Acts 3:11-26 The Name of Jesus (Peter's 2nd Sermon)
As the church of Jesus Christ, everything we are and everything we do must be grounded in and focused upon the gospel. What Jesus accomplished for His people in His death, burial, resurrection, and exaltation is the hub around which all of the Christian life turns. The gospel is not just the baby steps of the Christian life. It is everything! We will see this demonstrated clearly in Peter’s second sermon (Acts 3:11-26). Peter stands before an amazed crowd of people in the Temple courts. They are amazed because Peter seemingly just healed a man who had been lame from birth, and now he was leaping, walking, and praising God. Peter will explain to them what this is all about, but instead of focusing on the man’s physical healing, Peter uses the man as an illustration of something much greater. Peter proclaims that Jesus is the glorified Messiah whom God, through Moses and the prophets, promised to sent to His people. He shows the people God’s salvation and calls them to turn to Jesus and receive true healing in His name.
As Peter begins explaining who healed this lame man, he will introduce Jesus by saying, "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus..." (Acts 3:13). When Peter says "glorified his servant," he is referencing the fourth "servant song" in Isaiah. He is claiming Jesus is the suffering servant of Isa. 52:13-53:12. So in addition to reading Acts 3:11-26, I would encourage you to read Isa. 52:13-53:12 as well. This prophecy tells us how the Father "glorified his servant, Jesus."
Peter’s point is that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s purposes in all of history. This is the moment to which all of Scripture has led. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. There is no deeper theology and no higher spiritual level that being "in Christ."
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Acts 3:1-10 Then Shall The Lame Man Leap
As we begin Acts 3, the church in Jerusalem is alive and growing. The Holy Spirit indwelled the disciples and through Peter’s sermon, God saved 3000 people. Last week we saw the discipleship life of the early church as they devoted themselves to worshiping, connecting in discipling relationships, and served one another. Acts 3:1-10 shows us the early church in operation. This section chronicles the healing of the lame beggar at the beautiful gate. Though we will only examine the event itself in the first 10 verses of chapter 3, I would encourage you to read the entire chapter before Sunday. The event of this man’s healing is explained by Peter in his sermon that follows in the Temple court. While the actual healing of this suffering man shows the compassion and the ministry of the church, and indeed, many people have drawn hope from the healing power of Jesus from this text, Peter’s sermon shows us the point of this miracle. The healing of this man’s physical infirmity is a sign that points to a greater reality. This miraculous event demonstrates that because Jesus is the messiah and has fulfilled the promised salvation, the coming kingdom of God is breaking into reality now. His physical healing is a glimpse of what is to come when all things are made new and the Christ who has brought deliverance, comes again in power and glory.
Peter’s sermon emphasizes that this healing miracle should lead the people to trust in Jesus so that their sins would be forgiven and when the Christ comes to restore all the things, they would receive times of refreshing from His presence (see Acts 3:19-21)
The healing of the beggar is not a declaration that all physical infirmities will be healed in this life. It is a preview of the kingdom to come when all sickness, disease, suffering, death and sin will be done away with forever. And that healing only comes by faith in the risen Messiah who is glorified at the Father’s side.
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Acts 2:42-47 The Disciple-Making Church
Peter has just preached his Pentecost sermon, the Holy Spirit moved and three thousand people are converted in a single instant. Now the Jerusalem church is faced with a logistical nightmare. In one moment it time, the church went from 120 people to 3,120. How can all these new Christians grow as disciples? How can the church disciple all these people with no infrastructure or programs? They did so by being devoted to worshiping together, connecting with one another in discipling relationships, and serving one another. That is the pattern of discipleship presented in Acts 2:42-47. The early church met in the Temple courts, and in smaller groups in their homes. They praised God together. They loved and cared for one another when needs arose. And God moved among them, adding to His church daily. Sunday, as we examine this passage, we will see the early church’s method of making disciples and we will see the discipleship that Christ calls for each of us to invest ourselves in.
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Acts 2:37-41 What Shall We Do?
Throughout history, man has come up with many different answers to the most important question in the universe. "How can I be right and righteous when I stand before my creator?" That is the question the crowd will ask Peter and the Apostles in Acts 2:37-41. After the Spirit came at Pentecost, Peter preached a sermon explaining what has happened and why it has happened. His message is that because Jesus is the Messiah, has risen from the grave, and is exalted at the right hand of the Father, He has poured out the Spirit in fulfillment of God’s promises. However, there is a troubling refrain repeated throughout Peter’s address to the Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem. He continually reminds them, "you killed Him," and "you crucified Him."
As the Spirit convicts them of their sin, they come to realize their desperate and hopeless position. Finally understanding the most crucial problem of all humanity, the crowd cries out, "Brothers what shall we do?" How this question is answered will reverberate through all eternity. Sunday, we will look at how Peter, moved by the Spirit, answers this question. His answer (in v.38) is one of the most debated passages in Scripture as several different groups build whole theologies based upon it.
