1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:02,760 We pray that you would speak powerfully to us. 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:06,000 Our hearts are here Lord speak so that we might hear. 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,720 We ask in your son's name, we pray, Amen. 4 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:11,280 Please be seated and if you would get yourselves a little 5 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,200 comfortable because in a few minutes I'm going to ask you to 6 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:18,680 stand again for a longer passage of Scripture as so go ahead and 7 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:20,280 rest up. Get your energies going. 8 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,880 But before we do that, I wanted to comment real briefly on the 9 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,480 passage of Scripture. The bill read it leads right 10 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,200 into the text in which I'm about to read, so it makes sense to 11 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:34,640 make a brief comment upon that. James and Peter and sorry, Peter 12 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,560 and John are on their way to the temple. 13 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:41,200 They are working their way towards the place of worship so 14 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,160 that they might pray. It's about 3:00 in the 15 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:46,120 afternoon, and as they come, they see a man who's been 16 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,320 crippled from birth. A little bit later we realize 17 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:50,320 that he's been crippled for 40 years. 18 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,240 So he's a 40 year some old man and he has been crippled and he 19 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:59,360 spends his days there at the corner of the temple begging for 20 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,960 alms, begging for a charity and everybody knows him. 21 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,840 We'll we'll see in our text that we're reading here a few 22 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:07,880 minutes. People know who he is. 23 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:12,160 And so they got upon this. They come to him. 24 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,280 And of course there's that powerful scene and I hope you've 25 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:18,000 heard it when Bill read it. Perhaps many of you know this 26 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:21,960 scene where Peter says, draws the man's attention to himself 27 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,560 and then says gold or silver, I have none, but what I have I 28 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,160 will give to you in the name of Jesus Christ. 29 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:31,840 Walk. And of course the man jumps up 30 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:35,200 and starts walking and leaping and praising God across the 31 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:36,960 board. And it's a wonderful picture, 32 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,600 particularly for anybody that has dealt with suffering in 33 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,120 their life. And so I suspect that I'm 34 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,520 speaking to absolutely everybody in the room who has experienced 35 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,240 some kind of suffering or a loved one who is suffering much. 36 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,280 As Bill shared about his sister earlier, we have that great 37 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,600 yearning and that need to be able to respond to the suffering 38 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:02,040 of those who are around us by something powerful and explosive 39 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,560 where they would leap up and start praising the Lord. 40 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,479 Having been healed a lot across the board, I think that it's a 41 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,640 desire. I can't imagine it's that 42 00:02:11,640 --> 00:02:13,600 everybody here doesn't share that desire. 43 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,040 To have that kind of ability to be confronted by the evils and 44 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,280 the sin and the brokenness of this world and to be able to say 45 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,520 in the name of Jesus Christ, be fixed, be healed and that take 46 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,840 place in a powerful way. I think that would be a 47 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:30,240 wonderful blessing, a wonderful gift. 48 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,040 Now, of course, in a little bit we're going to read the sermon 49 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:35,640 that Peter gives in light of this event. 50 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:38,320 And we're going to be reminded that it's not Peter and John 51 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:42,720 that healed this man. It's not this man, abilities or 52 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:47,640 merits that healed this man. It is Jesus Christ and Christ 53 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:51,760 alone who healed this man. So what do we mean? 54 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,720 How do we understand Peter's words? 55 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,040 Silver, gold. I have none, but what I have I 56 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,400 will give to you. What I have I will give to you. 57 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,680 What is it that he had? Well, First off, I think we have 58 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,560 to do a little bit of speculation, but in light of 59 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,720 this congregation, in light of most of our financial situation, 60 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:16,440 it's worth speculating on. When Peter says silver, gold, I 61 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,480 have none. What's the implication? 62 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,280 Well, I think you can draw probably two of them. 63 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:26,040 First is the apostles were poor. I think that's pretty well 64 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,040 carried out in the rest of the scriptures. 65 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:30,280 They didn't have a lot of excess finances. 66 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,480 So he didn't have any finances. But is the implication, am I 67 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,200 reading too much into it to assume that he, what he's saying 68 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,920 is gold and silver? I don't have any because if I 69 00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:45,680 did, I would give it. As a matter of fact, he comes 70 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,040 right after that and says, but what I have I will give to you, 71 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,520 implying that if he had money he would give to him. 72 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,600 But that's not what he says. He says silver or gold. 73 00:03:57,600 --> 00:03:59,720 I have none. I don't have any of that to give 74 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,520 you, but I do have something. And what does he give to him? 75 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:08,800 The command, rise up and walk. No, in the name of Jesus. 