Chapter Three — Part Two: The Book of Acts
By: Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 02/28/2021
Foundation Scriptures:
Acts 3:9-16
1. Wonder and Amazement.
a. Jesus has been made unto us both Savior and Healer.
b. This man, lame from birth, was instantly healed in the sight of the people, immediately drawing a large crowd into the temple porch.
c. Acts 3:9-11 KJV — And all the people saw him walking and praising God: 10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. 11 And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.
d. This power—to save, heal, and deliver—is given to us (believers), in That Name.
2. Peter’s Second Sermon.
a. Acts 3:12a KJV — And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this?...
b. Peter is not speaking to a heathen audience—he is speaking to his fellow Israelites, who knew the Scriptures and were aware of the recent events in Jerusalem.
c. He clearly identifies which God he is referring to: The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob—the God of their fathers (Vs. 13).
d. Peter preached boldly and accurately under the power of the Holy Spirit.
e. There must be conviction before a sinner can experience conversion.
f. He turned the temple into a courtroom, as it were, and laid out the undeniable evidence for all to see.
g. A great injustice was perpetrated, when the Jewish leaders arrested Jesus, condemned Him, and pressured Pilate to have Him crucified.
h. How could two ordinary men heal anyone, unless God was with them?
i. Here stood the man, healed and whole, and no one could deny it because they saw it with their own eyes!
j. If this man was indeed healed, and you acknowledge that he was healed, then you would also be acknowledging that Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God and that there is power in His Name!
3. Power to Heal.
a. Acts 3:12 KJV — …Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
b. These miracles are not performed by man’s power or godliness.
c. They are performed by the power of God upon the lives of those who have “tarried” until they are filled with power (Lk. 24:49; Acts 1:4-8).
d. In his Pentecost sermon, Peter had to clarify that they were not drunk on wine but filled with the Holy Spirit.
e. Here, in Acts 3, he had to clarify that the man was not healed by the power of man.
f. Acts 3:13a KJV — The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus…
g. This healing is proof that Jesus had been glorified.
h. Because the Bible tells us, in John 7:39, that Jesus, “was speaking here of the Spirit, Whom those who believed (trusted, had faith) in Him were afterward to receive. For the [Holy] Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).” (AMPC)
4. Holy and Just One.
a. Acts 3:13b-15 KJV — …whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. 14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; 15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
b. This is a bold speech from one who had once denied Christ himself (Mt. 26:69-75).
c. The Jews had denied and betrayed their own Messiah.
d. Even worse, they allowed a murderer, Barabbas, to go free so an innocent Man could be crucified!
e. But this was no ordinary Man that they gave up to the Romans to crucify.
f. Jesus is the Holy One, acknowledged by the apostles—and even by demons, because they knew exactly who He was! (Mk. 1:24; Lk. 4:34; Acts 2:27; 3:14; 4:27, 30)
g. He is called the Holy One in prophetic scripture (Ps. 16:10; Isa. 29:23; 49:7).
h. The Holy One: holy, or most holy; pure; morally blameless; clean; upright; sinless; consecrated; set apart; worthy of veneration.
i. The Just One: just; innocent; righteous; faultless; guiltless; approved of, or accepted by, God (Acts 7:52; 22:14).
5. The Prince of Life.
a. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Life.
b. Life (zoe): the God-kind of Life.
c. The Prince (Pioneer) of Life: chief leader; author; captain; prince; one that takes the lead in anything and thus affords an example; a predecessor in a matter; pioneer.
d. Prince (Author) of Peace (Isa. 9:6).
e. Prince (Leader) of Princes (Dan. 8:25).
f. Messiah the (Anointed) Prince (Dan. 9:25).
g. Prince (Author) of Life (Acts 3:15).
h. A Prince and a Savior (Acts 5:31).
i. Prince (Leader or Ruler) of the Kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5).
j. Captain (Prince, Author) of Salvation (Heb. 2:10).
k. The Author (Prince) and Finisher of our Faith (Heb. 12:2).
6. That Name.
a. Acts 3:16 AMPC — And His name, through and by faith in His name, has made this man whom you see and recognize well and strong. [Yes] the faith which is through and by Him [Jesus] has given the man this perfect soundness [of body] before all of you.
b. The man was made strong: strengthened; made firm; made solid.
c. He was not just healed, but he was made perfectly whole—sound and entire.
d. Philippians 2:9-11 KJV — Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
e. JESUS is the Name above every other name.
f. EVERYONE and EVERYTHING bows to His great Name.
g. Angels, demons, people—every created being in Heaven, earth, or hell—must bow their knee.
h. All things—sickness, disease, death, poverty, lack, etc.—bow their knee to the mighty Name of Jesus!