[0:00] Well, we're going to turn together now to our Bibles, and Edward's going to be preaching! to us again from Acts chapter 2, and we're going to read together most of the chapter down! to verse 41. Now, boys and girls, do pay attention as we're reading here, because after you go off to your junior church, the moms and dads are going to be listening to a sermon on this passage, and I'd like you to think about it, and perhaps at lunchtime you can ask them, what did you learn? And then you'll be sure that they're going to have to stay awake and listen, so why don't you pay careful attention too as we read this together, and then we can talk about it later.
[0:40] Acts chapter 2, then at verse 1. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together, that is the believers, in one place, and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting, and divided tongues as a fire appeared on them, and rested on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now, there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, and at this sound a multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language, and they were amazed and astounded, saying, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia,
[1:42] Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, what does this mean? But others, mocking, said, oh, they're filled with new wine.
[2:09] But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them. Men of Judea, and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let it be known to you, and give ear to my words.
[2:25] For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it's only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.
[2:43] And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
[3:15] And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Men of Israel, hear these words.
[3:26] Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definitive plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
[3:51] God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.
[4:12] Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
[4:25] You have made known to me the path of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
[4:43] Being there for a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ.
[4:56] But he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up. And of that, we all are witnesses.
[5:11] Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
[5:22] But David did not ascend to heavens. But he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
[5:37] Let the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.
[5:47] Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do?
[5:59] And Peter said to them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
[6:14] For the promise is for you and for your children. And for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.
[6:26] And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. So, those who received his word were baptized.
[6:39] And there were added that day about 3,000 souls. Amen. And may God bless us his word.
[6:55] Well, good morning, friends. Good to see you all. And good morning also to those at Bath Street and at Queen's Park. Now, imagine this situation, if you will.
[7:10] You are a Christian and your friend, who is not a Christian, asks you one day, what exactly is the gospel?
[7:21] What is the gospel? Now, how would you reply? Let's keep that question in mind for the time being. What is the gospel?
[7:32] Can we turn again to Acts chapter 2? Last week, we were studying the first 21 verses of the chapter. And for any who weren't here last Sunday, let me just take a moment to describe what those first 21 verses are all about.
[7:47] The chapter describes events that took place about seven weeks after Jesus had been raised from the dead. Now, as you know, he was crucified on Good Friday and raised on the morning of Easter Sunday.
[8:01] There was then a period of 40 days during which Jesus appeared on quite a few occasions to the apostles and to many other Christians, demonstrating to them beyond any doubt that he had really been raised from the dead.
[8:16] Then after that 40-day period, he met the apostles for a final time. And this meeting is described in Acts chapter 1 at verses 6 to 11.
[8:28] And during this final meeting, he says to them at chapter 1 verse 8, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
[8:44] Now, that was his final utterance. It was his last word. He was then taken up to heaven and disappeared. And two angels then appeared to the apostles and said to them, Men of Galilee, why do you stand there looking up into heaven?
[9:01] This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.
[9:11] In other words, they're saying, this is not the end of the story. Be assured, he will be back in due course. So Jesus' last words to his apostles were that the Holy Spirit would come to them and give them power to bear witness about him throughout the world.
[9:32] And 10 days later, that's exactly what happened. Acts 2 verse 1, the day of Pentecost arrived and the Holy Spirit arrived. And the world began to hear in no uncertain terms the gospel from the mouth of Simon Peter, one of the leading apostles.
[9:50] The first few verses of chapter 2 tell us that the Christians, now filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in many different languages to a very large crowd of Jewish men who had gathered in Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost.
[10:05] and they'd come from many different parts of the world. And these Jewish men, because they came from many different places, spoke many different languages. And they were astonished to hear the Christians speaking to them in their own mother tongues, telling them about the mighty works of God.
[10:25] It was an unprecedented phenomenon. And Peter, at verse 14, stands up, flanked by the 11 other apostles, and explains to the crowd that they are witnessing the fulfillment of a prophecy given some 700 years previously by the prophet Joel.
[10:43] Look with me at verse 16. Peter says, this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.
