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Chapter 3. You have one of the signs done 
through the apostles that were mentioned in chapter 2 at verse 
43. That sign is the miraculous healing 
of a man who had been born lame. That's in verses 1 to 10. And 
then the people are amazed at what they had seen, so Peter 
uses the opportunity to preach a sermon, directing souls unto 
the one who had healed this man. So I'll begin reading in verse 
1 of chapter 3. 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. And 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. Your 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, sent Him 
to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. Amen. Well, let us ask God's 
blessing upon our time. Father, thank you for the written 
word. We pray now for the ministry of the Holy Spirit, We pray that 
you would guide us in our thoughts and in our understanding, direct 
us to the glory and the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. And 
again, for any who have come here this morning that are not 
in Christ, we pray that today they would come, they would believe, 
they would make haste, they would hurry down that tree. they would 
know what it is to have union with the Lord Jesus Christ through 
faith and repentance. Do this for your glory, do this 
for the well-being of sinners here, and grant grace to your 
word. Grant that your word would run 
swiftly and be glorified all throughout the earth. Bless our 
brethren in Surrey, be with the brethren in Vernon, and may you 
be glorified in the midst of the churches. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we saw last week 
in verses 1 to 10, that wonderful miracle of healing. The man had 
a congenital disability. He had been lame from his mother's 
womb. He was over 40 years old. Everybody 
in the city, everybody around there knew the man. It wasn't 
as if it was done behind the scenes. There was no sort of 
smoke and mirrors. It was an obvious public display 
of a healing. This man walked, he leapt, he 
praised God because he had received strength in his ankles, as Luke 
tells us, but even more so because he had received the grace of 
God and salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, as I said, 
based on that, Peter now uses the opportunity to set forth 
a particular sermon concerning the person and the work of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. And I think it breaks down in 
three sections. First, we see the authority of Jesus' name 
in verses 11 to 16. Secondly, the necessity of repentance 
from sin in verses 17 to 21. And then finally, the consistency 
of the Old Testament witness to Jesus in verses 22 to 26. 
I don't suppose we're going to get through all of this material 
today, but I do want us to observe how important it is for Peter 
that he connects this whole event, namely the life and the death 
and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and the healing of this 
particular lame man. He connects this to the Old Testament 
prophets. In other words, the apostle is 
saying that they are the rightful expounders of and the rightful 
interpreters of the Old Testament Scriptures. It is the unbelieving 
Jews who have disregarded Moses. It is the unbelieving Jews who 
have resisted what Samuel the prophet said. It is the unbelieving 
Jews who have abandoned all thoughts concerning God's Word with reference 
to the Messiah. It is the apostolic interpretation 
of the Old Testament Scriptures that are correct. It isn't the 
unbelieving Jews. And this is one of the emphases 
in this passage. He connects this work of Christ 
to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Well, let's look first 
at the authority of Jesus' name in verses 11 to 16. And Peter 
does here what he does on the Day of Pentecost. He first says 
what this isn't, and then he secondly says what this is. Remember, 
when the Spirit is poured out in a rich measure, in an abundant 
measure, on the day of Pentecost, men began to speak in other languages. 
And some marveled, some looked at this, and they were amazed 
that they could hear the great and glorious works of God in 
their own language. But some mocked and said, oh, these men 
are filled with new wine. These men are drunk. These men 
have imbibed too much. And that's the explanation for 
this phenomena. So Peter stands up and says, 
these men are not drunk. In other words, there's a denial. 
That's not what's happening in this particular instance. On 
the other hand, here is what's happening. It's a fulfillment 
of the prophet Joel, and it is about the person and the work 
of the Lord Jesus. Well, Peter does that here too. 
He says, first of all, in verse 12, what this isn't. And then 
he says in verses 13 to 16, what this is. So again, we're at Solomon's 
porch. Jesus taught there, according 
to John 10 at verse 23. It's in the eastern part of the 
court of the Gentiles. Later in Acts chapter 5, we'll 
see them assembled there again, sort of on the exterior of the 
actual temple building. When we refer to the temple, 
it's a compound, it's a complex of buildings. And so they are 
east of the temple, within the temple precincts, at this porch 
called Solomon's. Now, the man that had been healed 
is clinging on to Peter and John. And some suggest it's because 
he doesn't want to go back to being lame. In other words, I'm 
going to hold on to these men because they're the source of 
power and authority and the means by which I no longer am lame. I think it's better to understand 
affection, love, appreciation. These are now my brethren. These 
are my family. These are the brothers who brought 
to me the glorious truth of Jesus Christ. That's why he's clinging 
to them. But then the crowd is amazed at what's happening here. 
