Wonderful. Wonderful. Let us worship the holy name
of our great God and King. Oh, my. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Well, that sure ties in with the fellow that was healed at
the Great Call. Beautiful, doesn't it? He was
leaping and praising God. Oh my, after the Lord healed
him. Turn if you would to Acts chapter three. The name of the
message is The Holy and Just One. The Holy and Just One. That's the title. Two of the
titles of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's called The Holy and Just
One. And let us consider that last
week we looked at the healing of the lame man, the man who
was lame from his mother's womb. And he was healed by the power
of God. Peter and John were just instruments
in the hands of the Almighty. Remember Peter said, I give thee in the name of Jesus
Christ, rise up and walk, and what that fellow did, he rose
up and walked, and he didn't just walk, he was leaping and
praising God, wasn't he? Oh my, he was so excited, he
was so excited, my, and then, that miracle, think of this too,
how God purposed and planned all this, that miracle was performed
on that man who was laying from his mother's womb, And now the
door is going to be open for Peter to preach and proclaim
Christ. Isn't that amazing? Because all
them people walking into the temple are now there. And they
said, this is the man. Is this not the man we saw at
the gate? And we're going to see Peter.
He's just going to preach Christ to them. Oh my, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Look at verses
6 to 10. The Jews were watching. They're
watching this man. He's leaping. He's walking. He's praising God. And he's clinging
to the Lord's apostles. And they're filled with wonder
and amazement. Look at verses 6 to 10. Then
Peter said, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, I
give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right
hand. And remember, this man was laying from his mom's womb. He had no strength ever in his
legs. And there's no physical therapy
needed, is there? There's nothing needed like that? My, oh my,
we need physical therapy after something happens to us. Ben
came up to me after service last week and said something had happened
to his foot one time. And it was just like jello when
he got up. And yeah, that's what happens
when you're in a cast or something like that. You need physical
therapy to get that strength up. Well, not with the Lord's
healing. Look at this. Look at this. And he took him
by the right hand, lifted him up. And immediately, his feet and
ankles, bones received strength. And he leaping up, stood. He went up. My dog can jump from
the ground right up. He went, poof, straight up, this
fellow. He went straight up. My. And he's leaping. And walked and entered with them
into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. My,
you ever see somebody leap? We were at Disneyland one time,
and this little fella, he is so excited to get on this ride.
He was doing this dance to get on this ride, and he was coming
off the ground. He's so excited. Man, this guy,
he's walking, and he's leaping as he's walking. Going straight
up, he's jumping up and down. Could you imagine that? You've
never walked before in your life. My, oh my. And look at this, and
all the people saw him walking, excuse me, and praising God.
And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the beautiful
gate of the temple. And they were filled with wonder
and amazement at that which had happened to him. What happened
to this fellow? They're just filled with wonder. Now Peter knew the attention
of these unbelieving Jews was on the healed man and upon him
and John. So under the moving of the Holy Spirit of God and
Peter being the Lord's faithful minister, he sees the opportunity
to immediately take the attention off the healed man and off himself
and John and put it on Christ. That's why we preachers say,
don't look at us. Listen about the one we're preaching. Right? Look to Christ. I'm a
man stand before you saved by the grace and mercy of God. All
I want to do is trumpet Christ to you. I want to just tell you
about Christ and how wonderful he is. And what he's done. And
where he is now. My, he saved his people from
their sins. And so he turns the attention
away from him and John and again drew their attention to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let's read verses 11 to 16. And as the lame man,
which was healed, helped Peter and John, he wouldn't let them
go with him. He's so thankful, he's just holding on to them. All the people ran together under
them, look at that. In the porch that is called Solomon's,
greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered
unto the people, ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on
us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this
man to walk? He's saying, don't look at me.
Don't look at me. I didn't do this. This isn't done by my power.
Look at that. Now watch who he turns him to. The God of Abraham. and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son,
whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate,
when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy
One. Here's the name of the message.
Ye denied the Holy One and the just. That's who Christ is. He's
the Holy One and the just one. and desired a murderer to be
granted unto you and killed the prince of life, that means giver,
the giver of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof
we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in
his name, hath made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him
hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. Excuse
me. Now in verse 12, again, Peter's
quick to tell the folks, a bunch of people come to listen to him
and see this lame man, and he's quick to turn their attention,
beloved, because he knew that it wasn't by the power of John
and himself that made this lame man to walk. He knew it wasn't
by their own power or their own holiness. He knew it was by God.
