1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,080 We wondered in the Lord's mercy in part, that he is determined 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:08,080 on his own desire and will for his love for us to speak to us. 3 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:10,760 So I encourage you to hear the word of the Lord this morning 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:15,480 from Acts chapter 2. Peter, standing with the 11, 5 00:00:15,480 --> 00:00:18,840 lifted up his voice and addressed the crowd, saying, Men 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:22,840 of Judah and all those who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known 7 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:26,760 to you and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk 8 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:30,000 as you suppose, since it's only the third hour of the day. 9 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,320 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. 10 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,720 And in the last days it shall be. 11 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,840 God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and 12 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,440 your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young 13 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,240 men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams, 14 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:50,000 even on my male servants. And my female servants in those 15 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,360 days, I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophecy, and I 16 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,280 will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth 17 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,040 below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 18 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,040 And the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood 19 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,640 before the great day of the Lord comes, that great and 20 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,560 magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that 21 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,400 everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 22 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:17,800 And this is the word of the Lord. 23 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:20,560 Thanks be to God. Dear Father, we do pray that you 24 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:24,360 would be pleased by our obedience to you and hearing 25 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,360 your word and giving you thanks and praise for the wonderful 26 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:28,920 gift in which you've given to us. 27 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,120 And now turn our hearts, Lord, to learn and to know and to be 28 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:34,960 changed by the power of your word. 29 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:37,680 We pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we ask, 30 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:40,280 Amen. Please be seated and grab your 31 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:42,200 Bibles. If you would turn to Acts 32 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,520 chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. 33 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:46,640 You are doubly blessed today, my friends. 34 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,200 There you go. You are doubly blessed not just 35 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,760 that you get to hear one sermon today, but you get to hear 2 36 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,520 sermons today. Or you get to hear one sermon 37 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:01,160 wrapped around another sermon, or one sermon that's kind of 38 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,040 built on another sermon or a sermon that's within a sermon 39 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,520 or, and at least one of these sermons is really, really good. 40 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:11,960 One of the sermons is going to be really so terrific that the 41 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,600 Scriptures itself identifies this sermon as having an impact 42 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,920 on 3000 people. 3000 people respond to the power of this 43 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:23,560 sermon. And so we have this sermon 44 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:26,520 wrapped around another sermon. What we're talking about, of 45 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,440 course, if you were here with us last week, is a continuation of 46 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,320 the storyline that brings us to this point. 47 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:37,080 As you remember, our Lord Jesus resurrected, spent time with his 48 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,520 disciples, and after 40 days he ascended into heaven, promising 49 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,320 them that he would bring power, the power of the Holy Spirit, 50 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:48,280 upon them so that they could be witnesses in Judea, Jerusalem, 51 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,200 Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, which we have 52 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,480 tried to capture with that 321 idea. 53 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:55,680 I hope that you're still following through with that 54 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:57,800 idea. Following that, the disciples 55 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,320 gather either in the upper room or more likely I think, in a 56 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,760 room in the temple. And there they are praying, 57 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,720 seeking the Lord's blessing. And at the time of Pentecost, 58 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,520 that wonderful, marvelous celebration in the Jewish 59 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,040 calendar that you have, we have the filling of the Holy Spirit. 60 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:17,000 And so they're all sitting there in the temple praying to the 61 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,120 Lord. And suddenly the power of the 62 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,480 Lord is evident in the mighty wind that blows through. 63 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,840 And then the holiness of God comes through, evidence of the 64 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,360 power of the fire that splits. And, you know, you can just 65 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,160 imagine saying, hey, you got that thing, guys. 66 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,000 Yeah, well, you should see what's happening over your head. 67 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,320 And the power of the Holy Spirit falls upon each and every one of 68 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,400 them, and they begin to proclaim the mighty works of God. 69 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:41,360 That's key to the understanding of this text. 70 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,200 They're proclaiming the mighty works of God through the power 71 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,280 of the Holy Spirit, enabling them to speak in other 72 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,520 languages. So they come out of the room 73 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,400 proclaiming the gospel message to everybody around them. 74 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,720 And of course, it sounds like Babble because they can't 75 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:00,360 understand one. They can't. 76 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:05,480 Well, you can understand the disciples or the the followers 77 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,520 of Christ as they are speaking in your language, but you can't 78 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,440 discern other people's languages. 