Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with a hymn from our Gospel Hymns Spiral hymn book,
number 24, Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. And let's
all stand together, number 24. Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. We love to call you by that name,
our Savior Christ Jesus. Jehovah Sidkenu, the God-man
lived for us. singing eternal righteousness
which God imputes to us. Jehovah Sidkenu, our substitute
who died. Your blood has put away our sin,
and we are justified. Jehovah Sidkenu, your love has
won our praise trusting your blood and righteousness we're
saved by your free grace Jehovah said We stand in you alone. Our only fitness before God is
in our Lord, His Son. Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. Christ Jesus, you alone we call,
the Lord our righteousness. Please be seated. He is our righteousness. I'd like to read a passage of
scripture from John 17, if you would turn with me in your Bibles
there. John 17. Good to see you all tonight. Robert and Deanna were planning
to be here tonight, and then Robert didn't feel well today,
so we'll continue to remember them in prayer as he recovers. Psalm 133 says, behold how good
and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. And
it is, it's a sweet thing. Just met Angus for the very first
time tonight in person. We've corresponded over the last
couple of years, but this was our first time to to see each
other face to face and instantly embraced and sense the unity. that we have together in Christ. And Angus, we're looking forward
to the message that the Lord's given you for us tonight. Angus
Fisher, pastor of the church not far from Sydney. How far
did you say it was from Sydney? A hundred miles south of Sydney,
east of, west of Sydney. Whichever way. South. South. I had it right the first time.
Okay. And they They watch our service. Jerry's
been over there a couple of times for work and has had an opportunity
to worship with the brethren in Angus' church. And so we're
glad to have you, Angus. And I'm going to read scripture
and pray and then we're going to sing another hymn and then
you come on up, okay? All right. You have your Bibles
open to John 17. We'll begin reading in verse
16. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Now, in another place, the Lord
said, Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world.
And in that regard, the word world represents everything that
stands against Christ. everything that's opposed to
the gospel. So he says, we're not of the
world. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the
world, even so I have also sent them into the world, and for
their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified
through the truth. The truth of the gospel, the
truth of God's word, is the means by which the Lord sets his people
apart. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word,
that they all may be one, even as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me. and the glory which thou
gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made
perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast
sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father,
I will that they also whom thou gavest me be with me where I
am. that they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. O righteous Father, the world
hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known
that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Let's pray together. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we come before thy throne of grace thanking you that we have
an advocate. We have a savior. We have one
who pleads our cause and one who presents himself for all
our righteousness. Know how we pray that you would
cause him to be lifted up tonight. We pray that you would sanctify
your children by the truth. And we know that thy word is
truth, and we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is truth. And so,
Lord, we pray that you would cause us to know the truth, and
in knowing the truth, that you would make us free. free to love
thee, free to enjoy the unity that exists between brethren
who dwell together in the truth of the gospel. Lord, we pray
for Robert and ask that your hand of strength would continue
to be on him and that you would give him full recovery. Return
he, Indiana, back to us. So fellowship and worship with
us in this place. Lord, thank you for Angus and
pray for the believers in Australia and ask Lord that you would bless
them in the absence of their pastor and pray Lord that you
would give Angus liberty and that you would give us ears to
hear the message that you put on his heart. We ask it in Christ
name. Amen. Let's stand together again. We'll
sing hymn number 340 from the Hardback Tymbal. Number 340 from
the Hardback Tymbal. Nearer, still nearer, close to
thy heart. Draw me, my Savior, so precious
thou art. Fold me, O fold me, close to
thy breast. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Nothing I bring, not as an offering
to Jesus my King. Only my sinful, now contrite
heart Grant me the cleansing thy blood doth impart. Grant me the cleansing thy blood
doth impart. Nearer, still nearer, ? For to
be thine ? ? Sin with its follies ? ? I gladly resign ? ? All of
its pleasures ? ? Pomp and its pride ? Give me but Jesus, my
Lord crucified. Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified. Nearer, still nearer, while life
shall last, till safe in glory my anchor is cast. Through endless ages, Nearer, my Savior, still nearer
to thee. Nearer, my Savior, still nearer
to thee. Please be seated. Angus? Well it's lovely to be here amongst
you and it's lovely to bring thanks to the ministry that you
share with your pastor. I come to bring news from a far
country that we have heard good news from a far country in our
country and it's lovely. As Greg said earlier, Gerry came
to our church and it was a sweet reunion at a vital time in our
church's life and Gerry just reminded us that our great God,
our great God reigneth, and our great God knits the hearts of
his people together. I think you've probably, in Isaiah,
been looking at that remarkable verse that the Lord's people,
they lift up the voice, they lift up the Lord Jesus together,
and they say, eye to eye, And I've been really struck by a
verse in Zephaniah chapter three, verse nine. It says, for then
will I turn to the people a pure language that they may call upon
the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent, to serve
him with one accord, to serve him with a singleness of purpose. And that's exactly what God has
promised to do, and that's exactly what we bear witness to as we
proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel that delights the
hearts of God's people all over the world is a gospel that unites
us, because it's a gospel that lifts our Lord Jesus up. And
we see him on the throne, high and lifted up. And that's exactly
what I'd like to bring to you tonight. I'd like you to turn
in your scriptures to Acts chapter 3. We have, in the book of Acts,
we have foundations laid, incredibly significant foundations laid.
