Well, this sermon, as I said, was preached by Peter.
It was delivered exactly 50 days
after the crucifixion of Jesus.
But the backdrop of the sermon
was this unique outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God
on the disciples in Jerusalem.
And we're not gonna take the time
to explore all of that tonight.
You can do that in your own time,
reading even just the first 13 verses of this chapter.
We'll tell you what you need to know.
But basically what had happened
was the disciples, after Jesus had ascended back to heaven,
were in Jerusalem, as Jesus had commanded,
awaiting on the gift of the Holy Spirit
that Jesus had promised.
And as they're there praying in the upper room,
a unique outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
different than anything anyone had ever seen before,
this outpouring of the Holy Spirit comes on the disciples
and it's witnessed by people all over the city in Jerusalem.
And so you can imagine with such a magnificent display,
the people that are witnessing this,
that are witnessing the apostles experience this moment,
begin to ask some questions.
And we find in verse number 12
that they do actually specifically ask that.
Look at it with me.
Verse number 12,
Some people assumed that what was actually taking place
was that all the apostles,
maybe perhaps out of some particular depression
or just a riotous living at this moment in their lives,
some of them began to spread the word
that all of the apostles,
the followers of Jesus were drunk.
And so Peter in verse 14 begins to step up
and he brings some clarification
to exactly what is taking place.
It tells us right there in verse 14,
Peter standing up with the 11,
lifted up his voice and addressed them
in order that he could bring some clarity
to exactly what they were seeing.
And I want you to look with me at verses 16 to 18.
Here's what he says.
Peter says,
This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel.
And in the last days,
it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
Your young men shall see visions
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even on my male servants and female servants in those days,
I will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy.
So what exactly is it that Peter does?
Well, he takes the prophet Joel as his text for the day
and he stands up before the people
and he proclaims that that day
was the inauguration of the last days.
The last days, as Joel said in his quotation
in verse number 17,
the last days that Joel said
would include a pouring out of the spirit of God
on his people.
But that's a problem for the Jews
that are listening to Peter give that explanation.
Because the Jews understood
that whenever this pouring out of the spirit would come,
that it would have to be preceded
by the Christ, the Messiah.
And so immediately,
Peter knew that they would be perplexed
by this statement.
How could this be the inauguration of the last days
if Messiah has not actually come?
It was the Messiah who the scriptures had said
would actually establish the kingdom of God
and would be responsible for the pouring out of God's spirit.
So you can see now where Peter's going with this.
So he preaches about the crucifixion
and the resurrection of Jesus
to prove that Jesus is Messiah
and that Messiah had come
and that what the people were witnessing on that day
was evidence of the fact that Messiah had come
and these last days had begun.
And this is the gospel preaching
that characterized all of the apostles' teaching
in the New Testament.
You'll recognize this from Paul's words
in 1 Corinthians 15.
He says,
Now I would remind you, brothers,
of the gospel I preached to you.
And then he goes on to define that gospel.
That Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures,
that he was buried,
and that he raised on the third day
according to the scriptures.
This is the gospel of Jesus.
And it is the very reason
that Christianity exists.
Were it not for the crucifixion
and resurrection of Jesus,
none of us likely would have ever even heard the name Jesus.
Christianity would not exist.
We would likely not know one another
and we would certainly have no reason
to be gathered together here
on a beautiful spring evening in April.
But this was Peter's aim.
He was showing Jesus as the Messiah
by affirming the reality
and necessity of the crucifixion and resurrection.
And tonight we're going to focus in on his thoughts
about the crucifixion.
Three things I'd like for you to see
in these verses we just read.
The first one is this.
I want you to see the divine power of Jesus.
The divine power of Jesus.
Look with me again at verse 22.
Men of Israel, hear these words.
Perhaps we could apply that personally tonight.
Men and women of Lake Norman, Charlotte, Cornelius,
wherever you're from, 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.
The divine power of Jesus.
