SPIRITUAL DIAR FOR 9/1/2017
9:53 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 Intro to Acts 3:12-18
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts 3:12-18
Message of the
verses: “12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the
people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at
us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you
delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to
release Him. 14 "But you disowned
the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15 but put to death the Prince of life,
the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.
16 "And on the basis of faith in
His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see
and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect
health in the presence of you all. 17 “And now, brethren, I know that you acted
in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. 18 “But the things which God
announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would
suffer, He has thus fulfilled.”
In our first SD on this section we spoke about “the name
of Jesus” and that this miracle to this beggar was done in His name, and we
also mentioned that this miracle would like, the one at Pentecost would provide
a great background for Peter’s next sermon.
Peter saw the crowd that was gathering and was prompted
by the Holy Spirit to preach a sermon to them as he would reply to them in a
sermon. John MacArthur states “Replied
is from apokrinomai, a word often
used to mark the beginning of a discourse (cf. Matt. 11:25; 12:38; 17:4; 22:1;
Mark 10:24; 11:14; 14:48; Luke 14:3; John 5:19; Acts 10:46). It does not necessarily refer to answering a
question. Whether the crowd asked Peter
questions is unknown, but their confusion and desire for an explanation of the
miracle were obvious.”
Peter begins his message by saying “men of Israel,” as he
was courteous to them and then he asked two questions: “Why do you marvel at this” as he gives them
a mild rebuke. The people of Israel who
were God’s covenant people knew that God performed miracles in the past so this
miracle should not have surprised them.
Next Peter asks “Why do you gaze at us, as if by our own
power or piety we had made him walk?” We
can be sure that people in this crowd knew that Peter and John were two
Galilean fishermen who could not do this on their own, but as we will see later
on in the book of Acts we will see under similar circumstances that the answer would
be that they had been with Jesus. I
believe the same answer applies here.
Peter directs attention away from himself and onto our
Lord Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur concludes this introduction: “So Peter takes as the theme of his sermon
the matchless name of Jesus Christ. He
presents five of the many names of our Lord, all of which have messianic
implications. As he did in his first
sermon Peter presents Jesus as the Messiah, approved by God, yet rejected by
the people. By so doing, he again
stresses to them that they were in the disastrous condition of being at odds
with God. Peter describes his Master as
Servant, Jesus, Holy and Righteous One, Prince of Life, and Christ.”
These are the names of Christ that we will begin looking
at as we make our way through this section of the third chapter of Acts.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Remember to give
honor and glory to the Lord for things that the Holy Spirit allows me to do for
the cause of Christ is something I must continually remember to do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that the Lord will continue to allow me
to do things for the cause of Christ.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Rachel” (Genesis 35:18-19).
Today’s Bible question: “Which Gospels are known as the synoptic
Gospels?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/1/2017 10:16 AM
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