May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter two, and we'll read verse
36. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter
two, and reading verse 36. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus,
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. This was the concluding statement
in the Apostle Peter's sermon on this wonderful day of Pentecost. And it was indeed an occasion
which was noted down in detail, an occasion for the Church of
God to rejoice in down through the ages, when there was that
wonderful outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the people. And what a wonderful effect it
had. And what wonderful ability and
simplicity the Apostle Peter was given to preach that sermon.
It was, of course, really quite short. It takes about five minutes
to read. And yet we see there was a wonderful
depth in it. And what had occurred that because
of this wonderful occasion, the multitude thought that the people
were drunk. They thought it was impossible.
How could they know each other's language and how could it be
fulfilled those things which were being spoken and therefore
the apostle Peter addressed them and told them that these men
were not drunken as they supposed seeing it was but the third hour
of the day but that this is that which was spoken by the prophet
Joel and he goes on then to recount what the prophet Joel said of
those many years ago. And again, a wonderful fulfillment
of prophecy. And it is surely for us today,
a great strength to our faith to know that the many, many accounts
that we have of prophecy in the Old Testament were fulfilled. And indeed they came to pass. How many times we read in the
Word of God and it came to pass. And as these things came to pass
on this occasion and many other occasions, so may we believe
in our little lives that God's work, God's ordinance for us
comes to pass. Nothing fails. There aren't any
failures with God. It's good to remember that. It's
good to appreciate it. And it's good to praise and glorify
God because of it. We're faders. We're often faders. We're sinners of the earth. We
fail again and again. But we have a God who is a great
God, a God who forgives, a God who's made that wonderful provision
to forgive us of all our sins. And so the apostle Peter speaks
to them of what Joel had said. And then he comes down and says,
ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man
approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,
which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also
know. And obviously it was known. It was not something which was
hidden. It was known what Jesus had done.
Many people tried to deny it, but the facts spoke for themselves
and therefore they could not really deny this great and wonderful
truth. And then the apostle says, him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, God had arranged, agreed this wonderful plan of salvation.
And it is a wonderful plan if you and I ponder it rightly in
the sight of God to think that down onto this earth came the
eternal Son of God. The one who created the heavens
and the earth. Oh my friends, think about it.
People deny it. The fact is it's true. This same
Jesus graciously, gloriously condescended to come onto this
earth as a mortal man in order to redeem that church which his
father had given him. And so here we have this statement
that the Lord, Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, it was known by God what would happen,
how He would be delivered, and yet the Apostle tells the people,
ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. In a physical way of course that
was very true on that occasion. But there were many there who
had agreed that Christ should be crucified. They cried out,
crucify him, crucify him. And so they put their voice and
their hands to this very solemn position. But really, as we read
tonight in this verse, such a statement, does not just belong to those
who are physically on the earth at that time. Because Peter says
this, God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ. Of course, that statement has
an application to the whole Church of God. has an application to
you and to me tonight, because it is through our sins that necessitated
the Lord Jesus Christ being crucified. If there had been no sin in the
world, there would have been no need of a Saviour, there would
have been no need of a crucifixion. But sin came into the world on
that sad day when Adam and Eve listened to the deceit of Satan
and disobeyed the word of God and that sin, that original sin,
passed on to all mankind and we have inherited that sinful
nature and therefore before God We are all guilty. And it was
because of our sins, your sin and my sin, that the Lord Jesus
Christ had to be crucified upon that cross at Calvary. So we come tonight and we're
all guilty. We all stand guilty before a
holy God. And As they said, away with him. They didn't want this man to
reign over them. And until the Holy Spirit works
in our heart, we are the same. We've said away with him, away
with him. We don't want this man to reign
over us. But that should make us very
thankful. and praise God for what we call
beautifully the sovereign grace of God, because we do not deserve
any favor. And yet what a mercy if the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world to save our souls. All of us need to stand side
by side and know this blessing. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save your soul and my soul, to deliver us from
all our sins. As I so often say, there's no
sin in heaven. Every sin, every sin has to be
atoned for. And you and I cannot atone for
our own sins. You and I cannot take away our
own sins. We stand guilty before a holy God. And again, it's a
great blessing. Tonight, if we stand convicted
before a holy God, it's God who convicts. Man may speak Man may
say things, but it's the Spirit of God which convicts. It's the Spirit of God which
convicted those people on the day of Pentecost when they cried
out what they should do to be saved. And my friends, it's the
same powerful Spirit of God that convicts us today. And therefore,
what a mercy. And what an eternal blessing.