[11:02] Even on my male servants and female servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy. Now the key element in this prophecy of Joel is that the Lord's people are all going to start speaking, telling the mighty works of God.
[11:22] Their tongues will be loosened because the Holy Spirit is being poured out on them. Men and women, young and old, including people of every rank in society.
[11:33] And as the Holy Spirit enables them to speak about God's mighty works, they will stir up a great response. As verse 21 explains, and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[11:51] So the Lord's people begin to speak, many people hear them, and many of those who hear are compelled to call upon the Lord's name and cry out for salvation. This is the beginning of the evangelization of the world.
[12:07] Now just think for a moment about that 50-day period which began on Good Friday and ended on the day of Pentecost. We can say, without fear of contradiction, that that is the most important 50-day period in the history of the world.
[12:25] On Good Friday, Jesus was crucified, bearing in our place the penalty for our sins. Two days later, on Easter Sunday, he was raised from the dead, demonstrating what the old hymn calls the death of death and hell's destruction.
[12:41] Forty days later, Jesus was exalted to his father's right hand, being proclaimed as God's king and universal sovereign. And then 10 days later, the Holy Spirit arrived in great power to enable Christ's people to proclaim to the world the gospel.
[13:00] Four decisive events of divine power and love in 50 days. And all of those four events enacted by Jesus himself. Because it was Jesus who died, Jesus who rose, Jesus who ascended, and Jesus who poured out the Holy Spirit.
[13:19] Now friends, are we beginning to scent the answer to the question, what is the gospel? I hope so. But we've got a lot more digging into the text to do yet. And Simon Peter is going to tell us in no uncertain terms what the gospel is between verse 22 and verse 36 of our chapter.
[13:40] Now before we get into verse 22, I want us to notice the shape of Peter's sermon. because it falls into two distinct sections. First, verses 14 to 21 and secondly, verses 22 to 36.
[13:56] Each of these two sections is prefaced by an urgent summons to pay attention. First, verse 14, men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear to my words.
[14:12] Whatever your mind has been engaged with up to this point, disengage it and listen to me. Then secondly, verse 22, men of Israel, hear these words.
[14:24] Do you see how the Holy Spirit has made Peter divinely purposeful? He knows that what he has to say is more important than anything else in the world, so he commands their attention.
[14:36] The first part of the sermon, verses 14 to 21, has a single purpose and that is simply to explain why the Christians are telling the mighty works of God in many different languages.
[14:49] It is, after all, an extraordinary phenomenon. We see from verses 6 and 7 that the great crowd are bewildered and amazed and Peter realizes that the first thing he has to do is to help the crowd to understand what is going on.
[15:05] Now, he knows that they're Jewish people and therefore they will be familiar with the Old Testament prophets because they've heard them read in their synagogues every Sabbath day. So he assumes their knowledge of the prophet Joel and he says to the crowd in effect, Don't be entirely surprised, my brother Jews.
[15:24] You know the prophet Joel like the back of your hands. You know the passage in Joel's prophecy where he foretells the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in the last days. Well, let me tell you, the last days have arrived.
[15:37] This is the prophesied event. God's people are now opening their mouths and telling the world how glorious God is and how mighty are his doings. They're not drunk, as a few of you have foolishly suggested.
[15:51] They are filled with God's Holy Spirit. Well, that's the first part of Peter's sermon. He's explaining very briefly what has happened to the Christians, that Joel's prophecy has been fulfilled under their noses.
[16:05] But then, at verse 22, he begins the real meat of his sermon. Men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth. And what he says between verse 22 and verse 36 describes and defines the gospel.
[16:24] Peter is now going to tell us what the gospel is. And we're going to discover that it's all about Jesus of Nazareth. So here we go. This is Peter's gospel in four parts.
[16:37] First, Jesus of Nazareth, he says, is a man attested by God. Verse 22. Attested means accredited, declared publicly to be all that he claims to be.
[16:52] If you'll allow me an agricultural illustration. A breeding bull, a herd sire, is attested by the quality of his progeny. If his daughters prove to be poor milkers, knock-kneed, broken cattle, that bull is out on his ear.
