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We'll read Acts 3, beginning 
at verse 1, and then we'll read to the end of the chapter. Now 
Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of 
prayer, the ninth hour, and a certain man, lame from his mother's womb, 
was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which 
is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple, 
who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked 
for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, With 
John, Peter said, look at us. So he gave them his attention, 
expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, silver 
and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the 
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took 
him by the right hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet 
and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and 
walked and entered the temple with them, walking, leaping, 
and praising God. and all the people saw him walking 
and praising God. Then they knew that it was he 
who sat begging alms at the beautiful gate of the temple, and they 
were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. 
Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all 
the people ran together to them in the porch, which is called 
Solomon's, greatly amazed. 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? 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. But you denied the Holy One 
and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed 
the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of which 
we are witnesses. 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. Yet now, brethren, I know that 
you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things 
which God foretold by the mouth of all his prophets, that the 
Christ would suffer, he has thus fulfilled. 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, and that 
he may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 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. 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. And it shall be that every soul 
who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from 
among the people. Yes, and all the prophets from 
Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have 
also foretold these days. 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. To you first, God, having raised 
up his servant Jesus, send him to bless you and turning away 
every one of you from your iniquities. Amen. So wonderful account here 
that we have. We have an account of the healing 
of a lame man from his birth. We have, though, the account, 
the narrative of that healing act serving the purpose of gospel 
proclamation on the part of Peter. This healing that John and Peter 
are engaged in with this man who is at the gate called Beautiful 
serves gospel proclamation, serves the preaching of Jesus Christ 
to these gathered Jews at the temple. We're going to look in 
verses 11 to 26, and sort of using it as a launching pad also 
for the rest of the book of Acts, we're going to look at apostolic 
proclamation in the Book of Acts, what it looks like, and what 
are the various parts of that proclamation. First off, I'm 
just going to read this quote again from F.F. Bruce. He has 
a structure or a fourfold outline of what the apostolic proclamation 
looks like. We're actually going to break 
that down into eight or expand upon it, but this is a good overall 
outline of the apostolic proclamation in the Book of Acts. The early, 
this is Bruce, the early apostolic kerygma, that is apostolic, the 
pattern of apostolic proclamation, regularly falls into four parts, 
which may be summarized thus. First, the announcement that 
the age of fulfillment has arrived. Second, a rehearsal of the ministry 
death and triumph of Jesus. Third, citation of Old Testament 
scriptures whose fulfillment in these events proved Jesus 
to be the Messiah, and then fourth, a call to repentance. These four 
elements are present in Peter's proclamation in Acts chapter 
2 and Acts chapter 3. He has already announced that 
the age of fulfillment has come. Now he rehearses the story of 
Jesus. So we have that fourfold outline 
or fourfold character of apostolic preaching here in Acts chapter 
3. Notice the announcement that 
the age of fulfillment has arrived. We see that in verse 17 and 18. Yet now, brethren, I know that 
you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But those things 
which God foretold by the mouth of all his prophets that the 
Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. He repeats that again. He repeats that again in verse 
24. Yes, and all the prophets from 
Samuel and those who follow as many as have spoken have also 
foretold these days. So an aspect of apostolic proclamation 
is the announcement of the age of fulfillment. A rehearsal of 
the ministry, death, and triumph of Jesus. Peter brings that out 
here. When he speaks of the fact that 
these have put to death the holy one and the just, asked for a 
murderer to be granted to them and killed the prince of life, 
verses 14 and 15. Then of course, citation of Old 
Testament scriptures, we see that in verses 21 and following. 
And then a call to repentance, we actually see that. We see 
an allusion to it more in 26, but an outright call to repentance 
at verse 19. Repent therefore and be converted, 
that your sins may be blotted out. But we're going to look 
at eight things that characterize the gospel proclamation in the 
Book of Acts. The first thing is, again, the 
announcement of prophetic fulfillment. The first is the announcement 
of prophetic fulfillment. The apostles were not being novel 
when they were proclaiming and preaching Jesus Christ, but rather 
they were proclaiming and announcing that all of those old covenant 
promises and prophecies that were delivered to the fathers 
by the prophets have now come true. They were announcing prophetic 
fulfillment. Remember in the book of Acts, 
Acts chapter, in the book of Acts, that's where we're in. 
