[0:00] Welcome to our service this morning, especially welcome to any who may be visiting with us.
[0:12] As we come before God in worship, we pray his blessing upon his word to us this morning. We're going to begin by singing to God's praise from Psalm 85.
[0:25] Psalm 85, and at the beginning, down to verse 8.
[1:25] And so on.
[1:45] We can sing these verses to God's praise. Psalm 85, from the beginning. O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land.
[1:56] O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land.
[2:14] Till those captivity thou hast, Reconfort mighty hand.
[2:29] Thou part of thy people hast. All their iniquities.
[2:45] Thou all their drift and stiffnesses. Has covered from thine eyes.
[3:01] Thou to so on, thine eyes. Thou art of earth. Thou art of beauty is this.
[3:17] Turn us, God of love, and that cause thy crown gives us to you.
[3:31] To see. Child, thy dispwestered, lost and truth, Thou art of strength of gent.
[3:45] Thou art of strength of gent. Beth, thou be sovereign with us, Thou art of strength of virtue. Nichol 캐�, spend your유 when the gospel主 stands in only 응.
[3:56] As shall exist, malㅏ That my own understanding of Your grace for that word. Thy unto denen and judgment of TD, May God of�� down the advice for that word. That their depend on within that word.
[4:08] Thou art of strength or divine nation. Thou art of strength and unity singed by them. Thou art of anger may let thee amongst thy favorite yoga'sいきます. Where cloud or dust revive Show us thy edge in awe to us To thy salvation give I am here for God the Lord will seek To his hope his repish And to his chains but let them not Return to foolishness
[5:13] Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord, O God, as we gather in your presence at this morning hour we give thanks that we can do so Knowing that wherever we are we are in the presence of God We are in the sight of God We are before the holy, all-seeing eye Of the God with whom we have to do And while it may satisfy some to believe that They can be in a place of their own appointing And meet God there That you have ordained
[6:15] That there is appropriate and suitable Gathering places for the host of God to be met Those who bear your name And who are entreated to be found At the throne of grace There are places There are places appointed to us That are specifically for ourselves The secret place The place where we are to be alone with God The place that we often find mentioned In the scriptures With regard to the Lord Jesus That he separated himself From his brethren, the disciples And went to be alone with his heavenly father
[7:18] And there conduct a business That his soul, as the God-man Required to be dealt with But while that is set before us In your word It is also a truth Regarding this place As a place that was established By our forefathers As a place where public ordinances Should be fulfilled And it is our opportunity To meet with others Engaged in This Most important Of activities Worshipping God Collectively Opening The truth That bears your name Reading that truth In the company of others
[8:19] Praying to God With and for others Hearing What you have to say From your word To us As individuals And indeed collectively We give thanks For this opportunity We give thanks For this place That we have met If we go back Far enough Into The past We may find That there is a record Of God's people Having to meet Somewhere else Perhaps out in the open Perhaps in Places that were Unsuitable For The Conduct of Public worship And yet They delighted To do so They rejoiced To go Within God's house
[9:20] Within the courts Of God's house Even though That meant for them To be Taking Shelter In the open In a suitable Place For that Purpose But we have Much That they Did not Have We have The comforts Of this Building We have The opportunity To hear Your word Spoken In relative Ease And We have Much To be Thankful For And Do not Allow us To neglect That When we Think of Places in The world Even Today When your People Are Struggling To find The wherewithal By which To To erect Buildings That Would Shelter Them From The sun Or the Wind And the Rain Or the Cold Things That we Take for
[10:20] Granted And yet Others Who are Of your People Oh Brothers And sisters In the Lord If we Are Indeed Of the Lord That we Have much That they Would Crave Even The things That are That are Even a Shadow Of what We have We bless You and Thank you For what We have And we Pray that When the Day comes When we Must give Account for How we Have Used Our Resources That we Would Not be Found Guilty Of Abuse Or Of Taking For Granted Things That That we Have no Right To Most Particularly When it Comes to The gospel A gospel That we Have heard From our Childhood Many Of us If not All of Us A gospel