[17:10] He's on his way to the abattoir. But if he breeds excellent daughters, the daughters attest his quality. They demonstrate his worth. How then has the father attested to Jesus?
[17:24] Verse 22 tells us, he is attested to by God by his mighty works and wonders and signs. His power to still a storm or to feed 5,000 with one child's picnic.
[17:37] His power to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cast out demons. Peter describes these works as wonders and signs. Wonders because people were amazed at them and signs because they signified or pointed to his deity.
[17:54] The miracles of Jesus also give us a foretaste of what the kingdom of God is like in the world to come. A realm of perfection and joy unspoiled by sickness, death, or satanic influence.
[18:08] These wonderful works, Peter is saying, demonstrate God's complete approval of Jesus. They are the father's way of certifying that Jesus truly is his son.
[18:21] If Jesus had been a charlatan, God would have disowned him. But the father's estimate of Jesus is made clear in what the father said to Jesus at his baptism. You are my beloved son.
[18:33] With you, I am well pleased. The works and wonders and signs attest Jesus' deity to the world. And at the end of verse 22, Peter adds the phrase, as you yourselves know.
[18:48] In other words, brothers, many of you witnessed the miracles that he performed. You saw them with your own eyes. You can't deny them. You know I'm telling the truth. Jesus is a man attested by God.
[19:03] A man, yes, but so much more than a man. Second, Jesus was crucified. Now look with me at verse 23.
[19:14] It is a most striking verse. This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
[19:28] Now, as you look at that verse, the question is, whose impulse lay behind the crucifixion of Jesus? Who caused his death? Was it God or was it men?
[19:41] Peter's answer is that it was both. God planned it. It was according to his definite plan and foreknowledge, says Peter. It had always been God's intention that Jesus should be crucified.
[19:55] If he had not been, there could be no salvation for us. His death was a divine necessity. As the letter to the Hebrews puts it, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
[20:09] Jesus himself said in Luke chapter 24, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? God planned the crucifixion of Jesus a very long time in the past and how glad and grateful we can be because if Jesus had not submitted to that terrible death, we would not be here today.
[20:33] But Peter also tells us in verse 23 that although Jesus' death was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, it was lawless men who killed him.
[20:45] What law were they breaking? Well, they were breaking at least two of the Ten Commandments. First, thou shalt do no murder and second, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
[21:01] Jesus was falsely accused of things that he did not do. His trial was a complete mockery of human justice. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, knew perfectly well that Jesus was innocent.
[21:15] Look, he said, Luke 23, look, he said, nothing deserving death has been done by this man. I will therefore punish him and release him. The Roman centurion who supervised the crucifixions actually saw Jesus breathe his last.
[21:31] And what did the centurion do? He praised God, Luke tells us, and said, certainly this man was innocent. The killing of Jesus was a lawless act.
[21:42] Pilate was weak and he gave way under pressure. But it was the Jewish leaders, the priests and the Pharisees who were fueled by hatred and jealousy of Jesus and they pressed the Roman governor to have Jesus crucified.
[21:58] Jesus puts it like, Luke puts it like this in his 23rd chapter. They were urgent, demanding with loud cries that Jesus be crucified and their voices prevailed.
[22:09] So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man, Barabbas, who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.
[22:25] God foreknew it, God planned it, but lawless men caused his death to happen. So Acts 2, verse 23, opens up to us one of the strangest and most profound paradoxes of theology, that God is able and willing to confound the wicked purposes of men and to turn those purposes to glorious advantage.
[22:51] These men who agitated for Jesus' death had sold themselves to a course of action which could only end one way, in the annihilation of Jesus, because as they saw it, he threatened their little religious kingdom.
[23:05] They were determined to kill him. But God used their wicked purpose to bring about immeasurable blessing, the forgiveness of sins and the opening of the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
[23:20] Now before we move on to our third point, let's pause briefly and notice the way that God the Father and God the Son work together in Peter's unfolding of the gospel.