There was, for this special time in the history of the church,
there were no false teachers. For this particular time in the
church, there was even peace between the believers and the
rest of the people in Jerusalem. There was this remarkable outpouring
of the Holy Spirit. And it is the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's seated on the throne of
the universe, but he's not inactive. He, He is doing this work. This is a work that He is superintending,
that our great God is going to get glory for His dear Son in
the church. This same Jesus, said Peter in
Acts chapter 2 to that vast crowd, this same Jesus that God hath
made, this same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And in Acts 2.33, is therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received
to the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He, the Lord
Jesus Christ, has shed forth this which you now see and hear. What do you now see and hear?
You hear about the Lord Jesus Christ. As Moses is told, we
hear of Moses in Hebrews 11, he saw him who is invisible. In the proclamation of the gospel,
our desire is that you see him. And so the miracles, there were
many signs and wonders done by the apostles at that time, but
when the Lord God our blessed Holy Spirit, our comforter and
our guide and our revealer of the Lord Jesus Christ. When there
is a miracle in the scriptures, brothers and sisters, you look
very closely because the gospel's in the miracle. The gospel's
in the miracle. Let's read these opening verses
of Acts chapter 3. Acts chapter 3. Now Peter and
John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer
being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his
mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of
the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered
into the temple. who seeing Peter and John about
to go into the temple, asked in arms, and Peter fastening
his eyes upon him with John said, look on us. And he gave heed
unto them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter
said, silver and gold have I none. But such as I have, give I to
thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right
hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet and
ankle bones received strength. And he, leaping up, stood and
walked and entered with them into the temple, walking and
leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking
and praising God. And they knew that it was he
which sat at forearms at the beautiful gate of the temple.
And they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had. happened unto him. I wanted to
look briefly at the journey of this crippled man but I want
to most look at the proclamation of the gospel that comes from
it. This crippled man is held before the church, held before
the church as an emblem of salvation by sovereign grace and there
if you turn over to Acts Chapter 4 verse 13, you will see that
when the first persecution came upon that church, there was this
man standing with them. Verse 13 of chapter, when they
saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they
were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and took knowledge
of them that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man
which was healed, standing with them, they could say nothing
against it. Here is this man. Here is this
crippled man. An emblem, isn't he? An emblem
of salvation by free and sovereign grace. There he is, held up before
the religion of that day, held up before the religious men of
the world. And I love the fact that he stood
with them. That's what God's people do,
don't they? They stand together with the apostles in the proclamation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it is a journey, isn't it?
