[0:00] Well, that's welcome to our service this evening. We give thanks to God for this new opportunity to worship together and we trust that he will bless our time of worship to us. We extend a welcome to those who are joining us online and also a welcome to those who are visiting with us.
[0:13] I pray God's blessing to be on each individual person. We join together in the worship of God by singing to his praise from Psalm number 132 in the Scottish Psalter. It's on page 423 and we're singing at verse 11.
[0:29] Psalm 132 at verse 11 in the Scottish Psalter. The tune is Free Church. The Lord in truth to David swear he will not turn from it.
[0:41] I of thy body's fruit will make upon thy throne to sit. My covenant if thy sons will keep and laws to them may know that their children then shall also sit forever on thy throne.
[0:54] And so on and we stand to sing to God's praise from verse 11 to the end of the Psalm. The Lord in truth to David swear he will not turn from it.
[1:20] I know thy holy truth will make upon thy throne to sit.
[1:37] My covenant if thy sons will keep and laws to them may know that their children then shall also sit forever on.
[2:07] I know thy throne. For God's time hath made choice, Let me teach times to dwell.
[2:27] This is my quest, Here still I'll sing, For I do like it well.
[2:44] Our moon I'm gaining less, Our moon with red will satisfy.
[2:59] And praise and hope with help, Our saints shall shout for joyfully.
[3:16] And there will I make it victor To the poor blessed me.
[3:33] For him that my anointing, At love-boarding Thine.
[3:50] At with our garment I will go, Where shameless pain is told, And yet the crown that he hath wear, Abom him the rich child.
[4:25] Let's join together in prayer, Let's bow our heads in prayer. Almighty and most gracious God, Rejoice in this time of worship together.
[4:41] You command us to come to worship you. We desire to draw near to you, Not only in obedience to your command, But with the desire in our hearts, That you will come and meet with us.
[5:00] We rejoice in you as the God Who has promised to do so. And as we do worship you together this evening, We pray that this time of worship, And the whole of this day, Will be a time when our hearts are moved, Our lives are changed, New direction is given to us.
[5:23] And we truly sense that we are in the presence of God. We give thanks to you for every way in which You make yourself known to your people, In the pages of Scripture, In the story and the history of the people of God.
[5:40] We are thankful to you for every way in which You have blessed the hearts and lives of Those present here before you this evening. In times and seasons in life.
[5:52] When you draw near. When you make your name great in their hearts and lives. When you shine in the brightness of your light. And when you shine in the beauty of your Son, The Lord Jesus, our Saviour.
[6:08] We pray tonight that Our time of worship would be One such event and occasion. When we are drawn close to you. When our minds are enlightened.
[6:21] When our hearts are moved. And when we rediscover How precious your grace is. We discover how great your love is.
[6:32] And rediscover even something of the words That we are singing together. The choice that you make of your people. Your election of them.
[6:43] So that they choose you. Your love for them. So that they love you in return. Your delight in them. So that they delight in you. We pray you, O Lord our God.
[6:56] To give to us. That engagement of heart. In your presence this evening. So that joy may fill our hearts. Arising from a sense of. Our own nothingness and our undeservingness.
[7:09] And arising from the glory of your grace. Its magnitude. Its power and its influence. In the hearts and lives of sinners like ourselves.
[7:20] And help us so that. We would allow nothing to distract us from. Paying attention to. What you have to say to us.
[7:31] That the way between us and you would be clear. That all the lines of communion and communication. Would be cleared by you in such a way. That we would truly hear the.
[7:43] Good sound of the gospel. And that that good sound of the gospel. Would resonate in our hearts. And give to us. A sense of. Thankfulness before you.
[7:54] A new determination to. To follow you. And to give our lives to you. We give thanks to you. For all those who. Have followed you down through the years. So faithfully.
[8:05] We give thanks to you for. The perseverance of the saints. The encouragement that we have from. Knowing from your word. And from seeing the lives of your people.
[8:17] That you are the keeper of your people. That you are the guide of your people. And that at last you will. Bring them safely into your eternal home.
[8:28] We pray that you will bless. Any tonight who may be discouraged. Any tonight who may be struggling in their faith. Any tonight who may. Be conscious of darkness instead of light.
[8:40] Any tonight who may. Sense a coolness in their hearts. And brings to them. Its own anxiety. And longing to have the warmth of your grace and love.
[8:52] Draw near to every heart. We do pray. Speak into the hearts of all of your children. And be merciful and gracious. And shine upon them.
[9:03] We do pray. The psalmist prayed for. Your face to shine upon him. And we pray that every heart before you tonight. That loves your name. Would know what it is anew.
