FAITH IS MORE THAN BELIEVING

Wednesday 7 May

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? Acts 3:12 (NKJV)

Now Peter continued knocking; and when they saw him they were astonished. Acts 12:16 (NKJV)

Have you wondered after laying hands on someone whether or not they would be healed or delivered from a seemingly impossible situation? If you did, you’re in good company. In our opening two verses we see people acting surprised and astonished at what they saw.

Let’s see the type of people that we are talking about here. The first ones are Peter and John, both disciples of Jesus and the rest of the twelve who remained after James was killed by the sword along with other Christians. For the most part, the future apostles of the early church.

Peter and John were at the gate called beautiful when they happened across a lame man begging for money. Read Acts 3 to get the whole story. We know the man was miraculously healed and went walking and leaping and praising God!

As inspiring as this is, I want us to focus on Peter’s response. He told them not to think that it was his power or godliness that made the man walk.

There seems to be an undertone of surprise and possibly shock from Peter who wanted to make it clear that he didn’t perform the miracle. He said it was in His (Jesus) name through faith in His (Jesus) name that made the man well.

Just because Peter relied on ‘the faith’ in Jesus name and what He said, it doesn’t mean that he believed that the miracle would necessarily take place. Stay with me.

Remember Peter was there when Jesus said ‘in my name’ you will lay hands on the sick and the sick will recover. A miracle is an instant recovery but it meets the criteria of the statement.

Therefore Peter’s faith was in Jesus words despite what he may have thought or believed or felt would or would not occur. Peter’s impetuosity was helpful on this occasion.

Another example of shock and awe was Peter’s own deliverance from maximum security prison. This time however, Peter was not the one who was surprised by the end result. You’ll need to read the whole account to fully appreciate this.

The interesting part about this scenario in Acts 12 is that the saints were praying without ceasing for Peter. He supernaturally escapes from prison by an angel and then immediately afterward, proceeds to knock on the door of the house where everybody is praying for his release. A young woman named Rhoda answers the door but to cut to the chase, they don’t believe it’s him. They all think it’s his angel.

Then Peter knocks continuously and they finally let him in. The Bible records that they were all astonished! Don’t forget who the astonished ones are. All The Apostles and other believers at the house. What happened here? They exercised their faith in the name to deliver Peter through prayer but obviously didn’t automatically believe who was standing in the room. Peter!

This tells us something profound. In our first scenario, although we have ‘faith in the name’, it is up to those being ministered to, to exercise faith for themselves in the name to produce a miracle. This can also be achieved by someone believing that the one standing there can facilitate the miracle they believed for.

In our second scenario, we see people putting faith in Christ to work, to help produce a miracle for someone else even though they didn’t believe it when the miracle in this case Peter, showed up!

It’s actually spiritually healthy to be surprised and astonished when God does ‘exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power of the Holy Spirit who works in us.’

Don’t trade in your child like faith for false spirituality. The reason Jesus said they will say ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we do miracles in your name’ is not because these ones were believers, but because His name IS salvation which includes, healing, miracles etc. We will cover this in more detail at another time.

A witch or warlock can use the name of Jesus and get supernatural results. Don’t forget that. The Bible says the demons believe and tremble but that doesn’t mean they are Christians.

Having faith in His name doesn’t mean you’ll always believe. Give yourself the same grace that you would extend to others to grow in it because that is what God has abundantly given in Christ. Stay committed in the faith but don’t lose the awe and wonder of His ability to wow you. Now tell me, who doesn’t love a good surprise?

APPLICATION

Read both stories from our opening scriptures and be inspired that if they could respond in that manner and still be used mightily by God, there’s hope for all of us!