True evangelism is genuine persuasion.
! You make reasonable arguments from God's Word
! and ask the Holy Spirit to apply His Word to the person's heart.
! And so, He proves, by the Scriptures, and by the resurrection, and other things in this time that Jesus was the Messiah.
And then at the end of this, 3,000 people are saved and added to the church.
So, we're going to pick up today in verse 22 of chapter 2.
After explaining Pentecost, Peter then moves on.
Verse 22, he says,
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 foreknowledge of God.
You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death,
because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.
For David says concerning Him,
now he's going back to Scripture again,
I saw the Lord always before me,
for He is in 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 path of life.
You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.
Brothers, I must say to you with confidence about the patriarch David,
that he both died and was buried,
and in his tomb is with us to this day.
Being therefore a prophet,
and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him,
that he would set one of his descendants on the throne,
he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ,
that he was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh see corruption.
This Jesus God raised up,
and 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.
We'll stop there.
So, just join me in a word of prayer before we go further.
Father, we have come to worship You tonight,
today, this morning, Lord,
and I pray that we would do so in spirit and in truth.
We are gathered this morning,
not for any other reason.
We are wasting our time, Lord,
if we are not here to see Jesus lifted up,
and to be transformed by His presence in our lives.
I pray that we would listen to Your Word as an act of worship,
that we would be ready to apply it in our lives.
Lord, we love it,
and we respect it.
And God, we bow to what You say this morning.
So, encourage our hearts,
meet each one of us where we are,
those who are broken and battered and beaten down,
as well as those who are full of joy and gladness now.
Lord, I pray You would be glorified in Christ's name.
Amen.
So,
I had a hard time trimming this down.
I got it down to barely over four pages,
so I'm going to do my best.
to move through this.
But,
we're going to move through our text today
with four points.
And they're all about,
like, who the Messiah was.
Like, who is Jesus as the Messiah?
Because that's what Peter's trying to do.
He's trying to preach and persuade
and show this gathered crowd
that Jesus was the long-expected Messiah,
not only for Israel,
but of the whole world,
of all the nations that He came to save.
And so,
so,
three or four things about the Messiah.
And we'll see them very clearly in our text,
but,
number one is,
the identity of the Messiah.
The identity of the Messiah.
Verse 22,
it says,
men of Israel,
hear these words,
Jesus of Nazareth,
a man attested to you by God.
So,
he uses the phrase,
men of Israel.
And,
that is a gracious title for Peter to use with this crowd.
Such incredibly kind words to address this crowd with.
Why?
Because,
this is the most guilty people
in the most guilty city on earth at this point.
God manifested Himself to the nation of Israel
like no other nation.
He had a whole,
they had a whole history with God.
They had the prophets.
They had the law.
They had God revealing Himself to them
by divine revelation.
And at this point,
they even had the scriptures of Moses
and the prophets and others.
They had so much given to them.
And they were to be a light for all the nations
to know God.
And in many ways,
they failed to do so.
So,
yet,
though they had all this revelation,
they constantly turned against God,
constantly rebelled against God
and worshipped idols,
killed the prophets
who were calling them to turn back to God,
and the prophets who foretold of the Messiah
to come.
And then finally,
when the Messiah came,
when Jesus came,
they rejected Him as well.
They cursed Him,
they spat on Him,
and eventually they crucified Him.
So they killed the very Messiah
that God had promised to send.
That's what's going on here.
And so you would think that Peter
would address all the non-Jews in the crowd
and say like,
people of Israel,
you've lost,
you know,
your chance is over.
If you're not a Jew,
listen to me.
But that's not what he says.
Instead of cursing them
and cutting them off
from God's salvation,
Peter speaks immense grace to them
by calling them
men of Israel.
It's as if he's saying,
draw close to me,
listen carefully to what I'm saying,
you descendants of Abraham,
Isaac,
Jacob,
you children of the covenant,
those whom God has bound Himself to
in covenant love,
who constantly rebel,
but God is always faithful,
you guys,
you descendants of Jacob,
of Israel,
listen to me.
And that's such amazing grace
offered to this crowd
that he addresses them in that way.
And that should encourage us.
Are you encouraged
that God offers such this?
This is the very crowd
that crucified the Lord.