It is a journey from being a cripple outside that gate. It is a journey
to him being there as a marker for us. And it's extraordinary,
isn't it, in this early church where these foundations of the
gospel are laid, that the story of this man takes up a chapter
in this early church. So there's much more in it than
I'll be able to deal with tonight, but I just wanted to look at
this journey. this journey. And of course,
all of the miracles point to the Lord Jesus Christ. The miracles
are about him. The miracles are reflective of
his operations of saving his people. And now, after he's gone
to glory, we see that his bloodshed is now blood applied. blood applied
by the omnipotent hand of our great God. The miracle points
to the Lord Jesus Christ and not to men. The miracle is a
validation, a vindication of the gospel that they preached,
the gospel that they preached beforehand. You can read in Acts
chapter 2, but as I said it's a picture of the salvation of
sinners. by the sovereign hand of our
omnipotent God. He draws his people to himself. They were given to him by his
father in all eternity and he stood assured in that eternal
covenant and none of them will be lost. But they will be drawn,
they will be drawn to leap and to praise God. And they will
be drawn into fellowship with God's people because it's the
church, brothers and sisters. It's the church that proclaims
the gospel and it's the church, the gathering of sinners together
under the proclamation of the gospel. It is, according to Ephesians,
the place on this earth where God has promised to get glory
for his son. It can be, it can be lightly
esteemed in this world and they can pass us by and see us as
nothing. But God's reality, God's reality
is the only reality that matters. And this is how he saves sinners.
It's deliverance from wrath by a substitute. It's deliverance
from death by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
let's begin, let's follow the story. The church, the church
is gathered, isn't it? In Acts chapter two, verse 47,
they're all praising God and remarkably for this very brief
season and having favour with all people and the Lord, and
the Lord, the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved. So now, now, when the church
is gathered to praise God, now at this particular time, please
note, brothers and sisters, this is after, of course, the great
proclamation and outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost. From there on in, And from there on in, ignorance
is no excuse. They were people, they were people
on that day, and this man was one of those on that day, who
had heard, had heard of what happened on the day of Pentecost,
had seen and witnessed 3,000 added to their number, and yet
these still stood outside of it. It is a great lesson for
us, isn't it, brothers and sisters, that God will gather his people
at his time and the time of his choosing. Now is the day of salvation. Now Peter and John went up together
into the temple at the hour of prayer being the ninth hour.
The ninth hour is three o'clock in the afternoon. It's the time
when the Lord Jesus Christ died on Calvary's tree. It is not
that they were going up there to worship at the temple, but
they were going up there because that's the place where the people
gathered. They were going there to preach the gospel, brothers
and sisters. That's what people go up to the temple for. Now
that the Lord Jesus Christ has come, the shadows of the temple
have all gone and there is just one now left. And that's him. All the shadows are gone. The
temple was about him. Everything in the temple was
about him. It's remarkable, isn't it? I love Isaiah chapter six.
It's a remarkable picture that Isaiah saw, that the Lord and
the train of his robe filled the temple. If the train of his
robe filled the temple, which is the Lord Jesus Christ and
the train of his robe is his church all gathered together
with him. The train of his robe filled the temple. The train
of his robe filled the temple. You can see him, but you can't
see the candlestick. You can see him, but you can't
see the altar. You can see him, but you can't
see the showbread. You can see him, but you can't
see the Ark of the Covenant. You can't see the mercy seat
because he, he is the one. He came at that time, they went
to the temple. They went to the temple because
that's where the people were. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
all of that. And here we have a great description
of the Lord's people in chapter 3 verse 2, and a certain man,
a certain man lame. I love that word certain, isn't
it? The Lord has certain ones. He does have certain ones. It's
so often in the scriptures, a description of the Lord's people, a particular
one, a certain one. A certain man, lame from his
mother's womb, was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of
the temple, which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered
into the temple. God always deals with his own
as individuals, doesn't he? He knows his own sheep. He knows
them by name. He knew them in eternity. He
knew them and owned them as his own. He went to the cross with
their names written on his breastplate. He knew every single one of them
and he knew everything about them. He knew that this beggar
was a certain one, this beggar for whom he had died six weeks
earlier, this beggar for whom he now represents in glory, this
beggar who had absolutely no idea. no idea of his greatest
need. He was a beggar. He was a beggar
who's a chosen object of divine mercy. He's poor and helpless,
but there were many poor and helpless in the world at that
time and in and around Jerusalem at that time, but this is a certain
one, a certain man. And divine providence, divine
providence had made him poor and helpless, but divine providence
had carried him to the place where grace would be found. It
always does, brothers and sisters. He knows where they are. I love
reading Ezekiel 34. The Lord, our great God, and
the great shepherd of the sheep, he wanders over hills and dales,
and he knows where they all are. He searches them out. He always
knows where his sheep are, and he knows the circumstances of
their lives. This man was 40 years old. 40 years, just think of his life,
40 years and most of that time he was there while that temple
was being built for those 40 years. He was there for most
of the Lord's life outside there. How many times has the Lord Jesus
walked by? How many times it seems to us,
brothers and sisters, that the Lord Jesus has walked by? And yet, and yet there's a certain
man, a certain man and a certain time. There's a time of love. There's a certain man and he
was lame from birth. And he'd laid at this gate, this
temple, this magnificent gate. It was said to be made of Corinthian
brass and it shone. It was brighter and more lustrous
than gold. This temple was absolutely magnificent
in all of its glory. He was there at this public place.