79 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:13,480 And so it's one of those things where the outsiders heard it 80 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:15,600 just as a big mob. There's a bunch of babbling 81 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,279 going on. And So what happens is that 82 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,640 Peter then stands up among the people and he's begins this 83 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,000 sermon. And we're going to look at 84 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,320 Peter's sermon, this Pentecostal sermon, which I read the opening 85 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:27,920 section of here in a few seconds. 86 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,160 And we're going to look at that sermon and the impact of that 87 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,560 sermon. And I want you to note, I think 88 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,360 a couple things about the sermon, particularly the power 89 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:40,120 in which it carries on its own, but also the model in which it 90 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,840 does for all the proclamation of the gospel that we have. 91 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:48,880 For instance, this opening section that I just read follows 92 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,400 on with something that happens consistently within the 93 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:54,720 Scriptures and that we need to see it happening within the 94 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,680 Scriptures. What happens is that Peter comes 95 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:01,440 out and speaks to the people and ties what is it? 96 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,080 What is happening currently with the Word of God? 97 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:11,320 He sees the world through the scriptures and the scriptures 98 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,320 through Jesus Christ and that is something that every preacher 99 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,000 seeks to do. One of my my favorite professors 100 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,400 always said that preaching is holding the Bible in one hand 101 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,720 and the newspaper in the other hand. 102 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:27,560 And I thought in order to be dramatic today, I would have 103 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:29,920 hold when I said that I'd say the Bible in one hand and I'd 104 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,360 hold the Bible and the newspaper in the other hand, and I 105 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:34,640 couldn't find a newspaper. So what's that all about? 106 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,240 But the Bible in one hand, in the newspaper in other. 107 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,040 In other words, demonstrating every proclamation of the gospel 108 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,520 is not simply a proclamation of something that happened 2000 109 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,680 years ago. It is an identification of the 110 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:52,000 truths of Jesus Christ to the life in which we Live Today. 111 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:56,000 And a preacher is going to be at his best when he is able to 112 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:59,880 identify the power of the Scriptures with the current 113 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,840 events or the current life of of the congregation that he's 114 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:04,960 speaking to. One of the things that I tend to 115 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:07,680 do is I try to say something along the lines of, you know, 116 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,720 well, we draw on a common experience or I tie it to my 117 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,440 life in, in living, assuming that you have a similar life or 118 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:17,400 what it means. Excuse me, what? 119 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:22,240 What it means for us to have families or live in this world 120 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,000 in which we do. In other words, you try to give 121 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:27,680 a concrete example in order to tie it together. 122 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,840 And what Peter does here is he's about to speak powerfully about 123 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:35,000 Jesus Christ, and yet he starts by saying, hey, look, look 124 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,760 around at you. All these people that are that 125 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,040 are proclaiming the Gospel in your ears. 126 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,720 It sounds like they're drunk, but notice that Peter uses two 127 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,240 different steps on this. The first one, he says, look, 128 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:49,360 they can't be drunk. After all, it's only 9:00 in the 129 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:51,920 morning. I mean, I assume that you could 130 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,840 get 120 people drunk by 9:00 in the morning, but that's not 131 00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:58,640 really something we experienced. And so Peter kind of says, look, 132 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,880 it's kind of early for that. But more importantly, what Peter 133 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,320 does is he takes the gospel, the book of Joel, the prophecy of 134 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:07,160 the book of Joel from Joel chapter 2. 135 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:11,440 And he says, look, look at what you're seeing here, this 136 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:14,600 experience of life in which you are experiencing right now. 137 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,920 This ties directly to Jesus Christ through the proclamation 138 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,080 of the gospel message through the scriptures. 139 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,360 And So what Peter does is he says, look at what what you're 140 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:27,880 experiencing right now and see it through the eyes of the 141 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:30,240 gospel message, see it through the eyes of Scripture. 142 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:34,040 And that's something that every preacher seeks to do, needs to 143 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,400 be doing on at every moment of every time. 144 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,000 And certainly you can see the impact of this, of faithfulness 145 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,160 of Peter as Peter does this, where he says, look at the 146 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,360 Scriptures, see the world through the lens of the 147 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,920 Scriptures, and then see the Scriptures through the lens of 148 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,920 Jesus Christ. Now, what I mean by that is if 149 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,800 you look at this passage and what this text does is it 150 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:02,320 identifies what it's going to be like on those last days when the 151 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:06,040 Lord comes in his power to redeem God's people, to fulfill 152 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:07,640 all the promises of the Old Testament. 