He's offering them
a chance
to believe and repent.
Men of Israel,
grace upon grace,
to those people in the crowd.
Then he goes on,
he says,
Jesus of Nazareth.
This is the identity
of the Messiah.
He,
all throughout the book of Acts,
Peter loved to use
the title
Jesus of Nazareth.
It's used multiple times
throughout the book of Acts,
specifically by Peter.
And you may ask,
why that title
when Jesus has
so many other titles?
But,
if you think about it,
many days before this,
this was the name
that they hung
above Jesus
on the cross
to scorn him
and mock him
and make fun of him.
And now,
it's like,
Peter's saying,
that Jesus of Nazareth
that you guys
rejected and killed,
he was
the long-expected Messiah.
Yeah,
you know,
Jesus,
from that no-name,
dirty little town
of Nazareth
in Galilee.
Yeah,
he is God's Messiah.
So,
he's taking that name
that they used
to keep scorn upon Jesus
and pushing it
right back in their face
in a way.
And so,
it goes on,
he says,
this was a man
attested to you
by God.
And last week,
we talked about
how the word attested
is implied in a lot of ways,
but it means
to put something
on display.
To put something
on exhibition.
To give evidence
to something
and to proclaim something.
That's like what
this means.
And Jesus,
he did this.
God took Jesus
and presented him
like nothing,
trying to hide nothing.
Here he is.
Look at him.
He put Jesus
on exhibition
as the true Messiah.
The true and living Messiah.
His birth,
his life,
his death,
and his resurrection
overwhelmingly prove
that he is
who he said he was.
He was their Messiah
and he is our Messiah
today.
So how did
God lift him up?
How did God
put him on exhibition?
And a lot of this
is the rest of the message.
But it goes
to the second point.
Number two
is,
so the first one
was the identity
of the Messiah.
Number two
is the life
of the Messiah.
verse 22 again.
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.
You yourselves
know.
So,
a massive amount
of proof
or evidence
to show that
Jesus was
the true Messiah.
God validated him.
his life
was no
ordinary life
at all.
Even compared
to other great men.
If you just
Google at some point,
like,
I'm a big history nerd
but like,
I love studying
military history,
but
Napoleon Bonaparte,
an incredible guy
but also
a little crazy,
who conquered
a lot of Europe
and
set the hearts
of his country
men on fire,
he recognizes
something very
unique about Jesus.
You just Google
Jesus Christ,
Napoleon Bonaparte
and this long
extended quote
about how
Jesus was far
greater than him
and any other
great military leader
ever.
So,
something that
just stands out
about Jesus,
no one can really
escape that reality.
Jesus is not
ordinary at all.
He's not just
a prophet.
He's not just
a good moral teacher.
Jesus made claims
and said things
that you just
do not say
unless
either he was crazy
or he was telling
you the truth.
Alright,
so,
Jesus claimed
to be the only
Son of God
and that he alone
had descended
from the Father.
Very big deal.
He also claimed
to be God
in human flesh
and that to see him
was to see
the Father.
And he allowed
people to worship
him as God.
As God
is only worthy
to be worshipped.
Jesus also claimed
to be the only
Savior of the world
and the only way
to God.
And he had the power
to forgive sins.
He claimed
to possess authority
in heaven
and on earth.
Right?
So many things
he said.
He claimed
that he would,
one of the most
outrageous ones,
was not,
he predicted
his own death
but then he also
said that death
would not keep
his hold on him.
That he would
rise from
the dead.
Yet,
those highly
exclusive claims
that he made
don't subtract
from his compassion,
his wisdom,
his mercy,
his humility
to a broken
world.
So,
on your bulletin
there's a quote
by a historian
named Philip Schaaf.
If you want to look
at it,
it says,
Jesus of Nazareth
without money
and arms
conquered more
millions
than Alexander
the Great,
Caesar,
Muhammad,
and Napoleon.
Without science
and learning,
he shed more
light on things
human and divine
than all philosophers
and scholars
combined.
He spoke such
words of life
as were never
spoken before
or since
and produced effects
which lie beyond
the reach of an
orator or poet.
Without writing
a single line,
he set more
pins in motion
and furnished
themes for more
sermons,
orations,
discussions,
learned volumes,
works of art,
songs of praise
than the whole
army of great men
of the ancient
and modern times.