76 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,360 Now we tend to think of the name of Jesus as being a moniker or a 77 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,720 label that we put on this person, Jesus Christ, but that's 78 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:17,240 not how the scriptures use the term. 79 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:21,560 They use that as a a sum all, a summary of his character, of his 80 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,640 purpose, of his essence, everything that Jesus was. 81 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:27,320 In other words, what Peter is saying is I have something that 82 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:29,480 give you. What do I have that I can give 83 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:31,920 you? I have the witness of Jesus 84 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,920 Christ. I can point you towards somebody 85 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,240 who can heal you. I can point you past myself to 86 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,360 somebody else. Gold or silver I don't have any 87 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,800 of, but I do have this. I have this witness and I 88 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,200 translate this in my own life and I think gold and silver I 89 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,440 don't want to give you. But what I do have that won't 90 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,720 cost me anything is my witness to Jesus Christ. 91 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:03,080 And I wonder why my witness is so weak and so poor. 92 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:10,360 Perhaps that's because silver or gold I do have. 93 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,880 We are surrounded by those who are in need, as Bill mentioned 94 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,240 earlier, they are in need physically. 95 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,560 They are in need materially. They are in great need 96 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:28,160 spiritually. You can't say to them silver or 97 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,480 gold. I have none but what I have a 98 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:32,440 lot, unless of course you don't have any. 99 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,200 And of course we realize that there are those who are in that 100 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:39,560 financial situation with us too. And you can hear this little 101 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,440 comment in a different way, but for most of the people that I'm 102 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:47,520 looking at with no integrity at all, Can you say silver or gold? 103 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,120 I have none. But what I have, I'll give you 104 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:54,600 follow Jesus Christ. We have to be men and women of 105 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,960 integrity and be able to say to them what I can. 106 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:05,760 I will give you including the call to follow Jesus Christ. 107 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:11,360 The man leaps up, praises God was filled with rejoicing, and 108 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,280 there's something about responding to God's healing that 109 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:16,600 we could look at just by focusing upon this man's 110 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:18,000 reaction. It's really dramatic. 111 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:23,040 We might hit on it a little bit next week, but Peter gathers, a 112 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,720 crowd gathers and Peter takes that opportunity to preach, 113 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,280 which is what any good preacher does, sees a crowd and goes at 114 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:31,960 them. So Peter goes at them and here's 115 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:33,920 what Peter says. If you would stand, if you would 116 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,680 please, if you're able to, please stand for the reading and 117 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,960 hearing of God's word. Again, settle in a little a 118 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:42,600 little bit longer passage for us. 119 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:47,600 While the man who was lame clung to Peter and John, all the 120 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:51,000 people, utterly astonished, ran together to them in the portico 121 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,760 called Solomon's, and when Peter saw it, he addressed the people. 122 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:58,320 Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, Or why do you stare at 123 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,680 us as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 124 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,760 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the 125 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,720 God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you 126 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,200 delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when Pilate 127 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,760 had decided to release him. But you denied the holy and 128 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,520 righteous one, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 129 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:24,720 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the 130 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,240 dead. To this we are witnesses. 131 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,760 And His name, by faith in His name, has made this man strong 132 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,120 whom you see and know. And the faith that is through 133 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,320 Jesus has given this the man this perfect health in the 134 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,680 presence of you all. And now, brothers, I know that 135 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,560 you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 136 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,760 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that 137 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,880 as Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 138 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,760 Repent therefore, and turn back from your that your sins may be 139 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,240 blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the 140 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,880 presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Christ appointed 141 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,600 for you Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for 142 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:13,120 restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His 143 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,760 holy prophets. Long ago Moses said, The Lord 144 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,400 God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your 145 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,440 brothers. You shall listen to him in every 146 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:26,400 way he tells you, and it shall be that every soul who does not 147 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,160 listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people. 