Empowered Disciples 6

Peter’s Second Sermon

This morning as we continue our series in Acts on Empowered Disciples, we are going to be picking up in verse 11 of chapter 3.

Verse 11 is a transitional verse, linking the healing narrative that we looked at last week of the lame man from birth that took place at the Gate Beautiful leading into the temple.

The verse links that healing miracle that Peter did with the Power of Jesus, to Peter’s second sermon which he preaches from Solomon’s Portico.

Solomon’s Portico lay along the eastern wall and thus across the court of the Gentiles and some distance from the sanctuary.

Solomon’s Portico, Colonnade, or Porch was part of the outer court of Herod’s temple.

Peter and John had come to the temple to pray, and the lame man asked for alms (money and food), and Peter tells the man focus on us.

Peter then tells the man that they do not have silver or gold, but what they do have they will give the him.

Peter then through the power of the name of Jesus told the man to get up and walk.

Then Peter reached out and helped the man up, the lame man then begins to leap for joy and praise God for the miracle.

The people in the temple recognized the lame man, and verse 10 tells us the peoples reaction.

Acts 3:10 NASB95

10 and they were taking note of him as being the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

The scene was now set for Peter’s second sermon.

The healed man was there as a living evidence of the miracle, holding fast to Peter and John.

The crowd likewise came running to the scene with a mixture of curiosity and awe.

Peter was not about to miss the opportunity to witness to this crowd.

When God does something miraculous in our life, we should use it as an opportunity to witness to others.

Power of God

In Peter’s first sermon he had to refute the accusation that the believers were drunk.

In this second sermon, Peter has to refute the notion that he and John had healed the man by their own power.

Acts 3:11–16 NASB95

11 While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. 12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered 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. 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.

There are similarities between Peter’s first sermon at Pentecost, and now his second sermon.

One similarity is those who he addresses, Men of Israel.

Another similarity is that Peter points to Jesus, and how God has glorified Him and used Jesus.

After addressing the audience, as Men of Israel, he seeks to correct any misunderstanding that he or John had healed the man by their own power.

It was not any power of Peter or John, rather it was faith in the name of Jesus that healed the man.

How could the name of Jesus have such power?

The power is Jesus’ by virtue of His glorification and His resurrection.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had glorified His servant Jesus, raising Him from the dead.

See God is the God of the living.

The glorification refers to Christ’s exaltation to God’s right hand in heaven.

As the glorified, risen One, Christ has the power to grant healing in His name.

The healed beggar was proof that Jesus was alive.

The Jewish leaders had indeed committed a great injustice when they arrested and condemned Jesus and asked Pilate to have Jesus crucified.

Many of the citizens had went along with the Jewish leaders decision to have Jesus crucified.

Can you imagine the remorse the people must of had when they learned that they had betrayed and killed their own Messiah.

There must be conviction before a sinner can experience conversion.

Unless a patient is convinced that they are sick, they will never accept the diagnosis or take the treatment.

Peter turned the temple into a courtroom and laid all the evidence out for everybody to see.

How could two ordinary fishermen perform such a great miracle unless God was with them?

Nobody would dare deny the miracle because the beggar stood there before them all in perfect soundness.

To accept the miracle would have been to admit that Jesus Christ is indeed the living Son of God and that His name has power.

Illustration 1: The Power Source

Imagine someone admiring a lamp and saying, "What an amazing bulb!"

The bulb shines brightly, but only because it is connected to electricity.

Unplug it, and it has no power.

Peter immediately redirected the crowd's attention away from himself and John.

They were simply the "bulb."

Jesus was the source of the power.

Application

God does not empower us so people will admire us.

Every ministry success should point people to Christ.

Ask yourself: "When people see God working through me, do they leave talking about me or about Jesus?"

We are messengers, not the miracle.

God delights in using ordinary people who remain humble.

Depend on God's power rather than your own abilities.

The Call

Peter moves from miracle to message.

The miracle was not the destination—it was the invitation.

The remainder of Peter’s sermon can be divided into two parts, both relating to the need for the Jews to repent.

Verses 17-21 give the basic call to repentance and the blessings God will grant them as a result.

Verses 22-26 give Scriptural support for the appeal.

Acts 3:17–21 NASB95

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 would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 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.

Peter did not leave the people without hope.

In fact, he almost seemed to defend them by pointing out that they had acted in ignorance, while at the same time they had fulfilled the Word of God.

The Jews acted in ignorance when they did not recognize Jesus as the Holy and Righteous One, the anointed Servant of God.

Jesus Himself had recognized their ignorance in crucifying Him and Jesus had already prayed for their forgiveness.

Peter was offering the Jews a second chance, they had disowned Jesus which was a rejection of ignorance.

Now they could accept Christ and be forgiven.

Should they fail to do so once Peter gave them a full understanding of Jesus’ true identity, it would be a wholly different matter, a deliberate rejection.

in rejecting God’s Messiah they had rejected God’s purpose for them.