[11:22] That invited Us Entreated Us To To seek The lord While he is To be found To call Upon you While you Are near We bless You and Thank you That you Encouraged Us Who were Wicked By nature To forsake Our ways And to Seek The lord Who would Show mercy And abundantly Pardon We bless you And thank you For every Soul that Availed Themselves Of that Invitation And Accepted The christ Of the gospel As a saviour Suitable to Their needs We pray That Everyone Would Know That the Day Will come While they Whatever regrets They may have About what they Have done Or not done In this world This will be One thing That they Will not Regret That they Are numbered
[12:22] Amongst Your people And that They Showed Themselves To be Of that Number That they Did not Hide Their Lamp But Their Bushel That they Did not Pretend To be Something That they Were not We pray Lord That you Would Press Their Witness Here In the Sinsic World And that Those who Are living Epistles Read of All men Would show Themselves to Be those In whom God has Worked And who Have Christ As their Loving Redeemer We pray We pray For those Who Have Yet To Close In With That Christ We Ask Lord That you Would Show Mercy To Them And Draw Them To Yourself Through The Gospel May The Spirit Of the Most High God Be Poured Out Upon Us Not That We Deserve Any Of These Mercies But That Nevertheless We Would Not Tire Of
[13:23] Seeking The Blessing Of God Upon Your Word That It Will Not Return Unto The Void As Something That We Have Promised In Your Word It Will Not Return Empty But It Will Fulfill That Which You Have Purposed For It We Pray For All Who Have Heard The Christ Of God Speaking Through His Word That They May Hear The Voice Of Him Who Speaks We Remember Those Amongst Us Who May Have Heavy Hearts Today Because Of Griefs And Sadnesses That Have Assailed Them Most Likely Unexpectedly Even Those Who Have Achieved Old Age When The Time Of Death Comes The Suddenness Of Death Is Something That We Have Difficulty In Engaging With One Moment There Is Life The Next There Is Not For
[14:23] Those Who Are In Christ Sudden Death Means Sudden Glory We Bless You And Thank You For That Promise That Even In The Griefs And The Sorrows And The Sadness Of Death There Is This Comfort And Consolation To Your People Who Know That To Be With The Lord Is Those Who Have To Deal With The Situation That Is There When Loved Ones Are Taken From Us Even When We Have No Certainty About Their Eternal Destiny Sanctify Such Thoughts To Us That We May Turn To Christ In Our Sorrow And Yield Our Brokenness To Him Who Is Able To Bind The Wounds And To Heal The Hurd We Pray Lord For A Day Of Power Even In These Things So We Remember The Families And The Homes That We Know Of That Are Today Mourning
[15:24] And Sorrowful In Our Villages In Our Towns In Our Cities Even Some That We Know Many That We Do Not We Pray For Healing For The Sick We Pray For The We For The Elderly To Be Catered For By Others Who Have A Heart For Their Need Bless Those Hospitalised Those In Care Homes Those Even On The Brink Of Death Who Are Terminally Ill We Bless You For Those Who Have A Heart For The Sick To Pray To And Pray To Encourage Them In Their Labours In A Day Where There Are So Many Trials And Difficulties Assailing Us When There There Is So There Is So Much Discouragement Even Amongst Those Who Belonged To The Caring Professions We Pray For Those Who Have Difficulty With The Regards To The Challenges The Financial Climate Brings To Bear Upon
[16:24] All Our Homes And Households We Would Ask Lord For Guidance And For Patience And For Wisdom Even Given To Those Who Are Governing Us When We Hear What They Have To Say That Is So Devied Of The Wisdom Of God So Empty Of True Wisdom And True Intelligent Understanding Of What Brings About The Plight Of Man In Our Generation And In All Generations Think Of Our Nation And We Pray For The Parliaments That Are Representative Of The People Grant To Them The Power To Govern In The Sight Of God And The Fear Of God Reigning Within Their Hearts We Pray Lord Your Blessing Upon The Truth That Is Able To Set Us Free Whatever It Is Brought To Bear Upon The Minds And The Hearts Of Men And Women Of
[17:24] All Ages May It Be So Remember Troubled Parts Of The World We We We We We Pray Lord For Peace To Reign You Are The God Of Peace You Have The Sovereign Authority To Hold Out The Rod Of Thy Kingship Over The Dominions Of The Earth Those Who Think That They Have Power Vested In Them But Puny Straws In The Wind As If They Have Power And God Has None And Yet The Truth Is They Have None And God Is All Power We Pray For An Understanding Of That So Bless Us Together Today Bless Our Homes Our Families Bless The Young Amongst Us The Elderly Amongst Us Every Family Represented And Many That Are Not Pour Out
