On this Easter Sunday, I want us to think not only about the story of Jesus' resurrection, but the story of Jesus' resurrection.
The narrative of it.
I'd like for us to look especially at how the apostles preached the gospel of the resurrection to the world.
They didn't just tell a story.
They spoke of it as the pinnacle moment in God's sovereign plan to save sinners.
They looked to the scriptures of old to see that this resurrection was foretold, that though it was veiled, it was mysterious in the things that the prophet said and in the signs that were given to us in the law and other things.
We can reflect on it after having understood the resurrection of Jesus and we can see it more clearly now, right?
We can see, oh, it's actually there.
It's in the scriptures.
And they began to proclaim that.
They looked at the scriptures of old, but then they also looked ahead of this moment to see how the resurrection actually signals something else that's coming.
It signals a second coming of the Christ and it signals a final judgment in which Christ will reign.
Indeed, this is so much more than a story, isn't it?
It's the most important message that any of us has ever heard in our lives.
It's the most important message that any of us will hear even this morning.
And since we've been studying together the letter of 1 Peter, I thought what better apostolic sermon for us to examine than Peter's message from the day of Pentecost recorded here in Acts 2.
It's the first recorded sermon following the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
And I think it will be the right place for us to meditate this morning.
Before we read it, maybe just another quick prayer.
Gracious Father, we do ask humbly that you would bless us in this moment.
That you would do the work that only you can do.
A saving work, a redeeming work, an eye-opening work.
That the Spirit of God would help us to understand these truths.
Even for those of us who are already in the faith and we have come to faith in the Lord Jesus and His death and resurrection and all of those things.
That in these moments as we come anew to your word that it would be just as fresh and just as real to us.
And not because of anything that I've put together.
Not because of any words from my voice.
But in the power of your Spirit working through your inerrant and infallible and wonderful and authoritative word.
That you would help us to feast freshly this morning on your truth and on this gospel.
And that each of us would walk away with wonderful joy.
Having understood maybe more clearly your truth.
And that if there is anyone here this morning.
Who has not yet come to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.
That Lord in their hearts and in their minds throughout this time of study and of preaching.
That you would call them and draw them.
And that they would turn.
And that they would believe.
And that all of us would leave this place today.
Armed with an apostolic structure of sharing the gospel with others.
So that in the weeks and the months and the years ahead of us.
We would proclaim this gospel the way that Peter proclaimed it here.
That maybe next Easter we would show up in this same place.
And yet more of these seats would be filled.
Because we've proclaimed your truth.
And you have worked through us to save others.
We ask this in your name and for your sake.
Amen.
Well let's read it.
Acts 2.
I'm tempted to read the whole thing.
But I won't do that.
So let's start at verse 22.
Peter 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.
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 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.
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.
Amen.
The context of this sermon is really quite unique.
It occurred within a matter of days of Jesus' resurrection and ascension.
This is 50 days after the resurrection.
After Passover.
This is 40 days after the ascension.
Or 10 days, excuse me.
After the ascension.
And the disciples were gathered together in Jerusalem.
Jesus had instructed them to wait there.
For he would soon send his Holy Spirit to empower them.
To preach the gospel message.
And to take it to the world.
Beginning in Jerusalem.
Which is where they are at this moment.
And then spreading out from there.
To Judea and Samaria.
And the uttermost parts of the earth.
And on this particular day.
On Pentecost.
The Spirit of God indeed was poured out on the disciples.
And that spiritual outpouring.
Was demonstrated in the supernatural gift.
Of speaking in different languages.
And I want you to imagine this.
If you were to read the beginning of the chapter.
You would see how it unfolded.
Pentecost is a big festal day in Judaism.
People from all over the world.
Jews, converts to Judaism.
Had traveled no doubt to Jerusalem.
They were there perhaps even as early as Passover.
And had stayed to continue through the celebration of Pentecost.
They've gathered on this day.
People from all over the place.
And they are each one hearing the disciples speak.
And preach the gospel message.
Not in Hebrew.
Not in Aramaic.
But in their very own language.
Galileans.
Speaking.
And yet they're hearing them in different tongues.
Of course this wasn't a permanent gift.
We understand that.
It was a sign in that moment.
An important sign.
That God was uniquely blessing these individuals.
But that he was especially blessing the message.
That they were proclaiming.
This was massively important.
What was taking place.
But as you can imagine.
Everyone there began to wonder.
What in the world was happening.
Some of them just supposed.
If you read the chapter.
That all of these people were drunk.