if we do know and can recollect the blessed work of the Holy
Spirit in our hearts, which has convicted us of our sin. We stand before God and have
had to cry out to God, guilty. I am a guilty sinner with nothing
in my hand to bring. I have nothing to offer. Now
I'm a sinner, black and lost. And I need the great and glorious
salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what a mercy that will
be if that is so. And I believe really we can understand
it perhaps a little bit like David explains to us when he
wrote the 51st Psalm. And that's a very blessed statement
of conviction. And it's good for us today. And
don't think that the expressions that David was able to write
become old-fashioned. He pleads for mercy. Every sinner
born again pleads for mercy. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness. That's the favour, isn't it?
According to thy lovingkindness. according unto thy multitude
of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Yes, he wanted
them all blotted out, and so will we, and so will you. We
will all need, all our sins, to be blotted out as a thick
cloud. And indeed, remember, no more
forever thrown, cast into the depths of the sea. that we may
know the wonderful, wonderful blessing of being made clean
through the cleansing power of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there's a little phrase
in a chorus. It's very beautiful. Power in
the blood. Because it has cleansing power. That's why it is powerful. What
a mercy today, if the Holy Spirit has directed us, and it will
be, to gain the work of the Holy Spirit in our little lives, in
no lesser way than it was on that wonderful day at Pentecost,
when those Jewish people were so wonderfully convicted of their
sins. It was the work of the Holy Spirit. It was the work of the Holy Spirit
that convicted David when the prophet came to him and told
him, thou art the man. He didn't then turn around and
start making excuses and trying to turn the conversation away
to something else. No, he was condemned and convicted. That's why he says, wash me throughly
for my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin for I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. It's a great blessing, isn't
it? To be brought to a position to confess, to acknowledge our
sins. He tells us, and my sin is ever
before me and our sins are ever before us. until the Lord takes
them away and they're washed away in the fountain of his most
precious sin atoning blood. Well, David goes on and we won't
go through the whole psalm, although it's very beautiful. He says,
purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall
be whiter than snow. And then he says, make me to
hear joy and gladness. And surely that joy and gladness
sent us in the redeeming love of the Saviour, a love so great
that He came into this world to be crucified, to be condemned,
not for His sin, but for our sin. And therefore, surely we
fall under this condemnation when the Apostle Peter says,
no, assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus whom ye have
crucified, both Lord and Christ. It is something assuredly that
the Church of God understand. It's not something theoretical. It's something very precious.
And it's something very real. And it's something that we truly
rejoice in. And then he comes down towards
the end of this 51st Psalm and he says, oh Lord, open thou my
lips and my mouth shall show forth
thy praise. Well, I wonder tonight if that's
our prayer. It's a good prayer, isn't it? You know, the devil shuts our
lips. He doesn't want us to praise
God. He doesn't want us to acknowledge
his work in our souls. And he'll make every excuse.
