After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
Observation
After Peter and John are freed, they return to the believers. They all lift their voices to God. They marvel that the attacks they might expect to come from the Gentiles are happening in Jerusalem. They call on God to send more healing power, more signs and wonders.
Application
I have never been in a prayer meeting where the building shook and all the people are filled or re-filled with the Holy Spirit. This sounds like a kind of mini-Pentecost. Whenever christians gather to pray there should be manifestations of the Holy Spirit.
So what is the prayer that triggered this response?
1. It was united. All the believers were already one in heart, mind, and purpose. The Body of Christ showed no disharmony.
2. It was a response to growing persecution. The believers were surprised that the Jewish leaders continued to reject Jesus as Messiah, despite the strong testimonies concerning the resurrection by those who had walked with Him.
3. Prayer for boldness in preaching. They didn’t want to step back from their confident proclamation that Jesus is Lord and He has conquered sin and death.
4. Prayer for healing power, for signs and wonders. They did not want a theoretical faith, an intellectual ideology. They wanted a God who is real, experiential, and working in the world.
This is the prayer they prayed, and they received an immediate answer- they were filled with the Holy Spirit and went out to preach the word boldly.
At a time when the world is falling apart in fear and panic, the church needs to keep on stepping forward with peace and power. We need to be praying hard for God to heal people. We need to demonstrate that God is still in control. We need to speak boldly to people’s hearts- Jesus died for their sins and He is alive.
Prayer
Come and shake the building, Lord. Fill your people. Give me boldness to preach your word. Amen.
Here is my commentary on Ephesians2:1. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site.
Ephesians 2:1
As for you, you were once dead in your transgressions and sins.
The gospel is deeply personal. It is not a theory or a general culture. You are either in or out. You either believe in Christ and receive his forgiveness, or you do not believe t and consequently remain on the outside of the Kingdom.
We have many opinions on issues that do not directly affect us, but the gospel is different. “As for you,” Paul says. We saw in the very first verse of chapter one that this letter is directed “to the saints,” that he is those who have responded to the gospel and now are God’s holy, or set apart, people.
This is me, and you, (assuming you are born again). It is us, the church, the ones called out and sanctified by Christ .
We all need to make a decision to follow Christ if we are to be saved and be a part of God’s kingdom.
It affects people who hear the gospel and respond to it as individuals, but are then counted as part of the organic body of Christ.
“You were once dead in your sins & transgressions.”
We were once dead. I was dead in my sins, but now I am alive in Christ. I was the condemned man on the way to the execution chamber, a dead man walking.
But then I stopped being dead. Christ came into my life and moved me from the “dead” column to the “alive” column. The condemned man is set free, declared innocent. Now instead of being dead, on a relentless conveyor belt to hell, I am alive, rescued by Christ.
Countless millions of people are dead men and women walking. Their hearts beat and their bodies move, but they are dead in their sins.
So we used to be! But now I am alive in Christ. The sins that hung around my neck, pulling me inexorably into the depths have been cut off and carried away by Christ.
We were once dead in our transgressions and sins.
The word for transgressions here suggests an accidental breaking of the law- stumbling aside, a false step.
When I am driving, sometimes I don’t notice that I’m going down hill and my speed has increased above the speed limit. Someone coming into the country doesn’t recognise that we have strict laws about what may be brought in. They might have some food product that is prohibited and forget to declare it on the card.
In both cases the law has been broken, but not intentionally.
It is these transgressions that Paul says have kept us in death. I did not know God’s requirements, so I failed. I tried to live a good life, but I am not perfect.
Intentions are not what matters. I have broken God’s holy law, falling short of his glory. I have failed to live up to His standards.
The cumulative effect of my transgressions has made me dead spiritually. I was estranged from God by my breaching of His law.
The word for sins means to miss the mark or to fall short. This is more serious because it suggests wilfulness. We know what we should do but we refuse to do it. It is rebellion against God’s will.
We are all born in sin. We all have that sinful nature handed down from Adam and Eve. We refused to do what God wants us to do.
This outright rebellion moves us away from God, the source of all life, and so we die.
In the previous analogy of driving, sin is when I decide to recklessly ignore the speed limit. I know I should drive at less than 60 km per hour, but I choose to drive at 100 kilometres per hour. My action is a total disregard for the law, and now renders me likely to have a crash.