[9:16] To sense you turning around to them. And looking down upon them. In your loving care. And in your grace. And demonstrating to them. That they are precious in your sight.
[9:27] We pray a blessing for any tonight. Who may be far from you. Any tonight who. Have not yet tasted. The grace of God. In Jesus Christ.
[9:39] Any tonight who. May know the truth in their minds. But do not yet know the Lord Jesus in their hearts. We do pray for such. O Lord our God. Your word teaches us that.
[9:52] It is your spirit alone that brings life. In your heart. And we pray tonight for. The power of your Holy Spirit. To bring about that change in their hearts.
[10:03] So that their knowledge of your truth. Would descend into hearts. That are made willing to. Love you and to follow you. And so that lives may be transformed.
[10:15] By that saving power. Speak with power we do pray to each and every one of us. And may we sense the powerful influence. Of your Holy Spirit. With your word.
[10:26] As we worship you together. We pray for your blessing to be. Upon us in such a way. That having received your blessing. We may be ready to serve you.
[10:37] You sent your son into this world. To serve you. And you sent him into this world. In some ways to serve us. And you have called us now to.
[10:49] Follow his example. While we are sent to. Continue the work that he began. Give to us. Hearts that are full of. A desire to serve.
[11:00] To serve your name. In whatever capacity. That we are called so to do. And give to us such willing and loving hearts. That may be our joy. To show our love for you.
[11:12] By showing your love to others. And serving those around us. And those around us. In our congregation. Those around us. In our neighborhoods. Those around us. In our workplaces.
[11:23] May you bless and guide. And help us to be. The servants of Jesus Christ. Showing forth your praises. And your glory. And your mercy. We pray for your blessing.
[11:35] To be upon all the activities. Of the congregation. That your hand would be upon. All areas of work. Of witness. And of service. We give thanks to you. For the youth fellowship.
[11:46] We pray for your blessing. To be upon them. As they meet together. This evening. May you bless to them. The truth that is brought before them. The teaching of your word. And every way. In which the gospel is.
[11:57] Presented to them. May their young minds. Be edified. And molded. And shaped by you. And may they know the. Truth that gives freedom. And may they know the truth.
[12:08] That gives order. And organization. And structure to life. And may they. Learn to live by faith. On Jesus Christ. Who loved them. And gave himself.
[12:19] For them. Bless all. Our homes and families. Bless those. Who are laid aside. In illness. Bless those. Who are frail. And weak. Bless those. Who may be seriously ill.
[12:30] Bless those. Who mourn and grieve. We pray your comforting presence. For each and. Every one of these. And all of their individual situations. May the spirit of the Lord. Be near to them.
[12:41] May you give health. May you give health. Whether that is in accordance. With your will. And may you give grace. In the midst of every. Kind of affliction. That your people may. Grow closer to you.
[12:52] Even in times of trial. And in times of. Illness. And in times of. Affliction. We pray your blessing. To be upon us. As a congregation. Of your people. These days of vacancy.
[13:04] We continue. To look to you. To pray to you. To guide. And to lead. For the spirit of the Lord. To be upon us. In our prayers. Reaching out to you. And for sensing.
[13:16] Your guiding. Your steering presence. In hand. To lead us. To the person. Of your choosing. And of your appointing. And praying. That you will do so. Through the prayers. Of your people.
[13:27] And giving each. And everyone. A sense of dependence. Upon you. And being encouraged. And you making yourself. Known. To the minds. Who are praying.
[13:38] Before you. So guide us. And provide for us. Bless all of our. Connegations. Bless our wider. Island community. We pray blessing. To be upon each. Of our connegations. This evening.
[13:49] And every parish. In which the gospel. Is preached. We pray for our nation. And for our land. We pray for our parliaments. We pray blessing. To be upon all those. In positions of authority. We ask. That you will.
[14:00] Bless them. And give to them. Your fear in their hearts. That they may be. An influence. For good. Bless the wider world. In which you live. We pray blessing. To be upon. Every corner of it.
[14:11] In its needs. In its brokenness. In its conflicts. In its wars. And in strife. We pray that you will. Have a mercy. We do give thanks to you. For the breakthrough. In the Middle East. And I pray that you will.
[14:22] Establish that. Peace. That may be lasting. For the good. Of that area. Of all those. Who live in it. And who have suffered much. We pray a blessing. To be on those. Who are.
[14:33] In authority. And who are. In the midst of all of these. Deliberations. May you. Guide them. In the way. You. Throughly establish. A peace. That will.
[14:44] Be for the well-being. Of that part of the world. In the days. To come. In all of these nations. And across the nations. Of the earth. We pray you. To bless. And to show that. Your kingdom is coming.