148 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:36,200 And all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel to and those 149 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,480 who came after him also proclaim these days. 150 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,280 And you are sons of the of this, and you are sons of the 151 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:46,640 prophets, and of the covenant that God made with our fathers, 152 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,920 saying to Abraham. And in your offspring shall all 153 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:51,600 the families of the earth be blessed. 154 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,200 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first 155 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,840 to bless you, by turning everyone of you from your 156 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,680 wickedness. And this is the word of the 157 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:04,240 Lord. Thanks be to God. 158 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,120 God, we do give you thanks right now. 159 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,560 Thank you, Lord, fulfill your purpose in us. 160 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:12,680 We ask through Christ our Lord, we have pray, Amen. 161 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:15,400 Please be seated if you would, if you have your Bibles 162 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:17,760 available and you want to turn to Acts chapter 3, that would be 163 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,240 fabulous. Acts Chapter 3, I have a certain 164 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:24,520 routine that I follow before I get before I come forward, 165 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,800 always I take a drink of water, kind of swish it around so to 166 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,760 make sure that I can talk fairly well or talk as well as I fairly 167 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:35,280 can. I always make sure that my hair 168 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:40,440 is not too far out of whack and I make sure there's no wardrobe 169 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:42,800 malfunction. Yes, I check to make sure my fly 170 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:44,760 is up and all those kind of things. 171 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,440 And I do that for a number of reasons, two different reasons 172 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,440 versus I really don't want to embarrass myself much more so 173 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:53,440 than I normally do. I don't want to embarrass 174 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:55,080 myself. And if my fly were down or 175 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:57,760 something like that, I would be embarrassed standing up front 176 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,520 here. But more importantly, I don't 177 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:04,320 want to distract from the word of God. 178 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:09,880 Now, there is a reality here that no matter what the 179 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:14,640 messenger looks like, no matter how goofy he might be, no matter 180 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:19,400 how fallible, he might act like I'm proclaiming the word of God 181 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,680 here and you should look right through me. 182 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,480 Not see me, not pay any attention to me, but focus upon 183 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,080 the word of God. That's what you should do. 184 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,120 But we also know the nature of human humanity. 185 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,480 If I'm standing up here with my fly down right now, nobody D 186 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:41,000 hear anything I'd say, because you'd all be sitting thinking 187 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,400 what a clown to have his fly down up front. 188 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:53,680 The reality is that Satan works hard to distract us from the 189 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:57,240 truth. Satan works hard to distract 190 00:10:57,240 --> 00:10:59,000 this. Satan puts forward an 191 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:00,800 alternative lie. He certainly does. 192 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:03,680 But when confronted by the truth of the Word of God, Satan's 193 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:05,680 happy just to distract us from that. 194 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:11,640 And any way in which Satan can latch onto to distract his 195 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,760 people from the Word of God, he will so do it. 196 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:20,280 And Peter here comes right face to face and confronts a major 197 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,720 problem, this major problem with the crowd that has gathered 198 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,240 around him. So people are astounded. 199 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,280 Here's this guy that they've seen for 40 years begging at the 200 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,360 street and you can see his legs are crippled. 201 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,640 You can tell that he's that he's that he's lame by birth. 202 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,200 And yet here is dancing, praising God. 203 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,200 He's strong right off the bat, able to do all these kind of 204 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,320 things, running and walking and praising the Lord. 205 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:46,600 And of course the people gather around and look at how Peter 206 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:50,120 gathers them together and what he says in verse 12, men of 207 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:51,720 Israel. So he's talking to the folks who 208 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,280 had gathered around him. Men of Israel, why do you wonder 209 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,520 at this? I suspect what's he doing? 210 00:11:57,520 --> 00:11:58,800 What? Why do you wonder at this? 211 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,360 He's pointing at the guy. He says, why do you wonder at 212 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,320 his? Why do you, why are you looking 213 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:09,360 at him or why do you stare at us, Peter and John? 214 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:14,000 Why do you focus on him? Why do you focus on us? 215 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:18,840 It's not by our power. It's not by our piety that this 216 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:23,120 came about. Peter does what every good 217 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,440 witness should do. What Christie testified to 218 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,720 earlier, what what Bill testified to earlier? 219 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,960 The best picture of being a witness of Jesus Christ. 220 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:38,760 So many of us think that what we have to do is we have to 221 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:40,920 proclaim God in such an effective way. 222 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:43,680 We have to functionally accomplish something. 