So Peter begins with an element of Jesus' life
that could not actually be denied.
It was his miraculous works.
Now he lists three different elements here.
He says there are mighty works.
He says there are wonders and there are signs.
And Peter doesn't mean to say
that these are three different types of miracles,
but they are three different perspectives
of the same actions.
Let me explain.
Mighty works comes from the Greek word dunamis.
It's where we get the English word dynamite.
It's explosive power is the meaning of this word.
Mighty works, explosive, supernatural
is the implications here.
And it describes the powerful nature
of the things that Jesus did.
That's the mighty works.
And then he says,
we could also consider these things as wonders,
which refers to the way that people stood in awe
and marveled at the power
that Jesus displayed in his miracles.
And then he uses this third word, signs.
Signs is exactly that.
They refer, they point us somewhere
and it refers to the primary purpose
of the Lord's demonstrations of power.
Have you ever asked yourself,
why did Jesus do all of those miracles?
And indeed, he had a compassionate heart
that desired to help those
who were suffering and downtrodden,
but that was not the primary purpose
of the miracles of Jesus.
The primary purpose of his power
was to reveal his identity,
who he is as the Messiah
and the Son of God.
John Pohill said,
throughout Acts,
the terms wonders
only occurs in conjunction with signs,
a testimony to the fact
that mere marvels
have no value in themselves
except as they point beyond themselves
to the divine power behind them
and so lead to faith.
That was the purpose of Jesus' miracles.
And that's where Peter leads off in his sermon.
He says,
men, listen,
this is what Joel said would happen
and let me tell you why it's happening.
Because this Jesus came
and God attested to him
by many mighty works
and wonders and signs.
Two things about this
I would like to make note of.
First, Jesus' miracles
were publicly displayed.
They were publicly displayed.
Look back with me at verse 22.
Jesus of Nazareth,
a man attested to you by God.
Attested to you by God.
Well, attest, you know what that means?
It means to put something on display.
It means to be a witness
to a particular fact or event.
And Peter's point,
using those words in particular,
is to say that God the Father
has put his son on display.
And the way that he has put him on display
is through these mighty works
and wonders and signs.
God bore witness to Jesus' identity
through supernatural miracles.
miracles.
That's what Jesus was doing.
That's what God was doing
through his son.
And each of us can probably think
of several incredible miracles of Jesus
that maybe we love to think on
or study after.
Even if you have very little knowledge
of the Bible,
you've probably heard of some of the things
that Jesus did.
Let me just remind you of a few of them.
They're amazing.
The very first one ever recorded for us
in the narrative is in John chapter two.
And it had to do with a wedding feast.
It was in the little town of Cana in Galilee.
Jesus had gone there along with his disciples
who were with him.
His mother was there.
Perhaps many people from his family was there.
It was a wedding feast.
Likely has lasted up to seven days.
These wedding feasts would last.
And they ran out of wine.
And Jesus' mom comes to him and says,
you should do something about this.
And what does Jesus do?
This is the first miracle recorded in the scripture.
He tells the servants.
He doesn't do it himself.
He tells other people.
He says, take these jars, six of them.
Jars that hold 20 to 30 gallons worth of water
or wine or whatever you're putting in it.
Take these six jars and go fill them
to the brim with water.
And that's exactly what they did.
After they filled them up with water,
knowing what they filled them with,
they bring them back to the wedding feast.
Jesus still doesn't touch it.
He doesn't do anything with it.
And he just tells the people
that had just filled them with water,
he says, now dip some out.
And they go to dip some out.
And it's not water anymore.
It's wine.
It's amazing.
Just like that, he doesn't even touch it.
Does it say anything?
Just like that,
we see this supernatural miracle of Jesus.
Perhaps you remember that one.
I know you probably remember the time
that he's on the hillside near Bethsaida,
just north of Galilee.
He had gone there with his disciples
to try to actually get a little bit of rest.
It had been a busy few days.
But the people could see him.
