The Author Of Life - [Acts 3:1-16]

Let me ask you, what's the wildest thing that's happened on the way to church? You know, you're driving into church one morning and just things go a little askew.

You know, I remember living in California, sometimes you'd be driving in and there'd be raging forest fires, you know, on the side of the freeway.

Something like that. That's a little distracting. And you go, see, kids, this is an illustration of what hell is like.

You don't want to go to hell, so we're going to go to church so you can hear the gospel and believe. I didn't do that a lot, you know, just once in a while.

This morning, I feel like maybe some of us have moved to Florida, or all of us have moved to Florida.

Who needs to go to Florida? At least we don't have alligators in the back. I think

I was thinking of one particular occasion. Went into church, just in a regular Sunday morning, pull into the parking lot, start walking into Grace Community Church, because, you know, if you're semi -late, you've got to park like three blocks away.

We were on time. I'm just saying, you know, if you're not early, you're late at that church. So we're walking in, and there are a couple of protesters carrying signs across the street, and you know,

I'm just like, I just ignore them and walk in, and I'm on the patio, and one of the elders,

I won't mention who, Phil Johnson, says to me, did I say that? He says, he says,

Steve, do me a favor, I can't go over there, but would you go over there and get whatever he's handing out? I said, sure. And you know, it's all this stuff,

MacArthur's a heretic and all that, but Phil just wanted to read what it was. But I thought, that's a pretty weird thing to have happen on a

Sunday morning, right? You don't expect that. I mean, we don't come into our parking lot and have protesters here, why not?

But what if you're on the way to church, just a regular church meeting, and there's a miracle?

It might change things a little bit, and that's what we're going to see this morning as we go to Acts chapter 3.

Acts chapter 3, I mean, traffic accident, excuse me, fire, protest, how about a miracle?

Let's read our text, beginning in verse 1, Acts chapter 3.

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

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

Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did

John, and said, look at us. And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, I have no silver and gold, but what I do have,

I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

And he took him by the right hand and raised him up. And immediately, his feet and ankles were made strong.

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

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

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran to them in the portico called

Solomon's. And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people. Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this?

Or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety, we have made him walk?

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the

God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him.

But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you.

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

To this we are witnesses. And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know.

And the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

Now last week we looked at the beginning, really, of the Jerusalem church from 120 disciples, the apostles plus another 100 or so.

And then what happened on Pentecost, the extra 3 ,000, and really what made it an extraordinary church.

I even hyphenated it rather than just making it one simple word, excuse me for a minute. And first we focused on the devotion of the church, the things that it was doing, right?

Its daily routine. And secondly, the results of that devotion. And all of it was brought about by the presence and the power of God.

Now we can do, as Bethlehem Bible Church and as Christians, we can do what the church then did, what the

Bethlehem, sorry, what the Jerusalem church did. I want to call us the Bethlehem Bible Church, right?

We can focus on, and this is what they did, hearing sound teaching and preaching. Having fellowship, having communion, having prayer.

These are called what? The common means of grace. This is what we are to do as believers, to gather together and do these things.

But we can't expect the same results. We can't expect signs and wonders because guess what?

I sound like Dave now. I was with Dave Copper and he kept saying, guess what? We don't, we don't have apostles.

We don't have the special anointing that those men had from the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, we don't have to start from scratch.

We can do the things that God commands us to do. This morning though, as we move through the book of Acts, we're going to look at a case of what

I'm calling show and tell. Why show and tell? Because that's essentially it. We have this wonderful miracle.

And then in the aftermath of that, Peter has to, or gets the opportunity to explain what has transpired and also to preach the gospel to these hundreds of people that will gather as a result of the miracle.

So I have two points and three sub points for each, three H's for show and three

C's for tell. Don't ask me why. That's just what I came up with. Sorry. You can email your complaints.

A miraculous healing that leads to a platform for preaching.

Now that could have been the outline too, right? Miraculous healing, a platform for preaching.

First show, it's easier. Show and tell. And the first H in show is habits.

What do they do habitually? And if we look at verse one, we're going to see that Peter and John are just doing what they normally did.

