[0:00] to be in Matthew 27 or Mark 16 or Luke 24 or John 20, I think, 20? Nope, not yet.
[0:11] Acts chapter 2. It's good to see some new faces among us. And one new face that I saw for the very first time goes by the name of Sophie Jane.
[0:25] I saw her this morning and she smiled at me and said, Hi, how are you, Pastor? I said, bless you, child. It's a little conversation we had.
[0:35] She's not even two weeks old for those of you who are... But a great moment we had. Okay, so we're in the book of Acts. If you know your Bible, you know that we're past the ministry of Jesus Christ, His death, burial, and resurrection.
[0:53] And then we have the apostles of the Lord that are commissioned and they go on and they're waiting here at the beginning of Acts for what Christ promised would come, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, that He'd descend and that they'd receive power and that they'd be witnesses unto Him of His resurrection.
[1:11] And so in chapter 2 where we'll begin, we see Peter. Peter in the first five chapters is the guy that's standing up and preaching. At any opportunity, at any place, he's the one.
[1:24] And you can look at each of the chapters. And in those chapters, he's quoting David. He's quoting Joel. He quotes David again in here in chapter 2. And preaching Christ, preaching that he was murdered, and preaching that he rose again.
[1:36] And then as the book of Acts transitions, it shifts. There's a shift within the book. We call it a transition because God was dealing here initially with Israel still, as He was in the Gospels.
[1:48] And then their rejection of Him, God kind of sets them aside or closes the door on them and opens up salvation to Gentiles. And in that transition, we see a shift from the Apostle Peter being the primary preacher to the Apostle Paul, who comes on the scene a little later.
[2:06] But within the messages that both men preached, we'll look at today, there's some common threads of what they declare about Jesus Christ. And what I want to look at here is Peter's first public message that's recorded in Acts chapter 2.
[2:20] And just pull a glimpse here out of something he says in verses 22 through 24. So find Acts 2 verse 22. Peter says this, Ye men of Israel, hear these words.
[2:37] Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you as ye yourselves also know, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.
[3:08] It was not possible that He should be holden of it, of death. Paul's first recorded message, I want you to keep your place if you can, come to Acts 13.
[3:24] Paul's first recorded message on his first missionary journey has some of the same content. And, I don't have the time to read the entire sermon.
[3:39] It starts in verse 16, Then Paul stood up and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. And he takes them through a history of Israel, talking about them being in Egypt, describing in verse 19 how Joshua went in and divided the land up by a lot.
[3:59] Then verse 20, the judges, the times of the judges, with Samuel there mentioned in verse 20. And then it mentions Saul as their first king, and then David in verse 22.
[4:10] And then the promise that came to David, verse 23, Of this man's seed hath God, according to His promise, raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus. Now he talks about John the Baptist and his ministry and in preaching, fulfilling his course.
[4:22] And down in verse number 27, Paul continues, says, For they that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which they read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.
[4:38] And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher, but God raised him from the dead.
[4:52] And it was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, which are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, and that he hath raised up Jesus again.
[5:08] And then he goes on to describe some more passages we'll look at later, some of the Psalms, the prophecies. In both of these men's sermons, as we would, if we studied the entire book, we'd see that common thread.
[5:20] And here it is closely, that Christ was raised from the dead. The statement Peter made that I emphasized in Acts chapter 2 was that it was not possible that he should be holding of it.
[5:33] I want to look at four reasons from these two men's sermons that back up Peter's statements and titled the message, Why Death Lost Its Hold. Why Death Lost Its Hold.
[5:45] The Bible said in verse 24 of chapter 2 that God raised him up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible. So why wasn't it possible? If it's not possible, it's impossible.
[5:57] And very few things are impossible. And one thing in the Bible it says that with God nothing shall be impossible. And there's something here about death that God showed he had victory over and power over and I want us to study this out this morning and I trust that you'll receive something from this.
[6:14] As we consider it, let's pray before we start. Our Father in heaven, God, you're in heaven. But according to your word, you're in us that believe and your spirit dwells within us.
[6:27] And so I pray that by your spirit you'd illuminate our hearts and minds and Lord that you'd even interact with us and free us from distractions and from thoughts and cares of this life and of this world and minister the words of God into our spirits.
