The Straight Shootin’ Preacher
Series: Acts
Chuck Sligh
August 24, 2014
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Acts 3:11
INTRODUCTION
The last thing we need today are preachers who don’t preach the Gospel straight. A preacher can afford to be off-base on many subjects and side-issues, but he’s GOT to be a straight-shootin’ preacher when it comes to preaching the Gospel.
Illus. – I’ll never forget one time going to hear an evangelist back in the hippie days. This evangelist adapted his message to the hippie crowd, which was good to a point. But it was basically this: Jesus was the coolest dude ever. He was the consummate revolutionary of his day. Following Him is the highest high you could ever have.
That was his message in a nutshell. The problem was that he never really talked about sin, or judgment or the cross.
At the end of the service, scores of people “walked the aisle”—because, believe me, he was very captivating and persuasive. One of those who went forward was my Grandfather, which was really odd since he was WAY past the age of all the hippies there that evening.
I was excited about my Grandfather’s decision, but over the years that followed, I saw no discernable change in him and no desire for spiritual things. I was shaken because I knew that this preacher received credit for a lot of “decisions,” but I’m not sure they knew what they were deciding to do!
In Acts 3, Luke records Peter’s second great sermon, and when he preached it, he was a straight-shootin’ preacher, telling it how it is, but doing it with love and understanding. Let’s dissect his sermon and learn the basics of the Gospel for those of you who might not know for sure of your eternal destiny, and also learn some things from Peter’s approach.
The setting for the sermon is provided for us in verse 11-12a – “While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's, astounded. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people…” The one referred to who “clung” to Peter and John, that is, he stood with them, was a man who had been born lame, but had been healed by faith in Jesus in verses 1-10. Amazed, people gathered to see watch the spectacle of this former lame man who was now walking and leaping and praising God, according to verse 9. To Peter a crowd was chance to share Christ which he did in the rest of chapter 3.
I. NOTE WITH ME FIRST THAT THIS STRAIGHT-SHOOTIN’ PREACHER CONFRONTED THESE RELIGIOUS JEWS WITH THEIR MAIN SIN – Verses 12-15a – “And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? 13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. 14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; 15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”
Look at Peter’s outline in verses 13 and 14 – He told them…
• That they had delivered up God’s Son, Jesus.
• That they had denied Jesus, the holy and just One.
• That they desired a murderer (Barabas) instead of innocent Jesus to be freed.
• And finally, that they had killed Jesus.
Now THERE’S an unconventional outline if I ever saw one!—especially before a crowd that had demanded the crucifixion of Jesus just weeks before!
What did Peter do? Peter got to the nub their problem, instead of dancing around it. Although there were notable sinners in Jerusalem, most of the people who rejected Jesus were the most righteous, religious, faithful people in the nation of Israel.
But when we stand before God, the question we will have to answer is not how good we were on this earth—because the Bible tells us that we’re ALL sinners who fall short of a perfect, all-holy God. In the end, the question will be, “What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?”
Peter was trying to help them to see that their big error was their rejection of Christ.
• He refers to Jesus as “the Holy One and Just” in verse 14. – These were designations for the long-prophesied Messiah every Jew would recognize.
• In verse 15, Peter called Jesus “the Prince of life.”
This word “Prince” here is translated “author” in other places in the New Testament, and if you look at what Peter’s saying, that’s what he means. As the “Author of life,” that is, THE CREATOR, Peter is affirming Jesus’s DEITY—that He was God in the flesh; God the Son.
Peter’s pointed remarks were unmistakably clear: They had killed their own Messiah; they had screamed, “Crucify Him!”; they had called for a wicked murderer to be freed, not the holy Messiah; they had committed a grievous sin.
Peter wasn’t trying to convince them of what bad sinners they were, but rather focus on the magnitude of THE ONE SIN that would rob them of God’s blessing: The sin of rejecting Jesus Christ and His gift of salvation.
Jesus was indeed God in the flesh and as God, He lived a sinless life; He obeyed the Law and God’s commandments perfectly. But this perfect, sinless One died to pay the penalty of our sins in our place.
Unless these Jews acknowledged Jesus as their Messiah and recognized that He was God and that He had died for their sins, they could not have their sins forgiven or have God’s blessing, no matter how religious or holy or obedient or righteous they were.
They needed the One whom they had rejected in order to be saved!
And the same is true of you and me. None of us can be made right with God by religion, by our church, by our religious works, by our obedience, by our good deeds. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
My question for you today is, “What have you done with Jesus, the Son of God?” It matters not what good things you have done in your life. The only thing that matters is “What have you done with Jesus?”
II. SECOND, NOTICE THAT PETER POINTED THEM TO JESUS AS THEIR ANSWER – Verses 16-18 – “And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 And now, brethren, I wot [or “know”] that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. [Now watch this…] 18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.”
Peter pointed in verse 16 to the man who had healed and pointed out that it was by faith in the risen Jesus that this man had been made whole.
Then Peter recognized in verse 17 that their act was not a malicious act of sheer wickedness, but was done out of ignorance. Their rejection of Jesus was a blundering act of ignorant minds. Even Jesus on the cross said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
But ignorance has its limits; it doesn’t excuse you. In His earthly ministry, Jesus had made it clear over and over again who He was. But his audiences, especially the Jewish leadership, would not believe Him. Though there had been ignorance, and even though the Scriptures had predicted the ignorance and rejection, they could not be absolved of guilt.
But there’s good news: there’s a way out; there’s an answer.
