The Lame Beggar (Acts 3)
Notes
Transcript
Welcome and Announcements
Welcome and Announcements
Outreach Ministry opportunity on October 29, 2022, from 12:30pm-3:30pm. We could use 4-5 volunteers; talk with Natalie for more details.
We’ll be collecting some winter materials (hats, gloves/mittens, scarves, socks, etc.) for Ukrainian refugees who fled from their homes this past summer. If you can help, please place the items in the backpack(s) at the entrance. The deadline for items is November 2, 2022.
Annual Business Meeting on November 6, 2022, after Sunday AM Worship followed by lunch—check the sign-up sheet to volunteer to bring food.
Let me remind you to continue worshiping the Lord through your giving. To help you give, we have three ways to do so, (1) cash and checks can be given at the offering box. Checks should be written to Grace & Peace; debit, credit, and ACH transfers can be done either by (2) texting 84321 with your $[amount] and following the text prompts or (3) by visiting us online at www.giving.gapb.church. Of course, everything you give goes to the building up of our local church and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Prayer of Repentance and Adoration
Call to Worship (Ps 65:5-8)
Call to Worship (Ps 65:5-8)
Our Call to Worship is Psalm 65:5-8, which is a continuation of last week’s psalm in which we see David praising the Lord for the bounteous supply that He provides during the autumn months of harvest. This part of the psalm calls praise to the Lord for salvation, creation, and the works of Almighty God.
Please stand and read with me Psalm 65:5-8. I’ll read the odd-numbered verses, please join me in reading the even-numbered verses.
5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; 6 the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; 7 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, 8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
Congregational Singing
Congregational Singing
When Trials Come (79)
Praise Him! Praise Him! (94)
Before the Throne of God Above (187)
Scripture Reading (Gen 3)
Scripture Reading (Gen 3)
Our Scripture Reading continues in Genesis as we see the fall of man as Adam and Eve succumb to the temptation to sin. We see the temptation itself, the sin, the reaction of man towards God after their sin, and the curse that resulted from the sin. Tara can you read Genesis 3 for us?
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Preaching of God’s Word (Acts 3)
Preaching of God’s Word (Acts 3)
Introduction
Introduction
If you have your Bible with you this morning, please turn it to Acts 3.
I don’t have much in way of introduction today, I want us to essentially jump straight into the text, but I will at least give you a head’s up, that the application for this sermon is very similar to the application to the sermon that I preached two weeks ago through the first part of Acts 2. The reasoning for that is simple, in this passage, Peter is preaching a sermon that is fairly similar to the sermon that he preached in Acts 2, thus, the application is pretty similar.
Keep this in mind as we read Acts 3 together:
1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. 17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
As we study this passage, we’re going to break it into two parts: (1) The Lame Beggar (1-10) and (2) The Message of Peter (11-26). In this section of Scripture, we see Luke mention a miracle that’s performed and much like how John showcased the miracles of Jesus to prove the validity of the message; so does Luke. Luke utilizes this healing miracle to validate the message that Peter preaches afterwards. The sermon this morning will take an in-depth look at that miracle and it will emphasize the same message that Peter preaches.
Prayer for Illumination
The Lame Beggar (1-10)
The Lame Beggar (1-10)
Our text starts by giving us the setting of the next event. We’re told that Peter and John were going to the temple at the hour of prayer, which is the ninth hour and they came upon a man who had been lame from birth.
This event clearly happened soon after the initial coming of the Holy Spirit. Remember that the initial coming of the Holy Spirit came at the third hour, which we know to be about 9am.
The ninth hour then would be about 3pm—so really, not much time has passed between the initial coming of the Holy Spirit and what’s about to happen.
And because it is still the Day of Pentecost, which again, was also a Jewish holiday—both Peter and John are on their way to the temple for worship and specifically for prayer.
It was common during this time period for those that were seeking help because of physical maladies or really for any reason that would’ve stopped them from working to sit outside the gates of the temple to ask those coming into the temple for what Luke calls alms in v. 2.
They’re asking for financial assistance from those coming into the temple—they’re essentially begging so that they can go and buy food or clothing or whatever else that they need.
So, Peter and John are heading up to the temple when they come across a man who was “lame from birth” being carried and laid “at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate” for this very purpose.
He was being brought up to the temple for him to sit outside the gate and ask for help from those entering into the temple.
