I have neither silver nor gold; but what I have, I give to you! (Acts 3)

[Stephan Choe]

Jan 27, 2023

I have neither silver nor gold; but what I have, I give to you!

Acts 3:1-26

Key Verse 6: “But Peter said, <I have neither silver nor gold; But what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk around.>”

What happened after Pentecost is summarized briefly in 2:43:

"Fear came upon all souls, and many miracles and signs also happened through the apostles."

There were many miracles and signs through the apostles.

Unfortunately, we have not received any detailed accounts of these miracles, except for one related in chapter 3.

Peter healed a paralytic. After that, he proclaimed faith in the name of Jesus Christ as the way to salvation to all who are curious. He said that if they believe in the name of Jesus Christ, they can experience their salvation.

Today, we want to know the bliss of believing in Jesus.

1. "Silver and gold I have not, but..." (1-11)

Peter and John went into the temple to pray about the ninth hour, according to today’s time, three o'clock in the afternoon.

But the two saw a paralyzed man at the door of the temple. He was paralyzed from birth. That's why he had to be brought here every day by some people to beg for alms from the temple visitors.

Peter and John looked at the paralyzed man.

And Peter said to him: "Look at us!" (4).

The paralyzed beggar looked at Peter in anticipation of the alms.

What did Peter give him?

One euro, two euros or more?

Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold” (6).

He honestly said that he had no money and therefore could not help the beggar.Apparently, Peter disappointed the poor beggar.

But Peter said to him: "What I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!" (6).

And Peter grabbed him by his right hand and lifted him up. God gave the beggar faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ did a miracle for him.

The name of Jesus gave strength to the muscles of his legs and feet. He ran and jumped around praising God (8). He healed sang something like this:

"I don't have silver or gold.

But what I have, I give you:

In the name of Jesus Christ,

take your bed, get up and go!

Run and jump and praise God.

Run and jump and praise God.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

take your bed, get up and go!”

(song “His Glory, Our Joy”).

What joy for the healed! He no longer needed to be carried by others. He was no longer a beggar. He had become a child of God! He had eternal life.

With great joy he entered the temple with the apostles.

All the temple-goers saw him jumping in the air for joy and praising God. They realized that he was the beggar who used to sit at the "beautiful" door begging for alms.

2. "By believing in his name..." (12-26)

The healed stayed with Peter and John.

Luke, the writer of Acts, wrote in verse 16:

“And by believing in his name made him strong whom you see and know; and the faith that was wrought by him gave him health in the sight of all of you.”

The paralytic believed in the name of Jesus Christ, and he was healed.

The people realized that the one who was healed was the one who was paralyzed. They marveled at his healing and heard him praise God. All the people surrounded the two apostles and the healed one.

Then Peter explained to them the cause of the healing of the paralytic: “Meine Herren of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or look upon us, as if by our own strength or piety we had caused this one to go? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied before Pilate when he was about to let him go" (12-13).

Peter could have used the healing of the paralytic to make his own name famous, if he wanted it. But he capitalized the name of Jesus Christ. He said plainly that neither his power nor his godliness healed the paralytic, but Jesus Christ. He testified that the healing of the paralytic was by the power of God in the name of Jesus Christ. The healing power of the paralytic was the power of God in the name of Jesus Christ.

Peter was just like a pen with which God signed the name of Jesus Christ.

We know the effect of the signature. If you sign the check, the check is worth what it says on the check. It doesn't matter if you sign with a cheap pen or an expensive one. Signature is signature.

Jesus' name is God's signature. The name of Jesus Christ is the power of God. God gave man the name of Jesus so that by believing in the name of Jesus Christ they might have the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

Peter realized that all the people gathered out of curiosity about the healing of the paralytic were in need of salvation. He had a big heart for them. He wanted them to experience forgiveness of their sins and eternal life. So he made known to the assembled people God's offer of salvation:

“But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that the murderer be given you; but you killed the prince of life. God raised him from the dead; of which we are witnesses” (14-15).

He further said:

“And by believing in his name, his name made mighty that which ye see and know; and the faith that was wrought by him gave him health as the eyes of all yours. Well, dear brethren, I know that you did it out of ignorance, as did your superiors. But God has fulfilled what he proclaimed beforehand through the mouth of all his prophets: that his Christ should suffer” (16-18).