But in Acts chapter two, on the day of Pentecost, Peter says, 
that which you now see and hear, the prophet Joel spoke of, or 
what the prophet Joel spoke of, that is what you're now seeing 
and hearing in these speaking in tongues and proclaiming the 
gospel of Jesus Christ. Joel spoke, an Old Testament 
prophet, Joel spoke concerning these days that the Christ would 
suffer, that he would be delivered up into wicked hands, and that 
he would rise again the third day. So a characteristic of apostolic 
preaching is the announcement of prophetic fulfillment. If 
you want to turn with me, we're in the book of Acts almost exclusively 
tonight, but in Acts chapter 13, we see this aspect of apostolic 
preaching. The announcement of prophetic 
fulfillment. This is very important to understand 
as Christians. Again, the apostles are proclaiming 
nothing new. They're not being novel in proclaiming 
this Jesus of Nazareth. Oh, you see that old covenant 
religion, There was a sense in where there is a newness, of 
course, to the New Covenant. But it isn't something novel 
that they are proclaiming Jesus, as we'll see from these texts 
in the book of Acts. Acts 13 at verse 32. Acts 13 and verse 32. Backing up to verse 30. But God 
raised him from the dead, speaking of Jesus. He was seen for many 
days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, 
who are his witnesses to the people. And we declare to you, 
glad tidings, that promise which was made to the fathers. So you 
see, when the Jews are indicting these followers of Jesus of Nazareth 
for introducing novel things in a new way, they are really 
rejecting what they held so dear, that is, the traditions of their 
fathers and the religion of the old covenant. Now, there were, 
of course, aspects of the traditions passed on which were unbiblical, 
but the apostles are trying to make it clear that those things 
promised to your fathers by the prophets of old, those things 
have been fulfilled in the person and in the work of Jesus Christ. 
Acts 24 and verse 14. Acts 24 and verse 14. Again, the apostolic clarity 
with regards to Jesus Christ fulfilling Old Covenant prophecy, 
Acts 24 and verse 14. But this I confess to you, that 
according to the way which they call a sect, so I worship the 
God of my fathers, believing all things which are written 
in the law and in the prophets. So you see here the clarity and 
it almost builds force as the proclamation to the Jewish community 
progresses in the early church. The thrust of it, you remember 
Christianity is called the way. In the early days of Christianity, 
Christians or Christianity was called the way. It was also called 
the sect of the Nazarene. So Peter says here that according 
to the way which they call a sect, that is the Jews, the unbelieving 
Jews, so I worship the God of my fathers. Notice, believing 
all things which are written in the law and in the prophets. 
You see, this goes against that modern evangelical notion of 
a dispensational approach to God's dealings with redemptive 
history and with his redeemed community. It is the law, the 
prophets, and the Psalms that all speak concerning Jesus. It 
isn't a 39 books of the Old Testament that are void of Jesus, that 
are void of this coming Messiah who would come to save his people 
from their sins. It's not full of other ways of 
salvation or other ways of God's dealing, but rather it is all 
Christward in trajectory, and the apostles bring that out in 
their early church proclamation. One more text, the Apostle Paul 
in Acts 26. In Acts 26, again looking at 
the announcement of prophetic fulfillment, in Acts 26 at verse 
19, before King Agrippa. Therefore, 
King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared 
first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, that throughout 
all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they 
should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 
For these reasons, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to 
kill me. Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I 
stand, witnessing both to small and great, now notice, saying 
no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would 
come, that the Christ would suffer, that he would be the first to 
rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish 
people and to the Gentiles. One thing that we need to understand 
is that the Old Testament prophets had a messianic consciousness. That means that they were not 
devoid of a conscious apprehension and knowledge that there was 
a coming Messiah. You see, I think what some people 
can do is they can come to the Old Testament on this side of 
the New Testament and say, well, yeah, you know, they were engaging 
themselves in Old Covenant religion, and now when Christ comes, he 
opens up the fact that all of those things were speaking of 
him. The Old Covenant prophets and writers of the Old Testament 
scriptures didn't know, but now we do because Christ tells us 
and the New Testament authors tell us, no. From the beginning 
of redemptive history, there was the deliverance of that proclaimed 
message that there would be a coming Redeemer. And throughout the 
history of the Old Covenant, we have information given, God 
revealing progressively to his covenant people that the Christ 
would come, that the Christ, as Paul says in verse 23, would 
suffer, that he would be the first to rise from the dead, 
and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. So the old covenant prophets 
and writers of scripture had a messianic consciousness. That 
means that they were not ignorant of a coming redeemer, but rather 
they wrote concerning him as God carried them along by the 
Holy Spirit. Moving on then to secondly, so 
we have the announcement of prophetic fulfillment. Secondly, we have 
the presentation of the work of Christ as that fulfillment. the presentation of the work 
of Christ as that fulfillment or the gospel. So point two is 
simply the gospel message. We saw that in Acts chapter three 
here, the God in verse 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. but you denied the holy one and 
the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you and killed 
the prince of life whom God raised from the dead of which we are 
witnesses. He continues to encapsulate the 
faith aspect of believing in that Jesus and his name through 
faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know. So the gospel message is delivered 
upon or within the context of announcing that there is prophetic 
fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Just a couple points under this 
point, the presentation of the work of Christ as that fulfillment 
or the gospel. Some necessary points first. 
