ACTS
CHAPTER 3:13-28, “The Second Sermon Of Peter”
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1. Last week we looked at the first miracle worked by the Lord through the lives of the early church after its official inauguration into existence on the day of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead
1.1.1. We saw in last weeks message that Peter and John passed a beggar in front of the temple who was hoping to receive something material from them, however they saw that he had a much greater spiritual need, and in healing him they were also used to give to him spiritual life in Christ
1.1.2. We also saw how that Peter told the man, “Silver and gold have I none, but…”, and I remarked that Jesus was raised in and lived in poverty His whole life, and that the apostles themselves also had to live in poverty in order to follow Jesus
1.1.3. We saw also how that the more a church focuses on the external and material things that they have less and less of the power of God in the church
1.1.4. We saw that the ‘prosperity’ gospel that has come into the church would condemn Jesus and the apostles as having no faith because of their poverty, and that the ‘prosperity’ doctrine brings condemnation to those who are not blessed financially, especially those living outside of our affluent American society where they have no chance of financial prosperity
1.1.5. We also saw how after the lame man was healed through the faith of Peter and John that Peter gave all of the credit to God, and that he showed what ‘true humility’ is by speaking the truth that the healing did not come about because of his own ‘power’ or ‘piety’
1.1.5.1. I mentioned in this regard that if God works mightily through our lives that it is actually in spite of our sinfulness, for the scripture is clear that we have all fallen short of the glory of God
1.1.5.2. I mentioned then that the Bible teaches us what ‘grace’ is really all about by teaching that though we all deserve condemnation and hell because of our transgressions of God’s law, God has chosen instead to love us ‘worms’ unconditionally as His very own sons and daughters
1.2. Well, today we are going to continue looking at this second sermon of Peter’s
1.2.1.
The theme of this second sermon of Peter is
the same as his first sermon, namely, ‘the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead’.
1.2.1.1.In other words, God
glorified His Son Jesus and raised Him from the dead, and, in this sermon Peter
tells the people that he and those with him are personal witnesses of the fact
of His resurrection from the dead
2.
VS 3:13-15
- “13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has
glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom
you delivered up, and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided
to release Him. 14
"But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a
murderer to be granted to you, 15 but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.
(NASB)”
- Peter preaches to
the Jews gathered in the temple again, and as in his first sermon he is really
preaching to the nation of
2.1.
Peter appeals to
the people’s Jewish heritage by referring to the God of the Patriarchs Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and He calls the Lord, ‘the God of our fathers’
2.1.1. The message of Peter’s preaching to the Jews is
effective as it points them to the prophecies of their own scriptures
2.1.1.1.We would be wise to try to reach our Jewish friends by
pointing them to their own prophesies of the Messiah in the Old Testament
2.2.
Peter is direct
with the people as he should be, for they need to be convicted of their sin in
rejecting their Messiah
2.2.1. As a good preacher, Peter speaks directly to the
people, telling them that they had crucified this One whom God had sent to them
as ‘His servant’ and ‘the Holy and Righteous One’, and, the heinousness of
their deed is shown even more so in that when they could have had Jesus pardoned
from prison they instead chose to have a murderer released to them
2.2.2. As I have mentioned before, it must have been
humiliating and devastating for Jews in that day to consider that they might
have crucified the very Messiah in whom was the very hope of the entire nation
2.2.3. Preachers today must realize that they are to speak to
the people and not just speak before them, and, in their ministry they are to,
“reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great
patience and instruction”, 2
Tim. 4:2.
2.2.3.1.H.A. Ironside writes, “One
might feel Peter could have dealt with them more gently, and not have stressed
the point that they had denied Him. But
let us remember it is ever the work of a good doctor or surgeon to be faithful
to his task. So it is never a kindness
on the part of a servant of God to gloss over the sins of the people to whom he
preaches. God would have men’s hearts
probed to the very depths. He would have
men realize the corruption of their nature, even of their sinful acts which
placed them in condemnation before God (and which, after all, became the title
to His saving grace). You see, it is my
sin that gives me title to the blood of Jesus, and it is the blood of Jesus
that gives me the title to heaven”.
