Cornerstone part 2

Introduction

There’s so much I love about the book of Acts. One of the things that is amazing to me about the first century church is that they really had no frame of reference for what a Christian church would be like.

Think about it, today churches tend to borrow heavily from other ministries in order to set their direction for the future. Some become “seek-sensitive”, focusing the majority of their attention on reaching the lost with their worship services and ministries. Others are super traditional, feeling that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Some cater mainly to young people, while others focus on families, while others try to reach cowboys, and others focus their attention on people in the inner cities. And that’s just to name a few. But all of them do something that is similar: we mix the creativity of the leadership with methodology that has been used successfully elsewhere.

The first century church didn’t really have that. Because there wasn’t anything to borrow from. Now, it’s true that they did borrow certain aspects of synagogue meetings with their gatherings, but even that began to diminish fairly quickly.

Despite the fact that they were blazing new trails, the first century church has given the modern church a very important foundation on which to start and lead churches today, even though the structure and the approaches are necessarily different.

This morning we are going to look at Peter’s second great sermon in Acts that happens as a result of the healing that took place of the man who was lame from birth. Peter now has the attention of a large group of people inside the temple and he proceeds, through the work of the HS, to preach a message that includes the foundational aspects of the church; then, now and into the future.

Because there is so much here, this sermon will be broken into two parts. I’ll give the first two foundational truths this morning, and the next two next week.

Body: Acts 3:11-26

Verses 11-16

“...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? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus...And his name—but 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.”

Peter’s first order of business is to point the attention to Jesus, not to himself, to the other disciples, or to the man who had been healed.

By saying, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers…” he is speaking their language. He’s about to show them that Jesus is the fulfillment of all that was spoken of in the law and the prophets.

Jesus doesn’t represent some new, foreign religious movement, but is the fulfillment of God’s promises to the patriarchs...

So, he is saying that our God, Yahweh, he glorified Jesus.

It’s interesting that Peter calls Jesus God’s servant.

Jesus is not often called “servant” in the NT. He is only called it here, in v. 26 and twice in chapter 4.

In Greek the word here is παιδα the root of which is παις or παιδος which can mean servant, slave; but it can also mean child, boy or girl (or in the KJV it is translated son).

I don’t think it’s an accident that this particular term was used because Jesus was the obedient Son of God!

“...his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life...”

So, again, Peter is telling them our God, Yahweh, he glorified Jesus…whom, by the way, you killed!

And if that wasn’t enough, you asked for the release of Barabbas, a known murderer!

Barabbas was very likely a zealot, but also a sicarii, or “knife-wielder” who would stab people they believed were enemies of Israel.

Instead of crucifying the one justified crucifixion (if such a person exists!) you killed the one who is the “Holy and Righteous One” and the “Author of life”.

Peter is good at saying that one thing that makes people go “Ouch!” Boldly telling them that Jesus is the “Holy and Righteous One” and the “Author of life” is the “ouch” moment of this sermon!

It’s the part that should draw out emotion in the people...

“...his servant Jesus...whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.”

But Peter makes sure to show that in their sin, they still didn’t overpower God. No way! Instead, God raised Jesus from the dead!

I love how Peter shows that God takes an apparent defeat, and turns it into utter victory!

And Peter and John could both bear witness to this. This meant the legal requirements for Jewish law. Two men could testify to what happened.

Verses 17-26

“...I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers...”

After coming down real hard, Peter now begin to show them that there is hope. He knows they were just ignorant to the truth, mainly because of the poor teachings of the religious leaders, who were also ignorant.

But weren’t they paying attention to Jesus ministry?

Yes, but he didn’t come like they expected, so they rejected him. Truth is, they probably thought they were doing the will of God by getting rid of Jesus.

They didn’t understand his true nature, thus they were ignorant.

Luke 23:34 ESV

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

1 Corinthians 2:8 ESV

None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

“But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled...”

Then Peter makes it clear to them that this was all spoken about by the prophets, and thus Jesus suffering fulfilled prophecy.

Isaiah 53:2–5 ESV

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:6–9 ESV

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Isaiah 53:10–12 ESV

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22:1 ESV

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

Zechariah 12:10 ESV

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus...”

All this builds up to the decision time: Peter calls them to repent so their sins will be blotted out and that times of refreshing may come from God, especially when Christ returns.

Repentance

Sins are forgiven as people repent, or turn away from sins.

Repentance isn’t emphasized enough today…

Blotting Out

Typically this term in Greek means to simply wipe out or erase. But in some cases it means to remove, destroy or obliterate. This is the usage here.

Times of Refreshing

The term in Greek here is much like a cool breeze that brings refreshing.

This has a dual meaning. Refreshing now…who can comment about times of refreshing since they trusted Jesus?

It is also referring to the final time, when Christ returns and brings a final end to sin and suffering.

“...Jesus, 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. 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. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.”

This quote from Moses is from Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19.

Peter shows that the greatest prophet in Israel’s history even spoke of the Messiah and commanded the people to listen to him.

Moses is not saying the Messiah would be like him in character or ability, but that they were both raised up by God.

Verse 23 paints a picture that many people don’t like to think of when it comes to the Lord; that is the judge who executes judgment.

“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 your from your wickedness.”

To Peter, this is the only reasonable response to Jesus, since Moses and all the other prophets pointed to the coming Messiah.

In verse 25, Peter probably didn’t fully grasp what he was saying about the “families of the earth being blessed.” For Peter, he was probably at this point thinking of the Jews throughout the known world. But we will soon see that it extended even further than Peter knew, to even the Gentiles!

They held an honored position and as such should respond to the grace of God.

Notice that throughout this passage the emphasis is on national salvation, not simply individual salvation. Why?

