Great Explanation
Acts 3:12-26
Jeff Hughes – March 2, 2003
Calvary Chapel Aggieland
I. Introduction
a. Last week we saw how God set the stage for Peter to deliver a message to the crowd gathered at the temple for evening prayer. We saw a man that was lame from his birth miraculously healed by the power of God.
b. The healing served as a visual and tangible affirmation to what Peter was about to say, even before he said it. If you remember, back in chapter 2, the Lord used Peter’s first sermon to draw 3,000 people.
c. Today, we are going to look at another appeal from Peter to the people of Jerusalem. The people gathered together for prayer that day would hear a convincing message concerning Jesus, and about what they needed to do to respond to the gospel message.
d. We are told that this message is even more effective in bringing people to Christ than Peter’s first, and we will look at the fruit of this message next week in detail.
e. But today, we are talking about Peter’s message to the crowd. If you boil everything off, what is really important in an evangelistic message, is clarity of the message. Peter’s message was crystal clear. He cut to the point, and as we will see next week, people responded in droves.
f. But first, let’s take a minute to ask the Lord to come and bless our study of His Word today.
II. PRAYER
III. Illustration
a. When Cambridge University student Thomas Bilney bought a Greek New Testament, his interest was purely academic. But when Bilney opened God’s Word, he encountered the gospel and his entire life was transformed. Bilney felt led by God to join himself to a group that shared his beliefs.
b. This was during the Protestant Reformation, so Bilney joined the Cambridge Protestants. He began preaching and teaching , but was arrested in 1527 and threatened into silence. Bilney would not be silent. He could not keep quiet the gospel that burnrd in his heart. He was arrested, and later released with another warning, and in 1531, he was arrested one last time. Condemned as a heretic, Bilney died at the stake for the gospel of Christ.
c. Like Thomas Bliney, the apostle Peter simply could not keep quiet about Jesus. The opportunity arose to address the crowd that gathered there in the temple courts and Peter seized it.
d. You see, Peter was ready when the opportunity arose. Peter had a divine appointment that day at the beautiful gate with a lame man who was healed. Then, God provided Peter the opportunity to preach to more than 5,000 people gathered there in the outer court of the temple.
e. Like Peter, we need to be ready to share Christ with others as the opportunity arises. Paul instructs his protégée, Timothy, to this in and Timothy chapter 4, verse two, which reads – 4 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
f. Maybe you will have the opportunity to teach a crowd, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll get the chance to share with one of your friends, or co-workers, and in God’s economy, you sharing Christ with one is just as important as sharing Christ with a huge crowd. God’s work is measured in hearts, not in numbers.
g. This is one aspect of the story we are going to see unfold today as we continue our study in Acts. We pick up this right where we left off last week. Our study comes out of Acts chapter 3, verses 12 through 26. We will finish up chapter 3 today, and next week we begin chapter four.
h. If you need a Bible, just raise your hand, and we will get you one. Acts is just past John, and right before Romans in the New Testament. Follow along with me as we read starting at verse 12.
IV. Study
a. Intro
i. 12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. 22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, ’The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ’And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."
ii. Peter speaks the truth in love to the crowd gathered there. He didn’t let them off easy, he hammered his points home, and he didn’t really care if his message was “politically correct”, or if it offended anyone.
iii. As I have shared with you before, so often we see the church watering down the gospel, or sugar-coating it in order to make the gospel message more palatable to unbelievers.
iv. God’s Word is not something that we should compromise on. God’s Word is that standard by which we should live our lives. This book is like an owner’s manual. If we follow it, you get good results.
v. As I studied these verses, I came up with five points
b. The Question (Acts 3:12)
i. 12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
ii. The apostle Peter starts off with a question. He sees that the crowd had gathered there because of the miracle that had just taken place.
iii. Now, the miracle in itself would not lead anyone to Christ, except maybe the man who was healed. However, God had focused the attention of the crowd on the healed man along with Peter and John.
iv. Peter seized this opportunity. He was going to use this occasion to lead people to Christ. Peter asks the crowd – “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this?”
v. It is interesting to note that he addresses the crowd as men of Israel. He addresses them as God’s covenant people. This is a courteous title. Then, the question – “why do you marvel at this?” His first question is a mild rebuke. The people of Israel should know, in Peter’s mind that God is a miracle working God.
vi. Miracles had played a great role down through the history of the nation of Israel. God had confirmed covenants, brought the people out of bondage, and won battles for the nation through His mighty hand being shown through miracles.
vii. Peter’s second question of “Why do you look at us as if we healed this man?” was a little stronger rebuke. The crowd should have known that two fishermen from Galilee could not have healed this man on their own.
viii. The only way plausible explanation for what happened to the man was that he was healed by the power of God, which is what happened.