This is just another trip to the temple. It's just another trip to church.

The text says, now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

And that verb tense tells us that it's something that they did regularly, regularly, repeatedly.

There we go. And at this point, there's no reason to think they're just going to church.

There's no reason to think that anything special is going to happen. And think about this. If they knew, maybe they did, but I would think if I was

Peter, not that I was, but obviously, but if I was, and I knew that some kind of miracle and big meeting was going to break out,

I might want some other disciples to go with me. Why? To minister to the other people that are going to be there.

I might even think I need some security or something, but it's just John and Peter going up to the temple.

And the prayer service would be about three o 'clock in the afternoon. This is the, that's what the ninth hour means.

They start at 6am and then they count and they get to 3pm, 3pm.

3pm, that's when the sacrifices were made and also when the prayer was offered.

And if you think about those two things, sacrifices made, prayers being offered, well, why are sacrifices made in the temple?

Symbolic of the seriousness of sin and the need for forgiveness.

Without blood, there is no forgiveness for sin, right? And prayers, again, asking, pleading with the

Lord for forgiveness of sin. When you think about sacrifices, what else does that remind you of? Well, death, it's constant death and the idea that death is coming.

So here you have this serious service that they're going to, sacrifice and prayer.

When we think about the message that Peter is going to preach, it's going to be this, that the sins that you want to see these animals sacrificed for, that you know that blood must be shed for, can be completely forgiven.

And by the way, death, this death that comes to everything and is going to come to these animals and is going to come to you, may not be feared for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So for them, it's just another trip to the temple. For this man who's going to be healed, it's just another day of begging.

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

Because he was born lame, because he's congenitally lame, this man would be considered unclean, not able to enter the temple.

He couldn't walk in anyway, he'd have to be carried in and you don't get carried into the temple. But he was an object of pity.

So his family and his friends would carry him to a strategic position so that many would have to pass by him and he could beg for some help.

This man was not a Christian yet, so he wasn't a beneficiary of what we saw in Acts chapter two of the church seeing somebody in need and then going and giving to fill that need.

What was his weapon? His weapon was guilt. That was his offer, right?

He had nothing to offer anybody. It was just, look, you're supposed to help the poor.

And since there was no system in Israel for helping the poor, he would be positioned there so that he could beg and they would give as they went in to pray.

Now it's impossible to really know for certain what the beautiful gate is. Don't you want to know? I want to know.

It would be lovely to know and I read several opinions and it seems the consensus is this, that although most of the gates of the temple, the entryways of the temple were adorned with silver and gold, there was one that was adorned with bronze and you're like, well, why would that be the beautiful one?

Because it was done with such craftsmanship. It was created by some, it's called

Corinthian bronze, so one would presume it was done by Corinthian craftsmen.

And it was called, I believe, just based on what I've read here, the beautiful gate.

The historian Josephus said that its value, the beautiful gates value exceeded that of those set in silver and gold.

And he also said that it took 20 men to close this gate.

That was the beautiful gate. And you say, well, why don't we know? Because in, what, about 30 years or so, less than 30 years, 35 or more than 30 years, 35, 38 years, the whole temple is destroyed and most of the records of the temple are destroyed as well.

So there's no way of knowing exactly which gate was the beautiful gate, but that's one that they believe was it.

But today, on this day, it's his last act of begging.

Look at verse three, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple and he asked to receive alms.

There he is, been carried to this strategic place, sees John and Peter just in this steady stream of people coming in and he asked them for alms.

He had, he was more than 40 years old. We know that from a little bit later in the book. So from the time, his whole adult life, maybe about 30 years or so, he's been a beggar almost every day.

They're begging for money. This man couldn't have known it, but his career was about to change.

So those are the habits. Second H is healing, healing. Look what

Peter does in verse four, and Peter directed his gaze at him, as did

John. And he said, look at us. Now I don't know what tone he took, you know,

I don't know if it was, you know, like, look at us or, you know, just in a softer voice, probably, but, you know, typically if you hear somebody say you're, you see a stranger and he says, look at me, you know, okay, things are about to get ugly.