Because God still loves his chosen people, and wanted them to receive the glorified Lord Jesus as Messiah.

So What?

Four truths that we find in Peter’s sermon that are foundational to the church for all times, in all locations, regardless of the specific mission of the church:

Foundational Truth #1: We point people to Jesus.

If Jesus is not the focal point of the church, the church is not truly Christian.

And, if Jesus Christ is not proclaimed, obeyed and glorified, then a people cannot truly call themselves followers of Christ.

Today, those statements might be controversial in some churches. But only because some have left the clear teaching of God’s Word and exchanged it for the false gospels of religion based on moralistic therapeutic deism; of radical social justice; of a buffet-style Christianity that picks the parts it likes and passes on the areas it doesn’t; of people who want to be both the bride of Christ and the bride of this world; of churches that make much of a nameless-faceless god of their own imaginings and makes very little of the biblical Jesus. And on we can go.

None of these false gospels, or the countless others like them, are truly about pointing people to Jesus.

Peter and the disciples give us a great model here that is foundational: “...as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus...!”

“And his name...but faith in his name...has made this man strong...” And that man...and that woman...and that young person...and that old person...and that rich person...and that poor person...and anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus Christ!

Hebrews 2:9 ESV

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

2 Corinthians 4:5–6 ESV

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Now, I realize that any time we talk about pointing people to Jesus, there are many in the congregation who are thinking, “There’s no way I can tell people about Jesus. I’m too scared! What if I say something wrong? What if they reject me? What if they yell at me? What if I lose a friendship?”

You know why I know that’s the case? Because I have those same fears! Sharing the Gospel can be scary, especially today.

And to make matters worse, many of the people who teach us about evangelism are extroverts and would probably be excellent sales men. But the majority of us are introverts and would have trouble selling ice water on the hottest day of the year!

My best friend and I often joke about knowing we aren’t evangelists because we don’t have an airplane story...

How is evangelism supposed to work for people like us? How can we hope to point people to Jesus?

Evangelism for the rest of us:

Know your gifts, skills, passions, and willingness...(plug Pathway class)

Get involved in church outreach activities...(attractional, engagement, infiltration)

Pray for people by name...

Take a genuine interest in people...(active listening...follow-up)

Make a commitment to people...

Foundational Truth #2: We tell people about their greatest need: that their sins need to be forgiven.

This takes pointing people to Jesus a step further. What Peter does here sets the tempo for true evangelism; namely, he tells people that they have a great need.

For years the approach to evangelism has been the “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life...” approach. The weakness of this approach is it doesn’t truly deal with mankind’s spiritual need.

We don’t simply need God in our lives so we can live a better life.

Nope, we are sinners, condemned because of our inherited sin and condemned because of our personal sin.

Romans 5:12–15 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

Romans 5:18 ESV

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

1 John 1:8–9 ESV

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As Christ’s church, this is the message we have to tell the world. In fact, Paul puts it best when he says that we are Christ’s ambassadors:

2 Corinthians 5:18–21 ESV

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This cannot be done unless we tell people the truth that they aren’t pretty good, but need an extra boost from God.

No, we must tell people that they have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And if they die in that state, they will be eternally separated from God.

We cannot change their hearts, of course. And we have not idea who God is drawing to Himself (nor will we ever know that). But, we are entrusted with this message that we must tell the world, the same message that Jesus Himself preached: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!

Foundational Truth #3: We teach people about the Resurrected Savior.

Christianity is a unique religion when it comes to world religions for many reasons. But, the most important of these reasons is because the One we worship, Jesus, is risen and alive!

Soon we will enter into the Easter season, and we will do something that I’ve experienced in every evangelical church: He is Risen...

That’s a fun tradition, but behind it is the most vital of teachings within the Christian faith. Our Lord, Jesus the Christ, was dead but is now alive!

1 Corinthians 15:12–20 ESV

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Hebrews 7:25 ESV

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 10:12–14 ESV

But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

The Resurrection of Jesus is the most incredible of all the miracles in the Bible. And because of that, it’s also the most well attested of all the miracles in the Bible.

Throughout the NT we see confirmation after confirmation of the truth of the Resurrection of Christ.

And here, Peter gives an important one: we here witnessed it ourselves!

In fact, all the disciples, except maybe John, would eventually be killed because of their testimony about the Risen Jesus. It defies reason that people would die a martyrs death for something they knew to be a lie.

So, we as Jesus church teach and preach the Resurrected Savior. We sing songs about the Resurrected Savior. We pray because we know we can appeal to a Living Savior, not a dead religious philosopher.

And we should never shy away from it, because if there is no Resurrection of Jesus, then there is no hope for us!

Foundational Truth #4: We proclaim the truth that God is restoring all things, as He promised.

Verses 19-21 are some of the most beloved in this section.

Acts 3:19–21 ESV

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 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.

We’ve looked at the need for repentance, but I don’t want to miss this next important verse that Peter mentions: “...until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”

Peter believed that God has a purpose in history. That all of this is leading somewhere. Mankind is not a happy accident, but we have a God and He has a greater purpose that all things are leading to.

A major part of that purpose is the coming of Christ and the opportunity for people to repent and have their sins blotted out. Not because of the repentance itself, but because Christ Jesus has fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law and had become the sinless sacrifice for God’s people.

But we know that it doesn’t end there. God is moving history in a direction that there will be a final culmination of God’s plans where He will make all things new.

Revelation 21:1–7 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

What started with Fallen humans lead to the death, burial and resurrection of the Savior and will one day culminate to all things being made new and mankind, finally, being able to fellowship with God unencumbered by sin.

This we must believe. And this we must teach others to believe. It is foundational.