They could see him travel on the boat
around the north side of the Sea of Galilee.
And they rushed over to where Jesus was.
5,000 of them.
And they sit on a hillside.
And they listen all day as Jesus teaches them.
Exhausted as he might have been.
He continues to teach the people
because he said they were like sheep without a shepherd.
Somebody had to teach them.
Somebody had to help them.
But there was no place to buy food in that area.
It's a remote area.
And Jesus gathers his disciples.
And what does he say?
He says, you guys really need to give these people
some food.
They've got nothing to eat.
He said the disciples didn't have any food either.
But they went out and they found a little boy.
And he had five pieces of bread.
And he had two pieces of fish.
And they brought it to Jesus.
And they said, this is all we got.
And Jesus takes five pieces of bread,
two pieces of fish,
and in front of thousands of people.
This is not a secret miracle
where he could go behind and backstage somewhere
where he had a team full of chefs
who were secretly preparing all these things.
This is a hillside in Bethsaida.
And in front of all of these people,
Jesus has them sit down
and some people in groups of 50,
some people in groups of 100.
And he just begins to break off the bread
and break off the fish.
And somehow through his power,
he's able to feed more than 5,000 people
to the point that the people were all satisfied.
They were filled.
They ate as much as they could eat.
And then they had 12 baskets of food left over.
It's amazing.
What Jesus did was absolutely amazing.
But not all of his miracles had to do with food.
Some of his miracles had to do with other things.
They demonstrated in one case,
many cases actually,
his power over disease.
We read in Mark,
this has been a while ago now,
but we read in Mark chapter one,
you'll remember,
Jesus is teaching somewhere near Capernaum.
And a man with a deadly leprous disease,
contagious disease,
comes in the midst of the crowd.
All the people began to run away from this man
because they don't want to die either.
And what is it that Jesus does with the man?
He embraces the man.
Everyone else runs.
They want to avoid him.
Not Jesus.
He embraces him.
And immediately as he touches the man,
the man is in front of the eyes
of all the people that are there,
they see immediately,
he's cleansed of this leprosy.
It's like he was never sick to begin with.
Jesus had power over disease.
Some of his miracles showed
that he had power over nature.
Remember as he's on the boat
on the Sea of Galilee
with his 12 disciples.
This was right after the feeding
of the 5,000 perhaps,
or it was somewhere along those lines
around that same time frame.
They're out there
and a big storm comes up on the sea,
remember?
These men who,
some of them had been fishermen
their whole life,
are so scared at the size of this storm
that they think they're going to die.
Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat.
And they wake him up
and what is it they say?
Master, do you not care that we're dying?
We're going to die.
And Jesus stands up
and he says three words.
Peace be still.
And the Bible says that
this storm that was raging so much
that the water is filling the boat
and the boat is beginning to fall apart
that all of a sudden
the sea just becomes like glass.
The wind becomes silent.
He harnesses creation
with the sound of his voice.
It's amazing.
He has power over the spirits of the world.
Remember the little boy
whose father had brought his son
who had been possessed by a demon
that had tortured him
since he was very young
and he brought him to the disciples
and the disciples couldn't do anything about it.
And Jesus comes along
and he heals the boy
and he cast out this demon.
Over and over and over
we see the testimony of the scriptures.
Hundreds and thousands of these moments
that Jesus displayed these miraculous powers.
So many times that John
at the end of his gospel says this.
John chapter 21 and verse 25.
Now there are also many other things
that Jesus did.
Were every one of them to be written
I suppose that the world itself
could not contain the books
that would be written.
What's John's point?
Jesus did so much
we can't even write it all down.
And it wasn't private.
It was publicly displayed.
God attesting to Jesus.
God displaying his son to the world
through mighty works
and wonders and signs.
It's not only publicly displayed
it's publicly acknowledged.
Publicly acknowledged.
Look with me again at verse 22.
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.
And then Peter throws this in here.
This little clause here is so awesome.
