of his person. That's our hope
this morning, that the Lord Jesus Christ himself will speak to
our hearts. Let's stand together. Brother
Tom is going to come and lead us in the hymn on the back of
your bulletin. Then he bowed his head and died,
Died for sins but not his own, And redemption's work was done. Justice then was satisfied, God's
elect are justified, Righteousness our Lord brought in, And removed
His people's sin. Sin and death and hell subdued
by the power of Christ's blood, grace to sinners now is given,
pardon, holiness, and heaven. It is finished, can it be, that
Christ's blood was shed for me? Yes, I know He died for me, for
by grace I now believe. Pleading Christ's atoning blood,
kneeling at the throne of God. Gone my guilt, my sin is gone. It is finished, all is done. Please be seated. Good morning. Let's turn to 2
Kings chapter 6. 2 Kings chapter 6 for a scripture
reading. Beginning in verse 11. Therefore the heart of the king
of Syria was sore troubled for this thing. And he called the
servants and said unto them, will you not show me Which of
us is for the king of Israel? Now, the king of Israel, the
king of Syria was laying ambush for the armies of Israel and
several times it was thwarted because Elisha had warned the
king of Israel of Syria. And that's why now king of Syria
is wondering if there's any spies within his own realm. Verse 12,
and one of his servants said, none, my Lord, O king. But Elisha,
the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the
words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. And he said, Go,
and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was
told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent
he thither horses and chariots and a great host, and they came
by night. and come past the city about.
And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone
forth, behold, a host come past the city, both with horses and
chariots. And his servant said unto him,
oh, alas, my master, how shall we do? That is every believer's cry. when a trial or tribulation comes,
knowing that we're not able to do anything about it, we cried,
oh Lord, save me, turn me, bid me to come. And he answered,
fear not, for they that be with us are more than they be with
them. The Lord says, I am the first
cause of all things. I cause this to be so. but be
of good cheer. And Elisha, our Elisha, the Lord
Jesus Christ prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes
that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man and he saw. And behold, the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. That's what I need this morning
more than anything. I need to see. Don't you? I need to see the Lord's face.
I need to see that in me is no good thing, but everything in
him is all my righteousness. This morning, I need that. Do
you need that? I need that more than anything.
And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord and
said, smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he
smote them with blindness. Don't miss this, according to
the word of Elisha. All authority and power has been
given to the Lord Jesus Christ and everything is subjected under
his feet. He is the word. And Elisha said unto them, this
is glorious, these next three verses. And Elisha said unto
them, this is not the way. Neither is this the city, follow
me. And I will bring you to the man
whom you seek." But he led them to Samaria. And it came to pass
when they were coming to Samaria that Elisha said, Lord, open
the eyes of these men that they may see. And the Lord opened
their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst
of Samaria. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw
them, my father, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them? Now
God clearly commanded that whenever Israel routed a nation, they
were to destroy every man, woman, child, and just destroy them
utterly. And look what the Lord said,
and he answered, thou shall not smite them, Wouldst thou smite
those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them,
that they may eat and drink and go to their master. I know scripture
clearly says that when your enemy is hungry, you feed him with
bread. When he's thirsty, you give him water to drink. And
by doing so, you shall heap coals of fire upon their head, and
the Lord shall reward them." But I believe this speaks of
us. At one time we were at enmity,
and the law ready to kill us, ready to condemn us. But the
Lord said, come before me, set bread and water before me. I
am the bread of life. You will feast upon me. Grace
and truth is through me. and verse 23, and he prepared
great provision for them, and that's my hope and prayer this
morning, that the Lord has provided provision to the preaching of
the gospel that we're about to hear, and that we will leave
here with fatness, the light and the fatness of his word.
And when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went
to their masters, so the bands of Syria came no more into the
land of Israel. May the Lord bless this word
and may he do that for us. And when we leave or be like
Job, I've heard thee with the hearing of thy ear, but now I
see it with thy eye. Wherefore, I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes. That's my prayer for me and for
you all. May the Lord be pleased to do that. You pray. Lord, I come into your presence
again in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, thy dear son. Lord, we do want to see, as blind
Bartimaeus said, oh Lord, that you would give us sight. Lord,
would you do that for us this morning? Enable us by preaching your word
to see the living word. We're dependent upon you, Lord.
for your grace, for the power of your spirit to enable us to
believe. Lord, unless you do that, we
will go away with fear and judgment. Lord,
may you be merciful to us this morning. Bless your word. Bless our brother as he's about
to bring the provision that you've given him that we may be fed.
