Acts 3:1-19

Please take your copy of God's Word and turn to the book of Acts chapter 3.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

But as a church, if we don't, each time we gather together, celebrate and learn more about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we're failing at the task put before us as God's people gather together.

It's also good for a church to keep a schedule.

And here, Christ's Only Church, we love verse by verse exposition.

We want to get in deep into the scripture.

We want to understand all that it has to say to us as God's inspired word.

From time to time, I prove myself more clever than you might think.

And both gets to happen on the same day.

So we've been working through the book of Acts.

And we have in Acts chapter 3 verses 1 through 19, the second sermon that Peter preaches.

Acts 3:1–19

And he talks about the resurrection.

There was great labor on the part of the disciples, which we'll talk more about soon, to prove that the resurrection was a reality.

That this message that they were preaching, that this person that they claimed to follow was indeed alive.

So this morning we have before us a short story, an event that happens, and then a sermon preached by Peter, which we will look at the first part of that sermon together.

So I'm going to read to us Acts 3 verses 1 through 19.

Acts 3:1–19

Before I do, let me remind you, this is God's word written to us for his glory and our good.

We would all do well to listen to it, set aside the distraction and the fray of the morning in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Acts chapter 3, beginning in verse 1.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

Now, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the beautiful gate, to ask alms of those entering the temple.

Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.

And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, look at us.

And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have, I give to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand and raised him up.

And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

And all the people saw him walking and praising God and recognized him as the one who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple asking for alms.

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what happened to him.

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's.

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?

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 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.

But you denied the holy and righteous one and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.

And you killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead.

To this we are witnesses.

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.

And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance as did also your rulers.

But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.

Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out.

Repent, therefore, and turn back that your sins may be blotted out.

Now, church, we have before us quite a bit of text this morning.

And whether we have much to cover or little, it's always helpful to have some outline to hang the text on top of.

Right?

To help us get our minds into it and to rightly understand it.

There are many different ways you could outline a text, especially as robust as this one.

But I've decided to do it this morning in three points.

I'm going to give them to you in advance.

If you're taking notes, give you some framework in which to think.

So we're going to look at these 19 verses in this way.

First, the confirmation of Peter's preaching.

First, the confirmation of Peter's preaching.

Second, the content of Peter's preaching.

What was the message that was being preached?

The content of Peter's preaching.

And third, the call of Peter's preaching.

So first, the confirmation of Peter's preaching.

We see in Acts 3, 1 through 11, a miracle performed.

Peter performs a miracle by the power of God in order to give confirmation to his message.

This is why miracles have always been performed.

This was the ministry of Jesus walking around healing.

We read a story to the children just a moment ago about Jesus, the miracle man.

The point of the miracles was to say to the people who were witnessing these things,

listen to what I have to say to you.

Surely, he came and he brought healing.

He brought restoration.

And those things are wonderful in this life.

What Jesus ultimately came to do was to preach the gospel of the coming of the kingdom.

That we might have eternal restoration.

Temporal versus the eternal.

The greater miracle.

That by faith in Christ, we are brought to restored relationship with God.

That our hearts are changed.

That we no longer live for ourselves, but that we now live for Him.

This is the purpose of miracles.

And it happens here with Peter.

In verses 1 through 11, we see Peter and John, his old friend.

They owned a fishing business before they were called to be apostles.

Going to the temple at the hour of prayer.

These two were particularly close to Christ.

Peter and John, along with John's brother James, were kind of part of the inner circle

that Jesus spent some of the most intimate moments of His ministry with.

Here we see them still together.

These are the only two that followed Jesus to the high priest's house after His arrest.

Their response to the arrest and crucifixion of Christ were dramatically different.

They part ways.

We can observe in Luke's narrative, his first narrative, John at the foot of the cross,

being asked by Jesus to care for His mother.

And we can read of Peter's three-fold denial of Jesus.

Here we see them now reunited as the first disciples to visit the empty tomb after the resurrection.

Imagine the amount of hopelessness they must have experienced at the crucifixion of Christ.

Whether at the foot of that cross or off denying Jesus.

This hopelessness.

But they're the first two at the report of the women to run to see the empty tomb.