As you yourselves know
he says.
It's not only that these miracles
were on display publicly.
They were actually acknowledged
by the people publicly.
They weren't performed in secret.
The miraculous power of Jesus
was undenied
in first century Israel.
It's not even that it was undeniable.
It's that it was undenied.
Nobody denied his works.
They couldn't.
There were too many of them.
There were too many people
that saw them.
The people acknowledged.
Yes.
He has tremendous power.
People traveled from countries
outside of Israel
to see it.
To experience it.
Even Jesus' enemies
who eventually prepared the way
for his execution
did not deny the fact
of his mighty works.
John chapter 3.
Remember Nicodemus
comes to Jesus
under the cover of night.
He's a Pharisee
and he says
and John tells us
now there was a man
of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus
a ruler of the Jews.
This man came to Jesus
by night and said to him
Rabbi
we know you are a teacher
that has come from God
for no one can do these signs
that you do
unless God is with him.
That's the testimony
of Jesus' enemies even.
So Peter's first point
established Jesus' identity
as the Messiah
by pointing to his divine power
as the Son of God
which again
was a key component
of the apostles' witness.
You still with me?
Still with me?
The divine power of Jesus.
Number two.
The divine purpose of Jesus.
The divine purpose.
Verse 23.
This Jesus, Peter says
delivered up
according to the definite plan
and foreknowledge of God
you crucified
and killed
by the hands
of lawless men.
Peter essentially says
this Jesus
the one attested to you
by God
through mighty works
and wonders
and signs
is the same one
that you crucified.
God put his Son
on display
the long-awaited Messiah
that you've been looking for
and your response
was to kill him
Peter says.
And we could stop right there
and we could chalk up
Peter's sermon here
50 days after the crucifixion
we could chalk it up
as a bitter airing
of grievance
against the Jews
who put his favorite teacher
to death.
But that's neither Peter's point
nor is it his tone in this.
There's an essential note
in this verse
that introduces
an important question.
Here's the question.
Who is actually responsible
for Jesus' crucifixion?
Who's responsible for this?
Who did this?
And the answer is here.
Let's walk it backwards though.
How about the Roman executioners?
The lawless men
Peter says.
Roman executioners
they were actually responsible
for carrying out
Jesus' crucifixion.
Did they crucify Jesus?
Yes.
But there was a step
before the Roman executioners.
It was Pilate.
We read about him
in John 18 and 19.
He's the Roman governor.
He's the one responsible
for sentencing Jesus
to death on a cross.
Did he crucify Jesus?
Yes.
But there's a step
before Pilate.
There's the Jewish leaders.
They were responsible
for handing Jesus over
to Pilate
and demanding
that he be executed
as we already read.
Did they crucify Jesus?
Yes.
But there's a step
before them.
There's Judas Iscariot.
He's the one
that betrayed the Lord
for 30 pieces of silver.
He's the one
that was responsible
for setting up
the arrest for Jesus.
He assisted it.
Did he crucify Jesus?
Yes.
All of these people
played a role
in Jesus' death.
But it is God the Father
who Peter ultimately credits
for the Lord's crucifixion.
Did those people do it?
Were they culpable
for their wrong?
Yes.
But it was God
who did this.
It was God's will
for the Christ
to be crucified.
He carried out
that will
through the work
of men,
the evil work of men,
without violating
their will.
But it was God
who did this.
What's amazing
to consider
is that God
used the wickedness
wickedness of these men
to provide a means
of redemption
for those men.
There's a song
by City of Light.
It's called Jerusalem.
There's a line
in that song
that I love so much.
It says,
See the king
who made the sun
and the moon
and shining stars.
let the soldiers
hold and nail him down
so that he could save them.
He uses their wickedness.
He uses their will
in which they are responsible
and culpable
in order that he might accomplish
his will
of actually providing redemption
for the very people
who crucified him.
That's an amazing purpose.
That's what Jesus did.
Who crucified Jesus?