The gospel consists of the work that God does outside of us in 
Christ. This has been brought up on many 
occasions and hopefully keeps getting brought up because there 
is a lot of confusion out there as to what the gospel is and 
there shouldn't be. But very often, people with nefarious 
motives can smuggle in ideas as to what, you know, the gospel 
is. They'll say, yes, Jesus, death 
and resurrection, but they'll try and smuggle in other things 
that are anthropocentric or man-centered in the proclamation of that gospel. Other people are just either 
ignorant or sloppy with regards to their definition of what the 
gospel is and subsequently their preaching of it. So we're going 
to work through some things here. First off, what the gospel is 
not. What the gospel is not. Again, 
with this first principle, the gospel consists of the work that 
God does outside of us in Christ. So what the gospel is not. First 
off, the gospel is not a changed heart. The gospel is not a changed 
heart. A changed heart is good news. 
A changed heart is a good thing. But a changed heart or the reality 
of regeneration is not the answer to the bad news that the gospel 
follows on the heels of, and we'll look at that more in a 
moment. The gospel is not a changed heart. The gospel is not ethical 
conduct or the ability to do ethical conduct. In other words, 
we don't preach the holiness and wrath of God, the reality 
of sin, and then, oh, but if you believe, then you will be 
able to do good things and you'll have a changed heart. That's 
not the gospel and that it should not be proclaimed as the gospel. 
The gospel is not our glorification. In other words, the inheritance 
of eternal life, and you need to stay with me here because 
some of you might, you know, some people at least out there 
would be shocked. What do you mean eternal life isn't the gospel? 
Well, eternal life isn't the gospel. It is glorious good news. It is the stuff of Christian 
rejoicing. It is the stuff that drives us 
towards the eschaton with great joy and perseverance. And it's 
the stuff that serves as fuel for our ethical conduct. But 
it is not the gospel. Eschatological concepts and victories 
are not the gospel. What do I mean by that? The second 
coming of Jesus Christ in power and in glory is glorious. It 
is, again, the stuff of what I just said, the stuff that we, 
as in our Christian sojourn, look forward to and use as fuel 
for our walk in this lower world. But the second coming of Jesus 
Christ, the bringing in of all the saints, and the victory that 
comes with the destruction of all of his enemies is not the 
gospel. The evangelical command to believe is not the gospel. So when we 
say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, 
that's not the gospel. That's not the good news. That 
is Bruce's point four, a call to repentance. That's what we 
find here that comes on the heels of the deliverance of the gospel 
message, but it is not the gospel itself. So then what is the gospel? It is, the gospel is, that Christ 
died and rose again for the sins of all who believe in him. It 
is a message that contains historical data with biblical theological 
commentary on those events. Historical events and the theological 
commentary upon those events. Couple scriptural passages and 
some additional clarification as we work through this. So the 
gospel is Christo-centric, isn't it? It contains or it is about 
the historical events of Christ's life, death, resurrection, ascension, 
all of those glorious parts that we read of, for example, in 1 
Corinthians 15, verses 1 to 4. The best biblical definition 
of the gospel comes, well, the best definition of the gospel 
comes from our Bibles, doesn't it? Because that's where we should 
gain All good definitions. Yes, please, go. What? Oh, sorry, 
1 Corinthians 15, 1 to 4. 1 Corinthians 15, 1 to 4. Moreover, brethren, I declare 
to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, 
and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold 
fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in 
vain. For I delivered to you, first 
of all, that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins 
according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he 
rose again the third day according to the scriptures. That, if you 
want to, in pencil or however you do things, want to mark your 
Bible, if you find that a wholesome activity, mark that because that 
is the definition of the gospel. That's what Paul says. Moreover, 
brethren, I declare to you the gospel, that which I delivered 
to you, first of all, and that which I also received. Again, 
the propositional content or the constituent elements of the 
objective content of the gospel is that Christ died for our sins 
according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he 
rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Romans 4.25, 
Romans 4.25, here we have And what some people charge this 
definition of the gospel with is just it being only bare facts 
or bare historical facts. I don't know how you can call 
Jesus dying and rising again for the sins of his people bare 
historical facts. But they charge it with just 
believing in historical events. You see, Romans 4.25 gives us 
a wonderful package of setting forth those two glorious historical 
events, but then the theological commentary on those events. Romans 4 25, and we'll start 
reading at 23. Now it was not written for his 
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall 
be imputed to us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our 
Lord from the dead. Now note, who was delivered up 
because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. So those two glorious historical 
events of the gospel, the death or crucifixion of Jesus Christ 
and his resurrection. He was, Christ was, delivered 
up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification. So the death and the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ are the gospel. And a good way that people have 
sort of broken this down, hopefully into something that you guys 
can appreciate and is understandable. And as we use Latin words, we'll 
define them so we're not just sounding all wordy. But we have 
three things in the presentation of Christianity and God's redemption 
plan. We have the Pactum Salutis, S-A-L-U-T-I-S, 
the Historia Salutis, and the Ordo Salutis. This is redemption That's not a translation, I'm 
just giving you an English definition. Redemption Plan. The second one, Historia Salutis, 
is Redemption Accomplished. Just trust me, that says Accomplished. 
And then the Ordo Salutis is Redemption Applied. We have these three things. in 
God's universal ownership of eternity, time, and history. 
Pactum salutas, redemption plan. Historia salutas, redemption 
accomplished. Ordo salutas, redemption applied. 
