Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to the Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 10, and reading from our text, verse 36. Specifically, the words in this
verse preaching peace by Jesus Christ. The whole verse reads,
the word which God sent unto the children of Israel Preaching
peace by Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all. Peter is about to
preach to the Gentiles. This is the first time that the
Gentiles were to receive the Holy Spirit. The first time that
Peter, the apostles were directed to preach to them. Hence Peter's
backwitness, his needing to be prepared to go and preach to
them. And saying to Cornelius that
he would know that it was not lawful for the Jews to come in
to the Gentiles, but God had shown him that he was not to
call anything common or unclean. God had shown him through the
vision of the sheep let down from heaven three times and taken
up three times, and in it was all manner of unclean beasts,
we may say. Though when Peter was commanded
to rise, kill, and eat, he would not do it. He said that he had
not done so before. I've never eaten anything that
is common or unclean. And the voice from heaven spake
unto him again, saying, The second time what God hath cleansed,
that call not thou common. This done three times. So it
is in this way that Peter was prepared. And if we compare what
happened when God used Jonah to go to a Gentile nation to
preach to Nineveh, Jonah, he ran away, and the place that
he ran away from, took a ship from, was none other than this
place, Joppa, where Peter was when he was called to go and
preach to the Gentiles. So we can see two of the Lord's
servants, both, you might say, if they had not been prepared,
would have run away and not done as they were bidden. But Peter,
he was prepared in the end, really, Jonah was as well. though very,
very reluctantly. But Peter, he went. He clearly saw and knew this
was God's purpose. And the use of Peter was very
important because we might think, well, the Apostle Paul is the
apostle to the Gentiles. Why was Peter used? Because there
was to be no difference between the Jew and Gentile. The Jews
should not be able to say to the Gentiles, We received the
Holy Ghost through Peter's preaching. You only received it through
Paul. I am a Paul. I'm a Peter. But instead, God used Peter for
both. And the other advantage of that,
you might say, if it had been Paul, Paul would say, the Spirit
fell on the Gentiles as I heard it did on the Jews when Peter
preached. He could only say by report.
But with Peter, he had witnessed. He had been the preacher. So
he knew that the falling of the Holy Spirit, the effect was exactly
the same as on the Jews, as now on the Gentiles. So it was very
important that Peter was to be used in this way. Not only was
Peter, though, prepared, but the hearers were as well. angel
that appeared to Cornelius gave him the directions where to get
Peter. Note, it was to be a sinner that
was to preach to them, not to be an angel from heaven. But
he gave them time, that expectation to prepare. And when Peter comes,
he finds these people all gathered together, waiting. And he says,
now, therefore, are we all here present before God to hear all
things that are commanded thee of God." And I wonder how much,
when we have an expectation, as they did, of a preacher coming
and the word to be preached, do we make use of that time before
the preacher comes? Whether to gather in those of
our friends, as that which Cornelius did, or to prepare with prayer,
with reading, preparing our hearts and to be ready for when the
Word is preached, that the ground of our heart is as much as what
is in our power to do, is rightly prepared. We're not rushing in
from the world, full of the world, full of its cares, and suddenly,
oh, we're going to hear a preacher, we're going to hear the Word
of God. There is a preparation. How needful for that. Remember
years ago, over in Australia, When I was fairly young in the
way and very, I trust, walking close to the Lord and dear deacon,
aged deacon at Geelong, he said, well, he said on a Saturday evening
at six o'clock, he said, we turn off the radio, we stop everything,
we start our Sabbath, we start to prepare then. And in my heart,
I remember almost despising him and saying in my heart, you only
wait until six o'clock. I prepared a lot longer before
that. A lot more I'm thinking of the Lord's Day, reading in
the Word, shutting out the Word. But you know the difference was,
He had been long in the way and He was still doing that. I was
young in the way. It's one thing to start, it's
another thing to continue doing it. And sometimes with all the
pressures and things, of course in the ministry we're preparing,
a lot of the day on the Saturday, but it's so easy to be critical,
but to continue it constantly, week in, week out, year by year. He was in his 80s. And it's a
good thing then when the Lord's Day, it begins on the evening
before. And so we go to bed already primed,
already longing for the word and expectancy for it. and not just filled with things
