Welcome back to Books of the
Book. We are studying the book
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of Acts. Right before the break
we had been looking in Acts
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chapter 3 about this healing of
the lame man at the temple gate,
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the first bonafide miracle
we find of healing in the New
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Testament church. You had
mentioned that we see miraculous
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working in the power of the Holy
Spirit. As far as a healing that
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took place like in the ministry
of Jesus, we don't see that
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until right now. Another thing,
Jim, you had mentioned before
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the break that there may have
been kind of a despair among
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some of the people. You know,
here was Jesus and all these
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wonderful things were happening
and even though we know his
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disciples had worked miracles
prior to Christ's crucifixion
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and resurrection and ascension,
there hasn't been anything like
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that since his ascension and so
people have probably viewed some
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of them with disappointment and
some of them with rejoicing that
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every trace of Jesus is gone,
you know. The work of Jesus, the
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miracles of Jesus, the hope that
he gave was gone. And it seems
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likely to us here that this
man at the temple gate upon our
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first initial reading it may not
seem like he was too acquainted
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with Jesus, but when Peter heals
him he goes on to say which
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we're going to see that it
was through faith in the name of
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Jesus that the man was healed.
You don't have faith in the name
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of somebody you don't know and
it's likely that this man and
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his associates had come to know
of Jesus and wanted to be healed
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but was not able to make it
before the crucifixion of Jesus.
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So he was left
asking alms like he had.
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So he was left out and his
loved ones probably felt sorry
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for him and said look we can
take you to the temple gate but
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his hope was gone. So for Peter
to come and you notice look at
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me he said and when he said the
name Jesus Christ of Nazareth
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that man, Jesus of Nazareth, he
had enough faith to respond to
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Peter and he's healed and
walking and leaping and praising
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God and everybody's amazed.
So we're picking up here at
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Peter's response in verse 12.
We looked at this a little bit.
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Peter said why do you marvel at
these things. And he says, verse
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The God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, the God of our
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fathers glorified his servant
Jesus who you delivered up and
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denied in the presence of Pilate
when he was determined to let
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him go. Now you got to think.
Pilate, the gentile, saw that
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there was no fault in this
man and we, the ones who were
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supposed to the worshipers of
God, we weren't going to let him
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go and even Pilate, the judge,
was going to let him go. But you
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were determined not to let
him go. He says in verse 14: You
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denied the Holy One and the Just
and asked for a murderer to be
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granted to you and killed the
Prince of Life who God raised
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from the dead of whom we are
witnesses and his name, through
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faith in his name, has made this
man strong who you see and know.
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Yes, the faith which comes
through him has given him (this
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man) this perfect soundness
in the presence of you all.
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Now I mean we're just into
chapter 3 but one thing that
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continually floors me is that
Peter does not have a political
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bone in his body right now.
We're going to find that prior
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to this Peter was very
reputation driven and he always
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wanted to appear in a certain
light before people. But when we
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come into the New Testament here
in the book of Acts and we see
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the new Peter. He is, what do
I want to say? He is very direct
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in his speaking. He is not at
all trying to please or play any
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favorites or please any crowd.
And you know I suppose at first
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glance we might be tempted
to look at Peter as just having
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this... maybe he has a chip
and he's just trying to get out
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and has this attitude. And in
fact, I've heard it today even
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in the ministry when a minister
gets up and speaks very strongly
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about something, it's not
uncommon, and I'm not just
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talking about myself as a
minister although I've heard
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this with myself of with others,
you know, I wonder what got into
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him today. You know, it's got to
be some personal thing. We have
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lost the understanding that when
the Holy Spirit works through
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God's messenger, the messages
need to be in part very direct
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because it has to reach down to
the depth of what's in our heart
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because God is trying to cleanse
us from the bottom and inside
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out. So Peter's message
here really strikes me as... the
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nature of his preaching
was very direct and forward.
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That's right. When I look at
it it almost appears that he's
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making a deliberate attempt to
point out the audacity of these
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people for what they had done.
And I think there's intent in
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that. He says... Well
I want to interject and
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hold the thought. But one thing
that is important here is when
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we look at his directness, too
often we tend to think of how
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we, the recipient, are going to
handle the message or how we the
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human being are going to handle
it and who it hurts. The fact of
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the matter is that when our sins
are pointed out we can be hurt
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even to the point of tears. But
so often we never even stop to
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think how much God hurts over
the level of deception that the
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devil is allowed to pull
on people and yet his own
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spokespeople, his own ministers,
his own mouth pieces, are afraid
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to let the people know of the
deception for fear he's going to
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upset them and I think of the
pain in God's heart and I know
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that what drove Peter, we talked
about this before, was not any
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kind of attitude towards
his hearers, but his love for
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Christ and his love for the
souls that Christ died for and
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that's what led him
to speak the way he did.
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That's where I'm seeing this
going. It wasn't a fear of the
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people but a love for the people
that led him to do what he did.
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I mean it says right here in
verse 13, the end of verse 13,
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speaking about his servant Jesus
whom you delivered up and denied
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in the presence of Pilate when
he was determined to let him
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go, almost showing look, not
only did you do this but he was
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ready to let him go. You went
above and beyond. He's trying to
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help them to actually
sense their guilt all the more.