[23:33] It's very striking. Now the gospel as we're seeing it is all about Jesus of Nazareth. That's how Peter begins at verse 22. But although Jesus is the focus of every part of the gospel, although he is the central actor in every part of that wonderful 50-day period of history, God the Father is also entirely involved.
[23:58] It's not as though the Father retires from the stage to sit back and watch Jesus do everything that needs to be done. No. He is behind Jesus and with Jesus and working through Jesus all the way through.
[24:12] We see it in verse 22. It's God the Father who attests the worth of Jesus by his mighty works. Then in verse 23, it's by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God the Father that Jesus is put to death.
[24:29] Then in verse 24, it's God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead. Peter says it again at verse 32. This Jesus, God, raised up. Then look on to verse 33.
[24:42] The ascension of Jesus exalts him to the right hand of God the Father. And in the same verse, Jesus receives from the Father the promised Holy Spirit whom he pours out at Pentecost.
[24:55] And finally, in verse 36, it's God the Father who has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. So the whole gospel is the work of Father and Son working together.
[25:09] The gospel originates in the mind and will of the Father and is put into effect by the work of the Son. And there is no gap between the will of the Father and the will of the Son.
[25:22] Jesus puts it like this at John's Gospel, chapter 5, verse 19. Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.
[25:35] For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. In other words, he keeps nothing hidden from Jesus.
[25:49] Father and Son entirely share the planning and the working out of the glorious 50 days. People have sometimes made the foolish suggestion that there is some kind of a gap between the Father and the Son, even that the Father cruelly abused Jesus by planning his crucifixion.
[26:10] These people have even accused the Father of being a cosmic child abuser. Well, that kind of thinking deserves to be tied up in a bundle and dropped into the dirtiest part of the River Clyde and buried forever.
[26:24] Jesus' words entirely discredit that kind of nonsense. Jesus went to his death willingly. Now, of course, he shrank from it. He couldn't blithely offer his hands and feet to the brutal hammer and nails.
[26:38] He knew what it was going to cost him in physical and mental agony to bear the sins of the world, but he did it because his entire purpose was to carry through his Father's will and plan.
[26:49] Peter speaks of the definite plan and foreknowledge of God in verse 23, and Jesus knew all about it. In the words I quoted a moment ago, the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.
[27:06] So Jesus knew his Father's thinking from A to Z. There were no surprises for him. Jesus made no sudden and shocking discoveries. He knew it all, and he did it all because he loved his Father and he knew that his Father loved him.
[27:24] Well, let's come back now to Simon Peter. We've seen so far that the Gospel is about Jesus. First, that he was attested by God through his mighty wonders and signs.
[27:35] Second, that he was put to death by God's plan and foreknowledge. And now, thirdly, Jesus was raised from the dead. Verse 24, God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it, by death.
[27:58] Now, in that verse, that phrase, loosing the pangs of death, could be translated freeing him from the agony of death. And the word agony literally means birth pains, the pains of a woman in labor.
[28:15] So Peter is picturing the resurrection of Jesus as a new birth, as a regeneration. His body, which had been, like our bodies, subject to pain and tiredness and dying, now came forth from the grave immortal and incorruptible.
[28:35] It was a glorious regeneration. As Paul puts it in Romans chapter 6, sorry, the thing nearly collapsed onto me. That's better.
[28:45] I can see better now. Good. Peter put, sorry, Paul puts it like this in Romans chapter 6. Death, this is a terrific verse, friends, death no longer has dominion over him.
[28:58] We're never going to understand the resurrection of Jesus in terms of modern biology because it is, by definition, a unique event. Now, think of Lazarus, who was raised from death in John chapter 11.
[29:11] He had to die again. The story was that he was seriously ill. He died. He was raised by Jesus, but his raised body was still mortal. Death still had dominion over Lazarus, but Jesus' resurrection body was and is immortal.
[29:29] And Peter then explains to the crowd that the resurrection of Jesus was prophesied by King David in Psalm 16, which Peter quotes in verses 25 to 28 here.
[29:41] Now, I won't read out the whole quotation, but the key verse to notice is verse 27, where David says to God, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption.
