Title: Peter’s Sermon in Solomon’s Porch

Text: Acts 3:11-26

FCF: We often struggle clinging to Christ alone by faith alone.

Prop: Because God has established Jesus as the only way to approach Him, we must repent and believe on Jesus the Messiah of God.

Scripture Intro:

[Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 3.

Last week we saw the gospel through the healing of a lame man. We saw how God worked and moved and was the author of this man’s salvation from beginning to end.

Today Luke records another sermon of Peter. It is an abbreviated sermon. We are told in Chapter 4 that Peter is interrupted by the Jewish leaders. Nevertheless, Peter’s sermon lands directly on target, hitting the hearts of those who had ears to hear. And there is much to learn here today.

I am in chapter 3 and I’ll begin reading in verse 11. I am reading from the LSB but you can follow along in the pew bible on page 1232 or in whatever version you prefer.

Transition:

Our Lord in His sermon on the mount illustrated entrance into the Kingdom of God by speaking of a narrow gate. The gate is broad and the path is wide that leads to destruction, death, and judgment. But the gate is narrow and the path is difficult that leads to life. I’d like you to keep this parable in mind as we hear this sermon of Peter. For the narrow gate to which Jesus refers is identified very clearly. I would not want you to miss it.

I.) The Suffering Servant has been glorified so that all may approach Yahweh through Him, so we must repent and believe on Jesus the Messiah of God. (11-18)

a. [Slide 2] 11 – And while he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico called Solomon’s, full of wonder.

i. This formerly crippled man, who can now walk and run and leap, has been joyously praising God in and out of the temple.

ii. Although Luke doesn’t fill in the blanks for us in the narrative, it is obvious that they have walked out of the temple and are now in Solomon’s portico.

iii. Why is he clinging to them though? Was he walking shakily now? Was he losing his ability to walk? No. Friends, he was hugging them. Weeping with them. Thanking them.

iv. People were now running to them and wondering at what they had just seen.

v. How could this be? By what power has this happened? We want an explanation!

b. [Slide 3] 12 – But when Peter saw this he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?”

i. Peter’s reply questions their questioning in two ways.

1. First, Peter wonders at their wonder. He marvels at their marveling. This suggests that they should not be shocked or surprised by what they have seen. They should have expected this kind of thing to happen.

2. Second, Peter questions their gazing at them. At the apostles. He not only wonders at their wonder; he wonders at their wonder over himself and John. As if something is special about them. As if it was their power or their godliness that caused this man to be healed.

ii. Peter suggests that they should know who has healed this man and they should have been expecting it to have happened.

iii. This is the main point of his sermon.

iv. But who did heal this man and why should they have been expecting it? That is where he goes next.

c. [Slide 4] 13 – The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus,

i. This statement is of great importance for several reasons.

1. [Slide 5] First, is God the God of the living or of the dead?

a. This is significant because it gets to the heart of a great debate in Judaism at this time.

b. The Sadducees believed that there was no resurrection from the dead. They denied the afterlife and the existence of the spiritual realm altogether.

c. The Sadducees were by far the minority sect during this time, but what they lacked in number they made up for in power. Most of the leaders of the Jews were Sadducees.

d. Peter saying “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers” – is significant because it affirms an afterlife.

e. Peter saying that God has glorified His Servant Jesus, who was dead, affirms the resurrection from the dead.

f. In other words, this statement by Peter is incredibly offensive to the Sadducees’ brand of Judaism. This will be the crux of what happens in chapter 4. We’ll get to that next week.

2. [Slide 6] The Second reason this statement is important is because it points to a covenantal relationship in all that Peter is about to say.

a. Peter is not advocating for a new religion.

b. Peter is not suggesting that the faith He possess in Jesus is some new sect or heresy of Judaism.

c. Instead, Peter is saying and teaching that following Jesus is THE next step of Judaism.

d. Just as the Exodus, the giving of the law, the creation of the tabernacle, the establishment of the nation of Israel, the building of the temple – just as all these were new phases of Yahweh worship…

e. Jesus, the Messiah of God, has established a new and final phase of Yahweh worship. The last phase before the end of the age.

f. If Israel wished to return to purely worship Yahweh, they must do so through His glorified Servant.

g. We’ll see this truth unfold increasingly throughout this sermon.