But Peter and John stop. We don't know why we're not told here.

In fact, you know, we don't have every single word of all the exchanges here.

What we have is Luke giving us a summary of the events. We don't know what caused them on this day, other than a prompting of the

Holy Spirit. Look at the response of verse five.

And he fixed his attention on them. He says, look at us. And the man says, okay, and he just looks at them.

Now maybe he's thinking that's unusual for somebody to even talk to me.

Maybe typically people just come in and they toss a few coins, right? As they are on their way into the temple.

But for somebody to actually address him, to take the time to even look at him like that, it's abnormal.

Peter's stare, very extraordinary.

Maybe he's going to give Peter, this man's thinking maybe Peter and John are going to give him an extraordinary gift, something really great.

Look at verse six. But Peter said,

I have no silver and gold. What you want, I don't have. But what I do have,

I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.

Now, it's a little bit of speculation on my part. But if you think about it, when Peter says what you want,

I don't have, right? What do you think he was thinking at that moment? I mean, it's probably have you ever been talking to somebody and they say, you know, they say something that disappoints you and what do you do?

Your emotions kind of go like this. And I'm sure it went like that, right? Okay, this is going to be another one of those.

I'm going to get a lecture about, you know, my infirmity or whatever. Must have been my sin or the sins of my parents or something like that.

So he goes from that to rise up and walk.

When he hears that name, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, what's he thinking?

What does he think when he hears that? Well, I'll tell you what he's thinking. Because we know from later on the text, he believes.

Well, why does he believe? He knew as many knew what that name meant.

By faith in his name is in verse 16. He believed in the name of Jesus Christ.

This was the name by which people knew him. A few verses to just kind of emphasize that.

The triumphal entry. When Jesus is riding in to Jerusalem.

The week before he's put to death. The so -called triumphal entry. Matthew 21 verses 10 and 11.

And when he entered Jerusalem, listen, the whole city was stirred up saying,

Who is this? And the crowd said, this is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.

If you recall Peter's denial on the night when Jesus was arrested.

And Peter doesn't want anything to do with Jesus. Matthew 26 verses 71 and 72.

And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him. And she said to the bystanders, talking about Peter, this man was with Jesus of Nazareth.

And again he, Peter, denied it with an oath. I do not know the man. John 19 verses 18 and 19.

There they crucified him and with two others. And with him two others. One on either side.

And Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth.

The king of the Jews. This is how he was known. Jesus of Nazareth.

In the name of Jesus of Nazareth. I command you, rise up and walk.

Some hated the name of Jesus. Obviously, that's why they put him to death. But this man was instantly converted.

Look at verse seven. And he took him by the right hand and raised him up.

And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Peter helps this man up.

And he instantly, immediately feels strength where there had only been weakness.

That's the way healings are in the Bible. Instantaneous and complete. It doesn't take months.

It's not a process. It just happens. Verse eight. We know it's instantaneous.

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk. Instantaneously he felt strength in his legs.

He had to be carried to the temple. And now he's walking.

Miracles. God entering the space -time continuum and doing what only God can do.

Taking this man who was born lame, causing him to walk. Instantaneous.

They're not temporary. And they're not gradual. This man would never have to be carried by his friends and family again.

He would never have to rely on strangers for sustenance again.

And he jumped to his feet and began walking. Have you ever seen one of those videos?

You see them all the time. I do anyway. On social media. I saw one here a couple weeks ago. Where this infant is fitted with a hearing aid.

And for the first time in her life, she could hear her mom. And what does she start doing?

She just starts giggling. I mean, she just can't stop giggling. Because she's hearing her mom, she's just delighted.

Or you see another one of those videos where they take somebody, usually a little bit older. Somebody like me.

They put glasses on them because they've never been able to see colors. Right?

And what do they do? Wow. And they're just looking around and they've got tears running down their eyes.

Just imagine what it's been like for this man. 40 plus years of shame and misery and begging.

And now, what joy he has. How do you contain that?

Well, let me tell you something. What happened to him physically was the least important thing that happened to him that day.