He was there at this public place thinking that what he needed
was someone to give him some money, some bread. What a picture
this man is of the crippled state of our fallen and helpless nature. Every son and daughter of Adam
is born disabled. They're born dead in trespasses
and sins, as Romans 5 declares us to be, isn't it? Without strength,
enemies of God, ungodly. As David said, in sin did my
mother conceive me. It's not talking about the act
that conceived him, it's just the fact that sin is so fundamentally
a part of his nature. In sin did my mother conceive
me. He was shapen in iniquity. He had been lame from the wound. So his infirmity was a defect
of nature, not of accident. It was the defect of his very
being, wasn't it? But he was laid. He was laid
at a place where the gospel was to be proclaimed. There is. There is the necessity, isn't
there, of that blood applied and that gospel coming to people
before they'll come and truly worship in the temple of God. But here is a man, isn't he?
What a picture of grace. What works of righteousness could
he have done? What could he have done? What
did he have to offer? What did he have to do? He was
unable to walk in the ways of the Lord, and he was rejected
by men. But before we go too far, we
must remember that beggars and those humbled by the circumstances
of life can still be as proud in their hearts as the most self-righteous
Pharisee you'll ever see. One of the things that was remarkable
about spending time in India is that they were living in places
that just caused me to often think that an enemy has done
this. An enemy has done this to reduce
humanity to the state that so many of those people lived in.
And yet, and yet, they were proud. They were so proud that it was
frightening how proud they were. They were proud. I've been into
slums where people lived under sheets of blue plastic and they
were proud. It's not the circumstances of
life that humble people, brothers and sisters. The one thing that
humbles people is a meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ. And until
people do meet with the Lord Jesus Christ, they will be proud. And they will do as Romans 10
promises, in that they'll go about to establish their own
righteousness. They're going about, aren't they?
They're always busy. But the one busyness that they're
always focused on all the time is the establishment of their
own righteousness. And you can tell how much they
cling to it, brothers and sisters, because you take it away from
them. You try and take it away from them. Dear, oh dear, they
cling to it. It's divine providence that bring
chosen sinners to meet the Lord in saving mercy, in a place where
they have nothing to pay God. They are just beggars. But beggars
for beggars, the issue is a heart issue, isn't it? The problem
we have, brothers and sisters, is in the heart, which is why
those saved on the previous day, that previous chapter, those
three saved were wounded in the heart. They were wounded in the
heart. If you were wounded in the heart,
pricked in the heart, what happens to you? You die. It's as simple as that. That's
the picture, isn't it? That you die. They realised that
before the judgement of God and the justice of God and the holiness
of God, what had they done? Wicked hands is all they had.
