ACTS 3:22

Peter was continuing to preach his second sermon that is recorded in the book of Acts and he said in Acts 3:22-23, “For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall you hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.” In these verses Peter is making a comparison between Moses and Jesus. Of course, they do not compare in every way, but they do compare in some ways. The way in which they are the same is that there will be something terrible to happen to whomever does not hear them.

Both Moses and Jesus were spoken about in John 1:17. It says, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” This verse shows one of the great differences between Moses and Jesus. The law came through Moses. The law demands that you produce your own righteousness, and if you do not, then you are condemned. Grace came by Jesus Christ. Grace is in contrast to law. God realizes that we are sinners and have not produced our own righteousness; and through grace He gives us righteousness that we cannot earn. If you have received the grace of God through Christ, then when God looks at you, He only sees righteousness because He gave you righteousness. Do not ever forget what grace has done for you, and do not ever think that your own works will gain you righteousness or favor with God. Grace is the unmerited favor of God.

One thing that is the same about the message that Moses brought and the message that Jesus brought is that whoever rejects their message has put their soul in grave danger. When Moses gave the law, that was the message that God wanted to be preached and known. Whoever rejected that message was rejecting God. The law is good and holy and always has been. If you want to obtain your own righteousness, then keep the law perfectly if you can. For those who have not kept the law perfectly there is hope, because Jesus brought the truth concerning grace. God wants to give you something: His perfect righteousness that comes through faith in Christ. During the ministry of Christ at one point in the gospels a voice from heaven was heard that said, “This is my beloved Son, hear Him.” “Every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.” At one time this was true concerning Moses. Now it is true concerning Jesus. If you do not let Jesus be your Savior, then He will be your judge.

Peter said in Acts 3:24-26, “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” God made a covenant with Abraham. A covenant is an agreement, a contract, a promise. Unlike man, that which God promises, He will fulfill. The great promise that God made to Abraham back in the book of Genesis was truly a great promise: “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” This was a Messianic promise. This was the promise that the Messiah would come in the lineage of Abraham, and so He did.

But the benefits that the Messiah would bring would be to more than just the children of Israel. The Messiah would come for the benefit of all the peoples of the earth. What is the greatest benefit that the Messiah would bring to the peoples of the earth? Listen to what Peter said, ”Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” The greatest blessing is the blessing of forgiveness. Everyone has sinned. Without forgiveness, you are doomed because of your sins. The sin of pride will lead to judgment and condemnation just like the sin of adultery. When we thank Jesus the Messiah for what He has done for us, we will thank Him most of all for the forgiveness of sins that is only possible because He died for our sins on the cross.

Of course, the same people who opposed Jesus also opposed the apostles in Jerusalem. The servant is not greater than his Lord. It is one of the things that shows what our relationship with the Lord really is when the people of the world have the same attitude to us as they have to Jesus. Who your friends are and who your enemies are will say a lot about who you are. The Bible says in Acts 4:1-3, “And as they spoke unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them. Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.”

One of the most important freedoms in the world is the freedom of speech. If you try to keep people from saying what they believe and what they want to say, then you are no different than the worse tyrants in the world. Always grant others the respect and the freedom to say what they wish to say no matter how much you might disagree with them. After all, you want them to do the same for you. The leaders of the Jewish people in Jerusalem were dictatorial and tyrannical. They were power-hungry and fearful of opposing ideas. That is the reason that they had Jesus put to death, and that is the reason that they had the apostles arrested here.

But the people of the world cannot stop the truth from going forward. His truth is marching on. Because of Pentecost we have the power of the Spirit, and the Spirit moves where He will, especially when believers walk with the Lord. One of the most powerful forces in the world is the power of truth, especially the truth of God’s Word. Acts 4:4 says, “Howbeit many of them which heard the Word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.”

When these people were saved, it was due to several things. First of all their hearts were prepared ahead of time. Many of them had probably heard and seen Jesus in the months before hearing this sermon. The Spirit of God touched their hearts. No one gets saved without the Spirit. One of the important things is mentioned here in Acts 4:4. They heard the Word. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” “The Word of God is alive and powerful.” “Preach the Word” because the Word is used by the Spirit to touch hearts and to reveal the truth about Jesus. If people hear the Word and believe the Word, then they will believe the truth about Jesus and will be saved. Here in Acts chapter 4 five thousand were saved.

In Acts 4:5-7 the Bible says, “And it came to pass on the morrow, that the rulers, and elders, and scribes, And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have you done this?” The Jewish leaders considered themselves to be the power and the authority, and so they were of the human organizations. But there is one power that is higher than all, and that is God. The nations and the authorities of man are under God’s hand; and if you are sent by God, then you have all the authority that you need. The Jewish authorities asked just the right question. They said, “By what power, or by what name, have you done this?” Keep your heart right with God and walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, and then you also will be ready when someone asks you concerning the hope that is in you.

The Bible says in Acts 4:8-12, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, You rulers of the people and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Again we see that Peter does not take any credit for himself in what had been accomplished. He gives all the credit to Jesus and to the name of Jesus. Those who understand that they are totally dependent upon the grace of God more readily and more easily give all the honor to Jesus for any good that is done. Peter had denied Jesus three times not that many weeks before this, and so certainly it was clear to his mind that he was completely dependent upon the grace of Christ. If you would remember your sins, you also would never take any of the credit for good that may have been accomplished in your life. Peter said that it was accomplished “by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.”

Peter also made it clear that there was only one way to be saved: through Jesus Christ. Of course, this is the same message that Jesus Himself gave. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; No man comes unto the Father but by me.” The Bible says in First Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Peter said, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” If someone believes in the one true God, then they must also believe in the one true Son of God. That is the commandment of the Father. The problem is the sin problem, and if you want to be saved from the guilt of your sins, you must be saved by Jesus. The judgment is coming. Run to Jesus while you have time. He is the only One who can save you.

In Acts 4:13 the Bible says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” The leaders of the Jews noticed certain obvious characteristics about Peter and John. Of course, they noticed their boldness. The boldness came from the Holy Spirit and from the zeal that Peter and John had to be witnesses for the Savior.

The leaders of the Jews noticed that Peter and John were unlearned and ignorant men. In other words Peter and John did not have the polish of those who had gone to the religious institutions of higher learning in the big city of Jerusalem. Peter and John were fishermen by trade from the outlying region of Galilee. Compared to those from Jerusalem, we might say that Peter and John were from the country. They certainly were not seminary graduates. Not having that formal higher level religious education was probably an advantage for Peter and John in some ways. Knowledge puffeth up. Pride goeth before a fall. Those who are so proud of their titles and their degrees and their doctorates have ruined their chance to help others spiritually because of their pride. The sophisticated, well-educated leaders of religious organizations are often empty shells: white-washed on the outside, but on the inside full of dead-men’s bones. Those who are from the country tend to be more honest and down to earth. They learn from the land and from nature the truth of what life is really all about. That fits right in with learning what spiritual life is all about: as long as you come to Jesus and learn from Him. That’s another thing that the Jewish religious leaders noticed about Peter and John: that they had been with Jesus. That is one thing that you cannot manufacture but that you must have if you are going to be a witness in this world: your relationship with Jesus. People will see by your life and by the person that you are what effect Jesus has had on you. That will be your testimony above all other things. When the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem saw Peter and John the Bible says that the leaders “took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”

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