ix. Peter knew that these people seeing the miracle would not lead them to Christ. Romans 10:17 tells us that 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Peter knows this, and he will present the Word to them shortly.
x. First though, Peter stirs up the crowd a little more, to convict their hearts, to prepare them for the gospel message. We find Peter stirring them up a bit more in verses 13 through 15.
c. The Accusation (Acts 3:13-15)
i. 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
ii. Peter’s first statement in this message is to make it clear which God he was going to talk about. It was the God of Israel. The same God all of them had just prayed to. He tells them that the miracle that they had just witnesses served to glorify God’s Servant. Let’s stop there for a second.
iii. The prophet Isaiah described the Messiah or Savior as a Servant in chapters 52 and 53. The Messiah was also to be a king. This was confusing to most Jews. So much so that one sect, the Essenes, believed that the Messiah would be two people, one a King and one a suffering servant.
iv. Peter introduces them to God’s servant – His name was Jesus. This was a name that they all would know. Jesus was the Greek form of the Jewish name Joshua, which means – the Lord is salvation.
v. One thing that I notice right off is that Peter takes the very first opportunity to direct them to Jesus. Not to himself, or to the man that was healed, but to the healer.
vi. Jesus was a very famous (or infamous) figure in Israel around that time, depending on who you asked. Now, many people had thought that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He would kick the Romans out, and set up an earthly kingdom. Once He had been crucified however, this hope quickly faded. These people had been looking for a king, and a military leader. Well, He was a king, but He came this time as a suffering Servant.
vii. Peter lays the guilt of Jesus’ death directly upon the crowd gathered that day. He accused them of denying Him in the presence of Pilate, the Roman governor**?**. Peter tells them that they traded their Savior for a murderer.
viii. By doing this, Peter says, they sealed Jesus’ fate. The Prince of Life was killed because they had asked for a murderer to be released to them rather than Jesus. But, this didn’t stop Jesus. Not a big deal to the God of the Universe.
ix. No, Jesus was raised from the dead. Peter and John had been witnesses to this fact. Not just Peter and John, but over 500 other people. Peter and John had also seen the Lord ascend into heaven, to be taken up to the right hand of the Father.
x. Jesus had healed people while He was on the earth doing His earthly ministry. The people gathered there knew about the miraculous healings that Jesus had performed. People brought sick from miles around, and word of that quickly spread around.
xi. It was little wonder then, that if Jesus could heal people on earth, then He could still heal people now that He had ascended into heaven. Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
xii. Some in the church today believe that miraculous healings ceased with the death of the apostle John. Hebrews 13:8 tells me different from that. Jesus can heal people on earth, He can heal people after He ascended, and He can still heal people today.
xiii. If you have a physical need, just come up to me quietly after the service, and I will pray for you. I’m not going to jump around, and yell – that’s not scriptural. But, I will pray for your healing, and it is up to God’s sovereign will at that point as to what happens.
xiv. Peter had confronted the crowd with their misdeeds, and how they played a part in Jesus’ death. No doubt that this was troubling to many of them, but after he shows them their guilt, he shows them the truth. We see this in verses 16 through 18.
d. The Explaination (Acts 3:16-18)
i. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
ii. Jesus had risen from the dead. That was a fact the Peter and John had been witnesses to. Now, the crowd had to be feeling pretty guilty at this point. They had condemned the Savior. Peter presents them with the explanation of the man’s miraculous healing; it all stemmed from faith in Christ.
iii. The faith that Peter presents in verse 16 was the healing faith was from God. The fact that the faith came from God flies in the face of many of our modern day quote-unquote “healers”. Many of them say that if someone if not healed when they pray for them, that the reason that they are not healed is because of a lack of faith on their part.
iv. This clearly does not line up with scripture. Miraculous healings are a gift from God – totally. If He chooses to heal, then we need to get out of the way, just like Peter was doing here. If He chooses not to heal, that’s His prerogative, and it has nothing to do with our own faith.
v. I have seen accounts of this that devastated people that weren’t healed. They think that somehow their faith wasn’t strong enough. This is sad, and it misrepresents God.
vi. These people were eyewitnesses to the perfect healing worked by the divine will of Jesus Christ. This resulted in a total healing of the man, by the total will and grace of God.
vii. Now, as we move on to verse 17, we see that Peter eases the crowd’s guilt. He tells them that what they did, they did in ignorance. Why is this important?
viii. Remember that the crowd Peter was addressing here were Jewish for the most part. The Jews followed laws given to them by God, through Moses concerning sin and atonement. The sin committed out of ignorance was forgivable. A willing, knowing commission of an act of sin was not. There was not sacrifice for willful sin.