[14:55] That you are indeed. Present in this world. And that you are building. Your church. Encourage your people. Every group. We pray. In the midst of all. Discouragements. We pray a blessing. To be upon us now.
[15:06] Before you. Guide us. Lead us. Protect us. Guard us from anything. And what distract us. We do pray. And give us peace. In praising you. Give us peace. In reading your word.
[15:17] And studying it together. Help us with a sense. Of your guiding presence. We ask. And to me. We will be still. Before you. In all we seek to do. In your name.
[15:28] At this time. Hear us. We pray. And to our mercy. We ask. We ask these things. For Jesus sake. We are going to praise God. This time. It is Psalm number 18. And at the beginning.
[15:39] Of the Psalm. It is Psalm number 18. It is in Sing Psalms. It is on page 19. It is a song of David. A song of. Praising God. For his deliverance.
[15:50] And. We are singing. At verse 1. On page 19. And the tune is. Duke Street. I love you. Lord. You are my strength. A forfeit is.
[16:01] The Lord to me. My rock. And my deliverer. For refuge. To my God. I flee. And we sing. From verse 1. To the verse 6. To God's praise. Please.
[16:12] Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please.
[16:23] Please. To thee My Rock and Mighty Lever For A Truth My God I Be He Is my Stronghold And my Shield The Lord Who saves Me By His Light I'll Call on Him And Give Him Face I Stay Deep I
[17:25] Close To Ride But Chords Of Death Let Unwilled Me Dis voy Structure his me like a ring Encircled by the smears of death I miss the tenors of the grave In my distress I call on God I guide up to the Lord for thee He from his temple appeared my voice
[18:31] Healest and true that there I may I'm starting together now to hear the word of God from the New Testament from the book of Acts and in chapter 2 I'm reading at verse 22 The book of Acts chapter 2 and at verse 22 And you will notice from your Bibles that we are stepping into the middle of Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost Acts 2 and verse 22 Let us hear the word of God Men of Israel hear these words 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 definite plan and full knowledge of God
[19:34] You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men God raised him up losing 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 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 You have made known to me the paths 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 had both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day 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
[20:39] This Jesus God raised up and of that we all are witnesses 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 For David did not ascend into the heavens but he himself says The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified 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?
[21:26] 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 for the promises for you and for your children and for all who are far off everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself 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 and there were added that day about three thousand souls Amen This is God's word we trust that you are blessed to us that reading from it Now return to placing God this is Psalm number 80 That's Psalm number 80a on page 107 We're singing at verse 14 Psalm 80a at verse 14 The tune is Sussex Turn to us, O God Almighty
[22:30] Look and see from heaven above Tend this vine your hand has planted and the Son you raised in love We stand to sing from verse 14 to verse 19 to God's praise Turn to us, O God Almighty Look and see from heaven above Tend this vine your hand has planted And the Son you raised in love See your pine cut down and wither And this branch is burned with fire Your renewed past, your people
[23:36] And they perish in your eye Let your hand be placed in blessing On the land at your right hand On the Son of man you chose Who had hope you caused to stand Then we will not wander from you Turning from you Turning from you to our shame Strengthen us, revive and heal us Then we'll fall upon your name
[24:38] Look on us, our God Almighty Look on us, our God Almighty Let us see your glory bright Turn us once again towards you Come and save us, give us life Let's turn together now to the book of Acts And chapter number 2 And we can read at verse number 36 Acts chapter 2 at verse 36 Reading this verse But considering the surrounding verses together Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain That God has made him both Lord and Christ This Jesus whom you crucified
[25:39] 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? Do you? Now it's clear as we read the Bible That there is progression in the story of our salvation And right from the beginning of the Bible We see a development in the promise and the purposes of God To save a people for himself And step by step and stage by stage We see God working out his plans That's what we expect from God He has a purpose and he has a plan And every detail of it is provided by him And worked out by his own intervention and action When you read the book of Acts We see itself that it is a sequel to the gospel according to Luke Luke is a historian who has given to us An account in the gospel
[26:40] Of the way in which Jesus spoke to the people The way in which he performed miracles The way in which he spoke of his life and of his death And the way in which he died and was resurrected And Luke makes clear at the beginning of this book of Acts That he is speaking to us about the kingdom of God And tonight we want to think something about the kingdom of God And in that progression We see at the beginning of this chapter That something really significant has taken place I would suggest perhaps more significant than the cross itself That the time has come for God, for Jesus To send his spirit into the world That's the only thing that makes a difference That the spirit of God is now here And because the spirit of God is now here God is building his church With the power of his spirit And ensuring that his mission is on course