The crowd has seen this man having been healed. And they had known 
who he was. So note Peter's denial in verse 
12. He says, 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? I think that first 
question is fit, appropriate, and legitimate. Why are you marveling 
at this? In other words, when Jesus was 
on earth, Jesus did this very thing. These are Jerusalemite 
sinners. These are persons that were familiar 
with what Christ had accomplished. Remember, he was a man that went 
about doing good. He healed the blind. He healed 
the lame, He raised the dead, He fed the multitudes. So essentially 
what Peter says is, why do you marvel at this? If Christ could 
do it personally when He was physically present on earth, 
He can certainly do it from His position of authority at the 
right hand of God Most High. But then as well, Peter says, 
it's not us. I love this. Peter says, silver 
and gold we don't have. We also don't have power or godliness. I'm not saying he's completely 
devoid of godliness, but I am suggesting that Peter understands 
the nature of ministry properly. It's always intrigued me that 
the word minister has become a term like reverend, or it's 
become a term of significance. What does minister mean? It means 
servant. If every time we thought about 
gospel ministers or we thought about civil ministers, we saw 
them as servants, we'd be closer to the mark. Peter doesn't say, 
it's our healing ministry, it's our abilities, it's our power, 
it's our godliness that has brought health and healing to this man. 
That's not what's happening here. Peter has an accurate understanding 
of the Christian gospel ministry. He doesn't take credit for himself. 
He doesn't launch out on his own. He doesn't say, hey, John, 
we now have a cash cow. We heal people, and we have them 
bring their money, and we bless blankets, or we bless cloths, 
or we bless whatever, and we send it back with the people 
after they send in their easy payment of only $39.95. That's 
not what Peter's about. Peter does not take any credit 
whatsoever for himself. Peter understands what Paul will 
later write concerning the nature of gospel ministry. Paul says 
we have this treasure, gospel treasure, in earthen vessels. 
Another way we could sort of define or translate earthen vessels 
is cracked pots. I think that's a good way to 
understand it. The idea is that God takes gospel 
treasure and puts it into men like Paul, puts it into men like 
Peter, puts it into men like James and John, puts it into 
men like C.H. Spurgeon or John Calvin, puts 
it into men that have issues. For all of the great heroics 
of all the men that I've just mentioned, we know, at least 
we do of the men that aren't written of in scripture, they 
had issues. They had struggles, they had 
sins, they had remaining corruption. It's a mysterious thing that 
God takes cracked pots and he puts gospel treasure in them, 
but the purpose is clear, according to the apostle. He says, so that 
the power may be of God and not of us. In other words, when Paul 
went to a city and proclaimed the truth, and sinners got saved, 
it was God that was glorified. It was God that was exalted. 
It was God that was praised. And the same thing is what Peter 
is doing here. It's not us. It's not our power. It's not our godliness. We don't 
have that. We don't just bounce around from 
place to place, oozing power and oozing godliness. You cannot 
ascribe spiritual salvation or physical healing to man. You ascribe it to the God of 
heaven and earth who sent his son into this world. That's the 
focus for Peter. So verse 12 is a denial. It isn't 
us. Verses 13 to 16 is the affirmation 
who it is. And essentially in verses 13 
to 15, he identifies the healer. It's Jesus Christ. And in verse 
16, he indicates exactly what he's done in the life of this 
lame man. But I want to look at verses 
13 to 16 with three thoughts here, or three considerations. 
First, the God who glorified the servant. Secondly, the sinners 
who rejected the servant. And thirdly, the servant who 
healed a lame man. I think this is the essence. 
I think this is what Peter is doing here with reference to 
this preaching. But note first, in verse 13a, 
he says, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of 
our fathers, glorified his servant, Jesus. There is no better way 
Peter could say to his audience at this particular time, you 
missed it by a mile than this. You missed it completely. Just 
to give you a bit of a foreshadowing, ignorance in verse 17 is not 
innocence. When Peter says, I know that 
you acted out of ignorance, you and your rulers, he is not saying, 
therefore, you are rendered innocent. It's ignorant of the prophetic 
word that was crystal clear, that focused upon the suffering 
of the Messiah. You are ignorant in that you 
missed it. Paul describes his previous life 
in 1 Timothy 1 at verse 13 as a life of ignorance. And then 
he goes on in verse 15 to say, chief of sinners. He calls himself 
that. So don't interpret verse 17 as 
if these Jews were absolutely innocent of any culpability whatsoever 
of killing Messiah. That's not what Peter's doing. 
Peter's saying, you missed it. Isaiah's clear. Daniel's clear. Ezekiel's clear. Jeremiah's clear. The Psalter's clear. Moses is 
clear. They all give, with one consistent 
voice, this testimony concerning the suffering Messiah. and you 
have missed it by a long shot. And so when he comes to interpret 
the power behind the scene with reference to the healing of the 
lame man, he refers to Yahweh, verse 13, the God of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob. The apostle highlights that this 
work is ascribed to that God. So it's not ascribed to some 
foreign God, some new God, or some newfangled deity named Jesus. John Calvin says, he saith that 
he bringeth in no new religion, that he may draw away the people 
from the law and the prophets. So what Jesus says in Matthew 
5, 17 to 20, do not think that I came to destroy the law and 
the prophets. In other words, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus 
had already gained notoriety for teaching. Probably the question 
had arisen in the minds of many, what's he think concerning the 
Old Testament law? What's he think concerning the 
prophets? What does he think concerning that body of literature 
that we call the Old Testament? He says, don't think for a moment, 
don't even let it begin to rise up in you that I've come to destroy 
the law and the prophets. Well, Peter's doing that here. 
The apostles have not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets. 