So, of course, when he sees Peter and John going into the temple, he asks them for help—for alms. Vv. 3-5, “Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’ And he fixed his attention on them.”
Of course, he’s looking at them expecting them to give him something—food, money, really anything that could help him.
Which honestly, is a little ironic if you know who exactly he’s speaking to. Both Peter and John were fisherman before following Jesus—fisherman aren’t really known for their wealth.
When they started following Jesus, it was clear that the disciples and the apostles didn’t have a lot of financial resources—they depended on people to give and support them.
Thus, out of all the people that this man could’ve asked for support from, Peter and John are probably the worst from a human standard, but from a spiritual standard, he asked the right people.
Peter tells this man to “look at [them]” and when he does, Peter says in v. 6, “I have no silver and gold, but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
There’s this miraculous moment of great healing that is done by God through Peter for this man and just like the majority of the miracles throughout the New Testament, it’s almost as if the author (who is Luke this time) just records the event to get to something else.
Or in other words, we don’t really see the details. Peter tells this man to stand and walk—and this man “leaping up . . . stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.”
Luke records just enough for us to see that this man was completely unable to walk until this moment in time, but just like the miraculous events in John—the point here isn’t the miracle.
If we make this all about the miraculous event, we’ll get so many unusual interpretations about what this means and I’m sure you’ve heard some of these interpretations:
That if you have enough faith—Jesus can heal you
Or if you just obey what God says, miracles can happen
Or any number of other interpretations, but the reality is that this text isn’t about the miracle itself, which is why we don’t have that many details.
Rather, we see Peter call him to rise up and walk, and vv. 7-9, we see him not just stand and walk, but leap, “And [Peter] took [the man] by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God,” v. 10, “and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” The only details that we see about the miracle are:
First, everyone knew him as the man who was lame that regularly sat at the temple gates—this adds veracity to the miracle itself.
It would be a completely different matter if the individual in question wasn’t known—as in, if the people didn’t recognize him as the man who regularly sat at the temple and begged for help; they could have made the assertion that he was never actually in need of help—he was never actually lame.
But because the people recognized him as the one who sat at the gate day after day and because they recognized him as a man that had been lame since birth, they couldn’t make that assertion—it’s clear that something miraculous had to have happened.
Second, we know that the individual being healed wasn’t expecting to be healed that day.
Until the moment that Peter says to him to “rise up and walk,” the man only assumes that Peter and John are going to provide some financial support to him.
Again, this adds veracity to the miracle itself because it’s clear that Peter and John and this lame man hadn’t planned anything. This happened in an almost spur-of-the-moment fashion—it wasn’t planned.
Third, we know that the healing was complete—it wasn’t a partial healing and it wasn’t a temporary healing.
I’ve recently heard someone who attended a local “healing school” make the claim that they went to be healed of chronic back pain and that “it kind of worked.” It still hurts, but it’s not as bad.
The fact that his supposed healing wasn’t complete is a warning that the people who are running that “healing school” through a local church aren’t actually who they say they are.
They’re false teachers who are taking advantage of people while claiming to be doing the work of God.
In every instance of miraculous healing throughout the Old and New Testaments, the healings aren’t partial and they aren’t temporary.
In every instance of miraculous healing throughout the Bible, the healings are complete because the miraculous events were utilized by God to prove the validity of the messenger presenting the message of God.
Or in other words, what happens in vv. 1-10 isn’t actually the point of the passage—so to make everything in this pericope about the miraculous healing itself would be to misread and misunderstand what the text is actually about. What happens in vv. 1-10 provides proof to the people listening to Peter that what Peter is saying is genuinely from God. So, the point of the passage is actually in vv. 11-26. Let’s re-read those verses:
The Message of Peter (11-26)
The Message of Peter (11-26)
11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all. 17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
As Luke’s historical account continues he writes of all the people gathering around after hearing of this miraculous healing. We’re told that Peter and John were in “the portico called Solomon’s.”
This was an area on the temple mount on the east side of the temple where rabbi’s would teach the Jewish people.
The early church utilized it as a gathering place for the same purpose—for teaching the people (we see it again in Acts 5:12 being used for the same purpose).
It’s in this same area that Peter addresses the people who had gathered around because of the miraculous healing of this lame man.