of the world. So maybe learn from the preparation
and the lead up to Peter coming here to preach to the Gentiles
and to Cornelius and his household. Now, our outline this evening
in this subject, Preaching Peace Through Jesus Christ, our outline
is provided by the Holy Inspired infallible Word of God. In fact,
there are seven vital points to blessing through the finished
work of Christ that are before us, that go right from our text,
right down to verse 43. And of course, after he preached,
then we read of the effect. While Peter yet spake these words,
verse 44, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
And we read the effect. And it's interesting to note
here as well, Peter doesn't say, well, you've been blessed, the
Holy Ghost has fell on you. Now the next thing that you've
got to look for is to be blessed and to be exercised about being
baptized in the name of the Lord. And who knows, it might be another
two years before that happens. No, he didn't say that. He immediately
said that they ought to be baptized. As soon as they'd been blessed,
as soon as they believed, as soon as he discerned they'd got
the Holy Spirit, then he said this, can any man forbid water
that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we? He commanded them to be baptized
in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry
certain days. There's a lot of lessons in the
scripture order of how the apostles acted. But I want this evening,
with the Lord's help, to look at these seven vital points. We haven't got a full sermon,
but we've got the headings. It's a bit like in Acts chapter
8, where we have Philip going to the eunuch and he preaches
to the eunuch. In that, we are not given the
headings, but we are given the subject. He began at the same
scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And we, of course, are
given the text that he spoke from as well. It's interesting
as well on the Way to Emmaus, our Lord, when he draws near
to them. We are not told his sermon, nothing
about it. We are told where he got it from
and what the subject was. In all the scriptures, the things
concerning himself, Moses, the prophets, the Psalms, all these
places, Christ was to be seen, and he was. And it made their
heart burn within them. There's a lesson too, when he
comes to the end and they recognize him in the breaking of bread,
he immediately vanishes out of their sight. In other words,
the Holy Spirit emphasizing it is not looking for a picture,
vision, but a word, picture. It is a blessing through the
preaching, not through visually seeing the Lord. It was necessary,
they did know who he was, who had been with them, they were
to see him, but he emphasized all the time is that in the beginning
was the Word and the Word was God. So Peter now is to be preaching
here. So the first point is, and each
point is a verse here, so the first point is verse 37. A word
that we know. That word I say ye know. which was published throughout
all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John
preached. They knew the history, they knew
the word, they knew what had been done over those years of
our Lord's ministry and beginning of the ministry of John. And
yet that word, even though they knew it, They had not yet as
been blessed through that word. And this is a good point for
many who have been brought up under the sound of the truth,
who it may be said they know the word of God. It is not a
strange word at all. They know it. And you might think,
well, how can I be blessed when I've known this word all my life? How can this word be used for
my salvation? Well here is a real example of
how it is, because it is to be preached, and is to be set forth
with the promise of the Father, tarry at Jerusalem until ye be
endued from on high. The promise of the Father was
that that word should be blessed. Now remember when Paul writes
to the Romans in Romans chapter 10, then he speaks of his own
people being ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to
establish their own ignorant of Christ's righteousness. And
then he speaks where that word is. The righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from heaven,
or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ
again from the deep. Not heights of experience, not
depths of experience, not depths of sin, knowledge of sin, no,
But what he says is, but what saith it, the word is nigh thee,
even in thy mouth, and in thine heart, that is the word of faith
which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. So what Paul is saying, the word
that you are to be blessed from, It's not some great way off. It is nigh you. You have it.
You already have the Word of God. That is being preached to
you. And when the Lord spoke of the
rich man and Lazarus, and the rich man said, yes, but if one
were to rise from the dead, then my relatives, they would then
hear. And the Lord said to Moses and
the prophets, if they hear not them, Neither will they be convinced,
though one rose from the dead." And he's saying the same message.