[18:24] Your Spirit As We Said Upon Us To The Glory Of Your Great Name Cleanse From Sin In Jesus Name We Would Ask It Amen We're Going To Hear The Word Of God As We Have It In The Book Of Acts The Acts Of The Apostles And Chapter 2 And We're Going To Read Part Of This Chapter Beginning Of The Chapter Describes The Events That Took Place On The Day Of Pentecost When The Spirit Of God Was Poured Out Following The Death And Resurrection Of Christ We're Taking Up The Reading At Verse 14 Where Peter Begins To Speak To The People But Peter Standing Up With The Eleven Lifted Up His Voice And Said Unto Them Ye
[19:25] Men Of Judea And All Ye That Dwell At Jerusalem Be This Known Unto You And Hearken To My Words For These Are Not Drunken As Ye Suppose Seeing It Is But The Third Hour Of The Day But This Is That Which Was Spoken By The Prophet Joel And It Shall Come To Pass In The Last Day Said God I Will Pour Out Of My Spirit Upon All Flesh And Your Sons And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy And Your Young Men Shall See Visions And Your Old Men Shall Dream Dreams And On My Servants And On My Handmaidens I Will Pour Out In Those Days Of My Spirit And They Shall Prophesy And I Will Show Wonders In Heaven Above Signs In The Earth Beneath Blood And Fire And Vapor Of Smoke The Sun Shall Be Turned
[20:25] Into Darkness And The Moon Into Blood Before That Great And Notable Day Of The Lord Come And It Shall Come To Pass That Whosoever Shall Call On The Name Of The Lord Shall Be Saved Ye Men Of Israel Hear These Words 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 Is So The Because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
[21:23] For David speaketh concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before my face. For he is on my right hand that I should not be moved.
[21:35] 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.
[21:47] Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
[22:00] Men and brethren let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. That he is both dead and buried and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
[22:12] 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.
[22:26] He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ. That his soul was not left in hell. Neither his flesh did see corruption.
[22:37] This Jesus hath God raised up whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost.
[22:53] He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens. But he saith himself the Lord said unto my Lord.
[23:06] Sit thou on my right hand. Until I make thy foes thy footstone. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly.
[23:17] That God hath made that same Jesus. Whom ye have crucified. Both Lord and Christ. And so on down.
[23:28] May the Lord utter his blessing. To a reading of his word. And to his name be the praise. I'm going to sing verses now from Psalm 96.
[23:41] Psalm 96. From verse 4 to 9. For great's the Lord. And greatly he is to be magnified.
[23:54] Be worthy to be feared is he above all gods beside. For all the gods are idols dumb. Which blinded nations fear.
[24:05] But our God is the Lord. By whom the heavens created were. Great honour is before his face and majesty divine. Strength is within his holy place.
[24:18] And there doth beauty shine. Do ye ascribe unto the Lord of people every tribe. Glory do ye unto the Lord. And mighty power ascribe.
[24:31] Give ye the glory to the Lord that to his name is due. Come ye into his courts. And bring an offering with you. In beauty of his holiness.
[24:41] O do the Lord adore. Likewise let all the earth throughout tremble his face before. And so on. Psalm 96.
[24:54] From verse 4 to 9. To God's praise. For great's the Lord. And greatly he is to be magnified. For great's the Lord.
[25:08] And greatly he is to be magnified. This wasолжήσing as a dawn.
[25:38] O Son, with blinded nations here. But the Lord is the Lord by whom the heavens created where.
[25:59] Great your nervousness before the space and majesty divine.
[26:13] Let His within His holy place and their beauty shine.
[26:27] To give us life unto the Lord of people every time.
[26:42] To give us life unto the Lord of people every time. Glory to Thee unto the Lord of mighty power of strength.
[26:55] Give ye the glory to the Lord and to His name is true.
[27:10] Come ye into His course and bring and offer Him with you.
[27:23] In beauty of this holiness, O to the Lord adore.
[27:37] Likewise let all the earth throughout travel this fish be poor.
[27:51] So we now turn to the passage that we were reading together from the New Testament Scriptures and the book of the Acts of the Apostles.
[28:09] Acts chapter 2 and we can read it verse 21. Acts chapter 2 reading verse 21.
[28:23] And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Many who study the scriptures will have a favorite Bible perhaps that they use for their study.
[28:58] Many of our Bibles will have helpful chapter headings which describe to us the contents of these chapters.