So what's he doing? He testifies about the great
things God had done for him. Remember what I've always said?
Witnessing is just telling people the great things God had done
for him. People complicate witnessing so much. It's just selling people
the great things God. He saved my soul. God did this. Peter and John say, this is not
done by us. This is by God. God did this. He did this in
the name of Jesus Christ by his power. Remember, who has all
power now? Christ, right? He has all power
and all authority now. All of it. So this happened because
of him. And again, look at how he draws
away the attention from themselves. Look at verse 12 again. When
Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel,
why marvel ye at this? Or why ye look so earnestly on
us? They were looking on him. They were enamored with Peter
and John. They were just men. They're just
sinners saved by grace. And look at how he handles it.
I love this. He just turns the attention from
himself and from the healed man and puts it right on Christ.
Why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on
us, though by our own power or holiness we had made this man
to walk? Now, this would have aroused
the hearer's curiosity to, well, who healed him then? Who healed
him? which was exactly what Peter
wanted them to do. See, he's drawn the attention
away from himself and from the man and now he's going to turn
their attention to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in verse 13. Again,
the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our
fathers, hath glorified his son, whom ye delivered up, and denied
in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him
go. So note, right at the start of
Peter's message, he told these unbelieving Jews that the very
God they profess to believe, The very God that Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob loved and worshiped is the same God who glorified
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by sending him down here to die
for his people. And this is the very one, when
Pilate was determined to let him go, they said, no, crucify
him, crucify him. Also note, Sister Marsha, you
and I were talking about this, note how Peter, this is the beginning
of his sermon, what's he do? He makes a beeline to Christ
right away. Because Christ is the most important
thing. This whole book is about Christ. This is a hymn book,
beloved. We only have Christ to preach. He's the only savior of sinners.
I could tell you, I could stand up and waste your time, and you
wouldn't want to hear it. You'd walk out the door and say,
well, you got to do this, and you got to do that. I don't want
to ever do that, Lord. Well, I'll never do that. Because I
came out of that junk. People telling you what you got
to do. No, look to Christ and look at what He's done. Oh, he died on the cross for
sinners. That's what I am. Are you a sinner? You're either one of two sinners.
You're either a safe sinner or a lost sinner. There's no other
ones. There's no in between. Praise God I'm a safe sinner.
It had nothing to do with what I did and all about what Christ
has done. And so Peter, he makes a beeline
to Christ, beloved. Which is what every preacher
is to do. And God's preachers boldly declare
that Jesus Christ, the very same Jesus, suffered, bled, and died
for the sins of his people. And now he's risen from the dead,
beloved. He's risen from the dead. Where
is he? Where is he right now, beloved?
Where is he? Amen, he's at the right hand
of the Father, isn't he? Seated at the right hand of the
Father, beloved. Oh my, and you know what he's
doing? He's mediating for us. He's the
mediator. He's the only mediator between
God and man. So as our dear sister Lynn said,
bless the Lord all my soul. I have a mediator. I have a savior. I have a redeemer, and his name
is Jesus Christ, our Lord. And I love that. We have more
reasons to worship him, don't we? And to sing his praises. Oh my, he's so good to us, beloved.