The apostles have come to announce that One whom the Law and the 
Prophets announced and preached and proclaimed, that One has 
come and they had crucified Him. Notice the God of Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob. John Gill says, though he and 
his fellow apostles were preachers of Christ, yet they were not 
setters forth of another or a strange God, but believed in the same 
God their forefathers did, and to whom they ascribed the glory 
of this miracle. See, this is the point. It wasn't 
us, our power, or godliness. It starts with the God of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob. And then notice what he goes 
on to say concerning this God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 
He raised up his servant, Jesus. Now it's important for us to 
think Isaiah when we see that language of servant, because 
the prophet Isaiah tells us about this servant of Yahweh. He tells 
us this in Isaiah 42, he tells us in Isaiah 49, he tells us 
in Isaiah 50, and then again in 52 to 53. In other words, this servant 
of Yahweh, this particular figure announced by the prophet Isaiah 
that would come, that would save his people from their sins, that 
would gather them together, that would bring blessing upon them, 
that would do great and glorious things. It culminates in that 
fourth servant, Psalm Isaiah 53. where the Lord was pleased 
to bruise him. He's put him to grief. That blessed 
servant of the Lord, that man of sorrows, that one acquainted 
with grief. Well, note Peter's statement here, specifically 
in verse 13. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus. Specifically, Isaiah 52 13, behold, 
my servant shall deal prudently. Excuse me, he shall be exalted 
and extolled and be very high. We know that Luke applies this 
language to Jesus elsewhere. Luke's gospel, Luke 22, there's 
a Isaiah 53 passage in the mouth of the Lord Jesus applied to 
himself. Later on in Luke's narrative 
in terms of the Acts of the Apostles, remember that Ethiopian eunuch? 
Remember what it is that he's reading? He's reading Isaiah 
the prophet, Isaiah 53. And the Ethiopian eunuch asks 
Philip, who's the prophet writing about? Who's he talking about? 
Is he talking about himself? Is he talking about somebody 
else? What's the text say? It says that Philip preached 
Jesus from this text. Beautiful. And here, brethren, 
when you see this reference that God glorified his servant Jesus, 
think Isaiah. Think servant of Yahweh. Think 
that man described in 42, 49, 50, 52, and 53. These men should 
have understood. These persons should have gotten 
it, but obviously they were ignorant. Let us not be ignorant, brethren. 
Let the word of God in the New Testament inform your understanding 
of the Old Testament. Let the Old Testament inform 
your understanding of the New Testament. Now, me saying that 
assumes that you read both Testaments. There is a defectiveness among 
the people of God, more often than not, when it comes to the 
Old Testament. People say, well, I don't want 
to read that because it's not about Jesus. That is absolutely, 
positively untrue. The Old Testament is all about 
Jesus. You want to learn of Jesus? Go 
to Genesis. You want to learn of Jesus? Go 
to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. We could be here 
a while as I trace through the 39 books, but you get the point. See, for the apostles, they had 
this body of literature called the Old Testament that was the 
open book concerning who this man was. We see that even for 
the Lord Jesus. When he lived on this earth, 
according to his humanity, we learn, like Samuel, that he increased 
in wisdom and stature among men and God. Well, how could the 
Bible say that about Jesus? He's God. He's the God-man. And according to his humanity, 
he would increase in his wisdom and in his understanding, no 
doubt reading the Old Testament. He was the only one that could 
ever read the Old Testament and say, wow, this really is about 
me. It's a beautiful thing. And I 
would suggest that you need to think Isaiah, when you see this 
reference, his servant Jesus. F.F. Bruce said, in order to 
explain how the cripple had been cured, Peter found it necessary 
to relate the act of God, which had so recently been accomplished 
in their midst. The cripple had been cured because 
Jesus had been glorified. From his place of exaltation, 
Jesus had endowed his disciples with power to act in his name, 
and to perform mighty works such as he himself had performed in 
the days of his bodily presence among them." That's absolutely 
spot-on. They're marveling. They're amazed. 
They see this man who was lame. He's now up and he's leaping 
and he's praising God. And they look at the apostles 
as if perhaps they have some authority and they have some 
godliness that is oozed on this man. And it's been the resulting 
factor for this man to walk in praise. Peter says, no. No, this 
goes back to Yahweh, Yahweh's purpose, Yahweh's plan announced 
by the prophet Isaiah, that he would glorify his servant, and 
that is precisely what has happened. Now note, secondly, the sinners 
who rejected the servant in 13b-15. Now, we might think Peter a bit 
negative here. Peter, let's just have a positive 
Bible study. Why are you such a downer and 
you have to bash these people over the head with the bad things 
they've done? You don't want to make people 
feel bad. Well, brethren, before anybody ever wants Jesus, they 
have to understand something, that they're sinners. It's just 
the way it is. That's why preachers at times 
will tell you uncomfortable things, not because they want to pick 
on you or make you feel bad necessarily, but Jesus came to call sinners 
to repentance, not the righteous. If you're just soothed in your 
own well-being, if you're just chatted up and basically told 
what a great guy or gal you are, you will never ever understand 
your need for the Savior. But when you're a Jerusalemite 
and Peter says, you delivered him up, you denied him, you asked 
for a murderer, you're wretched. When Peter gets to repent, therefore, 
and be converted, hopefully you're ready to pay attention. Hopefully 
you're ready to track. Hopefully you're ready to listen 
and do what we just sang, venture on him, venture holy. I love 
that language. Venture on him. Venture wholly. There is a blessed reception 
when by grace you venture. Now note what Peter does. He 
speaks of them having delivered up and denied Jesus. I mean, 
verse 13, God glorifies his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up 
and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined 
to let him go. Now, we've worked our way through 
Matthew's gospel in the last several months, or we finished 
up in the last several months. We saw that. We saw how they 
delivered up Jesus to Pilate. We saw how they denied Him. They 
didn't own Him as Lord and Savior. They didn't confess Him as Messiah. 