[6:44] Lord, I pray that each one that came into these doors would leave better than they came. I pray that the truth of the book would be evident and would be pronounced. And Lord, help us to understand that death met its match when Jesus Christ met death.
[7:02] And Lord, as we seek to describe why death lost its hold, I pray that we'd receive some edification for our lives today. Not just historical facts, but where we stand.
[7:13] I pray these things in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Acts chapter 2, please go back there and we'll flip back and forth as we move forward. There's four reasons this morning from these men's sermons, these apostles, why death lost its hold.
[7:32] Why death lost its hold. And the first reason is because the Father devised it. The Father devised it. In verse number 23, Peter said this. In Acts 2, he said, Him, speaking of Christ, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.
[7:51] The determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Before anybody laid a hand on Jesus Christ, God had already foretold and determined and devised that His Son would die, be buried, and come back alive.
[8:09] It was determined by Almighty God. Look at Acts chapter 4, verse number 28. Acts chapter 4, verse 27, I'll begin.
[8:20] For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
[8:36] why these men were just mere puppets and something that God had orchestrated and planned a long time ago. Come to 1 Peter, chapter number 1.
[8:48] Peter says something again. This is Peter's words that we're reading in Acts. And then he writes in 1 Peter, chapter 1, death lost its hold because the Father devised it.
[9:06] 1 Peter, chapter 1, and come to verse number 18. 1 Peter, chapter 1, said, and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God.
[9:43] What Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary, offering himself his precious blood, being the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, this was foreordained.
[9:54] This wasn't just the way it played out. God laid these things in line. The Father devised it. It was planned for a long time. In Isaiah, chapter 43, the Lord speaks of himself, saying, there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
[10:12] I will work, and who shall let it? Let meaning hinder or obstruct. Who's going to get in the way of what I'm doing? The nations? The kings of the earth?
[10:23] No. God devised a plan for his Son to redeem mankind, and it just played out. It unfolded even before their eyes, and they were ignorant of it.
[10:34] Jesus Christ even told his disciples it was going to happen just a few months before, and they didn't get it. Luke chapter 18. The Father devised it. The Father devised it.
[10:46] Death lost its hold. It was impossible for death to hold on to Jesus Christ because the Father's plan for all of this must be unfolded. Secondly, look at Acts chapter 2 again.
[10:59] Acts chapter 2 in Peter's message. And we're going to go to chapter 13 side by side here with the Apostle Paul's message.
[11:12] Secondly, why death lost its hold? The Father devised it, but also the Scriptures decreed it. The Scriptures decreed it. We read verse 24, and it was not possible that he should be holding of it.
[11:27] In the very next verse, Peter backs up that statement, saying, For David speaketh concerning him. And he's going to quote Psalm 16. I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved.
[11:40] Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
[11:51] And he continues, and then Peter says in verse 29, Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he's both dead and buried and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
[12:03] Therefore being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his Christ's flesh did see corruption.
[12:23] This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. The scriptures decreed it long before it ever took place. Death lost its hold because the scriptures decreed it would.
[12:36] Look at Acts chapter 13 where the apostle Paul is preaching and notice a few words he says. We read them earlier in verse 27. He said, They that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers because they knew him not, notice, nor yet the voices of the prophets.
[12:56] The voices of the prophets, that's the scriptures. They didn't know, they were ignorant of what the scriptures say. The prophets wrote, their voices declared about the Lord Jesus Christ.
[13:07] He says at the end of verse 27, they have fulfilled them, that is the scriptures, the prophets' voices, in condemning him. In verse 29, and when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher, but God raised him from the dead.
[13:24] Now, at verse 23, Paul begins to dive into the scriptures as he's backing up the case he's making for Jesus Christ. Verse 33, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he raised up Jesus again as it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
[13:44] And as concerning that he raised him from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, quote, I will give you the show mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
[13:57] For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on asleep, was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised again saw no corruption. And the apostle Paul builds his case that the scriptures decreed it.
[14:12] Christ rose from the dead. Death lost its hold because the scriptures said so. Now, if you need to turn to it, you can turn to it, but it's John chapter 10 and verse 35.