2.2.4. Several years ago, we were going to a church and the pastor
was afraid of offending anyone and so he would never use the word ‘sin’, and
never call anything ‘sinful’. He would
be teaching and he would get to one of those areas in the scripture which
should be black and white concerning right and wrong and he would waffle all
around the subject without just calling the action sinful, and afterwards I
would ask myself, “What in the world was he trying to say?” My heart actually got hardened to his
teaching and I eventually got to the place where I could not receive anything
from him at all. Then, we started going
to the first Calvary Chapel, and our pastor actually called ‘sin’ what it is,
in love of course, and it was so refreshing to hear. I realized that I needed to hear teaching
that was black and white concerning those things in the scripture that really
are black and white.
2.3.
Peter tells the
Jews here that their God had ‘glorified’ this One whom he calls ‘His servant
Jesus’. Many prophets and kings were
referred in the Old Testament as the ‘servant’ of God, and thus it is only
appropriate that the title ‘His servant’ would be used in this translation
referring to Jesus, the Messiah.
2.3.1. The word ‘servant’ though can be translated as ‘son’
as well however, and some translations use this word here in referring to
Jesus.
2.4.
Strong’s
dictionary has the following entry for the Greek word, ‘doxazo’, which
is translated here as ‘glorified’, and it tells us that this same word is
translated in other places as glorify, honour, have glory,
magnify, make glorious, full of glory:
2.4.1. to think, suppose, be of opinion
2.4.2. to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate
2.4.3. to honour, do honour to, hold in honour
2.4.4. to make glorious, adorn with lustre, clothe with
splendour
2.4.4.1.to impart glory to something, render it excellent
2.4.4.2.to make renowned, render illustrious
2.4.4.2.1.to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged
3. VS 3:16-18 - “16 And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. (NASB)” - Peter tells the people that it was the ‘Name of Jesus’ which has strengthened the man, and faith in His Name
3.1.
We saw last week
that Peter was a man of true humility for he realized that it was not because
of his holiness or close walk with the Lord that this miracle had happened
3.1.1. Here we see that Peter expands on this and tells the
people that it was ‘the Name of Jesus’ which strengthened the man, and faith in
His Name
3.2.
Last week I
touched upon the fact that I have a hard time with the ‘faith’ movement people
who want to call themselves ‘faith healers’ because if something miraculous is worked through one of
God’s people, it was Him who did it, not them
3.2.1. The ‘faith movement’ teachers have said that all we
have to do is to ‘believe’ and ‘positively confess’ anything that we
may want to have or have happen, and if we have genuine faith, then will get
it, and the problem with that idea is
three-fold as I see it:
3.2.1.1.It makes the person doing the believing and confessing
to be God, and it makes God to be their servant and laboring at their beck and
call, so to speak
3.2.1.1.1.Some of the faith teachers have actually seen where
this doctrine is going and they have taught that we all are little ‘gods’,
quoting some scriptures out of context to justify this idea, but this doctrine
is actually something of the ‘new age’ philosophy which has somehow crept into
the church today
3.2.1.1.1.1.A quote from a famous and popular faith teacher proves
that they believe and teach this, “Now
Peter said by exceeding and precious promises you become partakers of the
divine nature. All right, are we gods? We are a class of gods!”