Well, ultimately,
God did.
The crucifixion of Jesus
was not God
making the best
out of a bad situation.
Peter says,
This happened
according to the definite plan
and foreknowledge of God.
It was always God's plan
and purpose
for the Messiah.
In fact,
on three different occasions
at least,
Jesus explicitly told
his disciples
what would happen.
We've studied this
in the Gospel of Mark.
Mark chapter 8,
verse 31.
He began to teach them
that the Son of Man
must suffer many things,
be rejected by the elders
and the chief priests
and the scribes
and be killed
and after three days
rise again.
He said this plainly,
Mark said.
Mark chapter 9,
verse 31.
He was teaching
his disciples,
saying to them,
The Son of Man
is going to be delivered
into the hands of men
and they will kill him.
And when he is killed,
after three days,
he will rise.
That's number two.
Mark chapter 10,
verse 33.
Taking the twelve again,
he began to tell them
what was to happen to him,
saying,
We are going up
to Jerusalem.
The Son of Man
will be delivered
over to the chief priest
and the scribes.
They will condemn him
to death
and deliver him
over to the Gentiles.
They will mock him
and spit on him
and flog him
and kill him.
And after three days,
he will rise.
This was always
the plan of God
and Jesus knew it.
That's why he could tell
the disciples
over and over again,
This is what's going to happen.
This is why I came.
Just because it was
the eternal plan of God
doesn't mean Jesus
was an unwilling participant.
In perfect union
with the Father,
the Son,
willingly laid down
his life for us.
Hebrews chapter 12,
in verse 2.
The writer says,
We are looking to Jesus,
the founder and perfecter
of our faith,
who for the joy
that was set before him
endured the cross.
The joy.
It was his joy
to lay down his life
for sinners.
It was his pleasure
to give his life
as a ransom for us.
He wasn't an unwilling
participant in this.
He was in perfect union
with the Father.
And he said so himself.
John chapter 10.
Jesus said,
I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd
lays down his life
for the sheep.
And for this reason,
the Father loves me
because I lay down my life
that I may take it up again.
No one takes it from me,
Jesus said.
I lay it down.
I have authority
to lay it down.
I have authority
to take it up again.
This charge I have received
from my Father.
We read it a moment ago
in his interaction
with Pilate.
Pilate says,
Don't you realize
that I'm the one
in the position
of power here?
I'm the one
that can set you free?
Pilate says,
And then the one
in the real position
of power responds
in humility.
And he says,
You would have no power
in this moment
if I had not given it
to you.
His life wasn't taken.
His life was laid down.
It's a glorious purpose.
The definite plan
of God.
God.
But let's address
why it's necessary.
We can understand
the things
that we've said already,
but that doesn't actually
answer the question
of why did it
have to happen?
Why did it have to happen?
Let's deal with that.
The crucifixion
was a substitution.
The crucifixion
was a substitution.
This is why
it had to happen.
Jesus took the place
of every person
who would believe
and follow him.
Now when we say
that Jesus took our place,
that he died our death,
we don't mean
that every one of us
is destined
to die
by means
of crucifixion.
In that sense,
Jesus died
in the form
of an execution,
a criminal's death
and crucifixion,
that we then get
to escape
such a
torturous
and gruesome death.
That's not what
we mean by that.
It means that
we escape
the wrath of God
against our sin.
It's not that
we escape the cross.
We escape something
far worse
than our cross.
We escape
the eternal wrath
of God.
He endured
the wrath of God
so that we could
experience
the peace
of God.
His death
was an atonement,
an atonement
for sin
that was promised
again
and again
in the scriptures.
that's why
it was necessary.
Had Jesus
not died
this death,
we would have
no hope
of forgiveness.
He took
our place
and I
know we talk
about this
all the time
because what else
would we talk
about?
This is the reason
that we gather.
you realize
when Jesus
when you come
to Christ
in faith
and you cry
out to God
for mercy
it's not
that God
looks at you
and decides
okay
I'm just
going to turn
a blind eye
to the sin
you've committed
and we're just
going to start
with a clean slate.