And now we see them with such great boldness, giving leadership to the church.

We see these two traveling and ministering together through much of the beginning of Acts.

And here we see them going together to pray.

And they're going up to the temple.

Everything in Jerusalem goes up to the temple on the temple mount.

It's always higher than everything else.

So if you're going to the temple, you're always going up to the temple.

The temple would be used for quite some time in the early church for the gathering of Christians.

It was still a place of the worship of God.

Now they're rightly understanding what that worship is to look like.

That it's to happen through Jesus Christ.

But they're still gathering at this place in order to do that.

And they're able to do this until persecution arises.

And the Jews begin to prohibit them from meeting at the temple.

The temple was the obvious place to attend, to reason with Jews concerning Jesus.

Those who had covenant promise of God to fully comprehend and to understand who the Messiah was.

This was the obvious place to go.

People who had come to worship God being told by the apostles how to worship God rightly.

We see this incredibly often in the ministry of Paul when he goes to a new city.

He starts at the temple in that city.

A place where people were coming together in order to worship God.

And they're doing so at the hour of prayer.

So the ninth hour, the clarification is here by Luke.

It's 3 p.m.

The Jews counted the hours from sunrise.

So 6 a.m. would have been the first hour.

Noon would have been the sixth hour.

The ninth hour is 3 p.m. in the afternoon.

And this is significant for the narrative because this was also the time that the evening sacrifice began.

The temple crowds would have been at their very height at this time.

So they're going to pray without a plan.

They're just going to pray.

They're walking in and they encounter a man.

This is the setting that Peter and John walk into.

2 p.m.

Seeing this opportunity to display the loving kindness of God as they see this man.

Verse 2.

A man who is lame from birth.

Luke records this for us to indicate that his case was hopeless.

His inability to walk was not an issue that could be remedied by a doctor or with time.

It wasn't that he had hurt himself and he needed some healing.

He was lame from birth.

It also indicates that he'd been lame for a very long time and that he had known nothing else.

This man had never stood on his own legs.

He had never walked.

He's hopeless.

He has to be carried, the text tells us.

Carried and laid daily in this place.

The imperfect tense of the verb translated was being carried along with the phrase they laid daily at the gate of the temple.

That is called the beautiful gate.

The beautiful gate is recorded by Luke to show us that this man was a permanent fixture at this location.

For his livelihood, he was brought every single day to this place and sat there in order to collect alms or donations to the poor.

Everyone, everyone who frequented this place would have been familiar with this man.

It was a strategic location where he was at, right?

To make this livelihood, begging for money as people came to express their piety at the temple.

This was what they were coming to do, to make sacrifice for God.

In Jewish tradition, it was a wonderful thing to give publicly.

So I'm sure the man did well in this place, receiving alms from those who would pass by.

And in expectance of that, you see in verse 3 and 4 and 5, he looks to these men, Peter and John, to give him alms.

And as Peter says to him, look at us.

They fix their gaze on him.

Peter and John looking at him.

Him looking back at them.

What he expects is something from them.

He received something to be sure, but not the alms that he was expecting.

I think most of us have had some experience with the poor.

Have taken a trip to Atlanta where somebody might be hanging out to Panhandle.

And consider the way in which you encounter those people walking down the sidewalk.

Somebody sitting on the side of the road that you're pretty confident is going to ask for money from you.

Or when you pull up on the off-ramp at the light and there's the guy with the sign and he's walking.

And you go, oh gosh, oh gosh, just don't look.

If you don't look, he won't walk right up to the door because I never carry cash.

And I don't think he's swiping credit cards.

This feels awkward.

I can't look at him in the face.

Recognize that what's happening here is people are doing this as they're walking in.

Even as some are giving to them, they're giving what they give and they walk on.

But Peter and John have compassion for him as a person and they look at him.

It's significant that Luke records this for us.

They see him as more than that outward appearance.

This man broken and lame, begging for money.

They see him as an eternal soul.

And they seek to grant him that which will be best for his soul.

Make eye contact with him.

And Peter says to him, verse 6,

I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

Takes him by the right hand.

Raises him up.

Immediately.

Immediately.