3. [Slide 7] The Third reason this statement is significant is because Peter refers to Jesus as the Servant of God.

a. You might say – well, what is the big deal? Why is it significant that Jesus is being referred to here as the Servant of God?

b. If anything, that makes Him sound like He isn’t God since He is God’s servant.

c. Peter’s words should have struck a chord with the Jews though. For as soon as Peter referenced the Servant of God, their minds should have been drawn to several passages in Isaiah.

d. The Servant of Yahweh is introduced in chapter 41 of Isaiah, but by the last Servant song in Isaiah 52 and 53, two truths are presented. The Servant of Yahweh would both suffer, die, but would also prosper and be given a long life with many offspring. The riddle is – how can both of these be true?

e. Especially when the suffering and death is the reason for God making Him to prosper and have many offspring.

f. Peter indicates that Jesus is the Servant whom God has already glorified. Jesus is the one who has prospered.

ii. But if He has prospered… that means he must have died…

d. [Slide 8] Whom you delivered and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.

i. Not only were the Jews reminded instantly that Jesus was killed only weeks ago…

ii. But they are also reminded that it was by their zeal, by their mob mentality, and by their leader’s guidance that they insisted that Jesus must die.

iii. In fact, even the pagan Romans saw God’s Servant as innocent (as Isaiah 53 says the Servant would be.)

iv. Yet they denied Him as their King. Only Caesar is King they cried.

v. Peter draws the comparison between the will of God toward Jesus and the will of the Jews toward Jesus.

vi. God glorified His Servant; they rejected and denied Him.

vii. The two responses are in direct opposition.

e. [Slide 9] 14-15 – But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, But put to death the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.

i. The Holy One of Israel is a title reserved for Yahweh and the title Righteous One is used of any who follow the Lord but was a title in 1st Century Jewish scholarship that was being applied ultimately to the coming Messiah.

ii. In other words, Peter affirms not only the Messiahship of Jesus here, but also His place in the godhead. He is named Yahweh and the Messiah of Yahweh in the same breath.

iii. But these Jews, possibly even in this crowd, traded a murderer, Barabas, one who takes life for the one who gave them life.

iv. But how can Peter say all this so authoritatively?

v. Because God raised Jesus from the dead!

vi. God’s testimony of Jesus is that He was indeed His Servant. He gave this testimony to us by raising Him and glorifying Him.

vii. And now the apostles bear witness to all they saw and heard.

f. [Slide 10] 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 is through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

i. In case you didn’t’ realize it – it was by the power of, for the sake of, and by the authority of Jesus that this lame man before them was healed.

ii. They know him, they know he had been a cripple since birth. Yet now he stands, leaps, and runs among them. Now he is praising God and Jesus Christ for His restored health.

iii. And all of this came to him not by works, not by keeping the law, not by his righteousness, not by the righteousness of the apostles, not by the power of the apostles – it all came to him through faith in the righteousness and power of Christ.

iv. Is this the faith of the apostles or is this the faith of the lame man? The grammar does not indicate which. But perhaps that is the point. For through faith in Christ the apostles procured the healing of this man and through faith in Christ this man received complete and perfect healing.

v. This man placed his hope, all his hope, in Christ and Christ alone. And he was healed. Not just of his physical malady – but of his sin too.

vi. And it was not done in secret behind closed doors.

vii. This man was lame and now he walks.

g. [Slide 11] 17 – And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also.

i. Perhaps he saw that they were cut to the heart for their part, no matter how small, in the murder of the Lord of glory.

ii. Peter immediately blunts the shame and guilt upon them.

iii. It doesn’t relieve their need for repentance of the sin of murdering the Lord’s Servant, but it does show that they did not do so intentionally or deliberately. The law makes it clear that deliberate and willful sin has no opportunity for atonement. But sin done in ignorance, by accident, or by surprise, can be atoned for.

iv. They lacked the necessary understanding to do the right thing.

v. Peter refers to the Jewish leaders as well. They too lacked the knowledge necessary to make the correct decision.

vi. In I Corinthians 2:8 Paul speaks of a wisdom that had the rulers of their day had it, they would have never crucified the Lord of glory.

h. [Slide 12] 18 – But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.

i. Peter blunts their guilt even further by adding that even though they acted in ignorance, their actions were part of the Sovereign plan of God since the foundation of the world.

ii. We hear the echoes of Joseph to his brothers here. A type of Christ perhaps. Where what the Jews intended for ignorant evil, the Lord intended for sovereignly appointed good.

iii. While it may be true that these people are guilty of the murder of the Lord’s Anointed One.

iv. While it may be true that had they possessed spiritual insight they would not have crucified Christ.

v. God brought about what He had prophesied 700 years ago – that His Servant, His Messiah, would suffer and die.

vi. We see God’s hand of mercy here.

vii. It was God’s will and pleasure to crush His Son. And according to Zechariah it would be His own people who would do this. But to spare them greater guilt in the murder of God’s Messiah He hid the truth from them so they, unlike Pharoah, may act in ignorance.

i. [Slide 13] Summary of the point: God has always revealed by all the prophets that His Servant would suffer at the hands of His own people to be the substitute for sin. That His people would mourn their sin and grieve over the one they had pierced. And that the establishment of a new covenant, a new era of redemption would be funneled through His Servant whom He will prosper and glorify. Therefore, the path ahead for all who wish to worship Yahweh is through faith in Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, the Suffering and now exalted Servant of Yahweh. For He has already walked the path for us.

