Monday July 16
The Healing of a Lame Man
In Acts 3:1, Peter and John went to the temple for the three o’clock prayer service. This indicates the essentially Jewish character of the church’s faith at this early period. That is, the apostles did not go to the temple only to instruct or make new converts but because Peter and John were still Jews and, as such, were still committed to Jewish religious traditions (Acts 20:16, 21:17-26), at least up to this point. There they performed an astounding miracle (Acts 3:1-10), which gave Peter the opportunity to preach another sermon.
Read Acts 3:12-26.
3:12 And when Peter saw [it], he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?
3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let [him] go.
3:14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
3:15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
3:16 And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
3:17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did [it], as [did] also your rulers.
3:18 But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
3:23 And it shall come to pass, [that] every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
What are some of Peter’s main emphases in his sermon?
There is so much, not the least of which is that the ones he is speaking to murdered the Son of God when Pilot wanted to set Him free. Even so, God brought His Son up from the grave to bless those who persecuted and killed Him. This is the grace by which they and we are to be saved, transformed into His image (character).
Five main points characterized early Christian preaching: Jesus was the suffering Messiah (Acts 3:18); God resurrected Him (Acts 3:15); Jesus was exalted in heaven (Acts 3:13); He will come again (Acts 3:20); and repentance is necessary for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 3:19).
In many ways, this is the same message we are taking to the world, even if the context has changed. The apostles were still in a Jewish setting, when instead of changing religions the people basically just had to “migrate” from the old covenant to the new one. As part of God’s people, they had to accept the Messiah and experience the new birth that follows a true acceptance of Jesus.
Now, though the situation is different, the message is still essentially the same: Christ died for our sins, was resurrected, and He will return again. This means, then, that we can find salvation in Him. Even in the context of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14, Jesus Christ crucified, Jesus Christ risen, and Jesus Christ returning must be the center of how we proclaim those messages.
Yes, the three angels' message begins with the proclamation of the gospel of grace.
“Of all professing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world. The proclamation of the third angel’s message calls for the presentation of the Sabbath truth. This truth, with others included in the message, is to be proclaimed; but the great center of attraction, Christ Jesus, must not be left out. It is at the cross of Christ that mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other. The sinner must be led to look to Calvary; with the simple faith of a little child he must trust in the merits of the Saviour, accepting His righteousness, believing in His mercy.”—Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, pp. 156, 157.
Amen! Before giving the third angel's message, we must present the first then the second angel's message. The gospel is at the foundation of all truth. It does little good to tell the world about the perversion of the Sabbath if we do not present the gospel message.