That is not
what God
does.
He can't
do that.
You understand?
He can't
do that.
That would
violate
His holiness.
It would
violate
His justice.
He must
judge
every sin.
When we
come to
Christ
in faith
it's not
that He
turns a
blind eye
to our sin
it's that
He takes
the sin
that we've
committed
and He
puts it
on His
perfect
sinless
Son.
Christ's
death
was not
a tragedy
it was
a substitution.
That's
why this
is Good
Friday.
I laughed
at Andy
today.
He texted
me while
he was
working at
the greenhouse
and he said
is it weird
that I've been
telling people
happy crucifixion
day?
I said
yeah that's
weird.
That's weird.
Because what's
happy about a
crucifixion?
Well in this
case
it's that it
was the
crucifixion
the wrath
that I
deserve
that you
deserve
but the
perfect
righteous
Son of
God
took
my
place.
That's
why it
was
necessary
and by
the way
this is
pointed to
over and
over in
the scriptures
it was
always
necessary
for the
Christ
to do
this.
Think
about it.
We talked
about this
in our
Lakeside
Connect
group a
couple
weeks
ago.
Remember
in your
study of
Genesis
chapter 3
the first
sin.
Remember
Adam and
Eve?
I said
this is
always weird
to me
especially
when I was
a kid
I'd read
this
they were
naked
and they
didn't
realize
it wasn't
that they
didn't
realize
it's
that they
didn't
care
but then
as soon
as they
sin
all of a
sudden
they realize
their nakedness
and they're
ashamed
of it.
Their
nakedness
in that
moment
is symbolic
of their
guilt.
It's not
about their
body in that
moment
it's about
their shame
their guilt
for sinning
against God
and what
is it that
Adam and
Eve did.
They
immediately
began to
work as
hard as
they could
to cover
their guilt
to cover
their nakedness
to cover
their shame
so they
sewed together
some fig
leagues
but no matter
how hard
you try
your efforts
will never
be good
enough
to cover
your guilt.
So what
does God
do for
Adam and
Eve?
God
provides
a covering
for them
a covering
of skins
which meant
that the
first death
had to
take place
God
sacrifices
an animal
in order
to cover
Adam and
Eve's
nakedness.
What is
that a
picture of?
It's a
picture of
atonement.
No matter
how hard
you work
no matter
how many
times you
come to
these special
services
or services
on a Sunday
no matter
how much
money you
might give
or how many
good things
you do
in your
life
no matter
what type
of good
credit
you amass
for yourself
it will
always be
fig leaves
it will
never be
good enough
to cover
your guilt
God
has to
provide
a covering
for us
we are
incapable
of doing
that
ourselves
and he
did that
in Jesus
Jesus
was the
sacrifice
to cover
our
guilt
and we
see it
over and
over in
the Old
Testament
remember
Passover
that's
what it
was
when the
angel of
death
came
through
Egypt
he only
passed
over
those
with
the
blood
on
the
doorpost
what is
that all
about
atonement
when God
established
the sacrificial
system
over and
over
the Jews
would have
you read
Leviticus
you'll see
that they
were
they had
to sacrifice
a lot
because one
sacrifice
was never
enough
they had
to continually
bring these
sacrifices
for atonement
but Christ
was the
once and
for all
atonement
for our
sins
the divine
purpose
of Jesus
crucifixion
was to
atone
for you
and for
me
and this
was the
plan
of God
and it
was fulfilled
joyfully
by Jesus
of Nazareth
it's a
divine
purpose
we see
his power
we see
his purpose
all the
love that
drew
salvation
plan
all the
grace
that brought
it down
to man
all the
mighty
gulf
that God
did span
at Calvary
or my
favorite
because the
sinless
savior
died
my
sinful