[27:43] That the progress of redemption Continues relentlessly Until the day at which All of the church of Christ Is at last saved And I want us to think of this passage this evening In the sense of Pressing a reset button Because there are times in life Simply by the kind of lives that we live That whatever faith we have Is influenced by and corrupted by The things that take place around us And we end up becoming fuzzy in our thinking We end up losing sight of the basic principles of our salvation And we end up living a life that Perhaps to a greater degree Or a greater or lesser degree Is departing away from what the Bible says We have a smart thermostat In our home for controlling our heating It's great when it works It knows when we're away
[28:44] That we don't need heat It knows when we're home that we need heat It senses when we come in When it's working it's great But when it stops working It thinks we're at home when we're away It thinks we're away when we're at home And it gets confused And the only way of resolving that problem Is pressing the reset button And going back to factory settings So that it works the way that it should And tonight I want us to bear that in mind Because that's what we so often need In our journey through this world Pressing the reset button Taking all of our thoughts About our personal salvation And about the work of God and of Jesus Back to the basics of the Bible And then to rediscover What our faith really is And what God has actually done And so The life of faith And pressing the reset button First of all I want us to see in the passage
[29:44] That there is a return And to see that return I want us to notice First of all That there is The absence of a presence And it's We need to be careful to understand That when we Read the Bible From end to end There is a stage in the Bible When the presence of God Is absent And only what God does Will restore his own presence To his people And in this passage We see that There is the absence Of the presence of God And that absence Is brought before us From the way in which We are introduced To the cross itself And the way in which In verse 23 This Jesus Delivered up According to the definite plan And for knowledge of God You crucified And killed By the hands Of lawless men There is a definite plan Of God The cross is no accident
[30:46] That took place Because a sinful world Rejected the Lord Jesus They certainly did that But there is a definite plan And in accordance with that Plan There is a delivering up And we need to be sure That we don't mistake In delivering up For deliverance Because deliverance Is rescuing from And delivering up Is handing over to And that's what Peter wants to highlight here That in the cross Of Jesus There is a delivering up To all of the cross Involved And when we see Jesus on the cross He's delivered Into the hands Of God himself The God Whose plan It is And for us to understand The big picture Of the Bible And the big picture Of the story Of salvation For us to fit Ourselves into it We need to understand That the cross Is the glass Through which we see The absence
[31:47] Of the presence Of God And when I hear Jesus on the cross Saying My God My God Why have you Forsaken me What is that Telling us It is Telling us That Jesus is here Representing his people And that he is Representing his people Because They have forsaken God And because They have forsaken him He has forsaken them And God spoke of that In Deuteronomy 31 They will forsake me And break my covenant And because of that I will forsake them And when I do hear Jesus crying out Why have you Forsaken me It speaks to us Of the absence Of God That God is no longer With his people Of course God Is still working But in the big picture Of our salvation The message is God is absent And for Jesus
[32:48] To go Where Where we should be He needs to Experience The absence Of the presence Of God And that's what Happens on the cross It's The exile That we see Physically In Babylon But it's the Spiritual exile Where we're Forsaken By God Because we Ourselves Forsook God And when we Come to The cross Of Jesus Personally And individually To ask What the cross Means Yet Yes it Certainly Does mean That he Loved me And gave Himself For me But the Big picture Into which We must Fit these Elements That are Personal Is the Big picture Of God Withdrawing His presence From his People And the Only answer To that Is to send His son The Lord Jesus To die On the Cross And to Experience That And to
[33:48] Go there As the One who Is bearing Our sin And who's Our substitute Dying in Our place The absence Of the Presence Let's not In sight Of the Whole story Of God's People That feeds Into the Cross To inform Us That God Is Absent And Salvation At the Cross Speaks Of And the Resurrection Speaks Of It speaks Of the Return Of the Presence Of God And that's What Peter Wants to Highlight Here We see The way In which He He speaks Of Jesus Being Raised From the Dead And God Loosing The Pangs Of Death Because It was Not Possible That Death Should Hold Him He Is Raised By God And The Very Action
[34:48] Of God In Coming To Raise His Son From The Dead It's The First Expression Of The Return Of The Presence Of God That He Is Active Now In The Person Of His Son To Raise Him From The Dead And He Raises Him From The Dead And Peter Goes On To Show The Way In Which He Is Exalted And Seated At God's Right Hand And There We See The Great Transaction That Speaks Of The Return Of The Presence Of God And Peter Speaks About That In Verse Number 33 Having Received From The Father The Promise Of The Holy Spirit He Has Poured Out This Which You Now See And Hear The Spirit Of God Is Poured Out Into The Church The Spirit That Jesus Promised His People His Disciples In The Upper Room The Helper The Comforter If I
[35:49] Go I Will Send Him To You If I Go The Father Will Send Him In My Name It's The Spirit That Was Promised And Now In This Moment In The Experience Of The Says On This Rock I Will Build My Church The Prophet Zechariah Says Not By Might Not By Power But By My Spirit Saith Your God The Spirit Of God Is Here No Matter What's Happening To Us Personally No
[36:49] Matter What's Happening To Us Collectively As Congregations And As Churches Across The World No Matter What We May Conclude The Spirit Of God The Presence Of God Is Irreversibly Here In The Church Of Christ In The World And That's How The Church Will Grow And Tonight As We Think Of Pressing The Reset Button On Our Understanding Of Salvation We Want To Do So And To Remember That In The Resurrection Of Jesus The Exaltation Of Jesus And In This Historical!