They have Moses and the prophets. They have the gospel. They have
the broken tables of the law, the restored tables of the law.
They have the gospel in the ceremonial law. They have that which they
may be blessed through and thousands had been blessed through. We
are not to expect and look for something other than the inspired
and infallible Word of God, though he may have had it for years
and years and not been blessed under it, yet at God's appointed
time and through the Holy Spirit and the preaching of that Word
is what will be blessed. And I would say to the encouragement
of any that are waiting upon the Lord, looking to be blessed,
concerned for their souls, desiring to know their sins pardoned and
forgiven, the way of salvation, is in no other place but the
Word that you already have. That Word, I say, ye know, ye
know. So may our thoughts and our expectancy
of blessing be in the Word and in the incarnate Word, which
is included, or really one and the same thing. written and incarnate
word the same. But secondly, in verse 38, we
have Jesus of Nazareth, God anointed. The verse reads like this, How
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil, for God was with him. And what is setting forth
the Lord Jesus Christ? They knew Jesus of Nazareth. You might say, well, why didn't
the apostle say that Jesus of Nazareth is the eternal God manifest
in the flesh and give them a deep theological lesson? Well, he
may have spoken many more words that are here summarized. But
the important thing is that Jesus of Nazareth, who was despised,
who Paul hated those that followed and worshipped and acknowledged
him as the Messiah, that he was the Messiah, that the Holy Ghost
was poured upon him without measure, with power, and his whole life,
his perfect obedience, his healing, giving witness of the Father,
sending him, anointing him, and delivering those who are oppressed
with the devil, and clearly stating, God was with him. If ye have
seen me, ye have seen my Father also, our Lord said. I and my
Father are one, God manifest in the flesh. No man has seen
God at any time. The Eternal Son, in the bosom
of the Father, He hath declared Him. Emmanuel God with us. We are made in God's image. We are made in the image that
God would show to the world. And his beloved son came and
took on him the seed of Abraham, and yet sin accepted. He was
made in all points like as we are, yet without sin. And how
important to set before these people, set before us, as to
exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember how the Father did it?
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Remember how
John Baptist did it? Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. Remember how Peter did it? And our Lord said that it was
not flesh and blood that revealed it unto him, but my Father which
is in heaven, when he said, Whom say ye that I am? Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. Now testimony as to who
he was. Jesus of Nazareth, God anointed. May we see the God through the
man and see him whom God hath appointed. This is a vital thing. What think ye of Christ? What
think ye? of Jesus. Why there were some
that said, why this is Jesus, the son of Joseph, the carpenter's
son. What a different witness is set
forth here. God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power. He went about doing good
and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with
him. We would lift up a precious Jesus. Here is the true and living God,
the eternal God, made manifest in the flesh, shown unto the
world, shown unto all people, but shown especially to his own
people that see, through the veil, through the man, veiled
in flesh, the Godhead see, as truly the Godhead made manifest
in the flesh. So Peter sets this forth before
these Gentiles, the word that they knew, and Jesus of Nazareth,
God anointed. Then he comes in verse 39, and
he sets forth his death. The death of the Lord, whom they
slew and hanged on a tree. But before he introduces the
death of our Lord, he testifies that they were witnesses of him. and we are witnesses of all things
which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem,
whom they slew and hanged on a tree." The vital thing with
the apostles is that they are able to bear a first-hand witness. We spoke of Peter being able
to bear a first-hand witness of the Holy Spirit falling on
the day of Pentecost, but here, He speaks of his whole ministry,
of his perfect life, of his obedience even unto death, and of the death
that he endured, hung upon a tree. Cursed is every one that hangeth
upon a tree. Peter had preached this at the
Day of Pentecost. He hath taken he that was delivered
by the foreknowledge, determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. ye have taken them by wicked hands, crucified and slain. They were pricked in their hearts
that they had done this, that they had crucified the Lord of
