Lessons 8 – God’s Evangelism of the Jews in Jerusalem

God

Jesus Christ

Holy Spirit

Jews

Apostle

Peter

John

God through Jesus of Nazareth healed a crippled beggar at the temple gate called Beautiful. This development astonished the audience at Solomon’s Colonnade to which Peter preached Jesus Christ, the author of life. 1-15

The Sermon structure and content.

1. Setting up the audience to help them understand their sin. 13-16

1. Peter made the connection between Jesus, whom they had disowned before Pilate, and the God of the audience’s Israelite fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
2. Next he charged them with the release of a murderer and the death of Jesus.
3. He identified the Holy and Righteous One they had killed as the “author of life.”
4. Peter next proclaimed this Jesus was alive because God raised Him from the dead.
5. Finally, he made connection between the healing of the crippled man standing before them and Jesus whom they had killed. The healed man was walking around before them praising God.
6. He was healed by God through Jesus via the Holy Spirit because of Peter and John’s faith in the name of Jesus.

1. The call for repentance. 17-21

1. Although these Jews acted in ignorance, it was still sin and they needed to repent.
2. The Jew’s sin served to fulfill God’s word He had given to the prophets about the sufferings of Jesus.
3. The sufferings of Jesus justified God to “wipe out” the sins of those who repented and turned to God.

Rom. 3:25, 26; Heb. 8:12.

1. Repentant believers who have turned to Jesus enjoy “the times of refreshing” in these last days of time.
2. Jesus will remain in heaven until God is ready to restore everything.

1. Jesus Christ is the One.

1. He is a prophet like Moses; therefore, listen to Him.
2. The days of refreshing “in Christ” are the last days of time all the prophets following Samuel spoke about.
3. Those who repented and turned to the Lord became heirs of the covenant God made with the Israelite fathers beginning with Abraham.
4. The gospel was given to these Jews first. They were given the opportunity to turn from their wicked ways.

It had been only a few months since these same people who had gathered to hear Peter speak were screaming for Pilate to nail Jesus to the cross. Even Peter, himself, the preacher, had denied he knew Him. Yet, in Acts, chapter three, Jesus leads His second great evangelism effort to save these people for His Father. God’s great love and patience with mankind is manifested in the organization of this event.