Acts 3

Jesus Christ is God and His name is above all names and full of power.
Faith in Him is the measure used to receive healing for our mind, body and spirit. Trust in Him for He cares for you. Nothing is impossible in Christ Jesus.

Strong's 4342/4343 Persevere: The NT makes it clear that faith alone can save. But it makes it equally clear that perseverance in doing good works is the greatest indication that an individual's faith is genuine. Indeed, perseverance springs from a faithful trust that God has been steadfast toward His people. Through persevering in God's work, Christians prove their deep appreciation for God's saving grace. As a result of perseverance, the Christian can expect not only to enhance the strength of the church, but also to build up strength of character. In short, Christians can expect to become closer to God. They learn that they can persevere primarily because God is intimately related to them and especially because they have the assurance of a final reward in heaven.

Acts 3 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed. 12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

17 "Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."

The NKJV Study Bible says this: The disciples of Jesus continued to follow Jewish tradition. A prayer service accompanied each of the two daily sacrifices, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The ninth hour would have been 3 p.m. The lame man was laid near the gate called Beautiful. This gate opened into the Court of the Women from the outer Court of the Gentiles. It served, in a sense, as the front door to the temple proper. The Beautiful Gate would have been an ideal place for the man to position himself for begging. Those who ignored the man's pleas may have found it difficult to worship due to the guilt they felt for refusing to help such a powerless person. Moreover, as people left the temple they would be more apt to give to someone who was waiting there for help. The apostles indicated immediately that they did not represent themselves in what they were about to do. They represented Jesus Christ. Because of His name—who He is—the beggar would receive the miracle of God. The phrase "in the name of Jesus" is not a magical formula used to give some affirmation or guarantee to a prayer. A person's name represented that person's authority and influence. The power in the name of Jesus comes from what the Holy Spirit will do because of that name. Note that Peter and John did not lay their hands on the beggar and pray for God to heal him. Rather as apostles with the power of God to perform signs and wonders, they simply told him to rise up and walk. The people had seen the beggar day after day, maybe year after year. His healing was not a staged event. When the beggar stood and walked, the only reasonable explanation was that God had healed him. People were following after them, but the apostles immediately gave all the glory to Jesus. Jesus can be considered the Servant of God because He gave His life as a guilt offering for the sins of all humanity. The Father raised Jesus from the dead as confirmation that His sacrifice was accepted. Peter pointed to the healing of the beggar as a sign of the glorification of Christ. The people had handed Jesus over to Pilate to be crucified. Yet God had raised the crucified Jesus from the dead. It was in the name of this very same Jesus that the crippled man was healed. Strength is restored when hope is restored. Peter challenged the people to repent and be converted, to change their thinking about Jesus as their Messiah and to serve Him.