They didn't say, this is Isaiah's servant. This is Daniel's Messiah. This is, you know, the man spoken 
of, the Adonai in the book of Psalms. They didn't do that. 
They denied Jesus. They said, we have no king but 
Caesar. These were Jews, part of the 
theocracy, and they're owning Caesar as Lord. Brethren, they 
denied and they delivered him up to Pilate. But Luke goes on 
to tell us something concerning Pilate. Now, Pilate was a wretch. Don't let this sort of a reference 
say, oh, well, Pilate was, after all, a good and noble fellow 
because he was determined. No, Pilate was a relentless man. 
He was a wretched man. There was no good thing about 
Pilate. He wasn't sort of that jovial, 
optimistic, positive sort of fellow. He would crush Jewish 
rebellion with great severity if necessary. He was not sort 
of predisposed to doing kind things for people. So the fact 
that Pilate was determined to let him go, it was more than 
obvious that Jesus should have been let go. You get that? You're not dealing with a man 
who's predisposed to let people go. You're dealing with a man 
who's predisposed to not let people go. And if that man is 
going to want to let Jesus go, it must be more than obvious 
that Jesus should be let go. In fact, turn to Luke's gospel 
for just a moment so you can get something of what he means 
here when he says that Pilate was determined to let him go. Luke 23. Now, I only want to highlight 
this because I think it does exacerbate. Kids, exacerbate 
is a word that basically means makes it a whole lot worse. If 
your mom and dad come home, and you're standing in the kitchen, 
and you've got a face full of chocolate and chocolate all over 
your hand, and the cookie jar has got chocolate sort of dripped 
on the outside, it's very obvious that you've taken cookies from 
the jar, and your folks ask you about that. And then you lie, 
and you try to say, no, it wasn't me. It's that invisible child 
that lives in our home, not me. That kid gets a lot of blame 
in every home. Not me did it, not me. So you do that, and then 
you find out that that was the thing of cookies that we were 
going to have tonight when grandma and grandpa came over. That exacerbates 
your crime. It makes it that much worse. 
Now, if you've ever stolen a cookie, I don't think you should go to 
jail. Crime is probably a little bit 
harsh, but just follow along. When Peter says that Pilate was 
determined to let him go, And you godless men said, away with 
him, away with him, crucify him. That exacerbates their sin. That heightens their culpability. It shows what kind of man Peter's 
addressing. Now notice in Luke 23, four, 
so Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, I find no fault 
in this man. Notice verse 15, we're just running 
through some passages or verse 14. You have brought this man 
to me as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined 
him in your presence, I have found no fault in this man concerning 
those things of which you accuse him." And then notice in verse 
15, he says, no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to 
him. And indeed, nothing deserving 
of death has been done by him. Verse 20. Pilate, therefore wishing 
to release Jesus, again called out to them. And then verse 22, 
then he said to them the third time, what evil has he done? 
I have found no reason for death in him. I will therefore chastise 
him and let him go. That is just an incredible statement 
concerning their guilt. If a man like Pilate was determined 
to let him go, and you were insistent on Pilate's crucifying him, what 
does that say about you? It's not saying Pilate's OK. 
It's not saying Pilate's going to get off scot-free. Pilate's 
certainly bad, but man. It's the people that push him 
through the system. Now notice, they had asked for 
a murderer instead of Christ. Verse 14, you denied the Holy 
One and the just. Holy One and just is probably 
messianic. You see, the Lord our righteousness 
is what he's called according to the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 
23. So this language, holy and just, probably is messianic, 
probably Old Testament stuff applied to Jesus concerning his 
status as the Messiah. 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. You remember that 
scene. Matthew's Gospel We learned that 
Pilate wanted to let him go as well. You see both in Matthew 
and in Luke, Pilate's attempt to give the people or to give 
Jesus amnesty. It was a custom at that time 
of the year, Passover, that Pilate could release one who was found 
guilty of particular crimes. Pilate says, I get to release 
one, thinking that amnesty would obviously be granted to the one 
who'd never done anything wrong, thinking that a people would 
never ask for Barabbas. I mean, remember, Barabbas isn't 
just a thief. He doesn't just go to the corner store and steal 
a Snickers. Barabbas is a terrorist. Barabbas 
is an insurrectionist. Barabbas is probably a murderer. 
Barabbas is a really, really bad guy on every count. So Pilate 
says there's an amnesty here. You can either have Jesus or 
you can have Barabbas. Well, we know what they do. They 
ask for Barabbas. You see what Peter's doing? He 
makes this contrast in Acts 2. He speaks about you crucified, 
God raised up. He does that all throughout this 
section as well. God glorified his servant, Jesus. The one, remember, you delivered 
up. The one, remember, you denied. 
