Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
March 2025
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame 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. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:1-10 NIV)
Today, we want to talk about miracles. Have you ever experienced a miracle? The topic of miracles has become controversial in the church today. Does God still do miracles today? We will talk about some of the controversy.
A Book of Miracles
The Book of Acts is a book of miracles. There are some great miracles in this book. Miracles are all through the Book of Acts. The sick are supernaturally healed. Demons are cast out. Some people suddenly drop dead.
Others are raised from the dead. Some are bitten by poisonous snakes, and it has no effect on them. That is like drinking poison and not being hurt. People are supernaturally transported from one location to another.
The First Healing
We are going to look at a miracle in Acts 3. It was a healing miracle. A crippled is healed. A paralyzed man is healed. We know from Acts 4 that this man was forty.
This was a miracle after forty. Miracles can still take place after the age of forty. This man was supernaturally healed in Jesus’ name. There was no medicine involved. There were no doctors involved.
It was instantaneous. It was complete. It was undeniable. It was verifiable. It was a public miracle. Many have called this the first miracle in the book.
That’s not true. There is a big miracle that takes place in Acts 2. People supernaturally spoke in all kinds of languages they have never studied before, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Some have called this Peter’s first miracle. That is not true. Peter spoke in tongues in the previous chapter. Peter also performed miracles the ministry of Jesus.
This was the first healing miracle in the church. It is done by the apostles. It takes place at the Temple. It takes place in church or right outside the doors of church.
It is the healing of a crippled man. It is not the only one in Acts. It is not the only crippled man healed through Peter. Peter heals two of them. Paul heals one.
Peter’s two healings took place in Israel. Paul’s healing of the crippled man took place in Lystra (modern-day Turkey). There are actually three times this happens in Acts.
Only one is named. Two of the three happened to be crippled from birth. Let’s read the two other times this takes place.
Healing of Aeneas
As Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the Lord’s people who lived in Lydda. 33 There he found a man named Aeneas, who was paralyzed and had been bedridden for eight years. 34 “Aeneas,” Peter said to him, “Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and roll up your mat.” Immediately Aeneas got up. 35 All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. (Acts 9:32-35 NIV)
Healing at Lystra
8 In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. (Acts 14:18-15)
In Acts 9, the healing lead to conversions. In Acts 14 in a Gentile territory, it led to idolatry. They thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods and were ready to offer sacrifice to them.
An Amazing Story
Today, we want to look at an amazing story. It is a story of healing. It is a story of salvation. It is a story of deliverance. It is the story about a completely changed life.
The men who did the healing were not ordained. They were not educated. They had been to college. They had been to seminary.
They weren’t medical doctors. They were not in the healing business. Peter and John were both fishermen by occupation but they had the Holy Spirit living inside them, like we do.
Unplanned Ministry
The interesting thing about this healing is that it was not planned. Peter and John were not even planning on healing anyone. They were not out looking for ministry.
They were on their way to a prayer meeting. That is what Jews living in Jerusalem did at that time. They went to the Temple at the hour or prayer.
This is very important. Many Christians today think that we do not need to go to church. We can just worship at home. We can watch services online. I have talked to some of these people. That is completely wrong.
It is unbiblical. The early church did not do that. The apostles did not do that. Even after the first church starts and even after the Holy Spirit comes, they still went to the Temple. Even though the religious leaders did not all believe in Jesus, they still went to the Temple.
What does this say to us today. We should attend corporate worship in public. If it was good enough for the apostles, it should be good enough for us. They did not stay home and just worship with their families.
A Surprise Encounter
On the way to the Temple, Peter and John have a surprise encounter with a poor beggar. On their way to meet God in prayer, they meet a man in need at the Beautiful Gate. It is huge contrast. You have this poor ugly beggar and this very fancy, ornate and beautiful gate.
A Hopeless Situation
This man had three problems. He had a physical problem. He had a financial problem. He had a social problem.
He was a cripple. He was paralyzed from the waist down. Luke was a doctor. This man had a medical condition. It was permanent. He was born that way.
Sometimes we cause our own problems. This man did not cause his condition. He was not a drunk driver. He was not in a car accident. He was born that way.
In many ways it is a picture of everyone on the planet. We all have a problem from birth. We are all born in sin. We are spiritually crippled. We are completely helpless and hopeless.