153 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:09,920 What is it going to look like for the people of God? 154 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:13,960 And Joel has his prophecy and he talks about old men having 155 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,640 visions and young men dreaming dreams, and people prophesying 156 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:19,880 in the power of the Holy Spirit that will fall upon them. 157 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,600 And you can see very clearly here what it means for God's 158 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:28,800 people to be proclaiming Jesus Christ and the message of Jesus 159 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:32,039 Christ in this ways. And So what Peter does is he 160 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,440 takes this current event in which everybody's seeing, look 161 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,559 at all these people babbling and says, no, this isn't babbling. 162 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:40,679 This is fulfilling the word of the Lord. 163 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:45,320 And Joel, now I guarantee you that for most of the Israelites, 164 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,040 when they went back and they looked at the book of Joel and 165 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,720 they read this prophecy, and I encourage you to do it as well, 166 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:53,280 you go back. Joel is a short book, 3 chapters 167 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:55,560 long. You read that second chapter in 168 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:58,640 particular, which Peter is referencing, and it's really 169 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:03,000 hard to read that chapter and identify it with the Pentecost 170 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,520 experience of the church. When you read that chapter in 171 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,280 Joel, it's hard to read that chapter and just say, oh, this 172 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,720 is clearly a prediction of the Pentecost experience, unless 173 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:19,000 you've experienced the Pentecost experience and look at the 174 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,400 Scripture through those eyes of redemption. 175 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,360 In other words, what Jesus Christ has done for Peter here 176 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:29,520 is shaped his worldview has shifted the way in which he 177 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,080 looks at the world and at the Scriptures and everything in his 178 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,520 life. And by doing so, now he's able 179 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,480 to look at the Scriptures through the lens of Jesus Christ 180 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:43,320 and then see the world through the eyes of the Scriptures. 181 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:46,200 And in doing so, he says, you see all this is happening around 182 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,520 here. This is because of Jesus Christ. 183 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:52,200 And that's why so often a lot of what I do when I'm a front or 184 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,880 any preacher in which you hear who's going to be effective. 185 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,880 Are they going to say, you see, they're going to connect 186 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,080 something in your life, some experience of parenting or some 187 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,760 experience of going to school or some experience with your 188 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,040 parents, elderly or something along lines. 189 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:10,040 And say, you see that event now look at it through the eyes of 190 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:13,480 Scripture, if you're understanding Scripture through 191 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:17,520 the eyes of Jesus Christ. And so once he gets this thing 192 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:22,200 going, then once he gets their attention, once he has the crowd 193 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,520 gathered around saying, OK, what is this going on? 194 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:28,000 And Peter says, you know, this is connected to everything that 195 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,160 Joel says, then he goes to his main point in the sermon. 196 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,680 So I would encourage you to hear the word of the Lord from Acts 197 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:40,080 chapter 2, verses 22 through 24. Peter continues, men of Israel 198 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:43,760 hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man 199 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:47,800 attested to you by God, with mighty works and wonders and 200 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,520 signs that God did through him in your midst. 201 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:55,440 As you yourselves know this Jesus delivered up according to 202 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,680 the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. 203 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:03,200 You crucified and killed him by the hands of lawless men, and 204 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:07,480 God raised him up, loosening the pangs of death because it was 205 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,440 not possible for him to be held by it. 206 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,240 And this is the word of the Lord to God. 207 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,120 So what Peter does now is move from his introduction where he's 208 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,840 trying to capture the attention and say to everybody, look, This 209 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,760 is why this is important. He moves from that to his main 210 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:25,640 point. What is his main point? 211 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:32,200 His main point is the main point of every godly sermon. 212 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,120 It needs to be the main point of everything in your life, the 213 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:41,400 main point of every aspect of your existence, the main point 214 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,560 of everything we do as a church, the main point of everything 215 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:47,760 that we believe as individuals, the main point of every aspect 216 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,560 of our salvation is Jesus Christ. 217 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:56,640 It is all about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the heart and 218 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,360 soul of Christianity. Christianity begins, continues, 219 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:06,680 and ends with Jesus Christ. It is not the church, it is not 220 00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:11,160 our fellowship, it is not our doctrine, it is not our ethics. 221 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,360 Now all of those things, our doctrine, our ethics, our 222 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,200 fellowship, all of that arises out of our understanding of 223 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,440 Jesus Christ. And hopefully it all reflects 224 00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:22,160 back upon Jesus Christ if we're doing it well. 225 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,840 But the gospel message, every salvation story, every 226 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:31,240 proclamation of our Lord Jesus Christ is all about Jesus 227 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,240 Christ. And you can see how he does this 228 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,760 here. And we need to beware of the 229 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,920 distractions that come so easily into our lives. 