The way God works.

Miracles.

Immediately.

His feet and ankles were made strong.

We see he leaps up.

Peter supplied by God's power.

Ultimately what the man really needed.

Now, get this.

You've got to read between the lines, right?

He stood up and he walked.

It was a good thing.

It was a valuable thing.

It was a temporary restoration.

But what he ultimately needed was to have his affections turned toward God.

Not sitting outside the temple expecting to receive money, but rather going in for the worship of God.

And we see this begin to happen.

Verses 8 through 11.

Leaping up, he stood and began to walk.

He entered the temple with him, walking and leaping and praising God.

All the people saw him walking and praising God and recognized him as the one.

Right?

The one who sat, this permanent fixture, who sat at the beautiful gate of the temple.

They'd seen him so many times.

They knew this was the man that sat there at the beautiful gate asking for alms.

Here he is now.

All our lives, sitting in this spot.

Here he is now, walking and leaping and praising God for what has happened.

And they're filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

I think we'd feel the same.

God sets out this introduction to Peter's sermon and their attention is caught.

But, as carefully as I try to craft some form of introduction for a sermon,

I'm never going to get your attention the way this grabbed these people's attention.

None of you jumping around, leaping and praising God,

would capture the attention the way this man, who's been here for so long and is now restored, did.

And he's clinging to Peter and John, which isn't to say that he couldn't walk,

but he's desperate holding on to them.

These men who have spoken into his life and he's become restored.

He's treasuring them.

He wants to be around them.

He doesn't want to lose them in the crowd as these people astounded run together in the portico called Solomon's.

Now, this was the porch that surrounded the court of the Gentiles.

It was a large, expansive place.

This was the same place that Jesus gave the good shepherd discord.

So, to set that scene for you.

This is the very place where Jesus stood and spoke of himself as the good shepherd.

This miracle is setting up this great stage for Peter's message.

Peter and John, going to the temple to pray, have now interceded by God's power and healed a man.

And now Peter's about to preach his second sermon.

Prepared.

Knowing the word of God.

Filled with the spirit of God.

His stage is set for him.

And he speaks.

This miracle gives confirmation to this message that's about to be spoken.

These people are astounded by it.

They're drawn together.

Their attention is fixed.

As if God cries out to them in the miracle.

Listen to the message to be preached in your hearing.

So, there's a confirmation of Peter's preaching.

Second, and the major part of our text, our time today, is the content of Peter's preaching.

Verses 12 through 18 of chapter 3.

The content of Peter's preaching.

Now, before he really gets into the mix of it,

verse 12 says that when Peter saw it,

this clamoring crowd,

their astonishment at what had happened,

when he saw this,

he addressed the people.

He responded to the people.

Some of your translations may say.

It's a very common way in which a speech began in Greek.

This introductory statement.

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.

Peter clears the air with two questions.

He begins by saying,

men of Israel,

which is a term of respect.

He's saying to them,

listen to me,

men of Israel,

devout Jewish followers.

It's a beginning of a harsh exhortation on their part,

a rebuke even.

He padded them up and he built some equity.

Men of Israel.

But it also serves to remind them

that they were God's covenant people.

They were Jews.

These are Jewish people gathering at the temple in Jerusalem.

They had the scripture.

They were taught it from a very early age.

And they should have had the answer

to these questions that Peter asks.

Two of them.

First,

why do you wonder at this?

Why do you wonder at this?

They knew God to be a miracle working God.

Their history was wrought with stories

of God's miracle working amongst them as a people.

Many of the Psalms that they would have recited and sung

go through the process of remembering

the way in which God's people were delivered from Egypt

and the miracles that happened to make this happen.

They knew that God was a miracle working God.

They had all kinds of knowledge of God's miraculous power.

Father,

they would have been familiar with passages like

Isaiah 35,

5 and 6,

which speaks of healings marking the beginning

of the messianic age.

Verse 5,

Isaiah 35,

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap like a deer

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

How familiar there.

If they were paying attention to their scriptures,

they would have seen the miracle working of Jesus

and now the following miracle working of the apostles

by the power of God

as this inauguration of the messianic age.

Paying attention.