soul
is
counted
free
for God
the just
is satisfied
to look
on him
but pardon
me
that's the
necessity
of the
cross
finally we
see the
divine
perfection
of Jesus
we've seen
his power
we've seen
his purpose
now I want
you to
notice
his
perfection
verse 24
God
raised
him up
loosing
the
pangs
of death
because
it was
not
possible
for him
to be
held
by it
God
raised
him up
and we're
going to
spend our
time on
Sunday
focused on
the resurrection
we're going
to deal
with this
verse
again on
that day
but there's
something about
Peter's
statement that
is necessary
as we
consider the
cross
notice what
he says
it was not
possible
for him
to be
held
by it
that is
death
it was
not
possible
for him
to be
held
by
death
but what
does that
mean
does that
mean
it's not
possible
for Jesus
to remain
dead
we might
come up
with a few
different answers
for this
we may say
well we've
already
understood
his divine
power
maybe his
power
was greater
and that
would be
true
maybe we
would look
to the
fulfillment
of the
scriptures
and say
well he
couldn't
stay
dead
death
had no
claim
on him
because
he was
always
the purpose
of the
Messiah
to die
and rise
and that
would be
true
but there's
another
option
not even
an option
it's just
in addition
to those
things
I want
you to
consider
for just
a moment
Jesus
had no
sin
for which
death
could claim
him
you realize
death is
a result
of sin
but Jesus
was the
sinless
son of
God
death
had no
hold
on him
he
willingly
laid down
his life
for sins
he
was the
spotless
lamb
foreshadowed
by all
of those
old
testament
sacrifice
he
was the
spotless
lamb
that we
will
remember
symbolically
in this
supper
tonight
and that's
what
John
the
Baptist
said
John
chapter
one
in
verse
twenty
nine
the next
day
John
saw
Jesus
coming
and he
said
behold
the
lamb
of God
who takes
away
the sins
of the
world
and in
Hebrews
chapter
nine
the writer
of Hebrews
using this
metaphoric
symbolic
language
of the
sacrificial
system
in the
old
testament
says
Jesus
entered
once
for all
into the
holy
places
not by
means of
the blood
of goats
and calves
but by
the means
of his
own
blood
thus
securing
an
eternal
redemption
for if
the blood
of goats
and bulls
and the
sprinkling
of defiled
persons
with the
ashes
of a
heifer
sanctify
the
purification
of the
flesh
how much
more
the writer
says
will the
blood
of Christ
who through
the spirit
offered
himself
without
blemish
to God
and here's
my point
the
resurrection
of Jesus
proves
that his
death
on the
cross
was a
sufficient
sacrifice
for your
sin
it was
enough
not for
a moment
but for
eternity
the fact
that he
rose from
the dead
means that
you can
trust
him
alone
to save
you
to provide
forgiveness
to give
peace
with God
to provide
eternal life
his resurrection
proves that
he can do
that and that
only he
can do
that
without the
resurrection
of Jesus
his crucifixion
would be
meaningless
it would
just be
another
tragedy
on the
pages
of history
but because
he rose
from the
dead
we know
that his
atonement
was accepted
by God
the father
and he
can give
you
life
forever
don't you
see
the
resurrection
changes
everything
it
changes
everything
it means
that the
purpose of
Christ
was actually
fulfilled
and that
by faith
we can
receive
the gift
of life
now I
believe
everything
that I've
said
tonight
is completely
rational
but rational
thinking
can only
get us
so far
can't it
simple
reason
can look
at the
Bible
and discern
at least
within the
pages of
the Bible
that all
of these
things
point
to the
fact
that Jesus
of Nazareth
is the
Messiah
and the