He's so good to us. Oh, and he's ruling right now
with absolute power. He's the God man, mediator in
glory. Ruling and reigning with absolute
power. My oh my. So God's preachers
were to direct the attention away from ourselves, because
we're just instruments in the hands of the Lord, and set Christ
before you and say, look to him. This is the one. This is the
holy one. This is the just one. And His
name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God incarnate in the
flesh, who's so full of grace, who's so full of mercy that He
left the splendors of heaven and came down to this sin-cursed
world and lived the perfect life. Do you know He was in perfect
obedience to God every second He was on this earth? He never
had a sin thought in word or deed. Never. He was absolutely,
perfectly holy. And he's living that life for
you and I as believers. He's living a life we never could
live. That's what he's doing. He came
here, he lived the perfect life, he came here to die, right, to
save us from our sins, but his life His life, he's a substitute,
and in his death, he's a substitute. So his life and death are so
intertwined that way. He's fulfilling the law of God
for us, beloved. Every step he takes, he's doing
that for us. That's incredible. No wonder
it's the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. He's
so good, isn't he? He's so good. And he did it willingly. He did
it willingly. He willingly came to die. My,
oh my. And here, Peter, he tells the
unbelieving Jews, they profess to believe in his father. Look at verse 13, though. It
says about Christ, the one who the father sent, whom he had
delivered up. and denied him in the presence
of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. Now during this
time, the Israelites were under Roman rule. In Rome, what they
would do is the various countries they take over, they would establish
a governor in those countries and they would execute Roman
rule over that country. And it was against Roman law
for them to put anyone to death before the convicted person was
examined by the Roman governor. They couldn't just go and kill
someone. They had to actually take him to the Roman governor
for examination. And then the Roman governor would
decide whether he was guilty or not. And these Jews, they
delivered Christ to the governor. His name was Pontius Pilate.
And they demanded that Jesus be put to death. Even though
Pilate was determined to let him go, he said, I don't find
any fault in him. And he didn't even know those
words he spoke. Think of that. He said, I don't
find any fault in him. He didn't even know what he was
really saying. You couldn't find fault in Christ. It was impossible. He's the perfect, sinless, spotless
lamb of God. Pilate didn't know that, though.
And after examining him, Pilate said, I bring him forth to you
that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Oh my. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
he's the holy one of God. You can't find any fault in the
holy one of God. You can't find any fault in the
just one of God. He's perfect. He's sinless. But on that day, see the Jews,
they did something and said something to Pilate that made Pilate very
afraid. That convinced Pilate, okay, go ahead and crucify him. They shouted out with vemin and
hatred, crucify him, crucify him. Then Pilate said, shall
I crucify your king? And they said, we have no king
but Caesar. And Pilate knew if the news of
the uproar got back to Caesar, and Caesar found out that he
had been defended by someone who had declared himself to be
king, that Pilate would be in danger of not only losing his
position, but probably losing his life. Pilate's a true politician, isn't
he? Don't want to lose that power. Don't want to lose that power.
Oh, so he said take him away. Pilate wasn't about to let it
get back to Caesar that he had defended someone who declared
himself to be king. And think upon this as well that
the Jews who bought Christ to Pilate, Pilate himself and the Roman
soldiers And us, we who are the redeemed of the
Lord, we're all guilty. Guilty of murdering God's darling
son. It was my sin that Christ went
to pay for. Even though I wasn't born, still
it was my sin he paid for. Did he pay for your sin? That's why he went to Calvary,
wasn't it? Oh my, there's a song called How Deep the Father's
Love. I just weep when I hear it. And one of it is, it was
my sins that held him there. Till it was accomplished. It is finished. The payment for
our sins. And let us never forget that
everything that happened to Jesus Christ, our Lord, was purposed
by God before time even began. In one of our previous studies,
we looked at Acts 2.24. Let's turn there. Acts 2.24,
just a chapter over. Actually, 2.23 says about Christ, Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken him by wicked
hands, have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, have
enloosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that
he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning
him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on
my right hand, that I should not be moved. But look at that.
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, yet it was my sins that held him there. My, oh, my. When these unbelieving Jews delivered
Jesus Christ to Pontius Pilate, they did exactly what God had
determined, beloved, before they even did it. When Pilate pronounced the death
sentence upon Jesus of Nazareth, they did exactly what God had
determined beforehand, that he would do it. When those Roman soldiers nailed
our Lord and God's darling son to the cross, they were doing
exactly what God had determined beforehand that they would do. One might ask, well, please explain
that to me. Why would God find fault with
them for who resisted his will? And some people say, I don't
understand that. If the word of God declares it,
it's true, whether we understand it or not. Right? A lot of things in this book
I don't understand, but I believe them. And I bow to them, because God's
word is true. The Apostle Paul wrote this to
the church at Rome. He said this. He said, thou wilt
say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath
resisted his will? Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? And think about this, if God
had not purposed and planned that Christ would come into this
world and save us, then no one would have been saved. When Adam fell, we all fell in
him, but God in his sovereign mercy had a people amongst those all who fell in
Adam that he would save. Do you know before there was
ever a sinner, there was a savior? Yeah. He's the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a Savior. Isn't that wonderful? And all
this happened for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He can
make a vessel of honor, and He can make a vessel of dishonor,
right? And He can show the clay, say to Him, why did you make
me this way? Nope. We got no right. We got
no power. My. But I tell you what, every
born-again, blood-washed believer who's washed in the precious
blood of God says, we say, praise God that I'm included in that
number. Oh my, Sister Jill sings that
song, and so Sister Kathy, you sing it too, I think. He included
me. I love that song. Praise God
he included me. Man, you thankful, Brother Zane,
that he included you? Amen, eh? He included us. Isn't that wonderful? I'll tell
you. Saint of God? Marvel at that! He included us. My, it's wonderful. I'll tell you what. They'll make
a Baptist shout. Yeah. Oh my. Now, Peter was a bold
preacher, and he's preaching to the same Jews who were in
that angry mob that cried, crucify him, crucify him. We know because
of the text and what it's saying. It says, you took him. You took him and slayed him.
