I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nibert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. The gospel of God. God's gospel. The gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of God's salvation
is entirely predicated upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Without the resurrection, the
gospel has no meaning. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
the God-man, died on that cross. They took his lifeless corpse
down. Three days later, he was raised
from the dead. And all of the gospel is predicated
on the resurrection, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. He really did die. and he really
was raised from the dead. Now, what I would like to attempt
to preach on is the first resurrection sermon. It's recorded in the
book of Acts. It's the first sermon after his
resurrection, that message by Peter on the day of Pentecost. We read in Acts chapter two,
and when the day of Pentecost was fully come. Now, what do
you think of when you think of Pentecost? I bet you think of
speaking in tongues and miracles and so on, that great time when
the Holy Spirit came down upon the church, and it is that. But
Pentecost was one of the three Jewish feasts. And the Feast
of Pentecost was celebrated 50 days after the Passover. Now,
the Lord Jesus died on Passover day, 50 days before this. He was raised from the dead the
third day, and then Luke tells us in Acts chapter 1 that he
spent 40 days after his resurrection upon the earth giving his disciples
instruction. And then he said, wait for the
promise of the Father. You just stay here in Jerusalem
and wait, don't go anywhere. And then they watched him ascend
back up into heaven. Now this is about a week after
that took place. When the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord. in one place. Can you imagine the excitement
of that time? They had witnessed the resurrection
of the Lord. He'd made himself known to them.
They saw him ascend back up into glory and what power and life
must have been with the disciples at this time. And then we read
in verse two, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of
a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they
were sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like
as a fire, and it set upon each of them, and they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues,
other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now, if
you go on reading, 17 languages are mentioned, 17 different languages. And at this time, all these people
who spoke these different languages heard the gospel in their own
language. Now that is what the gift of
tongues is. It's the ability to preach the
gospel in other languages. It's not some kind of heavenly
prayer language and gibberish where you're being edified by
what you're saying, but you have no idea what it is. That's foolishness. That's not real. As far as that
goes, the gift of tongues has ceased. It ceased with the apostles.
But at this time, they received this special anointing and power
to preach the gospel in other languages. And we read in verse
12, and they were all amazed. This is Acts chapter two. They
were all amazed, saying one to another, what meaneth this? How
is it that we're hearing the gospel in our own language? And
others mocking said, these men are full of new wine. These men
are drunk. Peter standing up with the 11 lifted up his voice
and said unto them, ye men of Judea and all that dwell at Jerusalem,
be this known unto you and hearken to my words, for these are not
drunken as you suppose, seeing it's but the third hour of the
day, but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And he quotes a passage from
the book of Joel, chapter two, verses 28 through 32, where Joel
prophesied that all this would take place. This is only what
the Old Testament said would take place. And the quotation
from Joel ends with these blessed words, and it shall come to pass
that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord. shall be
saved." After these people hear the gospel in their own language,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Then Peter begins this glorious message. Verse 22, You men of
Israel, hear these words." Now this is the first sermon preached
after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. You men of
Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, the one who
was born in Nazareth, the one who was crucified, Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God. A man set forth and exhibited
by God. A man approved of God. among you by miracles and wonders
and signs which God did by him in the midst of you as you also
yourselves know. Jesus of Nazareth, a man. A man
approved of God. A man approved of God by doing
what only God could do. This is the God-man. He created
matter. He brought matter into the universe
that was not there before. He raised the dead. A man controlled
the weather. He proved that He is the God-Man. He did all this in the midst
of you, as you yourselves also know. No one could deny His miracles. No one could deny that He controlled
the weather. No one could deny that He had
the power to raise the dead. Now this Jesus of Nazareth, look
what He says in verse 23, Him being delivered, by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with wicked hands have
crucified and slain." Now look where he begins his message. Why was Jesus Christ nailed to
a cross? because he was delivered by the
determinant counsel and for knowledge of God. This is God's eternal
purpose. Everything that took place with
Jesus of Nazareth took place because it was the will, the
eternal purpose of God. That's why he's called in Revelation
13, eight, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He was not a martyr. He was not a victim. He was sent
by God to be crucified. As a matter of fact, that's why
the world was created. That's why the universe was created
for this to take place. Him being delivered. Oh, he was
in control of this. God was in control of this. This
wasn't some unfortunate event. God delivered him to be crucified. And next Peter says, you have
taken this one God delivered, you have taken and with wicked
hands have crucified and slain. Now, somebody says, well, how
can God hold us responsible for doing this if he was delivered
by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God? He can. That's the only way I know how
to answer that. Yes, God's absolutely sovereign
and men are completely responsible. And Peter says to these murderers
of Christ, you have taken and with wicked hands have crucified
and slain him. Now, please listen to me. This
is what God's got against me and you. It's not that we stole
something when we were kids. It's not that we cursed. It's
not that we did something bad. And now I'm not in any way lightening
the gravity of any sin. All sin is evil. And anything
we did that was sin was wrong. I'm not saying that. But here's
what God's got against me. It's not because I shoplifted
something when I was a little boy. It's because I'm guilty
of the murder of His Son. That's what God's got against
me. That's what God's got against you. Somebody says, now how can
I be held responsible for that? I wasn't there when it took place.