[37:24] Event That The Greatest Thing That's Happened In The History Of God's People Has Now Taken Place God Is Back With His People The Return The Power That Is Working Through Christ's Resurrection The Power That God Is Using The Holy Spirit That Third Person Of The God Who Works Powerfully In The World Despite Of That We May See The World To Be The Return The Greatest News That God Is Back That The Broken Relationship That Jesus Has Suffered For That And The Conditions Of The Covenant That That Determine That He Has Removed The Condemnation And The Spirit Of God Is Present The Return Secondly That
[38:26] Brings Us To Think Of The Revelation What Does This Mean For Them This Great Historical Event What Does It Mean For Them God Wants Them To Know That He Has Reversed Their Decision It's Wonderful Despite What They Thought Of The Lord Jesus That God Has Reversed That And He Reminds Them And He Wants Them To Know In Verse 36 To Know For Certain That God Has Made Him Both Lord And Christ The Jesus Whom You Crucified Be Assured Of This Be Absolutely Certain Of This And Not Simply Be Absolutely Certain Of It Intellectually But Be Absolutely Certain Of This In Your Hearts What Is That They Have To Be Certain About It's This
[39:26] Judgment Of God The Reversal Of Their Decision That The Jesus Whom They Crucified God Has Made! Him Both Lord And Christ God Has Placed Him In The Position Where He Distributes The Benefits Of Salvation God Has Placed Him In That Place Of Equality With God Where He Is Able As The King Of His Kingdom To Distribute Freely To Those Who Are His People He Is In Charge Of God Salvation All Authority Is Given To Him In Heaven And In Earth Peter God Wants Them To Know That He Is Lord And He Wants Them Also To Know That He Is Christ He Is The Great Deliverer The Anointed One That The People Were So Familiar With Reading About In The Old Testament That The People
[40:26] Refused To Believe Was Jesus When He Told Them That He Was God Has Made It Clear Now He Has Installed Him To Be That Great Deliverer Of His People That Messiah The Christ He Is The Anointed One Who Is Seated On God's Throne In Zion And Having Placed Him On His Throne He Is There Setting The Timetable For This World He Is There Until His Enemies Are Made His Footstool In Other Words There's A Proces There's An Era In The Experience Of This World Where God Is Working To Establish His Kingdom And To Overthrow His Enemies And Because Christ Has Been Seated On His Throne That Era Has Now Commenced And For All Of The Hearers They Are To Understand That That Era Has Commenced
[41:26] And Despite The Fact That They Rejected Him That God's Plan Remains On Cush For For The Salvation Of His People And Perhaps In The In The Mercy And In The Grace Of God That He Reversed Their Judgment And That He Vindicated The Lord Jesus And He Sat Him On His Throne As He Promised That He Would So Do The Revelation Of The Lord Jesus Paul Says In First Corinthians That If the Roars of This World Had Understood They Would Not Have Crucified The Lord Of Glory He Goes On To Speak Of The Way In Which No Eye Has Ever Seen Or Heard The Things That God Has Prepared For His People But God Has Revealed Them To Us By His Spirit Here Is A Revelation That Comes To
[42:27] Those Who Are Gathered At Pentecost It Is A Revelation That That That Speaks To Them Of Their Wrong Doing And Their Action In Crucifying The Lord Jesus And It Is An Action That They Carried Out Because They Did Not Understand Who He Was God Gave Him A Name That Is Above Every Name But The Key Thing Is For Them To Understand The Crucial Reversal The Critical Action Of God And Setting Jesus On His Throne And When We Begin To Think Of The Revelation Of The Gospel And The Claims Of The Gospel That Is Surely The First Sign Here Of The Mercy Of God That Tonight You May Be In The Habit Of Rejecting The Lord Jesus As Your Savior That You May Be In The Habit
[43:27] Of Informing Yourself About Him As The Jews Were In The Days Of Jesus You May Be In The Habit Of Filling Your Mind With The Truths That He Speaks But Yet Consistently In The Habit Of Rejecting Him As Your Savior And The Marvel For You In The Gospel Tonight That God In His Grace Has Reversed This Judgment On Their Part And That He Can Work To Ensure That You Reversed Your Judgment And That Your Judgment Of The Lord Jesus Is Consistent With God's Own Judgment The Reversal Were the Reversal Not True None Of Us Would Be Saved But Because The Reversal Is True And Has Taken Place Then Salvation Is To The Whole World What Do They Do With That Revelation
