Message

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In the name of Jesus, walk

Acts 3:1-16 by Moses Kang

Key Verse: “Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”” (Acts 3:6)

A woman died and stood in front of the gate of heaven. Apostle Peter, who was standing at the door, asked her. You cannot pass the door unless you spell the word "Love." So, the woman spelled correctly, ‘L, O, V, E.’ Peter smiled at the woman and said, “Welcome to Heaven.” And Peter said to the woman, “Pardon me, I need to leave here for a moment, please keep the door." The woman asked, "What do I have to say if someone arrives here?" Peter said, "You can just ask a question to them as I did.” Times later, she saw her husband coming. Surprised, she spoke to her husband. "How come you came here so quickly, where are all our children?" Husband replied, after your funeral, I left our children to your mother and went to the beach to relax, but I got a heart attack, so I came here." Can I pass the door, honey? She got upset with her husband, and said, “No, not yet.” You have to say the correct spell of the word I tell you. What is the word, he asked? The woman answered after thinking for a moment. Czechoslovakia!!

Don’t make your wife upset. I mentioned this story to make you relax, but somewhat related to the message.

1. One Day

Look at the verse 1. "One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon." Jewish people prayed three times a day, 9 am, 12 noon, and 3 pm.” A few days or months ago, Peter and John experienced a remarkable event of the Holy Spirit and repentance of the multitudes. Peter and John were not anymore yesterday’s Peter and John, who were hiding in fear of the Jew. They must have been super busy in ministering the church congregation which was over three thousand in number. But they devoted themselves to the regular prayer. Their prayer life is related to today’s event of miracles deeply.

Indeed, we don't experience miracles all the time when we pray. However, without prayer, we cannot experience or perform miracles. When we pray, God gives us spiritual eyesight, so we can recognize God’s miracles. Usually, people don’t recognize God’s miracle in their daily lives and live their lives taking it for granted. But our daily lives are filled with miracles.

In the world, rare things are very expensive. For example, diamond and gold jewelry are very expensive, and people are craving to have those. But we don’t have much problem living without diamonds. However, water is extremely essential to us, so water should be very expensive. but water is very cheap compared to diamonds because it is plentiful on earth. Do you know the fact that water is extremely rare in the Universe except the Earth? Think about the air. We cannot live even five minutes without air. However, God made air plentiful on earth and even it is free. Things that are more precious or essential to us, God gives us freely. This is the same in the spiritual realms. God grants us the forgiveness of sins and salvation free because we can't pay for it. This is the way God manages the world, and this is a wonder and miracle to me whenever I meditate on it. If someone is in the terminal stage of cancer and the doctor says that there is no hope, but if that person is healed, how do we label this event? People will say this is a miracle. We have trillion cells in our body, and any cell can be turned into a cancer cell by carcinogens. However, many of us didn’t have cancer yet. Isn’t this a miracle?

Our lives are filled with God's miracles and we call it God's grace. I am already excited even before talking about today’s miracle. So, let’s be a praying people. And enjoy all the miracles God set before us daily.

Let’s read verse 2. “Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.”

A man crippled from birth was being carried. And he was put every day to beg. Let's put ourselves in his place to understand the event. This man was crippled from birth. He never experienced walking in his life. We remember that Jesus healed the 38 years invalid man in John chapter 5. At least he was not invalid from birth. But this man is crippled by birth. It was not his fault that he became lame. But he was labeled as a sinner or unclean in the society. People thought that this man was cursed by God, and so did he without doing anything wrong.

Even gentiles could go into the temple because there is a section called as a gentile court. But he couldn’t go into the temple. I guess that His parents didn’t give him a name, so he was introduced just as a man. His parents must have been poor, so he has to beg to eat. The Bible says that he was carried. I think those who carried him are not giving him a favor, rather they shared the income from his begging for their carrying service. So, they put him every day for the business. He has no hope, no future, and no self-esteem, but misery of life. He was not only lame in his feet, but had gradually become very lame in his mind.

2. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth

Look at verse 3. “When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.” When we read this verse carefully, it says, “Peter and John about to enter.” What does that mean? Didn’t they see the beggar? I guess they saw him. But Peter and John didn't approach him, but the beggar approached Peter and John. That means that they tried to avoid him in the beginning. Why? Because they had no money to give him. But this man caught Peter and John just before the entrance and asked for money. Alms for the lame!!

Here, we can think about one thing. What if Peter and John had some money in their pocket? Probably, they would give money to him and enter the temple. But because they didn’t have money, today's miracle happened. The fact that Peter and John didn't have gold or silver turned into a greater blessing to the beggar. There is a saying "Better is the enemy of the best." Sometimes lacking could be a greater blessing than plenty. To seek the things that have eternal value, things that have no eternal value should disappear in our minds even though they are good.