And all of their religion stuck together with all of its fanciness,
with this fancy temple and all of the other things and their
Bible colleges and their missionary activities and all the success
of it. They had them there from 15 different
nations, brothers and sisters. They'd circumcised men and they'd
come all that way. Empty, empty religion. And only, only the gospel, only
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ reaches a part of humanity
which is never ever going to be reached by all the religion
and all the activities in the world. It must reach to your
heart, brothers and sisters. Pricked in the heart. A heart
of stone must be removed and a heart of flesh put in the Lord's
people. heart of stone. What a great
picture of our hearts, isn't it? Unfeeling, hard, cold. Dead. No response. But when God moves in the hearts
of his people, there's a heart of flesh. There is a new man,
and the new man sees the Lord Jesus Christ, and the new man
sees the old man. Until the new man is there, the
old man will never know what the old man really is. It'll
be spending its life, as Adam did, stitching fig leaves together,
dressing itself up, as fancy as it can be. But there is a
time of love. This is a picture of a time of
love. Time of worship comes from a
time of love, isn't it? When I passed by and saw you,
it was a time of love, says Ezekiel 16. He had, as I said earlier, he
had been there and he had been unnoticed. And he hadn't, remarkably,
he hadn't been aware of his need. In Mark chapter two, the Lord
Jesus Christ had that man come to him. He was carried by his
four friends. And when the Lord Jesus saw the faith of that man,
that man who was a cripple, was raised by the Lord Jesus Christ. He was raised that the Lord Jesus
might prove to those people there, those hardened religionist people,
that the Son of God has power on earth to forgive sins. That's
what the miracle's about, isn't it? About the Son of God having
power. We will come to discover that
the Lord God, our great Jehovah, is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that
healeth thee. This man was crippled in his
legs, but he had a problem much bigger than all of that. But
this man, sitting there for those 40 years, for all that time of
the building of the temple, is just an emblem of the fact that
religion, as polished as it looks, as zealous as it seems to be,
as moral as it may seem to be, religion without Christ is a
mockery to the souls of men. It is just empty. It is just empty of life. The glory of God had left that
temple. It was now in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It was a sad picture, isn't it? It's a sad picture
of modern religion, that temple. There is much to impress, isn't
there? There's much to impress in religion. There's much to
impress the flesh of men. There is the wealth and the power
and the talent and the influence. There are the rituals and the
ceremonies to soothe the conscious. There is a form of godliness. There is a form of godliness
without the power thereof. The power is the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Men are compulsively religious. They are addicted to religion
of one sort or another. but religion without the Lord
Jesus Christ is empty. It has no power. So the religion
of men had sustained this man for 40 years. They'd come to
their religious services and thrown a few pennies to this
man to appease themselves, weren't they? And how many of them, as
they walked backwards and forwards and they gave their pennies,
how many of them looked at that man and said, I'm not like that
because. I'm not like that, because the
total depravity of the hearts of men is so evident to those
who have met the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's only in meeting him
that we actually see something of our own hearts, brothers and
sisters. And you can prove it, can't you? When you read the
stories of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, And you
read the way they treated him, their corruption in dealing with
him, their injustice in every way. They broke every law of
the Jewish world and they broke every law of the Roman world
in crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ. How many times when you
have been reading those accounts, brothers and sisters, do you
say to yourself, if I was there, I wouldn't have done it? How
many? If I were there, I wouldn't have
done that. Rubbish. Rubbish. Why wouldn't you have done it?
Well, you would say, wouldn't you, automatically, I'm a little
bit better than that. Absolute rubbish, brothers and
sisters. We would have done it. We would
have done it. That's what cut these people
to the heart, wasn't it? That they did it. They had the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on their hands. They were guilty. They were guilty of the mockery
and the murder of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so does every son
of Adam all of the time. And we only ever know it. We only ever know it when we
meet him. Modern religion is just absolutely
no help to this man. It sustained him in life, but
not in spiritual life at all. Verse 3, who seeing Peter and
John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. The beggar was
unconscious, even at this stage, even after hearing of the events
of Pentecost, having been a witness in a sense to all of the trials
of the Lord Jesus, his coming and going from Jerusalem in those
weeks. And these six weeks after, he
had witnessed all that, and yet the biggest need that he felt
that he had was just some bread. How blind we are, brothers and
sisters. How blind we are. He had no consciousness
of any need of being healed except to get some bread to keep his
life going. See, crippled sinners are like
this man, aren't they? Until they are made sensible
by grace of the blessedness of the healing that's in the Lord
Jesus Christ, they don't even know what to ask for, brothers
and sisters. They have no consciousness of
it at all. They don't realize that he was
lame in his feet, but he had a far bigger problem in his heart
and in his soul. And Peter, Peter verse four,
and Peter fastening his eyes, upon him with John said, look
on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting
to receive something of them. Sinners on the way to being worshipers
will heed the words of the apostles of God and God's servants. They
will give heed to the witnesses of God. It is in the hands of
the church, this blessed deposit, isn't it? That we proclaim him. And Peter, in that sermon in
Acts chapter two, kept appealing to the people of Israel. He says,
hear me, hearken to me, take notice of what I'm saying. I'm
sure my brother Greg can testify, what we love to meet is people
that want to hear. We meet an awful lot of people
that want to talk, but it's a different thing altogether when you meet
someone who wants to hear. Someone who'll sit and listen,
and listen to God. They will hear, they will hear. And Peter said, silver and gold
have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. You see the church. In all of what happens in Acts,
please note, brothers and sisters, it is the church that is honoured.