Peter gave the call to repentance with two expressions: repent and return.

Accepting Jesus as the Messiah would be a return to God.

Peter gives a threefold result of their repentance: (1) their sins would be forgiven, (2) the times of refreshing would come upon them, and (3) God would send the Messiah whom he had appointed for them.

Throughout Acts repentance is closely connected with forgiveness; indeed it is the basis for forgiveness.

Illustration 1: A Doctor's Diagnosis

A patient goes to the doctor with chest pain.

The doctor discovers blocked arteries.

It would be cruel to admire the X-ray but never prescribe treatment.

Peter exposed the people's sin but immediately offered the cure:

"Repent...that your sins may be blotted out."

The gospel always includes both conviction and hope.

Application

Repentance isn't punishment; it's God's invitation to healing.

God never exposes sin without offering grace.

Every believer must continually live a lifestyle of repentance.

Verse 21 concludes Peter’s appeal with an explanation for why the Messiah was not then present.

Jesus the Messiah must remain in heaven until the final time when God will restore everything.

Jesus is the Messiah that has come as the glorified Servant, the Holy and Righteous One of God.

The Jerusalem Jews did not receive Jesus as the Messiah; they disowned Him.

Jesus indeed is the Messiah appointed by God, but the Jews failed to recognize and receive Him as their Messiah.

What was true for the Jews in Solomon’s Portico still holds true today.

Only in receiving Jesus Christ the Son of God by repentance and turning to Him is there forgiveness, refreshing, and restoration.

Illustration 2: The GPS Recalculating

A GPS doesn't shame you for taking the wrong road.

It simply says,

"Recalculating."

Repentance literally means changing direction.

God isn't interested in merely making us feel guilty.

He wants to redirect our lives.

Application

No matter how far someone has wandered, God welcomes those who turn back.

The Christian life involves continual course corrections.

Object Lesson

Write a word on a whiteboard:

SIN

Then erase it completely.

Explain:

Peter says our sins are "blotted out."

Not covered.

Not hidden.

Not ignored.

Erased by the blood of Jesus.

The Prophets

Peter reminds Israel that Jesus fulfilled centuries of prophecy.

God's plan had been unfolding all along.

Acts 3:22–26 NASB95

22 “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. 23 ‘And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. 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.”

Peter has now turned to Old Testament Scripture to back up his message.

Referring to Deuteronomy 18, Peter mentions a promise God made to Moses.

Jesus is depicted as the prophet like Moses whom God will raise up and the people must heed.

Whoever does not listen to Jesus will be utterly rooted out from the people.

The reference to God’s raising up this new prophet, which we know is Jesus, is in reference to Jesus’ resurrection.

The people that are to be rooted out, totally cut off, or utterly destroyed is referring to people that reject Jesus and His gospel message, will not be people of God.

Peter is telling the crowd that if they do not receive Jesus as the Messiah, the One that can forgiven them of their sins, they will be eternally separated from God.

Moses was not the only prophet who prophesied about Jesus.

All the prophets from Samuel on did.

Samuel was considered the first prophet after Moses, with Moses being the very first.

Thus all the prophets foretold of Jesus, the days of salvation, and the return of Jesus.

Peter mentions the covenant God made with Abraham, that through his descendents all people of the earth will be blessed.

What Peter was concerned to do, was to convince the Jewish audience that God’s covenant with Abraham was fully realized in Jesus.

Verse 26 is a closing summary to Peter’s second sermon as it mentions some earlier themes:

The servant role of Jesus; God’s raising Jesus up, with its overtone of the resurrection; the need for the Jews to repent and turn to God.

God sent His servant to the Jews, to fulfill God’s blessing to Abraham by turning each of them from their evil ways.

Peter was primarily concerned with the Jews, and the gospel was preached to them first.

Soon it would reach far beyond the boundaries of Judaism to all the people of the earth.

Illustration 1: Connecting the Dots

Give a child a connect-the-dots page.

At first, the dots appear random.

Only after connecting them does the picture become clear.

The Old Testament can seem like scattered dots.

Jesus connects every promise, prophecy, sacrifice, and covenant into one complete picture.

Application

God has always been faithful to His promises.

Scripture tells one unified story centered on Christ.

Trust God's plan even when you can't yet see the whole picture.

We often see only today's circumstances.

God sees the finished story.

His promises never fail, even when fulfillment seems delayed.

Closing Challenge

Peter's sermon asks every listener three questions:

Where do I place my confidence?

Is it in human ability or God's power?

Have I truly responded to God's call to repent?

Do I trust God's promises, even when I cannot yet see their fulfillment?

The same Jesus who healed the lame man is still transforming lives today.

His power is available, His invitation is open, and His promises remain certain.

Big Idea

Empowered disciples point people to Christ's power, call people to repentance, and proclaim God's fulfilled promises in Jesus Christ.