This one is God's plan before the foundation of the world to 
save a people perfectly by the perfect saving work of Jesus 
Christ. This is the historical execution 
of that plan from all eternity. And then this is the spiritual 
application of this execution. So you can say we have the gospel 
plan. This one here, we have the gospel 
carried out. And this one here, we have the 
gospel made real spiritually in application. This one is where 
the gospel is, or what the gospel is. All of time in history, all 
of redemption accomplished is found centered upon Jesus Christ 
dying and rising again for the sins of his people. So the gospel again is that Christ 
died and rose again for the sins of all who believe in him. The changed heart, the ethical 
conduct, the glorification are all adjuncts or corollaries or 
those things that are the effects of the gospel. So we don't preach 
the effects of the gospel as the gospel. We preach the gospel 
as the gospel, which is Jesus Christ dying, Jesus Christ rising 
again for our offenses and for our justification. Another point to this The gospel 
has judicial answers for judicial questions. This was mentioned 
a couple weeks ago from the pulpit. The gospel has judicial answers 
for judicial questions. Judicial simply means legal, 
forensic, juridical, judicial. So legal answers for legal questions. What does that mean? Well, first 
off, there is judicial bad news, isn't there? that precedes the 
judicial good news. For that, you can actually turn 
to the book of Romans. I'm going to read three passages 
with regards to the bad news or judicial questions. There 
are things that need to be answered by the gospel and in the gospel. 
And those three things or those things we can see here in three 
texts that we can read in Romans. First, Romans 118. followed by 
Romans 3.19 and 20 and then Romans 3.23. But in Romans 1.18 we read 
this, For the wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who 
suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Romans 3.19 and 20. Now we know that whatever the 
law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every 
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before 
God. Therefore, by the deeds of the 
law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For by the law 
is the knowledge of sin. Romans 3.23, for all have sinned 
and fall short of the glory of God. So you see, we have bad 
news or we have judicial answers that need, or judicial questions 
that need to be answered. That is, there is That question 
of God's wrath, Romans 118 states that. The wrath of God is revealed 
from heaven. So how is God's wrath then placated? We have an anthropological problem 
here. We have an anthropological question. The theological one, how is God's 
character satisfied? How is his wrath placated? We 
have then the man answer or the anthropological question Man 
is condemned by God. He sits under that wrath. The 
law of God cannot save him because it is by the law that every mouth 
is stopped and that everyone becomes guilty before God. The 
deeds of the law will justify no flesh in God's sight. So what 
then is the answer? And then we have, of course, 
the universality. All men have sinned, for all 
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So we have 
those judicial questions. those questions that need to 
be answered. Well, the answers come, Romans 
1.16 and Romans 3.21-26. Romans 1.16, of course, for I 
am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power 
of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first 
and also for the Greek, Romans 3.21-26. But now the righteousness 
of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by 
the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through 
faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there 
is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the 
glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the 
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as 
a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness, 
because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that 
were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time 
his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of 
the one who has faith in Jesus. So we see the gospel has judicial 
answers for judicial questions. Those questions can only be answered 
not by us, but by Jesus Christ. So we cannot smuggle in anything 
other than, and it's not smuggling when we do this, Jesus Christ's 
perfect work and his perfection in his redeeming activity upon 
the cross and victoriously coming out of the tomb three days following 
that work of great and perfect sacrificial substitution. So 
again, judicial answers for judicial questions. The bad news is answered 
by the good news, and that good news is only Jesus Christ, his 
death, and his resurrection for sinners. This is just a quote 
written elsewhere. The new birth, very often the 
new birth is offered up as an element of the gospel, our regeneration, 
the fact of ourselves being changed. The new birth, though, is both 
an effect of the gospel as well as the necessary precursor to 
understanding it. But it is not the gospel. Read 
that again. The new birth is both an effect 
of the gospel as well as the necessary precursor to understanding 
it. But it is not the gospel. The 
glorious gospel of the blessed God, a message concerning the 
certain, veritable, historical, and glorious doing and dying 
and rising of Jesus Christ, yes, a message of objective, propositional 
truth concerning him, and unmitigated by anything about the fruit bearing 
of those who do or will profess it, is preached. and enjoined 
by the divinely wrought activity of the spirit, is made effectual 
unto the new birth. And by virtue of that divinely 
wrought work, those who are born again understand, love, proclaim, 
and eternally rejoice in those glorious historical truths concerning 
the perfect work of Christ. So what that says in a nutshell 
is that we are well served when we appreciate the gospel as only 
this, Jesus Christ and his perfect work. When we add anything else 
to it, we are doing a disservice to ourselves, to others, and 
more importantly, to the proper, precise witness of the gospel 
in the Bible. Moving on, and again, if there's 
any questions at the end, feel free to ask them, but we're going 
to keep moving through the material. Number three. The statement concerning 
the exaltation of Christ. So we have the announcement of 
prophetic fulfillment. We have the presentation of the 
work of Christ as that fulfillment or the gospel. And then thirdly, 
we have the statements concerning the exaltation of Christ as the 
vindication of his messiahship and messianic work. So again, 
these are all elements of apostolic preaching. This is the third 
one. Statements concerning the exaltation of Christ. These are 
normally given, normally given within the context of indicting 
the audience for being legally culpable in his execution and 
are, or serve as the vindication of his messiahship and his messianic 
work. In other words, this Jesus whom 
you crucified, yes, died, but he was raised again by the power 
of God three days later and has ascended to the right hand of 
the majesty on high. Acts chapter two, for example, 
in two places. We see this. Actually, probably 
in more than two, but in Peter's Pentecost Day Sermon, we definitely 
find it in verses 22 to 39, but I'm going to read a couple verses 
here. First off, I'm going to read beginning at verse 31. This is Peter speaking of David 
as a prophet Preaching Christ beforehand verse 31 he foreseeing 
this this is Acts 2 31 He foreseeing this spoke concerning the resurrection 
of the Christ that his soul was not left in Hades nor did his 
flesh see corruption This Jesus God has raised up of which we 
are all witnesses Therefore being exalted to the right hand of 
God and having received from the father the promise of the 
Holy Spirit he poured out this which you now see and hear." 