[14:24] The Bible says, Jesus Christ said, the scriptures cannot be broken. The scriptures cannot be broken. The scriptures decree, just like the king back in Daniel chapter 6, the scriptures decree in such a way that they cannot be broken.
[14:42] It's said in Daniel 6 about the kings, it says, no decree nor statute which the king establishes may be changed. The Bible says, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.
[14:55] That is, it's established. In Isaiah 40, the word of our God shall stand forever. The scriptures decreed that the Lord Jesus Christ would be betrayed by a close friend.
[15:07] The scriptures decreed that he would be sold for 30 pieces of silver and that that very silver would be cast or sold to the potter's field for the potter.
[15:19] The scriptures decreed that he'd be forsaken by his own, that he would be falsely accused, that he would be speechless or dumb before his accusers, that he would be smitten, that he'd be wounded, that he'd be bruised, that he'd be pierced.
[15:35] Isaiah chapter 50 in verse 6, I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
[15:47] The scriptures declared that he'd have an audience of onlookers, that he would be mocked by those onlookers, that he would in turn pray for those onlookers. The scriptures declared and decreed that he'd be crucified among transgressors and there's more and more, the gall, the vinegar, the casting of lots for his garments, the very words that he'd cry, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
[16:12] In Daniel, the scriptures decreed that Messiah would be cut off. But in that same book, it decreed that the Messiah would be a king with a kingdom that, quote, shall never be destroyed.
[16:27] The scriptures decreed that that Messiah, that his body would not see corruption, that his body would be resurrected. The scriptures decreed that he would defeat death, that he would defeat Satan, that he would be exalted, that he would resurrect others, and that he would establish a kingdom and a reign forever as a judge and a lawgiver and a king.
[16:50] It's not possible. Do you see this morning it's not possible for death to hold him down. The scriptures have decried, they've described and declared he's coming up.
[17:04] And the scripture cannot be broken. The father devised it, the scriptures decreed it. But thirdly, come to Acts 13 again, his sinlessness deserved it.
[17:19] It's not possible for death to hold him because his sinlessness deserved it. He's coming up. In verse 28, Acts chapter 13, as Paul's preaching, he's recalling the Pilate's judgment.
[17:35] He says, as though they found, and though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. No cause.
[17:47] It's not possible for death to hold him down. It's not possible that he should be holding of it because he died as an innocent man. Not just innocent of the charges, like, oh, he's blaspheming or he said something against the temple that he's going to destroy it.
[18:03] Not those false accusations that were brought on him. No, he didn't just die as an innocent man of the charges. He died a sinless man. A sinless man. The Bible says the wages of sin is death.
[18:16] But what are the wages of the sinless? What are the wages of purity? What do they earn? The criminals that died on his left and his right hand, one God mocking him, and they're dying for the crimes they've committed and justly they admitted, and one of them said, this man hath done nothing amiss.
[18:38] Pilate said three times that I find in him no fault at all. He was sinless. The Bible says he knew no sin. The Bible says that he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.
[18:52] He's called Jesus Christ the righteous. Peter identifies him in Acts chapter 3 as the holy one and just. In Hebrews, it says that he offered himself without spot to God.
[19:08] He was the Lamb of God without spot and without blemish as we read in 1 Peter chapter 1. The Bible says in 1 John 3, in him is no sin. In the book of Hebrews, the Bible says that he's separate from sinners.
[19:22] Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ was sinless and it was his sinlessness that deserved it. He earned coming back up. Although the Bible says that the Father made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, the Father made him to be sin for us.
[19:42] Those were my sins. Those were your sins. They weren't his sins. He was made to be sin for us. The Bible says that Christ died for our sins.
[19:57] In 1 Peter chapter 3, Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit.
[20:11] Although the Father made him to be sin for us, they weren't his. And after the payment was made, it was not possible for death to hold him. His sinlessness deserved it.
[20:22] Look at Romans chapter 1. We'll come back to Acts 13. Romans chapter number 1. And verse number 4.
[20:48] Well, I'll start in verse 3. concerning his son Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.
[21:04] That is, when Christ came back up and he came up alive, that declared him to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness. Because death cannot keep a sinless man down.
[21:17] It is not possible. It is not possible that he should be holding of it. When John, or I'm sorry, Jesus Christ spoke in John chapter 10.