Remember then what David said, he prayed, oh Lord, open now
my lips and my mouth shall praise forth thy praise. It goes on,
for thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it? Thou delightest
not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou would not
despise." So that's a great mercy when the Holy Spirit comes and
removes the hardness from our heart. removes the rebellion
from our heart and gives us a contrite spirit. And what that really
means is that then we come confessing our sins and we don't then hold
back and pretend we're wonderfully good and, well, we may have made
a little mistake here and there. No, we come guilty before a holy
God. Do good in thy good pleasure,
undesign, build down the walls of Jerusalem. Then shall they
be pleased for the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt
offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then shall they offer bullocks
upon thine altar. Well, that was the testimony
of God's servant David many years ago, and surely it is the testimony
today of the true church of God. It is something which we're thankful
is recorded. And again, it's a good sign if
you and I are thankful the 51st Psalm. Many people would laugh
at it, poo-poo it, but to the true believer they rejoice in
it because we find an echo, they find an echo in their hearts
to what David has been able to testify. And so we have this
wonderful truth and this wonderful statement and he says then, Peter
says, therefore, therefore, it refers to that which he said
in the previous verses in this chapter in that ceremony preached
on that day of Pentecost. Therefore, and it's good if we
are able to read that, we've made a few comments this evening,
but he goes on to say, men and brethren, let me freely speak
unto you of the patriarch David that He is both dead and buried,
and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being
a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn an oath to him, that
of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise
up Christ to sit on his throne." Another wonderful prophecy, which
of course came to pass. Isn't it good that we have these
statements in the word of God to encourage us and to strengthen
us? So he says, he saying this before
spite of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not
left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus
hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Well, the
Apostle Peter was able to come, wasn't he? He was a witness. He'd seen the risen Saviour on
a few occasions. He knew that Christ was risen
from the dead. And therefore, such words are
recorded in the Word of God for our encouragement today, so that
you and I might believe the great and glorious truths of the Gospel. and be very thankful. Yes, Peter
and the disciples, you're witnesses by faith today. We are witnesses. You may say, well, how is that
possible? It's possible because of the
risen power of the Saviour in our hearts, doing that for us,
which we cannot do for ourselves. the glorious Word of God being
an effectual Word in our souls, and setting our feet upon a rock,
the rock Christ Jesus, and establishing us, establishing our goings,
establishing us in the truth of God so that we rejoice in
the glorious work of the Saviour. If you're a born-again sinner,
if you're a forgiven sinner, you'll rejoice. in the work of
Christ, you will rejoice that he came into this world to die
that you and I might live. And we'll stand guilty before
our holy God that it was our sins that caused the Lord Jesus
Christ, the second person of the Trinity, to be crucified
upon that cross at Calvary. Your sin and my sin. Well, surely
that should bring repentance into our soul. That's the gracious
effect of the work of the Spirit. It brings repentance before a
holy God, so that we bow down as a guilty sinner, repenting
of our sins, pleading for forgiveness, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ,
looking to his finished work, praising God for the glorious
crucifixion the wonderful words that the Saviour uttered, it
is finished. The work was complete. The Saviour
did not fail. He fulfilled the work that his
Father gave him to do. And it was all done because of
the sins of his church. And it was all completed so that
his church might one day be with him in glory. Now I firmly believe
this. Praise to God doesn't begin in
heaven. Praise to God from his church,
from his people, begins while we are upon this earth. So it is a very clear evidence
of the life of God in our souls when we desire to praise and
to glorify our Saviour for what he's done for such unworthy sinners. Yes, what a mercy it is to know
that the Lord Jesus raised up Jesus from the dead. You see, no doubt the old devil
thought he conquered. The Lord had died. The Lord had
given up the ghost and was put in the grave. But the devil hadn't
listened to the words of the Saviour. We haven't listened
to that which is spoken, because on the third day, the Lord Jesus
rose from the dead, never to die again, never to die again. And there he is now today in
heaven, interceding for the whole Church of God. Again, it's a
wonder that is beyond our natural understanding. The Lord Jesus
Christ and the Father's throne intercedes for the whole Church
of God's prayers as they ascend up continually, day and night. We're thankful the Saviour never
sleeps. We're thankful he's always awake
and always ready to hear and answer prayer. And therefore,
may we bless God indeed for this great and wonderful truth. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly, there's no doubt about it. There's doubts
about many things in time today, many things. We don't know when
this pandemic is going to peter out, we don't know if it ever
will. Many things we don't know about, but this we do know, that
the Lord Jesus Christ died The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified
on Calvary's cross to atone for our sins. What good news that
is, what glorious news it is. Therefore, that all the house
of Israel, no one's excluded, every true believer forms part
of the house of Israel. And that therefore applies blessedly
to each of us if we are amongst those whom the Lord has loved
with an everlasting love. Again, it doesn't stop, it doesn't
cease. The Lord's loved us, it is forever,
it is through eternity, doesn't matter how bad we are, doesn't
matter how sinful we are, the love of Christ remains constant
