Acts (5) The Powerful Name of Jesus

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

Acts 3:1-11 records the first miracle of the Early Church. Through the name of Jesus, Peter and John had healed a man born lame at the gate called Beautiful, consequently, this attracted a big crowd. Through the apostles, the Lord performed this miracle and opened a way for Peter to share God’s message, as a result, five thousand came to believe in the Lord (4:4). This was a message that brought salvation to five thousand. What was this message about? I entitled this message, “The Powerful Name of Jesus”.

In chapter 3, verse 1, Peter said, “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see.” Peter told the Israelites directly that it is by the name of Jesus that this man was made well. The name of the Lord is filled with power. In this message, let us study the three kinds of power that can be found in the name of the Lord:

I. There is Resurrection Power in the Name of the Lord v.13-15

Peter told the Israelites, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.” Jesus performed many miracles while he was on earth, 35 cases of which had been chronicled. The Jews had seen them with their own eyes, but still they handed Jesus over to Pilate. Pilate couldn’t find Jesus guilty of any sin and wanted to release him, but the Jews demanded for Barabbas to be released instead. They disowned this holy righteous man. Peter told them, “You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.” Jesus had risen from the dead; there is resurrection power in the name of Jesus. A name not only represents the identity of the person, what is more, it carries his authority, position, and reputation.

When I say Jeremiah Cheung, not only does the name refer to myself, but it represents my identity (senior pastor), my reputation (good or bad), my capacity (wise or foolish). Let me share with you an experience I had with regards to the power behind a name. It was 1988 when I first arrived from Hong Kong; but because of my status, I had to leave the Philippines after one year and re-apply for missionary visa so that I may re-enter the Philippines. A week before I was to return to Hong Kong, I went to visit a family. During our conversation, I mentioned that I had to return to Hong Kong and did not know when I will be able to return. Suddenly the man told me, “No problem, after a week, you can return,” and then he gave me a letter and a business card. It turned out that the Philippine ambassador to Hong Kong was his brother-in-law. When I was in Hong Kong, I went and tried to see the man, I gave the letter and the business card to one of his office staff. Before long, someone ushered me into his office and gave me a cup of coffee. Then, the consular came out. I told him Mr. XXX told me to come see you. He replied, “Good.” When he finished reading the letter, he told me, “No problem. Come back after three days, I will give you your missionary visa.” As a result, after a week, I was able to return to the Philippines. Some names are really influential!

However, there is an important principle – the person who bears the name has to be a living person. If he is already dead, all the power behind his name will vanish; because a dead person is powerless. If you use the name Marcos today, it will be useless because Marcos is already dead. And, if you use Chang Kai Shek’s name in Taiwan, it is also useless because the man is already dead. No matter how powerful he may have been while alive, a dead man’s name is nothing more than a memory. Peter said, “It is Jesus’ name that has completely healed the man.” And the man was able to stand up. This proves one important reality, Jesus is not dead, Jesus is risen from the dead, Jesus’ name is full of power. In Matthew 28, the passage on the Great Commission, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Jesus’ name represents all the authority in heaven and on earth, so when we pray in the name of Jesus, we are praying in the name of the resurrected Lord. The name of the Lord is full of resurrection power, because he is alive; he is the Lord who is alive forevermore.

II. There is Healing Power in the Name of the Lord 16

Verse 12, Peter denied that this miracle was done through their own power or godliness. In verse 16, Peter directly acknowledged that this miracle was done through the name of the Lord Jesus. Peter told the Jews that Jesus’ name has power to heal. Exodus 15:22-26 records how the Jews escaped from Egypt. After crossing the Red Sea, they couldn’t find water for three days. Later on they reached Marah. They found water but it was not drinkable because the water was bitter, that is why the place was called Marah (meaning bitter). Moses prayed to the Lord, who instructed him to throw a piece of wood into the water; amazingly, the water which was bitter and unclean became sweet and potable. Then the Lord told the Jews (Exodus 15:26) “If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” The Lord is your healer, in the original text, it is written as Jehovah-Rapha.

The Bible contains many names of God:
(1.) Jehovah-jireh (The Lord will Provide) Gen 22:14;
(2.) Jehovah-nissi (The Lord our Banner) Exodus 17:15;
(3.) Jehovah-rapha (The Lord our healer) Exodus 15:26;
(4.) Jehovah-shalom (The Lord is peace) Judges 6:24;
(5.) Jehovah-Tsidkenu (The Lord our Righteousness) Jer 23:6;
(6.) Jehovah-rohi (The Lord is my shepherd) Psalm 23:1;
(7.) Jehovah-Shammah (The Lord who is present) Jer 23:23.

Our God is magnificent; each of his names is full of power. Jehovah-rapha (The Lord our Healer), our Lord is full of power to heal, there is no illness that he cannot heal. We are afraid to hear the word cancer, because for us, cancer is like a death sentence. Actually it is not so. In 1960, when the doctor tells a patient you have TB, it was like saying he had cancer, because there was no drug yet to cure it. During that time, someone who contracts TB in Hong Kong will be sent to an island, because they feared he may infect others. Many patients die in that island. When he was young, my father also contracted TB, and was sent to that island. We all thought he would die in that island, but he recovered and was sent back home. It was truly the mercy of God.

