Viola Solid Rock Assembly
Jesus is Still Doing Miracles
and we're gonna be starting in chapter three tonight. You know, we're past the day of Pentecost and we're into the early days of the life of the church and Christianity is the new normal, right? And they're a new way of life and they don't have, we don't have exact dates as we move forward. There's not an exact date or timeline for what happens here, but we see the first, the beginning of chapter three and we know that Peter is leading the church and thousands of people have believed in Jesus and they're beginning to gather and gather regularly and worship God, pray regularly, share meals, give generously toward each other. And now we're gonna see one of the very first miracles of the early church. You know, the whole day of Pentecost was miraculous, right? And the fire was involved and the greatest miracle was thousands of people were saved and believed in Jesus and I believe that God is still doing miracles today, right? He does things for us and he does unique things in our lives and there's a theological position among some Christians that healings and miracles don't happen anymore though, that those gifts have ceased to exist specifically because we have modern medicine and science and can perform a lot of the same physical breakthroughs that miracles provided for and there are commentaries even on this passage that we're gonna read from tonight that suggests that the miracle of healing is no longer operating in the church because medical doctors, God doesn't do that anymore. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God is still a healer. God still does miracles. He still does miracles and the texts we're looking at today shows the first time God used one of the Christians of the New Testament to be part of a miraculous healing. The God of, you know, he's the same yesterday today and forever and he is still doing miraculous things. And so in Acts chapter three, we're gonna begin in verse one and we're just gonna kind of walk through this tonight. In verse one of chapter three, Peter and John went to the temple one afternoon to take part in the three o'clock prayer service. As they approached the temple, a man lame from birth had been carried in. Each day he was put beside the temple gate, the one called beautiful, and so he could beg for the people going into the temple. And when he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. So Peter and John were going to the temple at the hour of prayer. It's important that it was, you know, the ninth hour. And it's important to see the pattern. They're accustomed for the disciples is the regular prayer life, right? They prayed together regularly. The disciples were devoted to prayer. That's what we learned last week. And they modeled that after the Lord Jesus who prayed regularly too, but they were devoted to prayer. And actually there was a rhythm in the book, there is a rhythm in the book of Acts that miracles almost always come after a time of serious prayer. And they were going to the temple to pray and they actually had dedicated, this was a dedicated time to prayer, the hour of prayer. Three o'clock in the afternoon, the hour of prayer. This is a special time for prayer. Guess what? We actually have a special time for prayer. We have an hour of prayer here at the church. Every Thursday or Tuesday at 6 p.m. and every Thursday at 5 a.m. we are here praying for an hour. I would love for you to join us for prayer. Put it on your calendar, set a reminder on your phone. Come and be part of that. I'm excited to see what God will do for us through this prayer time. And we've already begin to see things answered that is prayed for in that prayer time. First, the student through, he says, "And a man lame from birth was being carried "whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple." It's called beautiful. And ask alms of those entering the temple. And Peter and John about to go at that, he saw them about to go into the temple and he asked to receive alms, money. What's interesting is here's a man that was lame or paralyzed his whole life, right? His whole life. Somebody was carrying him and cared enough about him to carry him to the front of the temple so that he could beg or ask for financial help. This was a common occurrence to beg at the front of the temple, hoping that people were generous either before or after having a time of worship. It makes sense that people who have an encounter with God should be incredibly generous, right? One chapter ago, God miraculously poured out his Holy Spirit on 120 disciples in the upper room. And I'm curious, why did God do something so special there? But somehow he didn't pour out his spirit here at the temple gates. Somehow he didn't pour out his spirit there, even though the spirit moved in the upper room among the disciples and thousands came to know him that day and got saved, it didn't change everyone, right? Not everyone was changed. This paralyzed man wasn't in that room. In other words, why did God do something over here just days ago, but he hadn't done something over here as well. God chooses to use us. He empowered his people, Peter and John, so that they could be a part of a meeting that needs, meeting the needs that people have. God didn't just zap the whole world with his power. He gave his power to the church so that we can participate in preaching