Acts

The Battle Plan of the Redeemed

Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico

Acts 3:11 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.”

We see a call to rise up and follow the plan of God,

Followers practice self denial.

John 3:30 (ESV)

He must increase, but I must decrease.” John the Baptist

1 Cor. 6:12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Followers have Jesus at the center of everything.

God’s work did not begin with Jesus’ earthly life. The gospel rests in history. As a Jew speaking to Jews, he invoked the revered names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He had no interest in abstract theology, nor did he bother (with this audience) to develop an elaborate introduction, as we shall see later with both Stephen and Paul.

In the first chapter we noted how the word witness stands so strategic in Luke’s history of the early church in Acts. As we study through the sermons in Acts, we will find these early preachers moving as rapidly as they can to the fact and meaning of the resurrection. They saw him. They touched him. They watched him ascend into heaven. Nothing could daunt their faith nor diminish their resolve to be his witnesses.

We must be a people who share what we have witnessed. We are truly witnesses in the court.

The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless

unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again

with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new

creation. Not to make people with better morals but to

create a community of prophets and professional lovers,

men and women who would surrender to the mystery of

the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in

ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God,

who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart

and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that

consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with

peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love.

This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian. -Brennan Manning (quote on screen)

Followers proclaim the Gospel.

Effective Christian ministry proclaims faith in the name of Jesus. Luke uses this phrase thirty-three times in the Book of Acts. Here we have the key verse of the chapter, the answer to the questions raised in verse 12. How was this man healed? How is all this possible? Because of Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him. The beggar need not understand resurrection, the ascension, or any other Christian theology. His response to Peter’s command and outstretched right hand demonstrated faith which God had placed in his heart. We must remember that Jesus had probably entered this very gate of the temple many times and would have been well-known to a man who sat there every day. When Romans talked about the name of Caesar, they implied all the authority and power of the emperor. So here Peter referred to Jesus and everything about him as he delivered what we might call the first pure gospel in Acts.

The very focus, the cornerstone, the purpose in our lives is the proclamation of the Gospel.

We deceive ourselves if we think we can live with a redeeming news and not proclaim a redeeming news.

Invitation