[Peter had just healed a man who had been lame from birth and a crowd quickly gathered.] Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. "Men of Israel," he said, "what is so surprising about this? And why look at us as though we by our own power and godliness had made this man walk? For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and of all our ancestors Who has brought glory to His Servant Jesus by doing this. I refer to the Jesus Whom you rejected before Pilate . . .
   "And you killed the Author of Life; but God brought Him back to life again. And John and I are witnesses of this fact, for after you killed Him we saw Him alive! Jesus' name has healed this man - and you know how lame he was before. Faith in Jesus' name - faith given us from God - has caused this perfect healing.
   "Dear brothers, I realize that what you did to Jesus was done in ignorance; and the same can be said of your leaders. But God was fulfilling the prophecies that the Messiah must suffer all these things. Now change your mind and attitude to God and turn to Him so He can cleanse away your sins and send you wonderful times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord and send Jesus your Messiah back to you again. For He must remain in heaven until the final recovery of all things from sin, as prophesied from ancient times.
   "Moses, for instance, said long ago, 'The Lord God will raise up a Prophet among you, Who will resemble me! Listen carefully to everything He tells you. Anyone who will not listen to Him shall be utterly destroyed.' Samuel and every prophet since have all spoken about what is going on today. You are the children of those prophets; and you are included in God's promise to your ancestors to bless the entire world through the Jewish race - that is the promise God gave to Abraham. And as soon as God had brought His Servant to life again, He sent Him first of all to you men of Israel, to bless you by turning you back from your sins."
   . . . The chief priests . . . [were] very disturbed that Peter and John were claiming that Jesus had risen from the dead. They arrested them . . . But many of the people who heard their message believed it, so that the number of believers now reached a new high of about 5,000 men!

Taken from Acts 3, 4, The Living Bible. For free Lifescope book,
write to Box 1575, Carlsbad, NM 88221. Please send $1.00 for postage and handling.