[21:28] He told him that he was going to, that no man, speaking of his life, he said, no man taketh it from me. I have power, I lay it down. He said, I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.
[21:40] That's the kind of power. When he came up alive, he was resurrected with power, declared to be the Son of God with power, the kind of power that can take his own life back after it's dead.
[21:54] Why? Because he possessed the Spirit of holiness. That's why. He was sinless. The sinlessness of Jesus Christ deserved it.
[22:04] And then third, or fourthly, let me say that our salvation demanded it. it's not possible for death that he should be holding of it.
[22:15] Why did death lose its hold? Because our salvation demanded it. Look now at Acts chapter 13 and the words of Paul. Our salvation demanded that he come back up.
[22:37] Acts chapter 13, and I'll just start in, well, verse 32, he said, we declare unto you glad tidings. You know what those two words are? The gospel. Matter of fact, in verse 28, there's the death.
[22:50] Verse 29, he was laid in the sepulcher, the burial. In verse 30, the resurrection. Raised him from the dead. We declare unto you glad tidings. Those glad tidings, he then describes, and I'll skim through that, but come down to verse number 37, but he whom God raised again saw no corruption, be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.
[23:20] And by him, all that believe are justified from all things from which he could not be justified by the law of Moses. Jesus, our salvation demanded that he come back up.
[23:37] Death lost its hold because our salvation demanded it. Our justification, the word justification means to be declared righteous. To justify someone is to say that they're innocent.
[23:49] In the court of law, you either condemn them or you justify them. Guilty or not guilty. And for God to justify a sinner is him to declare that they're not guilty.
[24:01] And we all know that's not true. So how could God justify sinners? How could God declare that guilty sinners are righteous?
[24:14] Well, somebody had to pay for those sins to satisfy his wrath. And that one that paid had to come back up to complete it. else he's just one of us.
[24:26] But when he declared himself to be the son of God with power by the spirit of holiness, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, that settled it. He was raised for our justification.
[24:37] Look at Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter number 4. We read in Acts 13 that it was through this man and by him our justification is dependent upon his resurrection.
[25:00] Acts chapter 4. And I don't have time for the passage to lay it out. It's dealing with righteousness. Abraham in the very beginning believing God and being granted or imputed righteousness because of his faith.
[25:19] In verse 5, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. And he talks about David a minute here.
[25:30] He talks about Abraham. And come down to verse number 20. Romans 4 verse 20. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform.
[25:48] And therefore, it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead who delivered, who was delivered for our offenses, that's our sins, he died for our sins and was raised again for our justification.
[26:14] Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on to talk about Christ dying for the ungodly.
[26:25] He died in our place. Our salvation demanded that he's raised again. The sinless one, raised according to the spirit of holiness.
[26:37] our justification dependent upon his sinless life. And then our righteousness, or rather, his righteousness imputed to us.
[26:48] Because we know we didn't earn that. In Romans chapter 4, we see that he, if he didn't come up, if his bones are still in the ground, if just one bone was still in the ground, as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain.
[27:06] Ye are yet in your sins. That's why. Our salvation demanded that he come up. We're going to be judged in our sins if Christ didn't come back up.
[27:19] We're going to die in our sins if Christ didn't come back up. We're going to pay for those sins. We're going to hell. If you've sinned, you're going to hell.
[27:32] But up from the grave he arose. And there's one more verse I'd like to close with in Hebrews. If you can find Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7.
[27:52] There's four reasons this morning why death lost its hold. Why it was not possible that he should be holding of it because the Father devised it.
[28:04] You're not going to be able to go against what God devised. The scriptures decreed it. The scriptures cannot be broken. His sinlessness deserved it. And our salvation demanded it.
[28:16] In Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25 the Bible speaks of Christ. speaking that he's a high priest forever.
[28:28] And he says that wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
[28:45] The Lord Jesus Christ is able to save. There's a reason why because he's alive seeing he ever liveth. If he weren't alive he couldn't save you.
[28:57] If he didn't come back up he's still down there. The Bible says that his soul was in hell. But that will not leave my soul in hell was the prophecy.
[29:11] And he didn't allow his Holy One to see corruption. Jesus Christ is able to save. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2 verse 4 that God will have all men to be saved.