Sin is when we know what we should do and wilfully do the opposite. It kills us and those around us.
I was once dead in my sins and transgressions, but now, thank God, I am alive because of what Christ has done.
This Is a miracle. It is only God who can turn death into life. It is only God who can raise up the dead person and breathe into them the breath of life.
Key points in this verse: The gospel is personal and we must have apply it to our own lives.
We were once dead but we are now alive in Christ.
We can accidentally transgress God’s laws or deliberately break them but the result either way is the same – death.
When they saw the courage of Peter and John, and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished, and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Observation
When the members of the Council see the courage of Peter and John, they are amazed. The formerly lame man is now with them as evidence of the miracle that had been done in Jesus’ name.
The Council orders Peter and John to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Peter replies, “Judge for yourselves whether we should obey you or obey God.”
The Council is thrown into confusion, and they let them go.
Application
The strength of Peter and John’s testimony lay in the fact that they had been with Jesus.
The men and women who change the world are not always the most educated or the so-called elite.
In this case, it was two men who were unschooled. They did not use big words, and probably pronounced words wrong. They were from Galilee, out in the sticks.
They were ordinary men; self-employed fishermen. They were hardly influential, and yet here they were healing people and preaching a message about God’s kingdom.
The Council members noted that Peter and John had been with Jesus. This is the key to their power and their effectiveness.
They had been with Jesus and had learned the ways of God’s Kingdom. They knew that the name of Jesus could bring great miracles in the world and had expressed faith enough to see a lame man healed.
An ordinary person, with no training or high connections, can become a world changer through being with Jesus.
We spend time learning from Him, praying, seeking His presence. Then, in the power of our being in Him and He in us, things happen. People are healed, relationships are restored, power is shifted.
Time in the presence of Jesus can give us insight into His plans for us, our mission and purpose. That might be a big thing that shakes world history, or a more limited thing that changes one person’s story. Regardless, we find our purpose and meaning in Jesus.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to know you more. May I become a person whose reputation is “this person has been with Jesus.” Amen.
In Italy, a priest who was celebrating Mass in an empty church, streamed to people keeping a safe distance outside, was raided by local police and told he had to stop- despite following the regulations. He finished the Mass.
I’m not going to promote any conspiracy theories, but we do need to be wary of Governments seizing this opportunity to further restrict our rights, and to keep those restrictions long after the threat is over. These are gifts not just freedom of religious observance, but freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom to move.
Because that is what Governments do. They “protect” us by restricting us, using fear to get us to acquiesce to things we normally would never accept.
Don’t believe me? How many people thought church services would be shut down in Australia two weeks ago?
How long will these restrictions be here for? Well we’ve gone from “a few weeks” to “up to six months.”
We must keep pushing back against these restrictions, demanding that normal freedoms be returned to us as soon as the crisis is over.
“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Observation
While John and Peter are talking to the people in the Temple precinct, they are confronted by some of the Jewish leaders who are disturbed by their talk of resurrection. They arrest them, but many in the crowd believe the message.
The Jewish Council questions the two disciples. Peter states boldly that the crippled man was healed by the name of Jesus who had died and rose again. There is salvation in no one else.
Application
There is just one Name by which we must be saved. That is the Name of Jesus, the most powerful name in all of creation.
The lame man was healed by the Name of Jesus. Peter and John acted and spoke in the Name of Jesus.
It is the Name of Jesus which brings salvation, and only the name of Jesus.
People like to be even handed in their unbelief. Surely it is not just the followers of Jesus who get saved. What about the Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus?
Possibly some of these will be saved, but that is not the point. Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the gate to eternal life, and if we want to be saved we must go through Him.
If you want to go into an office building, you must go through the door. Sometimes there are doors that are locked with just one door available for the use of the public.
Heaven has just one door, one gate, one entrance. Its name is Jesus.
Why the Name of Jesus? The Name represents the person. To say we are saved by the Name of Jesus is to say that all the power, all the grace, and all the glory of Jesus are summed up in the Name.
The Name of Jesus opens the way into God’s Kingdom where sinners are forgiven, captives are set free, the blind see, and the lame walk.