230 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:42,240 Oh, this is important to us. And suddenly something that is 231 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,520 important, whatever it might be, our family, our jobs, our 232 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,720 finances, our political views, the society around us, our 233 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,920 desires for for our hopes and prayers, all of those things, 234 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:57,200 important as they are, happened to us under the umbrella, under 235 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,240 the primary focus of Jesus Christ. 236 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:05,040 And if we fail to do that, we fail to be biblical in our 237 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,720 understanding of what the scriptures say is the central 238 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:12,320 core of our life in existence. And the central core of every 239 00:13:12,320 --> 00:13:16,480 reading of the Scripture, the central core of every sermon, is 240 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,200 Jesus Christ. But not just Jesus Christ. 241 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:24,240 Look at how he's articulated here, verse 22. 242 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,000 Peter says men of Israel hear these words. 243 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,520 OK, Very specifically, by the way, he's drawing attention to 244 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:33,000 the gathering that's gathered around. 245 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,560 Because if you'll remember, this crowd is made-up of people that 246 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:38,880 are scattered across the Roman Empire. 247 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:42,280 But all of them are most likely followers of Jesus Christ, 248 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:47,040 Sorry, followers of Judaism, either Jews themselves or or or 249 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,240 follow God followers. And so they following after the 250 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:52,360 Jewish ways of life. So they've all gathered 251 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:54,360 together. So they're all referenced here 252 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:57,840 by calling Peter says men of Israel hear these words. 253 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,520 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you. 254 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:03,000 So the first thing that he talks about is his life. 255 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,200 What is Jesus's life? It's attested to you. 256 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,480 It's it's determined for you. It's manifested for you by 257 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,760 mighty works, wonders and signs that God did through Jesus 258 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:15,200 Christ. Now what are we talking about? 259 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:16,480 We're talking about his teachings. 260 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,280 We're talking about his miracles, the godly way in which 261 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,040 he lived his life. And you have these 3 words that 262 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,360 are used and mostly they're kind of understood as synonyms. 263 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:29,040 Mighty works, wonders and signs. And by and large they are 264 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,280 synonyms, but they do kind of have a slightly different focus. 265 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:36,000 Mighty works, the power that Jesus Christ demonstrated, the 266 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,000 wonders, the awe inspiring character, the attractiveness of 267 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,760 the wonders that got of the power that God elevated. 268 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,160 And then the signs, the fact that they point and highlight to 269 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,480 spiritual realities and spiritual truths. 270 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:53,160 And So what Peter starts here by saying, look, this is all about 271 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:55,400 Jesus Christ. And what do we know about Jesus 272 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,160 Christ? We know about his life here and 273 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,920 the power of his life. And then it moves on and he 274 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:05,920 talks about this Jesus in verse 23, delivered up according to 275 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,920 the definite plan of foreknowledge of God. 276 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:11,840 You crucified. And by the way, you cannot 277 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:13,840 escape the force of that terminology. 278 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:21,200 You crucified and killed him by the hands of any lawless men. 279 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:26,080 What Peter does here very clearly, is lay the burden, lay 280 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,840 the weight, lay the guilt and the responsibility of Jesus's 281 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,440 death right upon those who are gathered together. 282 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:37,320 Now, Christ would have died on the cross about two months ago. 283 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,840 So it's within two months, 50 days or so of Christ's death 284 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:45,840 upon the cross that Peter is making this accusation. 285 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:50,160 We all know, if you know anything about the Roman Empire 286 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,200 at that time, that the Roman Empire was a brutal empire and 287 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:56,280 the crucifixion was something that happened in the empire. 288 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:01,200 But, and it happened frequently, but not that frequently. 289 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,640 And falling coming as it did right upon the heels, Jesus's 290 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,840 crucifixion, right upon the heels of the massive celebration 291 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:12,200 that took place on Palm Sunday, Palm Sunday, all of Jerusalem 292 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,280 comes out and looks at this guy and cheers him on. 293 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,320 And then five days later they are all screaming for him to be 294 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:22,280 crucified. Everybody knew exactly who Peter 295 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:26,760 was talking about when Peter says this Jesus whom you 296 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:29,160 crucified. I don't know how many people 297 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:31,920 were crucified by the Romans between the time where Jesus was 298 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,960 crucified and Pentecost. And I suspect it was zero. 299 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:39,440 I mean, again, it happened on a frequent basis, but 50 days, 300 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,080 even the Romans weren't that brutal at times. 