The one, remember, you denied, even when Pilate was determined 
to let him go. And then add sin upon sin, you 
ask for Barabbas. You asked for a murderer. You 
asked for a man who had blood on his hands, who deserved to 
die. For those of you who've been 
in our church for any amount of time, you know that we take 
seriously what the Bible says concerning capital punishment. 
May I just say to you, the current Pope is absolutely, positively, 
100% wrong on capital punishment. The Bible doesn't suggest it. 
The Bible doesn't recommend it. The Bible doesn't say, if you 
think it's a good idea, the Bible demands it. specifically for 
the crime of murder. So Barabbas deserved to die at 
the hands of the civil state. He did. And yet they said, give 
us Barabbas. Well, what do you want me to 
do with Jesus? We remember the refrain, away with him, away 
with him, crucify him. Peter is showing the treatment 
of God with reference to the servant, and now he's showing 
us the servant's treatment at the hands of these godless men. 
They had killed the prince of life. Some of your translations 
may have, they killed the author of life. Both are good. You see 
this term used again in 531. You see it in Hebrews 12.2 and 
then in Hebrews 2.10. And it can be prince or author 
or originator. He's the very author of life. 
He's the prince of life. And yet, here's how you treated 
him. Isn't this just sick and pathetic? Isn't it terrible when we see 
what man is apart from God's grace? You hear that at times. Oh, man is essentially good. 
I'm not denying there's a decency, at least outwardly, that some 
people do possess. I'm thankful my neighbor never 
comes over with a .38 and shoots me. I'm thankful that he's decent 
that way. But men left to themselves, apart 
from the grace of God, do this to God. This is how man is toward his 
creator. He's not positive, he's not receptive, 
he doesn't run to him, he doesn't love and honor and adore him. That's not what man in sin does 
with reference to God. Why do you think every Sunday 
morning or every Wednesday night that we read Voice of the Martyrs? 
Why is it that all these people suffer at the hands of other 
religions? Muslims persecute Christians. 
Hindus persecute Christians. Buddhists persecute Christians. 
Typically, Christians mind their own business. They just do. They pay their taxes. They keep 
their lawns cut. They go to work. They love their 
families. Why are they such a menace? I think ultimately this is what 
happened in the Roman Empire. They began to be given freedom 
and liberty. Probably the idea being they 
pay taxes. They do what they're supposed 
to do. Why would we want to hurt them? But in these other nations, 
these other religions, why are they persecuting somebody who 
keeps to themselves and does what they're supposed to? Because 
they hate their God. It's that simple. Why does the 
secular state persecute Christians? Oh yeah, they come up with a 
whole host of things like you're prejudiced or you're bigoted 
or whatever. They are targeting the people 
of God because they hate the God of the people. Edwards was 
right. Christian martyrs exist because 
men can't get to God. If men could build a tower high 
enough and find God there on his throne, they would gladly 
rip him from it and throw him to the ground and stomp all over 
him. The moment you begin to say, 
well, Butler, that's a bit of hyperbole and exaggeration, that's 
precisely what happened to Jesus. They threw him to the ground 
and they stepped all over him. And Peter is telling these wretches 
this, so that when he says, repent and turn, they don't say, well, 
what do you mean? I'm a good guy, I'm a good girl. 
No, you're not, you're polluted, you're filthy, you're wretched. 
But God's in the business of receiving filthy, polluted and 
wretched sinners. The glory of God is displayed 
in this passage, where Peter actually says to Jerusalem sinners, 
once again, repent and be converted. The idea there of that be converted, 
it's probably turn. Another word like repent. The 
idea is repent from your sin and turn to God. See, that's 
why he's heaping up this guilt. That's why he's functioning as 
a travel agent of guilt. This is why he is giving this 
to them so that when he calls upon them to repent, there's 
not going to be any hands raised and say, what do you mean? What 
do we need to repent of? See, a gospel preaching that is devoid 
of preaching God's law or preaching man's sin is going to be a gospel 
preaching that makes no sense. Why would I need Jesus to save 
me from my sins if I live in North America, and I have a beautiful 
house, and I have a beautiful family, and I have beautiful 
dogs, and I have beautiful cars, and I have beautiful boats, and 
I have beautiful houses? Why would I need Jesus? Because 
you're wretched, and undone, and sinful, and a target of destruction. Verse 26, or rather verse 23, 
is a terrifying verse we'll see later. And it shall be that every 
soul who will not hear that prophet shall be, note the language, 
utterly destroyed from among the people. It's intriguing because 
what Peter does there is he not only uses Deuteronomy 18, but 
he conflates it with Leviticus 23. And the admonition in 23 
of Leviticus was on observing atonement. Someone who doesn't 
observe the day of atonement will be cut off and utterly destroyed. Watch Peter's point. If you Jerusalem 
sinners disregard the atoning work of Jesus, you will be utterly 
cut off. You will be destroyed. You will 
be cast out. There's a reason why Peter goes 
from the God who glorified the servant to the sinners who sin 
against that servant, so that when he gets to the statement, 
repent and be converted, it's welcomed, blessed, good news. Notice, Peter goes on. Peter 
says that the Lord God raised him. Never forgetting the contrast 
between their treatment of the servant and God's treatment of 
the servant. You denied the Holy One and the 
just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you. And you 
killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the dead, of 
which we are witnesses. The apostle is not simply providing 
them with information to sort of inform their biblical understanding. I just want you to have a better, 
well-rounded idea of who Isaiah was speaking about. I just want 
you to know that Jesus is, in fact, the yea and amen of all 
the promises of God. Certainly he's doing that. Every 
appeal to the Old Testament, every statement concerning the 
mouth of the prophets is doing that. But as Peter, in a staccato 
sort of format, lays upon them their sin, it's so that they'll 
repent. It's so that they will forsake. 