[44:27] What Is Their Response To That Revelation It Initiates A Crisis In Their Lives They Were Cut To The Heart They Had A Spiritual Heart Attack That They Had Spasms Of Spiritual Pain That They Never Experienced Before Because Suddenly The Day Is Dawning The Veil That Paul Speaks Of Has Been Taken Off Their Minds And They Realize Now That They Are Guilty Of The Greatest Sin Of All That They Have Crucified The Lord Of Glory And They Have Crucified The Very Person That Religiously They Were Waiting To Appear And To Appear For Their Salvation They Were Cut To The Heart And We Saw Recently In Or In The Passage From Zechariah
[45:27] Chapter 12 The Way In Which God Pours His Spirit And It's A Spirit Of Grace And Of Supplication And Those Who Receive Of The Spirit Of God They Look On Him Whom They Have Pierced And They Mourn For Him The Revelation Has Brought Them To The Place Where The Crisis Is Such That They Rejected The Lord Jesus And Now They're Face To Face With The Reality Of Their Lostness And That Unless God Does Something Else For Them There Is No Hope For Them And From There They Cry Out To Peter And To The Rest Brothers What Shall We Do?
[46:12] Their Only Hope Is In The Message Of Peter And The Other Apostles And You See What Is Happening!
[46:23] They Rejected The Lord Jesus And Having Rejected Him The Only Hope That They Have Is To Look Into That Very Place In The Word Of God And In The Plan Of God Where Alone Hope Is To Be Found Brothers Those Who Belong To To The Kingdom Of God What Can We Do They Were Cut To The Heart They Were Convicted Of Their Sin And The Very Jesus Whom They Rejected Is The Jesus Who Spoke To His Disciples And Who Said To Them In John Chapter 16 That He Would Send The Helper And When The Helper Would Come He Would Convince He Would Convict He Would Speak Into Their Minds Not Only To Inform Them Intellectually But To
[47:23] Speak Into Their Minds In Such A Way That Their Consciences Are Moved To Recognize Their Guilt And Here Is That Spirit Of God That Jesus Promised Now Working In The Lives Of The People Who Are Hearing The Sermon And That Spirit Is Doing That Very Same Work Convicting Them Of Sin And Of Righteousness And Of Judgment Convicting Them Of Their Wrong Doing And Such Is That Conviction That It Silences Them There Is No Argument Against The Conviction That Comes From The Spirit Of God It's Silencing It's Numbing It Brings Us A Sense Of Hopelessness And That's Exactly What They Experienced And We Recognize That This Moment Is
[48:24] More Than An Emotion That This Moment Has Its Emotions But This Moment Is Ground Breaking And Life Changing It's The Spirit Of God The Promised Spirit Of God That Jesus Said Will Take Of The Things That Belong To Him And Show Them To Us Here Is The Stepping Stone To Coming To Know The Lord Jesus As Savior The Revelation That Brings About Conviction And Tonight In Pressing The Reset Button God Wants Us To Recognize The Bare And Simple Truth Of What It Means To Come Face To Face With A Lost And To Cry For Salvation It's Not Something That You Learn To Do It's Not
[49:25] Something That Someone Teaches You To Do It's Not A Feeling That You Have Although It May Have Feelings This Moment Is The Critical Intervention Of God In Life To Switch The Lights On To Cause The Darkness To Go And To Cause Us To See Our Lostness And We're Not Saying That In Order For Us To Be Saved That We All Need The Same Level Of Guilt And Of Conviction In The Presence Of God But What The Bible Is Saying That We Cannot Be Saved Without Having A Sense Of Need And If Tonight You Have That Sense Of Need It's Not Normal Humanly Speaking It's Something That Just Doesn't Happen Because We Choose It To Happen It's
[50:25] Something That Happens Only Because God Is Working And The Spirit Of God Is Working In Life The Revelation That Brings Us To Cry Into The Very Arena And The Environment And The Covenant Of God Where God Has Reconciled Sinners To Himself Through Jesus Christ Where His Presence Is Restored The Revelation When You Press Your Reset Burden On Your Christian Experience On Your Journey With God And When You Peel Away Everything That Has Become Attached To You Over The Years Of Following!