301 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,880 And So what you have, I believe, is a full awareness of the 302 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,840 congregation, full awareness of the crowd of who Peter is 303 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:54,400 talking about this Jesus. But I want you also to note the 304 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:58,720 paradox or the mystery that is present here. 305 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,000 Peter pulls no punches at laying the culpability, laying the 306 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:08,400 blame, laying the guilt upon the Jewish people for the death of 307 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:11,760 Jesus Christ. And yet at the same time, in the 308 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:17,280 beginning of verse 23, Jesus was delivered up according to the 309 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:21,400 definite plan and the foreknowledge of God. 310 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:27,119 Christ is no victim. This didn't just happen to him 311 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:30,440 by random. This happened according to the 312 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:34,160 definite foreknowledge and plan of our God. 313 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:39,040 How is it that God is the one who has planned and ordained 314 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,480 that this would take place? The foreknowledge, by the way, 315 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,120 is a picture of His love and His compassion and His desire for 316 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:48,320 God's people. It is out of His desire for us 317 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:51,200 that He planned for Christ to die. 318 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,520 And yet at the same time, the finger points directly and 319 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:58,360 specifically at the crowd of Jews who were crucifying Him, 320 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,800 who crucified Him. And by the way, that finger is 321 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,520 intended to point beyond them to every single one of us. 322 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:09,880 We know from the rest of Scriptures that Christ died on 323 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:14,840 the cross because of our sin. It was our personal sin, your 324 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,200 individual sin that has nailed Christ on the cross. 325 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,360 And so all of us feel the weight, need to feel the weight 326 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:25,200 of the center core of Paul Peters message here where he 327 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,760 says you were you crucified and you killed him. 328 00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:33,920 And yet at the same time we have the sovereign hand of our Lord 329 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:36,760 over all things. A paradox, a mystery for us, a 330 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:40,480 puzzle, but it is held together in scriptures the way it is 331 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:42,080 always held together in scriptures. 332 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,680 And so too, we must hold it together. 333 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:50,480 And then he goes on to talk not just about Christ's life and his 334 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,200 death, but ultimately his resurrection. 335 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,640 Look in verse 24. God raised him up. 336 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:59,840 God raised Jesus up, loosening the pangs of death because it is 337 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,920 not possible for Christ to be held by death. 338 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:06,720 And so you have Christ's resurrection here, the life, 339 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:08,640 death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 340 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:14,320 This is the focus of Peter's sermon, and indeed it has to be 341 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,600 the focus of every proclamation of the gospel. 342 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,200 It has to be the focus of every time that you think of your own 343 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,920 life and every aspect of your own life. 344 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:28,880 Everything factors through that lens where we see Jesus Christ 345 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,960 as Lord. Having made his main point, 346 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:38,120 Peter then continues on to supply supporting evidence 347 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:40,920 similar to what you hear on a sermon all the time. 348 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:45,000 Here's the here's my main my main point Jesus Christ 349 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:48,880 crucified, resurrected, and here's the three points of 350 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,320 support that main idea here are Peters supporting evidence that 351 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:58,080 he has from Acts chapter 2 verses 25 through 35 for David 352 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:02,360 says concerning him. I saw the Lord always before me 353 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:05,840 for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken. 354 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,400 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. 355 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:13,760 My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon 356 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,480 my soul to Hades. Or let your holy one see 357 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,120 corruption, and you have made known to me the paths of life. 358 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,200 You will make me full of gladness with your presence. 359 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,360 Peter then says, Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about 360 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:32,320 our patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and 361 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,440 his tomb is with us to this day. Being there for a prophet, and 362 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,960 knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would 363 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,480 have set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and 364 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,760 spoke about the resurrection of Christ, that he was not 365 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,840 abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 366 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:56,360 This Jesus God raised up, and of what we all are witnesses of, 367 00:20:56,360 --> 00:20:59,720 that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the 368 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:02,680 right hand of God, and having received from the Father the 369 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,000 promise of the Holy Spirit, he was poured out. 370 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,360 This that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 371 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,960 For David did not ascend into heavens, but he himself says, 372 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:18,400 the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your 373 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:21,960 enemies your footstool. And this is the word of the 374 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:26,960 Lord, thanks be to God. So what Peter does here is he 375 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,960 backs up the main point with the best evidence that he can 376 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,520 possibly think of. Now, one of the challenges that 377 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,880 we have in today's society is coming up with supporting 378 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,160 evidence that everybody will embrace, everybody will accept 379 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,680 having an authority that you can say, hey, because they said it, 380 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:46,960 look at this. You support a primary 381 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,920 theologian, CS Lewis or or John Calvin, and half of the audience 382 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:52,280 kind of says, oh, yeah, that's great. 