Who Do You Say Jesus Is?
A Sermon on Acts 3:12-18
Originally preached May 16, 1965
Scripture
12¶ And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? 13The God of Abraham, …
Sermon Description
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Who is He? The answer to these questions is of the utmost importance. Here in Acts 3:12–18 Dr. Lloyd-Jones looks at the two ways people view Christ. One can view Him as man views Him, believing that Christ was only a man and a moral teacher. Or one can view Him as God views Him: as God’s lamb, the Son of God, fully God and fully man, the fulfillment of the words of the prophets, the resurrected Lord. Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out the importance of understanding Christ in the context of the whole Bible. Christ is the fulfillment of the words of the prophets. Dr. Lloyd-Jones also stresses the importance of the resurrection of Christ. The cross was not the end of Christ. He came back to life and appeared to many and after His ascension, He left His people with the power of the Holy Spirit. It was that power that enabled Peter and John to heal the man at Beautiful Gate. It was power that is meant to point back to God, the one who gave the power and who truly heals and works miracles. Dr. Lloyd-Jones encourages Christians to look to the resurrected Christ in whose name there is power and salvation.
Sermon Breakdown
- Peter is preaching to Jews who rejected and crucified Jesus. He reminds them of the prophecies of the Messiah's suffering and how Jesus fulfilled them.
- Peter says they denied and killed the "Holy One" and the "Author of life" but God raised Him from the dead.
- The resurrection of Jesus proves His claims to be the Son of God. Jesus is both God and man.
- Jesus had to suffer and die to pay the penalty for our sins. His death is the only way our sins can be forgiven.
- There are only two views of Jesus: man's view that rejects Him or God's view that glorifies Him.
- Both man and God "delivered up" Jesus to death but for different reasons. Man rejected Jesus but God sacrificed Him for our salvation.
- We must decide whether to accept man's view of Jesus or God's view of Him. Our choice has eternal consequences.
The Book of Acts
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.