Peter Speaks In Solomon's Colonnade - Acts 3:11-26 - Comments by Mike Kines

Peter preached to a crowd after healing a lame man, emphasizing that the miracle was due to faith in Jesus, not his own holiness. He used the Hebrew Bible to explain that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah and Son of God. Peter told them to repent and have faith in Jesus for forgiveness. He mentioned that Jesus will return in the future for a time of restoration. Peter also referred to Moses' prophecy about Jesus and warned that those who reject him will be cut off. The gospel started in Israel and spread to the Gentiles. The summary of Peter's sermon is that Jesus died for our sins, rose again, ascended to heaven, and will come back. Those who call upon his name will be saved. So we want to take a look at what happened in the aftermath. So after God heals the lame man, a crowd gathers to see the miracle. Peter, realizing that he had a crowd at hand looking for an explanation, took the opportunity to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. So let's outline some of what Peter preached to them. First of all, he makes it clear that this miracle did not happen because there was anything special about Peter or John. Peter flat out denied that this miracle happened because of his own personal holiness or because he had any special virtue. Instead, the miracle was a direct result of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see Peter was preaching to Israel, so he used the Hebrew Bible, he used the scripture and he explained to them that the Lord Jesus was the fulfillment of everything the Bible said about the Messiah and the Son of God. He told them Israel crucified their Messiah. They were led into this by the religious leaders and they did this in ignorance. Peter acknowledges they did this in ignorance. Now the only hope they have for forgiveness of these sins was repentance of their sins and putting their personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter told them that Jesus is now in heaven, but he will return at a specific time in the future, which he described as the time of restoration of all things. So we see here there is a time when Jesus is going to return to the earth and he's going to put things right. There's going to come a time of a great restoration of humanity and of the earth, and this is what we know of as it's called the millennium, a thousand year reign of millennial Christ after Jesus' second return. So Peter also here points out that Moses spoke of the Lord Jesus when he said that a prophet like himself would come to Israel. This prophet Moses spoke about was indeed the Lord Jesus. Peter reminds them of the warning that Moses gave them about this prophet. He said if they will not listen to this prophet, they will be cut off from their people. So everyone who rejects Jesus has no part in God's kingdom or in God's plan. The Lord came to Israel first. He came to his own people first to bless them and turn them away from their sins. The gospel started in Israel, it started with the Jewish people, and it spread from there from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria to the outermost parts of the earth, and it went to the Gentiles. So the summary of Peter's sermon here is this, that Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he rose again on the third day, Jesus ascended into heaven, he's at the right hand of the Father, and he's going to come back again one day to this earth. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved. Amen. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you. The Lord give you peace.