Peter's Sermon Pt. 2 Acts 3:16-26; 4:1-4

Introduction

Recap of Part 1

Peter reminded them that the power to heal came from the name of Jesus and wasn’t their own power or holiness.

Peter outlined their denial of Christ

They had delivered Christ to Pilate and denied Christ and his release even when Pilate wanted to let him go

They Denied Christ as the Holy One

They Denied Christ as the Just

They Chose a murderer over an innocent man

They Killed the Prince of Life (Jesus is the giver of life and they took his life.

We ended last week where Peter reminded them that God had raised Jesus from the dead

In 1 Cor. 15 Paul list several witnesses of the resurrection but here Peter lists them as witnesses of the resurrection

Though Jesus doesn’t need us to defend him, that is what Peter did here as the Jews were trying to disprove Jesus. He claims they are eye witnesses of Jesus resurrecting from the dead.

As we look at the second part of the sermon today we are going to see the power found in the name of Jesus, the proof that they are no longer ignorant to Jesus truly being the Messiah, and the fact that even the prophets preached Jesus.

The power of the name of Jesus vs. 16

Peter was again reminding them their power to heal came from the name of Jesus. It was nothing the Apostles had done that made the lame man whole, it was the very name of Jesus.

They had obviously passed the lame man enough for Peter to tell them that they “seen and know” him. If any of their priests could have done something to help this man they would’ve by now, but none of them could do anything like that because they trusted their religion and rules more than they trusted the messiah that all those things pointed too.

Peter says the mans faith in Jesus gave him perfect soundness in their presence

Soundness- Wholeness; Entireness; an unbroken, unimpaired, or undecayed state.

Literally his faith made him whole, Jesus had taken his lameness away.

Illustration: The lady with the issue of blood in Matt. 9 went to every doctor, tried every treatment for 12 years and as she is in the crowd that day she thinks to herself if I can just touch the hem of Jesus’ garment my disease will be healed. Jesus tells her in vs. 18 of Matt. 9 “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.”

May I remind you that all of us are born in sin which means we are born in a decaying state, but our faith in Jesus makes us into an undecayed state, he can make us whole!

No more excuse for your ignorance

Peter tells them that he knows what they did to Jesus was because of the ignorance of the scriptures vs. 17

The word ignorance means absence or destitution of knowledge.

The only explanation for the Nation of Israel doing what they did to Jesus is they were ignorant of the scriptures

Jesus even told of their ignorance from the cross in Luke 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”

Everything that the prophets foretold of Christ time on earth were fulfilled. vs. 18

Christ used the Prophets in the Old Testament to foretell of the coming judgement but also of the coming messiah. They told where he would be born, how he would live and how he would suffer and everything they said was fulfilled in the earthly ministry of Christ.

Acts 26:22 “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:”

1 Pet. 1:10 “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:”

Everything Jesus did and claimed to be fully kept with the scriptures that foretold of him.

They were ignorant of Christ, but they didn’t have to be any more.

Repent and be converted

Peter used the word repent in his first sermon in Acts 2, and it means a turning, literally you are turning from having faith in your good work, etc. to having faith in Jesus Christ. Vs. 19

Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

When the bible talks about being converted, it means you are changing from a state of sin to a state of holiness. Jesus changes our state.

When we place our faith in Jesus he blots out our sins, that means he erases our sins. When God looks on us he see’s the sinless blood of Jesus Christ.

This leads to a time of refreshing

The word refreshing here means a time of reviving, when we get saved Jesus revives us from the dead.

A new life in Jesus brings a refreshing to your life.

Jesus was prophesied all the way back in Gen. 3:15 and continued to be preached by the prophets. Here they heard Christ preached by Peter and the other Apostles. vs. 20

In Peters first sermon he preached the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, here he is going to emphasize the second coming of Christ as the two Angels did at Christs Ascension.

The Prophets Preaching

While the nation of Israel had not received Christ and in fact they flat out rejected him, heaven received him. vs. 21

There is coming a day though when Jesus comes back for the time of restitution.

Restitution means the act of recovering a former state or posture.

There is coming a day when Jesus returns and restores the world to its original state before sin and the curse of sin came into the world.

Rev. 21:5 “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”

Rev. 22:3 “And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:”

The last part of verse 21 talks about the holy prophets that had been there from the beginning of time, showing there have been prophets since mankind has been around.

Luke 1:70 “As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, Which have been since the world began:”

Moses foretold of Christ vs. 22

Deut. 18:15 “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;”

Deut. 18:18-19 “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

Jesus has always been and will always be the only way to heaven, the old testament saints looked forward to the cross, while the new testament saints look back to the cross.

If you don’t hear Jesus and believe in him you will be destroyed.

Denying Christ leads to eternal separation from God.

All the prophets spake of Jesus, his coming and some even of his second coming and the nation of israel still missed it because they were ignorant. vs. 24

I’m pleading with you today, don’t be ignorant of Christ, you can trust him with your eternity.

They were blessed because of their familial relationship with Abraham

The seed of the saviour produced Christ in his humanity

Gal. 3:16 “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”

While they were blessed and still are blessed as God’s chosen people, they aren’t saved unless they place their faith in Jesus Christ.

Just because your family is saved doesn’t mean you are. Your familial relation can’t save you, only placing your faith in Jesus can.

God sent Jesus to take away our iniquities (a sin or crime; wickedness; any act of injustice.)

The result of the preaching Acts 4:1-4

They made the Priests and Sadducees upset because of the preaching of the resurrection. The bible says they were grieved or greatly disturbed.

They put them in Jail for the night

As a result of Peters preaching and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit around 5000 souls got saved!

Conclusion

The nation of Israel missed out on Jesus because they were ignorant of the scriptures, don’t miss out on Jesus.

Just as Peter preached, if you’re still here you can get saved. If you have never trusted Christ as your saviour come this morning and we can show you from the scriptures how you can be saved.