Now Peter and John had to deal with the situation. They didn’t say to him, “Oh, I am sorry. I will bring money tomorrow.” Instead, Peter looked straight at him, as did John. I am sure that, at the moment, they were listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Then Holy Spirit filled Peter’s heart with faith, wisdom, and courage. When he was ready, Peter told him, "Look at us." Look at verse 4. “so the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.” He might expect something big, not just singles, but maybe one grand or at least $100.

Then, Peter shouted. Let’s read verse 6. “Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

Peter proclaimed that he had the Name of Jesus Christ. The night before Jesus’s crucifixion, Jesus gave his name to the disciples. “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13,14) It sounds like “I will give you a credit card, whatever amount you use, I will pay it, there is no credit limit, but one condition, if it is for God’s glory.” Do you use this spiritual credit card signed by Jesus? What authority does the name Jesus bear?

Prophet Isaiah introduced the name of Jesus, who is the Messiah in this way. “He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isa 9:6b)

“Through him, all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. (Jn 1:3)” Creator God is omnipotent. The name Jesus bears the same power and authority. The power that will raise the dead, the power to make new heaves and new earth is in that name. The name Jesus has the power to save us. The power in his name washes all our sins and makes us as white as snow. When we get to heaven, we don't need to know the words "Love" or "Czechoslovakia.” But we have to bear the "Name of Jesus."

Peter had the Name of Jesus. Then do we have this name? Yes!! Jesus gave this name to us too. Can we raise the lame in Jesus’ name right now? What do you think? We don’t need to be frustrated even though we cannot.

Let’s look at this miracle carefully. Then we can find something new.

First, Peter did not try to raise this lame from the beginning. If the beggar hadn't approached him, this miracle wouldn't happen. Also, Peter must have seen him many times already when he goes to the temple to pray. Because going to the temple was his routine and this beggar worked every day. But he didn’t raise him in the past. After Peter raised the lame, I could imagine that people brought more crippled or blind and put them in front of the temple gate to meet Peter. However, we don’t see any record that Peter healed another crippled when he goes to the temple the next day or the days after. Why?

The purpose of this miracle is not to raise all the crippled in Jerusalem. The purpose of this miracle is for us to know and experience the power of the Name of Jesus. We are not lame physically like today’s beggar. However, many of us live under spiritual lameness. Many times, we experience spiritual powerlessness. Jesus wants us to walk out from this situation by the power of his name.

3. Walk

There are two reasons for the spiritual lameness. The first reason is that we don't know who we are. We don't know the power of the name of Jesus that we have. The second reason is that we don’t use the power we have. We don’t use the spiritual credit card Jesus gave us and feel lacking.

Let’s watch the short video clip (7 sec). What do you notice from this video? The Tiger cub was chased by the goose. This video is funny because the tiger cub doesn't know who he is. That is why he ran away from the goose when he was attacked by the goose. In some sense, we act like this tiger cub. We don’t know what kind of power Jesus gave us. Or We don’t use it due to our lack of faith and courage.

Let’s remember that spiritually, we are tiger cubs, not a cat. We have the power and authority as a child of God. Let’s remember that the name of Jesus makes the devil tremble. Jesus gave us authority and power even to cast out the demons. Even someone who doesn't follow Jesus was able to cast out demons in the name of Jesus. What is more marvelous thing is that even ungodly men mentioned the name of Jesus, the devils had to depart because the power does not lie in the person using the name, but in the name itself.

What is the common spiritual lameness we experience? One of them is the "feeling of hurt." We live in the community, working place, in church, in the family. So, we cannot avoid interacting with others, in our speaking, in attitude, and through our gestures. People interpret the content of saying, the way a person talks, and their intention in their way depends on their mood and spiritual capacity.

During the interaction, people get hurt or hurt others. The results of hurts would be experiencing a distance in relation, judging others, or being judged. In the worst case, it grows into hatred. People become unhappy, angry, or depressed as a result of feeling hurt. These are neither what Jesus wants, nor what we want. These are what the devil wants.

Many times, we cannot control our negative emotions and misunderstandings. But Jesus can do it. Our emotions are controlled by our thoughts. The Bible tells us three different thoughts. First, thought that comes from the devil. Second, thoughts that come from myself (knowledge and experience). Third, thought that comes from the Holy Spirit. If the results of the thought are a distance in the relationship, judging, hatred, or depression, that thought is not from the Holy Spirit. Then, we have to reject that thought. And try to accept what the Holy Spirit tells me by remembering Jesus' mercy and grace in prayer. Then the Power of Jesus keeps our hearts from all the work of the devil. The power of Jesus can change us into a new person day by day when we surrender our emotions to him in prayer. The more we meditate on the grace of Jesus, the smaller and smaller the problems become in our hearts. This is one way that we can use the credit card Jesus gave us. If our hurts are greater than the grace of Jesus, we need to go back to the basics again, seriously.