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Then he goes on and says, but
you denied the Holy One and the
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Just and asked for (of all
things) a murderer to be granted
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to you. So not only did you ask
for somebody in the place but
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you asked for a murderer. He's
very clearly trying to point out
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the true sense of their guilt.
Why? I find it very interesting
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that Peter does the same thing
in this sermon and in the sermon
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he gave in Acts chapter 2
in which he was very direct.
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He was honest, he was totally
honest. He was not sugarcoating
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what happened. But then in verse
17 I find it very powerful that
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he responds in chapter 3 verse
17 by saying, Yet now brethren
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I know that you did it in
ignorance. I mean, it's like
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Jesus hanging on the cross,
people shouting at him telling
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him to come down from the cross
if you're the Son of God and the
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rest and Jesus says, Father
forgive them for they know not
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what they do. Here we see Peter
giving them the benefit of the
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doubt. And I see these two
components to the preaching of
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Peter that I think are needful
in all of our witnessing. He is
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honest and direct and he always
accompanies that with grace and
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hope. You see in Acts chapter
2 where he's honest and direct
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about what they were guilty of
and then he comes back by saying
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this promise is to you and
to your children. Repent. You'll
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receive the Holy Spirit just as
we. Here in Acts chapter 3 he's
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direct. He points right in
an honest way to what really
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happened, he calls it what
it is but then he gives them the
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benefit of the doubt. And
as I think about this with the
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apostle Peter I can't help but
think that part of the reason
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that he gave them the benefit
of the doubt was because he
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recognized that there was a time
when he thought he was right
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but came to find out that he
wasn't. He thought he would not
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deny Jesus, he was quick to
say that but realized that Jesus
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knew him better than he knew
himself and Peter in compassion
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and sympathy for these people
is being honest about their
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situation and at the time
offering them hope and having
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a heart full of compassion and
longing that they could find the
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same freedom, the same
forgiveness that he found and
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that he experienced when he
found a restoration with Jesus
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after his denial. You
know it makes me think of
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the same elements in Jesus
even with Peter when he was very
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direct with Peter and said Peter
before the rooster crows you're
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going to deny me three times
and he was very direct with him.
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Of course Peter had just got
done saying how faithful he was
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going to be but Jesus turns
around from that and says, but
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Peter when you're converted
strengthen your brethren. And so
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you've got the directness but
there's the call to repentance
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and the open invitation. And Jim
the sad thing about it is today
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I don't think we see that
combination because there are
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a lot of messages that are all
about acceptance and the message
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of acceptance doesn't
really need to offer the open
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invitation because there's not
the call to repentance there.
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And I'm not saying that nobody
should ever preach a message of
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acceptance but there is a lack
today of the nature of preaching
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we're finding here.
That's right. I think of one
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minister who said you know Jesus
receives us just the way we are
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but he doesn't leave us that
way and if our preaching is more
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about accommodating the
condition of... and our teaching
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and our witnessing in general
is more about trying to make
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people feel about the condition
that they're in and oftentimes
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people need encouragement.
We certainly don't want to take
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away from the fact that people
need to be encouraged. They need
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to know that there is a Savior
that can help them but we can't
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as happened in the days of
Jeremiah with the false prophets
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heal the wound of God's people
superficially by essentially
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giving them a false sense of
assurance that does not bring
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conviction but as surely as
it doesn't bring conviction they
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see no need of repentance
and repentance and finding the
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forgiveness for that guilt
is what brings peace. So we rob
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people of peace when we don't
follow the pattern that Peter
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followed in Acts chapter 2 and
Acts chapter 3. Honest, direct
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preaching with a fervent love
for souls followed by a fervent
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appeal of grace and hope
and the offer of salvation.
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That's right. It's interesting
that Peter then tacks on, I
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don't want to say tacks on, but
in the midst of that sermon he
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brings up what Moses said in
Deuteronomy in verses 22 and 23,
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for Moses truly said to the
fathers the Lord your God will
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raise up for you a prophet like
me from your brethren. Him you
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shall hear in all things
whatever he says to you and it
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shall be that every soul that
will not hear that prophet shall
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be utterly destroyed from among
the people. Now this is where
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Moses is foretelling Christ
and Peter makes the application
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using Moses who they trust
and in essence saying here's the
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prophet, he's come. You need
to hear him. If you fail to hear
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him all who fail to hear him
will be destroyed from among my
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people. Yeah and
this takes me back to
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Matthew chapter 17 where we're
in that transfiguration on the
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mount and God speaks from heaven
and says this is my beloved Son
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in whom I am well pleased. Hear
him. This is the one that Moses
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promised would be raised up
from among his brethren that we
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needed to hear or else be
destroyed from among the people.
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He's calling their
attention to Jesus once again.
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That's right. Of course the
ministry of Jesus today is still
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speaking to us all. Jesus is the
one that was foretold to come.
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Jesus is the one that we need
to hear and Jesus is the one who
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wants us, as Peter was a
representative of him and said
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look at me, so Jesus wants us
to look at him and in looking at
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him and giving him our attention
and giving him our whole heart
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just as that lame man was healed
from an impossible illness, so
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wherever we in our situation of
sin as impossible as it may seem
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if we give Jesus our attention
he'll heal us too. Well I hope
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you join us next time in
the book of Acts. God bless you.
00:13:08.09\00:13:11.65