[29:57] Now, the question is, who was David talking about there? Peter tells the crowd in verse 29 that David could not have been talking about himself.
[30:08] He says, brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day.
[30:19] In other words, he died just like anybody else. He was buried and his corruptible remains, if anything at all remains after a thousand years, those remains are still in his tomb in Jerusalem.
[30:31] So the nub of verse 29 is that David could not possibly have been talking about himself. He was deceased, defunct, departed, as the Scots would say, deed.
[30:44] But Peter goes on in verse 30, being therefore a prophet, this is David, being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
[31:07] In other words, Peter is saying, David was not writing about himself, he was writing about his descendant, Jesus. He was looking forward a thousand years down the line of history into the future and God inspired him to foretell the resurrection of Jesus.
[31:25] Then at verse 32, Peter jumps back into the present and he says, this Jesus God raised up and of that fact we all, that is we apostles, are witnesses.
[31:37] We twelve, all of us, have seen him over the last few weeks. We've talked with him, we've eaten with him, we've touched him. Now this surely was one of the main reasons why Peter could speak so boldly to this huge crowd of people.
[31:53] He knew with absolute certainty that Jesus had been raised. All the apostles knew this. In fact, when they were searching for a new apostle to replace Judas Iscariot to bring the number back up to twelve, one of the main qualifications which the new man must have was that he had to be a witness to the resurrection of Jesus.
[32:16] You'll see it back in chapter 1, verse 22. Peter again is speaking there and he says, one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection. Every one of the apostles had to be able to say, I have seen the risen Lord Jesus.
[32:34] Now interestingly, the same qualification applied to Paul, although he was not converted till two or three years after the ascension of Jesus. But Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus in dazzling risen splendor.
[32:49] And Paul, the arch persecutor of the church, was convinced to the very marrow of his bones that Jesus had been raised from the dead. it was the resurrection of Jesus that turned Paul's life right around.
[33:03] And our conviction that Jesus really has been raised is based on the apostles' conviction. We accept their testimony for two main reasons.
[33:14] First, because we know that they were honest men. Their writings are patently sincere. and secondly, because they were willing to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus in the face of fierce opposition, often murderously fierce.
[33:32] Nobody is foolish enough to proclaim an unprecedented miracle to a cynical world unless they are absolutely convinced of its truth. Nobody is prepared to lay down his life for something which has a dodgy basis.
[33:46] Paul's convictions about the resurrection of Jesus come out in the famous 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians where he says, if Christ has not been raised, your faith, you Corinthians, your faith is futile.
[34:01] If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. Now that is strong language. It's dismissive. It's almost sarcastic.
[34:12] If Christ has not been raised, if the Christian life is only about this life in this passing world, we are pitiable creatures. We are pathetic men and women.
[34:23] That's the tone he uses. I love it. It's so strong. And he can use dismissive language like that because he is so absolutely sure of his ground. To Paul, anyone who tries to argue that Christ has not been raised is simply not worth listening to.
[34:39] So back to Peter now and his verse 32. This Jesus, he says, God raised up and of that we all are witnesses.
[34:52] Now fourth, Jesus is exalted. Peter says in verse 33, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God. Exaltation means being lifted up on high to a position of undisputed authority.
[35:11] You perhaps watch the television to see the coronation of King Charles about three years ago. And you'll remember that the central act of the coronation ceremony is the placing of the monarch on a great throne.
[35:25] And there he sits wearing his crown and holding the scepter which signifies his regal authority. He is the king and he is being acknowledged as the king. Now our human coronations are of course only the palest imitation of the heavenly enthronement of God's king.
[35:42] But the glorious truth is that in the heavenly places Jesus is enthroned as king and is acknowledged as king by all the heavenly host. On the night before his crucifixion he said to the high council of Jerusalem, from now on the son of man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.
[36:06] And that's what Peter is saying here in verse 33 that he is exalted at the right hand of God. And then Peter tells us what Jesus does from his exalted position.