and it's sincere And it's true. Come in and praise and bless
our God. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God has made that same Jesus,
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Well, today is the blessed God
The Lord Jesus Christ is our Lord and is our Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is to every believer. He is
both Lord and Christ, and he hasn't changed. He is the same
yesterday and today and forever. He is this same Jesus. What a mercy. It is then to realize
the wonderful truth. Now, when the apostle therefore
came to the end of his sermon, they said, well, what was the
effect on those people? Well, we're told what the effect
was, and it's good if it has an effect upon us. What was the
effect? Now, when they had heard this,
they were pricked in their hearts. and said unto Pisa and to the
rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Not dissimilar is it to that
which we spoke of this morning with the Philippian jailer, as
he faced and standing before God, the question was, what must
I do to be saved? The question here with these
people is, What shall we do? What shall we do? Well, when
the Holy Spirit condemns us, we stand helpless before a holy
God. It's just like standing before
God's judgment seat without anybody else there. We don't see anybody
else. We only see a holy God. And we
stand guilty before that holy God. What shall we do? What shall we do? Peter says,
repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost. Some people seem to have this
verse missing in their Bibles but nonetheless it is the Word
of God and it is the truth of God and what a mercy it is when
God gives us true repentance, what that means is this. We are
really sorry for our sins. We're really sorry that our sins
caused the Lord Jesus Christ to be crucified upon the cross
at Calvary. And we don't look around for
other people to think, well, they're worse than me. Because
under true conviction, We stand like the apostle Paul, the chief
of sinners. We don't look around. We stand
guilty before a holy God. But we do pray, we do seek for
that godly repentance, which is not to be repented of because
it's true and it's real before a holy God. And so Peter says,
repent. And what follows, you see, from
that true repentance, because true repentance only comes after
the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And that means it
comes when the Holy Spirit has given us spiritual life so that
we are amongst those who are born again. The Lord's touched
our hearts and given us a spirit of repentance. And therefore,
the outcome is that we desire to acknowledge whose we are,
whom we serve, and to follow the example of the blessed and
glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who followed his Father's
will. And as we know, as we read the
Word of God and we find that the first thing that Jesus did
really when he was evidenced as the Son of God was to be baptized
and the Father said this is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased and I believe the same blessing comes upon the Church
of God as they're given that living faith and because of love
to the Savior they're willing to follow him in a despised ordinance
and yet and ordinance are brought in by none less than the Savior
himself. And so, says Peter, repent and
be baptized. Every one of you, no exceptions,
no one to stand out and say, well, that doesn't mean me. Well, if you and I can read English,
which I hope most of you and I can, the statement is very
clear, isn't it? Very clear. Repent and be baptised,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, not in your
name, not for your gratification, but for the honour and glory
of the Lord of life and glory who died upon the cross at Calvary
to redeem us from all our sins. What a debt you and I owe, a
debt we shall never be able to repay. but what a privilege to
be found following this same Jesus. Repent and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And I'll tell
you this, we receive the answer of a good conscience. We don't
then suffer from a guilty conscience of being disobedient. Many people
have come to a dying bed and regretted their disobedience
with regard to this great and glorious favour of being baptised
and proving their love to the Lord Jesus Christ. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise
is unto you and to your children and to all that are far off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Well, what a
mercy then tonight, as we look into our hearts and may we all
look into our hearts and find now that God in his great mercy
and love and grace has come to us and called us out of darkness
into the glorious light of the everlasting gospel. Yes, and
to be called as many as the Lord our God shall call. A peculiar people, a chosen people,
an elect people. Why should you and I be among
such a number? nothing in us that can merit
esteem or give my creator delight, nothing good in ourselves but
because of his great and wonderful love. And as the Savior spoke
on when he was on the earth in the 15th of John, it's recorded
in verse 16, ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and
ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that
your fruit should remain. And whatsoever ye shall ask of
the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command
you, that ye love one another." Well, again, a wonderful word
from the Saviour's lips. And oh, may we Bless God tonight
for such great and wonderful truths and be thankful indeed
that on this day of Pentecost these wonderful truths are recorded
for our encouragement and for our direction and most importantly
for the honour and glory of God. I wonder tonight Do we desire,
do we desire to truly honour and glorify our God? This is what we're told. Those
that honour me, I shall honour, and those that despise me shall
be lightly esteemed. So we tonight brought into one
of two categories, those that desire to honour the Lord, or
those that despise him. My friends, we don't want to
be found, do we, on that great day of judgment, being despised
by the Saviour. And hear those terrible words,
depart from me, I never knew you. Well, may God graciously
bless us tonight with that true desire to be a true disciple
and follow the wonderful pattern we have set before us in the
Word of God. that same Jesus, whom you have
crucified, yes we have, both Lord and Christ, is our God and
is our Saviour. Amen.