[51:11] The Lord Jesus When You Peel Them All Away Does The Reset Button Take You To The Factory Settings That We Have In The Work Of The Spirit Of God In The Hearts And The Lives Of Sinners Like You And Me Who Are Lost We Have To Come Back To That Basic Truth And Fact And If We Cannot Then Something Has Gone Wrong If We Cannot Do That Such As Been The Corruption Of Our Thinking Such As Been The External Influences As Well As The Internal Influences That We've Lost!
[51:50] Track Of The Way In Which God Works And The Great Lesson That We Learned Together This Evening Is To Get Back On Track And To Ensure That We Begin Where Only God Creates A Beginning The Return The Revelation And Finally The Reconciliation In Verse Number 38 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 Repent They Need To Change Their Minds Their Action Has Been Sinful In Crucifying The Lord Jesus The Need To Repent
[52:50] It's An Intellectual Process Through Which They Are To Revisit What Has Happened In The Past And Now Seeing What Has Happened In The Past In The Light Of What God Has Revealed To Them To Come To The Judgment That What They Did Was Absolutely Wrong It Was Sin Against!
[53:12] God And In Revisiting That Previous Place And That Previous Judgment And Opinion And Changing Their Minds About It Because They Are Now Persuaded That They Were Absolutely Wrong And Turning Away From It Because They Hate That They Hate That Very Moment Of Rejection And They Want To Turn Back To The God Who Had Spoken Through Them Through The Lord Jesus The God Against Whom They Had Sinned Repent
[54:17] Repentance And That's What God Wants Us To To Look At In Our Lives This Evening Whether We Are Christians Or Not Repentance Must Be In Place Whether We Are Christians Or Not We Must Understand What It Means To Look At Our Sin And To Look At Our Wrong Doing And To Recognize How Wrong It Is In The Light Of What God Has Told Us And To Turn Away From That And To Seek The Mercy Of God As It Is In Christ Recognizing A Wrong Doing And Recognizing That There Is Mercy With God And For You Tonight Who Does Not Yet Know The Lord Jesus Repentance Is Something That Is Life Changing And
[55:17] Because Of The Way In Which God Works If It Is The Spirit Of God That Works In The Sense Of Conviction And Guilt It Is The Spirit Of God That Calls You And Gives To You This Repentance Before God And You Have To Search Out In Your Heart This Evenly Whether In This Very Moment The Spirit Of God Which Was Working At Pentecost Is Now Working In Your Heart Persuading You To You To You To Turn Away From The Repeated Decisions To Reject Recognizing How Wrong You Were And Being Persuaded Now That What You Must Do Is Turn To God And Cry Out To Him That's Where Our Hope Rests That The Returned Presence Of God That Works Through His People Through His Church In The World Will Touch Hearts And
[56:17] Lives And Will Bring About That Change And Every Moment That The Gospel Is Preached We're Praying For The Holy Spirit To Take The Truths Of The Gospel And To Drive Them Home To Hearts And Minds To Bring About That Change And For You Pressing The Reset Button Is Bringing You To The Basic Place Of Facing Your Unbelief And Crying Out To God To Forgive You For That Unbelief And For The Christian This Evening The Call To Repentance Is For You As Well We Know That On Our Journey Through Life We Lift Up Baggage We Add So Many Things To Life We Become Busy And We Become Muddled In
[57:18] Our Thinking And Cluttered In Our Spiritual Lives And Tonight God Wants Us To Press The Reset Button And To Repaint Of All Of The Things That We Have Introduced To Life That God Says Shouldn't Be There And That Are An Obstacle To Our Enjoyment Of The Peace Of God That We Have!