They said there's nothing special here.
This is just.
This is just drunkenness.
And of course that wasn't it.
Was it?
So Peter stepped up.
The people have gathered.
They've heard the noise.
They've heard the commotion.
And he begins to address the crowds that are there.
And he preaches what is the very first recorded Christian sermon.
That we just read together.
He takes Joel chapter 2.
As his primary text.
And he declares that what was happening in that moment.
Was actually the fulfillment of what Joel said would happen.
Just read it at the beginning.
Verses 17 to 21.
This is the quote that he makes from Joel.
In the last days it shall be God declares.
That I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.
Your young men shall see visions.
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.
And I will show you wonders in the heavens above.
Signs on the earth below.
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned to darkness.
The moon to blood.
Before the day of the Lord comes.
That is a final judgment.
That great and magnificent day.
And it shall come to pass.
That everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord.
Shall be saved.
So the people gather.
And they're trying to figure out what in the world is happening right now.
Peter steps up.
And he quotes this passage from Joel chapter 2.
And he says, listen.
What Joel said.
That's what you're witnessing now.
This sign of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
That Joel said would specifically relate to the act of prophesying.
You are now witnessing in the things that are happening.
This moment was signaling.
The fulfillment of the prophet's words.
It was signaling that God's judgment was drawing near.
And it was also saying that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved in that judgment.
It's a magnificent moment.
Now two specific phrases stick out.
One at the beginning and one at the end of Peter's sermon that help us understand what he's actually trying to do in this sermon.
The first one's in verse 17.
It's the phrase, in the last days.
You'll see it there.
In the last days it shall be, God declares, I will pour out my spirit.
Now that doesn't mean, the whole of it at least, doesn't mean an impending apocalypse.
Though that is a piece of it as it progresses.
It's actually referring the last days to the final epic in God's unfolding plan.
You want you to think about that.
We understand as we read the scriptures and we think of human history, we understand that unfolding in different epics, different phases of God's plan.
We call them covenants, right?
These covenants are unfolding.
And here with the death and resurrection of Christ, we see the new covenant or the last days, this messianic age.
The pouring out of the spirit that Joel prophesied signals the inauguration of those last days of this messianic age that leads finally to that great and terrible day that Peter speaks about here.
The final judgment.
The return of Christ when all people will then be judged.
Now, everybody listening to Peter preach this sermon would have understood that language.
He didn't have to explain that.
They would have automatically known exactly what the last days meant, exactly what Peter is saying that this is signaling and what it will ultimately lead to.
They would have understood.
But they would have had a critical question at this point in Peter's sermon.
Peter, if what we're seeing is what Joel foretold, then where is this Messiah that was to initiate these final days?
Where's the Christ, Peter, if this is really what's happening?
And that's where we get to the second phrase.
We find this one in verse 36.
Set your eyes on it there.
Verse 36.
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ.
Who, Peter?
This Jesus whom you crucified.
Now, if we take those two phrases, one at the beginning and one at the end of the sermon, and we kind of think of them together,
we see Peter has now told us in these two phrases what the objective of this sermon is.
This is what he's accomplishing in this message.
It is to declare that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Lord and Messiah who brings salvation to his people and judgment to his enemies.
And I want to show you how Peter's argument explains this and proves this so that you and anyone to whom you will take this very message may call upon the name of the Lord,
that is the name of Jesus, and be saved in the judgment.
That's the objective.
That's where we're going.
There's four parts to Peter's argument, okay?
The first part is this.
This Jesus, Peter says, was sent down.
This Jesus was sent down.
That's argument number one.
We see it in verse 22.
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 was sent down.
Peter's first argument is that Jesus' messianic identity was put on display by God the Father through, quote, mighty works and wonders and signs.
This is his power in the miraculous things that he did.
And then Peter adds that this is an argument that none of his hearers could actually deny.
They could not reasonably deny that he was sent from God, that he came from God, and that God displayed amazing power through him.
These miraculous works attesting to the fact that Jesus came from God were performed in their very midst, all of the ones who had gathered to hear Peter's message.
Many, if not all of them, had witnessed Jesus' miraculous power.
Jesus had only been killed 50 days before this.
This is not years down the road where people are just getting introduced to who Jesus is.
No, these are the people who were there throughout the whole time.
They were there.
They saw it.
They heard it.
They witnessed it.
No doubt some of them had personally experienced Jesus' healing touch.
And we know that thousands upon thousands of people saw Jesus do these works.
