Well, it’s time to jump back into the next phase of growth in the early church in Jerusalem. We have focused upon their commitment to maintaining fellowship and prayer, and to always listening to the Apostle’s teaching about Jesus’ life and ministry, including His death, resurrection, and ascension. Peter’s first sermon to a huge crowd led to the repentance and baptism of over 3,000 people. What will happen as Peter begins his second sermon?

But before we dig into that sermon, there was an important event that happened just outside the gate leading into the temple. You see, there was a certain lame man who would always beg by the temple gate, and when he asked Peter and John for alms, Peter said:

“I do not possess silver or gold, but what I do have, I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!…And with a leap, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 3:6-8).

I don’t know about you, but I love the part where he begins walking, leaping, and praising God. Now that’s true excitement over what God had just done in his life. Oh, that each of us would have such excitement. We could leave off the “leaping” part, but the “praising,” that’s a must!

Of course, all those who were watching were filled with “wonder and amazement” over what had happened to him. And that was the opening for Peter’s second sermon:

“Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered up, and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him” (Acts 3:12-13).

Notice that Peter identified Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the “God of our fathers,” including himself, and all the Apostles who were also descendants of these same patriarchs. And that also included most of the crowd who had gathered to listen to Peter. And it was at this time that Peter talked about them “disowning” Jesus after Pilate decided to release Him. And Peter decided to repeat that issue as he continued:

“But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the One whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are all witnesses” (Acts 3:14-15).

Notice Peter’s description of Jesus as the “Holy and Righteous One” as well as the “Prince of Life.” He is the Holy One who gives us LIFE, zoe (spiritual life), which is the free gift of God given to us at the moment of repentance. And once again, Peter proclaimed that they “disowned him,” that is, they rejected Him as the One whom God sent to redeem them. After telling the crowd that this Jesus was the Messiah foretold by the prophets, and that they crucified him in “ignorance,” Peter told them that there was only one thing for them to do and that was to:

“Repent so that your sins may be wiped away and that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

Although there is more to Peter’s message, the important thing is to focus on his conclusion:

“God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:26).

It’s all about the crucifixion and the resurrection. The crowd had a part in His crucifixion, but only God had a part in raising His Son from the dead. What could they do? All they could do was to repent and bring forth the fruit of repentance by turning from their sin. In doing so, God promised to bless them.

And indeed, He did, as they became part of the early church. Wow! Two thousand more were added as a result of Peter’s second sermon, bringing the total of new believers to over 5,000! These early believers are part of our spiritual heritage. We trace our roots to those who repented of their sins and received the Apostle’s teaching about Jesus, about His life and ministry, and about His death and resurrection. Friends, we need to do the same. We need to repent of our sins and turn to Christ and join with other believers of “like-minded faith” where we can worship and serve one another in love.

Next week, we find Peter and John in a predicament. We will pick up the action next week. In the meantime, may God richly bless you in every way.