Well, good morning everyone If you would open your Bibles
with me to John chapter 10 as you're turning a Tell you that
I Lord willing will be preaching in Danville Tuesday evening covet
your prayers for that and also you'll note in the bulletin that
there is a church directory that's supposed to be in the vestibule. People are making changes as
necessary. And last Sunday, it disappeared. I know there are
some changes made to it. And I was going to leave it out
one more week. So if you happen to pick that up, maybe thinking
it was the last copy or whatever, if you could bring it back, we'll
get to those changes made. Otherwise, I'll put out a new
one next Sunday, and we'll go through the same process. We'll put somebody out there
to guard it carefully, maybe. I don't know. But I think it
would be good if we all had up-to-date information. Okay. John chapter
10, I'd like to begin reading in verse six. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, verily, verily,
I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came
before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. He shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is in hireling and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is in hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall
hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Therefore does my father love me because I lay down my life
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down on myself. I have power to take it again. Let me start over verse 18. No man taketh it from me, 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. All right, let's stand together
as Shawn leads us in singing our call to worship. Arise my soul, my joyful heart, God. Awake my voice and loud
proclaim His glorious grace abroad. He raised me from the depths
of sin, the gates of gaping hell. and fix my standing more secure
than t'was before I fell. The arms of everlasting love
beneath my soul he placed. And on the rock of ages set my
slippery footsteps fast. Arise my soul, awake my voice,
and tunes of pleasure sing. Loud hallelujahs shall address
my Savior and my King. Okay, if you would, now turn
in your hymnal to song number 282, Hiding in Thee, 282. O safe to the rock that is higher
than I, my soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly. So sinful, so weary, thine mine
would I be. Thou blessed rock of ages, I'm
hiding in thee. Hiding in Thee, Hiding in Thee,
Thou blessed Rock of Ages, I'm hiding in Thee. In the calm of the noontide,
in sorrow's lone hour, in times when temptation casts o'er me
its power, In the tempest of life On its wide heaving sea
Thou blest rock of ages I'm hiding in Thee Hiding in Thee I'm hiding in thee. Thou blessed rock of ages, I'm
hiding in thee. How often the conflict when pressed
by the foe. I have fled to my refuge and
breathed out my woe. How often, when trials like sea
billows roll, have I hidden thee, O thou rock of my soul. Hiding in thee, hiding in thee,
Thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee. Turn, if you will, to Acts chapter
5. Aren't we thankful that the Lord
puts us in that rock and keeps us there? Acts chapter five, we're going
to read verses 17 through 32. Then the high priest rose up
and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees,
and were filled with indignation and laid their hands on the apostles
and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by
night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said,
Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of
this life. And when they heard that, they
entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. But
the high priest came and they that were with him and called
the council together and all the Senate of the children of
Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when
the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned
and told, saying, the prison truly found we shut, with all
safety, and the keeper standing without before the doors, but
when we had opened, we found no man within. Now when the high
priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard
these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom
you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the
people. Then went the captain with the
officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the
people, lest they should be stoned. And when they had brought them,
they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them,
saying, Did not we straightly command you that you should not
teach in his name. And behold, you have filled Jerusalem
with your doctrine and intended to bring this man's blood upon
us. They don't know what they're
rejecting, do they? And Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The
God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged
on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witness
of these things. And so also, and so is also the
Holy Ghost whom God has given them that obey him. May God bless
his word. Let's pray. Our Holy, just, righteous, merciful
Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that name which is the words
of life. We're so thankful, Father, for
the gift that you've given us, that we might see Christ God made man, made sin to put
away our sins, to endure your holy wrath, and to give us a
righteousness that we might approach your throne and call you Abba
Father. To have a father-child relationship
with thee, Lord, is beyond imagination of men. Father, we're so very
thankful. And we pray, Lord, that you would
continue to bless. Lord, leave us not alone this
morning. Give our pastor a word from thee. Feed your sheep. Cause your word
to go forth. And call sinners into repentance. That we might look to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that you would
strengthen and heal our pastor for all those that are going
through difficult trials. Father, we know that these trials
are of thee. We pray, Lord, that you would
accomplish your will, that you would restore health, restore
fitness, but more than anything, that you might make us whole
in Christ. Lord, we pray for our young people. What a gift that you've given
us. And we pray for them every day that you would have mercy
on their souls. Cause them to seek Christ. Reveal yourself to them. That
they might find salvation in our Lord. Father, once again,
we pray that you would leave us not alone in this day. that
you might send your spirit to be among us, apply to your word
to our hearts, cause us to seek the Savior and praise his holy
name. It's in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ and for his sake that we ask all these things.