ix. This was King David’s problem when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, and then had her husband killed to conceal his sin. This was definitely not an ignorant sin. David wrote what we now have in our Bibles as Psalm 51, seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness for his blatant sin.
x. The crowd there was in a little different position. They had acted out of ignorance, as we can see both by what Peter says here, and by what Jesus said on the cross, when He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.”
xi. We also see here that their rulers had acted out of ignorance, and that the door of salvation was open even to them.
xii. So, we see up to this point, that even though Peter makes indictment of the crowd, he still leaves open the door to salvation. That’s what God does for us. Even though we are lost in our sins, the door of forgiveness is open to us.
xiii. Jesus said in Revelation chapter 3, verse 20 - Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
xiv. Look at verse 18 here though. Even though they had killed Jesus in ignorance, it was not a surprise to God, it was all part of His plan. It was God’s plan all along.
xv. God’s plan was foretold by His prophets down through the years. We see Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Zechariah, and Daniel, among others, foretelling the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and reign of Christ.
xvi. I would imagine that the folks in the crowd were wondering, “What should we do?”, just like the crowd we saw back in Acts chapter 2. Peter’s general pattern for the gospel message is the same though, from his earlier evangelistic message and this one. Peter first tells them the bad news – that the killed the Messiah, Jesus. Then he would proceed to give them the good news, and that was that forgiveness was available to them by God’s grace. We will see this in verses 19 through 21.
e. The Instruction (Acts 3:19-21)
i. 19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
ii. The first word out of Peter’s mouth once he gives the crowd the true explaination of the miracle is repent. As we have covered before, repent means to turn. In our context here today, it means to turn away from your old life of sin and turn toward God.
iii. Jesus gave us an example of repentance when He told the parable of the two sons in Matthew chapter 21, starting in verse 28 –
iv. A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ’Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ’I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ’I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.
v. Jesus was talking to the Jewish religious establishment at the time. They needed to repent of their hard hearts and cruel nature. They were pious on the outside, but they were cruel and unforgiving on the inside. These were the people who crucified Jesus. They needed forgiveness of their sins.
vi. The first step toward salvation is repentance. We need to realize our sinful life, so that we need forgiveness. If you have no realization of sin, the question that comes is – What are we in need of salvation from? What are we being forgiven from?
vii. Sin is the answer. Without forgiveness from sin, we are destined to spend eternity separated from God. Not by God’s choice, but by our choice. When we see the error of our ways and realize the sin in our lives, then the necessity of a Savior becomes apparent to us.
viii. When this happens, and we repent, and call on Jesus to forgive us, then a miraculous ting happens. Peter tells us here that our sins are blotted out. The Bible tells us that at this point, it is as if God has placed our sins in the depth of the sea.
ix. The most important thing to us is, that we are no longer held culpable, we are no longer held responsible for our sins. It is as if we had never committed them. This is truly amazing to me. An all-knowing God can forget our sins. I think it is not so much that He forgets, but that He chooses not to remember them.
x. There are two benefits of our sins being forgiven described here by Peter. First, he tells us that times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. That’s what forgiveness of sin is. It is refreshing. It’s like a weight has been taken off of your shoulders. That’s why Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:30 - My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
xi. Jesus said this because He knows the bondage of sin is a heavy burden for us to carry. Salvation through Him takes this weight off of us.
xii. The second benefit Peter tells us about is that Jesus comes into our hearts, we see this in verse 20. Peter had just spoken to them concerning Jesus, and he is explaining to them here that Jesus is the key to salvation.
xiii. Again, I’d like to take us back to Revelation chapter 3, verse 20, where Jesus says - Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
xiv. If we open the door of our hearts to Jesus, then Jesus will come in and have fellowship with us. That’s what dining was in those days. Dining was an intimate thing. When you dined with someone, you shared common bowls together, and as I have covered before, double dipping was not a faux pas in those days.
xv. Verses 19 and 20 describe what we should do in response to the gospel and the benefits from it, but verse 21 is a sharp contrast.
xvi. Verse 21 talks about Jesus having to be in heaven until the time of restoration. I ask the question, why is this here? Well, I believe it’s here to complete the story, to come full circle. Peter had talked about Jesus being the suffering servant, and the savior to take away our sins. Here in verse 21 though, Peter is introducing them to Jesus as the coming King. Jesus was at the right hand of the Father, in heaven, seated as the King of all creation.
xvii. But, as Peter mentions, Jesus would return again, when all things would be restored. Jesus would at that time set up His kingdom. That’s what these guys were looking for this time around, but Peter tells them that this aspect of the Lord’s kingdom was still coming. The prophecies were true that were spoken by Isaiah and Daniel, the kingdom of God would be restored, but they would have to wait for that.