Pilate wanted to let him go. He was determined to let him
go, and he cried, crucify him, crucify him. So they were filled with uncontrollable
hatred toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And that comes natural
to man. That comes natural to man. Peter knew if these men
hated Christ so much that they wanted him dead, they would be
filled with the same hatred towards those who represented Christ.
And yet he boldly preaches Christ. Peter's willing to lay down his
own life if he has to. Just as every believer feels
that way. laid down our life for the glory
of the Lord and for the salvation of His elect. And Peter knew that these men
would never see their need of Christ as their Savior until
God the Holy Spirit worked in their hearts. They were nothing but hopeless,
helpless, hell-deserving sinners, just like we were before the
Lord saved us. We don't deserve mercy, do we?
But God's given it to us. Praise be to God. Praise His
mighty name. My. That'll put a song in your
heart, won't it? Oh, praise God, He included me.
So without fear of man and with genuine, sincere concern for
the salvation of those who were right there before him, Peter
told these unbelieving Jews the truth about themselves. Peter knew that only God can
convict and convince just like every preacher. And these Jews
were sinners with nothing to offer the Lord in exchange for
their souls just like anyone else. See, we're all the same,
we're all made of the same lump, aren't we? We all come from the
same lump of clay. Why do one person think they're
better when they come from the same lump of clay? It's just
pride. It's just pride, that's all it is. My oh my. And he taught them
that the Holy Spirit conviction comes only to those who are born
again. I'll tell you what, beware of preachers who deny the depravity
of man. Beware of preachers who deny
man's totally depraved condition. And beware of any preacher who
promotes workspace salvation. Beware of them, please. Beware
of them. Beware of them. Man, when we
fell in the garden, we fell totally. There was nothing that didn't
fall. We fell totally, beloved. Our
will fell, our nature fell, everything. And our will is attached to our
nature. What drives our will? I'm not denying we all have a
will. We do. But that will is not free. It's connected to the
nature. And if you have a dead nature, all you're going to do
is choose sin. But if you're alive and you're born again,
you have a new nature, now you've got the war, right? Now we're
going to talk like Paul and say, oh wretched man that I am, who
can deliver me from this body of death? Right? My. And where did he find his
victory? In Christ Jesus our Lord, right? He says, I thank
God in Christ. Oh my. My, oh my. That's where our victory is,
beloved, is in Christ. Salvation is either all of works,
turn if you want to Romans chapter 11. Salvation is either all of
works or all of grace. There's no in between, right? And really there's only two religions
in this world. You can sum up all the religious
denominations, all the false religions, and there's only two
religions, grace or works. There really is. One will tell
you something you gotta do, and the other will say it's all done
by Christ. And it stems all the way back to Cain and Abel. Right? Abel offered the proper sacrifice,
a blood sacrifice. And Cain offered the fruit of
his hands. The works of his hands. Goes right back. I'll tell you
what, look at this. Romans 11 verses 5 and 6. Even so, then, at this present
time, there's also a remnant according to the election of
grace. Praise be to God. Isn't that wonderful? There's
always a remnant. In the midst of everything we
see going on now, God's got a remnant, beloved. Isn't that wonderful? Look at this. And if by grace,
then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. So look what he says here. He
says it's all of grace. But if it's of grace, then it's
not of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. So you add
any pinprick of man's works, Paul's telling us here, it's
no longer grace. And he says this, but if we have
works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
So he's telling us so clearly here, the Holy Spirit set before
us so clearly here, that salvation is by grace alone in Christ alone,
right? Grace ceases to be grace the
moment anyone attempts to contribute anything to salvation. It ceases to be grace. Oh my. Now, God's preachers like Peter,
John, and Paul are boldly to tell our hearers that all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. That all the world
is guilty before God. We're quick to tell people that,
because that's the truth. That's what the scriptures declare,
right? I didn't believe that before I was saved. I believed
that God was going to weigh me in a scale of justice. Definitely
my good would outweigh my bad. Boy, was I in for a surprise.