It's true.
Even people who
hate Jesus,
they can't escape
him.
He's always there
haunting their
memories and
their minds.
His was no
ordinary life.
And so God
held him up
and put him
on exhibition.
We have nothing
to hide as
believers,
okay?
Jesus,
when he was
here,
he used terms
like,
come,
look,
see,
listen to me,
follow me.
He wasn't
trying to hide
anything.
He was always
inviting people
to check out
who he was.
Right?
So he offered
them in this
text for three
years.
Jesus taught
from the
scriptures.
He explained
who he was
from the Old
Testament
scriptures,
displayed great
acts of
kindness and
compassion.
And so,
but in our
text here,
as we just
read,
it says
there were
some specific
things that gave
insight to who
the Messiah
was.
He used
the term
mighty works.
And this
just means
that they
were miraculous
in nature
and appearance.
Like,
they were not
normal.
They were
miraculous in
their nature
and appearance.
Then he
used the
word wonders.
And this
word speaks
of something
that's shocking,
startling,
that catches
your attention
and is
completely out
of the
ordinary.
This is
what wonders
means.
And then
later on,
so what's
the intention,
what's the
purpose of
wonders?
And it's
to point
to signs.
Okay?
Signs that
are pointing
to a
spiritual
reality of
who Jesus
claimed to
be.
And all
we know,
like he
healed the
sick,
he,
all throughout
the Old
Testament
Levitical
laws,
like it
was,
it made
someone
unclean
to touch
a leopard,
to touch
someone who
had a bodily
discharge.
If you
touched
them,
you were
considered
unclean,
and then
you were
kicked out
of the
camp.
But Jesus
came,
and he
touched
the leopard,
touched
the people
who were
untouchable,
and they
were healed.
Pretty
incredible.
He walked
on the
water,
he calmed
storms,
and unlike
anything else,
he raised
the dead.
Right?
All of
this,
Jesus did,
if you
notice this,
a lot of
people have
this idea
that Jesus
was using
his divinity,
to kind
of prove
who he
was.
Jesus
was fully
divine,
but when
he came
here,
he yielded
that to
the power
of the
Father.
He came
to show
us what
a life
was like
yielded
to the
Holy Spirit.
That's why
he was
baptized,
and the
Holy Spirit
came down.
And as
John says,
the Spirit
rested on
Jesus without
measure.
But do you
see that in
the text?
It said all
these things
that God
did through
him to
validate who
he was.
These
miraculous
manifestations
of God's
power,
they created
wonder.
So just
so you
know,
Scripture
does teach
that even
forces of
evil can
perform some
sorts of
miracles.
But one
major difference
is they can't
raise people
from the
dead.
Only God
has that
power.
And as we
see,
Jesus went
further,
and he was
the one
who was
raised from
dead.
And so
all these
things
proclaimed,
proved,
and pointed
to Jesus
being the
Messiah.
And he
was like,
you yourselves
know this
happened.
You guys
were here.
You saw
this.
You saw
this.
You saw
Jesus do
these things.
And you
still harden
your heart.
Seeing is
not believing.
Okay?
That's not what
the Bible
teaches.
Seeing is
not believing.
These people
saw this,
and they
still denied
it.
Okay?
So number
three,
the third
point that
he used to
talk about
the Messiah
is the
death of
the Messiah.
The death
of the
Messiah.
Verse 23.
Check this
one out.
This is a
big one.
It says,
This Jesus
delivered up
according to
the definite
plan and
foreknowledge
of God.
You crucified
and killed
by the hands
of lawless
men.
So just as
Jesus of
Nazareth
was no
ordinary
man.
His death
was no
ordinary
death.
The death
of the
Son of
God and
the resurrection
are the
two most
important
events in
human history.
And they
demand your
attention.
They do.
To miss
this is
pretty
dangerous to
your soul.
It's an
event of
cosmic
proportions
throughout all
eternity.
It demands
your reverent
attention.
So Jesus
came to
die on
the cross
to honor
his father,
to glorify
his father,
but also to
meet our
greatest need,
which was to
be redeemed,
to be saved,
to be reconciled
to God.