Why do you wonder at this?

Of course this is happening.

This is what Peter is expressing.

And he also says,

Why do you stare at us

as though by our own power or piety

we have made him walk?

It wasn't us to do this thing.

Don't praise us.

We're merely under shepherds of the great shepherd.

Remember where they're standing

when Peter's saying this.

They couldn't have had the power

or the piety to do this

apart from the work of God through them.

And this miracle creates

a conundrum for the Jews.

They believed that God works miracles.

They knew this of their history.

They saw it in their holy text.

They had put Jesus Christ to death

because he claimed to be God.

And here are his followers

performing miracles

in the name of Jesus Christ.

It puts them in a very tough spot.

And he's setting this up.

He's clearing the air

to say to them,

of course this is happening

because Jesus is God.

And he's going to say in a moment,

and you killed him.

And you killed him.

After asking these two clarifying questions,

Peter begins to preach.

And what is the primary context

of a sermon?

The primary context,

if it has a theme to it,

it's the exaltation of Jesus Christ.

The exaltation of Jesus Christ.

It's showing who Jesus is.

It's teaching about his person

and his work.

Presenting the right answer

in his preaching

to the most important question

anyone will ever answer

in their life.

Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

And I don't know so many of you

this morning

as I'm looking around.

We have a lot of guests

and I'm thankful for that.

Who is Jesus?

He said some astounding things.

Claimed to do

some incredible things.

We didn't walk with him,

but we have an account of it.

And it puts you in a spot

to consider

he can't just be a good teacher.

If he's just a good teacher,

he said nutty,

nutty things.

He called himself

God.

He forgave sin.

He told people

they had to eat his flesh

and drink his blood.

So he either was

just a liar

or he was a lunatic,

absolutely insane man

or he is in fact

who he says he is

and he's Lord

of heaven and earth.

You need to answer

that question.

It's the most important question.

And Peter's presenting

to them

the right answer.

The proper aim

of all preaching.

And don't hear preaching

as I'm saying that this morning

is what I'm doing right now,

although it does fall

under that category.

I would call this

a subset of preaching.

Speaking the good news

of Jesus Christ

to anyone who will hear.

So whether it's from a pulpit

or over a cup of coffee,

we're all meant to preach

the good news of Jesus Christ.

If you are a disciple of Christ,

you must preach

the good news

of Jesus Christ.

A Christian life

devoid of preaching

the good news

is no Christian life at all.

We are ambassadors

for Christ.

We are sent out

as His chosen ones

to spread the aroma

of Him everywhere.

prayer.

This is the task

put before us.

So it's important

that we see the way

in which we ought to preach.

That affects the way

I preach now

and what I'm doing.

It also affects

the way we function

and talk to

our neighbors

and our co-workers

and beyond.

An example of this,

Acts 8.4.

The persecution

comes on the church

and there's these

very harmonious days.

The church is being gathered

and gathered

and gathered

in Jerusalem

and the persecution

comes and they're scattered.

Acts 8.4 says,

Now those who are scattered

went about

preaching the word.

It's an interesting

Greek word used here

for preaching.

It's not in the

negative connotation of it

but can mean

that they gossiped it

everywhere.

It means they spoke it

any time they had a chance.

Someone was willing to listen

and they told it to them.

Everywhere they could go

on the byways

on the way home

when they got home

when they re-engaged

in their jobs

in their hometown.

The job of the church

is to make Jesus known

by the power

of the Holy Spirit

to the glory

of God the Father.

That is our job.

The job of the church

is to make Jesus known

by the power

of the Holy Spirit

to the glory

of God the Father.

We are to preach

the good news

of Jesus Christ.

This is why

Christ's family church exists

to glorify God

by experiencing,

proclaiming,

and displaying

the supremacy

of Jesus Christ

in all things

to all peoples.

It is not the job

of the church

to create separate environments

for people to make friends.

It's not the job.

As a local popular pastor

recently suggested,

it's not the job.

The job of the church

is to exalt Jesus Christ.

That's what you need

this morning.

You need that more

than you need friends.

You need friends,

but you need Christ

exalted in your life

more than that.