life and glory. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
is absolutely vital. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. The fact that he was perfect
and holy was vital too. The preparation, a nail in a
sure place, able to bear, the sins of his people, able to bear
the wrath of God against those sins, and able to lay down his
life and to take it again. And so set before us is the crucified
Son of God, that which was typified in all the sacrifices, all the
offerings, all the blood shed of the Old Testament, all pointed
to that blood that was to be shed on Calvary's tree. by the
Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the Apostle testifies
to the Gentiles, he testifies to us of the sufferings and death
of our Lord Jesus Christ. A sacrifice acceptable unto God,
that sweet savour unto God. We read after the flood, God
smelled the sweet savour. We read on the Mount Carmel,
that the fire fell and fell upon the altar, consumed everything. The altar, the sacrifice, the
water, the dust. God showing so clearly what the
wrath of God would do upon not the type, but the anti-type,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It was viewing that. It was viewing
that wrath of God, viewing that fire falling upon that altar,
that caused the Israelites to say, the Lord, he is God, he
is the God, and made them willing to put away their false prophets
and their idols. The fire of God did not fall
on them, it fell on the type of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
so it is in this way that as we preach Christ and set him
forth as enduring the wrath of God, that we are to view like
they did, the wrath of God upon the Lord and not on us, and to
see what He endured to put away our sins in dying upon the accursed
tree. So having said that before these
Gentiles, He then sets before them His resurrection. In verse
40, Him God raised up the third day and showed Him openly Now,
the raising up of our Lord, here it says God, but who is God?
When it is God, Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Father
which raiseth the dead, we read. We read of our Lord, I have power
to lay it down, I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received in my Father, we receive it the Holy Spirit
that quickeneth the dead. So the raising of our Lord was
the work of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All the Trinity was involved
in raising the Lord from the dead. And this, again, is vital. That death had no power over
him, had no claim on him. He was not a sinner. One sin
upon him and he would not have risen from the dead. He must
at least die for that sin. But there was no sin on him.
he laid down his life as spotless lamb. The message right through
the Old Testament was that the Lamb of God had to be spotless,
no blemish in it at all. And so our Lord Jesus Christ
fulfilled that. And the empty tomb, we read in
Acts 17, he hath given us assurance unto all men in that he hath
raised him from the dead. Assurance that there will be
a day of judgment For already the Lord has borne the punishment
due to his people in his own body on the tree. Those who are
not his people, their sins are not punished yet. They haven't
been brought to judgment. In this life, God's people will
see by faith their sins laid on Christ. The judgment of the
Lord is that he punished in their stead and that they are to go
free. There is therefore now no condemnation
Now, no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And
so there must needs be a judgment day to make everything just,
that the Lord did not just suffer needlessly, but suffer to deliver
his people. And those that are not included
in that must be punished themselves and bear that in their own bodies. Now his resurrection then is
set forth before Cornelius and those gathered with them. And
empty too, the Lord is risen indeed. But then in the latter
part of verse 40 and going to verse 41, which clarifies what
has been said, we read, and showed him openly. not to all the people,
but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat
and drink with him after he rose from the dead. Now his death,
prior to setting that before them, he'd also told that we
are witnesses of all things which he did. Here he clarifies who
those witnesses were of the resurrection. There needs to be the witness,
the sealing of that which was done, not just his death, but
his rising again. And there is a difference, not
to all the people. All the people had seen him crucified
and slain, but not all saw him after he rose, but witnesses
chosen before of God. The Lord chose the time and the
place where He appeared to His people, and He still does. He
marks out His people by revealing Himself through His Word to them
in the time and way that He has determined. Not everyone in this
world, they have the Word of God, but not everyone sees Him. They despise Him. They do not
see Him there. They do not worship Him there.