3.2.1.1.1.2.The idea of becoming a ‘god’ is actually the very sin
that caused Lucifer to fall for he desired to be like God and be worshipped as
the Most High, and thus he drew away 1/3rd of all of the angels
after him
3.2.1.1.1.2.1.Ezekiel wrote about Lucifer’s fall in Ezekiel 28:2-15 speaking of him as
being symbolized as ‘the king of Tyre, “2 Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God, ”Because
your heart is lifted up And you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of
gods, In the heart of the seas’; Yet you
are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God—3
Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There
is no secret that is a match for you. 4
“By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself, And
have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries. 5 “By your great wisdom, by your trade You
have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your
riches—6 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have made your heart
Like the heart of God, 7 Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you,
The most ruthless of the nations. And
they will draw their swords Against the beauty of your wisdom And defile your
splendor. 8 ‘They will bring you down
to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of
the seas. 9 ‘Will you still say, “I am
a god,” In the presence of your slayer, Although you are a man and not God, In
the hands of those who wound you? 10
‘You will die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of strangers, For I
have spoken!’ declares the Lord God!”‘”
11 Again the word of the Lord came to me saying, 12 “Son of man, take up
a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord
God,“You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 “You were in Eden, the garden of
God; Every precious stone was your
covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the
diamond; The beryl, the onyx, and the
jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise,
and the emerald; And the gold, the
workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were
created They were prepared. 14 “You
were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy
3.2.1.2.The scriptures teach us that it is only when we pray
according to His will that we are guaranteed receiving that which we ask for
3.2.1.2.1.The apostle John wrote in 1 John 5:14-15, “14 And
this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything
according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in
whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him”
3.2.1.3.The ‘faith’ that the ‘faith movement’
teachers speak of is not Biblical faith at all, in fact it is really more
metaphysical and similar to the faith of the Scientology than Christianity,
because it is ‘faith’ that is based upon nothing, or ‘faith in faith itself’,
its’ metaphysical ‘mind-over-matter’ thinking with a Christian wrapper, however
true faith for the Christian must be based upon God’s Word in order to be valid
3.2.1.4.We in the church are supposed to be following the
Lord’s leading, and seeking after His perfect will in everything, and we can be
sure of this that He does not need
our advice our counsel about how to do anything, therefore we must
pray and leave every prayer in His hands to be answered according to His
perfect will
3.3.
In this verse, Peter
introduces a new dynamic, or practical
concept, to the people, that of doing things in the name of Jesus. Peter says that it was on the basis of ‘faith
in His name’ that this miracle occurred.
3.3.1. The apostles had already practiced using this phrase after
they were sent out by Jesus on their two internship missionary journeys
3.3.2. The phrase, ‘In the name of Jesus’, is not a magical
formula which one may use in order to conjure up some spiritual force, rather
it refers to Jesus Himself and all that He stands for, and for Peter as well as
us today it means ‘to speak as
Jesus’ very representative and under His direction and inspiration’.
3.3.3. We already saw that in the Great Commission in Matt.
28:19 that the Lord commissioned the church to go out in His Name and to reach
the world through the preaching of the gospel, and as we the church go out we
are to go out as His representatives being specially sent to do His bidding
3.3.3.1.In 2 Cor. 5:20,
Paul wrote that he and the apostles were, and we can therefore infer that all
of us should be, ‘ambassadors’ for Jesus working and ministering as His
representatives on earth, “20 Therefore,
we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg
you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God”
3.3.4. We Christians need to learn to do all that we do ‘in
the name of Jesus Christ’. We need to
learn to pray as His representative, speak as His representative, and live holy
and consecrated lives before Him which testify that we are His
representative.
3.3.5. If Jesus cannot be glorified by something that we are
doing in our life then that thing should be removed from our life if we want to
do things ‘in His name’, otherwise we will only bring dishonor to His Name
3.4.
Peter appeals to
his audience that this miracle of healing the man lame from birth is obvious
and that it is in fact standing right in front of them, for he says that this
has been done ‘in the presence of you all’.
4. VS 3:17-18 - “17 And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. 18 "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer, He has thus fulfilled. (NASB)” - Peter tells the people that he knows that they acted in ignorance, but nonetheless the Lord was fulfilling through them the prophesies of the Old Testament concerning the first coming of the Messiah to the earth to suffer
4.1.
After convicting
his audience for their sin in putting Jesus to death, an act for which all Jews
living in
4.1.1. Peter tells them that this had happened in the first
place because of God’s predetermined plan which was ‘announced beforehand by
the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer’. God allowed this to happen to Jesus because
of His predetermined plan.
4.1.1.1.No man could have taken Jesus’ life unless God had
allowed that it happen for Jesus Himself said, “18No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative.
I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to tke it up again. This
commandment I received from My Father" (NASB)”, John 10:18.
4.2.
We Christians and
Christian leaders and teachers need to follow Peter’s lead, and never leave the
weight of the law upon repentant peoples’ shoulders, for none of us can bear
the weight of God’s Law.