John 3, 14 and 15,

Jesus says,

And as Moses

lifted up the serpent

in the wilderness,

so must the Son of Man

be lifted up,

that whoever believes

in Him

may have eternal life.

Whether you are found

in Christ this morning

or not,

you need Christ

exalted before you.

That we might look at Him,

place believing faith

in Him for the first time,

or continue to place

believing faith in Him.

I need a fresh vision

of Jesus Christ

moment by moment

by moment in my day.

I need the gospel

to run through my veins.

No doctrine stays alive

in the mind.

It must be fed.

Christian,

if you're not in your scripture,

you're not in Christian fellowship,

you're not having Christ

held up before you

as often as possible,

your heart will grow cold.

You might find yourself

in that place this morning.

You might find yourself

a fickle believer,

nominal at best.

Behold,

Christ.

That's what Peter's doing

for us this morning.

I hope in some

explanation of the text,

I hope that for you.

If you're not found in Christ,

if you haven't placed

believing faith in Him,

you may have had some

walk the aisle,

prayer prayer experience.

That's possible to do that

and not have placed

believing faith

in Jesus Christ.

You believe in Jesus Christ

and He will change you

He will reorient your life.

You won't look the way

you used to look.

You'll begin to look different

by one degree

and another.

You'll begin to love things

that you used to hate.

You'll begin to hate things

that you used to love.

There's a measure to that,

an evidencing of fruit.

Examine your life.

See where your heart is.

Repent

and believe.

So Peter begins to exalt

Jesus Christ

and he does so by using

five different names for him.

Five different names

is the way I'm

structuring point two.

Five different names

for him.

I want to point out to you

that his first sermon

as recorded in chapter two

on the day of Pentecost

is a citation and explanation

of three different

Old Testament texts.

It's very scripture rich.

This first one.

We don't see him citing

specific scripture

in this case

but I just want you to know

to a Jewish audience

these titles that he's pulling out

to describe Jesus Christ

would have accessed

for their minds

a multitude of scriptures

that would have said these things.

I want to show you some of them.

Remember he's speaking

to a particular audience

that would have heard

these titles

and they would have been

very significant

to them.

So he was bringing forth

the scripture

to give explanation

to exalt Jesus Christ.

Okay.

So number one.

He calls him God's servant.

God's servant.

Verse 13.

He begins

the God of Abraham

the God of Isaac

and the God of Jacob

the God of our fathers.

He's saying

don't be confused

about the God

I'm speaking about.

Jewish audience.

Do not be confused.

This is God the Father.

This is the God

of Abraham

of Isaac

of Jacob

of Moses

glorified

his servant.

He calls Jesus

God's servant.

Now you may not be familiar

with this

but they were

that this is a commonly used

Old Testament designation

for the Messiah.

This promised one

the anointed one

that would come

to God's people.

It's most famously

tied to

predictions

of Christ's

suffering.

Now I want you to

turn to one of those

with me

as we consider

the suffering

and death

of Jesus Christ

in Isaiah chapter 52.

Isaiah 52 · chapter mention

2.

I'm going to

the end of the chapter

to verse 13

and then I'm going

to read Isaiah 53

along with that.

If you don't know

this

chapter verses

are not inspired.

It's good for us

to sometimes

look beyond.

So we're going to

begin in 52.13

and read through 53.

Now

what you need to be

considering as I'm

reading this to you

is the speaking

of Christ.

Verse 13 says

behold

my servant.

It's God speaking

behold

my servant.

And this is a

description

this is a prediction

of what was

going to happen

and what did

happen to

Jesus Christ.

This was

Jesus Christ

suffering

on the cross

on our behalf.

Both the

physical suffering

as well as the

spiritual suffering

as God pours

his wrath out.

As God

turns his face away

from the perfect

union they had

from eternity past

as he punishes

in Christ

as a just God

having to punish

sin he punishes

our sin

in Jesus.

Listen carefully.

Behold

my servant

shall act wisely.

He shall be

high and

lifted up

and shall be

exalted.

As many were

astonished at you

his appearance

was so marred

beyond human

semblance

and his form

beyond that

of the children

of mankind.

So shall he

sprinkle many

nations.