But those chosen of God, they do. And it really, each child
of God that is blessed and given faith to view the Lord Jesus
Christ and to trust in Him, and to view Him not as a dead Christ,
but as a risen Savior, each one is a witness of what God has
shown them and what He has revealed of Himself to them. It is a blessed
thing when the Holy Spirit takes of the things of Jesus, takes
of the Scriptures and reveals them to us and shows them to
us so we are witnesses of the reality of the risen Christ and
what we see in the Word of God. Blessed thing to be a chosen
witness. Everyone of God's children are
chosen witnesses. So then in verse 41, this is
the message. Witnesses chosen before of God. God's people are chosen in Him
from the foundation of the world. They are in the bosom of the
Father, known and loved with an everlasting love, and in time
they are brought to view and believe in as these Gentiles
were at this very time. They were having the Lord Jesus
Christ revealed to them And they themselves were being witnesses
of the power of His resurrection and of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then we have in verse 42, we
have preaching with authority. And He commanded us to preach
unto the people and to testify that it is He which was ordained
of God to be judge of quick and dead, the living and the dead. How vital that those that preach
are commanded to do so, that they do have authority, but their
authority only rests in the Word of God. Preach the Word. Go into all the world and preach
the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. The commissioning of God is of
the Holy Spirit. When Paul and Barnabas were sent
forth by the Apostles, it was said that they were sent forth
by the Holy Ghost. And it is the Holy Ghost that
sends a man, that sends to preach. It is very clear with the Apostle
Paul here. being sent specifically to Cornelius. He was called for, he was sent
for, he went, the same as we read with Philip and each one
of the Lord's servants. They are commissioned by the
Lord himself. And when the Lord does it, then
he will bless that word. He will bless that witness as
it is faithfully preached. He commanded us to preach. Not
man, not man's device. Men today, they think, oh, we
need something different than preaching. We need to have some
entertainment. We need some visuals. We need
something to see. We need something to draw in
the crowds. We must have a lot of singing, and we need a band.
No, you don't. It pleads God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. It is not through man's
device you might get You might say natural converts to your
following and to attend your place of worship, but if they're
just drawn in by worldly devices, that's not saving. You want the
saving work of the Lord, and it's God that does that, and
He'll only own the way that He has decreed. Remember when David
was bringing up the ark to Jerusalem, and he followed the pattern of
the of the Gentiles, of the Philistines, of putting the ark on a cart. And God slew Uzzah as he put
his hand to steady the ark when the oxen shook it. And later,
when David brought it up again, he said to the Levites, you must
do it as you should have done it at the first. And we're not
to put the ark, we're not to put our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, on a different cart. He is to be preached. And yes,
as we preach it, you may hear it in your homes, you may see
the word preached through the video, but in the end, we are
preaching the word. We have not changed. We are still
the same in the house of God. It is the word that is going
forth. It is the word that is to be preached. And so that is
with the authority of the Lord. He commanded us to preach unto
the people and to testify that it is He which was ordained of
God to be judge of quick and dead. It is God, it is the Lord
Jesus Christ that judges whether a person is spiritually alive
or dead. He is the one that knows. those
that are his sheep. My sheep, they hear my voice,
they follow me. I know my sheep and are known
of me. The Lord Jesus Christ shall sit
on his throne at last and he shall divide between the sheep
and the goats. He knows for whom he died. He
knows who has been blessed and quickened through the preaching
of the word. And so our Lord is exalted. and
lift it up there in the preaching and the commission to preach. Now there's one last message
in this sermon, and it's a vital message. Now it's left last,
and I believe in one way, it is because it's to the Gentiles.