Okay, so
our entire
being before
Christ,
okay,
BC,
your entire
being is
enslaved to
sin.
Your mind,
your heart,
are corrupted
by evil.
This is what
scripture teaches,
and your
will is in
bondage to
sin.
Ever since
Eden, man
has been a
fugitive running
from the
presence of
God.
That's why
when we
commit sin,
that's why
we like to
do it in
private.
That's why
we don't
like things
like the
holiness of
God,
because it
exposes
who we
are.
As John
said,
men love
darkness,
and they
hate the
light,
because they
don't want
themselves to
be seen.
Right?
So we
run.
We are
cosmic
fugitives
from the
presence of
the Lord
God Almighty.
But Peter's
words here
beg a
question.
Okay?
It leads us
to ask this
question.
Did God
see the
disaster that
was coming in
the Garden of
Eden?
Was He
totally cut
off guard
by our sin?
Did God
begin to
devise a
plan after
the fall?
Like He
created the
world,
and then
after Eden
He was
like,
oh no,
I'm in
trouble.
Some people
believe in
the church,
even some
good people
just misled.
They believe
that redemption
was a plan
that was conceived
in the Garden
of Eden.
And that goes
against everything
we know about
God.
You know,
you've got the
little drama
teams performing
a skit of the
Garden of Eden,
and they're
playing,
you know,
Total Eclipse
of the Heart
in the
background,
and God
is like,
the whole
time like,
no,
don't do
that.
And it
portrays this
idea that God
was just
caught off
guard.
What happened?
So many in
the church,
many people
will say
that God
does not,
they believe
that God
is sovereign,
but He does
not ordain
and know
every single
event that's
going to
happen.
but He
leaves it
open to
a lot of
the stuff
in the future
to be determined
by man's
will,
man's choices,
or Satan's,
and God
is reactionary
to those
events.
He reacts,
but He
didn't plan.
So,
this is a
theological
idea called
open theism,
and it's
completely
untrue
and unbiblical,
that it
implies like
God has a
plan A,
and if that
doesn't work
out,
He has a
plan B,
and a
plan C,
and then
that's what
just goes on
the whole
time.
So,
you should
know this,
guys,
bad doctrine
hurts people
and it
dishonors God.
Alright,
it goes against
everything we
know about
the person
of God
to believe
that that's
true.
our God
is by
very nature
a planning
God.
What we
know about
God,
Scripture
teaches,
He's
omniscient,
He literally
knows all
things,
He has
perfect
knowledge
set before
Him.
He's
omnipotent,
He possesses
all the
power to
carry out
His perfect
will.
It's not
that He
has a lot
of power
and there's
some other
powers out
there,
like all
the power
that they
have is
delegated
by God
that He
could take
at any
moment.
God is
immutable,
He is
unchanging
in His
person,
in His
character,
He does
not change.
He's
unaffected
by things
we do.
So,
nothing sneaks
up on Him
or catches
Him off
guard.
So,
in one way,
the answer
is no,
God was
not caught
off guard
because it
goes against
what we
know about
the very
nature
of God
Himself.
It's
not there.
So,
I know
that as a
whole,
our church
rejoices in
and embraces
the sovereignty
of God
over all
things,
but I
know that
with a
crowd this
big,
it might
not sit
right with
some of
you,
but I'm
going to
tell you,
you can
kick and
punch and
hate that
truth that
God literally
reigns over
everything,
including the
air you breathe
and the grass
that grows,
or you can
embrace it and
let it be your
biggest joy and
your biggest
comfort.
my mom's
here today,
and we
all have
walked through
some very
difficult trials
in our lives,
most of them
my fault,
being sick and
being in the
hospital,
and right now
my dad is in
the hospital,
and she will
tell you,
I will tell you
that this
has been the
number one
truth that
has comforted
us throughout
all that time,
and so you
can mock that
or you can
embrace it and
experience the
same reality.
So, it's no
different in the
language used of
the death of
Christ.
Here it is
before us.
After the
disaster in
Eden, God
did not begin
devising a
plan, saying
darn, I
messed up,
oh I know
what I'll do,
I'll send
Jesus, Jesus
are you cool
with that?
Okay, I'll
go.
That's not
what happened.