Even at one point, we read in the Gospels that people were coming from neighboring regions because they had heard of his fame, the fame of what he could do was spread abroad.
They were traveling to Palestine.
They were traveling to the nation of Israel.
So that they could see it.
They could witness it.
They could experience it themselves.
Now, the most hard-hearted of the Jews chalked this up to the work of Satan, which is absurd.
Isn't that what they said?
Jesus, you're doing all of this by the power of Beelzebub, they said.
And, of course, that was ridiculous.
Jesus confronted that head on.
No one really took them very seriously with that accusation.
The general consensus of the people was this.
Jesus came from God.
How else could he be explained?
How else could what he was doing be explained?
And this is partly why the religious leaders didn't have Jesus killed sooner.
They were afraid of what the crowds would do if they did.
Because the people believed that he came from God.
Why?
Because of his works.
And this is Peter's first argument.
Now, why is this argument important to Peter?
Because these miracles were prophesied in the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament, as signs of God's Messiah.
That he would come and he would do certain things.
That God's power would rest on him in a way that the world has never seen before.
Of course, God did empower many others to do amazing things from time to time.
Nothing compared to what Jesus did.
As you have probably heard John MacArthur say many times before,
Jesus essentially eradicated disease from Israel for the time that he existed here in his ministry,
those three to three and a half years.
I mean, everywhere he went, people were healed.
Thousands and thousands and thousands of them.
It could not be denied.
Jesus himself even pointed to these works as a sufficient means of acknowledging his divine and messianic identity.
He said to a group of people in John 14,
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me?
The words that I say to you, I do not speak of my own authority,
but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me, he says, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.
Or else, believe on account of the works themselves, Jesus said.
You don't believe me?
You don't believe what I'm saying?
Well, at least look.
How else will you interpret all the things that I'm doing right now?
I came from the Father.
The Father is in me and I am in the Father.
And that's exactly where Peter starts his message.
Hear, men of Israel.
This Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, was attested to you by God.
God put him on display so that you might know that he is Lord and Christ.
Which brings us to his second argument.
This Jesus was sent down.
He came from God.
But this Jesus was then delivered over.
This Jesus was delivered over.
Verse 23.
This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.
You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
So God puts his son on display through mighty works and wonders and signs.
It's undeniable.
It's logical.
Even these people would have said that at one point.
And how did they respond?
They killed him.
God sends the one they've been waiting for.
He puts it on full display.
And they murdered him.
John 1.
The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
He was in the world.
The world was made through him.
This was the very creator, John says.
In the flesh.
And yet, the world didn't know him.
He made them.
But they couldn't figure him out.
They couldn't see it.
He came to his own, John said.
And his own people did not receive him.
The ones who were blessed with the scriptures.
The ones who were blessed with the promises.
The ones who were blessed with the covenants.
He came to them.
And he did everything that their scripture said that he would do.
And they would not receive him.
They rejected him.
They killed him.
How could they do that?
After having seen and witnessed such incredible power.
It just goes to show you, doesn't it?
Just how hardened by sin our hearts really are.
Do you understand that about your own life?
You can have more spiritual privilege than anyone else on earth.
And your sin still harden you so much that you will still reject the one you've been privileged to know.
They had every advantage, the Jews.
But in their sin, they rejected him.
The scriptures often compare this to being blind.
To walking in darkness.
The Christ was in their midst.
They couldn't see him.
And we need to be careful not to think ourselves better than them.
Because apart from the gracious work of God that opens blind eyes,
we too would have cried out.
Crucify him.
We'll sing it during our time of communion today.
Ashamed.
I hear my mocking voice.
Call out among the scoffers.
Now, Peter doesn't say much at this point about what Christ's death accomplished.
But there is one important note that he gives us.
It clues us in.
Verse 23.
This Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.
The question is, who killed Jesus?
Who's actually responsible?
Well, Peter says here, clearly, the Jews are responsible.
It was the Romans.
They're responsible too.
They actually carried out the execution.
Pilate's responsible.
He allowed the execution.
The Jewish leaders were responsible.
They handed Jesus over to Pilate for execution.
Judas is responsible.
He sold Jesus out to the Jews for just a few pieces of silver.
They're all responsible.
Peter says so.
He's not absolving anyone of their personal responsibility here.
And yet, ultimately, he credits the event to God.
Everything you did, everything that was done to Jesus and to this Lord in Christ,
it was done according to the definite plan of God.
God, his foreknowledge, not foreknowledge in the sense that he knew it would happen,
foreknowledge in the sense that he caused it to happen.