Amen. Keep your Bibles open there to
Acts chapter 5. I titled the message this morning,
The Words of This Life. In verse 17, Acts chapter 5,
then the high priest rose up and all they that were with him,
which is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with indignation. And you'll notice in this center
margin, that word is envy. They were filled with envy. This
is why they were so upset with the apostles. They were envious
of what, I don't know, of their freedom in Christ, of the way
the Lord's blessing their message. I don't know, but this is why
they were so angry. They were envious. In verse 18,
they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the
common prison. But the angel of the Lord, by
night, opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said,
go stand and speak in the temple to the people, all the words
of this life. Now this is what they were, the
angel commanded the apostles to do, to preach all the words
of this life. You're to go preach and tell
people what this life is. This life, real life, is spiritual
life. It's eternal life. It's life
that's in Christ. that comes from knowing Christ,
who is life, who is life eternal. You're gonna go preach and tell
not just what this life is, but how can a dead sinner have it?
How can a dead sinner be given spiritual life? Where does this
life come from? Now this is what they were commanded
to preach. And I know this, if we're gonna
talk about spiritual life, the glory of it, the mystery, of
how somebody like us can have this life, we've got to start
with how we came into this world. We came into this world dead,
dead in trespasses and sins, and we died a long time ago.
We died in Adam, way back there in the garden. Adam, our representative,
what he sinned, you and I sinned in him. When Adam died spiritually,
you and I died in him. God told Adam, the day you eat
that fruit, dying thou shalt die. You're gonna die instantly
spiritually, and we all died in him. So if we're gonna have
this life, we need somebody to give it to us, don't we? Somebody's
gotta give it to us. We're dead, so we can't do anything
to deserve it. We can't do anything to earn
it. We're dead. So we cannot decide to let Jesus
give us this life. We can't decide to accept this
life. We're spiritually dead. If we're
gonna have anything, somebody else got to give us this life. And this is what the angel told
the apostles to go preach, and they went out and did what they
were commanded to do, verse 21. And when they heard that, they
entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. But
the high priest came, and they that were with him and called
the council together, and all the senate of the children of
Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when
the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned
and told, saying, the prison truly found we shut with all
safety, and the keeper standing without before the doors, but
when we'd opened, we found no man within. And when the high
priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard
these things, They doubted of them where unto that this would
grow. They didn't doubt that what they were hearing was true.
They doubted that where's this thing gonna grow? How far is
it gonna go? Then came one and told them saying, behold, the
men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching
the people. Then went the captain with the
officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the
people lest they should have been stoned And when they brought
them, they set them before the council and the high priest asked
them saying, did not we straightly command you that you should not
teach in this name? And behold, you filled Jerusalem
with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon
us. Now I find this very interesting. I guess this is just the way
my mind works. They sent to the prison to get these fellows that
they put in there last night and they're not there. The door's
closed, the windows is closed, the wall's intact, the guards
never left their post all night. And then now they hear, well,
they're down in the temple teaching and they sent and fetched them.
And they didn't ask him, this is the first thing I would have
asked, how did you get out of that prison? They never asked
that. It looks to me like they're starting
to have some realization, this thing's out of our control. This
thing is stopping this gospel message from being preached.
This thing is stopping the name of Jesus Christ from being spread
everywhere. This is out of our control. It's
out of our control, and later on in the chapter, one of them,
Gamaliel is supposed to be the smartest one of the bunch, apparently,
He said, now quit fighting this, because if it's of God, you can't
fight it. They started, at least some of
them, started to wonder, is this thing of God? Is this message
of God? And they still didn't ask for
mercy. They still didn't ask the disciples or the apostles
when they brought them to us, if this thing is of God, tell
me about this message. Preach this message to me. They
didn't do that. You know why? because they're dead. That's
the way all of us are born into this world. They're dead. And you remember back when our
Lord was crucified, what did that mob cry? Let his blood be
on us and our children. Well, now they're starting to
get afraid. That's what's going to happen.