I found out I had no good at all. Well, and I talked to my daughter
sometimes. She said, well, you know, people are good. And I
said, well, they can do good things. But I said, everything
we do is tainted with sin. We're sinners. We're sinners. That's what we are. So therefore,
everything we do, anything we do that's even good, it's got
sin in it. Now, hold on now. But the good
things we do in Christ, we look at this in Sunday school, right?
We don't even know when we did them. Remember the Lord said
that there was a group of people in front of him, and he said,
well, you're going to enter into the
rest. But he said, when you did it unto the least of my brethren,
you did it unto me. They visited him. They gave him
a cup of water in Christ's name. We do good things, we just don't
know we do them. And that's the Holy Spirit working
in us, too. Because the scripture says in Ephesians, it says that
we've been ordained to good works. And those are only done in Christ.
Isn't that amazing? Be kind to your brother and sister.
You're not thinking, you know, we don't look for rewards and
all that. But we want to be kind to our brothers and sisters.
We want to be kind to the unsaved people, too, don't we? Of course. We're not to be kind in here
and then mean-spirited out in the world, never. That would
be diametrically opposed to what we believe, isn't it? My, oh my. There's none righteous
though. There's none that understand.
There's none that seek God. They're all gone out of the way.
They've all become unprofitable. There's none that do it good.
No, not one. Romans 3, 10 and 12. And so look what Peter puts
here before them. In Acts chapter 3, verse 13,
he tells them, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob, the God
of our fathers, hath glorified his son, Jesus, whom ye delivered
up. You delivered him up. You're
guilty of that. and denied him in the presence
of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. He told them that Christ is the
living and true God, that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
sent Christ. He's the long-promised Messiah. He's God of God, very God. He's
just as much God as the Father and the Holy Spirit. The three
are one. And yet here he is. In a role of submission. Fully obedient to the Father
for our sake. Oh, what love. What love. Essentially, Peter said, this
Jesus whom you crucified is God over all. He's God over all.
He's blessed forever. He's the God-man, the only Lord
and Savior, the one whom you crucified. God is now glorified. He's raised him up. Look at verse 14 again, but you
denied the Holy One and the Just One and desire a murderer to
be granted unto you. They denied the Holy One. They
hated him without a cause. Peter Boulder brings forth that
Jesus Christ is perfectly, wholly spotless. He's the only begotten
Son of God. And marvel at this, while he
walked on this earth, he never committed one sin, never. Not
in thought, word, or deed, never. That's hard for us to grasp,
isn't it? And then when he went to the
cross, the scripture says, he offered himself up without spot. Perfect. See, the sacrifice had
to be perfect in order for us to be redeemed, right? The sacrifice had to be perfect
in order for it to atone for our sins, and not just our sins,
but the sins of all the elect of all the ages. Imagine that.
Perfect. Never a thought sin, never a
word sin, never sin and deed. No sin in action, no sin in the
heart. Perfect. Perfect. Everything he did pleased the
father. The father said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. And if you're in him, what does
that mean? That means he's well-pleased
with us, eh, brother? Yeah? Amen, brother. He's well-pleased.
Now, let's let that sink in. If you're a believer, if you're
born again, God is well-pleased with you in Christ. I'll make a sing on it. I'm going
to keep referencing Sister Linda's song, because that'll make us
sing. I'll tell you what. That'll make you sing. Praise his mighty name. My, oh my. Every step he took,
every thought he had, every word he spoke, every deed he performed
from his mother's womb till he died in our room and place on
that cruel cross, he was without sin. And then again, he offered
himself up without spot, without sin as the sacrifice for our
sin. No wonder he's called the Holy
One. No wonder he's called the Just
One. Remember what them demons said?
