The Threefold Testimony

¹¹ While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. 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. ¹⁹ Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. ²² Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you. ²³ And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. ²⁵ It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

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Peter and John’s healing of the lame man at the gate of the Temple that is called Beautiful prompted Peter to preach a sermon to the people assembled on Solomon’s porch.

They had been amazed at what had taken place concerning this man.

Peter very carefully began to explain it to them. In doing so, he bore a three-fold testimony concerning Christ – who should be the center and point of all teaching and preaching.

These are the facts about Jesus Christ to which Peter testified:

1.    He is the Power by which all miracles are worked (vss. 12-17)

2.    He is the Redeemer of all souls (vss. 18-21)

3.    He is the fulfillment of all the prophecies (vss. 22-26)

I.             THE FIRST TESTIMONY

He is the Power By Which all Miracles Are Worked. (vss.12-17)

Peter addresses the people there around the Temple, calling them “Men of Israel) – a respectful title for the Jews.

Peter asked the people – “why are you astonished (surprised)?

He claimed no credit for himself or for John. Instead, he cleared the way to give God all the glory for the miracle of healing.

There is a sharp contrast here – the Jews killed the Prince of Life; they denied Him, they crucified Him.

God raised Him from death; God owned Him and He raised Him.

Peter and John, of course, were witnesses to these events.

And. In the case of the healing of the lame man, his healing was by faith in the power in His name.

The Apostles had faith; the lame man had faith. Their faith was evident in the miracles they had witnessed

The people knew the man; they knew he was lame – verse 16: “this man whom you know and see”.

It is important to note that the healing wasn’t a temporary, incomplete healing – it was a full healing that restored the man to perfect health.

It is also important to note that this miracle was carried out in public – in the presence of many people.

II.            THE SECOND TESTIMONY

Jesus’ purpose in this miracle is to attest to the fact that He is the Redeemer of all souls (vss 18-21).

 ¹⁸ But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ¹⁹ Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, ²¹ whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.

As we know in Acts 2:38, people believed and responded to the message to repent, be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, which were blotted out through the burial and restoration to new life.

Verse 19 speaks of “Seasons of Refreshing”

When we think of “refreshing” we might think of a cooling off from a season of intense heat.

The “refreshing “ referred to here can come only through our repentance of sin, of turning around, and having sin removed.

And when our sins have been washed away, that refreshing comes from the presence of the Lord.

When the repentance and the turning again, and the seasons of refreshing have come, it is then that our Father sends His Son to complete our redemption.

Redemption means that we are in a time of restoration (vs.21).

III.          THE THIRD TESTIMONY

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the prophecies – re: verse 18 –“God announced beforehand.....”

These prophecies came through several men appointed by God to make those deliveries.

Prophets had to be 100% accurate in their prophecies.

Moses – Lawgiver, leader of God’s people; and deliverer as well as a prophet: verse 22 – “The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet like Me from your brethren; to Him you shall give heed to everything He says to you.”

The prophet Moses spoke of here – Jesus Christ - is one the people would listen to, obeying His commands.

The people are now to obey Christ.

He is their lawgiver, their leader, their king, their prophet, and their deliverer from sin.

And, as is the case in today’s world, there will be those who will not obey their leader, even though He is their prophet.

And there are consequences when one does not obey. Just as when we were children and we disobeyed our parents, we had to face the consequences.

Today, we are not under the Law of Moses. We are under the New Covenant with Jesus Christ as the Head.

Those who refuse the salvation He paid for with His life, will be destroyed just as those who were under the Law were destroyed because of their unbelief and disobedience.

Matthew records these words in his Gospel writing (1:21): “She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Jesus was sent to teach us how to turn from our sinful and wicked ways.