I'd like to think every time that we preach in this church 
or any time that you evangelize sinners, you tell people their 
sin, not because you're mad at them or because you hate them 
or because you're grieved with them, but because you want them 
to understand what they are before a holy God. so that they can 
understand that Christ is the sort of Savior that stands at 
the foot of a tree, where this little fellow goes up in, and 
he says to him, make haste and come down, because I'm going 
to eat dinner at your house tonight. See, you need to know the bad 
news before the good news makes sense. You need to understand 
the gravity of your problem before you see the enormity of God's 
grace. That's what Peter is doing here. I think John Calvin describes 
it well. He says, "...he mingleth with 
doctrine a most sharp chiding, according as the matter did require. 
For it was impossible to bring them truly to God, unless they 
were first brought to the knowledge of their sins. Neither doth he 
only lightly touch them, but he doth very gravely show them 
the horribleness of that offense which they had committed." He's 
not just doing a little bit. I hope you get that through this 
cursory sort of exposition, this glance at this passage. He's 
not playing games. He's not looking to be popular. 
He's not the sort of guy that you see today, verse 12, well, 
yeah, you know, I don't have the power and I don't have the 
godliness, but certainly God chose me because I am a cut above. I have a little bit. I have a 
nobility. I have a virtue. No, he doesn't 
do that. He's self-effacing. He does not 
take people looking at him as acceptable. And then when it 
comes to dealing with his audience, I mean, I could just hear somebody 
today, you know, Peter, you're in Jerusalem. You're at Solomon's 
porch. This could get ugly if you say 
the things that you got planned to say. I mean, people don't 
like to be told the sorts of things you're fixing to tell 
them. Peter doesn't care. Peter wants them saved. And in 
order for men to be saved, there's a lot of things, but they need 
to know that they're damned, they're lost, they're gone. They need to know that. Unless 
preachers tell them that, they'll never respond when preachers 
say, repent and turn. Why repent? Why turn? Everything's 
pretty good in my life. I think that's the problem we 
face in North America. I think that's the problem we 
face with an affluent culture. People don't see their need. 
Preachers do them no favors either. They come along and basically 
preach Jesus as another means for happiness. You know, add 
Jesus to your life and you'll just be that much happier. Brethren, 
I don't think North America people are suffering from a lack of 
happiness. I think they're suffering from a lack of righteousness. And we preach Christ as righteousness. We preach Christ as the one in 
whom alone is salvation. You see, brethren, that's what 
Peter is doing. He's not out to make people feel 
bad, except for them feeling bad, so they'll flee to the one 
who is good. Calvin summarizes, men must be 
so stricken that being brought to know their guiltiness, they 
may earnestly fly under the remedy of pardon. Isn't that beautiful? If you don't know your guiltiness, 
you're never gonna fly. Now, I suggest at times like 
these, people say, well, I know that I'm a sinner. I know that 
I'm bad. I know that I'm evil. I know 
that I've broken the commandments of God. I know that I struggle 
with the 7th commandment. I know that I struggle with the 
8th commandment. I know that I struggle with 1 to 10 of the 
commandments. I know I transgress them. I know 
I lack conformity unto them. What do you say to me? I say, 
believe the gospel. Look at Jesus. Focus on him. Or to use Peter's language here, 
repent and turn. Leave that garbage. Put off that 
sin. Look to him who is altogether 
lovely and chief among 10,000. That's how the bride describes 
the bridegroom in Solomon's song. I know Solomon's song has been 
sort of twisted and distorted over the last few years. It's 
been utilized as some sort of a sex manual for couples. No, it's a picture of Yahweh 
and Israel. It's a picture of Christ and 
his church. And how does the church describe 
our Christ? He's altogether lovely and chief 
among 10,000. You see, that one is able to 
save to the uttermost all who come to God through him. So if you know your misery, you 
know your sin, I'm not saying you've known it for 15 years 
and now you're ready to go. If you know that you're a sinner, 
come. 393, venture on him, venture wholly. I love that the hymn writer, 
Joseph Hart there, beautiful, beautiful hymn, tells us, he 
is able, he is able, he is able, he is willing, doubt no more. 
We talked about that on Wednesday night. If God, if Christ is willing 
to save, but he's not powerful too, that's a bummer. I mean, I guess it's nice that 
we have somebody that would like to help us, but they can't. But 
if he's able to save and he's not willing, that's a bummer 
too, isn't it? I've got the power to free you, 
I've got the power to keep you, I've got the power to deliver 
you, but I'm not willing to do it. Why do you think heart ends 
on that? He is able, he is able, he is 
able, he is willing. Doubt no more. Now, I know there 
are some of our higher brethren that may suggest that he's not 
willing. Have them show you that in the 
Bible. Have them show you chapter and verse where our God is not 
willing. Because I suggest the opposite 
can be demonstrated in multiple places. That the opposite, that 
God is willing, that God is gracious, that God does receive. I'd point 
them to the father of the prodigal, who when that wretched boy was 
a long way off, the father runs to him, the father falls on him, 
the father kisses him, and the father puts a ring on his finger. 