Now notice verse 36, therefore let all the house of Israel know 
assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both 
Lord and Christ. It's very interesting at the 
beginning of the sermon Peter starts slowly if you will in 
speaking about Jesus of Nazareth. He doesn't immediately launch 
into Jesus as the Christ or the Messiah of the Jewish people. He says, men of Israel, in verse 
22, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, the man attested by 
God to you, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He doesn't yet speak 
of his lordship, his messiahship, or the fact of his ascension. 
He's building slowly to this indictment of the audience and 
this wonderful vindication of God's redemptive plan in verse 
36, therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that 
God has made this Jesus of whom I just preached to you before 
both Lord and Christ, this one whom you crucified. So the statements 
concerning the exaltation of Christ are in the Apostolic Proclamation 
and they very often serve that very purpose to indict the guilty 
audience and to proclaim the vindication of God's plan and 
his and the work of Christ in his messianic life and death 
and resurrection. So the third aspect, statements 
concerning the exaltation of Christ, there's another one in 
Acts chapter 5. In Acts chapter 5, it's very 
similar. Not quite right at the end, but 
near the end, right before Gamaliel has the conference with the other 
Jewish leaders, we read at verse 29 of Acts 5, But Peter and the 
other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than 
men. The God of our fathers raised 
up Jesus, whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has 
exalted to his right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give 
repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. We see there the statement 
concerning Christ's exaltation serving something of a message 
of mercy to the nation of Israel. It is to give repentance to Israel 
and forgiveness of sins. You see, one of the things that 
the Jewish unbelievers did that is unconscionable, given that 
Christ lived and dwelt among them for a number of years, is 
that they took earthly kings and princes and cast aside the 
Prince of Glory, the Prince of Peace, and the Son of God's love. Here, the apostles are preaching 
that the God of our fathers raised up and exalted Jesus to be Prince. You see, they would say to the 
Roman leaders, we have no king but Caesar. At the trial before 
Christ's execution, Jesus was set before them in a mocking 
fashion, but rightly so, as the king of the Jews, as the rightful 
king promised. in the Old Covenant Scriptures. 
But the Jewish unbelieving audience say, we have no king but Caesar. Here we have the apostolic proclamation 
of royalty, of monarchy. Christ was exalted to be prince 
and savior. They were, Israel was, to reject 
any religious homage to earthly kings and render it solely and 
alone unto Christ. Not to put away proper civil 
polity and respecting the civil magistrates, But as far as religious 
obedience, veneration, and proper worship, it was to be rendered 
solely and alone to this one that the God of the fathers had 
exalted to his right hand. So statements concerning the 
exaltation of Christ, that is another of the constituent elements 
of apostolic proclamation. Fourthly, the employment of scripture 
as a witness to the truth of Christ. the employment of scripture 
as a witness to the truth of Christ. Wonderful examples of 
early Christian apologetics, isn't it? Where do we go to to 
argue for anything? Where do we go to to prove? Where 
do we go to answer the questions of those who question us? We 
go to the scriptures. And that's what the apostles 
did. Just some examples, obviously the book of Acts, what do we, 
or sorry, Acts chapter two. I keep saying the book of Acts, 
but that's where we're in. Acts chapter two, the apostle Peter 
cites Joel. He cites the prophet Joel, thanks 
Steve, in verses 17 to 21. He cites David in Psalm 16 in 
verses 25 to 28. And then, of course, he alludes to Psalm 110, at verses 34 and 35. Peter goes to the Scriptures 
in order to argue for the veracity that is the certain truthfulness 
of Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies 
concerning the coming Messiah, the employment of Scripture as 
a witness to the truth of Christ. In the passage that we read, 
it is wonderful. You know what Peter is doing 
here in verses 21 to 26 of Acts chapter 3 is he's simply repeating 
what Jesus said to him on that resurrection day. Remember, Jesus 
appears to his disciples and one of the things that he does, 
and we need to appreciate this as a principle within Christianity 
of availing of the scriptures for instruction. Jesus calms 
their hearts and he gives them a Bible study. He eats broiled 
fish and honeycomb with them, and he shows them in the scriptures 
that the law, the prophets, and the Psalms, that is all of the 
Old Testament, spoke concerning him. And so Peter, on the day 
of Pentecost and following throughout his life and ministry, just simply 
follows what Jesus Christ told him on that day that he ate breakfast 
with him. He cites Moses in verses 22 and 
23. And then he says in verse 24, 
yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who follow, 
as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. For 
anyone to say the Old Testament scriptures are Christless and 
we have to wait until Matthew to hear of Christ, they just 
have never read their Bibles. Because Christ himself says that 
all the law, all the prophets, and all the Psalms spoke concerning 
me. Peter, repeating the words that flowed from his master's 
lips, says, yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those 
who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 
It's just the clarity of apostolic proclamation that Christianity 
is not novel, but that fullness of the time, revelation of God, 
fulfilling all of his promises, it is clear from our Bibles. 