And he starts his address by asking them “why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as [if] by our own power or piety we have made him walk?”
The question that Peter poses shows us that Peter recognized that what had occurred was something that only God could have done.
It’s essentially, “why are you looking at us as if we did this on our own?” “Why are you assuming that we did it by our own power or by our own piety or holiness?”
This is really an excellent example of what genuine humility looks like—Peter could’ve taken credit for what had been done and made the claim that he healed the man because of his own great faith or holiness—and yet, he’s quick to point to Jesus as the one who healed the man.
Vv. 13-16 then start the message that Peter gives to them—this is the message that the miraculous healing validated as coming directly from God.
Which Peter emphasizes is from God in v. 13, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.”
Peter starts by pointing out who specifically his message is about. Note the various descriptions that Peter gives about God the Father is intentional—this is essentially how the Jewish people recognized the Father.
We could really read it like this—that Peter and John didn’t heal this man, but the same God who was Abraham’s and the same God who was Isaac’s and the same God of Jacob, and the same God who was our fathers’ God healed this man.
But not only did this same God heal this man, v. 13 speaks of how this same God “glorified his servant Jesus” who, by the way, is the same person that “you [meaning the Israelites] delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate” despite the fact that Pilate wanted to release Him.
Note how Peter calls out their sins just like he called out the sins of those in Acts 2 when he preached the Gospel to those who witnessed the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
And as he calls them out for their sins, he doesn’t beat around the bush—he gets straight to it. Despite the fact that Jesus was glorified as God’s servant and despite the fact that Pilate wanted to release Jesus, they (according to vv. 14-15), “denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to [them], and [they] killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”
Despite all the evidence pointing to Jesus being the Messiah and despite the fact that the Roman official in charge of the region wanted to prevent the death of Jesus, the Jewish people decided to kill Jesus anyways.
Note the hint of irony that Peter gives--that they killed the Author of life. Note also that despite their desire to kill the Author of life, God raised Him from the dead.
And because of the faith in Jesus, this man was healed. Now, you might hear that and you might think, but that’s not what happened when the person was healed—it seems as if the person simply heard Peter’s words and grabbed his hand and that’s all that seems to have happened. How did faith heal this man?
The question is a little complicated to answer because the Greek behind the translation is actually fairly complex and obscure.
Really, what it comes down to is that we don’t know if this man was healed because of his own faith in Jesus or if this man was healed because Peter had faith in the name of Jesus and that’s what healed this man.
It could be that this man had faith—perhaps that’s why after the miraculous healing, he leapt for joy and praised God.
Or it could be that Peter had such faith in Jesus’ name that this faith is what ultimately was the catalyst for this man’s healing.
I think to get too caught up on this minute detail would be to miss the point that Luke is trying to emphasize—he’s simply emphasizing the object of the faith.
It wasn’t Peter that healed the man, it wasn’t John that healed the man, it was done by faith in the name of Jesus, which “has given the man this perfect health in the presence” of all.
So, just like the sermon given directly after Pentecost, Peter confronts their sin before calling them to do something about their sin. We see this call in vv. 17-26 with vv. 17-21 being the basic call to repent and vv. 22-26 being Scriptural support for repentance.
Peter points out that they acted in the crucifixion of Jesus in ignorance, just like the Jewish leadership did, and really just like the Roman leadership did as well, but what occurred through the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection was prophesied throughout the Scriptures.
In v. 18, we see Peter point this truth out, “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.”
Which again, emphasizes this idea that the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus wasn’t a mistake—it didn’t accidentally happen—it was intentionally planned by God.
Despite their ignorance, the reality is that this all happened and it all validates who Jesus is and what His role was as He suffered, died, and was resurrected.
And really, what Peter is starting to emphasize here is the Gospel itself.
Thus, there’s only one proper response to all this—and again, Peter doesn’t mince words and he doesn’t beat around the bush. What’s the proper response to understanding who Jesus is? What is the proper response to understanding the Gospel?
V. 19 tells us, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”
The proper response to understanding who Jesus is and what the Gospel teaches is true, genuine repentance—it is the idea of turning around and following the right path going the correct direction.
It’s is the very idea of rejecting our sin and accepting Jesus and what He commands us to do.
And there are some very important blessings that happen to us when we do repent and turn back. We see them in vv. 19-21,
First, our sins are blotted out—which might be an idea that you’re unfamiliar with, but think of how documents were written in the first century.