That man from the gathering, the demoniac, and they said,
we know who thou art, the Holy One of God. And they were trembling. Art thou come to cast us into
the deep? That's the abyss. That's the pit. Before the time? They know their time is short. And he cast them into the swine
instead, didn't he? But they knew he had the power
to send them into the pit, didn't he? They know. They're smarter than
mortal man, aren't they? When it comes to Christ, they
know. They know who he is and they tremble. They fear him. My, that's our savior, beloved.
That's our redeemer. Let us sing of the mighty power
of God. My, that's the one who says,
that's the one who says, I'll never leave you. I'll be with
you. I'm gonna watch over you the whole time of your life,
from the moment of your conception till the day you die, and then
I'm taking you home forever. Oh my, what a Savior, what a
Redeemer is Jesus Christ our Lord. He's the one who's both divine
and human. Divine and human. He's conceived
by the Holy Spirit of God in the womb of a virgin. He's divine
and human. And he's the fountain of holiness
for his people, isn't he? Oh my, Jesus Christ is the holy
one, the just one, who's righteous both in his person and in his
office. His office is mediator. He alone
has wrought a righteousness for his people, which is now imputed
to us. And these two names, the holy
and just one, have regard to the purity of Christ as a man,
and to the innocence of his life, and then in the harmlessness
in his affections. Remember, he said to Peter, Peter
chopped off that fellow's ear, and he said to Peter, put the
sword down. I can call legions of angels.
And when he said that number, that's enough to wipe the whole
world out, beloved. Maybe it was six legions of angels. That's
enough to wipe the whole world out. He must go to the cross. He must
redeem his bride with the shedding of his precious, precious blood,
the holy one, the just one. And think of the
opposition, the opposite of how his enemies were. They cruelly
treated him. They spit on him. They beat him. They mocked him. They denied the Holy One and
the Just One and desired a murderer to be granted unto them. A man
whose name was Barabbas, a robber, a murderer. who was in prison. The law had already condemned
him, beloved. What's the law of God done to
us before we're saved? It condemned us, hadn't it? Oh, and he redeems, he redeemed
us what? Out from under the law. Being made a curse for us. Brabus
was guilty. We were guilty. Oh my. Brabus was was let go
because someone died in his place. We're set free from our sins
in the law and justice of God because Christ died in our place. What a picture of substitution
with Barabbas. Oh my. He was waiting for his day of
execution and it was customary though for a prisoner to be released
on the Passover day, during the Passover feast. which they were
celebrating at that time, but these self-righteous Jews, they
cried. They cried, crucified them. Think
of this. They'd never done anything pleasing to God. You ever think
of that? Before we're saved, we don't
do anything pleasing for God. People say, what are you talking
about? No, we don't. No. Christ said we're unprofitable
servants. Now, after the Lord uses us,
right? But we don't even know when. Oh, my God, so good. And he don't
want our heads to get all puffed up, does he? Because he knows
how we are. Oh, my. My, oh, my. So these Jews, they thought they
were worshiping God. But they'd never done anything
pleasing for God. And they desired a murderer to
be granted to them. Luke says this, that Pilate released unto
them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison,
whom they had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will.
They wanted Christ crucified. They hated him, beloved. They
hated him. My, oh, my. Now, they denied
Christ. They were very devout. They were
very religious people. They thought that God was their
father. They thought they had eternal life because they were
Jews. But listen to what our Lord says
to them in John 8, 43 to 45. He says this, why do you not
understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. You are the father, the devil, and the lust of your
father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar
and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not." See, he told them the truth. God's preachers,
we get up, we tell the truth. We tell the truth about man's
depravity. We tell the truth about Christ, that he's accomplished
the work, it's finished, it's done. that he did it for a sinful
people. And praise his name, he's risen,
and because he's risen, he was raised for our justification,
so now we're justified before God. And we will one day be where
our head is, because we're the body. We're gonna be with him
one day. And the Jews were just a picture
of self-righteous religionists, that's all they were. I was telling
Vicky as I was preparing this message, I was so convicted,
because this is how I used to be. I was so convicted. And I was talking to Norm this
week, and Norm was telling me about a friend of his that he's
a preacher that he's been talking to. And he's a workspace preacher,
and he's been talking to him. And he said, man, I see myself
in him. And there's a fellow across the
road I talk to all the time, extremely self-righteous. You
know who I see in him? My old self. I know there's hope
for him. I keep putting Christ before
him, because the Lord saved me. He can save him if he's pleased
to, right? Oh, my. My, oh, my. So they're just a picture of
false, self-righteous, works-based religionists. That's all they're
a picture of. Many profess Christ in any given
generation and claim that God is their father, and just like
those in our text, they're unregenerate. They're not born again. And they're
under the influence of the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. And
let us remember, we who are born again, we were there. Let us
not look down on them because we were there. Let us have compassion and mercy
with them. That's what God took us out of.