He puts a robe on his back. He brings the boy home rejoicing 
because my son who was lost is found and the one who was dead 
is alive. That's the God of the Bible. 
For those extra high brethren that suggest God's not willing, 
tell them to show you chapter and verse. Pony up. Hyper-Calvinists, pony up. Show 
us where God is unwilling to save. To the uttermost, all who 
draw an eye unto God through Jesus Christ. Let's see it. Oh, well, you know, rationally 
and logically, what does the Bible say? And I'm all for rationality 
and logic. Don't get me wrong. I'm not embracing 
Sicilianism here. But, brethren, exegetically, 
theologically, comparing Scripture with Scripture, God is absolutely 
sovereign. Absolutely, positively, 100%, 
no argument whatsoever. God uses means. God calls sinners 
to repent. God calls sinners to turn. God uses sermons like Peter's 
at Solomon's porch to bring the weight of conviction to bear 
upon them so that they won't just feel bad and go home and 
say, that Peter's a meanie, but rather they'll come to Jesus. 
They'll flee. They'll stop playing games. They'll 
stop saying, well, you know, all these, just calm. I wonder 
at times, do men hide behind hyper-Calvinism? Do men hide 
behind sovereign grace? Do men hide behind some of these 
things that they entertain because they want to continue in sin? 
I had that happen one time many, many years ago. I was preaching 
in a particular place, and this guy came up to me, and he said, 
no preacher is able to explain to me the sovereign election 
and man's responsibility. I'm not highlighting this, say, 
Jim Butler's great. It's just a piece of autobiography 
that I think illustrates the point. This guy came up loaded 
for bear. Oh, what about election? What 
about this? What about that? In the course of our discussion, 
I said, what's her name? He said, what do you mean, what's 
her name? I said, it sounds like you've 
got some particular sin that you don't want to let go of. 
Whoa, no. God later. Not because of that, 
I wouldn't expect. That guy got saved later on. 
I wasn't going to play his game about election and responsibility. 
I will theologically engage that debate. I will happily discuss 
it from a biblical point of view. But if a sinner who is convicted 
wants to start playing those games, it tells me there might 
be, and I'm not saying always, there might be this desire for 
the particular sin that they've grown very fond of. That might 
be, not always, but it might be. If they really don't understand, 
lead them through it. Talk to them, tell them, here's 
what scripture says. Now believe, repent, be converted. You see, Peter doesn't play games. Conviction of sin, and then he 
tells them, repent and be converted. It's a beautiful thing. If we 
just do what God says, it's really, really good. Now notice, finally, 
we'll stop here, we'll pick up God willing in verses 17 and 
following next week, but notice, the servant who healed the lame 
man. After telling us the identity of this servant, he's the one 
whom God glorified, and he's the one whom you denied, Peter 
gets to the questioner. Peter addresses the situation. 
They're amazed. Why? This guy is healed. Peter 
says, well, the healing has come as a result of Jesus. Verse 16. 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. The name of Christ is the origin 
or the source of the authority or power by which this man was 
saved. I think the fact that the name 
isn't being used in some sort of magical way is indicated by 
the through faith. The name stands for the person. It's not just a recitation of 
a name, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and we'll get healed. Jehovah, 
Jehovah, Jehovah, and we'll get, you know, that bag of money. 
That's not the way it's to be understood. It's not a secret 
word that we recite to get from God. The name is representative 
of the person of our Lord Jesus. That's why in 4.12, Peter's going 
to say, Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no 
other name under heaven given among men by which we must be 
saved. Not magic, just say the word 
Jesus and you'll be saved. Just say the word Jehovah and 
you'll be saved. No, it's through faith. Faith is the means by 
which sinners come into saving contact with God the Lord. This 
is why we emphasize. I hope every single Sunday that 
you ever hear a sermon in this place, you will hear it told 
to you, believe on the Lord Jesus. Faith. It's through faith. That's what cements the deal 
as it were. So it brings us to that one. It's the empty hand that receives 
the free gift given by God. It's a beautiful and a wonderful 
thing, but it's the name of Jesus that is the source of the origin 
of his authority. It signifies that. Calvin says, 
name is taken for power and empire or government. And then just 
to sort of conclude our exposition here, and we'll conclude soon, 
The proof of God's divine agency, or rather divine agency, the 
fact that this was supernatural, that it came from without and 
invaded this man and was done in the presence of them all, 
that it wasn't the apostles' power or godliness. Notice these 
three things, just by way of conclusion. First, they knew 
the man's previous condition. His name, verse 16, through faith 
in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. They knew this. They knew who 
he was. They saw him on the streets. They saw him begging at the beautiful 
gate. They knew this man. And now this man's walking, leaping, 
and praising God. Imagine that. You see a person 
that you know is congenitally disabled. You know they're born 
lame. They're over 40. They've never 
walked a step in their life, ever. And then you see them not 
just walking, but leaping and praising. You might be inclined 
to say, why are you leaping? If you've never walked before, 
leaping seems like the best thing in the world. What else am I 
going to do? My ankles have strength. I'm 
going to leap like a bunny. I'm going to leap until people 
say, stop leaping. It's like trying to describe 
color to a blind man. And then he receives a sight. 