Isn't that amazing to think about? It's one thing to be physically whole. It's another thing to be forgiven of your sin.

And that's exactly what happened to him. Peter and John went to a service to watch, ultimately, animals being slaughtered.

Picturing forgiveness of sin. And here we have forgiveness of sin. Two H's so far.

Habits, healing. And our third H, hosannas. Again, look at verse 8.

And entered the temple, the man did, with them, with Peter and John, walking and leaping and praising

God. He's walking into the temple for the first time in his life.

I mean, do you think he's just going to walk in? Just kind of saunter on in, to borrow a

Pastor Mike word? Just kind of amble on in? He's thrilled. He's too excited to stroll in.

So he's jumping up and down. Praising God. This is the proverbial child on Christmas morning.

Can't contain himself. It's impossible. Now, just think about what's happened.

Not only has he been physically made whole, but he believes now in the Lord Jesus Christ.

His sins are forgiven. You know what it's like to be with a brand new Christian? They're thrilled about the things of God.

You know, not like you guys. Sorry. They're thrilled with the things of God, right?

Well, this man is, he's physically whole. He's spiritually whole.

He's bouncing up and down. I've known people like that. And you want to just,

I think about my friend Matthew, and you want to just say, bro, calm down a little bit. No.

Then look at what the response of all these people, who are all just, they're, sorry, churchgoers, right?

They're just coming in. It's going to be the routine. It's going to be the normal. There's no brush fires. There's no nothing. They didn't have an accident on the way.

They didn't see anything other than this man jumping up and down, and they recognize him.

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

And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. You know,

I can't help but think that there were probably some people who didn't go to the beautiful gate because they didn't want to see that guy. They didn't want to be ashamed of not giving him anything.

Oh, let's go some in some other way. Well, today there he is.

There's no escaping it. I read that passage earlier because I wanted to show that this is really the continuation of the work of the

Messiah through these men, the work of Jesus Christ through these apostles. I mentioned before signs and symbols.

Are we to expect them to continue the miracles and wonders now signs and wonders? No, we don't have apostles.

We can't have apostles. Nobody is alive now who walked with Jesus during his ministry.

Nobody is alive now who has seen the risen Jesus Christ. And if somebody tells you they're an apostle, they are misguided or lying.

Listen to Isaiah 35 versus six to eight, 35 or I'm sorry, 35 versus five and six.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Talking about the messianic age, the things that would happen as a result of the

Messiah coming to earth. If you recall the disciples of John, the

Baptist come to Jesus and they ask him if he is the promised Messiah in Luke seven, verse 22, he says this, and he answered them, go and tell

John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight. The lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf here, the dead are raised up.

The poor have good news preached to them. This is the continuation of that.

It's also when we read last week in acts two and all came upon every soul and many wonders and signs are being done or were being done through the apostles.

This is what, how the word that yes, Jesus Christ was crucified.

How do you get people excited about a dead Messiah? You preach him risen from the grave and you demonstrate the truthfulness of that through signs and wonders.

This gets people's attention. So now we've seen the show and now we'll have the tell.

Again, three C's and the first C is the crowd gathered. Crowd gathered. Look at verse 11 when he clung to Peter and John or while he clung to Peter and John, all the people utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called

Solomon's. I think, you know, here's pretty breeding all these difficult words and everything and I can't read portico.

Okay. I mean, just imagine again, just, just picture yourself for a moment.

I don't know if you, you know, when you watch movies, you read books, you, I did, don't you identify with a character or two and you just like latch onto them and you only want good things to happen.

In this case, I think as you read through this, you just latch on to this man who's been healed and you just, you can understand what he's doing.

He's not letting Peter and John go. He's just like attached to them. Right? And here he is jumping up and down and they're probably like, okay, okay, okay.

You know, I, I imagine they probably let him go because they liked the fact that everybody's noticing because they need this to happen, but he's holding on to him, bouncing up and down, praising the

Lord for what's happened. What's the typical temple slash church goer going to be like?

These folks are going to the temple for a prayer and a sacrifice meeting. I think it's safe to say that this is a very unusual thing that they're observing.

