Word of Salvation – December 2025

 

Where is your focal point?

 

Sermon by Rev. John Westendorp on Acts 3 (esp.vs.12)

Reading: Acts 3

Singing:       BoW.371         All hail the power of Jesus’ name
                        BoW.387         At the name of Jesus
                        BoW.334         There is under heaven no name
                        BoW.532         Now blessed be the Lord our God

Theme: The healing of the lame man becomes an opportunity for the church to point people to Jesus Christ.

 

Introd:  I’m sure it’s happened to you that someone else sees something you don’t see.

Sometimes that can be frustrating… you’re trying to see something but you can’t.

The problem is that your eyes are focusing on the wrong spot.

 

I recall a very vivid example of that on a walk with some lads from the church Cadet group in the 90s.
We were walking the Scenic Rim and taking a break at the lookout at Lizard Point.
We suddenly heard the roar of a jet so we all looked skyward but there was nothing to see.
That happened a second time but this time one of the boys saw an F111 down below us.
It was doing terrain-hugging exercises.  We had missed it because our focus was wrong.

 

So often we miss something because we are looking in the wrong place.
And we can do that too when it comes to the church and when it comes to faith.
We can also do it when it comes to the Bible… and I can do it with this story in Acts 3.

I could preach to you this morning a sermon on the importance of compassion.
Because, after all, Peter and John were compassionate to this lame man.
But if I did that my focus would be in the wrong place and I would fail to see something vital.
Not that we shouldn’t be compassionate… we should.  But that’s not what Acts 3 is about.

I could preach a sermon this morning on us needing to do justice to the miraculous.
Because here we have the first of many miracles in the book of Acts.
But if I did that my focus would be in the wrong place and I would miss something vital.
Not that we can casually ignore miracles.  But that’s not what is central in Acts 3.

 

A]       A MIRACLE THAT BECAME THE FOCUS OF ATTENTION.

 

1. To understand Acts 3 we need to put it in context of the previous chapter and the event of Pentecost.

God is growing His church.
He added to the church 3000 on the day of Pentecost.
And the last verse of Acts 2 says “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
It is in that context that we read something else at the end of Acts 2.  Notice verse 43:
“…and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles”.

 

Miracles were done by the early church and that does raise some issues for us this morning.
It is perfectly understandable that Jesus did miracles.  Hey!  He was the Son of God.
But the church doing miracles?  And if the church did them back then… why not us now?

 

What happens in this chapter is so obviously a miracle.
We’re told that this man was lame from birth.  This was not a stroke victim, unable to walk.
In Acts 4²² we’re told he was forty years old.  Four decades of immobility!
And here he is prancing around in the temple, praising God.
That’s a miracle in anyone’s language.  So why can’t I go out and do miracles like that?

 

Some Christians would be quick to tell me that I can heal people… if only I have enough faith.

Others will say: Today miracles still happen… but God usually does them through medical science.

 

In our part of the Christian church we’re more likely to say:
Signs and wonders were only for those early days when the church was young and vulnerable.
They didn’t yet have the Scriptures complete as we have them today.
And in any case, signs and wonders were the mark of apostolic authority.
That’s fine…!  As long as we don’t put God in a box and limit what He can still do today.

 

2. The actual story of this miracle in itself is profound in its simplicity.

This man is carried every day by friends and he’s put down by the temple gate.  And that makes sense.
In Judea in those days there was no government disability pension to help out.  No Centrelink!
And no sheltered workshops where the disabled can do meaningful work.
So he sits there day after day rattling his beggar’s cup: Spare a coin for a lame man, sir!

What better place to do that than at the gate to the temple?
We’ve always been told, haven’t we, that love for God and love for man go together?
Those who worship God know they have duty of care for their fellow man.
So where’s the best place to get a few coins?  Surely, at the temple.

 

As Peter and John pass they hear the same words they always hear: Spare a coin for a lame man, sir!
But this time they stop.  Not to give him money… but something much better.
“Silver or gold I do not have but what I have I give you.
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

 

I had to smile at the title of a sermon on this text that I came across.
Years ago we used to call gifts to the poor: alms (a.l.m.s.).  This preacher made a pun on that.
His sermon title was: The man who asked for alms and got legs!

 

Alms is what the man wanted.  Charity!  He asks Peter and John for a few coins.
Instead he gets to walk for the first time ever.  Forty years an invalid.
And as Peter pulls him to his feet he feels strength in his feet and ankles he’s never felt before.
And he jumps up and walks.  And that highlights all those things I mentioned at the start.

Surely this is about compassion and care.  John and Peter could not have been more caring.
Couldn’t I then preach on this text a sermon about “health care and the gospel”?

And surely this is about miracles.  The first great miracle of many other miracles in Acts.
In fact, if we want to talk about where to look… about a focal point then what about verse 4?
Peter says to the man: “Look at us!”  And we read that the man gave them his attention.
So doesn’t that give us the right to make this miracle the focus of the story?  But no!
Peter only does that to prepare the man for the great thing God is doing through them.