And Lord, we give you all the glory for it, for Christ's name's
sake, amen. Number 296, let's all stand together,
296. All the way my Savior leads me,
what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy,
who through life has been my guide? Heavenly peace, divinest
comfort, here my faith in Him to dwell. For I know what e'er
befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. For I know what e'er befall
me, Jesus doeth all things well. All the way my Savior leads me,
Tears each winding path I tread, Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter,
And my soul a thirst may be, Gushing from the rock before
me, Blow a spring of joy I see. Gushing from the rock before
me, Blow a spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me,
O the fullness of His love. Perfect rest to me is promised
in my Father's house above. When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day, This my song through endless
ages Jesus led me all the way. This my song through endless
ages. Jesus led me all the way. Please be seated. Folks come to church for lots
of different reasons. Maybe they're coming out of obligation. Maybe they're coming because
they are seeking some help in a particular problem. I don't know why you're here,
but I know what your greatest need is this morning. I do know
that. Whatever you think your need
is, I know what it is. I know some of you better than
you know yourself. I hope that's not true of most
of us. You need to hear the gospel. You need to hear about the glorious
person and accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ who
came into this world to save sinners. That's what I need. Now the Lord's called me and
Norm to preach the gospel. Paul said, I profess to know
nothing among you save Christ and Him crucified. In another
place he told Timothy, he said, I charge thee before God, who
is the judge of the living and the dead, that you preach the
word. Be instant, in season, and out
of season. Whatever opportunities you have,
Timothy, preach Christ. That's what men need. They need
to know the Lord Jesus Christ. They need to have the hope of
salvation. And that's what I hope the Lord
will enable us to do this morning. Now, I thought this week about
what is it to preach the gospel, the good news? What is it? And then I thought, well, you
know, we preachers often steal from one another outlines, and
that's okay. That's a good thing. There's
nothing new under the sun, and if I come up with something clever
or something new, it won't be any good. So I thought, well,
what preacher in the Bible can I steal a sermon from? And I
thought, what about the very first time The gospel was preached
after the coming of the Spirit of God. And we know the gospel
is preached in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning was
the Word and the Word was with God. The Word was God. That's what the Lord tells us
in John chapter 1 about Genesis chapter 1. So the gospel is preached
all throughout the scriptures. But here in Acts chapter 2, on
the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit empowers Peter to stand
and declare the gospel. And I just want us to take Peter's
sermon this morning and consider what God Almighty has said to
you and me about the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is He? Who is he, and what
has he accomplished for the salvation of a sinner's soul? Now, at the
beginning of this message, I suppose, Peter is explaining the phenomenon
of the speaking in various languages. The Spirit of God, according
to the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel, had come and enabled
these apostles on the day of Pentecost to preach the gospel
in every language of every person that was there. And people were
confused. You remember they thought they
were drunk and they said, oh no, these men are not drunk.
It is yet the third hour of the day. It's nine o'clock in the
morning. They, uh, this is the fulfillment of the prophecy of
Joel who said, I will pour out my spirit and your young men
will prophesy and your old men will dream dreams. And, uh, so
this is the fulfillment of that prophecy. And then in verse 22
of acts chapter two, and I've titled this the first gospel
message. The gospel was preached by Isaiah
many, many times. The gospel was preached by Ezekiel
and Jeremiah and Habakkuk, and all the prophets testify of Christ. But something very special takes
place on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit of God came in
power and anointed the New Testament church to preach the gospel. That's what we've been called
to do. That's what we've been commissioned
by God to do. We've not been called to entertain
folks. We've not been called to give
people our opinion. We've not been called out for
any other reason other than to preach the gospel, because that's
what men need. And that's the one thing that
they cannot get anywhere else. Anywhere. You don't hear the
gospel anywhere else. Except where God is pleased to
call out his people. He said, where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.