They know this man, they know the story. Some of them have likely given him alms over the years and they are, text tells us, utterly astounded.

They are amazed, awestruck. So they want to know what's happened.

That's why they're gathering together. They can't wait to hear how did this happen? And the crowd gathers

Solomon's portico. That's the same place. It fascinates me. This is the same place where Jesus and John 10 is challenged by some

Jewish leaders and how does that go? At the end of John 10, what do they try to do? They try to capture him and he has to escape.

These folks are delighted and curious. They're a perfect audience for what?

A sermon, right? Peter knows the deal. He's ready to go. Preach prayer, die on a woman's notice.

This is the best opportunity he's going to get. Second C, the crowd redirected.

Their energy is directed, redirected because they want to know about this miracle.

They want to know how Peter and John did it. They want to know by what power this man has been allowed to walk and jump.

Verse 12, when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, men of Israel. Why do you wonder at this?

Or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety?

In other words, because of what is inherent in us or because we're such holy livers.

Can you say that? Such holy men. We have made him walk. Peter addresses the crowd as he had at Pentecost.

He says, men of Israel. And he corrects their thinking. Yes, this is amazing, but we ourselves have nothing to do with the fact that this man can walk.

No mere mortal could do such a thing. And the third C, the crowd corrected.

They want the attention Peter does on Jesus Christ. Jesus is the servant of God.

Look at verse 13, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the

God of our fathers glorified his servant, Jesus, who healed this man, the same

God that you're here to worship. But he did it through his glorified servant,

Jesus. Now, when Peter's audience heard this glorified, that Jesus was glorified.

Well, what would that mean? They weren't there for John 17, when

Jesus said, restore me to the glory that I had before. But the idea is that he was to be honored and praised, but not just honored and praised anywhere and not just in the temple.

This meant in the next life. In other words, in heaven. Well, who could be honored and praised in heaven?

Who could be honored and praised in the presence of God, who is holy, holy, holy, who alone is the standard of perfection?

Who could do that? Only the sinless, perfect son of God, the second person, the

Trinity. Exodus 3, verses 14 and 15.

Verse 14 is very familiar to us, but 15 has some additional insight.

I want to bring to the table this morning. Exodus 3, verses 14 and 15. If you recall,

Moses asking, you know, I, if I go to the people of Israel, who shall

I say sent, sent me? You know, I mean, they're not going to respect me at all. It's my version.

Verse 14. God said to Moses, I am who I am.

And he said, say this to the people of Israel. I am has sent me to you.

Verse 15. God also said to Moses, say to the people of Israel, the

Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the

God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever. And thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

So Peter pounces on that to identify the fact that this

God, that you're here to worship this God of our forefathers, this is the God who healed this man in and through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

He's also declaring the deity of Jesus to this crowd, directly connecting him to the work of this miracle.

And that word servants is no throw away kind of word.

He's not just, you know, let me think of a new title for Jesus servants. As soon as he said that, their minds would be going to Isaiah 53.

Let me read verse 11. Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied by his knowledge.

Shall the righteous one, again, the idea associating

Jesus with the righteous one, God, my servants make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities.

My servant, the servant of God, what would he do?

Make many to be accounted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities.

What does this sound like? It sounds like double imputation. And again, not amputation, imputation, meaning the righteousness of Jesus placed on believers.

Their sin, the sin of all believers placed on Jesus on the cross. He paid for them.

He bore their iniquities. It says we need that righteousness.

And Isaiah tells us, my servant bore their sins.

My servant being Jesus Christ, Peter identifies him as the servant of God.

In this sermon, notice that he goes from that to pointing out the actual source of the miracle is

Jesus Christ. To saying, you know what? You caused the death of Jesus.

This one who granted this miracle to this man, you put him to death. Look at verse 13, the second half of it, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of pilots.

When he decided to release him, pilot was done with Jesus. He said,

I find no sin in this man. He's flawless. They denied his release because, well, the truth be told, because they hated

God. Verse 14, but you denied the holy and righteous one. Well, who in a

Jews mind, who is the holy and righteous one? Again, that's God. You deny

Jesus, God in the flesh, the holy and righteous one. And instead, you wanted a murderer to be granted to you.