The church is honoured in the proclamation of the gospel. It
is something that we have, isn't it? Such as I have. It is a possession
of the church, the true church of God, this possession of the
gospel. Give I unto you. He doesn't say, if you do something,
I'll give this to you. Or because you are this, I'll
give something to you. What does he give? He gives,
in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk. And this is a glorious picture,
isn't it? In verse 7. And he took him by the right
hand and lifted him up and immediately his feet and ankle bones received
their strength. Isn't that a glorious picture
of the Lord Jesus? Reaching out to his people and
he lifts them up. When they meet him, Whenever
they meet him, they will have him lift them up. Even the apostle
John, an old apostle, the disciple whom the Lord Jesus loved, when
he met the Lord Jesus in glory, what happened? When he meets
him, he falls down as a dead man. And then what does the Lord
Jesus do? In glory, he reaches out and
he lifts him up. You lift him up and immediately
he was healed and he was made whole. Made whole. In verse eight, we have this
wonderful picture. You've no doubt sung the song, haven't
you? This is worship, isn't it? And he leaping up stood and walked
and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and
praising God. If you'd asked him about a whole
bunch of doctrine, brothers and sisters, he wouldn't have known
it, but he knew one thing, didn't he? He knew one thing. You see, people think that we
are just doctrinaires, but we actually don't come to the Lord
Jesus Christ through doctrine. We come to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and the doctrine is just the truth, the teaching about who
he is. You meet him. You meet him in
saving faith and in saving grace. You'll know about him, and you
will lift up the voice, as we've heard from Isaiah 52, and I read
out of Zechariah. We'll speak with the same voice,
brothers and sisters, because we've seen him and we've met
him. He walked into the temple, leaping
and praising God. So he walked with them. He now
walked with them. It goes on to say that he held
them, in verse 11. He held Peter and John, and all
the people ran together. And the Lord Jesus passes by
and touches us. We are walking and leaping, brothers
and sisters. When we meet him in saving grace,
we are walking and leaping and praising God. He walked into the temple. He
takes his people. to his banqueting house, and
his banner over them is love. My beloved spoke unto me, rise
up, my love, my fair one, come away. And what does she describe
herself as in Song of Solomon? She says, I am black. And what
does he say? There is no spot in you. You
are perfect in my sight. In fact, you have overcome me
with your beauty, says the Lord God of his bride. They entered
with him into the temple, those truly saved, enter with them. They went with them into the
church and the Lord, as we read earlier, added daily to the church
such as should be saved. And he went there to hear a sermon,
didn't he? He went there to hear a sermon.
Our time is short, but I would like to just focus on this name. See, the name is more than just
the words, isn't it? Lord Jesus Christ or whatever.