223 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,600 We have to do what Peter did here, layout the gospel message 224 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:48,560 in a clear way. That's what it means to witness 225 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:50,800 to Jesus Christ. One of the best pictures of 226 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,280 witnessing to Jesus Christ I've ever heard is to be a signpost. 227 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,560 Be a signpost. What does a signpost do? 228 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:04,160 A signpost points to what the focus is supposed to be. 229 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,960 So many, so much of the time we're sitting there saying, hey, 230 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,720 look at Jesus Christ, but we're standing in the way trying to 231 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,200 draw all the attention to ourselves so that we look at 232 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,320 ourselves. So look at how wonderful I can 233 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:17,280 talk, look at the arguments in which I can put forward, look at 234 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,640 how wise I am to answer all yours, all your questions, and 235 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,120 we make the question all about us. 236 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:23,640 Have you ever seen those commercials? 237 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,360 I don't know what commercial you're immediately thinking of, 238 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:30,280 but it's really good. It makes you laugh or it's 239 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,800 touching and emotive and, and you're really powerfully 240 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,600 impacted by the commercial. The commercial ends and you turn 241 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:38,800 to your spouse or your kids or do something. 242 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:40,800 You say, man, that was a really great commercial. 243 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,000 And then everybody takes a second and realizes that they 244 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:45,880 have no idea what was being sold. 245 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,800 You know, the commercial was so great that it was funny. 246 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:51,400 It was all funny, but what was being sold? 247 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:52,800 I don't know, because you were distracted. 248 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:59,200 That's a terrible commercial. Way too often as Christians, 249 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,920 we're terrible commercials for Jesus Christ because we're not 250 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,600 doing what a signpost does. Think if you're looking for an 251 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,480 address, if you're driving, looking for something your GPS 252 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,000 isn't working, and you're looking for an address, think of 253 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,760 how glorious, how wonderful is the street sign? 254 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:19,600 A street sign is great because what the street sign says is 255 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,520 here's where you're at. Points us in the right 256 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:24,760 direction. It points us to where we need to 257 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,000 go. A Christian witnessing to the 258 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,360 Lord Jesus Christ is always doing this. 259 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:33,400 He is always pointing past himself at the Jesus Christ, 260 00:14:33,400 --> 00:14:36,720 highlighting Jesus Christ, which is exactly what Peter does here. 261 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,400 Why are you looking at this guy being healed now? 262 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,560 By the way, I should have set this up a little better earlier. 263 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,440 Peter asked some bad hypothetical questions. 264 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,120 Why are you looking at this guy? Hello. 265 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:52,000 He's been lame for 40 years. Of course we're going to look at 266 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:53,600 him. Why are you staring at us? 267 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:57,400 Because we saw you wave the magic wand and suddenly the guy 268 00:14:57,400 --> 00:14:58,800 was healed. Of course we're going to be in 269 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,440 awe of you. What Peter is trying to do is 270 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,120 not to be that distraction that points away from Jesus Christ, 271 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,680 but consistently points to Christ past himself, to Jesus 272 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:10,600 Christ. That's what it means to be a 273 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,520 witness. That's why everybody who is a 274 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:16,680 follower of Jesus Christ in this room can do the job. 275 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:20,120 You don't have to be a great speaker like Christie was. 276 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,160 You don't have to be a Bible skilled person. 277 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,280 You don't have to be able to link all the what you need to do 278 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:33,840 is point to Jesus Christ. Be a signpost, be a witness. 279 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:37,760 That's what Peter starts the his sermon here by doing by 280 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:42,440 refocusing people's attention after refocusing their attention 281 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,400 upon Jesus Christ. Then he reviews what had taken 282 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,640 place. Look in verses 12 through 15. 283 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,960 Sorry, 13 through 15, he reviews what had happened. 284 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,600 We're talking about Jesus Christ and about halfway through 13, 285 00:15:57,800 --> 00:16:00,760 the one whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of 286 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,160 Pilate when he had decided to release him. 287 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:06,240 But you denied the holy unrighteous One and asked for a 288 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,320 murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the author of 289 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:10,600 life. When I was looking at these 290 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,200 passages, I really was struck by that idea. 291 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:18,160 You killed the author of life, and I was thinking how ironic 292 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:20,640 that these people killed the author of life. 293 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,040 Then they went back and looked at the other passages. 294 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,760 The one whom you delivered over, that's a word for betrayal. 295 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,880 The one that you betrayed, the one that you rejected. 296 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:31,760 You rejected the holy unrighteous one. 297 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:35,040 The holy unrighteous. 1 is the is, is a picture of life. 298 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:40,040 Every Jewish person would would register holy and righteous, not 299 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,240 just as morally good person or something like that, but as 300 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,880 somebody that has life. Listen to what's happening. 