Here's the point, God sees in your heart and He knows you would've
if all the restraints were taken away and you were left to yourself
such as the hatred that you and I by nature have had of His Son. I'm talking about the Christ
of the Bible. Nobody's afraid of the false Christ, that you
can do with Him whatever you want to. It's up to you as to
what you're gonna let Him do. Nobody's afraid of that Christ,
but I'm talking about the Christ of the Bible. Men want Him dead. And that's what God has got against
the human race. You've taken him and crucified
and slain him. Verse 24, whom God raised up. Yes, he died, but God raised
him from the dead having loose the pains of death because it
was not possible that he should be holding of it. Now God raised
him up because of what he accomplished by his death. Now remember who
it is that died. It's Christ that died. the Son
of God, the spotless, sinless Son of God, who had sin laid
on Him by the Father. The sins of the elect were taken
from them and given to Christ, and He bore them in His own body
on the tree and became responsible for the commission of those sins.
It was the justice of God that killed Him. It was the righteousness
of God that killed Him. It was the law of God that demanded
His death because He stood guilty before God as the sin-bearing
substitute. But you know, when he died, he
never went through the process of decay. Like you and I will. When we die, our body will start
decaying. His never did. Why? Because he completely answered
all the demands of God's law. The wages of sin is death. He
paid the debt and he paid it in full. He made the sins go
away. He made the sins to not be. He
canceled them. That's what justification is.
And the very righteousness of God demands his, Resurrection. Because of what he accomplished.
The complete satisfaction of the law. The complete putting
away of sins. Death couldn't hold him. He's
life. I love the way he identifies
himself. I am he that liveth and was dead
and behold I'm alive forevermore. God raised him from the dead.
Death couldn't hold him. Look in verse 25. For David, Now, let me remind you that in
that time of the Lord's resurrection, after those 40 days, the scripture
says that he opened their understanding, the disciples, that they might
understand the scriptures. They really had no understanding
of the scriptures before this, but when he opened their understanding,
they did. So now Peter is quoting from
Psalm 16, and he says, for David speaketh concerning him. He wasn't
speaking about himself. He was speaking concerning him.
These are the Lord's words. I foresaw, this is the Lord speaking.
I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he's on my right
hand, that I should not be moved. Now, Christ says, I foresaw the
Lord. He couldn't see him. While he
was on the cross, he was forsaken. He was in utter darkness. He
felt nothing but the frown of his father, his wrath against
sin. But he said, I foresaw him. I could see before why he was
doing this. This is all according to his
glorious purpose. I foresaw the Lord always before
my face for he's on my right hand that I should not be moved.
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover
also my flesh shall rest in hope. And this is talking about his
death. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. He never went
through the process of decay. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he's
resurrected, He's not the man of sorrows anymore. He's not
acquainted with grief anymore. He's the Lord of glory, sitting
at the right hand of the Father, having been raised from the dead. Now, remember how I said all
of the gospel is predicated on His resurrection? Romans 4.25
says he was delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification. Now my salvation is for this
reason only and this is true of every believer. I am saved
because Jesus Christ died for my sins. Put them away was raised
from the dead for my justification. Now, if I'm justified, that means
I stand before God without sin. Now, he goes on to say in verse
29, men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David that he's both dead and buried and his sepulcher's
with us unto this day. Wherever it was he's buried,
his DNA's still there, the dirt that once made up his body is
still there. He's not raised from the dead.
Therefore, verse 30, being a prophet, knowing that God had sworn with
an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins, according to the
flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He's seeing
this before. David knew exactly what he was
saying. He knew he was speaking of the life, death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ. He's seen this before, spake
of the resurrection of Christ, how that his soul was not left
in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus, the
one you crucified. This Jesus hath God raised from
the dead, whereof we are all witnesses. These men were witnesses
of the resurrection. He was seen at one time by 500
brethren at once. Somebody says, well, I just don't
believe he was raised from the dead. Well, you could say you
don't believe that George Washington was the president of the United
States, but that doesn't make it so, does it? He was raised
from the dead by the power of God. This Jesus hath God raised
from the dead, whereof we are all witnesses, therefore being
by the right hand of God exalted. And that's where he is, at the
right hand of God exalted. What's he doing there? Ruling
and reigning. He's not pacing back and forth,
frustrated because his will's not being done. He's seated at
the right hand of God because he finished the work the Father
gave him to do. He accomplished salvation when
He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty on high. He seated there, ruling and reigning,
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
He has shed forth this, which you now see and hear, They're
hearing the gospel in their own language. And Peter wasn't speaking
natively in their own language, but they were hearing the gospel.