Kings shall

shut their mouths

because of him

for that which

has not been

told them

they see

and that which

they have not

heard

they understand.

Who has

believed what

he has heard

from us

and to whom

has the arm

of the Lord

been revealed?

For he grew up

before him

like a young

plant

and like a root

out of dry

ground.

He had no

form of majesty

that we should

look at him

and no beauty

that we should

desire him.

He was

despised

and rejected

by men

a man of

sorrows

and acquainted

with grief

and as one

from whom

men hide

their faces

he was

despised

and we

esteemed

him not.

Surely

he has

borne

our griefs

and carried

our sorrows

yet we

esteemed

him stricken

smitten

by God

and afflicted.

But he

was pierced

for our

transgressions.

He was

crushed

for our

iniquities.

Upon him

was the

chastisement

that brought

us peace

and with

his wounds

we are

healed.

All we

like sheep

have gone

astray.

We have

turned

everyone

to his

own way

and the

Lord

has laid

on him

the iniquity

of us

all.

He was

oppressed

and he

was afflicted

yet he

opened

not his

mouth

like a

lamb

that is

led to

the

slaughter

and like

a sheep

that before

its shears

is silent

so he

opened

not his

mouth.

By

oppression

and judgment

he was

taken

away

and as

for his

generation

who

considered

that he

was cut

off

out of

the land

of the

living

stricken

for the

transgression

of my

people.

And they

made his

grave

with the

wicked

and with

a rich

man

in his

death

although he

had done

no violence

and there

was no

deceit

in his

mouth.

Yet it

was the

will of

the

Lord

to

crush

him.

He

has

put

him

to

grief.

When his

soul

makes

an offering

for guilt

he shall

see

his

offspring.

That's

the

church.

He

shall

prolong

his

days.

The

will

of

the

Lord

shall

prosper

in

his

hand.

Out of

the

anguish

of his

soul

he

shall

see

and

be

satisfied.

By

his

knowledge

shall

the

righteous

one

my

servant

make

many

to be

accounted

righteous

and he

shall

bear

their

iniquities.

Therefore

I

will

divide

him

a

portion

with

the

many

and he

shall

divide

the

spoil

with

the

strong

because

he

poured

out

his

soul

to

death

and

was

numbered

with

the

transgressors

yet he

bore

the sin

of

many

and

makes

intercession

for

the

transgressors.

This

is

Jesus

God's

servant.

Jesus

himself

said

in Mark

10

45

for

even

the

son

of

man

came

not

to

be

served

but

to

serve

and

to

as a

ransom

for

many.

So

Peter

says

before

this

Jewish

audience

that

our

God

the

God

of

our

forefathers

has

glorified

his

servant

who

is

Jesus.

Number

two

he

calls

him

Jesus

he

has

glorified

his

servant

Jesus

whom

you

delivered

over

and

denied

in the

presence

of

Pilate

when

he

had

decided

to

release

him.

The

name

Jesus

is

the

Greek

form

of

the

Hebrew

name

Joshua

which

means

the

Lord

is

salvation.

You

may

recall

in a

dream

an

angel

told

Joseph

Jesus'

father

what

his

son's

name

was

to

be.

Matthew

1

21

records

us

for

this

says

she

being

Mary

will

bear

a

son

and

you

shall

call

his

name

Jesus

for

he

will

save

his

people

from

their

sins.

He

is

the

Lord

fulfillment

of

salvation.