301 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,440 They're rejecting life and they're embracing the murder, 302 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,000 which he identifies easily. If you know the the crucifixion 303 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,080 story, Pilate wants to let Jesus go and says, well, who do you 304 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:01,640 want me to let go for you? Barabbas, the murderer or Jesus 305 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,000 the King of the Jews? And what all the people scream 306 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,880 out for Barabbas, give us Barabbas. 307 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:13,200 They chose death. They chose a murderer versus the 308 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,720 author of life. They chose wickedness and the 309 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:22,280 lack of life instead of the author of life. 310 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:30,240 What a terrific picture of your sin. 311 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:39,400 Your sin every day is a rejection of life. 312 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:48,440 My sin every day is an embrace of that which is dead. 313 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,480 Now, trust me when I lose my temper with Kelly or when I 314 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:58,200 think evil thoughts of some people in Hebron or when, you 315 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,600 know, when, when, when I'm doing all these things, I'm not 316 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:02,400 sitting there thinking, oh, I'm going to. 317 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,760 I'm going to embrace death at this point in the game. 318 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:11,760 I'm going to reject life. But that's exactly what sin, big 319 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:15,720 sin, the rejection of Jesus Christ is an embrace of death. 320 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:22,600 But so is the sin that grabs your heart every single day. 321 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:27,280 It is a rejection of the Lord. It is a rejection of life. 322 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,720 It is an embrace of death. You would rather have the 323 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,160 murderer than the author of life? 324 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:35,600 No, I wouldn't. That's a crazy thing to say. 325 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:43,160 Yes, you would. And you prove it every single 326 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:49,120 day by our failure. Where does that possibly leave 327 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:58,760 us? It leaves us with verse 19. 328 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:04,440 Verse 19 If we refocus our attention upon Jesus Christ and 329 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:08,160 we review the fact that we are convicted by our sin, what is 330 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:10,720 left to us? What is that natural response 331 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,120 that all people give when they hear the word of God? 332 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,800 Brothers, what now shall we do? Brothers and sisters, what now 333 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,720 shall we do? And Peter answers in verse 19, 334 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,880 repent, therefore repent. We looked at this last week. 335 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:28,520 I'm not going to talk about it again necessarily, but repent 336 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:30,640 does not confess all of your sins. 337 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:33,040 Identify every moral collapse that you have. 338 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:36,320 Lay yourself bare before God of everything that is wrong. 339 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,000 It's clear once again within this context, Peter is saying, 340 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,840 look, you rejected the Lord of life, now repent. 341 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:49,440 You were embracing death. Now turn and embrace the Lord of 342 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,400 life. Repentance is straight is 343 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,560 straightforward. It is a turn from what you were 344 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:00,400 and now to something that is totally and 180° different. 345 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,920 Repentance is the turn and to embrace that which you have 346 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,200 previously rejected. And again, go back and read 347 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:12,800 verses 13 through 15 to see what it's like to hand over. 348 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:17,120 To reject, to turn your back upon Jesus Christ, to choose 349 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:21,000 that death and now repent of it in every possible way. 350 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:25,520 Turn from what you were to the what you will shall be now. 351 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:28,440 And once you have done so, what is the result? 352 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:30,800 What is the result of your repentance? 353 00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:36,440 Look in verse 19 and 20. Repent therefore, and turn back 354 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:39,560 that your sins may be blotted out. 355 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,360 Now if you've been around the church for some period of time, 356 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,720 that's familiar language or that's familiar thought process 357 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,600 that our sins would be blotted out that normally we don't 358 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:51,840 phrase it like that we phrase it nor that your sins would be 359 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:53,920 forgiven. This is the only time in 360 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:58,520 Scripture where blotted out is reference to our sins, and I 361 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:03,680 love it. Blotted out means to to wash 362 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:06,600 thoroughly, to remove completely. 363 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:08,800 It's a complete and total cleansing. 364 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:10,720 It's not a washing of your hands. 365 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:15,480 It's not a rinsing of your feet. It's a complete, total immersion 366 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:17,520 where everything gets blotted out. 367 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,160 This is the way in which it's referred to in Revelation. 368 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,040 That wonderful passage where it says, and God will wipe away 369 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:28,080 will blot out. God will blot out all of your 370 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,000 tears. What do we know about heaven 371 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,640 when we're in the embrace and the fellowship of the Holy 372 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:39,440 Spirit through Jesus Christ with God the Father, that there will 373 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:43,840 be a complete blotting out of all of our tears? 