xviii. At this point in time Jesus had come to rule and reign in the hearts of men, which is what Peter was expounding to them right them. They were sinners, and they needed Jesus to rule in their hearts.
xix. Paul describes this in his letter to the Colossians. In Colossians chapter 3, verse 10 we read - And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
xx. One last thing I want us to notice here is that Peter speaks to the pre-existence of Christ here. Notice the end of verse 21, which says “which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.
xxi. John chapter 1, verse 1 tells us that - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
xxii. Jesus had existed as God from the beginning; He wasn’t a created being like the angels. He didn’t become God through jumping to a higher plane of existence, like the New Age Movement will tell you. He was God before the world was made, He is God now in heaven and in our hearts, and He will be God when He returns triumphantly to conquer sin and death and set up His kingdom.
xxiii. Pretty powerful words from a Galilean fisherman, don’t you think? I think atthat point, many in the crowd had made a decision for Christ, but Peter doesn’t stop there, he pushes on, to get as many as would be called that day, and he does it by warning those present of the dangers of rejecting the gospel of Christ, we see this in verses 22 through 26.
f. The Caution (Acts 3:22-26)
i. 22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, ’The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ’And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."
ii. Peter begins his stern warning with a reference to Moses, God’s man to lead the nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and the man God gave the law to. These people would recognize Moses. They studied the writings of Moses almost daily, regardless of their sect. Both Pharisees and Saducees believed in Moses and the writings of Moses, the first five books of our Bible today. They called this the Torah.
iii. Moses was the great prophet for the nation of Israel. He was God’s spokesman on earth for them while they were in the wilderness. He was also their moral judge, and the leader of the nation. Moses wrote five books to guide the nation of Israel after he died. In addition to being a great leader and lawgiver, Moses was a prophet. Moses foretold the coming Messiah to the nation of Israel.
iv. Now, Moses knew the people of Israel. He knew that they were stubborn and hard hearted. He had seen them rebel against God and himself time and time again. He knew that the chance that they would reject the savior was great.
v. So Moses warned them. Peter quotes him here in verses 22 and 23. The scriptures he was quoting are found in Deuteronomy chapter 18. In these verses, Moses gives the nation of Israel a stern warning not to reject the coming great Prophet, or Savior. He warns them that if they do reject Him, they would be utterly destroyed from among God’s chose people.
vi. No doubt that Moses was thinking about Korah, who had led an ill-fated rebellion against him. Korah and his friends had rejected the notion that Moses and Aaron were God’s chosen leaders. Korah, his friends, and their families were swallowed up alive by the Earth, and they perished from among the assembly.
vii. Rejecting the Savior was a serious thing. Neither Moses nor Peter wanted anyone to do reject Jesus and get cut off.
viii. Verses 24 and 25 continue to give more strength to Peter’s message, as he describes how the rest of the prophets had foretold the coming Messiah. The quote comes from the book of 1st Samuel.
ix. Those gathered there were descendants of the prophets. Jesus was as well. The people had read the writings of the prophets, and whether they believed it or not, the fulfillment of these prophecies was Jesus Christ. Through Him, all nations would be blessed, and we are looking at the beginning of this right now.
x. What strikes me is that Peter knows the Word. He knows his Bible. If we want to be used by God, then we need to study the Bible. 1st Timothy 2:15 tells us this – 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
xi. In order to spread God’s Word to others, we first need to get God’s Word into us. That’s why we encourage you to study your Bible. We have a Bible Study guide on the back table that will help you study through the Bible in one year.
xii. Let’s finish our lesson here this morning. Verse 26, the end of chapter 3, tells us that God had sent Jesus for them first, the Israelites. All of the power and benefits of salvation were open to them at that point. But, even the way this is stated implies that even though salvation was for them first, salvation would also be available to the gentiles as well. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1 that the gospel message was for the Jew first, and then the Greek.
xiii. It really doesn’t matter who was first, what matters is that you have made that decision in your life. Maybe you’re here this morning, and you haven’t made that choice. In a few minutes, we are going to pray, and we’re going to give you that choice.
xiv. There are three things I want us to take away from this message -
1. Jesus was who He said He was, the Savior of the world, who will return again to rule over the Earth. This was confirmed through prophecy over thousands of years in the Bible.
2. Jesus came so that everyone could receive forgiveness and salvation from their sins.
3. Rejection of Him will lead to eternal separation from God.
xv. I‘d like to close with a short story.
g. Conclusion
i. A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma’s back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.” But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck! So Johnny did the dishes. Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing, Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed the duck. “I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.
ii. Before we ask Jesus to forgive us, we are a lot like the little boy who killed the duck. We were slaves to our sin, and in need of a Savior, that’s why Jesus came.
h. Let’s Pray.