Transition:

[Slide 14 (blank)] So, Peter has made the case that Jesus is the Suffering Servant to whom all must come through faith in order to worship Yahweh. But is this all Christ is? A glorified Servant? Or does our faith in Him consist of more than this?

II.) The Great Prophet, The Great High Priest, and the Eternal King is available to each individual who repents and believes, so we must repent and believe on Jesus the Messiah of God. (17-26)

a. [Slide 15] 19 – Therefore, repent and return so that your sins may be wiped away

i. Again, Peter’s words are filtered through Isaiah 53.

ii. This Suffering Servant of Yahweh is sent to be pierced for the transgressions of His people.

iii. He was sent to be crushed for their iniquities.

iv. He was sent to bear God’s punishment to bring them peace with God.

v. He was sent to be slashed open so their wounds could be healed.

vi. This Suffering Servant was a substitute for sinners. He would bear their sin and according to Isaiah 53, he would also justify the many as He bears their iniquity.

vii. He would make them righteous.

viii. Peter tells the crowd that day that it was their sins that killed the Messiah. Not simply their denial of Him. Not their insistence that He be crucified. No. For even though that was done in ignorance – their sins as a whole are what held him there. Later in Acts we’ll see that this is not a uniquely Jewish problem. That the sins of the Gentiles were also why He died.

ix. Now Peter tells them to repent and to return. To repent means to change your mind, it means to abandon former practices and adopt new practices.

x. To return means to turn or go back.

xi. What they are to go back to?

xii. Peter already alluded to this. He is telling them to return to faithfulness to Yahweh through faith in His glorified Servant.

xiii. Jesus has been authenticated as the one to whom all must return or turn to.

xiv. And what is the benefit for repenting and believing in Jesus as the Messiah of God?

xv. First, that their sins will be wiped away or blotted out.

xvi. Repentance and faith – gifts of God, exercised by those to whom God gives them, this is the path for sins to be truly and completely wiped away. This is the path to the justification mentioned in Isaiah 53.

xvii. But there is a second reason they must repent.

b. [Slide 17] In order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

i. Peter makes it clear, as the Old Testament made clear, the sins of the people are what separated them from the presence of the Lord.

ii. God was not approachable by even the most pious of His people, because of their sin and because of His holiness.

iii. And yet, here Peter mentions a refreshing that comes from the presence of the Lord.

iv. We are drawn to visions of what it must have been like to walk with God in the garden as Adam and Eve. And we compare that to Isaiah who in a dream saw the throne of God and was immediately frozen with fear and came to instant loathing of his sinful state.

v. To be refreshed in His presence and not fearful? How peculiar.

vi. In this way, the Lord Jesus fulfills the need they had for a High Priest that did not need atonement for Himself. A Sacrifice that did not need to be repeated but was sufficient for all their sin. A High Priest that was able to connect them to God permanently and not merely symbolically. Peter in so many words says that they must repent and believe to receive Jesus as their Great High Priest.

vii. Peter has mentioned two very strong reasons for his audience to repent and believe on Christ. But there is yet a third.

c. [Slide 18] 20 – and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

i. Didn’t God already send Him? Indeed, He has. But He is coming again. Indeed, at this future time the fullest scope of His Messianic work will be completed. For the Jews were not wrong to expect a military conqueror, they were simply putting the cart before the horse.

ii. All who repent and believe are those whom the Father has appointed the Son to be their Messiah. And He will come with them to defeat death and finally and forever restore all things.

iii. He will come as the Lord of Lords. The King of Kings. He will come to reign forever in a new heaven and earth where none will remain who oppose Him.

iv. But why is there a delay for this?

d. [Slide 19] 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.

i. The restoration is not yet complete.

ii. Although the Kingdom is come and there is nothing that could be added to the work of Christ for the redemption of His people… the restoration of all things is not yet complete.

iii. Although this is somewhat debated, I believe that there are several prophesies in the Old Testament that are still not yet fulfilled.

iv. There may even be prophesies in the Old Testament that have been fulfilled in part but will have a fuller and greater fulfillment in the future – even our future.

v. Peter has just given three excellent reasons that his audience must repent and believe on Jesus.