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Acts 2:22-36 The Witness Of King Jesus
The Spirit has been poured out on the disciples and the spectacle of their testimony has drawn an enormous crowd in Jerusalem. Peter stands to explain this to the crowd and gives a powerful gospel sermon. Last week we heard him explain that this is the fulfillment of Joel’s “last days” prophecy when the Spirit would be poured out on all God’s people. As we begin in v.22, Peter will now explain why this is happening. He will explain why the Spirit has been poured out on this Pentecost feast? His answer is simple – because Jesus of Nazareth is God’s Messiah who was crucified, raised from the dead, and is now enthroned at the right hand of the Father.
The coming of the Spirit is a witness to Jesus’ exaltation and his fulfilling the covenant promises of His people. The Spirit has come in testimony that Jesus is Lord and salvation is found in no other name. Likewise, the Spirit empowers those united with Christ to be His witnesses.
Acts 2:22-36 is one of the most masterful sermons in all of Scripture which presents the glories of the exalted Jesus, glorified and reigning upon the throne. Yet it is also one of the most pointed as Peter shows us the difference between how God the Father sees His messiah and how His people viewed Him. Peter leads His hearers to the main conclusion saying, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36) Sunday we will ask, “What have we done with this Jesus?”
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Acts 2:1-21 A New Era Dawns
As chapter 2 opens, we see the inauguration of a new era. The Spirit’s coming marks the fulfillment of God’s new covenant promise to indwell His people. Because Jesus has come, died to pay for sin, risen from the grave, and has been exalted to the right hand of the Father - God Himself has made his dwelling place within His people and by His Spirit, He makes us witnesses for His name. This incredible beginning of the church shows us that God is still advancing His kingdom in our world and He is faithful to His promises. Now - every single gospel-believer, from the least to the greatest, is imbued with power from on High. By the gospel, every Christian is a temple of the living God, born again to be His priests, His prophets, and His ambassadors as we bear witness to the gospel in the power of His Spirit.
Acts 1:12-26 Preparing To Be His Witnesses
The fledgling church waits in Jerusalem for the promise to be poured out. As they wait, they prepared themselves to be His witnesses so they would be ready when the time came.
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Acts 1:1-11 Jesus' Mission Continued...
In Acts, we will see the church stand against opposition and persecution, but Acts gives us a unique view of how the church moved from Jerusalem to the far reaches of the Roman empire. Acts shows us the church on mission. And Acts has no definitive ending. The last verse in the book shows Paul under house arrest in Rome, preaching unhindered to all that came to him. It is meant to be an unfinished story because it is also our story - it is our mission that continues today.
Through the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit will light (or reignite) our fire for evangelism and discipleship and we examine the work of Jesus - by the Holy Spirit - through the Apostles. They were given power to be His witnesses to the far reaches of the earth - and so are we today. Our study through Acts will be an examination of the foundation upon which the church was built and grew - but it will also be an examination of the beginnings of the mission that we are still called to today.
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1 Peter 4:7-11 Standing Faithful, Standing Together
1 Peter has shown us how we stand faithfully for Christ in a hostile world. As Peter closes the main body of his letter in 4:7-11, he continues that instruction by showing us what faithfulness looks like toward one another. The world and the culture will always oppose the church of Jesus, and Peter has shown us what standing faithfully looks like in the face of that opposition. Now, in these verses, Peter turns our eyes inward as he shows us how we stand together. The only way the church faithfully endures the slander and opposition of the world, glorifying the name of Christ, and testifying to His gospel, is to do so together. So Peter shows us what the church must be toward one another as he counsels us to prepare ourselves for suffering. When Peter began the main body of his letter in 1:13 he said, "Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Here he closes this section showing that it is as a united body of believers that we engage in this preparation. Again, he calls us to be sober-minded for our prayers’ sake. He says that we must love one another and serve one another if we are to stand faithfully, giving a defense for the hope that is within us. Peter’s teaching in this section perfectly embodies our vision at FBC for making disciples and growing as disciples. We can only do so as we worship, connect, and serve. Our unity of love and service to one another is one of the most important aspects of growing in Christ, and it is absolutely essential in our calling to make disciples.
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1 Peter 4:1-6 Arm Yourselves For Suffering
What does it mean to arm yourself for suffering? That’s a catchy title for a sermon, but preparing to endure the disdain, slander, and persecution of the world doesn’t sound like a very fun activity. Yet, that is what Peter has been teaching us all through this letter. 1 Peter 4:1-6 shows us how we, as exiles and foreigners, are to prepare ourselves for the slander and opposition of a worldly culture. Just as a soldier prepares and trains before going into battle, Peter tells his readers to arm yourselves with the same perspective on suffering that Jesus had. And Peter doesn’t just give us the command and leave us to figure out the details. In these verses, he shows us what we are to arm our minds with so that we might stand faithful, choosing to live for Christ rather than sin against him by compromising with the world. As suffering for following the word of God becomes more and more prevalent in our own culture, there also comes an increasingly strong temptation to fit in, to compromise, or sacrifice biblical truth for the sake of expediency. It’s easy to say we would never do such things, but too often as we sit comfortably in the ease the Lord has given, our mentality becomes one of entitlement and self-protection. Instead of training and preparing ourselves, we become complacent and easily stumble over the smallest temptations. In this text, Peter shows us how to arm ourselves - how to train our minds in preparation for the persecution that Paul says inevitably comes to every person who desires to live a godly life (see 2 Timothy 3:12).