[36:20] There are two things that he does. First, he pours out the Holy Spirit upon God's people. Verse 33 again, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
[36:39] So Peter is saying to them, you can't deny it, brothers. You are seeing with your own eyes how transformed the followers of Jesus are and you are hearing with your own ears the gift of languages that the Spirit has given to them.
[36:54] Let's notice the connection between the ascension or exaltation of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The exaltation of Jesus had to predate the pouring out of the Spirit.
[37:08] Could Jesus have filled his disciples with the Holy Spirit while he was still in his mortal body on the earth? Well, it seems not because this is what he says himself in John's Gospel chapter 7.
[37:21] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive for as yet the Spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified.
[37:42] Do you see the order of events there? The Spirit could only be given after Jesus had been glorified. In other words, after he'd been taken up to the glory of heaven. So there's the first thing.
[37:53] from his position in glory, Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit. The second thing comes in verses 34 and 35 where Peter returns to the figure of King David.
[38:07] He has told us a few verses ago that Psalm 16 is not about David but is a prophecy of the resurrection of Jesus. And now Peter turns to another Psalm of David, Psalm 110, and tells us that that Psalm also is not about David but is a prophecy about the exalted Jesus and what his exaltation means.
[38:30] Verse 34, The Lord, that is God the Father, said to my Lord, that is Jesus, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
[38:42] So we are to picture Jesus seated at the right hand of God in all his glory and the Psalm is asking us to look at Jesus' feet. Now where are they?
[38:54] They are not resting on some embroidered footstool. They are resting on the necks of all the enemies who have opposed Jesus. The point is that Jesus is King and therefore no hostile power whether human or spiritual or devilish is able to withstand him.
[39:10] He is the conqueror. Now friends, stick that in your pipe and inhale the truth. Jesus is the victorious king.
[39:22] Now of course it is true that the devil, full of malice, prowls around the earth and around the church seeking to sow doubt and confusion in tender minds, seeking to deceive people and make them turn away from Jesus.
[39:35] But the devil is a defeated foe and he knows it. When the history of the world is wound up and we're no longer thrashing about in this veil of tears and blood, the absolute conquest of all that has opposed the truth of God will be displayed across the universe.
[39:53] The everlasting sovereignty of Jesus will be fully known. Now we'll come back to verse 36 in just a moment. But we need to understand now that what we have just heard from Peter's mouth is the gospel.
[40:08] That's where we started this morning with the question what is the gospel? Well Peter has told us it's the good news about Jesus. First he was attested to by God.
[40:20] Second he was delivered up to death by God's definite plan. Third God raised him from the dead. And fourth he has been exalted to God's right hand and from his throne he has poured out the Holy Spirit on the church and is seen to be the victor over all his enemies.
[40:38] Now that's the good news in its most simple and unadorned form. But good news requires a response. Peter is preaching to the world here.
[40:51] He's preaching to our hearts. So let's see how he presses his message home in verse 36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified.
[41:09] crucified. Now do you see the logic there? Peter has just made the point in the previous two verses that Jesus is the king. Not only the king of the Jews but the king of heaven and earth.
[41:22] He is seated at God's right hand. And in verse 36 Peter is insistent that his Jewish listeners the house of Israel need to know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ.
[41:37] This Jesus whom you crucified. Now those last three words come at the crowd like a bolt from a crossbow. And they respond verse 37.
[41:52] Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles brothers what shall we do? You see the bolt goes home. Their consciences are stricken.
[42:04] They don't resist or push back at what Peter is saying. They realize that he's right. Now these men didn't personally hammer the nails into Jesus' hands and feet but they knew that it was they and their leaders who had pressed the weak Pontius Pilate to order Jesus' crucifixion.
[42:22] And Peter has just persuaded them by expounding the Old Testament to them that they have crucified the one whom God has exalted as Lord and Christ. And because they understand this they're desperate.
[42:35] The weight of their crime sinks upon their hearts. Is there any hope for them? They must be afraid that God is going to make the earth open and swallow them up. So they cry out to Peter and the other apostles in their pain.
[42:49] Brothers what shall we do? And at that point of despair the mercy of God comes to them. Peter replies repent.