1. He wipes the believer’s sins away.

2. He establishes a believer’s ongoing and refreshing connection to God.

3. He will be sent as the believer’s conquering King one day.

vi. In this he makes it plain that they must repent and return to Yahweh through Jesus because He will be their Great High Priest and their Eternal King.

vii. But now Peter will give a negative reason that they must repent and believe on Jesus.

e. [Slide 20] 22-23 – Moses said, “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers; to Him you shall listen to everything He says to you. And it shall be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.”

i. Peter makes it clear that Jesus is not just The Servant, The Savior, The High Priest, and The King, but he is also The Prophet.

ii. Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy that one greater than he would come. A prophet that if they did not listen to Him, they would be destroyed.

iii. This prophet, as far as Peter is concerned, is clearly Jesus of Nazareth.

iv. Once again, Peter clearly defines the next step in the worship of Yahweh has been funneled through the Righteous One Jesus the Messiah of God. There is no other path to true Judaism and truly worshipping God than through His Christ.

v. If they do not listen to Him as the greater-than-Moses prophet, then they will be cut off.

f. [Slide 21] 24 – And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also proclaimed these days.

i. Indeed, we see many events happening from the prophets in this book of Acts.

ii. People are being healed, the Spirit of God is being poured out, people are prophesying and having visions.

iii. Even Samuel’s prophesies of a Davidic line that will be established forever, has come true! Through whom? Through Jesus the Messiah. Who was dead and is now alive and seated at the right hand of God until God makes His enemies his footstool.

g. [Slide 22] 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.”

i. Now Peter gives them one final reason to repent and believe on Jesus.

ii. His first set of reasons were individually positive. They have much to gain in that they gain Christ as their High Priest and King.

iii. His second reason was individually negative. They have much to lose. In that they must listen to their Great Prophet or be destroyed.

iv. Now he focuses on the global positive reason that they must repent and believe on Jesus.

v. They are part of this rich heritage and part of an amazing covenant of God’s redemption.

vi. The Servant has come! The seed promised to Abraham has come. God is right now fulfilling the blessing of the nations through Christ and through Jews moving into the final form of what it means to be a worshipper of Yahweh.

vii. Through these Jews, by faith in Christ… all the families of the earth will be blessed. Why? Because the Messiah has come! A new era has begun! And they will take the news of this Glorified Servant to the utter most parts of the earth!

h. [Slide 23] 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.”

i. But before it goes to all the world…

ii. This new era must first come to them.

iii. How longsuffering the Lord is to the Jews. My friends, how patient He is. Countless times they turned from Him. Twice exiled, many times punished. And yet here He offers the next step in His worship, the funnel of Christ is offered to them first.

iv. The Servant of Yahweh has come to turn every one of them from their wicked ways.

i. [Slide 24] Summary of the point: God has always revealed that the redemption of His people would be funneled through one seed. The seed of the woman. That seed is Jesus the Messiah, the Righteous One, the Servant of Yahweh. And for the Jews they find themselves in an honored place. That, even though they killed their own King, they may even now repent and believe on God’s Servant and have their sins erased, their hearts refreshed in communion with God, their futures secured, their covenant established and their global mission go forward. All this is only possible through the Seed, The Servant, The Savior, The Great High Priest, The Conquering King, The Great Prophet, The Messiah of God, Jesus of Nazareth whom the Lord has glorified.

Conclusion:

And so, CBC, as we look at these summary points of Peter’s sermon we do not have to strive hard to uncover the heart of His sermon to these wonderstruck temple worshipers. It is the same message that 1200 years later people like Peter Waldo and Jon Huss were being burned at the stake for. It is the same message that 300 years later a man by the name of Martin Luther was declared a heretic for believing. It is the same message that continues to be opposed by the council of trent’s ruling. It is simply this…

[Slide 25] Solus Christus and Sola Fide. Jesus Christ alone is the funnel, He is the ONLY way, He is the final phase of Yahweh worship. All must come through Him if we desire to worship the Father. He is the Great High Priest offering the final sacrifice and establishing the ongoing refreshing from the presence of God. He is the Great Prophet whom all must heed lest we be cast out. He is the Eternal King who will conquer and rule the nations. But it is all through faith in Him. It is through following Him, through trusting in Him. His work is finished. His path has been tread. He has been glorified. We must join Him - but the path before us is not through works and not through faith and works. It is through faith alone that we are united to Christ. A faith that works this is true… but faith alone is how we are joined to Christ. And Christ alone is how we come to the Father.

But are these doctrines still relevant for us today? A doctrine can’t possibly be relevant if it is in Latin can it?