I walk among the candlesticks. I inhabit the praise of my people. I manifest myself in Zion. And that's what we are. So might
God give us grace to be faithful to his word and preach Christ. The first question I want to
answer in relationship to this first gospel message that Peter
preached is, and Norm you dealt with this in your message, who
is the gospel for? Who is it for? Notice in verse
22, ye men of Israel. That's who it's for. That's who's
going to hear it. That's who we preach to. We're
not trying to make goats look like sheep. We're not trying
to make unbelievers look like believers. We're preaching the
gospel to God's elect people. And the scripture says in Romans
chapter 9, they are not all Israel which are of Israel. He's not talking about national
Israel, he's talking about spiritual Israel. Those not who have been
circumcised in the flesh by the hands of men, who are the children
of Abraham according to the flesh, but those who have been circumcised
in the heart by the Spirit of God, who are the spiritual children
of Abraham, the one who believed God. So, that's who it's for. That's who it's to. The children
of the promise. Men of Israel, I hope that you're
asking yourself what I'm asking myself right now. How do I know
if I'm one of spiritual Israel? How do I know if I'm one that
the gospel of God's free grace in the finished work of Christ
is for? How do I know? And the answer
to that question is in the next word. You men of Israel, hear these
words. If you've heard the gospel, I
mean, there's a difference between listening and hearing. You understand
that? Lots of folks listen and they
don't hear. I made some I made some notes about that. Listening
is something that can be done in the power of your own flesh. And all it does is affect a little
bit of your intellect, but really doesn't give you any understanding
at all. Hearing, on the other hand, is
a work of the Spirit of God who gives understanding to the heart. Listening is evaluating information. Hearing is the inspiration of
the gospel to the soul. Are you listening or are you
hearing? Lots of folks listen who don't
hear. As you quoted Bert earlier, what
did Job say at the end of the book of Job? I had heard of thee
by the hearing of the ear. In other words, I had listened
to some things and I thought I had some understanding. But
now mine eyes have seen thee and I repent in dust and ashes.
Oh Lord, don't let me be deceived in thinking just because I'm
listening that I'm hearing. Hearing's a miracle of grace.
Hearing's... In Isaiah chapter 1, when the
Lord calls upon the heavens and the earth to testify to the gospel,
what he's saying to them is the inanimate objects of the earth
will hear the voice of God before an unregenerate man will hear
the voice of God. The rocks, the rocks will hear
the voice of God before an unregenerate man will hear the voice of God. What does that say? Oh Lord,
give me ears to hear. Lord, take out my heart of stone,
put in a heart of flesh, enable me to hear. It's not something
you're going to figure. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit. Neither can he know them. He can't know them. He may listen. He may think because he understands
or can recite some verses or quote some doctrine that he's
heard from God. Don't settle for anything less. than the voice of God teaching
you the truth of the... O ye men of Israel, hear this
word. Hear this word. Turn with me
if you will to Isaiah chapter 30. Isaiah chapter 30. Who's the gospel for? It's for
the men of Israel. How do I know if I am part of
the men of Israel? I've heard the Word of God. I've
heard. How do I know I've heard? Because
I believe it. I believe God. He's taught me what it means
to be a sinner. I know that I have no righteousness outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's caused me to rest all the
weight of my immortal soul on the glorious person and finished
work of Christ for all my salvation. I've heard God. Look at Isaiah
chapter 30 at verse 9. that this is a rebellious people. Lying children. Children that
will not hear the law of the Lord. Now that word law is used
to define the whole canon of scripture. The natural man is
rebellious against God. He's at enmity against God. We
come into this world with our fist clenched towards heaven.
We will not hear. We cannot hear. which say, now here's what the
natural man will say, look at verse 10, which say to the seers,
see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things,
speak unto us smooth things, and prophesy unto us deceits. I wondered if that's where That
song, tell me lies, tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies. That's
what the natural man does, isn't he? Don't tell me the truth.