way people want to put those together. The name is the character,
isn't it? It is. It speaks of the wholeness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of His divinity. It
speaks of all of His attributes. And Peter, as he did in Acts
chapter two, just takes the scriptures and takes the testimony that
they had laid out before them in the word of God and says,
this is it. This Lord Jesus, this same Jesus, God hath made
both Lord and Christ. See, the church proclaims the
gospel. Let's listen to Peter. We'll skip down to verse 13. Peter has told them, he says,
don't look at the miracle. Don't look at the man. This is
the place to look, brothers and sisters. This is where you look
all the time. Look beyond what you see and look to the reality
that creates these things. Verse 13, the God of Abraham
and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified
his son, Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied him in the presence
of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. We've just read
ahead of John 17. Greg read it. It's remarkable,
isn't it? The glory, that high priestly
prayer, and the petitions of the Lord Jesus, every single
one of them is granted, brothers and sisters. The Father has granted
them all. The God of Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his son, Jesus. If anyone ever speaks of God
and doesn't speak of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether they be
Jew, Muslim, or whatever other religion they want to talk about,
If they're not talking about this son, Jesus. who was glorified. They're not talking about the
God of the scriptures, brothers and sisters. It doesn't matter
what they carry on with. He's glorified his son, Jesus,
whom you delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate
when he was determined to let him go. And listen to this great
description of him. But you denied, just think of
Peter and his denials, what it must have been for him as he
said these words. You denied the holy one and the
just. What a great description of our
great God. In salvation, he will reveal
all of his character and he will not save anyone. He will not
save anyone to the detriment of any of his characters. In
fact, he says, thy glory is great in thy salvation. If we want
to see the attributes of God, there is one place to see them
with the greatest clarity that God will ever display in this
created realm, brothers and sisters. You go to the cross. You go to
the cross of the Lord Jesus to see who God is. As Todd Nybert
said at the conference up in New Jersey the other day, it's
a great statement, he said, the most God-like act that God ever
performed was on the cross of Calvary. It's true, brothers
and sisters. This is where we see him. This
is where we see the holy one and the just one. And the great
question about which the whole universe is centred and the great
question about why this universe and this world is still turning
is why? Why would a holy and just God
put to death a holy and just son? And it's very instructive,
brothers and sisters, isn't it, that in the Garden of Gethsemane,
when the Lord Jesus took that cup and he said, if this cup
can't pass from me unless I drink it, let your will be done. Both in the Garden of Gethsemane
and on Calvary's tree, there he was on his own. Darkness for three hours on the
cross of Calvary. Darkness in the garden of Gethsemane. The great transaction of the
cross, brothers and sisters, is the transaction between God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The great
transaction of the cross is that the Lord Jesus Christ really
was made sin for us. Really was made sin. It wasn't
a figurative sin. Our God will deal in justice.
He will deal in righteousness. Salvation will be holy and salvation
will be righteous and He will honour all those attributes of
God. And this nonsense that we hear
today about the Lord Jesus dying for the sins of all the world
and that proving the love of God for all people, they might
say that, but at the very same time they're saying that they're
denying every single attribute of God in the scriptures. They're
denying his justice. They're denying his holiness.
They're denying his absolute sovereignty in all of these things.
They're denying his love. His love is a particular love
and a purposeful love. He will be a just and holy God,
and He will be seen to be a just and holy God in the salvation
of His sinners. There's so much more we need
to say about that, but we'll move on. He is the Prince of
Life. Life is His, isn't it? If you
have the Son, you have life. He is the owner of life, isn't
he? He is the author and finisher
of the life of faith. And he is alive, isn't it? You
see what Peter says. You've killed the prince of life.
He owns life. Your life is in his hands. His
life is not in your hands anymore. You've had your time. You've
had your time with him. Now he reigns sovereignly sitting
on the throne of this universe and he rules over all things.
He rules over all of the flesh of all of the people in this
world. He is the Prince of Life and
he's raised from the dead and he's raised from the dead and
he's sitting at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. He rules
all things. The sun is shining, brothers
and sisters, because the Lord Jesus Christ has given it that
light. This universe is held together.
This universe is held together by the power of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are so prone in our Adam flesh and in looking at
this world through these eyes that don't see clearly at all,
we're so prone to forget how big and how powerful and how
glorious our Saviour is. He is God. He's God over all. I love verse 16, just look at
it closely with me. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. It is impossible to please God. You must come to him by faith.
Look at this. And his name, his name, his character,
through faith in his name, hath made this man strong. whom you
now see and hear, yea, the faith which is by him. The faith which
is by him. See faith, he is the object of
faith. He is the object of faith. And
the only object of saving faith. But he is the author of faith. And he is the perfecter of faith.