God used the greatest injustice the world has ever known to bring about the greatest good the world has ever known.
If it was according to his definite plan and foreknowledge, that means God had a purpose in this.
He purposed before the foundations of the world to send his son to die at the hands of sinful man.
And that purpose was our eternal salvation.
The Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.
And on the cross, Jesus, the Son of God, became a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for sinners.
He satisfied God's wrath against our sin so that he then might reconcile us to God,
making peace by the blood of his cross.
Who killed Jesus?
Well, a lot of people were responsible.
But it was all according to God's eternal plan in Christ to offer you and me forgiveness and salvation and life.
So this Jesus, he came down.
He was sent down.
He came from God.
This Jesus was then delivered over to death and atoning death.
But then Peter picks up a third argument here.
This Jesus was then raised up.
He was raised up.
Verse 24.
God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Pangs is the word for labor pains in childbirth.
As many of you have experienced as Kayla and Ashley are now preparing themselves for once again.
Here, in this case, Peter's using the word to refer to the agony of death.
God loosed Jesus from the agony of death.
Not merely the physical agony, but the spiritual agony of existing in total separation from God and his love and his grace and everything good about him.
He was loosed from that by raising from the dead.
And then Peter adds that God raised Jesus because it was not possible for death to hold him.
That is, death had no rightful claim on him.
Now, what does that mean?
Why was it impossible for Jesus to be held by death?
There's a number of answers for that.
But what is Peter's answer here?
Why is he saying it in this text?
We're saying it here.
Here's his answer.
Because Jesus is the true Lord and Christ.
Remember, that's the objective of the sermon.
He's arguing that Jesus is the Lord and the Christ.
God raised him up.
It was impossible for him not to raise him up because he's the Lord.
He's the Christ.
He's the one.
The grave could not hold him because God purposed to raise him up in victory in order that he might show Christ's sacrifice as a sufficient one for our sin.
Keith is a lawyer and like a good lawyer, Peter then calls two witnesses to the stand.
Proofs for the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Proofs that he is the Lord.
The first one is this.
It's the witness of the scripture.
The witness of the scripture.
We see it in verses 25 to 31 as Peter quotes a psalm.
Psalm 16.
For David says concerning him,
I saw the Lord always before me.
For he's 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 to the realm of the dead, to death.
You will not let your holy ones see corruption.
You've made known to me the path of life.
You will make me full of gladness with your presence.
And then Peter explains,
Brothers, I may say with confidence about David that he both died and was buried and his tomb is still here.
I can imagine he's in Jerusalem.
Perhaps he even motions toward the direction of wherever this tomb is.
Maybe the Mount of Olives.
Don't believe me?
Go and look.
David's still there.
What does this mean then, Peter?
He says in verse 30.
David was a prophet.
And knowing that God had sworn an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne.
He foresaw and he spoke in Psalm 16, not about his own resurrection, but about the resurrection of the Christ.
That he was not abandoned to death, nor did his flesh see corruption.
It's the witness of the scriptures, isn't it?
The resurrection wasn't God making the best out of a bad situation.
I'm afraid so many people think that.
If they give credit at all to the resurrection, they misunderstand that this was always the plan.
And how did God show us that this was always the plan?
Well, he put up all of these markers in the Old Testament scriptures.
All of these signs pointing forward to this event.
Pointing forward to this Christ.
And Peter takes up one of those markers here.
He says there's no way that David was referring to himself because David's still dead.
This is the Lord.
This is the Christ that David was speaking about.
And then he says, and guess who just came back?
Jesus must be the Lord in Christ.
Because only he has done what David said would happen.
He's the Lord.
But it's not just the witness of the scriptures that he calls to the stand.
It's the witness of the apostles.
The disciples that he calls to the stand.
Verse 32.
This Jesus God raised up.
And of that we all are witnesses.
We all.
Who is that?
All of these men and perhaps even ladies in this instance.
Who had received the gift of the spirit and the outpouring of the spirit.
And were proclaiming the gospel.
The resurrection of Jesus in all of these different tongues and languages.
Remember fundamentally Peter is addressing that question.
What's happening here?
And he preaches this sermon.
He says listen.
God raised him up.
And we'll all tell you.
We saw it.
We saw him.
We touched him.
Don't you remember?
Jesus appears eight days after his resurrection.
Thomas is there this time.
And what is it that he tells Thomas?
Thomas touch my hands.
Touch the nail prints.
Touch my side.
On the night of his resurrection.
He walks with the two disciples to Emmaus.