Tickle my ears, tell me what I want to hear. How do I know
I've heard the voice of God? Because I've heard things that
are contrary to my nature. I've heard things that are absolutely
contrary to my nature, that I would not believe before, and God has
made me not just to believe them, but to rejoice in them, to delight
in the truth of God's Word. Go back with me to Acts and turn
to Acts chapter 3. Acts chapter 3. Verse 22, for Moses truly said
unto the fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God rise up unto
you of your brethren like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all
things whatsoever he shall say unto you. Now how do I know I've
heard God? Because I believe every word
that he has spoken. I believe it. Can I explain every
bit of it? Do I understand all of it? No,
but I know it's the word of God and I believe it with all my
heart. This prophet that Moses spoke
of is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who came, and look
at verse 23, and it shall come to pass that every soul which
shall not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. The gospel, the first gospel
message is preached to the men of Israel, and they're called
on by God to hear the words of God. Now, let me make this absolutely
clear. You've heard me say it before,
but it's so necessary that you understand this. What God requires,
God must provide. He requires us to hear. He's got to give us ears to hear.
He requires us to believe. He's got to give us faith to
believe. He requires us to come. He's got to cause us to come. He requires us to repent. He's the one who has to change
our minds so that we can think the thoughts of God. Everything
that God requires of us, God must provide. So when the Lord
says, hear, the believer says, oh Lord, give me ears to hear. Don't let me be deceived in thinking
just because I'm listening as a bystander that I am hearing
as a believer. Don't let me be deceived in satisfying
my own curiosity with the things of God without knowing that you
are satisfied with me through the finished work of your dear
Son. Lord, give me ears to hear. This is your greatest need this
morning. This is my greatest need. Whatever
else is going on in our lives, we've got to hear from God. We've
got to hear the gospel. I promise you, there will come
a moment of truth in your life and in my life, where nothing
else will matter. Nothing. I mean nothing. Whether or not you've heard.
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What does it profit a man if
he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? What will
a man give in exchange for his soul? This is what we need. And once we've heard the word
of God, once we've heard about who Christ is and what he's done
and he's given us ears to hear and we believed, then and only
then are we equipped with what's required in order to make sense
out of this life. Hope for this life and the life
that is to come. You men of Israel, hear this
word. Now that's sort of an introduction
to the gospel, to command men to give their undivided attention
to what I'm about to say. Now what's the first word out
of Peter's mouth in preaching the gospel? What's the first
word out of his mouth? Jesus. Jesus, the Nazarene. Jesus, our Joshua. Moses wasn't able to bring the
children of Israel into the promised land. Why? Because Moses is a
picture of the law. Moses had to die on the east
side of the Jordan. Joshua was the only one that
could divide the Jordan River and lead the children of Israel
into the promised land. Jesus' name is Joshua. Yahshua,
it's the same name. and it means Jehovah saves and
the angel told Mary you shall call his name Jesus for he shall
save his people people talk about Jesus a lot but you listen to
what they have to say about him and it's another Jesus it's a
Jesus with a little J It's a Jesus who's trying to get folks saved,
doing his best to get it done, but he can't quite accomplish
what he really wants to get done because men won't cooperate with
him. That's not this Jesus. That's not the gospel, the message
of the gospel. The Christ of the gospel succeeded
in what he came to do. He offered himself up to God
on behalf of his people, bearing their sins in his body upon the
tree, and satisfied God's holy justice, accomplishing their
salvation. Notice that he calls him Peter
in preaching to this first Pentecost group there in Jerusalem. He
calls him Jesus of Nazareth. Now I'm sure there was a lot
of Jesus is walking around in the first century. It would have
been a very popular name and among the Jews in recognition
of Joshua Many would have called their children. So Jesus of Nazareth
The one you know what I'm talking about now, why did God have the
Lord Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem and then raised in Nazareth and
Because he shall be called, the scripture says, a Nazarite. A Nazarite. You see, it's not
the physical location of Nazareth that was important. It's the
fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was the only true, faithful Nazarite
that there ever was. Remember Samson? Samson was made
a Nazirite, wasn't he? Did he keep the vow of the Nazirite? What was the Nazirite vow? You
don't touch anything dead, you don't drink any wine, and you
don't cut your hair. And Samson did all those things,
didn't he? What's the spiritual meaning
of that? The Lord Jesus Christ never laid,
he touched lots of dead bodies and raised them from the dead.