Charles

Spurgeon

said of

Matthew

1

21

the

angel

spake

to

Joseph

the

name

in a

dream

that

name

so

soft

and

sweet

that

it

breaks

no

man's

rest

but

rather

yields

a

peace

unrivaled

the

peace

of

God

with

such

a

dream

Joseph's

sleep

was

more

blessed

than

his

waking

the

name

has

ever

more

this

power

for

to

those

who

know

it

it

unveils

a

glory

brighter

than

dreams

have

ever

imagined

it

is by

this

name

by

faith

in

this

name

our

text

says

today

that

we

are

made

whole

we

are

made

right

we

have

peace

with

God

Acts

4

12

and

there

is

salvation

in

no

one

else

for

there

is

no

other

name

under

heaven

given

among

men

by

which

we

must

be

saved

so

he's

God's

servant

he's

Jesus

thirdly

Peter

calls him

holy

and

righteous

one

verse

14

but

you

denied

the

holy

and

righteous

one

you

asked

for

a

murder

to be

granted

to

you

holy

one

the

meaning

of

holy

means

to be

separated

to

God

Jesus

is

separated

to

God

in

his

very

nature

unlike

any

other

man

who

has

lived

both

fully

human

and

fully

divine

called

the

hypostatic

union

existed

at

all

times

when

he

was

on

earth

and

he

was

also

separated

to

God

in

purpose

in

his

first

sermon

Peter

cites

Psalm

16

10

that's

in

Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

which

refers

to

Jesus

as

God's

holy

one

again

the

Jewish

minds

accessing

this

knowledge

Psalm

16

10

God's

holy

one

in

John

6

69

speaking

on

behalf

of

the

apostles

Peter

says

and

we

have

believed

and

have

come

to

know

that

you

speaking

to

Christ

are

the

holy

one

of

God

separated

to

God

in

nature

and

in

purpose

and

he's

also

called

the

righteous

one

which

is

to

say

that

he's

innocent

of

any

crime

whatsoever

I

think

too

often

the

gospel

gets

kind

of

half

preached

and

that

is

that

Jesus

died

for

our

sins

!

He

took

away

our

guilt

but

that

only

brings

us

up

to

neutral

we

also

need

his

righteousness

it's

called

double

imputation

he lived

a perfect

life

we need

both

that's why

I say

all the

time

we need

to

believe

in

Jesus

person

and

his

work

both

are

true

his

active

and

passive

obedience

his

life

lived

to

God

and

for

God

perfectly

as

well

as

his

death

we

need

both

things

he

accomplished

both

things

if

we

believe

in

him

2nd

Corinthians

5

21

says

for

our

sake

God

made

him

Christ

to

be

sin

who

knew

no

sin

so

that

in

him

we

might

become

the

righteousness

of

God

Jesus

righteousness

given

to

us

so

Jesus

by

Peter

is

called

the

holy

and

righteous

one

!

15

and

16

and

you

killed

to

put

to

death

the

author

of

life

whom

God

raised

from

the

dead

and

to

this

we

are

witnesses

!

may

say

the

prince

of

life

ruling

over

life

he's

the

creator

of

all

things

created

as well

as

all

things

that

will

be

created

creation

and

new

creation

all

things

physically

created

as well

as

all

things

spiritually

created

substantial

title

given

to

Christ

Colossians

1

15

through

18

I

think

helps

us

understand

what

it

means

Peter

says

the

author

of

life

Paul

writes

he

is

the

image

of

the

!

God

the

firstborn

or

the

more

superior

of

all

creation

for

by

him

all

things

were

created

in

heaven

and

on

earth

visible

and

invisible

whether

thrones

or

dominions

or

rulers

or

authorities

all

things

were

created

through

him

and

for

him

and

he

is

before

all

things

and

in

him

all

things

hold

together

and

he

is

the

head

of

the

body

of

the

church

he

is

the

beginning

!

the

author

of

life

put

to

death

but

God

raised

him

from

the

dead

worked

the

great

miracle

of

resurrection

and

brought

him

back

to

life

and

again

this

juxtaposition

set

forth

here

the

one

who

is

the

author

of

life

put

to

death

but

raised

again

raised

again

to

life

how

foolish

it

would

be

to

call

him

the

author

of

life

if

he

were

still

dead

if

he

didn't

live

and

reign

even

now

and

you

got

to

note

with

the

apostles

the

timidity

that existed

with him

but

now

the

great

boldness

right

he

says

to

this

the

universe

of

team

we

are

witnesses

!

What

brings

about

this

great

boldness

in

them?

The

risen

!

Savior!

He's

alive!

We're

no

longer

heartbroken

We're

now

extolling

his

greatness

It's

also

the

reason

that

they

made

such

effort

such

labor

and

we're

going

to

see

it

again

and

again

and

again

in

the

book

of

Acts

to

show

Christ

as