What do you think he's going to do? Look at black and white? 
He's going to look at rainbows and myriads of color. So you 
saw this man lame. You saw him asking alms. You 
saw him eking out a miserable existence. And now he's walking 
and leaping, and he's praising God. as well, the completeness 
of his healing. See, Jesus doesn't kind of heal. Jesus doesn't partially heal. 
Jesus gives perfect soundness. I love the language there. And 
I think we ought to extrapolate the spiritual significance of 
that as well. He doesn't partially save you 
from your sins. He doesn't save you from, you 
know, 99% of your sins. He doesn't bring you into the 
presence of God on condition of your obedience and your behavior. 
He saves to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through 
Him. Brethren, he is a real savior 
for real sinners, just as he was a real healer for this real 
lame man. And then the publicity of the 
healing. He has given him this perfect 
soundness in the presence of you all. Beautiful. Peter and John went to pray. 
They met a lame man on the way. He asked for alms, he held out 
his palms, and this is what Peter did say. We don't have silver 
and gold, but what we have, I'm gonna give it to you. In the 
name of Jesus Christ, be healed. The power of the name of Christ. 
All hail the power of Jesus' name. It's a beautiful way to 
summarize what Peter the Apostle is calling us to do in Acts chapters 
3 and 4. See, the narrative continues. 
This is backdrop, not backdrop alone. It's the main point. But 
chapter 4 is going to be religious persecution. This brings them 
into the public eye. This brings them before the Sanhedrin. This increases the persecution 
of the people of God. Why? Because they're preaching 
the name of Jesus. Again, it's not because they're 
bad. They're not out, you know, fomenting rebellion against, 
you know, either the Sanhedrin or the civil state. They're probably 
paying their taxes. They're working hard. They're 
doing what they're supposed to, but it's the God they worship 
that is despised, and as a result, these Jewish unbelievers are 
going to call these men to stop. Of course, I will tell you they 
don't. And we will see that as we move 
through the passage. Well, brethren, in conclusion, 
the miracle of healing here is to first and foremost direct 
sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ, as well it is to demonstrate 
the glory of that Christ. It is to show the power he exercised 
on earth is the power he exercises from the right hand of the Father. 
I think we can mess that up at times as well. You might be thinking 
there, well, if I was we little Zacchaeus and I was sitting up 
in that sycamore tree and Jesus did say, come on down from there. 
Well, of course I would have. He would have been right there. 
He's right here now. And this demonstrates that. He doesn't have to be physically 
present at the gate called Beautiful in order to heal that lame man. 
He does it from his position of authority at the right hand 
of the Father. He doesn't have to be at the 
foot of your sycamore tree to save you if you hasten down it. 
He's here. Believe on Him. Turn from your 
sins. Turn unto God and He will heal 
you. He will forgive you. We'll see 
next week. It's not only the command to 
repent and be converted, but it's the blessings. He will what 
with your sins. I love the language, blot them 
out. Blot it out. It's not just, he 
kind of wipes it a little bit. I've been reminded when, I think 
it was Kelly, I would feed her, and it was a new dad, and she'd 
have all that stuff on her face. I don't think I was delicate 
wiping. I think I was a blotter. I think I didn't like any of 
that sort of green food on her face. I would blot. I hope she 
doesn't remember that. It's probably a little bit harsh 
at the time. That's what God does with sins. 
He doesn't just come to you and delicately say, ah, ah, ah, you've 
got some. He blots them out. I am He, he says through the 
prophet, who blots out all your iniquities. The verb is rich. The verb is beautiful. The verb 
is glorious. It means to remove so as to leave 
no trace. Isn't that what you want done 
with your sins? Aren't sins terrible? Can any 
of you say sin is wonderful and it's the best thing in the world 
and it produces peace and joy and happiness in my own life 
and in my family's life and also in the church. Sin is great. Sin is horrible. What does God 
do when he blots it out? He removes all traces of it. 
You say, well, why do I still have all these issues? Remaining 
corruption, different sermon, different text. But for now, 
it means to remove, to destroy, to obliterate. I can't encourage 
you enough to consider how wonderful that sounds, to stop, to turn 
unto God, through Jesus Christ the Lord, believing what the 
Bible says concerning Him, believing the gospel, and knowing the joy 
of this, afforded by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
two sinners, through his servant, Jesus Christ. Well, let us pray. 
Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your grace. Thank 
you that even Jerusalem sinners had the gospel preached to them. And I pray, Lord God in heaven, 
that you would open ears and hearts here, that all of us would 
appreciate the graciousness of the gospel, that we would all 
see the glory of Jesus, that he would be to each one of us 
altogether lovely. and chief among 10,000. We pray 
that you would go with us now, that you would keep us and watch 
over us, help us by grace to sanctify this day and to enjoy 
what the Puritans call the market day of the soul. And we ask this 
in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, let us stand and 
sing the doxology as