[29:13] Some will even have paragraph headings that help us in our reading to understand what the content of the passage may be.
[29:26] This passage here, if you have a Bible of that description, will possibly mention the fact that in this chapter we have the teaching concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit.
[29:45] The pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost being fulfilled. Or Pentecost and the Holy Spirit's coming brought together.
[30:02] The preaching of Peter is highlighted. Or the sermon that Peter preaches. Pentecost. And all of these headings are helpful.
[30:14] And they highlight the main points. But they are not the whole picture. They don't tell us everything about this most important portion of scripture.
[30:29] The passage that we are looking at. The text that we are focusing in on today is actually a quotation. It is part of the Old Testament scriptures.
[30:44] And Peter, when he preaches, refers to the words of prophecy that are recorded for us in the Old Testament. And that foreign part of the prophetic words of Joel, the prophet.
[31:04] And not only is Peter quoting the words. He is quoting these words in a very meaningful context.
[31:17] He is... He is... He is... We probably... I mean, I have to say, when I was looking at this passage and reflecting on what these words mean, I didn't really...
[31:36] You tend to look at the words themselves and the meaning of the words, which is important. Well, it's no doubt. We want to get to the heart of what is being said, what these words actually mean.
[31:51] But it's so easy for us to overlook the historical context where Peter was actually referring to these words.
[32:03] It was a very short time after the death and the crucifixion of Christ. Or the crucifixion and death of Christ and his resurrection from the dead.
[32:17] Just a few days after all of these events took place. And if we know the gospel, we know what was going on in the life of Peter leading up to the death of Christ on the cross.
[32:32] And his experience coming to the cross with Christ. And his own miserable failings and failures as a witness to who Christ was.
[32:47] He was somebody who had to deal with his own, more than likely, self-recrimination.
[32:58] And deal with it as an individual who had got things sorely wrong. And yet, all of these things were part of Peter's experience to the good.
[33:11] So that when he preaches, when he speaks, he speaks as somebody who is an eyewitness to the death of Christ. Who understands better than most what that involved.
[33:25] Peter, who understood the words of prophecy interpreted by Christ. Applied to himself in his life and in his death.
[33:36] Peter had a first-hand knowledge of that. He had an understanding of what the scripture meant. And here he is, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[33:50] And preaching it as one who was seeing the fulfillment of God's word. Not just in the experience of Christ, but what was a consequent aftermath of that.
[34:07] The fact that Jesus died on the cross was something that needed to happen. And once that happened, what Peter was seeing happening, what they were seeing happening, he was able to understand and apply to those who were before him.
[34:30] So, the events of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit, the cloven tongues, the babble of voices that were speaking their own tongues, and yet every person able to understand what the other was saying.
[34:48] All of these things. Peter knew that the scripture had spoken of these things. And now he was able to say, I understand why this is.
[35:00] I understand what is actually happening here. This is something that had to follow the death and resurrection of Christ.
[35:14] And I think that's the very first thing we have to take on board when we read these words. It shall come to pass that all of these things, including the pouring out of the Spirit, is something that God had ordained from the first and declared openly in his word.
[35:40] And Peter was somebody who was not depending upon hearsay evidence. He knew for himself what the death of Christ was.
[35:50] He knew for himself what the death of Christ involved. He knew for himself what it was for the Spirit to be poured out. Because there he was, on that very day when the Spirit of God was being poured out upon this world.
[36:05] And seeing all the events that surrounded that, he was able to say, like nobody else could perhaps, I know what this is meaning. I know what it means.
[36:17] I know what I'm seeing, what I'm feeling. And I need to expound it. I need to explain it. I need to apply it. So that everyone who is a participant in this, everyone who is an eyewitness of this, will understand what is going on.
[36:39] What we have is a contemporary account of somebody who has seen the Scripture being fulfilled. That's not unique, of course.
[36:49] It's not unique in the sense that when the Word of God is proclaimed through the preaching and the teaching of the Old Testament prophets, that when that comes to pass, when that comes to be experienced, there are many who have actually experienced it.
[37:10] There are many who have seen God's Word come to fruition in their own experience. Perhaps they are not as able to understand at the moment of experience what is happening.
[37:29] You see it in the life of the disciples. You know, God spoke to the disciples through the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God, through Christ, spoke to them directly and said, this is what you're going to experience.