[43:00] There is hope for the repentant. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Your sin heinous as it is can be and will be forgiven.
[43:14] Don't despair brothers he's saying. Repent and be baptized for the water of baptism signifies the washing away of every sin which has defiled you. Even this greatest of sins the crucifying of the Lord Jesus and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise of the Holy Spirit is for you and for your children and for all who are far off people of every tribe and language and nation everyone whom the Lord calls to himself.
[43:44] The gospel is for the world not just for the people of Israel. And look on to verse 40. He goes on speaking to them and exhorting them urging them saying save yourselves from this crooked generation by repenting.
[44:04] And wouldn't you have loved to have been a fly on the wall in Jerusalem that day and to have witnessed this remarkable event. But truly we are flies on the wall because we can see this all with the eyes of our own imagination.
[44:17] We can hear Peter's loving and commanding exhortation. We can feel also God's amazing mercy that there is hope even for those who were bent on having Jesus crucified.
[44:28] and the crowd gladly accept the mercy of God. Look at verse 41. So those who received Peter's word were baptized and they were added that day to the church about 3,000 souls.
[44:43] Now that was the beginning of the gospel penetrating to every corner of the globe. And it penetrates the hearts of those who are gathered at the Tron church today. It must do.
[44:55] We must allow it to. Like those 3,000, we too must receive Peter's word. Otherwise, we're lost. Now, you may say, but we didn't press for Jesus to be crucified.
[45:11] We didn't shout, release Barabbas and crucify Jesus. They may have done that 2,000 years ago, but we surely are innocent of Jesus' death. But are we?
[45:24] Now, of course, we live 2,000 years after the event, but the human heart, every human heart by nature, wants to blot Jesus out of our consciousness. Ever since we left our mother's wombs and began to breathe the fresh air, we wanted to be in charge of our own lives.
[45:42] And as Jesus began to press himself into the outer edges of our own thinking, immediately and naturally, we resisted him because we knew deep in our hearts that he was the Lord and the Christ, that he was our rightful ruler and we did not want him to rule us.
[46:00] And in that sense, we have wanted to join forces with those who cried, crucify him. Is that not so, friends? To push Jesus out of our lives and to keep him out, that is the great sin.
[46:15] If only we knew that living under his loving rule is the very thing we were made for, if we understood that, we would welcome him in with open arms. We'd roll out the red carpet for him.
[46:25] He loves us. He died for us so that our sin, all our sins, should be washed away, all gone. To repent means to turn around, to run to the Lord Jesus and be embraced by him and say to him, Lord Jesus, I've lived without you willfully.
[46:46] I've loved sin and I've hated the idea that I must turn away from it. But I've been so wrong. Help me to love you and to turn away from my selfish and sinful life.
[46:59] Now, many of you, I know, have done this. You've been cut to the heart, realizing that in principle you have crucified the Lord Jesus. I've been cut to the heart like that. All of us need to realize what we're like by nature, hostile to our true Lord and King.
[47:16] But we need not stay like that in hostility towards him. And if you are somebody who has been running from the Lord Jesus, will you listen to Peter's message today?
[47:29] Will you repent and turn to Jesus and be forgiven? Will you receive the promised Holy Spirit who will transform you and make you a child of God?
[47:42] Peter's message here in verse 40 is save yourself from this crooked generation. It is crooked. The world is a sorry and twisted place.
[47:54] And to stay in its clutches is to be brought down to destruction in the end. But there is a way out and God is merciful. Repent and receive the forgiveness that Jesus won for you on the cross.
[48:13] Let's bow our heads and we'll pray. Amen. Our dear heavenly Father, we bow our heads in your presence and acknowledge how wonderful the gospel is and how full it is of your undeserved mercy.
[48:41] For those of us who are already yours, confirm us in our faith and fill us with fresh gratitude and joy. And for any who have not yet repented, draw them by your loving kindness to the foot of the cross and assure them that all sin is forgiven there.
[49:01] That your boundless grace and mercy are freely available to all who turn to you and put their trust in the Lord Jesus. And we ask it in his name.
[49:13] Amen.