I, sometimes fall into arguments with my wife Grace. According to MBTI, I am logical and my wife is a feeler. So, when we fall into dispute, my logic overpowers my wife’s argument. Then, at the end of the conversation, my wife says, “OK, you are right, you won.” I know that she was not happy. And she added one more sentence, “People really don’t change.” In Korean, “사람 참 안변한다." I was not happy either. This is the one piece of evidence that I am still controlled by my thoughts, not by the Spirit. So, I want to hear what Jesus says to me. “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, walk.” We all need to walk from our spiritual lameness by the power of the name of Jesus. Amen.

There is an extraordinary missionary to India named E. Stanley Jones (1884 – 1973). He devoted his life to the mission in India. However, at the age of 88, in 1971, he got a stroke. He didn't have much hope for his recovery in his old age. He was transported to the hospital in Boston. In the hospital, he asked one favor to his doctor. "Whenever you see me, please shout at me, "Stanley Jones, I command you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” In the beginning, Dr. refused to do it, saying I am neither Peter nor John nor an evangelist, how can I say that.” But he forced the doctor to shout. So, the doctor did it. And then, he replied with Amen!! in his hospital bed. He also asked the nurses. Whenever you see me in the morning, instead of saying “good morning”, say to me, "In the name of Jesus Christ, walk." The nurse also couldn't refuse the patient’s wish, so they did in the morning when they entered his room. And he answered Amen!

He wanted to hear Jesus’ command every day until the voice of Jesus came to his mind. After six months, he recovered and walked away from the hospital at the age of 88. And he returned to India to do his mission till he died two years later.

I want to share one personal experience. I visited Austin, TX last month to help Gloria and David who is my son-in-law. They had a baby girl last year in September. The baby had a reflux problem in an early stage, so they used to hold the baby all day long, including the night time. David held the baby from 8 pm to 2-3 am, sleeping on the couch. Gloria held the baby from that time to the morning, mostly standing. After four months of caring baby, they reached their limit. Gloria said that she felt like she was almost dying. They decided to hire a baby sleep trainer. Training is most likely leaving the baby in the crib alone during the whole night. The first night, the baby cried the whole night. Of course, both of the parents couldn't sleep at all. The situation was hopeless. So, I decided to pray. The second day, I prayed for the baby by putting my hand on her. I prayed for the baby crib so that the peace of the Holy Spirit surrounded the baby crib throughout the night. I prayed for the room that any uncomfortable spirit leaves the room in the name of Jesus. Then a miracle happened. On the second day, the baby woke up only one time in the middle of the night and didn't cry. On the third day, the baby did not wake up at all. Baby slept 11 hours straight alone in the crib. Wow! Someone might say it happened that way by chance. But to me, it is the miracle of God who listens to our prayer. I know that many women coworkers prayed for Gloria and the baby every Friday. Praise the Lord who grants us miracles in the name of Jesus.

What happened to the lame? Let's read verses 7 and 8. “Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.”

Here, I want to pay attention to two things. One is Peter's action and the other is changed life of the lame. First, Peter took an action after the command. A miracle happened after Peter's action of pulling him up. We can easily say, "I will pray for you." Or "May God comfort you." However, without action comes by faith, our saying will not have the power to bring change.

When Peter grabbed his hand, the power of the Spirit went into his body, especially to his feet and ankles. Instantly, he jumped to his feet and began to walk.

What was the first thing he did after the miracle? He entered the temple for the first time in his life. He walked, jumped, and praised God. He worshiped God with full of joy and thanksgiving. This joy was the joy of those who were transformed by the power of Jesus. His joy comes not only from his body’s external change but also from the restored relation with God. He felt that he was accepted by God. No one can say that his life is cursed anymore. We read many records in the gospel that Jesus heals many disabled people, including the invalid, paralyzed, and born blind. However, no one worshiped God the way this man did.

The temple symbolizes the place where God dwells. We couldn't go into God's dwelling place due to our sins. It was not possible for us to reach heaven. However, by the power of Jesus, we became a child of God and heirs of Heaven. We have a living hope. We are not wondering because we know our destination. This is the greatest miracle happened in our lives. This one reason is enough for us to worship God with joy and thanksgiving. The very one thing we need is the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. With the power of his name, we can overcome all the sufferings of this world. With the power of his name, we can claim victory in all situations.

Let's put our faith in the name of Jesus, our Lord, Savior, and the Son of God. Amen

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Attachment

• Acts ch3 In the name of Jesus.edited.docx

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