Evangelism

Go , Preach, Win the Lost

Our message today continues in the third chapter of Acts. We will be looking at Acts 3:11-26. So far in our Study we have seen the birth of the church. We have seen the Holy Spirit given to the Church and deliver great power. Peter has used this power twice. Once to win 3000 people to Christ in a single sermon and again to heal a lame man in the temple. Today we are going to see results of that healing. What does Peter do next? What is the response of the Jews to this sudden Miracle? Well, let’s look at our text and see.

Acts 3:11–26 ESV

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.”

What we have here today is an opportunity to examine yet another sermon by Peter, to break it down and look at it bit by bit to see his strategy. I think it is a fair bet to say that if we discover a template in his sermon, we can use it too and see success in sharing Christ with those God places in our path.

So, we are to Evangelize, What is our message?

First look at verses Acts 3:13-15

Acts 3:13–15 ESV

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.

Peter shows the crowd, that it was their sin that killed Jesus, the same Jesus that gave them the power to heal the lame man! Wow talk about stepping on toes! Talk about conviction! Peter doesn’t hold back. He says look, you killed an innocent man! You wanted a murderer to be released so that you could see an innocent man die on a cursed cross. It is the same message as Paul in Romans 3:23, For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God!

We have all Committed Sin!

Peter’s first point is that our sin placed Jesus on the Cross. We are all guilty of His Death. If you have ever done anything wrong, told a dirty Joke, stole a cookie, lied on your income tax return, told a white lie, then you are a sinner and you killed Jesus Christ.

That reminds me of an email I got from my mom. It read,

Have you ever told a white lie? You are going to love this, especially all of the ladies who bake for church events: Alice Grayson was to bake a cake for the Baptist Church Ladies' Group in Tuscaloosa, but forgot to do it until the last minute. She remembered it the morning of the bake sale and after rummaging through cabinets, found an angel food cake mix & quickly made it while drying her hair, dressing, and helping her son pack up for Scout camp.

When she took the cake from the oven, the center had dropped flat, the cake was horribly disfigured, and she exclaimed, "Oh dear, there is not time to bake another cake!" This cake was important to Alice because she did so want to fit in at her new church, and in her new community of friends.

So, being inventive, she looked around the house for something to build up the center of The cake.. She found it in the bathroom - a roll of toilet paper. She plunked it in and then covered it with icing. Not only did the finished product look beautiful, it looked perfect. And, before she left the house to drop the cake by the church and head for work, Alice woke her daughter and gave her some money and specific instructions to be at the bake sale the moment it opened at 9:30 and to buy the cake and bring it home.

When the daughter arrived at the sale, she found the attractive, perfect cake had already been sold.. Amanda grabbed her cell phone & called her mom. Alice was horrified-she was beside herself! Everyone would know! What would they think? She would be ostracized, talked about, ridiculed! All night, Alice lay awake in bed thinking about people pointing fingers at her and talking about her behind her back. The next day, Alice promised herself she would try not to think about the cake and would attend the fancy luncheon/bridal shower at the home of a fellow church member and try to have a good time. She did not really want to attend because the hostess was a snob who more than once had looked down her nose at the fact that Alice was a single parent and not from the founding families of Tuscaloosa , but having already RSVP'd, she couldn't think of a believable excuse to stay home..

The meal was elegant, the company was definitely upper crust old south and to Alice’s horror, the cake in question was presented for dessert! Alice felt the blood drain from her body when she saw the cake! She started out of her chair to tell the hostess all about it, but before she could get to her feet, the Mayor's wife said, "what a beautiful cake!" Alice, still stunned, sat back in her chair when she heard the hostess (who was a prominent church member) say, "Thank you, I baked it myself." Alice smiled and thought to herself, "God is good."

We have all sinned! We must admit it! That is the first part of our message.

The second point to Peter’s sermon was the resurrection.

We must Comprehend the Resurrection!