Ephesians 2, dead in trespass and sins. Under the power of
the prince of air. But it says in verse 4, but God
who is rich in mercy. That's the only difference between
us and the world, but God. Only one who made us to differ.
My oh my. They've not yet been delivered
from the power of Satan. They hate his gospel and they
hate his children. Remember what our Lord said to
you? Remember this? And people say,
well, how can you say that? Well, let's listen to what the
Lord says in John 15, 18. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. He didn't say if the world
dislike you or if the world's mean to you. He said, if the
world hates you, you know that it hated me before
it hated you. So just remember that. Scriptures
declare this, now here's the Ephesians 2 portion. This is
why we are to have compassion with those around us and pray
for their salvation, right? Because listen to this, this
was our state before the Lord saved us. Where in times past
you walked according to the course of this world. All the world,
whatever, our flesh did whatever it wanted to do. According to
the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience. among whom we all had our conversations
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others." By nature, we were the children
of wrath. But by God's sovereign decree,
we were his sheep, and we didn't even know it. But you see, you
remember in Galatians when we did that study in the part in
Galatians about the heir? You can't tell the heir apart
from the servant. even though he be Lord of all,
that was our state, in our natural state. We could not tell, a person
could not tell that we were one of God's elect. So, oh beloved,
let us have compassion on those around us. Let us pray for their
salvation. Because we don't know who his
people are. We have no idea. And praise God for delivering,
redeeming grace. through the precious blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verses 15 and 16 of Acts chapter
three now. He tells them this, and killed
the prince of life. That's the giver of life. That's
another title of Christ, the prince of life. Whom God hath
raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. So look at
that, God raised him from the dead. If Christ raised, that
means we're gonna raise too, right? And look at verse 16. In his name, through faith in
his name, hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know,
yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness
in the presence of you all. So it's true that man killed
the prince of life, but it's also true that no man took his
life from him. People say, well, that's a contradiction.
No, it's not. That's not a contradiction. They're
both true. They're both true, beloved. They
took him and they nailed him to that cross. The Roman soldiers
nailed him to that cross, didn't they? And remember, it says that
Pilate delivered Christ to them according to their will. They wanted him crucified. And then our Lord, though, says,
I lay down my life for the sheep. He also said, no man taketh it
from me, speaking of his life, but I lay it down on myself.
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. See, it was according
to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God that they
took him by wicked hands and slayed him. But it's also true
that Christ willingly laid his life down for us, and that no
man could take his life. I'll tell you what, people who
do not love Christ, they jump on that. That's a contradiction. No, it's not. It just shows God's
sovereign, that's all. Shows He's absolutely sovereign
over everything. And that's the one we give our
praise to. That's the one we worship. There's no contradictions
in Scripture, none at all. The Bible's inerrant. It has
no error. It's infallible, it's immutable. And it's unified. The Old Testament
is unified with the New Testament. They're in absolute unity. These
wicked men killed Christ, the Prince of Life. Our sins nailed
them there. But our Lord said that he came
into this world to die. Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Again, Acts 2.23, him being delayed
by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken him by wicked hands, have crucified and slain. Now God's
preachers, we might not be able to explain everything in this
word, and we can't, we can't. Anyone tells you, yes, they're
a liar. They can, they're a liar. There's lots of stuff I'm going,
that ink still, it's dry. Where'd that verse come from?