[37:45] This is what's going to happen. And they nodded their heads and they acquiesced and they said, yes, we believe that will be the case. But when it actually happened, they were not in a position to realize that what they were seeing and experiencing was what Christ had told them would happen.
[38:08] But shortly after that, it was as if the penny dropped and they were able to see for themselves. This is what Christ meant.
[38:20] This is what Christ was telling us was going to happen. Now, Peter here is someone who is uniquely positioned as a person who has first-hand experience of all that the death of Christ involved, the sufferings that he endured, the torments of his body and so on.
[38:46] And the aftermath of that, he is also able to explain and describe. But what I want you to understand is when you read these words, that Peter is thinking of the word of God and the prophetic power of that word, the truth that it contains.
[39:12] And I think it's more important than ever for every one of us to believe God's word as the truth of God, to hold on to the veracity of the scripture as something that is undeniable, something that we cannot allow to be eroded, not by any circumstance, not by any experience, not by any wisdom of any generation or age, because God's word is a living word.
[39:50] And what he says, whether we understand it at the present or not, whether we are able to use our puny intellect to grasp the significance of the truth that this word contains or not, because we have a trust in God's word as the only word that God has given to us by which we are to worship him, by which we are to understand what he has to say to us, that we can go on in our lives trusting in this world, trusting in this world, in this world, more than we can trust in anything else.
[40:37] You can detect from Peter's words that very fact. But all the apostles are in the same boat.
[40:49] The veracity and the truth that is before him and that he brings to the attention of others is something that he is willing to declare, regardless of how he himself has at times well, flown in the face of what that word was, even when Christ spoke.
[41:15] You know, in the book of Acts, you go on. One thing that you are constantly reminded of is the trust that Peter and the apostles have in God's word.
[41:30] You know, when Peter preaches again, when he meets Cornelius, the centurion, and Peter is brought to preach there, if you read on in that chapter, chapter 10, he brings God's word to the attention of the hearer as something that he trusts in and believes in without a shadow of doubt.
[42:06] Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons. But in every nation, he that feareth them and worketh righteousness is accepted with them.
[42:21] The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.
[42:49] For God was witness, God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree.
[43:01] Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
[43:15] He commanded us to preach unto the people, to testify, that is, that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead, to him give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.
[43:37] So on. In that section, that same truth is brought to our attention. Not just do we have somebody that we know had prior knowledge of Jesus, who walked with Jesus, who knew who Jesus was, who knew what Jesus did, who was in his company, who heard what Jesus had to say, and who was with him to the cross, and who saw him after he rose from the dead.
[44:10] All of these things, Peter is able to speak of. But, along that, alongside that, with the same conviction, with the more than certainty that God's word had said all of these things, and all that Peter was seeing and experiencing, was the things that the scripture said concerning Jesus.
[44:36] Jesus, they were just God's words coming to fruition, coming to fulfilment. The person of which the word of God spoke is the person that Peter knew to be Jesus Christ.
[44:52] Christ. And through what Jesus Christ had done, the word of God was brought home to him with greater power, because it was putting flesh, as it were, on the bones.
[45:09] I want to emphasise that very first thing, before we even think of what the scripture is saying to us, because it is what the scripture is saying to us that I want us to think about.
[45:22] But you have to look at what the scripture is saying, as those who understand that God's word is meant to be believed, God's word is meant to be understood, God's word is something that God has given to you to help you understand what he means you to understand.
[45:43] And every one of us need to have this confidence in the word of God, because we live in a world where that confidence is being undermined daily.
[45:59] God's word is being dismissed. God himself is being dismissed. Christians proclaim their affinity to Christ and yet his word is undermined by what they say, because they pick and choose what they want to believe in from God's word.
[46:21] If it doesn't appeal to them, they just despise it, they deny it and say, well, we don't really think God's word means this. We cannot afford to treat God's word like that.
[46:36] And nothing proves the truth of God's word like what he has to say concerning his son, because his word is about his son. Why this world needs Christ?
[46:50] What Christ was to be to the world? What Christ was to do for the world? What Christ is yet to do to the world? God's word tells us that.
[47:01] And if we don't believe that, then we will suffer because of it. Put simply, the day of Christ, the passion of Christ, is something the scripture sets before us.
[47:22] And Peter knows these things to be true. Not simply on the basis of his own personal experience, although that is undeniably the case.
[47:36] We live in a generation where we are exposed to falsity, fake news. We are constantly reminded of the fact that if we have faith, faith, then we are gullible.