Barabbas. You committed the ultimate form of treason.

You say you love God. You're here to worship God. And you put God to death on a cross.

Reflecting back in Isaiah 53, 11, was Jesus anguished?

Did he suffer when the Jews betrayed him before pilot? Yes. The holy and righteous one was betrayed by those he came to save.

They caused the Messiah, truly man and truly God to be put to death. They also misidentified

Jesus. And you killed the author of life, whom

God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. They killed the author of life.

That word, author. Other translations have prince of life.

One commentator, and I like this, almost changed the name of the sermon to captain of life. I like that.

We want to be on his team. We want to have him as our captain, him as our head. Freiberg said, define this word as strictly one who goes first on the path.

Hence leader, prince, pioneer. Second definition, as one who causes something to begin.

Originator, founder, initiator. If we just think about that, we quickly come to realize what it means.

John one, three, all things were made through him. Colossians one, 17 in him, all things hold together.

In other words, he's the initiator and the sustainer of all life. And in the name of Jesus, this man who had been lame from birth has been made whole.

God raised him up from the dead, and he is at work through Peter and John. And they testify to that.

We've seen Jesus Christ. God raised him from the dead. We've seen him. We are his witnesses.

Peter and John had been the human agent of this healing. And so they were credible witnesses.

You have to have every fact confirmed by two or three witnesses. Well, here are three. They all knew who was responsible.

Jesus Christ, as he's addressing this crowd, we can conclude it this way.

You must believe in Jesus. Look at verse 16 and his name by faith in his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know.

And the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

You want to know why he's healthy and whole and it could walk and leap and jump and praise the Lord.

It's because of Jesus Christ. Notice a couple of repetitions here.

His name, the name of Jesus mentioned twice here. Faith mentioned twice here.

Well, why is that emphasis to stress it? When we think about false teachers, faith healers, what do they do?

They say in the name of Jesus, this, in the name of Jesus, that, and they treat the name of Jesus as what, like a mantra, magic mantra as kind of a, a guarantee of some miraculous work.

Well, do they have it right? Is that how it works?

Absolutely not. He tells us here it's faith in his name.

Well, what does it mean to have faith in his name? Is there some kind of empty idea of faith? No, it's not faith in faith or faith in some other object.

It's faith in Jesus Christ alone. And to believe in the name of Jesus is to believe and to trust that he is who the

Bible says he is. What does that mean? Means if he says the word of God says that he's eternally

God, the believer says, I believe it. He has no beginning and no end.

He's the alpha and omega. I believe it's the creator. I believe it's the son of God. I believe it's sinless.

I believe it. Crucified. I believe it's raised from the dead.

I believe it's Peter's audience would have understood plainly what

Peter was driving at. And next week, we're going to see this all come to fruition.

Everybody went to the temple that day, hundreds of them, thousands doing their religious duty as it were, punching the proverbial church clock, just taking the time card, checking in, and they were going to check out first one out.

The parking lot wins, but a miracle happened that day, changed everything.

And then Peter gives them the gospel. What's the gospel? The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ, the second person of the

Trinity came to earth as a man, lived a perfect life, died a substitutionary death and rose on the third day.

It's belief in his work, his word and his resurrection. That grants us eternal life.

Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for its shorty.

We thank you for its clarity. We thank you that we can know the Lord Jesus Christ through the proclamation of scripture.

As we even think about this man and the long life that he had before knowing

Christ and all the suffering and all the misery and the many days he must've thought my life is worthless.

My life has no meaning whatsoever. I'm just an object of ridicule and scorn.

Father, I think that many of us have experienced this exact same thing for anyone here who does not know the matchless name of Jesus Christ, who has not been the subject of your grace.

Father, I pray that even today would be that day knowing that there is no one, no sin that you cannot forgive.

Even as we listen, amazing Peter's addressing this Jewish crowd.

They put Jesus to death and yet he offers them forgiveness. What a great

God you are filled with mercy and compassion. Father, we praise you in Jesus name.