These 17 different nations were hearing the gospel in their own
language. Why is the gift of tongues? So people can hear the
gospel. That's it. purpose. And then
he says in verse 34, For David is not ascended into the heavens,
but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou in
my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made
this same Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. Let me repeat that. I want you
to think about these words of Peter. Therefore, let all the
house of Israel, let every man in the world know assuredly,
this is the truth, that God hath made this same Jesus whom you
crucified, both Lord and Christ. I've heard preachers say, make
Jesus the Lord of your life. You can't make Him the Lord of
your life. He is the Lord of your life,
whether you recognize it or not, because God has made Him Lord,
absolute dictator, the one whose will is always and must be done,
the one in absolute sovereign control. Now, His Lordship means
He has all control, and you and I have no control. That's what
His Lordship means. His will is always done, and
as to whether or not you or I'll be saved, it's up to Him, because
He's the Lord. Now, the leper understood this.
The leper came to Him and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You will,
You can. Make me clean. He didn't say,
Lord, I will that you make me clean. He said, Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. He understood the lordship of
Christ. The thief on the cross understood
this. He said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
He saw that that one hanging on the tree was nobody less than
the Lord of glory, the son of God. And he said, you're not
going to stay dead. You're going to come back as
a mighty reigning king because of who you are. You can't fail.
Lord, remember me when you return. He is Lord. God made him Lord. He's not made
Lord by me or you. God made him Lord. But not only
did God make him Lord, God made him the Christ. the Savior, God's
anointed prophet, the Word of God, God's priest, the one who
represents men to God. And if he represents you, you
have to be saved. He's God's king, prophet, priest,
and king, and he's a king like no other king. Every other king
has borrowed authority. He has authority and power inherent
because of who he is. God hath made this same Jesus,
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Verse 37 says, now,
when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. They
were stabbed in their heart. They were scared to death. All
of a sudden they saw what they were guilty of. And they said
unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren,
what shall we do? We're in trouble. We don't know
what to do. What shall we do? We're guilty
of the murder of the Son of God, the one that God has made Lord
in Christ. There's no way we can say that
this didn't take place. What shall we do? We're in trouble. We're in a mess. What shall we
do? You know, that's the same question
the Philippian jailer asked. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? That's the same thing Paul said
on the road to Damascus. Lord, what would you have me
do? We don't know. Tell us, what would you have
us do? Then Peter said unto them, verse
38, in answer to this question, and you listen to Peter's answer,
repent. and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And the first
thing he says is repent. Now what do you think of when
you think of repenting? You probably think of straighten
out your lives. Stop committing the sins that
you're committing. Turn away from your sins. Repent. Now, it's true we ought not commit
any sins. And it's true we ought to turn
away from our sins, but that's really not what repentance means.
The word means change your mind. All the thoughts you've had concerning
God are wrong thoughts. You thought He was like you are.
He's not at all like you are. Change your mind. Quit having
those harsh thoughts toward Him, thinking He's unfair because
He elected a people and Christ died for the elect. And you think,
how could that be fair? How could a good God let this
happen? All the judgmental thoughts you have of God, all the wrong
thoughts you have of God, acknowledge this. All my thoughts are wrong.
Repent about the things you think of yourself. You think you're
good. Repent of that and understand that you're so bad that you would
murder the Son of God. That you have no ability to save
yourselves in any way. Repent of your wrong views of
salvation. You thought there's something
you could do to be saved. Repent of that. Repent. Change your mind. Somebody says,
I can't change my mind. God can change it. He can enable
you to change your mind. Repent and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now,
is he saying that the act of baptism will cause you to have
your sins remitted? No, but what baptism depicts
tells us how sins are remitted. What does baptism mean? I go
underwater, I come back up. Baptism means that when Jesus
Christ lived, I was in Him. When He kept the law, I was in
Him. That's the only hope I have. When I go under the water, I
say when Jesus Christ died, I died with Him. I was in Him and what
He did, I did. He paid for my sins. When Jesus
Christ was raised from the dead, I was raised with him, all my
sins having been put away. That's how sins are remitted. Now, I think this is interesting.
The word repentance and remission of sins are brought together
quite often in Scripture. As a matter of fact, in Luke
chapter 4, I mean, 24, when the Lord's after he's already resurrected
in this closing time, he says, tell them that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in my name. Now, repentance is
essentially this. It's a change of mind regarding
the remission of sins. The natural man thinks the forgiveness
of sins is a process. I do this, this, this, and this,
then I'll be forgiven. The gospel says salvation doesn't
end with the forgiveness of sins. Salvation begins with the full,
complete, absolute forgiveness of sins. Now you repent of thinking
there's something you can do to earn and achieve the forgiveness
of sins. You look to Christ right now
and you will receive the complete, absolute forgiveness of sins
because God forgave you when Christ died on Calvary's tree.
God forgave you before the time began and the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. You don't do something to be
forgiven. You find out you've been forgiven. That's an understanding
of the remission of sins. For the promise, verse 39, is
to you and to your children and to all that are far off. What
a broad sweeping statement. Oh, the gospel is so wide and
yet he gives its limit even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. who has saved everybody that
God calls. I am so eternally thankful for
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for in the resurrection of Christ,
I see my complete salvation. We have this message on DVD and
CD. If you call the church right
or look on our website, you can find a copy. This is Todd Nyberg,
praying God will make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send
your request to todd.neibert at gmail.com or you may write
or call the church at the information provided on the screen.