And then he sits down.
And he breaks bread with them.
They see him.
He appears later to the disciples.
And he says don't worry.
I'm not a ghost.
This is my body.
Why don't you get me some food.
And I'll eat it.
So you can see.
Couple of weeks later.
He's in Galilee.
And he appears on the seashore.
The disciples.
A few of them.
They're out there.
And they're fishing as they wait for Jesus.
They're being obedient to what Jesus said.
They pull the boat all the way to the seashore.
All of them except Peter.
He dove in and swam.
He was excited.
He got a little excited.
And got there in a hurry.
And what do they find?
Jesus is there.
He's got some food.
He has breakfast with them.
They see him.
They heard him.
They touched him.
They ate with him.
They said we've seen him.
And it wasn't just the witness of a few.
Listen to what Paul said about this in 1 Corinthians 15.
I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received.
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.
He was buried.
He was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.
And he appeared to Peter.
And then he appeared to the 12.
Peter leaves them out.
But he appeared to a bunch of ladies that morning too.
They were the first ones, weren't they?
Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time.
I don't know when that time was.
Perhaps it was his ascension.
But Paul's highlighting there's at least 500 other people that right now you can go and talk to them about it.
They were there.
Most of whom are still alive.
Though some have fallen asleep.
And then he appeared to James and to all the apostles.
And last of all, he appeared to me.
He calls himself to the stand.
Peter does.
He says, I'm telling you, I saw it.
I saw it.
Now, even secular historians acknowledge that the witnesses, Peter calls to the stand and that Paul calls to the stand,
they were real historic people who genuinely believed that Jesus rose from the dead.
They really did believe that.
And they were so convinced of what they saw, they gave their lives preaching this gospel in hopes that more people would believe and be saved.
Every one of the apostles were imprisoned, tortured, executed for preaching the resurrection specifically.
Now, I realize it's maybe not unusual for people to die for a lie.
But these men, they didn't give their lives for a religious or philosophical idea.
They had nothing to gain in preaching Christ other than the pleasure of Christ himself, which is amazing.
But there was nothing earthly for them to gain in this.
There was no power for them to gain.
They went to their graves fully convinced of the resurrection they had witnessed with their own eyes.
And that truth was so magnificent to them that nothing would stand in the way of them sharing it with everyone else who would listen.
And so it has been throughout the ages.
Christians repeatedly have given their lives to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And to preach this wonderful gospel with nothing to gain for it themselves except that someone else might hear the call of Christ and respond in repentance and faith and go to heaven with them.
It's amazing.
So Peter's arguing Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord in Christ.
He's the one who came down.
He came from God.
That was attested by his works.
He was delivered over to death.
God was responsible for that.
We can look at the scriptures and we can see how it all fits together.
And then God raised him up.
But there's a fourth part to the argument.
It's one that we don't often think about as much, but it is important.
This Jesus was exalted high.
He was exalted high.
Look at verse 33 to 36.
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God.
And having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit.
He has, Jesus has poured out this that you are seeing and hearing.
That is the sign of the Spirit that day.
And he quotes David again.
David did not ascend into the heavens.
That is David literally did not leave the earth and float away into the heavens to show that he was in an exalted place.
No, David died and he stayed dead.
Jesus rose up and he didn't just rise.
He ascended.
The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
And then Peter, he lays it all out in verse 36.
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ.
This Jesus whom you've crucified.
Now, Jesus is exalted high.
Have you noticed a pattern in the scriptures we've already had in our service today?
What is it we read in Philippians chapter 2?
Jesus came down, was delivered over to death, was raised up, and then what?
Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name.
That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Do you see the pattern?
It's not just Acts 2.
It's Philippians 2.
What about what we just read in Colossians chapter 3?
We read about the exalted Lord.
You can go to Colossians chapter 2.
You'll see it there as well.
How about Hebrews chapter 1?
After laying down his life for our sins, he has now taken his seat at the right hand of the Father.
My favorite picture of this is at the Last Supper.
Before Jesus breaks the bread and distributes the wine.
Do you remember what he did?
Jesus, the exalted one, the one at the head of the table, gets up from his place, disrobes himself, and grabs some water and a towel.
And one by one goes to each of those disciples to wash their feet.
And when he's finished with this cleansing, what did he do?
He went back to his exalted place at the head of the table.
And he led the Passover meal.
And he spoke of what was to come.
Over and over, what do we see?
This pattern.
The Christ comes.
The Christ serves.
He dies.
He raises up.
And he's exalted high.