You ever heard that happen? We were talking about it. Where'd
the verse come from? Well, you hear a preacher preach
something, and you go, ah, I never saw that, Lord. Well, it's amazing. We might not be able to explain
some biblical truth to man's satisfaction, but no man or woman
has the right to deny the truth of the scriptures just because
they don't understand it, because God is the divine father, beloved.
He's the divine potter. And every single individual person
who comes into this world is just clay in his sovereign hands. That's all they are. They're
just clay. That's all they are. Clay in the sovereign potter's
hands. Clay in Christ our maker. And we dare not reply against
our maker. We dare not say, why doest thou
just because we don't understand why our sovereign Lord does things
the way he does. And all of us are finite, sinful
human beings, aren't we? With very limited understanding. We think we're something. But when God starts to reveal
himself to us, I learned long ago I don't know much. But the
little I know, I'm going to tell you about. And as God reveals
more to me in the scripture, through the blessed Holy Spirit
of God, I'm going to tell you about it. It's wonderful. Oh, think of this, too. I want
us to rejoice about this. Any understanding we have, whether
it be things that are not spiritual or things that are spiritual,
All this, Brother Brian, you can fix stuff like crazy. That
all comes from God. That knowledge all comes from
God for you to be able to do that. And then all the spiritual
knowledge you know, it all comes from God, too, as well. It's
amazing. Everything we know, whether it
be physical or things in this world or spiritual, it all comes
from God, beloved. Isn't that amazing? We can't
claim nothing. Say, well, I learned all that.
Only because God gave you understanding. That's all. Give Him the glory. Sing praises to Him for what
He's doing. Oh, my. My, oh, my. Sister Kathy, you're an RN, right? You know more about the human
body and stuff, the things that are going on, than I'll ever
know. But see, God's give you all that
learning for where you work. It's amazing, isn't it incredible?
Think of that and give him the glory, give him the honor, give
him the praise for what he's done for you. My oh my. Look at what the Lord's been
pleased to do. He's been pleased to reveal himself to us in and
through Christ. He's been pleased to save our
souls. It pleased God to save us. My! And in our text, we read
where Peter told these unbelieving Jews. Then again, they're just
a picture of unbelievers. That's all they are. Even though
they had killed the Prince of Life, that him and John were
eyewitnesses of his resurrection. He said, well, you put him to
death. But we saw him. He's risen. He's not still in that grave.
He's risen. We saw him with our own eyes.
We saw him. Oh, he's risen. My, oh my. And after his resurrection, our
Lord, do you know he only came to his saints. He didn't appear
to those who weren't his saints. He only appeared to his saints.
He only appeared to his people. And he showed them, I've risen. I've risen. My oh my. And he only, again, he only revealed
himself to those who were born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. And he didn't appear to any that
were still in spiritual darkness. And the same truth applies now.
The same truth applies now. Those who see him, we see him
through the eye of faith, God-given faith. We're going to see that
faith is the fruit of the Spirit. It's not something we can muster
up. In Sunday school, when we hit faith, it's a fruit of the
spirit. Isn't that amazing? But by God-given faith, we look
to Christ, don't we? We see him through the eye of
faith. And as God commands his people who are still in darkness,
as he commands them to come out of that, right, by his almighty
power, as they're born again, he gives them spiritual sight
too, doesn't he? Isn't that amazing? And he reveals himself to us.
How? Right here, through this word. I get awful weary when people
say, well, God told me. Well, like they're talking to
him on the telephone. You ever hear that? You ever
hear people say that? God told me. Well, God guides
us and leads us, absolutely. But I've never heard an audible
voice, have you? It's a still, small voice, isn't it? It's a
still, small voice. And God leads us and directs
us. He leads his dear sheep along,
doesn't he? Leads us along, right? Oh, my. And I'll tell you where
we're going to hear his voice. In heaven. We're going to see
him face to face. And what a glorious, glorious
day that'll be, eh? So rejoice, beloved. Rejoice,
as God has given all power in heaven and earth to his dear
son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In whom he saves, he
keeps. In whom he keeps, he glorifies.
And isn't it going to be wonderful? One day, we're going to be gathered
with all the saints of God in heaven, and there's only going
to be one object of our worship. Oh, my. His name's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Praise his mighty, mighty name. He's so wonderful.