Again, Acts 2, Acts 3, we could go through the entire book for 
the next 17 years and see the various parts of the old, well, 
maybe it probably wouldn't take that long, but we could spend 
a lot of time in the book of Acts seeing where and how the 
apostles used the scriptures as tools. One other one, actually 
two just briefly before we move on, Acts 7. Acts 7. In one of the One of the first, 
if maybe at least recorded in the narrative, one of the first 
exercises in Christian apologetics, long extended apologetic exercise 
by Stephen. Remember what apologetics means. 
It doesn't mean that we apologize to people when we trip them, 
though we should apologize to them if we trip them. It means 
a defense, giving a defense, putting a defense forward, apologetics. In the realm of Christianity, 
we put forward a defense. That is, we argue for the veracity, 
the certain truthfulness of the scriptures and everything it 
proclaims with everything, and especially as it pertains to 
Jesus Christ and the gospel. Stephen engages in a wonderful 
apologetic, basically saying, calling the unbelieving Jews 
to remember the scriptures and everything that is written from, 
you know, from, well, I mean, he doesn't cite creation necessarily, 
but basically all of Old Covenant Israel was typological, that 
is, it pointed forward to this Jesus whom you murdered by hanging 
on a tree. He goes through all of redemptive 
history, the tabernacle, the temple, and he is saying that 
Jesus is the fulfillment of those things, and he wraps it up at 
verse 51, by saying, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and 
ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit as your fathers did, so 
do you. Which of the prophets did your 
fathers not persecute, and they killed those who foretold the 
coming of the just one, of whom you now have become the betrayers 
and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels 
and have not kept it." the use of the scriptures. Stephen, in 
his apologetic exercise, uses the scriptures to their fullness 
to proclaim Jesus Christ with great glory. And then one last 
one here, Acts 9.22. Acts 9.22, beginning at verse 
20 though, we'll read Acts 9, starting at verse 20. Immediately 
he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son 
of God. Then all who heard were amazed 
and said, Is this not he who destroyed those who called on 
his name in Jerusalem and has come here for that purpose, so 
that he might bring them bound to the chief priests? But Saul 
increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who dwelt 
in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ." Now, the 
Jews were confounded because Paul, or Saul here, preached 
Jesus from the scriptures to them. They would have known the 
scriptures well. They would have known their prophets, 
the prophets of their fathers. They would have known the 39 
books of the Old Testament. And Paul goes to those to proclaim 
Jesus to them and to confound them. He would have gone to Isaiah 
53, right, where really It contains more of a narrative account of 
Jesus' crucifixion and theological commentary than a lot of places 
even in the New Testament. He would have gone there and 
said, this is Jesus Christ that the prophet is speaking of. In 
fact, that's what Philip does with the Ethiopian eunuch in 
Acts chapter 8. But suffice it to say, the apostles 
in their gospel proclamation employ scripture as a witness 
to the truth of Christ. and his fulfillment. Fifthly, 
we have the pronouncement of blood guiltiness upon the audience. We have the pronouncement of 
blood guiltiness upon the audience. It starts in Acts chapter 2 and 
it continues until the gospel goes beyond, maybe not until, 
but the pronouncement of blood guiltiness upon the audience 
isn't delivered to the Gentiles. It is a specific indictment for 
the Jews. I know it's It's popular to say 
we all put Christ on the cross, but in a more specific and direct 
covenantal and judicial sense, it was the unbelieving Jews, 
the Jerusalem Jews that put Christ to death and who have that blood 
guiltiness upon their heads. Acts chapter 2 and verse 23, 
speaking of Jesus, Peter says, him being delivered by the determined 
purpose and for knowledge of God, you have taken by lawless 
hands have crucified and put to death." If you ever want to 
read a very interesting commentary on a verse of the Bible, it's 
John Gill on verse 39 of Acts 2, where it says, for the promises 
to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many 
as the Lord our God will call. John Gill remembers back to that 
gospel, or the crucifixion narratives, where the Jews say, May his blood 
be upon us and our children. He goes to this and he sees that 
as a reversal of that self-maledictory curse that they pronounced upon 
themselves. He says that Christ, by his spirit 
and through his gospel, is saying, I'm more powerful than your self-imposed 
curse. Because by my gospel and by my 
spirit coming victoriously on the heels of the gospel, saving 
the elect, That won't be true of you and your children. All 