In the other way, really the whole message is sandwiched between
the word, isn't it? In verse 37, that word I say
you know. The word that was preached and
which was set forth by the Lord Jesus Christ, these Gentiles,
they'd heard of it, they knew of it. But then to close it,
he says, we have the witness of the prophets too. Verse 43,
to him, to the Lord Jesus Christ, give all the prophets witness. Really what he's saying is, all
of the Old Testament bears witness to this name, to the Lord Jesus
Christ, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins. You might say, does? Does really
the whole scripture, the Old Testament, well, we haven't got
time, of course, this evening to go through all the scripture. I do want to just look at a few
of those scriptures, then you can see what Peter is referring
to. In Isaiah 53 and verse 11. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. What has Peter just said? That
the prophets give witness that through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. And Isaiah has said
exactly that, for he shall bear their iniquities. Then we have
with Jeremiah, and in the prophecy of Jeremiah in chapter 31, We
have also in verse 34 this same message, and if I can get the right chapter. And this word is the promise
in verse 34, they shall teach no man, no more every man his
neighbor and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord. For they
shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of
them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more. So the forgiveness of
sins and remembering their sin no more, what is it connected
with? They shall all know Me. That's
what it's connected with. And what has Peter done? he set
forth the Lord Jesus Christ, that they might know him who
lived, who suffered, bled, died, and rose again, that through
him the prophets bear witness there is the forgiveness of sins. These are things that the prophets
set forth and they teach the whole word of God right through
the Old Testament we have the same messages. We think of Zechariah
13, 1, in that day, there shall be a fountain open to the house
of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. These are the messages that are
set forth, just a few of them, from the Old Testament. Micah,
we have in chapter 7 as well, verse 18, Who is a God like unto
thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage, he retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he
will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities,
and he will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. and
the prophecies of our Lord Jesus Christ, they point to this remission
of sins. Now, of course, many of the Gentiles
would not have known the Old Testament, nor the teaching of
it. But as it is set before them,
they are to know this, that the word that was first sent to the
Jews, that which the Jews rejected, and then the word was sent to
the Gentiles. And Peter would say, The Jews
are rejected there, but it's not because it's not through
and in the scriptures, because all of the scriptures, our Lord
says, serve the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life, and they are they which testify of me. And in effect,
he is saying this, Peter is saying this to Cornelius and his household. The whole scriptures, they testify,
they bear witness. This is not a new gospel. This
is a fulfilling of all the Old Testament scriptures. And it's
when Peter then has preached these things to Cornelius, has
set forth the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, fulfilling
the Old Testament scriptures, dying in the place of his people,
putting away their sin, rising again and Through him then, through
those that believe on him, that they should receive remission
of sins, while this is preached, while this gospel, this good
news is set before them, the Holy Spirit fell on all them
which heard the word. It surely could say of this company
the same as those of Thessalonica, that the word came unto them
not in word only, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."
That is vital. We might read these words, you
might think as I preach them, well, there's nothing special
in that. We've heard that many times, we've had many times it
set forth, but what a difference if the Holy Spirit will apply
it with power, and the Word is sent to you and to me, and we
see it, we hear it, as we never heard it before. Those two on
the way to Emmaus would have well known those Old Testament
scriptures, but preached by our Lord and preached by the power
of the Spirit, then their heart burned within them as one while
he taught with them by the way. Now may we know such a sermon
and such a blessing as what Peter set before them here. Remember,
our text, preaching peace by Jesus Christ. There's no peace
outside of Him, only the wrath of God, only hell before us,
the sentence and wrath of God against ourselves. But when the
Lord Jesus Christ is set before us, His blood is a peace-speaking
blood. It makes peace, it reconciles
God with us and us with God. It puts away our sin, it deals
with the sentence against it, and it brings in an everlasting
righteousness to be imputed to us. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
said, in me ye shall have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. And the message from
the angels at his birth was on earth peace, good will toward
men. There won't be peace on earth,
but on this earth there will be known peace in poor sinners'
hearts, who receive the Word or are blessed through it, and
who see the Lord Jesus Christ as God's wonderful provision
for poor, hell-deserving sinners. His finished work of redemption,
what He has accomplished and what He has done, often is set
forth in the Scriptures in very few words. Paul, you can read
it at your leisure in 1 Corinthians 15. In those first few verses
of that beautiful chapter on the resurrection, he concisely
sets forth the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, may the Lord
bless this to us. May we know that blessing, the
Holy Spirit applying the word and blessing it to us. The word
which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace, by
Jesus Christ, who know if the Lord give us peace, we'll know
that word has been blessed to us. If he makes peace, then who
can make trouble? If he gives peace, then may the
Lord bless each of you that hear the word, me too, with that peace
of God that passeth all understanding. Amen.