And Peter brings it to a head here.
He's the Lord.
We know it because we saw him ascend into the heavens.
Something even David didn't do.
Even Moses didn't do.
Even Abraham didn't do.
We saw it.
It was his exalted place.
He's not only the Savior.
He's the Lord.
He's the judge.
And it's on the basis of these four arguments.
Supported by the scriptures.
Each one of them.
Supported by eyewitness accounts.
Of many people.
Peter said.
Jesus of Nazareth.
Is the Lord.
He's the Christ.
Now.
Why does any of it even matter?
You see.
I get why this was important to them.
This was a huge thing.
If all of this really happened.
Then of course it was an important thing to them.
Of course he would want to say this to those people.
But what does it have to do with me?
Do you remember the two key phrases that I pointed out?
The first one.
That there were the last days.
The final epic in God's unfolding plan.
Has been inaugurated.
We are in the last days.
Now.
And where are those last days leading?
To judgment.
A final judgment.
When each and every one of us.
Will stand alone.
Before God.
Our creator.
And our judge.
And he will deliver a judgment.
Did you fulfill your purpose?
What is that purpose?
To love and obey him.
With all of your heart.
And soul.
And mind.
And strength.
To live in perfect righteousness.
And not rebel against him.
Or violate his word.
Did you do it?
And the answer of course.
For each and every one of us.
Will be.
No.
And that means.
That for us.
That judgment.
Will be severe.
And it will end.
In eternal wrath.
But Peter's already told us here.
That there's an escape.
From this judgment.
It was in the quotation.
From Joel.
That there is an escape.
For all who will call upon.
The name of the Lord.
Now the Jews.
Would have heard.
Call upon the name of the Lord.
And they would have just thought.
Generally about the God of Israel.
Yahweh.
And of course that's true.
But it's not everything.
Peter has shown us.
That that term.
Applies specifically.
To Jesus Christ.
Who is himself.
God in the flesh.
He is Yahweh.
In flesh.
He is both Lord and Christ.
And Peter will say.
In chapter 4 of Acts.
In another sermon.
There is salvation.
And no one else.
For there is no other name.
Under heaven.
Given among men.
By which we must be saved.
So what's the point.
Why does this matter to us.
Because all of this is going somewhere.
It's going to judgment.
We will all stand before God.
And give an account for our lives.
And the only way to escape that judgment.
Is if we have by faith.
Turned from sin.
And called out.
On the Lord.
The name of the Lord our God.
Specifically.
Jesus Christ.
Trusting.
In his death and resurrection.
Following him as Lord.
All of this matters.
Because it's only through faith in him.
That you can receive all the benefits.
Of his death and resurrection.
Truly.
The resurrection.
It really does change everything.
It changes everything.
And by calling on his name.
You will be saved.
You will be.
No question.
And this is exactly what Peter told those.
On that day.
We just read the end of the text with me.
Verse 37.
As you might imagine.
They were concerned now.
Here's all the proofs.
And they killed him.
Now when they heard this.
They were.
Cut.
To the heart.
Conviction.
Had laid hold on them.
And they said to Peter.
And the rest of the apostles.
Brothers.
What shall we do?
What can we do?
And Peter said.
There's nothing you can do.
It's already done.
Just repent.
And be baptized.
Every one of you.
In the name of Jesus Christ.
For the forgiveness of your sins.
And you too.
Will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Well who can do that Peter?
Verse 39.
The promise is for you.
It's for your children.
And it's for everyone.
Who is far off from this place.
And from this time.
Everyone.
Whom the Lord our God.
Calls to himself.
And then he started to preach again.
Verse 40.
With many other words.
He bore witness.
And continued to exhort them.
Saying save yourselves.
From this crooked generation.
And how did the people respond?
Those who received his word.
Who believed.
Who turned from sin.
To trust in Christ.
They were baptized.
That sealed it.
Right?
And they were added to the church that day.
About 3,000 people.
What can you do?
Well there's nothing really.
You can't do anything.
But that's the good thing about it.
Jesus has done it all.
And he just says repent.
And be baptized in my name.
And you will receive the spirit.
Eternal life will be yours.
And of course many of you have done this.
So this is a day of celebration isn't it?
We reflect on this.
And we say yes.
And amen.
He is indeed the Lord.
He is the Christ.
And I believe him.
And I trust him.
And I stand forgiven because of him.
But it's not just today.
That's a day of celebration.
It's every day for us isn't it?
It's every day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Because this Jesus is indeed the Lord and the Christ.
Let's pray.