What a glorious Name!
Prayer
There is no other name given by which we must be saved. Lord, we don’t need any other name because the name of Jesus is the highest name. Thank you Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
“Repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your promised Messiah.”
Observation
Peter seizes the opportunity to preach to the crowd. He tells them the lame man was not healed by the power of John and himself. No, this is the living God, glorifying the name of Jesus whom they, the Jews had crucified.
All these things happened to fulfil all the prophets had foretold. Therefore they, the people, needed to repent and turn from their sins to receive forgiveness and refreshment from the Lord.
Application
The same Jesus whose name can heal a lame man brings forgiveness to all who will receive it.
“Repent of your sins,” the Bible says over and over. We love to hear about miracles and signs of God’s love. But first we need to leave our self-centred life behind.
We must turn to God and put Him at the centre of all things. Repentance is not just leaving sins behind but turning to pursue God.
When we do this, God promises that, because of the death of Jesus on the cross, our sins are wiped away. No more sacrifices; no religious activity; no thought of paying our own way. Forgiveness is freely given to all who repent and trust in Jesus.
Then times of refreshing come. There is something invigorating about walking with God. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. So if we walk with Jesus we experience His Life in all its fullness. Why? Because we are living according to God’s design for us,
You can drive a car in first gear all day, but it will only reaches its full potential when driven in accordance with the designer’s intention.
Many people are living life in the fast lane with their car stuck in first gear!
Walking with God does not mean everything is always roses and sunshine. I have been though some very dark places at times, but always God has been there. Always there has been refreshment in the desert.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you that you are Life. Thank you that when we walk with you, times of refreshing always come. Amen.
So in large cities it is “fight to the death” for toilet paper. In more civilised places, where people still recognise each other’s humanity, we share. That is why for most of my adult life I have chosen to live in small towns.
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. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking , leaping and praising God, he went to the Temple with them.
Observation
Peter and John are going to the Temple prayer meeting where they encounter a man lame from birth, begging. He asks Peter and John for money, but Peter reaches out to him and says, “I have no money, but in the name of Jesus Christ get up and walk.”
Instantly the man is healed and gets up walking, leaping and praising God. The people are amazed because they know him as the same beggar who for so long has been at that place.
Application
Multiple healings and adjustments take place in this one moment of time.
This man had never walked before in his life.
His legs, knees, ankles and hips could not carry his weight
His brain was not wired for the complex task of shifting weight from one leg to the other without falling.
His sense of balance would not be adjusted to the ever shifting centre of gravity and the need for perfect balance
His back would be out of shape
All his lower joints would be relatively rigid from lack of use
The list of changes his body needed to make is huge. Yet all this happens in an instant.
Not only is he walking immediately, but within minutes he is leaping and praising God. No baby steps for this guy!
For Jesus, and for His followers, this multi-level healing should be no big deal. This is the daily lifestyle to which we are called.
“Naturally supernatural” is the attitude we should take, letting Jesus come in to work His miracles.
It can be hard because we don’t always have the faith or confidence that Peter had. And sometimes, when we do have faith and we step out, the miracle is not there, at least in the way we expect.
We need to keep going- walking, leaping, and praising God.
Prayer
Teach me Lord to walk in the power of the name of Jesus. May the lame walk, the blind see, the captives be released in the name of Jesus. Amen.
From “The Salisbury Review”, a little perspective. Jane Kelly writes:
Deaths from infectious diseases in England and Wales dropped from 25.9% of all deaths in 1911 to 0.7% of all deaths in 2013. The predominant cause of death by 1950 was non-communicable disease. Any challenge to that, even the idea of death in old age is now considered outrageous.
Educated middle-class women in particular, succumbing to what was once called hypochondria now conveniently renamed, ‘Health Anxiety,’ have backed away from the medical science, preferring dotty remedies.
Nearly nine million in the UK, are part of a global Gluten Free products market, valued at $ 4.35 billion in 2018, expected to reach nearly eight billion dollars by 2026. Yet only one percent of people are genuinely coeliac in the US and UK. This terror of harmless nutrients has even created a market for gluten free cat food, worth $2.9 billion in 2018, a 9.6% growth over the previous year. We’re now sold fear as a commodity, in packets.