III. NEXT, NOTICE THAT PETER SHOWED THEM WHAT TO DO TO BE RIGHT WITH GOD HAD EXPERIENCE HIS BLESSINGS – Verse 19 – “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
Their ultimate sin was rejecting Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. Peter didn’t mince words and was a “straight-shooter” by frankly telling them to do two things to have their sins blotted out —“repent” and “be converted.”
It’s at this point that a little explanation is required, because the word “repent” has become a loaded term that is misunderstood and misapplied today. We usually use the word “repent” in everyday English to mean, “to be sorry for something.” – But there’s a separate Greek word for that concept (metamelóma).
Some confused teachers have defined repentance as “turning away from sin.” – Thus when Jesus said “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,” they teach that there’s not just ONE condition to be saved—believe on Jesus Christ, but TWO: you must turn from sin AND believe in Jesus. This is simply bad theology based on poor exegesis.
The Greek word Peter used, metanoéō, simply means “to change one’s mind.” Metanoéō doesn’t even have to do with sin most of the time. In fact, the phrase to “repent of sin” is found NOWHERE in the whole Bible! There is even an instance in secular Greek where two men planned to rob someone, then decided not to, but then “repented” (metanoéō) and went back and robbed him anyway. In other words, a person can repent of (i.e., change one’s mind about) doing a GOOD thing to choose to do an EVIL deed.
To repent is to have a change of mind about something; what one is to change his mind about is found the context.
When you read the context here in Acts 3, it’s clear that Peter is telling them to change their minds about how they viewed Jesus. The biggest problem with those who crucified Jesus was not how wicked and sinful they were—for they were the most religious and righteous people on earth at that time—but that they rejected Jesus as their Messiah and as God.
Peter wasn’t telling them to repent of all their sins or to turn from a life of sin. They didn’t need to change their mind about sin; they already hated sin to the point of absurd legalistic interpretations of the Law to avoid even a hint of sin. No, their problem was that in all their religiosity and piety, they had rejected their Messiah and thus had rejected their God.
Until they changed their mind about who Jesus was and accepted Him as their Messiah, they could not have their sins blotted out, nor would their Messiah set up His kingdom on earth, which is what “the times of refreshing” in verse 19 refers to, as well as “the restitution of all things” in verse 21.
We won’t wade into the thick theological weeds of that part of chapter 3 today, but focus on the promise of personal forgiveness of sins by changing their minds about who Jesus was and what He came to do.
CONCLUSION
Well, you may be asking yourself, “What does all this have to do with me?” A lot, actually.
• If you’re not sure about whether or not your sins are forgiven and have everlasting life, the question you must answer is, What will you do with Jesus Christ?
I think most people recognize that they’re sinners and need God’s forgiveness. The problem is that they don’t see Jesus as central to their reconciliation with God. They know Jesus died on the cross, but aren’t quite sure they know what it was all about.
Many think that His death on the cross really shows Christ’s devotion to us and that what God wants is for us to show our devotion to Him by living a good life, being righteous, being a disciple, and being religious. In other words, ultimately it is BY WHAT THEY DO that they expect to have their sins forgiven and allowed to enter heaven.
Nothing could be further from the truth! The scriptures teach that our sin problem cannot be resolved by ANYTHING we do to earn God’s favor. No religious deeds; no religious sacraments; no righteous deeds; no goodness on our part—have ANY bearing on our status before God.
Isaiah says that “all our righteousness is as filthy rags” before God because, though they may be sincere efforts on our part, they fall short.
God expects absolute, complete perfection! But Paul said, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The penalty for our sin is death and since we all fall short of God’s perfect holiness, without divine intervention, we cannot be saved.
But I have good news! There’s a way out; there’s an answer.
Jesus, who was fully God, was born as a human by a miracle of the Holy Spirit, making Him both fully God and fully human at the same time. Because He was fully God, He was able to live a sinless life in perfect obedience to all of God’s commands. Because He was also fully human, He had the capacity to die.
But He did not HAVE to pay the penalty of death like you and I because He had never sinned. Yet He chose to die in our place and pay our penalty for sin. And because He is fully God, He rose from the dead and conquered sin and death.
And because He knows we cannot earn salvation by our own works and effort, He offers us salvation—forgiveness of sins, restoration to God’s favor, and everlasting life—as a free gift, totally unearned and un-earnable. He says there’s only one condition to receiving it: to BELIEVE on Him.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“What must I do to be saved,” asked a man of Paul and his reply was, “BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
To be saved, you must simply BELIEVE, which means to trust in or rely on or simply accept as true, Jesus’s promise to save you.
To do that you must “repent,” i.e., change your mind about, any false belief or way of salvation and “be converted,” that is, turn to Jesus ALONE for salvation. Have you been trusting in your good works to make your acceptable to God? You must repent of your works-based religion and turn to Jesus.
Have you been trusting in a church or a religion? You must repent of these false Gods and turn to Jesus exclusively.
Have you thought of Jesus as merely a good human religions teacher? You must change your mind about who He is and acknowledge Him as God the Son. Any other version of Jesus is a false god that will condemn to hell.
• If you’re already one of God’s children, my challenge to you is this: Are you willing to boldly preach and stand for the truth of who Jesus is and that He is the only answer for mankind’s spiritual need.
God help us to be willing to share Jesus Christ and to do it boldly and strongly. May we not water down that Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament, and that He is God the Son who is the only way of salvation.
As Peter later said in “Acts 4:12: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
To preach Jesus as the only way to God is not being narrow-minded; it’s being loving, for without repenting of false views of Jesus, we will all likewise perish. God help us to be straight-shootin’ preachers of the Gospel-bearers