Documents were written on papyrus with a quill and an inkwell. If you made a mistake while writing, you couldn’t just erase the word, you would instead take a large amount of ink and use it to cover the mistake—you would blot it.
When we repent, when we turn back, God blots out the record of our sins.
Second, we experience times of refreshing because of the presence of the Lord—remember that before salvation, you are in utter rebellion against God, you are in your sin and thus cannot be in the presence of God.
Thus, if you have yet to repent and believe, you can’t experience that refreshment that comes from the presence of the Lord because it’s the presence of the Lord that grants refreshment and again, if you’re in sin, you can’t enter into the presence of God.
And the third, is that, in the return of the Lord, God will restore all things—and in rejecting sin and accepting Jesus, you will experience that restoration.
Or in other words, after explaining who Jesus is and what Jesus has done, Peter calls the people to repent by calling out their sin and pointing out some blessings that come if they genuinely repent.
To bolster his claims, he points at Scripture in vv. 22-26. Peter quotes from Moses’ writings to prove his claims and there are two direct quotes and some paraphrases given.
The first quote is in v. 22, it’s from Deuteronomy 18 and it’s closely followed by a paraphrase of Leviticus 23:29. The quote is in v. 22, “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.” The paraphrase is v. 23, “And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.”
How exactly the two ideas interrelate with one another isn’t completely explained by Peter, but he’s essentially utilizing Old Testament texts to point out the idea of a better prophet, which is a role that only Jesus fulfills.
But I think just hearing the words quoted by Peter makes it clear what his point is. The same person that they crucified was prophesied about by Moses. In fact, v. 24 makes it clear that “all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.”
Or in other words, Peter is pointing out that the Gospel message—Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for their sins had been prophesied about throughout all the Old Testament.
Despite their previous ignorance, they now know the truth, thus Peter ends this statement with vv. 25-26, “You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.’”
Or put differently, everything that happened with Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection was prophesied multiple times throughout the Old Testament—He is the greater prophet, He is the greater servant, He is the one through whom God fulfills His covenant with Abraham.
Patrick Schreiner sums this passage up like this, “The new prophetic servant has been raised up, and it is time to listen. Acceptance means life; rejection means death.” (Patrick Schreiner, Acts, Christian Standard Commentary. Holman Reference, 2021)
Peter in his sermon is making his point abundantly clear—Jesus is the Messiah that was prophesied about throughout the Old Testament—repent from your sins and accept Jesus because if you don’t, you will very literally die.
Now, you notice that Luke’s account of Peter’s sermon doesn’t actually end here, it does continue, but there’s a lot that we ought to learn from Acts 3 before we continue and this is a good spot for us to stop and consider application before continuing the historical account next week. So, let’s take the remaining few minutes that we have to talk about application.
Application
Application
Much like Peter’s first sermon in Acts 2, which was a simple Gospel presentation given in various languages to various different people, his sermon in Acts 3 follows a simple pattern as well with similar content. The first sermon had the miracle of the speaking in tongues to validate the message that Peter preached; the second sermon had the miraculous healing of the lame man to validate the message that Peter preached—again, remember that the point of the miracles aren’t the miracles themselves, but the message that’s being proclaimed. So, of course, we can’t read a sermon like this and not apply it the way that Peter applied it, but like his first sermon, there’s application here that’s not based on the content of the sermon, but rather how he preached the sermon as well. Thus, let’s start by applying the sermon itself before applying what we learn from how Peter preached the sermon:
The Application of Peter’s Sermon (1-26)—through the whole chapter, we see Peter preach a sermon that holds the same goal that his first sermon did in Acts 2. He wants the Jewish people that are listening to him to realize who Jesus is—that’s why he spends so much time discussing the Old Testament prophecies in relation to Jesus, he wants them to recognize their own sinfulness, and then he wants them to repent from their sins and choose to follow Jesus. He wants them to be saved from their sins and he wants them to experience new life in Jesus. That application is true today as well.
Peter’s sermon for unbelievers is precisely the same message that believers are called to proclaim—and thus our first application from this passage is for unbelievers and it’s the same application that the Jewish people in Acts 3 received, so let me just summarize it again:
Jesus is the Messiah—this is abundantly clear from a cursory reading of the Old and New Testaments—it becomes more and more evident the more that you read the Bible. Or in other words, you realize just how much Jesus fulfills the Old Testament the more you understand what the Old and New Testaments teach.