And the faith is in him. And the faith is a gift to his
people. Which is why, when our great
God gives, the recipient always gets the gift. When you read
the scriptures, the recipient always gets the gift. He gives
faith, the faith that is in him, it is his. It is his to give,
it is his to bestow upon those to whom he has suffered and died,
for those for whom he represents. And look what he's given. It's
this faith, the faith in his name. Peter and John trusted,
didn't they? What a remarkable catastrophe
it would have been if they said to that man, rise in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. For a tiny millisecond,
the future of the church hung on that one event. But our great
God will never let his people down. He will be honoured. He
will be honoured. He's given him, he's given him,
the faith which is by him has given him this perfect soundness
in the presence of you all. And then Peter speaks a word
of mercy, doesn't he? You see, brothers and sisters,
we're like this cripple, aren't we? So many, and people that
you know, and maybe people here, have heard of him being proclaimed,
have seen him work in the lives of people. And like this beggar,
it seems as if he has passed you by. And yet, in the proclamation
of the Gospel, isn't it right, Brother Greg? We trust the fact
that God is going to raise people from the dead. He's going to
raise them from the crippled state of their Adam nature. Without
them knowing their greatest need and without them knowing who
they are, in the proclamation of the Gospel, Jesus The Lord
Jesus Christ is seen, and when he is seen, they are seen, and
he brings them to himself. You did it through ignorance.
Also your rulers, they were ignorant. They had absolutely no idea.
And so do all fallen sinners. They have no idea who God is.
I have no idea. But then, our God, Peter wants
to make sure that they know, as he did in Acts chapter 2,
that all of this is done by the determinate counsel and full
knowledge of God. All of what happens is under
his sovereign hand. But those things which God before
had showed by the mouth of his prophets, he will in the salvation
of his people honor his word. He will be faithful to his promises. We have this glorious book, brothers
and sisters. It's absolutely full of wills
and shalls and must be's. And Peter wants to proclaim that.
No matter what they did, our God reigneth. that Christ, verse
18, that Christ should suffer. That Christ should suffer. He must suffer. That's why he
came, brothers and sisters. He came in our nature that he
might be both God and man, that he might bear our sins in his
own body on the tree, that he might really drink that cup,
that cup of all of the sins of all of God's people and drink
damnation dry. that he might rob his people
with the very righteousness of God. He must suffer, the Christ
should suffer. He hath so fulfilled. He's fulfilled it, brothers and
sisters. The word of God is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has fulfilled it. What were
those great words on Calvary's tree? It is finished. Salvation finished. Salvation
done. God's holy character exalted
and honoured and displayed publicly before this world. Our sins put away. forever gone. We are, like this man, and like
those apostles and those saved people, another 2,000 were saved
that day, perfectly fit for heaven right now. Not because of anything
we ever do, but because of who he is. Repent, turn, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord." The only refreshing
that the Lord's people will ever have in this world is that refreshing
that comes from the very courts of heaven, from the presence
of our God. Listen to verse 20, brothers
and sisters. It is remarkable. It is remarkable. And he shall
send Jesus Christ which before was preached to you. For Jesus
Christ to be sent is to be the Jesus Christ as preached. You
can read about him in Acts chapter 2. You can read about him in
this sermon here. It's that same Jesus, that same
Jesus that these people bear witness to. And he'll send him. He sends him. Where does he send
him? that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, brothers and sisters. And when he gathers
his people together in church, what's this become? It's the
habitation of God by the Spirit. May he use his words. from his
unlearned and ignorant servants to bring you to his feet to bow
and to worship. That was a blessing. Thank you, Angus. Thank the Lord. What an example of Comforting
God's people and speaking comfortably to them speaking from the heart
Thank you Aren't you glad you're here tonight? Hey, I know how
to get everybody here on wish you night now Angus can you come
back next Wednesday? All right Tom let's close with
him number 46 let's stand together number 46 I CCoSp4 3.50 (-1.00?) ? Eternal love, electing grace
? Secured for me in heaven a place ? Chosen from all eternity ?
The Son of God by blood bought me The Spirit came in sovereign
power at the exact appointed hour, revealing Christ, creating
faith. My soul He quickened from its
death. Now I rejoice in sovereign grace. My sovereign God shall have my
praise. Praise God for grace. Praise God for grace. Sovereign, eternal saving grace. Let's pray. Lord, we're grateful
that you have gathered us here tonight to worship you, to hear
a message from you. Lord, we ask that you would send
Angus, our brother, safely on his journey. Lord, may he