The judgment is going to be upon us for this. And they still didn't
beg for mercy. They still didn't ask God for
mercy. They still didn't ask the apostles, tell us about this
life. Tell us how we can have mercy
with God. Now we don't know specifically
what it is the apostles were teaching when they were there
in the temple that morning. Although I'm confident they were
teaching the words of this life. Aren't you? Cause that's what
the angel just commanded them. So they went and taught that,
all the words of this life. But we don't have any specifics
about what it was that they were teaching there in the temple
that day. But we do have the message that
they preached to these religious rulers when they were told, stop
preaching this message. We told you to stop preaching
this. Stop it and stop it now. And
their answer is this message that Peter preached. And the
things contained in this message must be the words of this life
because this is just what Peter was commanded to preach. And
so the first thing I see about this life, this life comes through
the obedience of faith. Verse 29, Peter and the other
apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than
man. Now that's certainly true in
every instance and we ought to obey God. rather than men. We
ought not obey man's ideas of religion and their ceremony and
all the things that, no, we're to obey God. In this matter of
worship and seeking God, God's gave us a whole book to tell
us about salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to obey him,
we're to obey his word, to obey God. I know that that's part
of what Peter's saying, But also we know this, now every believer
ought to be the best citizen on the block. We ought to obey
our rulers. That's what scripture teaches
us. They're God's ministers for good. God's given us these people. They more than likely are unbelievers,
but God's given us these people and he's given them the responsibility
of ruling this world and taking care of the junk of this world
so you and I don't have to. And I'm very happy leaving it
to them. I mean, the worst thing I can
think of is trying to govern a bunch of rebels. I mean, just,
you know, let somebody else do that, whoever it is God's appointed
to do that, and we're to obey them. Unless they do what these
men did here, tell us what to preach or what we can't preach
or how to say, you know, then we're going to obey God. And
that's primarily what Peter's talking about here. But in a
picture, this is also how this life is given. It's through the
obedience of faith. In verse 32, Peter says, we're
witnesses of these things, and also the Holy Ghost whom God
hath given to them that obey him. Now, what is Peter talking
about here, those that obey him? Well, look at 1 John chapter
three. The commandment of the gospel.
is to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the commandment of the gospel. The commandment of the gospel
is not the 10 commandments. It's not all the law. The commandment
of God is to believe on his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 John
3 verse 23. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another, as he gave us commandment. Now, anybody
that has any cursory understanding of the English language knows
what that verse means. This is his commandment, that
we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 24, he says,
and he that keepeth his commandments, he that believes on Christ, dwells
in him, and he in him, and hereby we know that he abideth in us
by the Spirit, which he hath given us. We're able to believe
on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the spirit that God
has given us that dwells in each of his people. Now this is God's
commandment. It's not optional. This is not
an optional alternative way to eternal life. It's the only way
to eternal life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Non-negotiable, but it's a blessed
commandment. Look back in the book of John,
there's John chapter three. There are so many scriptures
that I could give on this thing about what a blessed commandment
this is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, because whoever
believes on him has this life. John three, verse 14. And as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the son of man be lifted up. that whosoever, whoever it is
that believes on him should not perish, but have eternal life. If you believe on Christ, you
have eternal life. Verse 36, he that believeth on the son
hath everlasting life, has it right now, and he that believeth
not the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth
on him. Now there it is, this is non-negotiable. Life, eternal
life, this life comes by believing the Lord Jesus Christ. Whoever
believes on Him has this life. And whoever doesn't, the wrath
of God abides on them. Look over a couple pages at John
6. Verse 40. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone would seeeth the Son and believeth
on Him. may have everlasting life, and
I'll raise him up at the last day. Verse 47, verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. One more scripture, John 20.