[47:57] If we believe the word of God, then we are weak-minded. If we believe the scripture, then we are treated as if we are half-wits.
[48:10] Why would we want to believe a word that was written, composed over 2,000 years ago? I'll tell you why.
[48:22] Because it is the word of God. It is the word of God to you and to me and it speaks of God's purposes for this world. What he has done, what he is doing, and what he will yet do.
[48:39] And if you treat God's word and despise God's word as if it is despicable, which is what many do, then you will suffer accordingly.
[48:54] Peter, for one thing, knows that the occasion on which he preaches this sermon is the day that the scripture had actually proclaimed would happen.
[49:09] The day of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. this is what he is seeing, this is when he is preaching, this is the people that he is speaking to, people from all over, not Jews, but Jews and Gentiles, not young, but young and old.
[49:30] All Cretes and cultures that are present in the area at that time, they are eyewitnesses and experiencing the pouring out of God's Spirit. The list is there for you, Medes and Parthians, people who have come from all over or whatever reason and they are all experiencing the effects of Christ's death on the cross and the consequences of it.
[49:58] And that is how Peter is able to follow that on with something that the prophet Joel said concerning the gospel.
[50:08] these are things that will happen once the gospel is being preached. Once the Christ of God has endured his sufferings and risen from the dead and gone up into glory as David of old said he would do, sitting on the right hand of glory, then he will pour out his Spirit on this world and the gospel that is preached will be heard and will be believed.
[50:41] And for those who will hear and believe, this is what will be true. Whosoever, he says, shall believe, shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.
[50:58] Now culturally, we are trained to be suspicious. we are often told, with good reason, if it sounds too good to be true, then it very probably is.
[51:15] Because we live in a world where there are so many who are engaged in vile activities designed to take advantage of the vulnerable.
[51:31] people. And very often they do so by suggesting that there is something to be gained by doing whatever it is that they are inviting them to do.
[51:44] But the fact of the matter is what Peter is saying here is simple but true. And he is saying, I think this is a wonderful word, it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
[52:09] Whosoever, fix your mind on that. Who do you find in that whosoever? Is there anybody excluded from that?
[52:22] Are you excluded from that? That whosoever is all embracing. It doesn't matter if you're old or if you're young. It doesn't matter if you're black or if you're white.
[52:34] It doesn't matter what creed or culture that you're brought up in. You are in this whosoever because if the gospel comes to whosoever, then the gospel gives the person to whom the gospel comes, the opportunity to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
[52:57] And that's what the gospel is saying. It means exactly what it says. Any person who comes as a result of the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, when the day of Christ is come, that they are assured in their coming that they are experiencing salvation.
[53:24] C.H. Spurgeon was preaching one of his many sermons on the gospel, well, gospel addresses, and he was preaching on the message of the words of Jesus Christ himself.
[53:41] And Jesus says plainly, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. God. And Spurgeon said, if any person comes to Christ, they are assured that he will receive them.
[54:06] If any person comes to Christ, he will receive that person. And Spurgeon says, Christ will not reject a believer the first time he comes nor the last time he comes because he promises that by coming they will be received.
[54:30] And how often have we had this conversation going on in our own heads and in our hearts and we say, oh, but, and that word, but, but if I sin, he will not receive me.
[54:45] does he say that? What has he come to save but sinners? You don't stop being a sinner the moment you close in with Christ by faith of God had wanted it to be so, it would have been so.
[55:05] But it isn't like that. We are taught of the Lord, no doubt, when we come, our ear is opened and we hear what God says and we learn what God wants us to be and to do and how we are to behave and so on.
[55:25] But Christ does not say, once you are that person whose ear is opened and who behaves accordingly, then you will be received.
[55:36] That's not what he is saying. What Spurgeon is saying is, if any man sins, he has an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.
[55:55] It's not just Spurgeon that says that, it's the Bible, it's the scripture. There's an answer, there's a remedy, there's a preparation for the sinner in Christ Jesus.
[56:07] You can go to him with your sin, you can confess your sin, you seek grace from him, to deal with your sin, but as a sinner, by coming to Christ.
[56:18] And the devil will keep you from coming to Christ, even by saying, you can't come because you're a sinner, but it's because you're a sinner that you have to come.
[56:31] He was always like that, twisting words from the very first experience of sin in the world. that's what he did, he turned the words of God back to front.