 

3. And then God does that miracle and the result is a man who is walking and leaping and praising God.

Today if we want to put all the emphasis on the miracle then we have to face some other questions.

 

Today in some Christian circles these kinds of miracles are spoken of in terms of “faith healing”.
Over the years I have known of people who went to healing services.
They were prayed over… and in some instances God graciously healed in answer to prayer.
But I’ve known many instances where nothing happened.
And the tragedy is that those people were told that they lacked faith.
Or that there was unconfessed sin in their life.  That’s shattering for such people!

 

So was this healing of this lame man “faith healing”?
At first glance it seems we could make a case for that.  Verse16 speaks of faith.
“By faith… in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know, was made strong.”

 

And yet I have to say that contrary to the faith healers this man was not exercising faith.
Verse 5 contradicts that idea.  Does it say in your Bible that the man looked at them in faith?
No!  Vs.5 states that he did look at the apostles but… expecting to receive what he’s requested.
The faith that was active here was Peter’s faith… as he trusted in the power of Jesus to heal.

 

Peter had passed this man many times on his way to the temple without healing him.

But Peter knew that this was the day in which the power of Jesus would change this man’s life.

 

B]       PUTTING THE FOCUS WHERE IT PROPERLY BELONGS.

 

1. So where should our focus be in this story? Verse 12 helps us to get our focus right.

In that verse Peter asks two questions to get our spiritual eyesight focused.

 

The first question Peter asks the crowd that has gathered is: Men of Israel, why does this surprise you?
You people who witnessed what has happened, why do you marvel at this?
Why are you so amazed that a lame man is healed?

 

Does that strike you as a strange question…?
Imagine if today a forty year-old had spent all her life on a disability pension.
Forty years of depending on Centrelink.  Forty years in a wheelchair.
And then suddenly she’s running around on a basketball court.
Wouldn’t you be amazed?  Wouldn’t that totally surprise you?
Surely, surprise is a natural and expected response to a miracle?

 

Or is it?  Maybe for Christians it shouldn’t be.

I recall a neighbour in our street telling me how he ended up in hospital with a stroke.
He told me that his pastor had come into ICU and prayed with him.
Two days later he was working in his yard.  He was excited that God had done a miracle.
I shared his joy and rejoiced with him.
But at the same time I found myself thinking: So?  Isn’t God always able to do that?
Can’t the Maker of the universe still do signs and wonders?

 

I find it significant that Peter addresses these people here as “Men of Israel”.
IOW these were people who knew of the miracles God had done in Egypt and at the Red Sea.
These were people who had read the stories of God’s miracles at the time of Elisha.
And more recently they had witnessed the signs and wonders done by Jesus of Nazareth.
And if that’s the case, why does this surprise you?

 

The point is that we who know the power of God… and that God doesn’t change, shouldn’t be surprised.

That helps us to make sure that the miracle is not what becomes the focus of this chapter.

 

2. The second question Peter asks them is: Why do you stand there staring at us?

If we think that this is a story about the early church doing miracles then we’ve got it wrong.

 

Peter says to them: We didn’t make this man walk by our power or our piety.
He’s saying to them: “Your focus is wrong.  You are looking in the wrong place.”
The apostles didn’t have it in them to do that miracle.  They were ordinary men.
Peter made that quite clear on another occasion in Acts 10 in the home of Cornelius.
Cornelius was about to bow down to Peter but Peter stopped him: I’m just an ordinary man.

 

There’s a sense in which the heading in some English Bibles (not ESV) get it wrong.
They read: “Peter heals the crippled beggar.” (Those headings are not inspired Scripture!)
But Peter tells the crowd that they didn’t do it by their power or their godliness.

 

I read Peter’s question to the crowd: why do you stand there staring at us?
And then I think of some of Christianity’s so-called faith healers.
Benny Hinn… Kenneth Copeland… Peter Popoff… who strutted around as if they healed people.
Maybe all our questions about faith healers today… are really the wrong questions.
Peter shows the crowd that the focus needs to change.

 

And then Peter turns the spotlight on God who glorified His servant Jesus in this miracle.
Later (vs.16) he says that by faith in the name of Jesus this man stand before you well.
When he says, “in the name of Jesus”, he means that this was done ‘by the authority of Jesus.’

 

3. Do you see how Peter is putting the focus back where it ought to be?

 

The book of Acts is about Jesus… about what He continued to do after His ascension.
It’s about how the Lord grows His church from Pentecost onwards.
And God is growing the church here now… also through this healing of the lame man.
Because it gives Peter and John an opportunity to put the spotlight on Jesus.
The focus has to be on Him.

 

Let me show you in another way that this chapter is not primarily about a miracle.
Ask yourself: Where is the emphasis in this chapter?  Look at the break up of the chapter.
There are only 8 verses relating the story of the miracle.
Then there are 3 verses dealing with the reaction of the crowd.
But there are 15 verses about the gospel of God, who sent Jesus to be our Saviour.

And as if that isn’t enough all of this leads to yet another sermon about Jesus in chapter 4.
Because the Jewish leaders haul them before the Sanhedrin to explain there what happened.