383 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,760 And half the congregation goes, yeah, I don't know who that is. 384 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:00,600 Or if you cite A contemporary sports icon or something like 385 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,760 that, you know, you got half the audience say, oh, I hate that 386 00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,000 team, so I'm going to hate this quote or whatever it is. 387 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:09,000 You know, you have trouble coming up with good supporting 388 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,520 evidence here, but Peter doesn't. 389 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,800 Peter comes up with exactly the right evidence because he cites 390 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:20,160 back to somebody that everybody in the congregation will 391 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:24,200 immediately embrace. He looks back to Psalm 16 where 392 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:29,440 David speaks of the resurrection and David is kind of got the 393 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,880 authority that everybody David, Moses, maybe Abraham are the 394 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:39,160 three people that and when they speak every Jewish persons pays 395 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,600 attention and notices. I was trying to think of 396 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,560 somebody that would carry that kind of weight in our society 397 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,840 today. Best I kind of came up with is 398 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,240 if you got 3 or 4 year old kids arguing about something and 399 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:54,120 somebody says, well, mom says and OK, that kind of that that 400 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:55,680 ends the that ends the discussion. 401 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,320 This is Peter saying, well, mom says, David says, and what does 402 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:04,200 David say? David says, OK, look, God so 403 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:08,160 loved his people and is sending his Savior to the people that 404 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:12,760 even death will not hold them. Even death will be empty in 405 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,120 God's power, next to God's power. 406 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,480 We need to look for a savior, somebody who's coming that can 407 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,360 beat every sin that is out there, even the power and the 408 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:26,400 and the focus of death itself. That's the Savior in which we 409 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,240 need to look forward to. And then Peter goes on to say, 410 00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,440 notice that we know where David's grave is. 411 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:37,600 We know where David's buried. We know he's still there, so he 412 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,640 can't be the Savior. We know all of these people who 413 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,160 have gone before us are dead and buried. 414 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,480 But guess who isn't buried? Jesus Christ. 415 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,880 In other words, Peter tosses out a challenge to the Jewish people 416 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,160 saying, if you think David is your Savior, I know where his 417 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,360 body is. And that explicit challenge is 418 00:23:57,360 --> 00:24:01,640 set forward and it is continues to be the evidence in which we 419 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,720 bring forward to God's to the to God's people that we are 420 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:07,880 speaking to when we're proclaiming God's message. 421 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,240 I know that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior and I know it to be 422 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,320 true and I can prove it because you can't show me his body. 423 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:20,240 Show me his body. I can show you David's body. 424 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:23,200 I know that he's dead. I know that he's not the Savior. 425 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:28,800 The Savior is coming where death cannot hold them, Jesus's body. 426 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,040 And of course, this is a challenge that has come forward 427 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:32,760 from the Gospels from the beginning. 428 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,760 And the history is filled with people who have taken seriously 429 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:39,160 that challenge and have said, OK, let's try to disprove the 430 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,080 resurrection of the dead. And all you do is come away more 431 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,600 and more with the reality of the empty tomb. 432 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,760 The tomb is empty. Christ is resurrected. 433 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:53,200 Jesus is our Lord and our Savior, and this is the point, 434 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:56,720 the conclusion that Peter himself comes to. 435 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,880 So I want you to hear the word of the Lord from Acts chapter 2, 436 00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:05,080 verse 36. Let the House of Israel know for 437 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:10,720 certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus 438 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,440 whom you crucified and this is the word of the Lord. 439 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,040 Let the House of Israel therefore know for certain. 440 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,160 OK, so this is now you guys all get a sense of when I'm wiping 441 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,240 up, I'm not by the way, but you all kind of get a sense when I'm 442 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:27,560 wrapping up. You kind of know that I'm 443 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,640 getting there. And when I, and one of the ways 444 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,240 you can is that I try to find the point again, I've I've made 445 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,960 that main point. Peter makes that main point. 446 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,240 This is all about Jesus Christ. And then he has this long 447 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,840 section where he tries to support that by saying, look, it 448 00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:44,440 can't be David. It can't be anybody else. 449 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,920 It has to be somebody that's resurrected from the dead and 450 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:48,560 Jesus is resurrected from the dead. 451 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:51,400 He goes through all that. Then he comes back and he he 452 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:53,840 concludes by saying, look, this is what I'm saying. 453 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,800 And he sticks in the knife. That's what I try to do every 454 00:25:56,800 --> 00:25:59,320 time I'm preaching at you stick in the knife, right? 