Like I said, I could have had so many scripture references
to this. I tried to keep them all in one
book so it doesn't take you too long to find them. John chapter
20, verse 30. And many other signs truly did
Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written
in this book, but these are written. This whole book is written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing, you might have life through his name. Now that's plain. Everybody here
understands that. If you believe on the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ, you have eternal life. The gospel. of the Lord Jesus Christ is not
a complicated thing. Eternal life, this life that
Peter and the rest of the apostles have been commanded to preach
is as simple as believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Just believe
on him. Believe on him to do all of the
saving for you. Now, let me go back to where
we started when we started talking about this life. You and I are
born dead in trespasses and sins. So we can't make ourselves believe
on Christ, can we? If there's anybody here who is
lost and knows it, and you want to believe on Christ, and you're
trying to make yourself do it, you're trying to make yourself,
you're trying to force yourself to believe on Christ, it's only
logical, it's just evident. And you're trying to make yourself
believing. If I can, let me save you some
time and heartache. You can't do it. I can tell you
this from experience, the time and heartache wasted trying to
make yourself believe on Christ. You can't because you're dead. But faith is the gift of God
and you can't make yourself believe on Christ. But no, you know what
you can't do? You can ask God to give it to you. You can ask
God to give you this faith because that's where it comes from. And
if God gives you faith in Christ, you don't have to try to make
yourself to believe Christ anymore. You're gonna believe him and
you can't not believe him because you've been given the gift of
faith. That's where this life comes from. It's from believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Second, this life comes through
the substitutionary death of Christ for his people. Verse
30, back in our text, The God of our fathers raised up Jesus
whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Now ever since the day of Pentecost,
Peter has absolutely been pounding this outline and this point on
the sovereignty of God in the death of Christ. The cross and
all the events that led up to it is an act of God. It all happened because it was
the eternal purpose of God for Christ to suffer and die on the
cross for the sins of his people. That's an act of God. Now I know
when that mob came and they were finally allowed to take our Lord,
I know they did just exactly what they wanted to do. I understand
that. Everything that came to their
wicked minds and their wicked, hate-filled hearts, they did
to the Lord Jesus Christ. They did it because they hate
God, they hate His Christ, they hate salvation by grace. I know
they did everything their wicked hearts wanted to do. And most
of these men were serious, serious students of the scripture. I
mean serious. The scribes spent their adult
life transcribing the scriptures. They've read the Old Testament
Scriptures. They studied the Old Testament Scriptures. They
knew the Old Testament Scriptures. When Herod asked, where's Christ
gonna be born? They knew it. He was born in Bethlehem. I mean,
we know that. We know that from Old Testament
Scriptures. But when it came time to crucify the Lord of glory,
it seems like they forgot all that Scripture. But it looks
like they went back through the Old Testament Scriptures and
said, what are we supposed to do next? What are we supposed
to do next? What are we supposed to do next?
Now they didn't do that, but it looks like they did that because
they did everything that God said before that they would do. Now here's a great mystery. You
can't figure this out, but God is sovereign over everything,
over everything. We have a two year old grandson
And he's starting to figure this out. God's in charge. And he's
asking his mommy and daddy about, did God do this? And did God
do this? And Janet warned him, now don't say we got a blue car
because God foreordained for us to have a blue car. He's never
going to be able to understand that. But you know it's true.
It's true. I drive a white car because God
foreordained that I drive a white car. Chip, you went down there
and picked it out with me? We thought this is what we want
to do. Same thing happened at the cross.
God is sovereign over the free will thoughts and actions of
men. They did what they wanted to do because God determined
before for it to be done. Now, if you're sovereign over
the free will thoughts and actions of other people, you're sovereign. That is the ultimate display
of sovereignty. And that's what Peter's telling
them here. In this matter of this life, It's up to God whether
you have it or not. It's up to God whether he gives
it to you or not. And if he does, it's gonna come
through the sacrifice of his son. Peter told them, you put
the Lord of glory to death because that's how God determined he's
gonna give life to his people. Christ is gonna die the death
that his people deserve as their substitute. So they can be given
the life that he deserves. This life. Salvation does not
come by man's obedience to the law. It doesn't come by observing
all the right ceremonies and forms of religion. It doesn't
come from the animal sacrifices that they offered there in the
temple. This life can only come through the substitutionary death
of Christ. When Christ was made sin, sin
was fully punished in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our
substitute received everything that our sin deserves. The punishment
of it, the horror of it, the father abandoned him over it.
He died because that's what our sin deserves. And in his death,
justice is satisfied. God's justice says that's enough. The price has been paid. And
because of the death of Christ for his people as their substitute,
It is right for the father to show mercy to his people and
not condemn them. It's right, it's right. See,
the cross was God's eternal purpose. Peter was careful to tell them
that. The God of our fathers did this. The God that appeared
to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob, by faith, they saw this. Abraham
saw my day and was glad. Abraham was so glad to see how
Christ is gonna put away the sin of his people and make God
just when he justifies a sinner like Abraham or sinners like
you and me. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the successful Savior. Now he died for God's elect and
only for God's elect and every last one of them is completely
and utterly saved from their sin. They're saved from God's
wrath against their sin because our substitute suffered it on
Calvary's tree. They're saved from death, from
eternal death because Christ, our savior, our substitute, suffered
and died in our place. We're saved from ourselves. We're
saved from our own sin nature because God's going to give a
new nature, a nature that is holy, that is righteous, that
will never not believe Christ. It is utterly impossible for
anyone for whom Christ died to perish. Utterly impossible. And the proof of it is his resurrection. Peter said, you boys killed him,
but the father raised him from the dead. He raised him from
the dead because his death justified everyone for whom he died. Put
their sin away so that they have no sin. Now this life, eternal
life, salvation, whatever you want to call it, can only come
from a crucified, risen, exalted savior. It comes by his death. This one who suffered and died
was raised from the dead. Raised from the dead because
the sin that was laid on him was gone and exalted back to
the right hand of his father because he did everything that
the father sent him to do. This is who we're preaching.