Now, there were many things he could do. He could see. He could speak. He could hear. He could smell. He could move his arms. He could move his hands. He did not have a withered hand.
There was just one thing that he could not move at all and that was his legs. He was paralyzed from the waist down. He never walked once in the day of his life. He never stood up. He had a disability.
Because he could not walk, he could not go anywhere. He didn’t have a wheelchair. Every day, he was completely dependent on other people for his every need.
He also could not work. Because he could not work, he was poor. He lived in poverty. He did not get a disability check for the government.
The only way he could make money is to beg. That is embarrassing. It is humiliating. This man is a social outcast. He never once went inside the temple. He was always on the outside begging for a handout.
Every day, he was dropped off at the Temple to beg for money. Why did he go to the Temple? It was a high traffic area. There are a lot of people that go there. The people you expect to be most generous and compassionate to the needy are religious people.
Some go to church not for spiritual help but for financial help. That describes this poor beggar, but he did not have a choice. They would not let him in the door.
He is on the outside, asking “Alms” for anyone and everyone he could see. He is not expecting healing. He is not asking anyone for healing. He did not have faith to ask for healing. He is asking for alms.
This story was told to a SS class for children and someone said, “Why did he ask for alms if he needed legs?” My wife calls these “dad jokes.”
Peter’s Response
How did Peter and John respond to this man? There are three ways they could have responded. They could have ignored him. That is what many of us do. Remember the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
A man going to Jericho is beaten and robbed, laying on the ground half dead. A priest saw him and walked to the other side of the road, pretending not to see him, pretending he is not there. Many of us ignore the poor. We think if we don’t see them, they are not there.
Peter and John could have done this. They had good reason to do this. They were on their way to a prayer meeting. They did not have time to stop and talk to this man.
Sometimes we completely miss opportunities that God gives us because we are in a hurry to do something and it may be something important, like going to a prayer meeting.
We need to be open to unplanned acts of ministry. We need to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Another way they could have response is to give this man some money. That makes us feel better. We have helped someone in need.
That is important. The apostles would have given this man some money, but they had nothing to give. Peter said, “Silver and gold have I none.”
Catholics believe Peter was the first Pope. Proof he wasn’t the Pope. The Pope has silver and gold.
Peter wasn’t a prosperity preacher. Those are all rich. Peter was unable to help this man financially. Peter said, “Silver and gold have none.” He had nothing.
A third response is to give this man what he had. Peter did not have silver and gold, but he had something better than silver and gold. He had something better.
This man asked for alms. His head was down. Peter asked him to look at him. He lifts his head up and looked at Peter, expecting him to receive something, but then he heard him say he did not have any.
He had something better than money. Silver and gold won’t make you happy. Many think it will. “If I just win the lotto, I will be happy.” Peter gave him healing, rather than a handout.
Peter didn’t give him what he asked for. He gave him something better. That is what God does to us as well. He does not give us what we want all of the time. He gives us what we need. He often gives us better than we ask.
A Strange Command
Now, Peter does something unusual. He doesn’t pray for the man. If Peter was a Baptist, he would ask the man if he could pray for him. He doesn’t ask him if he wants him to pray for him to be healed. He COMMANDS him to be healed.
It was a command and it was a command that made absolutely no sense. In fact, the command almost sounded heartless and cruel. He said, “Rise up and walk!” He was commanding the impossible. He couldn’t rise up and walk.
This did not make any sense in the natural. It was physically impossible. This man was a cripple. He had been that way all of his life. He could not stand up and he could not walk.
He had a permanent medical condition. There was no cure and yet Peter said, “Rise up and walk!” He doesn’t even say, “Rise up and walk, if it is God’s will.”
How did he know that he was going to stand up and walk? He had a prompting from the Holy Spirit. He was compelled by the Spirit to say this.
This man was forty. He was taken to the temple to beg every day. Peter must have seen him before. Jesus must have walked past him but for some reason, he was never healed until this time.
Peter doesn’t pray for healing. He commands it in Jesus’ name but not just in the name of any Jesus. Jesus was a common name in the first century.
He did not say, “Rise up and walk in the name of Peter or John” but “in the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 3:6). What does that tell you? There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power to save. There is power to heal.