He touched dead things, but spiritually speaking, this is a spiritual
picture, he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners. He never touched anything dead
until that which was dead touched him. When He bore our sins in His
body upon the tree, God made Him sin who knew no sin. Prior to that, He was a perfect
Nazarite. The wine is spoken of as the
as the thing that delights the heart, and the Lord Jesus Christ
certainly drank wine in his life, but he did not derive any of
his joy or any of his pleasure from anything other than his
relationship with God the Father. He had the fullness of the Spirit
of God upon him and delighted himself in the Lord all the time. Hair is spoken of in the scripture
as our crown of glory for a woman. The Lord Jesus Christ described
with hair white like wool in the book of Revelation, and older
folks are called that, that's their wisdom, their gray hair,
and the Lord certainly had his hair cut. I hate these Hollywood
depictions of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody's got short
hair except him. You know, he's got this long hair down to his
waist and he's walking around, you know, that's such blasphemy. It's a spiritual picture. When
did Samson lose his strength? When his hair was cut. When did
the Lord Jesus Christ lose his glory as far as his relationship
with the Father when God Almighty forsook him? When he cried, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And yet, just like with Samson,
That's when our Lord's hair was cut. And just like Samson, what
did Samson do in his death when his hair was cut and his eyes
were plucked out so that he could not see? There we have a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ being cut off from the Father. What
did Samson do? He pulled down the temple of
the Philistines and killed all the enemies of God in his death. What a glorious picture. This
Jesus, the Nazarite. Jesus of Nazareth. Do you hear that? Do you hear
that? Is this just a curiosity thing
for you? Well, that's interesting. Or
is this the hope of your soul? God requires you and I to be
holy and undefiled. He requires us to be glorious. And the only hope that we have
for that is to be found in the Nazarite. This is the gospel. This is our salvation. We get
so much of our happiness and so much of our joy and contentment
of lots of things outside of Christ and outside of the Spirit
of God, don't we? And our hair has been cut so
many times, we don't know anything about the glory of God. The best description in the Bible
for sin You've heard me say this before, maybe somebody's not
heard it before, but listen very carefully. This is so glorious,
if the Lord enables you to hear this, all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Now let me ask you a question,
what in your life falls short of the glory of God? That's your sin. Everything. You see, those who
are just listening, who haven't really heard, they think sin
is just a behavioral problem. Well, you know, I've sinned over
here and over there and I did this and I did that. And when
God gives you ears to hear, you know that sin is not what you
do, it's what you are. Everything about us falls short
of His glory. Christ came to save sinners. If He's not made you to be a
sinner, and it's a work of grace, it's a miracle. He's got to make
you a sinner. You're not gonna see yourself
as a sinner. The natural man's gonna compare himself to himself
and think he's getting better. He's gonna compare himself to
the law of God and think, well, I've kept that one, I kept that
one. He's gonna compare himself to other men and think that he
is better. And once God puts you, as you said, Norm, naked
in his presence and causes you to see his glory, then you realize
everything about you falls short of the glory of God. Oh, Lord,
save me. I need a savior. I need a substitute. I need one who's accepted before
God in whom I can find acceptance before God. It's the first gospel message.
We may have to spend a few weeks on it, but let's see if we can
get a few more words in Peter's sermon. We're just stealing from
Peter, who got it directly from God. The first gospel message
preached in the power of the Spirit of God after the ascension
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Ye men of Israel. Am I of Israel? This is for all spiritual Israel.
Romans chapter 11 verse 26, I think it is, says, and all Israel shall
be saved. All Israel. I'll not lose one
of my sheep. Every single member of the family
of God. Those whom God chose in the covenant
of grace, those who the Lord succeeded in atoning for their
sins on Calvary's cross, they'll believe. They'll hear. Hear these
words. Every word. You don't pick and
choose which words in God's word you're going to believe. I was
talking to someone this week and they said, well, what's the
difference between this book and other religious books in
the world? And I was able to say to him,
well, you know, this 40 different penmen writing over a period
of 1,500 years and 66 books, and everybody from a farmer to
a fisherman to a king to a prophet, God used holy men of God, spoke
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. These are not words of
private interpretation. Now, is that explanation sufficient
to convince you that this is the Word of God? No, it's not. No, it's not. I could give you
all sorts of reasons why you should believe that this is the
Word of God. You're not going to believe it unless God convinces
you of it. And once He does, you know it
is. You'll say with those disciples,
Lord, we've got no place else to go. You alone have the words
of eternal life, and we know and are sure that thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. You have shut us up to yourself. You see, coming to the conviction
that this is the word of God is not a decision on your part.