[56:44] The words of God to you come, and Christ will receive you. And he'll receive you because as a sinner, you need Christ, you need salvation, you need to be dealt with as a sinner.
[56:56] And yet, we often question that very thing. Go through it in your own mind, if you will. it shall come to pass that whosoever, it doesn't matter who that person is.
[57:14] Is that not what is spoken of here? Whosoever that person is who calls upon the name of Christ, the name of the Lord.
[57:28] Surely, that is what calling on the name of the Lord is. it is the first act of a believer to call on the name of the Lord.
[57:40] Because as an unbeliever, you don't call on the name of the Lord. You may go through the motions and you may say, well, you created this image of God.
[57:54] And this is the God that you pray to. This is the God who is a fabric of your own imagination. And you very creative. And so this world is full of these creations of God.
[58:09] A God who is nothing like the God of the Scripture. But to call upon the name of the Lord as the Scripture describes him to us, this assurance of salvation.
[58:24] Paul, when he writes his epistle to the Romans, says the following in chapter 10. What?
[58:39] He's asking a question. What does the word of God say? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.
[58:50] That is the word of faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
[59:03] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
[59:18] You believe what God's word says about Christ Jesus, who he was, what he was, what he came to do. You don't need to be a theologian.
[59:30] You don't need to have a degree in any kind of theological truth. You believe what the word of God says concerning Christ.
[59:44] And it doesn't matter who you are. If you're a sinner, sinner, you can believe in Jesus Christ.
[59:57] It doesn't matter what kind of sinner. In the words of Isaiah, if you're a crimson sinner, or a scarlet sinner, or a black as the ace of spade sinner, that's the sinner that Christ came into the world to save.
[60:18] and by coming to him because of your sin, you are assured of salvation. Only Christ is able to deal with my sin, with your sin.
[60:35] However many they are, or whatever colour they are, God's remedy for sin is in Christ Jesus. If you go and read, you find the sermon that Peter preaches here.
[60:55] The first epistle, the second epistle, and one thing that Peter is convinced of, and no one needed to be convinced of this more than Peter, because probably no one felt the burden of sin like Peter, the burden of his own sin.
[61:14] Paul says that he was the chief of sinners. And why does he say he was the chief of sinners? Because of one sin in particular that he was burdened with, and that was the sin that he was guilty of in crucifying the Christ of God of flesh.
[61:34] He set about dealing with the church of Christ in a terrible way, and that sin burdened, Paul, no doubt.
[61:47] And our opinions as to what the chief of sin, sinners, what his sin was, but Peter was no different. You go to him, and where does he find his sin?
[61:58] He finds his sin in the body of Christ on the cross of Calvary. He finds his sin in the person who was crucified and slain as the Lamb of God, who was to take away the sin of the world.
[62:14] That's where he finds his sin. That's where he has the strength and the conviction to tell others about him. Time is running, but one third, final thought we have here is all who look to Christ, all who come to Christ, all who believe in Christ, shall be saved.
[62:42] do you need a saviour today? Do you need a saviour? Well, the oldest Christian here needs a saviour.
[62:55] The fact that they believe in Christ, or that they came to faith in Christ 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, 50 years ago, has not meant that now they have come to the point in their life where salvation is no longer a matter for them, an issue for them.
[63:16] They know every single one who has come to know Christ as saviour knows that they cannot go on in this world without that saviour being part of their experience.
[63:31] salvation that he has to offer is all important and it is something that they go on with.
[63:43] And if the thought for a moment penetrates their heart that that saviour is no longer theirs, it is misery to them.
[63:54] It is dread to them. It is the greatest fear that overwhelms them the thought that Christ is no longer their saviour. But we know that's not the case.
[64:08] Think of it like this for a moment. Let's say you're swimming out in the bay there and you've been swimming for a while.
[64:20] Maybe you're a strong swimmer, but the moment that your head goes under the water, the moment that you feel yourself persuaded that you're drowning, that the water is overwhelming you and you are being sucked down to the depths.
[64:38] What do you say? You're crying out for somebody to pluck you out of the depths, to come and save you from the dread end that is awaiting you as a drowning soul.
[64:53] And when you feel a hand reach out to you and pull you out of that situation, oh, you praise that hand, you praise the possessor of that hand, you say thank you with all your heart, this person is someone who has saved you from that most gruesome end.
[65:16] Because you know, without that you would have perished. No sinner who has experienced the salvation that Christ has to offer will believe different.