4.2.1. If God uses us to point out sin to a brother or a
sister, we also must lead that person to the cross where the sin can be taken
away and the burden of the law lifted from their shoulders.
4.2.2. Paul wrote in Romans
8:1 that for us who are in Christ there is ‘no condemnation’, and
therefore we can take heart that the Lord is not shaking His finger at us
because of our failures nor is He just waiting for an opportunity to punish us
for sins we have committed, “8:1 There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
4.2.2.1.You see, it is like this, because of the incredible
grace of God granted to us, since you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior,
that little book that God has that contains all of your sins in it has been
emptied out never to be refilled.
5. VS 3:19 - “19 Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; (NASB)” - Peter preaches ‘repentance’ again in this second sermon of his
5.1.
As I have
mentioned many times, to ‘repent’ means to turn one’s life over to God. It means to turn from a life of sin and allow
Jesus to be your Lord.
5.1.1. There can be no salvation apart from repentance from
one’s sin.
5.1.2. There can be no ‘faith’ in Christ apart from
repentance.
5.1.3. Peter tells the Jews here that they are to repent and
‘return’ to the Lord, for they are wayward prodigal children who have rejected
their God.
5.2.
We in the church
must preach ‘repentance from sin and to God’, and tell people that if
they will repent that the Lord will also ‘wipe away their sins’
5.2.1. We must preach that salvation is the cleansing of all
sin in a person’s life
5.3.
We must remember
that Peter was talking to people of the Jewish religion, both in this sermon as
well as in the first one. These were
people who knew God’s Laws and knew first hand that they could not keep those
laws, and yet they could not help themselves for they were constantly breaking
those Laws. Therefore, in these two
sermons there was no need for Peter to preach the Law in order to convince them
of their sin, these people were already convinced that they were sinners. He merely had to show them the way that they
could be forgiven of their sin and have eternal life.
5.4.
Peter is again
talking to the Jewish nation as a whole when he tells them that if they repent,
that what will ensue is, ‘times of refreshing [which will] come from the
presence of the Lord’.
5.4.1. Paul writes prophetically in Romans 11 of a time still
in the future when the Jewish nation will come to repentance.
5.4.1.1.This will occur during the latter part of the seven
years of tribulation before the second coming of Christ.
5.4.1.1.1.It is at that time that those times of refreshing for
the nation will occur.
6. VS 3:20-21 - “20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. (NASB)” - Peter tells the Jews present there that they should repent so that God might send the Messiah to them
6.1.
Speaking again to
the Jewish nation Peter tells them that Jesus was the Messiah (“Christ”) whom
God had ‘appointed’ for their nation, and thus if they were to repent of their
life of sin and return to God, He would send Jesus for their nation, since He
had been appointed as their Messiah
6.2.
Peter tells the
people in verse 21 that Jesus would remain in heaven until the ‘period of the restoration of all things about
which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time’. Which prophets are referred to by Peter? There are two restorations which are
mentioned in the Old Testament
6.2.1. In Jeremiah
27:22, Jeremiah prophesied that the Jewish nation would be taken in
captivity to
6.2.1.1.This period of restoration came at the end of 70 years
of captivity as Jeremiah predicted would happen in Jer. 29:10
6.2.2. In Dan.
9:24-26, there is a second timetable for restoration that is given in
the Old Testament, and this timetable begins counting when the end of the
Babylonian Captivity begins, “24 Seventy
weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the
transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring
in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the
most holy place. 25 “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a
decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be
seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat,
even in times of distress. 26 “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will
be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will
destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to
the end there will be war; desolations are determined””
6.2.3. This restoration of all things therefore refers to the
time of Christ’s second coming at the end of the 7 year Tribulation of the book
of Revelation when
6.2.3.1.In Isaiah
65:17-25, Isaiah writes in verses 17-19 about the new heavens and earth
that that the Lord will create, and then he goes backwards and begins to write
about the wonderful restoration that God will perform on the earth during the
Millennium, ““17 For behold, I
create new heavens and a new earth; And
the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 18 “But be glad and rejoice forever in what
I create; For behold, I create
6.2.3.1.1.For instance, there will be longevity of life, with a
person 100 years old as a youth, however there will be death, which is unlike
the new heavens and earth in which there will be no death.