455 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,440 At the end, you try to come to the conclusion. 456 00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:04,040 And the main point, what is it that you want to try to walk 457 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:05,480 away with at the end of this sermon? 458 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:08,160 And here's what Peter walks away with at the end of the sermon. 459 00:26:08,360 --> 00:26:12,080 Therefore, let all the House of Israel know, OK, here I want to, 460 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,040 I want you to think in the broadest possible terms, the 461 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:19,200 whole House of Israel, all those who are God's people, let all 462 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,640 those who are God's people know. And of course, this happens 463 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,760 within the context of the promise that the gospel is going 464 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,680 to spread from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria to the ends of 465 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,040 the earth. So we have all of God's people. 466 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:35,560 Let all the God's people what therefore know for certain, know 467 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,960 for certain. The word here is there's no 468 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:46,880 doubt there's there's no other possibility safety security, no 469 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:51,680 with all assurance and confidence with no doubt, no 470 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:58,520 question mark no for certain what that God has made him God 471 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:00,760 has made Jesus Christ both Lord and Christ. 472 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,760 Don't don't think here that that what the text is saying is that 473 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,760 Jesus wasn't Lord in Christ before this and it gets to this 474 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,040 spot where where God the Father kind of says, hey, I really like 475 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:12,920 what this guy Jesus is doing down there. 476 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:14,320 I'm going to make him Lord in Christ. 477 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:18,200 That's not what he's doing here. This is manifested to make it 478 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,240 evident to all to to demonstrate it in a way that you cannot deny 479 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:22,640 it. Why? 480 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,560 Because the grave is empty. The tomb is empty. 481 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,280 And so he manifests this to everybody. 482 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:34,720 Know for certain that God has made him what Lord and Christ. 483 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,600 He is your King, He is your Savior. 484 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:48,560 He is the boss, He is the lover, He is your friend, He is the one 485 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,200 you follow. He is the one that we are 486 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,840 discipled by. He is our master and our Rabbi. 487 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:02,040 He is the Lord and He is Christ know for certain that that's the 488 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:06,000 case. This is the power of Peter 489 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:10,680 sermon coming together with that emphasis with a little bit of a 490 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:12,360 jab. Look at the very end of that 491 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:19,040 verse. This Jesus whom you crucified, 492 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,520 and again, if that jab is for us, if this Scripture, if this 493 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,640 sermon is not something that Peter just preached 2000 years 494 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,440 ago, but it is a sermon that preaches to us today too, that 495 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:35,240 you crucified is pointing to all of us. 496 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:43,640 All of us know for certain that God has made him both Lord and 497 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:49,240 Christ. No good sermon ends without 498 00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:55,640 forcing you to ask a question. If I'm preaching well, you're 499 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,320 walking away with a question. If Danny's preaching well, 500 00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:59,640 you're walking away with a question. 501 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:04,200 If you're listening to sermons on the radio on your podcasts, 502 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:06,200 you're walking away with a question. 503 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,720 This is the application part that every good sermon is going 504 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,000 to have. Hear the word of the Lord from 505 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,640 Acts chapter 2, verses 37 through 41. 506 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,840 Now when they had heard this, they were cut to the heart and 507 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,600 said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, here it 508 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:33,760 is, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, Repent 509 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,280 and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus 510 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,680 Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins. 511 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:43,160 And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises 512 00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,640 for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, 513 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:49,800 everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. 514 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:53,160 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to 515 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,360 exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked 516 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,680 generation. So those who received his word 517 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:06,480 were baptized, and they were added that day about 3000 souls 518 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,840 as before. This is the word of the Lord 519 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:20,000 God. Brothers, what shall we do, what 520 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:26,760 shall we do if I'm not leading you to that question from the 521 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,400 front? Peter clearly led his 522 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,560 congregation to that question. You're hearing Peter's sermon 523 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:35,080 here. I hope you are being led to that 524 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:36,840 question. If I don't lead you that way, 525 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:40,360 Peter certainly should. But here's the reality. 