It's a work of grace in the heart. causing us to know that we're
not saved by corruptible things. We're saved by the incorruptible,
by the living Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever, which
by the gospel, which by the gospel is preached unto you. not a matter
of just being some sort of fundamentalist that has become convinced that
every word in this book is the word of God, but it's a matter
of believing that this book is all about Christ and seeing him
and his gospel in it. For the salvation of your soul,
This book's not a rule book for Christian living. This book's
not a book about doctrine and theology and history and poetry. This is a book about Christ.
In the volume of the book, it is written of me. Have you heard? Have you heard? Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus the Nazarene Jesus the
Nazarene, a man, a man, God's perfect man. In order for these
men to be saved, a man had to do for us before God what we
could not do for ourselves. And God sent his son, born of
a woman, born under the law to redeem them who are cursed by
the law. Adam was not able to keep the
requirements of the covenant of works under perfect circumstances. You could not have chosen a better
life to have in this world than the life that Adam had. No conflict,
no sin, no trouble. Innocent before God. Walked with
God in the cool of the day. The animals were at perfect peace
with one another. Every day was a perfect weather.
It was just, it was perfect. It was paradise. And God gave
Adam one thing not to do, and Adam could not not do it. He
just had to do it. The Lord Jesus Christ, who's
called the last Adam, came into this world, and contrary to what
Adam experienced in the garden, he suffered all the contradictions
of sinful men. He lived in a world that was
contrary to him, He didn't fit in anywhere, and yet He remained
faithful to the Father and went to the cross as a man to suffer
and to die in a physical body. Tried and tempted in all ways
that we are, yet without sin, He bore our sins. and took them
to the cross and put them away once and for all by the sacrifice
of himself. He was a man. Fully man and fully God. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus the Nazarite, a man, Approved
of God among you. Approved of God. Shown clearly
by the power of God that he was who he claimed to be. There could
be no question about it. And yet, because of man's enmity
against God, because of the impossibility for the natural man to believe,
he refused to believe. Hey, men, you know, one of the
amazing stories in the New Testament is when Lazarus was raised from
the dead. And the scripture says there
were men there in Bethany that saw the resurrection of Lazarus. They saw this dead man come out
of the tomb, wrapped like a mummy, and unwrapped and made alive,
resuscitated by the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you
know what they did? You would think, well that would
be sufficient evidence for anyone to bow before Christ and confess
Him. They ran back into Jerusalem
and told the Pharisees. So that they could have more
ammunition. We gotta get rid of this guy. Look what he's doing. I have said in the past, in preaching
the funeral, of an individual who showed no evidence of believing
the gospel. In an attempt to urge men to
consider the urgency of their own souls, I have stood before
a congregation at a funeral and said, errantly, if so-and-so
could be here today, I'm going to tell you what they would want
you to know. At the time I thought, surely
if a person comes back from hell, they're going to want the folks
that are still here to know about Christ. I don't believe that
anymore. I don't believe that for a second.
If a person came back from a devil's hell, they would not believe
the gospel. They wouldn't. Believing the gospel is a work
of grace. And unless God arrests a man,
unless God knocks a man off his high horse and puts his face
in the dirt and speaks to him, Paul said, my conversion on the
road to Damascus is a pattern for every believer's conversion. Unless God does that, the experience
of hell will not convince a man to come to Christ. You can't do it. Now that's how
dead we are. And the Lord's saying to these
people, this man, Jesus the Nazarite, was approved of God and performed,
look at the next. among you by miracles and wonders
and signs which God did by Him in the midst of you, and you
yourself also know it." You saw the miracles that He performed.