6.2.3.1.2.There will be the reversing of the curse, yet their
will be toiling on the earth for food, which is again unlike the period of the
new heavens and earth in which we shall not need food to live.
6.2.3.1.3.They shall build houses, whereas in the period of the
new heavens and earth the Lord will have built a mansion for us.
6.2.3.2.Rev. 20:1-6 also speaks about this restoration that will occur at
the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ at the end of the 7 year
Tribulation, “1 And I saw an angel
coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his
hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil
and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the abyss,
and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations
any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must
be released for a short time. 4 And I
saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw
the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and
because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand;
and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest
of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This
is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the
first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be
priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years”
6.3.
Peter encourages
the Jewish nation to come to Christ for salvation saying that He is, ‘appointed
for you’
7. VS 3:22-23 - “22 Moses said, 'The Lord God shall raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed in everything He says to you. 23 'And it shall be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' (NASB)” - Peter tells the people that Moses spoke that the Lord would send them another prophet like himself and that they were supposed to listen to everything He says to them
7.1.
The Jewish people
had never been good at listening to the Lord and had suffered greatly because
of it, as Joshua 5:6 reveals
when it says that it was because of their not listening to the Lord that the
whole generation of men that came out of Egypt were not able to enter the
promised land, “6 For the sons of
Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, that is, the
men of war who came out of Egypt, perished because they did not listen to the
voice of the Lord, to whom the Lord had sworn that He would not let them see
the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing
with milk and honey”
7.2.
In this verse,
Peter reminds the people of what Moses said in Deut. 18:18-19, prophesying
about the coming Messiah. The Jews were
looking for their Messiah, they had simply stumbled over Jesus’ coming because
He did not come as the political Messiah they anticipated, but rather He came
as the suffering Messiah.
7.3.
Moses said
prophetically that everyone who did not heed what Jesus said and did should be
‘utterly destroyed from among the
people’. This is really
referring to the afterlife however I believe, as there is no other way that
this could be literally fulfilled.
7.3.1. If a person does not believe in Jesus and commit their
lives into His hands, they shall suffer eternal death out of the presence of
the Lord forever.
8. VS 3:24 - “24 And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. (NASB)” - Peter tells the people that all of the prophets from Samuel onward had announced the coming of Jesus the Christ
8.1.
Peter tells the
people that ‘all the prophets’ from Samuel onward announced the coming of the
Messiah, which was fulfilled in Jesus Christ’s life
9. VS 3:25-26 - “25 It is you who are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' 26 "For you first, God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways." (NASB)” - Peter reminds the people that they are sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with their fathers
9.1.
In the last two
verses of this chapter, Peter reminds the people of the covenant to Abraham,
and how that they are recipients of that covenant. If they will receive the risen savior, Jesus
Christ, then they will inherit the covenant promises made to Abraham.
9.2.
Peter tells this
Jewish audience that it was to them that the gospel was first to be preached,
as it was for them first that God raised up His Son from the dead. God’s purpose for them in hearing the gospel
was that each of them repent and turn away from their sinful, ‘wicked
ways’. For as I said earlier in this
chapter, there can be no salvation if there is no repentance.
10.
CONCLUSION: We see here in this second
sermon of Peter that the theme is “the resurrection of Jesus from the dead”,
and Peter tells these Jews in a very direct way that they had murdered their
Messiah and that they must ‘repent’ if they are to find times of refreshing
from the Lord and have God send to them their Messiah. But, the question I have to ask you today is,
“What will you do now with Jesus in your life?”
10.1. Will you reject Him
completely from your life and have nothing to do with Him?
10.2. Or, will you merely tolerate
His existence and be content to just give assent that He exists?
10.3. Or, will you invite Him to
your house but then give Him the keys to the guest house and only invite Him
into the main house if some crisis arises which He might help in?
10.4. Or, will you invite Him to
your house and give Him a key to every room and invite him to share in all that
goes on in your house? Will you make Him
Lord of your house?
10.4.1.This is what ‘true
repentence’ repentence is…
10.4.2. What will you do with this Jesus?