Son of
God
that it
teaches
his death
and resurrection
makes
salvation
possible
that it
affirms
that he
is the
eternal
Lord
all of
those
things
can be
rationally
discerned
as we
look at
the
scriptures
and that's
important
but it
is totally
possible
to see
those things
in the
Bible
without
actually
believing
that it's
true
without
actually
following
Jesus
as
Savior
and
Lord
in fact
many
people
consent
to a
form
of
Christianity
without
ever
actually
becoming
true
Christians
God
created
us
as
rational
beings
in order
that we
could
discern
his
rational
truth
in
his
word
but at
the
end
of
the
day
it
is
faith
that
he
demands
of
each
of
us
faith
Hebrews
chapter
11
and
verse
6
without
faith
it's
impossible
to
please
him
for
whoever
would
draw
near
to
God
must
believe
that
he
exists
and
that
he
rewards
those
who
seek
him
this
is
what
Paul
meant
in
Romans
5
since
we
have
been
justified
not
by
our
rational
assent
to
the
things
that
we
read
but
since
we
have
been
justified
by
faith
we
have
peace
with
God
through
our
Lord
Jesus
Christ
through
him
we
have
obtained
access
by
faith
into
this
grace
in
which
we
stand
and
as
we
finish
I
want
you
to
look
back
at
the
beginning
of
Peter's
sermon
specifically
at
verse
21
look at
it
with
me
verse
21
this
is
the
end
of
Joel's
prophecy
that
he
quotes
it
shall
come
to
pass
that
everyone
who
calls
upon
the
name
of
the
Lord
shall
be
saved
so
salvation
comes
to those
who
call
on
the
name
of
the
Lord
who
Peter
proves
in
this
passage
is
Jesus
Christ
Jesus
of
Nazareth
but
what
does
it
actually
mean
to
call
on
the
name
of
the
Lord
what
does
that
even
mean
it
means
that
after
acknowledging
my
lostness
not
just
as
it's
described
on
the
pages
of
a
book
but
as
I
realize
the
truth
of
what
is
written
in
the
pages
of
this
book
and
I
acknowledge
the
lostness
that I
have
in
my
sin
by
faith
I
cry
out
to
Jesus
alone
to
save
me
cry
out
for
his
mercy
realizing
finally
that I
have
no
other
hope
my
fig
leaves
won't
count
my
goodness
can't
be
good
enough
my
faithfulness
can't
be
faithful
enough
the
only
thing
I
can
do
is
acknowledge
the
truthfulness
of what
the
scripture
says
and
by
faith
cry
out
to
Jesus
Christ
for
mercy
acknowledging
him
as
my
savior
and
as
my
lord
Jesus
accomplished
this
salvation
on the
cross
and he
offers
it
freely
to
all
who
will
believe
that's
why
good
friday
matters
that's
why
it's
good
if
you're
still
trying
to
sort
all
of
this
out
in
your
own
mind
in
your
own
heart
as
to
whether
or
not
any
of
this
actually
means
anything
helpful
at
all
at
the
end
of
the
day
it
comes
back
to
faith
you
can
acknowledge
the
truthfulness
of
these
things
without
actually
believing
them
without
actually
surrendering
to
Christ
in
response
to
and
I
want
to
leave
you
with
Jesus
words
in
John
6
Jesus
said
I
am
the
bread
of
life
whoever
comes
to
me
shall
not
hunger
and
whoever
believes
in
me
shall
never
thirst
but
I
said
to
you
that
you
have
seen
me
and
yet
you
do
not
believe
all
that
the
father
gives
me
will
come
to
me
and
whoever
comes
to
me
I
will
never
cast
out
for
I
have
come
down
from
heaven
not
to
do
my
own
will
but
the
will
of
him
who
sent
me
and
this
is
the
will
of
him
who
sent
me
Jesus
said
that
I
should
lose
nothing
of
all
that
he
has
given
me
but
raise
it
up
on
the
last
day
for
this
is
the
will
of
my
father
that
everyone
and
believes
in
him
should
have
eternal
life
and
I
will
raise
him
up
on
the
last
day
notice
what
Jesus
says
whoever
looks
on
the
son
and
believes
don't
just
look
tonight
believe
and
receive
by
faith
this
glorious
gospel
truth