who believe will be saved and my blood will not be upon you 
and your children. But suffice it to say, Acts does 
bring out pronouncements that the apostles deliver of blood 
guiltiness, the legal culpability of the Jewish nation for the 
crucifixion of Jesus. We read that in Acts chapter 
3. Verse 14, but you denied the holy one and the just and asked 
for a murderer to be granted to you and killed the prince 
of life whom God raised from the dead of which we are witnesses. You see, it was the part of apostolic 
proclamation by the weight of the guilt, their blood guiltiness, 
to drive them by spirit and word to the living Christ where they 
could find the forgiveness of sins. We also see it in Acts 
chapter 5 in that passage that we read In verse 30, the God 
of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging 
on a tree. And then, of course, that text 
that we just read, Stephen saying, and they killed those who foretold 
the coming of the just one of whom you now have become the 
betrayers and murderers. So you see, early apostolic proclamation 
used their blood guiltiness not as some wicked tool or some guilt 
manipulation tool, but nevertheless, they used it as a wholesome guilt 
manipulation tool in order to, by that indictment of their grievous 
sin, drive them to the merciful feet of the crucified Jesus who 
can save them from their sins. So the pronouncement of blood 
guiltiness upon the audience. Sixthly, making known the certainty 
of judgment. Making known the certainty of 
judgment was an element of apostolic preaching. In Acts chapter 10, 
for example, Acts 10 at verse 42. Acts 10, verse 42. Speaking of Jesus, this actually 
wraps up a couple of our points all in one verse. This is Acts 
42 and verse 43. And he commanded us to preach 
to the people and to testify that it is he who was ordained 
by God to be judge of the living and the dead. to him all the 
prophets witnessed that through his name whoever believes in 
him will receive remission of sins." So we have there making 
known the certainty of judgment. He commanded us to preach to 
the people and to testify that it is he, Jesus of course, who 
was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead. And 
then that well-known verse connecting the resurrection to the judging 
Christ. The fact that Christ or a proof 
of judgment is seen in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Acts 17 at verse 
31. Speaking of God, because he has 
appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness 
by the man whom he has ordained, he has given assurance of this 
to all by raising him from the dead. So another evangelical 
tool in the Apostle's arsenal is The inevitability or the certainty 
of coming judgment. Jesus Christ has been ordained 
by God to be judge of the living and the dead. It is wise for 
you to kiss the sun, lest he be angry and you perish in the 
way. Seventhly, and then we have one 
more after this. Seventhly, an appeal for repentance. 
An appeal for repentance. And I hope you can see a logical 
structure to this. And by the way, there are some 
of these that are no longer included. Well, maybe one of them in this 
list that's no longer included in gospel proclamation. Anybody 
guess which one? I'll give you a hint because 
we haven't covered it yet. It's not the eighth. But which one 
of these eight points do we not necessarily proclaim anymore? The blood guiltiness, that's 
right. That is one of them, exactly. The blood guiltiness, though 
there is that, you know, yes, that sort of, you know, reality 
that, you know, men's sins put Christ on the cross, nevertheless, 
that is true. There is no longer that immediate 
blood guiltiness on the part of the Mosaic polity that put 
Christ upon the cross. Also, number one, sort of, the 
announcement of prophetic fulfillment. We still, we still, usher that, 
in our age, under number four. But what they were saying to 
the Jews was that this, now, first century Palestine, or let's 
just say the year 33 to round down, year 33 AD, this is the 
time of fulfillment. 2,000 years removed from that, 
it is no longer the time of fulfillment. It's no longer those latter days 
that the prophets announced where the Son of Righteousness would 
come, the Messiah would come to die and rise again. So chronologically, 
point number one no longer is a part of our Christian evangel. So number one and number five 
are sort of removed, but that doesn't mean that they take away 
from the gospel message, it's just at our point in redemptive 
history they no longer bring a bearing to it. Number seven 
again, an appeal for repentance. Hopefully that is something that 
is consistent with evangelical proclamation because it is, and 
it's one of those things, repent, you'll notice in the book of 
Acts that sometimes you'll read repent and believe, sometimes 
you'll see repent without believe, and sometimes you'll see believe 
without repent. Well, those two things are inseparable 
because you can't be someone who doesn't believe but repents. 
And you can't be someone who repents but doesn't believe. 