Ways People are Healed
How are people are healed in the Bible?
1) Healing through PRAYER.
Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. (James 5:14-15 NIV)
2) Healing through TOUCH
Jesus touched the eyes of the blind, and they were healed (Matthew 9:27-29; 20:30-34). He touched a man with leprosy, and he was healed (Mark 1:40-42).
He touched the woman who was bent over and could not stand up straight for eighteen years. He touched her and healed her (Luke 13:11-17)
3) Healing by COMMAND
Jesus did miracles by command. He commanded the winds and waves. He commanded demons to come out of people.
He commanded people to be healed. The Centurion had a sick servant but did not want Jesus to come to his house. He said, “say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Luke 7:7).
Lazarus was dead and Jesus spoke, and he rose from the dead. He called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus come out” (John 11:43 NIV). He healed a paralytic man by command.
He told another crippled man at a pool, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk” (John 5:8 NIV). He told a paralyzed man let down through the roof of a house to “get up, take your mat and go home.” (Matthew 9:6 NIV
He told him to “Get up and walk” (Matthew 9:5 NIV). That is exactly what Peter told this lame man to do. He used the same words. Jesus said that believers would be able to do the exact same things that He did (cf. John 14:12) and Peter does it.
A Changed Life
Peter helps this man up and he is instantly healed. He accepted this healing. He received it. He could have rejected it. He could have been angry and bitter and mad.
He could have rejected Peter’s attempt to help him, but he accepted it. He ended up with more than one miracle. His legs began working and he knew how to walk.
Even people who have walked before, who are in a hospital bed for a long time, have to learn how to walk again. This man had never walked before but no one had to teach him. He did not need physical therapy. He didn’t need a cane.
He begins to walk. He starts leaping and praising God. That shows he must not have been a Presbyterian or an Episcopalian. He is dancing in church. He walks. He witnesses and he worships.[2] He goes right into the Temple. This man had a changed life.
Healing Today
The real question is, does God still do miracles today? Many in the church believe that He does not. There is some support for this idea from the last chapter.
Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed BY THE APOSTLES. (Acts 2:43 NIV)
These were signs and wonders performed by an apostle. They were apostolic signs and wonders. Does this prove that only apostles can do signs and wonders and once all of the apostles died, signs and wonders ceased?
No. Signs and wonders, but they were not limited to the apostles, not even in the Book of Acts.
The tongues of fire did not just fall on the apostles. They fell on everyone in the Upper Room. There were 120 people there.
In fact, Peter said, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit ON ALL PEOPLE (not just the apostles).
He said, quoting Joel, “Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18 NIV)
If this passage is limited to apostles, then there must be some female apostles (my sons and daughters). There are other people besides apostles in Acts who performed miracles (Acts 6:8; 8:6-7; 9:10-19).
Jesus said, “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these” (John 14:12 NIV)
That is not limited to the apostles. Jesus did not say, “If you are an apostle, you will do the works I have been doing and greater works.” He said, “whoever believes in Me will do them.”
When they asked Peter, how he could heal this man, he did not say, “It is because I am an apostle. I have special powers that there rest of you do not have. I can perform miracles, signs and wonders. I can even raise the dead. I am a biblical superpower.” No, he said, “I didn’t do it. Jesus did.”
Let’s answer several questions. Does God still perform miracles today? Yes. He did not stop doing miracles in 70 AD. He did not stop doing miracles when all of the apostles died. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
Can people still perform miracles today? Yes. God works through people. These are some of the spiritual gifts, He gives people in the church.
One spiritual gift He gives is the ability to work miracles (I Corinthians 12:10). Another spiritual gift is not the gift of miracles of “gifts” (plural) of healing (I Corinthians 12:9).
Does everyone have these gifts? Paul said clearly in I Corinthians 12 that we do not. We have different gifts and different functions in the body.
Is it always God’s will to heal? Can we command all sickness to leave our bodies and never have to go to a doctor? No.
We have had some believers in our church in wheelchairs who prayed for healing and had others pray for them and they were never healed. They prayed in faith. Can God still do this miracle today? Yes. Has He done it? Yes.
[1] https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermons/113101132165.
[2] https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/rise-up-and-walk-edward-hardee-sermon-on-gifts-healing-113781?page=2&wc=800