[29:25] That he's not willing that any should perish. And so God made a way. He devised a plan before the world began to redeem fallen man.
[29:36] He devised something. He proclaimed it in the scriptures. The Lord Jesus Christ did his part. And now the salvation that he offers is available to all.
[29:48] And it's available to you this morning. God's interested in saving souls. Christ deserves your soul. He bled. He paid for your sins.
[29:58] He deserves you. But will you receive him? God made a way through the death the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
[30:09] He devised that plan put it in motion and Christ finished the work and now offers the free gift of eternal life to whosoever will. Will you?
[30:20] Have you? Are you sitting here today thinking to yourself this is Easter this is church Jesus is alive yeah yada yada yada but have you received the free gift of eternal life?
[30:35] The Bible says the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. I told you earlier I quoted this in 1 Peter that Christ hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that's you and me the unjust.
[30:50] Why did he do that? That he might bring us to God. That he might bring us to God. The Bible says here in Hebrews 7 that he's able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.
[31:06] Have you come to the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation this morning? Have you been born again by the Spirit of God? The new birth is available to you.
[31:19] You say well why why why what's that all about? It's easy because you're a sinner because you've sinned and you've fallen short according to the scriptures you've fallen short of the glory of God.
[31:32] It's like putting a step ladder an extension ladder to try to work your way and earn your way to heaven and it just keeps falling short. You just set it up every time and it can't reach. The best you do the hardest you work it still can't reach.
[31:46] You're a sinner. You fall short of the glory of God but Jesus Christ made a way to bring you to God because he was sinless and he paid for your sins by his death burial and resurrection proved that he was the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness.
[32:03] Do you see that this morning? My question to you as we closed is are you saved? Have you received the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord?
[32:15] It's available. It's offered. The Bible says that now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. You don't have to walk out of these doors on your way to hell.
[32:28] You came in here on your way to hell you can leave on your way to heaven. It's that easy. You can trust Jesus Christ. Let's bow our heads together. In a moment we'll be dismissed.
[32:39] We'll have a moment where we'll sing a hymn but before we get to that there's some people here that I don't know. There's some that I've never met and beyond that those that I have met I don't know your soul.
[32:52] I only know your smile. I only know your face but I don't know your heart. And I wonder this morning do you know that you know God?
[33:04] Do you know that you have received the gift of eternal life? 1 John 5 and verse 13 the Bible says that you can know that you have eternal life.
[33:18] If there's anybody in here that sits here and says you know you're talking about this stuff and it's making me a little nervous. I'm thinking about my soul. I'm thinking about heaven and hell and I'm a little bit nervous because I'm not perfectly sure.
[33:35] Well my question to you then is well what are you trusting in? Are you trusting in a church? Are you trusting in a religion? Are you trusting in something you said or did or the way you feel?
[33:48] Or are you trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ to cover your sins having received the gift that he offers you the Bible says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved?
[34:04] It takes one sinner to make a call to the Lord Jesus Christ to get salvation. Are you that sinner this morning? Do you want to know where you go when you die?
[34:17] You can know. I'm not going to carry this on any farther. What I'm going to do is extend an invitation to you that before you walk out the doors of this place if God's dealing with your heart please please seek me out and let's just sit down and talk about it with an open Bible and all I want to do is take you through the scriptures which you can trust and try to lead you to a saving knowledge and how you can know for sure you go to heaven when you die.
[34:49] I won't try to trick you. I won't try to get you to join our church. I won't try to get you to give an offering. I'm after your soul. If you're not sure you're saved please don't leave today on your way to hell because you'll find yourself there one day.
[35:06] Today's a great day to get it taken care of. Father I pray that you'll deal with the souls of men and women here today. God I don't normally go after them this way so I pray that you'll that you'll move and Lord give courage and make it plain let them see they need Christ.
[35:24] If someone's lost here today God I pray that you'll do your part in convicting them of sin. Convince them that Christ can save them and show them that they need Calvary that they need the blood of Christ to cover their sins and help them to do what they need to do today.
[35:39] Let's stand together and let's sing a song verse 252 in the hymnal. Let's stand 252. Lord give you rest by trusting in his word only trusting only trusting only trust him now he will say the Lord let's not nothing in my word tanto nothing him but
[36:47] I am Bana knows you and me