Those two things are synonymous in a sense, though they have 
their own definitions. But repentance, call to repentance 
and appeal for repentance is part of the apostolic proclamation. We saw that at Acts 3 verse 19, 
repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted 
out so that times of refreshing may come. We see it We see it, 
previous to that, in Acts 2, verse 38, where Peter says, repent 
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus for the 
remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit. Just by way of a note, we see it also in 822, 1730, 
and Acts 2630. The call to repentance. It is the evangelist's job. It 
is the preacher's job. Christian's job, who's preaching 
the gospel to anyone, to not just add, but necessarily include 
the command for the recipient of the message to repent and 
or believe the gospel, and you will have the forgiveness of 
sins. God in that Acts 1730 verse Paul says concerning God that 
he commands all men everywhere to repent. Verse 30, truly these 
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere 
to repent. It is the consistent call of 
the gospel preacher, not just to deliver the facts of Jesus 
and the theological realities attached to them, but also to 
say to the recipient of that preached message, repent, believe 
the gospel, and you will have the forgiveness of sins. So an 
appeal for repentance. And then lastly, a promise to those who do believe, 
a promise to those who do repent. So we have the announcement of 
prophetic fulfillment, the presentation of the work of Christ as that 
fulfillment, statement concerning the exaltation of Christ, the 
employment of scripture as a witness to the truth of Christ, pronouncement 
of blood guiltiness upon the audience, making known the certainty 
of judgment and appeal for repentance and lastly a promise to those 
who believe. Not only in two places do we 
see this but in two places we see this. Acts chapter 2 and 
verse 39. For the promise is to you and 
to your children and to all who are far off as many as the Lord 
our God will call. This again logically follows 
from the command to repent. So remember, there is sort of 
a logical flow and a chronological flow to many of these elements. 
There is, in the apostolic preaching in the Book of Acts, that reality 
announced that the time prophesied by the prophets of old is now. And Jesus Christ has brought 
in and consummated those prophecies. We have then the presentation 
of what Christ did as the gospel message. We have the employment 
of scripture as a witness to the fact that Christ is the promised 
one of old. We have an appeal for repentance 
and then we have a promise attached. This promise is for you and for 
your children and for all who are far off. Another one, Acts 
13, 39. Acts 13 and verse 39. we see this promise attached 
to the proclamation of the gospel. And by him, speaking of Christ, 
everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you 
could not be justified by the law of Moses. So you see, you 
know, it might be assumed by the recipient of a message of 
the gospel that there is the promise of everlasting life or 
some sort of divine promise attached to it. But if we just say repent 
without issuing a promise, we're missing, well, not only are we 
not being apostolic in our proclamation, but we're missing a glorious 
part of that proclamation, that there is promise for those who 
repent. Not just repent and then God 
will just arbitrarily do whatever he wants, but no, repent and 
God has promised that all who repent and all who believe will 
have everlasting life and will be justified from all things. So we have a promise given to 
those who believe. And of course, we see that in 
the account of the converted Philippian jailer. He asks, sirs, 
what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you will be saved. You see, there is certainty to 
the promise. It's not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ The 
chances are pretty good that maybe when that eschaton comes, 
he might let you in. There is certainty to that gospel 
promise. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you will be saved. So hopefully, you know, hopefully 
a brief one hour study in the elements of apostolic proclamation 
helps to see As you read through the Book of Acts, you'll see 
these now as you follow and as you read the narrative. And hopefully 
we can appreciate our old gospel preachers and our first defenders 
of Christianity. You see, they didn't just roll 
into town and sort of just talk about stuff. Jesus Christ instructed 
them. Jesus Christ, on his resurrected 
day, instructed his apostles in Bible study principles. See, it wasn't just joy and peace 
and be on with your business. Jesus Christ came with that message 
of joy and peace, peace be with you, but then sat them down, 
ate broiled fish and honeycomb, and gave them a Bible study. 
They worshiped him, and after he ascended into heaven, he sent 
his Holy Spirit to empower them, to do just what he instructed 
them to do, to say to the unbelieving nations that I am the one who 
was promised by the Old Testament prophets that my time has come. He said go to the scriptures 
because he said the prophets, the law, the Psalms all spoke 
concerning me. He in his own life and ministry 
gave appeals for repentance and issued forth promises upon the 
heels of the command to repent. So we have the apostles of the 
early church engaging in a very systematic yet glorious evangelistic 
enterprise in proclaiming the riches and the excellencies of 
Jesus Christ, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. Well, 
let's pray and then please, if there's any questions, feel free 
to ask. Lord God, we thank you for this 
time in your word. We thank you for the witness 
of the book of Acts as it speaks to the the early work of the 
apostles in proclaiming Jesus Christ and his glorious gospel. 
And we just thank you again that 2,000 years removed, we are the 
undeserved but blessed beneficiaries of that work. We are those who 
believe in the gospel, not according to our own wisdom or our own 
power of volition, but solely and alone by your grace and by 
your sovereign mercies. And we just pray that you'd help 
us daily to appreciate that, that we would live in light of 
it, We would live in light of a sovereign God and a perfect 
Jesus of impeccable salvation, and that we would have opportunities 
to do as these did, to proclaim his riches, his excellencies, 
his gospel to those who are in need of it. And we pray in Christ's 
name, amen.