[57:36] In Christ Jesus Oh Lord And All Of Us Have To Allow The Word Of God And The Spirit Of God This Evening To Penetrate Our Lives To Go Through The Exterior Of Christian Profession And To Land In Our Hearts And In Our Consciences And To Show To Us The Things That Ought Not To Be There The Things That Ought Not To Be Present Or Through About Us And All Of Us Have An Exercise To To Undertake This Evening And To Go And To Ask God To Show And To Go And To Ask God To Convict And To Go And To Ask God To Help Us Take These Things Away And Be Rid Of These Things Turn Away From Them Repent Of Them Repent And Be Baptized Every One Of You In The Name
[58:37] Of Jesus Christ For The For Your Sins And You Will Receive The Gift Of The Holy Ghost There Is The Baptism That Speaks Of Cleansing There Is The Baptism That Speaks Of A Life Now Devoted To Discipleship There Is A Baptism Which Illustratively Is Comes From The Whole Idea Of Dipping Something In Dye So It Comes Out A Different Color And In In Life The Baptism That Peter Is Calling For And The Gospel Is Calling For Is That Kind Of Process Where We're Dipped Into Christ And We Become New People And Different People A Different Color Because We are Now The Children Of God And That Different Color Is There Because Of The Forgiveness Of Her Sins I Wonder How Much Their
[59:37] Relief Gauge Or The Relief Gauge In Their Lives I Wonder How Much It Rose When They Heard This When There Is This Great Opportunity To Accept And To Receive That From A Moment Of Extreme Anxiety That They Move To A Moment Of Great Promise And Of Great Freedom And Of Entering Into A New Life Trusting In God That's The Moment Of Reconciliation And What's The Outcome What Is The Outcome We Began By Thinking Of The Absence Of The Presence Of God We Thought Of The Presence Of God Being Restored Through The Resurrection And Exaltation And The Spirit Of God Being Poured In This Historical Event One Off Event But What's The Outcome When We Receive
[60:38] The Forgiveness Of Sin We Have We Have The Gift Of The Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit Of God That Speaks Of The Presence Of God In The Church Of Jesus Christ Now Becomes The Holy Spirit Of God That Speaks About The Presence Of God In Each Individual Heart It's The Spirit That Brings New Life It's The Spirit That Shows Jesus To Us It's The Spirit That Transforms Us In Our Thinking It's The Spirit That Renews Us It's The Spirit That Makes Us Like Jesus The Presence Of God In The Hearts Of The Children Of God Has Life Changing Life Transforming Destiny Setting Influence And Impact And That's The Promise That They Were Given And As We
[61:38] Do Press The Reset Button We Want To Go Forward In Life In This Very Place With This Very Experience With The Presence Of God That Maybe Has Been Absent From Our Lives For A Long Time Maybe Has Never Been In Our Lives!
[62:00] That The Presence Of God And The Power Of The Holy Spirit Of God Would Be In Our Hearts And That Will Change And That Will Help And That Will Show To Us The Kind Of Life That We Ought To Live That Will Bring Us Back To The Factory Settings Of The Work Of God Grace In Our Lives And Will Ensure That We're Starting Where We Should Start That We Go On Where We Should Be Going On That We Are Pleasing To God And That The Spirit Of God Which Is The Presence Of God Which Changes Us Now Will One Day Jesus Himself Will Raise Us Out Of Our Graves Will Transform Us Into His Lackness And Go Into The Full Enjoyment Of God's Everlasting Salvation And So Tonight Let's Not Lose Sight Of The Big Picture Of The Absence
[63:01] Of The Presence Of God And The Return Of His Presence Through The Work Of The Lord Jesus Let's Hear The Revelation And Let It Penetrate Our Hearts Convict Us Of Our Sin And May Response Be To Reach Out And To Cry For The Reconciliation That Comes Through Faith In Jesus Christ By The Power Of God's Spirit In Our Lives May God Help Us To Be There This Evening To Go Through That Process And To Rediscover And To Discover The joy Of The Freedom Of Having Your Sins Forgiven And Having Peace With God And Walking With God In The Land Of The Living May God Bless!
[63:47] His Word! Let us! Most Gracious God We Bow Before You We Acknowledge The Goodness And The Greatness Of Your Grace We Are Thankful To You For Every Way In Which You Intervene In The Experience Of This World We Give Thanks To You For Your Intervention In Sending Your Son We Give Thanks To You For Your Intervention In Sending The Holy Spirit And We Give Thanks To You For Your Intervention In People Like Your Selves And Tonight We Pray That You Will So Work And Bless Your Word To Us That We May Be Made New That We Will Be New People And New Creations In Christ Jesus And That Our Lives Will Be In Devotion To You And Serving You All The Days Of Our Lives Help Us So To Walk With You And Grant Us Grace Every Day To Remain Faithful Amen
[65:18] Behold How Good A Thing It Is And To Becoming Well Together Such As Brethren Are In Unity To Dwell We Stand To Sing The Psalm And At The Close I Will Go To The Main Door Behold How Good How Thing It Is And How Be Coming Well Together Such As Brethren Are In Unity To Dwell Like Precious Point And All The Head
[66:18] As Precious The Year Is Ro In E E On S De To The S The!
[66:37] The God Is God Is God! For!
[66:48] The De Less In God!
[67:15] Of Grace Of Lord Jesus Christ The Love Of God The Father And The Fellowship Of The Holy Spirit Be With You All Now And Forever More Amen Thank you.
[68:00] Thank you.