God has
written the
pages of
history according
to His
plan, and
including, this
should give you
chills, like
including the
cross of
Christ.
It says in
23, Jesus
delivered up
according to
the definite
plan and
foreknowledge of
God.
The word
definite means
predetermined,
appointed,
designed,
decreed.
It literally
means to set
out boundaries
for which
something is
going to
happen.
And so the
word foreknowledge,
I don't know
why maybe some
other guys here
who have been
seminaried and
studied Greek
can explain
better than
me, like
why our
English
translations
really use
the word
foreknowledge.
Because most
of us think
it means to
look down
throughout
history and
observe something
that's going
to happen.
We look down
and we see
what's going
to happen,
and then we
react accordingly.
But it's not
really how the
Bible uses it
at all.
It means to
be foreknown
or foreordained.
So certainly
God knows
what's going to
happen in the
future.
He certainly
knows that,
but that's not
what this is
saying.
Foreknowledge
is in Bible
terms means
that in
eternity past,
God looked
down and
decided what
He was going
to do.
He planned
it.
He executed
it.
It means that
God planned
before, but
not that He
observed before.
So later on,
you see down in
where is it?
Let me find this.
It just came to
my mind.
It says that
David foresaw.
See that in
our text?
This is a
different word.
It does mean
that David in
his finite
human way
could look
ahead and see
what was going
to happen,
knowing that
the Christ
would come.
That's not
the same word
as foreknowledge.
God had a
plan before
the foundation
of the world.
Read Ephesians
1.
It says before
the foundation
of the world
this was planned.
Before reading,
Christ was
foreordained to
come before
the foundation
of the world
to be the
sacrifice for
our sins.
But wait a
minute.
In our text,
it says that
men crucified
him.
Men killed
him.
Okay, well
whose plan
was it?
Was it man's
plan to kill
Christ or was
it God's
plan?
The answer
is yes.
Alright?
So here's
something so
chilling.
Hold your
hand in Acts
2, but look
over two
chapters to
Acts 4.
I'm going to
show you
something here.
And I'm
going to take
a sip of
water.
Alright, so
Peter, he
says that
Christ's death
was planned,
it was
foreordained
by Almighty
God.
But then he
adds, you
crucified him
and you
killed him
by the
hands of
lawless
men.
What?
Okay, so
which one
is it?
God or
man?
The answer
is yes.
Jesus was
killed by
lawless,
wicked,
sinful men
who hated
him and
rejected him
as the
Messiah.
The very
crowd that
Peter is
addressing are
those men.
At the
same time
though,
Peter tells
them that
what they
did was in
the boundaries
of what God
had accomplished
and preordained
to bring
salvation.
Here's another
parallel text.
This one's
even more
startling to
me.
Acts 4
verse 24.
It says,
and when they
heard it,
they lifted
their voices
together to
God and
said,
Sovereign
Lord,
who made
the heaven
and the
earth,
the sea,
and everything
is in
them.
Alright,
so he
begins by
saying God
is sovereign.
He is
Lord over
all.
But we're
trying to
communicate
now.
He says,
Who threw
the mouth
of our
father David,
your servant,
said by the
Holy Spirit,
and he quotes
Psalm 2,
the second
Psalm,
Why did
the Gentiles
rage in
the people's
plot in
vain?
The kings
of the earth
set themselves
and their
rulers were
gathered together
against the
Lord and
against his
anointed.
That's
Jesus.
For
truly in
this city
they were
gathered
together
against
your
holy
servant
Jesus,
whom you
appointed,
both Herod
and Pontius
Pilate,
along with
the Gentiles
and the
peoples of
Israel,
and here
it is,
to do
whatever
your hand
and your
plan
had
predestined
to take
place.
Startling
words.
The
American
Standard
Version
says,
to do
whatever
thy
hand
and thy
counsel
foreordained
to come
to pass.
So do you
hear that?
Like,
Herod,
Pontius Pilate,
the Gentiles,
the people of
Israel,
they all
gather together.
He was
fulfilling this
prophecy in
the second
psalm.
They gather
together to
put an end
to God's
Messiah.
Like,
this is not
going to
happen.
He is not
going to
rule over
us.
and their
vile
actions,
literally
they know,
fulfilling
prophecy.