You cannot Evangelize, you cannot share the Gospel, you cannot win someone to Christ if you do not share the resurrection! And you cannot possible share it unless you understand it. It is the most important part! Peter says in verse Acts 3:15

Acts 3:15 ESV

15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

He was resurrected. As the late Dr. S. M. Lockeridge said, “The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree about Him. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him.”

A Moslem said to a Christian, "WE Moslems have one thing you Christians do not have. When we go to Medina (Saudi Arabia), we find a coffin and know that that Mohammed lived because his body is in it. But when, you Christians go to Jerusalem, you find nothing but an empty tomb." "Thank you!" exclaimed the Christian. "What you say is absolutely true, and that makes the eternal difference. The reason we find an empty tomb is because we serve a risen Christ."

Our message to those who God loves, must be First, “We are sinners, Our sins killed Jesus. Next, is that Jesus rose again and defeated death. There is no body in the tomb, we serve a risen Savior.”

The Third point that Peter mentions is in Acts 3:19-20

Acts 3:19–20 (ESV)

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...

If we are to follow Peter example, we must share a message of repentance.

We must Communicate this Truth.

Salvation is by the Grace of Jesus Christ, but the only way to attain this gift is through repentance. The true Gospel is not complete without repentance. Paul preached to the Ephesians in Acts 20:21

Acts 20:21 ESV

21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sure, our sin killed Christ. Hung Him on that tree. Crucified Him. Sure He didn’t stay dead, He arose. He was resurrected. But, what does that mean, for us, for the world? It means that we get a second chance! That is the message we have to share. That is what we have been commissioned to teach! We all get one more chance. Repent means to turn away from sin. It means to feel regret or contrition. Peter told those people in that temple that day to repent, turn away from their sin of denying who Jesus was and obey His teaching. We must share the same message. Turn from your sin, whatever it may be. Even if it is claiming that you baked a cake that you didn’t! Paul told the Philippian Jailer to Call on the Lord and He would be saved. Peter is teaching the same thing. Call on the Lord, repent and turn from you sin, and believe in Jesus Christ. That is the Gospel! That is the message we must eat, drink, sleep, and breathe.

Repent and turn to the Lord that our sin might be forgiven.

Finally Peter tells them in Acts 3:19-23

Acts 3:19–23 ESV

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.’

Peter told those people in that temple that day, that their time was limited. He shares with them the promise that we all have, that Jesus Christ is coming back. We do not know when, but we know it is soon, it is imminent!

We must Compel Urgency in Light of Christ’s Return!

The Lord is coming back as promised and those who do not repent will be Cut off.

Man is born with his back toward God. When he truly repents, he turns right around and faces God. Repentance is a change of mind…. Repentance is the tear in the eye of faith.

Dwight L. Moody

I cannot imagine how horrible it would be for the Lord to come back and to have to explain to Him why I rejected His message of Love. Why I thought that I was so important that I didn’t have to repent and believe in Him, my creator. Yet, many souls will have to do just that. Explain why they rejected the Gospel message. Scripture says that we all are without excuse. No one will be able to say, well I didn’t have time, or no one ever explained it clear enough, or I never heard the Gospel at all….

But you know what? As a Christian, the last thing I want to witness is a lost person at judgment, receiving their punishment of eternal damnation and using the excuse, “well Jesus, Billy Jones never told me about you.”

Peter’s message was simple. We are all sinners, Our sins killed Jesus. He didn’t stay dead, he rose again, defeating sin. Because of this we can repent and be reunited with our creator. Because of this, no matter what life throws our way, no matter what we feel like we have lost, no matter if we are alone, afraid, sitting at a temple gate, depending on others for everything, Jesus can give you hope, He can give you peace. He is the answer to all our problems, He is the friend that will never leave us, never forsake us. He is the solution, our salvation. But don’t wait too long, take this opportunity given to you today to repent of your sins, ask for His forgiveness. Seek Him as your savior. Make Jesus the master of your life. Start today by asking for His strength to start living for Him.