[65:32] Christ the Saviour presents himself in such a way to the sinner. He saves. He saves the perishing.
[65:45] The church is riddled with men and women of many generations who have argued about this point and that point.
[65:59] They've fallen out over points of theology. They have disputes about what is right and what is wrong and we have churches, we have denominations, we have countless gissons and splits and what have you.
[66:17] people. But if a church is a church, there is one thing that they will not and cannot disbelieve and that is that Jesus Christ is in the world to save sinners and that he is the Saviour of sinners.
[66:41] he alone is that. No one else is and the scripture tells us that.
[66:54] In the book of Daniel we read that that prophet looks forward to this day of Christ.
[67:05] His language is apocalyptic, his language is deeply mysterious at times. but he says this is what Christ is going to do. He is going to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness.
[67:25] That's what the Saviour is going to do. Amongst other things Christ is God's answer to sin. And many reject that answer.
[67:40] Many reject God's provision. Many choose to live on as if in some way, somehow, they are going to survive life and they're going to experience death without that Saviour being their Saviour.
[67:59] Saviour. If you're one of them, you're mistaken. If you're one of them, you've got it wrong.
[68:14] It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. What are you saved from? You could answer that question in many ways. But one thing that many people, even within the church, don't talk about a lot and that is hell, for example.
[68:37] Don't talk about it because it's so gruesome, it's so difficult to reconcile our own human understanding with what it means to exist in a situation where the consequences of your not doing what God commands is going to be with you throughout eternity.
[69:05] And yet Christ is one who speaks most about hell and heaven. More than the apostles, Christ himself speaks about it.
[69:16] Max Lucado, a prolific Christian writer, makes reference to the fact of some of the words of Christ's teachings regarding hell.
[69:33] And he refers to the awfulness of the suffering that is caught up in the experience of hell.
[69:44] and this is what he says, herein lies the awful fruit of sin. The fruit of sin upon a godless life and those who live in a godless eternity.
[70:08] Christ keeps no secrets about him. There's a place of darkness, there's a fiery furnace, a place where the worm never dies, a place where the fire never goes out, a place of never-ending thirst that cannot be quenched.
[70:38] That is what Christ is saying to us. This is a consequence of our sin. This is what God has declared to be the consequence of our sin.
[70:53] As a saviour to the sinner, he ensures that that will never be in our experience. Yes, we are saved from hell and we are saved to be in heaven with him, to be like him, to be with his people, to enjoy the blessings that he alone can confer upon us.
[71:14] He's our saviour in all respects. The truth, the truth you need to believe in whosoever, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord.
[71:32] shall be saved. Are you crying out to that God today, to that Christ today, to have mercy on your soul, to have mercy on you by revealing Christ to you, by directing you so that you leave your all behind, the all upon which you depend for eternity, and look to him, to the salvation of your soul.
[72:03] Let us pray. Lord, help us to believe that there is but one Redeemer of the lost, even Christ the Lord. The scripture speaks to us of him repeatedly.
[72:18] May we see him as we have never seen him before, with the eye of faith. Be merciful to us in his name, cleanse from every sin. In the Lord Jesus' name we ask it.
[72:30] Amen. We're closing psalm with Psalm 106. We're singing from the beginning of the psalm.
[72:43] Psalm 106. Give praise and thanks unto the Lord, for beautiful is he, his tender mercy doth endure unto eternity, God's mighty works who can express, so show forth all his praise.
[73:00] Blessed are they that judgment keep and justly do always. Remember me, Lord, with that love which thou to thine dost bear, with thy salvation, O my God, to visit me, draw near, that I thy chosen's good may see, and in their joy rejoice, and may with thine inheritance triumph with cheerful voice.
[73:24] these verses give praise and thanks unto the Lord. Give praise and thanks to the Lord, to the Lord, Lord, but he James Bondi勝 will use to theDr.
[73:50] And the Mercy to have a этом And to eternity.
[74:06] God's mighty word to God's rest. God's hope for all His praise.
[74:22] Blessed are they. And judgment be.
[74:33] And justly do always. Remember me.
[74:45] Lord, with my love. With thy salvation.
[75:04] Oh, my God. To listen me. from here.
[75:16] That I thy chosen took his feet and did their joy rejoice and did provide in his hand triumph with cheerful voice.
[75:54] May grace, mercy and peace be God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all now and always. Amen.