You were there when He fed the 5,000. You were there when He raised
the dead and healed the sick. He gave sight to the blind. You were there. Verse 23, why am I being so adamant about
this? Because those whom God has given
ears to hear will say, yes, that's the truth. That's the truth. And they will beg God for His
grace and for His mercy. Lord, if you lead me to myself,
I'll not believe. If you lead me to myself, I won't
be able to see. If you lead me to myself, I'll
be a listener, but not a hearer. Hymn, verse 23. being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Here's
the gospel, brethren. Friends, those of you that are
strangers to God's grace, listen to me. This wasn't God's plan
B for saving folks. This was his ordained purpose
before the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ
is called the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the
world. He entered into a covenant with the Father, promising to
lay down his life for the atonement of the sins of his people, to
purchase unto himself the bride that God the Father had given
him before time ever began. This was determined. He sent
his face like flint towards Jerusalem. He came into this world to die. It wasn't a mistake. It wasn't something he got caught
up in. He was ordering every event in
his own death, just like he's ordering every event in your
life and in my life. He's God. And this happened by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. And you, by your wicked hands,
have crucified him. You say, well, Peter was talking
to that same crowd that was there at the crucifixion of the Lord
Jesus Christ, right? I remind you of that verse we
read earlier this morning, Zechariah chapter 12, verse 10, and I will
pour out my spirit among the house of David and
among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. and the spirit of the, I'm sorry,
I will pour out on the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. Now that's
what I'm hoping is going to happen right now. That God Almighty
will fulfill this promise in your heart and in my heart. I
will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace Spirit of grace, for by grace
are you saved through faith and of supplication. See, if God
gives you the spirit of grace, then you're going to be crying
as a mercy beggar for him to supply you with what you need.
How do I know I've been given the spirit of grace? Because
I'm crying out for mercy. That's how I know. I believe
the gospel. I'm crying out for the Lord to
save me. and they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced." Who pierced him? Let the world
debate about who killed Jesus all they want. I killed Jesus. I'm guilty. And if I was the only one that he intended to save, everything
he did would have been necessary to save me. I will pour out on the house
of David, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplication. They shall look upon me whom
they have pierced. And they shall mourn for me, as one who mourneth for his only
son. And they shall be in bitterness
for me, as one who is in bitterness for his firstborn." They're going
to know what he did. He did because they were sinners
and it was the only way, it was the only way that God Almighty
could maintain His justice. Jesus the Nazarite, a man approved
of God and ordained of God before the foundation of the world,
you have taken and with wicked hands you have crucified Him. His death, read the rest of the
sermon. We'll deal with it in time. But
the rest of the sermon's all about the resurrection. It's
all about the resurrection. His death wasn't the end. Oh,
he cried, it is finished. And he was put into a tomb. And
three days later, by the power of God, he was raised from the
dead because God could not allow His Holy One to see corruption.
He's ascended into glory. He ever lives to make intercession
on behalf of his people. God is satisfied with Christ. That's what the resurrection
is all about. Don't look for any other sign. Don't look for
any other sign. Don't look for feeling. Don't
look for an experience. Look to Christ. wicked and perverse
generation seeketh after a sign no sign will be given unto you
except for the sign of Jonah who spent three days and three
nights in the belly of the whale and was brought forth by the
power of God what a glorious Savior we have
he is the gospel and he is your greatest need and he's my greatest
need Without Him, we've got nothing. With Him, we've got everything. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we're thankful for this gospel message that You put upon the
heart of Peter to preach. We pray, Lord, that You would
give us ears to hear it, cause us to believe on Christ. For
it's in His name we pray. Amen. 258 in the hardback table. Let's
stand together. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord, a wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock where rivers of pleasure I see. He hideth my soul in the
cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of his love and covers me there with his hand. And covers me there with his
hand. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord. He taketh my burden away. He holdeth me up and I shall
not be He giveth me strength as my day. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me
there with His hand. With numberless blessings each
moment He crowns, And filled with His fullness divine. I sing in my rapture, O glory
to God, For such a Redeemer is mine. He hideth my soul in the
cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of his love and covers me there with his hand. And covers me there with his
hand. When clothed in His brightness
transported, I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky. His perfect salvation, His wonderful
love, I'll shout with the millions on high. He hideth my soul in
the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of His love and covers me there with His hand. And covers me there with His
hand. Thank you.