and seeing and laying hands on people to be healed. God wants to use us as part of his amazing plan. That's why we pray. That's why we are filled with his spirit. That's why we are his witnesses, right? Ephesus 3, 10 says Paul said, "Through the church, the manifold wisdom of God would be made known." In John 14, 12, Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." In James 1, 27, James said, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in the affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world." Why didn't God also do something over there with that man? Because God knew that Peter and John would encounter him. Why isn't God miraculously meeting every need in your office or your neighborhood or your family? Because he knows that you're there and he wants you to be a part of it. Our world needs people, our world has needs. I mean, people need miracles. We need miracles. And until Jesus returns, we will always have needs. And I'm truly convinced that God wants to use us full of his spirit, full of his word, full of his wisdom and full of his power to help people. It's interesting to me that this paralyzed man was asking for money and not for his healing. Obviously he couldn't work because of his paralysis, but his request outside the temple was to get money not to be healed. I think he didn't know what he actually needed. He didn't know what he actually needed. It was, it's so normal. People want acceptance, fame, provision, but what our world really needs is healing and salvation. We think we want one thing and that's what we want, but what we need is something different. (indistinct chatter) We must give people what they need, not just what they want. Peter and John looked at him intently and Peter said, "Look at us." The lame man looked at them eagerly expecting some money, but Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold for you, "but I'll give you what I have." In the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, get up and walk. Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up and as he did, the man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened and he jumped up and stood on his feet and began to walk. Then walking, leaping and praising God, he went into the temple with them. Two miracles took place here. First, God healed him. He had never walked before, God healed him, his legs and his ankles that he healed him. The second thing is he had never walked before and he began to walk and leap and jump. That's a miracle. I wonder if he did the orangutan walk. You know, when little kids are learning to walk, they put their hands straight up in the air and walk. I wonder if he did that at first. I mean, this dude had never walked before and all of a sudden he's walking and leaping and jumping and running. That's miraculous. Peter looked at him as did John and said, "Look at us." As he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. If God is on the inside of you, then God is who we should be speaking for. As you gather the attention of people, make sure you're pushing their attention onto God. John the Baptist had this attitude. "He must increase so we can decrease." Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold for you, "but I'll give you what I have." Get up in the name of Jesus, get up and walk. Peter didn't call Jesus down from heaven to do this. He walked in the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter didn't call the other disciples. He walked in the empowered authority from God to heal this guy. Peter didn't call a prayer meeting either. He looked this guy right in the eye and told him that he can be healed. And Peter spoke boldly in the name of Jesus. He wanted this man and others around him to hear that the power we have is in the name and the authority of Jesus. This guy was not looking for healing, but for money. I'm guessing physical paralysis was his issue, but money was his desire. It's interesting how people can want God to do certain things even though they actually need something else from him. What he needed was healing and ultimately salvation, but what he wanted was money. Our world is so full of people wanting fame and money, acceptance and to be heard. They want validation and popularity and followers and promotions and more, but our world desperately needs salvation in Jesus. Will we be people who give people Jesus? Can we share the hope of the gospel? Can we give the truth that Jesus saves to the utmost? Can we help people know that God does heal and then show them that it was God that healed them? We can't give what we don't have. Peter didn't have silver or gold. He couldn't give that, but what he had was Jesus. We can't give fame or fortunes, but we can give acceptance or repair relationships, but God can and we can give people Jesus. He can heal, he can promote, he can provide. We give them Jesus, he does the miracles. The miracle didn't happen inside the temple. They didn't see this guy sitting outside and say, "If you'll come in the church, you can be healed." It happened right outside. It happened outside the temple. It was there. The reason God did this miracle outside was because God's spirit is in the inside of his people, not just inside of our church buildings. You have the spirit of God in you. So you are the one that God wants to use at your job, in your neighborhood, on your family vacation. God wants to