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1 Peter 3:18-22 The Suffering Servant's Victory
Peter encourages his suffering readers by pointing to the victory which Christ's suffering accomplished. They are already partakers in this victory though they are suffering in the world. He compares their life in this world to that of Noah to show that God delivers His people.
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1 Peter 3:13-17 Faithful In A Hostile World
Peter shows us what we need to stand faithfully when the world is hostile toward our faith and a biblical worldview
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1 Peter 3:8-12 Tools For Living The "Good Life"
Here Peter ends the current section instructing believers in how to “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (2:12). He has given instructions to Christians living under worldly governments (2:13-17), under worldly authorities (2:18-25), and to husbands and wives in the home (3:1-7). In 3:8-12, Peter finishes this section by giving general commands to all Christians in whatever situation we find ourselves. These exhortations apply to every believer in every circumstance.
By giving these directives, Peter shows us the tools we need to stand faithfully for Christ and have “good conduct” before a hostile world so that we will be a testimony to the glory of Jesus. But also, Peter will show us that even in trials and suffering, we may have the blessing of one who “love[s] life and see[s] good days” (v.10) because of the Lord whom we serve.
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2 Corinthians 1:19-22 The "Yes" of All God's Promises
It is so easy to lose focus on the gospel when we experience trials or when we are forced to recognize how sinful we really are. The gospel is our salvation and our power for living. Though we constantly fail and continually strive for holiness, our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. Unless we keep our eyes centered on the salvation and new life given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, it is inevitable that we will lose heart and succumb to despair. So this Sunday, as we take a week off from 1 Peter, we will look at 2 Corinthians 1:15-22 (focusing on v. 19-20). In this passage Paul says that in Jesus, all the promises of God are "yes."
When you find a promise from God and ask "is this promise really for me today?"- if you are in Christ, God’s answer is yes. Jesus has fulfilled and accomplished all that we need to be right with God and stand sure in our relationship with him. He is God’s once for all answer - all the promises find their "yes" in Him.
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1 Peter 3:1-7 Glorifying Christ In Marriage
We have seen Peter instruct believers in how we live faithfully under government and authorities, but in chapter 3:1-7, he turns his attention to the home. What does living faithfully for Christ in the home look like? As Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, describes the roles of both husband and wife, we do well to remember that he also speaks as one who is a Christian husband, living in a culture that is hostile to his faith.
We all come to this text with presuppositions. Perhaps we have even been hurt by someone wielding an improper application of this text. But marriage is the first institution created by God in Genesis 2, before the fall. Marriage is intended to be a picture of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His Church (Eph. 5:22-27). Therefore, we must come to the text and hear from God what it means to live faithfully in the home, so that we might "proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).
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1 Peter 2:18-20 Enduring Suffering Under Unjust Authorities
1 Peter 2:18-25 addresses Christian servants (slaves, bond-servants) in the Roman Empire, which would have been most of the earliest readers of his epistle. While there isn’t a one to one correspondence between slaves serving in first century Rome and believers today in South Central Kansas, it is a huge mistake to think there is no application for us. The most common employee / employer relationship in the Roman Empire was between master and bond-servant, and all of us, at one time or another, have had to serve under an unjust or unreasonable authority.
Peter speaks to those who are miraculously delivered by the saving grace of the King of kings. These believers are given an eternal inheritance that cannot be defiled or fade away - it is kept by God Himself for them - But, when they looked around, they were still subject to unjust and worldly people. They still served in their jobs and they were suffering under worldly and wicked masters. Peter’s admonition to them is surprising. Be subject to them! This, Peter says, is a gracious thing in the sight of God. How do we do such a thing? How can we possibly do so?
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1 Peter 2:13-17 Serving God Under Government
1 Peter 2:13-17 begins Peter’s specific instructions for the churches in Asia Minor. In the following sections, Peter will show believers what "abstaining from the passions of the flesh," and "keeping our conduct among the Gentiles honorable" actually looks like in different situations. This passage regarding how we live for Christ under government is not an easy one for us today. It was exponentially harder for those to whom it was first written. As we seek to understand God’s word on this subject, we will try to answer several common questions that arise when we talk about "being subject." However, the most important question that needs to be answered in each of our hearts is, "What is God saying to me through this?"
Peter doesn’t write to make sure the churches are being good boys and girls. He isn’t writing to ensure that he keeps everyone in line. He isn’t even writing to help them assimilate into this world. Peter writes specifically for the believers to live in such a way that Christ is glorified and honored in this world. So that "by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people" (v. 15), and "when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation (v. 12). Bringing glory to Christ’s name must be what drives all that we do.
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Colossians 2:11-15 Risen With Christ
Paul assures the Colossians that they are complete in Christ and need nothing else. The gospel completes their standing before God. They have been united in His death and resurrection and made alive with Him.
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