According to Scripture—we are all born with original sin that’s been passed down Psalm 51:4-5 “4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in guilt, And in sin my mother conceived me.” Consider Romans 3:23-24 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
And of course, sin separates you from an Almighty God and condemns you to judgment and destruction.
What Peter’s sermon is all about is that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, which makes Him the only person that’s able to save you from your sin.
Thus, the application for those that don’t believe this morning is as simple as Peter says it is—repent from your sins, “turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”
Only then will you experience forgiveness for your sins, refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the eventual restoration of all things.
Repent and believe in Jesus.
Learn to Proclaim the Gospel (11-26)—now, for those that already believe—the call here isn’t for you to repent. Though that doesn’t make hearing the Gospel of any less value or worth—you should still regularly remind yourself of the Gospel and praise Jesus for His sacrificial atonement on the cross for your sins. But really, your application for this sort of text beyond simply praising Jesus for saving you is based on the methodology of Peter’s proclamation of the Gospel.
So, let’s start with a basic truth, all believers are called to proclaim the Gospel as part of making disciples of every nation. This is not an optional idea, we’re all called by Jesus to proclaim the truth and make disciples.
We see this in the Great Commission in Matthew 28, we see the call in 1 Peter 3:15 to be prepared to defend your faith in gentleness and respect (which is a form of proclaiming the Gospel), we see Paul making the comment that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,” but how can they call on the name of the Lord unless they hear someone proclaiming the Gospel in Romans 10:13-14.
The question isn’t whether we ought to be proclaiming the Gospel to those around us, it’s really—are we actually doing this? Or are we disobeying God by refusing to do it? And let me be blunt, refusing to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples is disobedience because Jesus commands us to do it.
So, if you’re reflecting on your own evangelistic efforts right now and you realize that you’ve been disobeying God in this, let me encourage you to repent before I encourage you with a simple truth that ought to encourage you to go and proclaim the Gospel.
Proclaiming the Gospel is simpler than what you think it is.
Often when we think of proclaiming the Gospel, we overcomplicate it—we think that unless we come with an answer for every single objection possible, that we can’t possibly proclaim the Gospel well.
Or we think that we simply don’t have enough knowledge to proclaim the Gospel so we choose to remain silent instead of taking serious the Great Commission.
The thing is, we’ve now seen Peter present the Gospel on two occasions in Acts 2-3 and the reality is, that it’s actually pretty simple.
He shows us exactly what we need to say to be able to present the Gospel well and effectively and we can easily sum it up in a memorable way:
Explain who Jesus is, get them to understand that they’re in sin and what that means, and call them to repentance and belief in Jesus Christ.
This is exactly what Peter does in chs. 2-3 in both instances of his sermons—he simply explains who Jesus is, he gets them to understand that they’re in sin and what that means, and then he calls them to repentance and belief in Jesus Christ.
Which means, for us today, proclaiming the Gospel is literally that simple—we need to explain who Jesus is, get the person to understand that they’re in sin and what that means, and then we need to call them to repent and believe in Jesus.
Note that when Peter does this both times—he does it clearly, concisely, and he never beats around the bush. He explains the Gospel in such a way that no one walking away from him could question what he was trying to get them to do.
Thus, we need to work to clearly, concisely, and accurately proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to those around us—no one should ever hear us proclaim the Gospel and walk away wondering what exactly they ought to do in light of the Gospel.
Don’t overcomplicate it—just learn to proclaim it well.
Tell them who Jesus is
Explain to them what sin is and what it does
And call them to repent and follow Jesus.
You need to learn how to proclaim the Gospel—clearly, concisely, and accurately; and then you need to go and proclaim the Gospel to all who will listen.
Put simply, what we see in Acts 3 is yet another sermon by Peter in which he calls unbelievers to repent and believe in Jesus and we see an example of how we can proclaim the Gospel to those who need to hear it—if you’re an unbeliever this morning, repent and follow Jesus; if you’re a believer this morning, learn from Peter’s method of proclaiming the Gospel and implement it by proclaiming the Gospel to all who will listen.
Pastoral Prayer
Congregational Singing
Congregational Singing
Oh, How Good It Is (332)