Nowadays, when the doctor tells you that you have TB, you don’t need to be afraid, because there are available drugs to cure it. I don’t know, maybe after ten, twenty years, medicine might even advance to the point of finding a cure for cancer. By that time, cancer may become easily treatable, like an ordinary flu; a person could be alright after taking some medicine. Jehovah-rapha, the Lord is our healer, he can heal any disease, there is nothing too difficult for him. Moses told the Jews: “If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, he will heal all your diseases.” Peter told the Jews: “It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed this man who was born lame.” The name of the Lord is powerful, the Lord’s name is full of healing power.

President and founder of Overseas Bible Seminary, Rev. Johnny Chang, passed away this year. Rev. Chang stepped out to be a pastor in his twenties and passed away in his nineties. He had served the Lord for 70 years; however, 40 years ago, he was found with cancer and he often fell ill. Repeatedly, the doctor told him to go home and prepare to die, but the Lord healed him again and again. He left this world only on July 17 of this year. During the graduation rites this year, he had even went up the pulpit and delivered a message. We can see from his life how the Lord is healer. As long as the Lord wills, there is no disease, physical or spiritual, that he cannot heal.

III. There is Saving Power in the Name of the Lord 17-19

Peter told the Jews: “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.” There are five kinds of offerings – burnt offerings, fellowship offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. Sin offerings and guilt offerings are both offerings for sins committed, but they are different in that sin offering is for sins one is aware of having committed. For example, knowing that stealing is sin and a person still commits it, the person would have to make sin offering for this. If a person was not aware that he was sinning while committing the sin, upon realization that he had committed a sin, the man must offer guilt offering.

Jesus prayed to the Father on the cross: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Jesus meant that they acted out of ignorance and was asking the Father to forgive them. When we say ignorance, it is not stupidity, it may simply mean being unaware. In 1799, the first president of the United States, George Washington, experienced breathing difficulty. After several hours, three doctors came and all agreed to do bloodletting. Two thousand three hundred milliliters of blood was let out of 67 year-old Washington’s body. It was highly possible that he had died as a result of severe loss of blood. Those doctors may seem ignorant, but no, we all know that doctors are intelligent men. It was just that during that time, medical knowledge was limited. When we sin, it is not because we are stupid, but it is because we are spiritually ignorant. But praise the Lord, the Lord Jesus’ name has power to save.

What does Jesus’ name mean? Matthew 1:20-21, the angel told Joseph: “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus means `to save us from our sins.’ There is saving power in name of the Lord. The Bible says: “All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” But the Bible also says: “Not all who calls me `Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” We see, that some who call on the name of the Lord will be saved, but some will not be saved. How do we know the difference? Acts 3:19 gives us a very good answer, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

This verse tells us a person who truly calls on the name of the Lord must do two things first:

1. Repent – What does it mean to repent? To repent is not only to feel remorse for one’s sins, to repent is to feel very ashamed of sins that one has committed. This is true repentance. In Chinese, the word repent is made up of two characters, the first character refers to repentance from the inner heart and the second character refers to change in one’s external behavior. We are all familiar with the story of the prodigal son. Let me ask you, when did the prodigal son repent? Some say he repented when he returned home. But I don’t think so. When he was still outside and suffering, with nothing to eat, he thought to himself of how much food there must be in his father’s house, and so he decided to return home. I believe that at that time, he had not yet truly repented, he only found himself at a dead-end; because he had no other recourse, he decided to return home. But then, he was afraid his father would not accept him back, so before he returned home, he thought of ways to meet his father, he prepared what he was going to say. He said: I will tell my father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” He had prepared a speech. There is no true repentance with someone who does this.

But when he saw his father and how he treated him, how he loved him; the Bible says: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” At this point, the father’s love transformed the prodigal son. This time, the prodigal son truly repented. Look at Luke 15, you will discover he only uttered half of his prepared speech, he did not finish it. I believe he simply broke down and sobbed. This was when he truly repented. Aren’t we just like the prodigal son? Only when we experience God’s love, when his love melts our hearts, will we truly repent.

2. Change – If repentance were like a coin, one side would be contrition and the other side must be transformation. Through our actions, we show whether we have truly repented. Jesus, on the Sermon on the Mount, spoke of two roads – the broad and the narrow road. Many take the broad road, but perish. Few take the narrow road, but that is the road to eternal life. When a person repents, he will not stop there. He will begin to take the narrow road, the road of mending his ways. This road is unique: this is a narrow road. What does this mean? This is not an easy road to take, praying isn’t easy, reading the bible isn’t easy, giving isn’t easy, to let God be the center of one’s life isn’t easy. These aren’t things that our flesh likes. If it were up to our flesh, we would love pleasure and honor. However, we must take the narrow road, a road where we observe discipline. Do you know what discipline means? It means to “temporarily let go of pleasure”.

A disciplined person is willing to forego pleasure temporarily in order to attain the better end. For example, if a sister wants to have a beautiful physique, she would be willing to forego the pleasure of staying in bed longer and go exercise. She is willing to let go of mouth-watering food (lechon, peking duck, siao long pao, roast beef), and consume only vegetables and fruits. In the spiritual path, it is also the same, we are willing to forego pleasures for the moment, leave the broad path, and take the narrow road, the path of change. When a person truly calls on the name of the Lord, his inner heart will repent and change, when he calls on the name of the Lord, the Lord’s power of salvation will enter his heart, he will receive mercy and be saved.

How great is the Lord’s name, the Lord’s name is full of resurrection power, healing power and salvation power. Paul said in Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”