374 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,600 That's not a partial thing. It's not a temporary thing. 375 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,560 When I talk with people about the gospel and I share with them 376 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,440 about Jesus Christ, when I point and I say, you know what 377 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,280 happened here, all of your sins are forgiven. 378 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:58,680 I've never heard anybody that hasn't really liked that idea. 379 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:01,800 They like the idea, but they don't trust it long term. 380 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:04,720 They they sit there and say, oh, that's really great. 381 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,080 And then in the back of their heads they sit and they think, 382 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,880 yeah, but boy, oh boy, if you knew what was going on in my 383 00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:16,200 life, if you knew what I was capable of, your sin past, 384 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:21,320 present and future has been blotted out. 385 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,680 That needs to transform the way we respond to the Lord. 386 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,080 What are the results then of repentance? 387 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,280 The result of repentance is that our sin is blotted out. 388 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,640 Verse 20. There were times of refreshing 389 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:38,560 may come from the presence of the Lord. 390 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,120 This is the only way, the only time it's ever phrased in 391 00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:43,680 Scripture. This is the only time that 392 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,400 these, this I is I ever identified. 393 00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:48,680 But this is the blessings that come along. 394 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,240 If the negative aspect, the negative work of Jesus Christ is 395 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,720 to take away our sin, what's the positive work of Jesus Christ? 396 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,720 It is that we would have times of refreshment. 397 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,720 Now what does that mean? Times of refreshment? 398 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:06,440 I don't know, but it certainly means something more than the 399 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,160 dour faces that I normally look at. 400 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:12,880 Right. Yeah. 401 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,480 Thank you. We're, we're supposed to be, we 402 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:17,640 are supposed to be men and women of joy. 403 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,600 We are supposed to be men and women who have been so who our 404 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,200 sin has been so blotted out and now we are experiencing the 405 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,920 refreshment of our Lord Jesus Christ That is supposed to be 406 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,000 characteristic of how we live our lives. 407 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:34,400 We are supposed to be, we're supposed to eagerly be able to 408 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,480 gather people around us who are looking at us so that we can 409 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,440 redirect to Jesus Christ because we are so filled with the joy 410 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,320 and the presence of our Lord. Times of refreshment. 411 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,520 Look, it's great that my sin is blotted out. 412 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:49,640 It's great that my sin is taken care of. 413 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,920 But it's equally as great that the Lord blesses me with a 414 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,440 refreshment, with the empowerment, with the grace and 415 00:23:55,440 --> 00:24:00,560 a goodness the he blots out my sin, that he refreshes my soul. 416 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:06,240 And then finally at the end of verse 20 and that he may send 417 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:09,680 Christ appointed for you Jesus from heaven. 418 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:16,440 In other words, that there is hope for the future because I do 419 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:20,320 live in a broken world. I do live in a world where 420 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,800 although my sin has been blotted out and I experienced the 421 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,920 refreshment of the Lord, I nevertheless live in a world 422 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:31,360 that beats me down and my own sin beats me down. 423 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,600 And so there's this hope, a yearning for the future, the 424 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,040 future that God has promised through the Scriptures. 425 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,680 That's the blessing that the Lord provides for us. 426 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:45,640 What does it mean to witness well to the Lord when the Lord 427 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,440 brings together, brings folks into our presence? 428 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:54,600 For however he does it, our task is to refocus them upon Jesus 429 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:58,040 Christ, to be a signpost, not an interference. 430 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,560 Don't block out the message. Make sure that the message is 431 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:03,560 clearly seen. Jesus Christ. 432 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:08,160 To refocus upon Jesus Christ, to help people to see that they are 433 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:12,880 choosing death over life, and then to lead them to encourage 434 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,960 them to repent so that their sin might be blotted out, so that 435 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,000 there might be refreshment for their souls and so that they 436 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,000 might have future, a hope, a future with Jesus Christ. 437 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:31,000 Let's pray together. Gracious Lord, we do ask for 438 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,480 Your goodness to come upon us at this time, a fulfillment of Your 439 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:40,640 blessings, a fulfillment of what it means to have our sin blotted 440 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:45,680 out, to have refreshment in our souls, and to have the future 441 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:51,680 hope of the coming Kingdom. Lord, we desire to experience 442 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,320 that more and more fully personally. 443 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,520 But then, Lord, we also desire to witness to that. 444 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,480 We want to be good. Signpost, Lord, not distracting 445 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,560 from the gospel, but rather pointing people past ourselves 446 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,760 to Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior, in whose name we pray. 447 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:12,880 Amen.