Peter was turning the people's attention from the healing of the paralytic to their own salvation.

Finally, he announced to them the Good News of Jesus Christ:

"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, that the time of refreshment may come from the face of the Lord, and that he may send him who was appointed Christ for you beforehand, Jesus" (19-20).

With a heart for their salvation, Peter encouraged all people to repent and believe in the name of Jesus Christ.

Repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is God's way to the forgiveness of sins and also the refreshment of salvation. This salvation is wonderfully beautiful. God blots out all our sins, remembers them no more, and accepts us warmly as his children. And he gives us eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. What happy news!

Peter said that God had announced Christ's coming through the prophets in advance. God had said to Moses:

“The Lord your God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers; you shall hear him in everything he says to you. And it will come to pass that whoever will not hear this prophet will be cut off from among the people” (22-23; cf. Deuteronomy 18:15+19).

God also said through Abraham of the Christ: "Through thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (25; cf. Genesis 22:18).

This promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham.

Every one of all nations becomes a blessing heir of God if he believes in Jesus Christ. Then he has forgiveness and eternal life. He is a child of God. This is a wonderful blessing from God.

Peter now declared of Christ:“God raised up his servant Jesus for you first and sent him to bless you, and that everyone should turn from their wickedness” (26).

Jesus' resurrection from the dead is God's act so that through repentance and faith in Him, we should receive God's blessing.

Jesus Christ healed a paralytic through Peter, so that the healed one rejoiced and praised God.Then Jesus Christ used Peter to preach the good news so that everyone who repents of their sins and believes in the gospel can have eternal life and be happy.

Our God is really wonderful. He wants to save all people from the misery of sin and make them happy as God's children.

The beautiful story of Lena Maria Klingvall (née Johansen), a woman from Sweden, is one of the lucky ones. Her parents were Christians and were active in a free church. When Lena was born, the two were initially shocked by her shape, because Lena had no arm and her left leg was much shorter than her right. They prayed to God and accepted their daughter as she is - a precious gift from God to them.

However, they treated their child as if she was a healthy child. When she asked her parents for help, they initially gave her enough time to solve her problem on her own. Once Lena Maria lost her balance and fell to the ground. She screamed loudly for help. Then her mother calmly replied: "Lena, you can crawl to the fence and get up with the help of the fence." But when Lena Maria failed with her repeated attempts, they helped her. Thanks to this upbringing, Lena Maria was able to learn to be patient and to solve many problems independently.

Lena learned to eat independently, swim, cook, play the piano, drive a car, conduct an orchestra or a choir, paint, etc. She won 4 gold medals in France in 1987 at the World Swimming Championships for disabled people. She studied music and is now a prominent gospel singer. At every opportunity, she testifies to God's support as the most important secret to her happy life. She is also happily married to a religious, kind man.

In response to the question: "How can you have a positive attitude to life and live happily despite many difficulties?"

Lena gives three reasons for her positive attitude to life:

The first reason: She has recognized that people's personal situations and characteristics do not mean something negative, but something positive.

The second reason: Her parents' confident composure in the face of her disability was of indescribably importance. Her parents gave her the courage to live fearlessly, regardless of whether she succeeds or fails.

The third and most important reason: God. Faith in God is the most important part of their life. As a Christian, she knows that her being is very worthy and precious before God. How could Lena Maria have such good faith in God?

She testified of her growth in faith something like this:

“I inherited my faith from my parents. However, as I grew, my personal faith struck deeper and deeper roots. I didn't experience any drastic miracles, but I felt the hand of God through many small miracles in everyday life. Some people would not consider these small experiences as miracles, but as something natural. But to me, they meant "God's call" and signs of His presence. The greatest source of my joy is that God is with me.”

Praise God! He loves us all.

He wants all people to believe in Jesus Christ and become children of God.

He is happy to give us eternal life and is with us in everything.

He is present both in the healing of the paralytic in Acts. 3 as well as the faith victory at Lena Maria.

Believe in Jesus Christ!