 

So what is the main thrust of Acts 3?  Where should our eyes be turning?
Peter is turning our attention to Jesus… it is all about Him… our glorious Lord and Saviour.
It’s all about His power as He continues His work through His Church.
This healing is the work of Jesus and a sign that in Him the Kingdom of God has come.

 

Thomas Aquinas once visited Pope Innocent IV in Rome just as a load of gold was brought in.
The Pope said: You see Thomas the church no longer has to say: silver and gold have I none.
Aquinas replied: It’s true holy father, but neither can she say to the lame man, ‘rise up and walk’.
That’s a solemn reminder that there is no power in the church… the power is in Christ Jesus.

 

C]       WHY THE FOCAL POINT NEEDS TO BE JESUS CHRIST.

 

1. It’s not surprising then that Luke spends more time on the sermon Peter preached than on the miracle.

It’s Peter’s preaching that receives the most attention.

 

Someone once dubbed this chapter: A lame excuse for preaching.
That’s funny… but there is a remarkable truth in that.
We see that so often in Acts: something happens but it becomes an excuse to preach Christ.
The miracle leads to the message.  The wonder leads to the Word.

 

Here we must note that is was no accident that all this happens at the temple.
It’s the place where people were busily coming and going.
It’s not even accidental that this happens at three in the afternoon.
Because that was the time of the evening sacrifice and a time of prayer.
So it was a time when it was especially busy around the temple.
And that provides Peter and John with a ready audience.

 

So we have this situation that the wonder that happened attracted the crowd to hear the word.
And so Jesus is glorified as Christ is proclaimed.
And verses 13-26 are really just a summary of Peter’s sermon to that gathered crowd.

Then in the next chapter we have the summary of that second sermon to the Sanhedrin.
There the apostles are dragged before a hostile Jewish Council.
But the opposition is not because of the miracle but because of their preaching.
Acts 4:2 says that the Council was disturbed because they were preaching Christ.
It’s as if they were saying:
We don’t mind you doing good deeds but you must keep quiet about Jesus Christ.
But that is exactly what the church cannot do because Jesus Christ is always our focus.

 

2. I find it interesting at this point to make another connection back to Acts 2.

In vs.42 we see that the early church devoted itself to four things:
To the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship; to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
And what we get now in the larger part of this chapter is apostolic teaching.
They are teaching the crowd that gathers the central issues of the faith.

 

If you like, the rest of this chapter is doctrine.  And that is telling.
We live in an age when it’s what we experience that is all-important.
For many people today it doesn’t matter too much what you believe…
as long as you have some personal experience of God in your life.

Well here in Acts 3 the experience is certainly important.
You’d be a fool to suggest that this miracle wasn’t very important to this man who was healed.
It would also be foolish to say that it was unimportant to those who witnessed it.
But that experience is now put in perspective by the doctrines that Peter and John teach.

 

And what are those apostolic doctrines?  There are at least seven points Peter covers.
First (vs.13,14): That Jesus Christ is God’s holy and righteous servant.
Second (vs.15): This Jesus is the author of life, and you killed Him.
Third (vs.15): God raised Jesus from the dead… and the apostles were witness of that.
Fourth (vs.16): This Jesus is acting through his church today as you just saw in this miracle.
Fifth (vs.21): Jesus will come back from heaven and God will then restore His creation.
Sixth (vs.22f): This Jesus is the promised Prophet to whom we must listen.
Seventh (vs.25,26): God’s covenant with Abraham now continues with those trusting in Jesus.

 

So all the focus is on Jesus… Jesus who now continues to work through His church.
This is not just Jesus the Messianic miracle worker but Jesus God’s anointed prophet.
And Peter makes clear that all our hope of blessing and life everlasting rests with Him.

 

3. So what’s the point of all this doctrine?

Peter doesn’t mention all these things just to give these people a head full of knowledge.

His sermon to this crowd that witnessed the miracle was not just to pass on facts.

 

No!  Peter confronts them with a challenge.
He admits that when they killed Jesus they acted in ignorance.
But now that he has told them these things they can no longer plead ignorance.
They must repent and turn to the Lord.

 

Here we see the ultimate purpose for the Lord healing this lame man.
In Acts 3 Jesus continues to build His church.
And He does that as, through the mouth of Peter, Jesus calls these people to repent.
And as they repent they will be added to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Doctrine has to make a difference in our life. It calls us to repentance. The preaching has to change us.
And it will… if our focus is on Jesus.  He must be central.
Because as our sins are wiped out through the blood of His cross we are transformed.
Peter speaks of that as times of refreshing coming from the Lord.
He’s referring not just to the change in our own life as we repent.
He is also anticipating the renewal of all things when Jesus returns in glory.

 

Today we live in a culture where people have their focus all wrong; looking in the wrong places.
I read recently that half a million Britons regularly seek out the help of faith healers.
But it’s not faith healers like Benny Hinn that they go to… it’s the psychic faith healers.
The witch-doctors of our modern culture.
But people won’t find what they are looking for because they are looking in the wrong place.

May our focus be Jesus alone and Jesus always so that we find the refreshing that comes thru Him.