Right?
They were
fulfilling
what God
had planned
before creation
and predestined
to take
place to
accomplish
salvation
for His
people.
So the
cross was
not an
emergency
reactionary
plan of
God to
save man.
That would
scare you.
Can you
imagine walking
throughout your
life not
knowing that
God was in
control?
That anybody
could come
and do
something to
you and
God was
like,
oh,
I'm sorry,
I was too
late to
fix this.
It's not
true.
In Ephesians
1 it says
God works
all things
after the
counsel of
His will.
All things
after the
counsel of
His will.
Job later
on says,
I know
that no
purpose of
yours can
be thwarted.
This is
God.
So here's
an insight
into this
event that
we're talking
about,
the death
of Christ.
One of
the books
that I've
read in
the past
and facing
stuff I've
faced is a
book by
John Piper
called
Suffering and
the Sovereignty
of God.
And he
uses this
text and
the ones
that we're
looking at
to describe
the cross
and what
happened at
the cross
to give
people who
are reading
that
encouragement.
But he
says,
this is a
quote,
he says,
God did
not just
overcome evil
at the
cross.
He made
evil serve
the overcoming
of evil.
He made
evil commit
suicide in
doing its
worst evil.
In the death
of Christ,
the powers of
darkness did
their best to
destroy the
glory of the
Son of God.
But this is
the apex of
evil.
Instead,
they found
themselves
quoting the
script of
ancient
prophecy and
acting their
part assigned
by God.
Precisely in
putting Christ
to death,
they put his
glory on
display.
The very
glory that
they aimed
to destroy.
The apex of
evil achieved
the apex of
the glory of
Christ,
the glory of
his grace.
So do you
hear that?
Like, I'll
summarize it.
Yes, Jesus
was brutally
killed by
lawless,
sinful men
who hated
him.
And they
did it
freely.
They acted
in accordance
to their
own will,
which was
evil.
They put
him to
death.
They designed
that to
destroy Christ.
And there's
no greater
evil than
crucifying the
innocent Son
of God.
Okay?
So do you
hear what he's
saying,
though?
Man killed
him, but
listen to
this.
700 years
before this
happened, God
spoke to
Isaiah and
it says,
it was the
will of
the Lord
to crush
him and
to put him
to grief.
They were
fulfilling
prophecy.
This was
God's plan.
So here it
is.
Listen carefully.
Scripture
clearly,
unashamedly,
irrevocably,
says that
God
sovereignly
uses,
okay, all
these things.
He even
uses the
free and
willful acts
of evil
men to
play right
into what
he wants
every time.
Like the
Psalms say,
or the
Proverbs,
the wicked
fall into
their own
traps.
God uses
their evil
to accomplish
good.
It echoes
of Genesis,
right, with
Joseph and
his brothers.
You meant
this, you
designed this
for evil,
but God
designed this
and meant
this for
good.
That's the
story of
the Scripture.
It's not
God had a
plan B,
this was
plan A,
and he
used these
free and
willful evil
actions of
men to
commit the
greatest good.
That should
just bring us
chills.
All right,
in doing
this, the
greatest act
of evil
destroyed evil.
That's what
Piper's saying.
And God
uses the
greatest sin
ever in
crucifying the
Son of
God as
the means
for overcoming
sin forever.
So how
great is
our God?
How glorious
is He?
Christ was
delivered to
death because
God planned
it, God
ordained it,
and He did
it to bring
salvation to
His people
and to
display the
infinite majesty
and glory of
Christ.
God uses
evil to
destroy evil.
And that
was, this
is it, this
was the apex
of that.
The cross,
preordained,
predestined to
take place,
to bring us
salvation.
All right,
so the
fourth thing
is number
four, the
resurrection
of the
Messiah.
Look at
24 through
33.
It's a big
text, so just
for time's sake,
I'm not going to
read it all to you
again, but it's
24 through
33.
And through
the death of
Christ, okay,
one of the
greatest ways
that God
displayed and
proved that He
was the
Messiah was
that He
raised Him
from the
dead.
That's the
greatest validation
that Jesus was
not just kidding
around, that He
wasn't just
joking around
and saying
things, making
these outrageous
claims.