526 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:44,840 Every time we open the Scriptures, we are led to that 527 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,400 question. James promises that. 528 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,440 Paul promises that. The Old Testament seems to 529 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,800 indicate that powerfully. Isaiah certainly indicates that. 530 00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:00,640 When we open up the Scriptures, we are led to the question, what 531 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:04,240 shall I do? What shall I do? 532 00:31:05,960 --> 00:31:09,680 And Peter answers in a way that I believe is answered for every 533 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:13,280 one of us. Two things that you do and two 534 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,560 gifts that come because of it. Two things that you do. 535 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:25,200 First in verse 38, repent. Repent, repentance, to turn and 536 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,480 to go the other way. Now when we think of repentance, 537 00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,480 if you listen to my repentance, I'd have a big long list of all 538 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:32,960 the things, horrid things that I do and horrid things that I 539 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,200 think of my attitude problems and stuff like that. 540 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:38,160 You know, that's when we think of repentance, that that's what 541 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:40,640 we think. Take my moral character and turn 542 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:42,840 and say I shouldn't be like this anymore and I need to be 543 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,080 different, so I need to repent that. 544 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,200 That's too broad for this picture. 545 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:49,960 Peter has been pointing their finger at them. 546 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:52,560 Saying what to them? What is he pointing his finger 547 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:54,480 saying to you? He's not saying, look, you're a 548 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:56,920 moral failure. Look, you've got problems with 549 00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:58,960 your lust. Look, you've got trouble with 550 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,840 your your attitude. Look, you've got gossip issues 551 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,760 or anything like that. God's not doing any of those 552 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:06,400 kind of things. Peter's not doing any of that. 553 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:08,680 He's pointing his finger right at you and saying what? 554 00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:16,440 You crucified Jesus Christ and we do that. 555 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,800 We have done that. And that's what repentance is 556 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:26,320 here in this context. Repent, turn from a position of 557 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:31,400 rejecting Jesus Christ and instead turn and embrace him. 558 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:35,040 That's what repentance means is to turn moving in this direction 559 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:39,440 where you repent, where you are rejecting Jesus Christ and turn 560 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,120 and embrace him as your Lord and Savior. 561 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:44,960 And for those who are here in this room who are not followers 562 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,640 of Jesus Christ, how can you miss this point? 563 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:53,680 Repent not of your ungodliness. You'll have time to do that 564 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:57,000 later. Repent of the ungodliness that 565 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,640 you turn your back on Jesus Christ and his salvation. 566 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:04,080 And for all of you who are secure sitting thinking, I've 567 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:07,600 done that long time ago, I'm safe, are you kidding me? 568 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,320 Repent of the ways in which any little part of your life 569 00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:15,600 reflects a rejection of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 570 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,080 Any little part of your life, you are turning your back upon 571 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:22,320 Him. You must repent and turn to the 572 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:25,680 Lord. Brothers, what shall we do? 573 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:29,080 Repent. Secondly, be baptized. 574 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,400 This is not the time to talk about baptism, to go into what 575 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,040 all of it is, but at the very minimum, it's a humiliation. 576 00:33:36,400 --> 00:33:39,360 It is an identification. I must be cleaned. 577 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:44,160 Lord clean me and it is an identification with the new 578 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:48,280 people of God. Repent, turn from what you were 579 00:33:48,520 --> 00:33:52,840 and join those that are seeking to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. 580 00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:58,360 Repent and be baptized and the gift that will come. 581 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:04,520 Verse 38 Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 582 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:12,080 the forgiveness of your sins. Your past is forgiven, your 583 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:20,400 present sin is forgiven, your future sin is forgiven. 584 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:27,920 Repent, be baptized, and you will be forgiven of your sin. 585 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:33,920 And secondly, you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 586 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:39,080 You will be brought into fellowship with God Himself. 587 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:43,239 What more could you want for if you're moving away from Him, and 588 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:47,600 you are too, to repent and to turn towards our Lord and Savior 589 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:52,000 than to be promised, And this is a promise from Peter's lips, 590 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,280 from God Himself, to be promised that you will be blessed with 591 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:59,880 the presence of God himself, the blessings of the Holy Spirit. 592 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:05,080 That is a promise that awaits for all of us who hear that 593 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,680 message and may we all be like the crowd here. 594 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:13,160 So that day, verse 41, so those who received the word were 595 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:19,560 baptized and they were added that day about 3000 souls. 596 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:26,320 I want my heart to be added again to those who repent of 597 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,480 rejecting my Lord, and so that I might a new experience the 598 00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:36,440 blessings of forgiveness and the blessings of the presence of my 599 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:38,600 God and Savior. Let's pray together. 600 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:43,600 Lord in heaven, we do ask for Your blessings to come upon us, 601 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,880 to fill us with the power of Your spirit, that we might turn 602 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:51,960 from that which we have done before, the way in which we have 603 00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:55,640 rejected you, that we might turn and embrace you as our Lord and 604 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:58,520 our Savior. God is in your hands that we 605 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:00,960 place our lives now and forevermore. 606 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:01,880 Amen.