understands they simply acted out of ignorance. Peter says, “You just didn’t know”. I get it. God actually used your hard hearts to send Jesus to the cross, but that’s ok. That’s how it was planned to be from the very beginning. He had to die. Yes, you killed Him, but someone had too. In order for us to live, He had to die.

“Repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.”

Did you catch it? Peter said that Jesus was “appointed for them as the Messiah”. Jesus died for them too. God sent Jesus to the cross even for those who hung Him upon it. Jesus died for everyone. If those who drove the nails into His hands and feet can be forgiven, we can be forgiven. We can be forgiven. Jesus died for us all.

Look at one more verse. Look at vs. 25. Peter tells them that they are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with Abraham which stated, “All of the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.”

Commitment

Acts 4:4 CSB

4 But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

Peter told these men that they had an opportunity to be saved from their sins, but only by way of Jesus.

Acts 3:16 CSB

16 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.

There is Power in the name of Jesus. There is power in His name!!! Have you ever trusted in that power? Have you ever believed in that power? There is so much power in His name.

There is so much power in the name of Jesus, that it can forgive every single one of your sins. It can heal broken relationships. It can offer forgiveness for your grudges. His name will bring peace into the midst of your chaos. His name will bring restoration to that which is broken, boldness to the fearful, and confidence to the timid. Do you believe in the Power of His name?