Because if He
had died and
He was in the
grave, then it
would be no
different than
any other
self-proclaimed
Messiah.
No different
than Muhammad.
No different
than Buddha.
There's nothing
good about a
dead Messiah.
And as Paul
said later on,
we're going to
look at the
resurrection some
more next week,
but as Paul
said, like if
Christ is not
risen, then you
are still dead
in your sin.
It's so
important.
And I love,
love just the
looking at the
resurrection of
Christ and how
it almost can
be proven in
the courtroom
how Jesus
actually did
rise from
the dead.
It's just
indisputable.
Right?
So, it goes
on and it
says that
Christ raised
Him from the
dead.
It wasn't
possible for
Him to be
held by
death.
And then He
uses Scripture
again to
prove what
He's saying.
He uses
David again
saying David
was a prophet
and David
foretold of
this event
of the
resurrection
of the
Messiah.
Okay?
This is Psalm
16 that
he's quoting.
It says,
David foresaw,
different than
foreknowledge,
about God
raising Jesus
from the
dead.
And it
made it
clear.
So, a lot
of people may
read Psalm
16 and
think that
David is
referring to
himself when
he wrote
that.
He's not.
And the
reason why is
right here,
Peter says,
oh, it
wasn't about
David because
David's body
did see
corruption.
He did
die.
He's buried
right over
there.
Going, look,
this wasn't
about David.
David was
prophesying about
the descendant
that God
had promised
to raise up
to be ruler
over all.
And he was
saying this
was Jesus,
the Messiah.
He did not
see corruption.
He lives.
David's body
is here,
but Christ's
body is not
here.
David knew
what would
happen.
Jesus was
the direct
descendant
of King
David.
Look in
the Gospel
of Matthew,
the Gospel
of Luke,
and you see
the genealogies
there.
Jesus was
the Messiah,
and one day
he would be
the eternal
ruler,
not just of
Israel,
but of the
nations again.
So God
raised Christ
by the power
of God,
and now it
says he's
seated at
the right
hand of
the Father,
ruling and
reigning.
We'll talk
more about
that next
week as
well.
But then
he adds,
we're witness
to these
things.
We saw
these things.
We who
were hiding
and scared
and cowering
in the
corner after
this happened,
now we're
on the streets
telling you
that we
don't care
anymore.
Like,
Jesus is
alive,
and we're
going to
proclaim that
to you.
So the
greatest
validation or
proof of
Jesus as
the Messiah
was he
is alive.
He has
risen from
the dead.
So,
in conclusion,
religion,
if you're
without
Christ
today,
know that
God will
allow you
to go
on pursuing
money,
success,
all the
things of
this world,
like just
go hard
at it as
you want.
But one
day,
this Christ
whom God
raised from
the dead,
you will
have to
reckon
with him
one day.
You will
have to
face him
one day.
And if
he's dead,
no worry.
But if
he's alive,
you better
make sure.
He's alive
and he's
going to
come back
to judge
and to
make war
and to
give life
to those
who have
put their
total trust,
who have
given them
their lives.
Peter says,
we saw
these things
and we
know it's
true.
Only then
that will
be too
late.
So flee
to Christ
and accept
the free
gift of
his grace.
Turn away
from your
sins and
don't look
back.
Follow
Christ.
He's
worthy.
He's
good.
He will
treat you
so well.
The world
and sin
is a brutal
taskmaster.
Flee to
Christ.
He is
alive and
he is
here.
You don't
have to
look him
up.
He's
right here.
And we
don't need
an altar
call because
you can
deal with
God
sitting
right
where
you
are.
And
believer,
brother,
sister in
Christ,
rejoice that
your
sovereign
father
has
got it.
He's
got it.
He's
holding
you.
He has
saved you.
No one
can snatch
you from
his hand.
And he's
used the
greatest act
of evil
to destroy
evil.
Evil will
one day
be no
more.
And our
savior is
living and
is here
with us
today.
and he
reigns for
our
good and
for
his
glory.
And so
next week
we'll
finish
this part
of Peter's
sermon.
But I
hope that
you've been
encouraged.
Just know
that your
God is
in control,
that he is
sovereign,
and that
Christ has
died on
your behalf.
Let's pray
together.
here.