use you. You don't have to get people to church for God to do something in their life. People have a need. Well, if you come to church, we'll pray for you. Why don't you pray for them right now, right where they are? (audience chattering) Change people, change people. Versailles says all the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. And when they realized it was the lame beggar, they had seen so often at the beautiful gate, they were absolutely astounded. They were astounded. Peter took this guy by the hand, helped him up, and as he did, the man's feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened, and he jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk, then walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the temple with them. He didn't stay outside, he went in with them. His response was to go from outside the temple to inside the temple. He literally walked into the place where people were going to meet God. When Peter looked at him and told him to get up, Peter didn't ask him if he knew Jesus. He didn't ask him if he had accepted Jesus, or even believed in Jesus. Peter didn't lead him in the sinner's prayer before serving him and healing him. Peter simply blessed this guy and God healed him. Get up. The guy's response was to turn his attention on Jesus. He walked into the temple and was walking and leaping and praising the God who healed him. It's obviously, it's obvious that miracles should point us to Jesus, but what God does in us should point other people to Jesus too. All the people saw him, and they were filled with wonder and amazement. We should be full of the Holy Spirit, in so convinced of God's truth and God's power that our normal lives can be miraculous lives. Miracles shouldn't be abnormalities in the lives of Christians, because we serve an all-powerful God who still does miracles today. And that would transform how others see the Lord. What if we actually believed that God is still a big God? What if we actually believed that God could actually do what he said he would do? And we started praying like we believe that God can still heal people. Are we gonna let our unbelief get in the way? The whole story happened as Peter and John were going to prayer meeting. They were regulars at the prayer meeting. What if we were so committed to praying and trusting God to do the impossible that we would pray over people and actually expect God to heal people, to transform marriages and to do the impossible? I wanna challenge you to pray like you believe God is going to show up. Don't pray weak, uninformed prayers. Pray bold in the name of Jesus, because the Bible says kind of prayers. Believe God to do what he promises in his word. And trust that God will use you for his kingdom and his will be done. I wanna challenge you to be public about the power of God. Our world needs transformation through Jesus and you can help. We can't force God to do anything, right? But we can lean in on him in prayer. We can grow in our knowledge of the word and in his promises and we can understand the authority he gives us to walk in his power and to live out our lives full of this spirit because our world needs Jesus. Our neighbors and our family members need salvation and healing in every way. Our leaders need Jesus. Our politicians need Jesus. Our parents and our teachers need Jesus. We all need the power of God. We need healing and we need Jesus, right? We need him. What if we began to believe that he could do it? What if we began to believe that regardless of what it is that we got going on in our lives, that God can fix it and all we have to do is ask? The scripture says we have not because we ask not. What if you not ask God to do in your life that you're still dealing with? What is it that you're walking around with every day that you just haven't asked God to take care of? What is it that you've had unbelief that he would take care of? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? What is it that you have to take care of every day that you've had? I thank you for your word, I thank you for healing, I thank you for showing up and using us. I thank you for speaking to us, God. In Lord tonight, I just pray that you just begin to move in this house. Lord, that you give us a boldness to ask and pray, big prayer, Scott. That you give us not only a boldness to ask those but a boldness to trust you throughout the whole process, even when it doesn't make sense, even when it hurts. Help us to trust you, God. Maybe you're in here and there's something that you're carrying around and you've been carrying around and for whatever reason, you just haven't asked God to take care of it. And tonight you say, I need God to move in this situation in my life. I need God to touch this, I need God to heal this, I need God to deliver me from this. I need God to show up in this situation. I need a miracle. And I'm going to ask Him, I'm going to believe that He's going to do it. I want to invite you to come. I want to pray with you. I want to believe with you that God is going to meet that need, whatever it is, whether it's physical healing, whether it's emotional, something emotional, whether it's spiritual, whether it's financial, whatever the need is, let's pray and believe that God is going to do it. Amen. If you feel like a good one, pray around this all day. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]