Now you can trust him. You can trust him. The father
has already accepted him. and you'll be accepted in Him.
Now you trust Him too. You trust Him too. And like I
said, I know you can't make yourself believe Christ, but you sure
can't ask God to give you the faith to believe Him. Ask God
to give you the faith to believe on this Christ who died as a
substitute for His people, because that's where this life comes
from. Christ died that His people might live. Now third, this life
comes from the Prince and the Savior. Verse 31, Peter says,
him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and
a savior for to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness
of sins. Now, so much of preaching is
simply to declare who the Lord Jesus Christ is, who he is. And that's what Peter does here.
He's a prince and he's a savior. That word prince means the captain.
It means the leader. And it comes from the word which
means the beginning. Christ is the beginning of the
gospel. It all flows from him. Christ
is the beginning of this life. It all comes from him. I looked
up the places where this word prince is used. Let me read you
a couple of them. Acts 3 verse 15, and killed the
prince, same word, the prince, the prince of life, the prince
of life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
prince of life. He's the captain of life. He's
the leader of this life. He's the beginning of it. He
is this life. It all comes from him. In Hebrews
2 verse 10, the writer says, it became him for whom are all
things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory
to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
That word captain is the same word translated prince. in our
text. Christ is the captain of our
salvation. He's the mighty conqueror that
went out and fought this battle all by himself. And he won the
redemption of his people by shedding his blood and suffering and dying
in their place. Eternal life comes from the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a gift from him. It's up
to him whether he gives it or not. It all comes from him. If you know him, you have this
eternal life. This life comes from after his
life of perfect obedience, where he never one time sinned, where
he never did one thing to ever harm anybody. You boys killed
him. You put him to death, an innocent
man. You put him to death and he died
as a substitute for his people. But that was God's will. And
God just used you as a tool to accomplish his will. That's all
it is. You killed the prince of life. And then Peter says
he's the savior. And that word means deliverer. Isn't that what Christ our savior,
he's the deliverer. He delivered us from the prison
of our sin. He delivered us from the condemnation
of our sin. He delivers His people from the
power of sin. And as I've told you so many
times, the power of sin, being delivered from the power of sin,
that does not mean that you're not gonna sin. It doesn't mean
you're gonna sin less than you used to before you knew the Lord.
Matter of fact, once the Lord saves you, Once you're born again,
once you have that new man in you, you're gonna think you're
sinning more than you ever did before. It's not that you're
not gonna sin anymore. Every time we're tempted to sin,
we sin. I mean, we may as well just admit
it. Every time we're tempted to sin, we sin. Being delivered
from the power of sin means this. You're born dead in trespasses
and sins, and you can't believe Christ. Try as you might, you
cannot believe him. You can't see him because you're
blind. You can't hear him because you're
deaf. You can't believe him. Being delivered from the power
of that sin nature, it happens when you're born again. Now there's
a new man, and that new man believes Christ. That old man and that
new man are gonna war against each other as long as they're
both alive. They're gonna war against each other. The old man
is gonna be constantly trying to get the new man to trust in
the flesh. In some form or fashion, he's
gonna try to get him to trust in the flesh, and the new man
won't do it. He'll only trust Christ. That's
being delivered from the power of sin, from the power of our
sin nature. That's our deliverer. I'll look
this word up too. References. Ephesians 5 verse
23. For the husband is the head of
the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. And he's
the savior. Same word that Peter used. He's
the savior of the body. Christ is the head of the body,
head of the church. He's the savior of it. He saved
the bride that the father gave him to save and made her holy
and spotless and harmless. That's our savior. 1 Timothy
1 verse 1, Paul writing to young Timothy says, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God, our Savior, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, which is our hope. As I've told you so many times,
that word hope is expectation. A sinner has an expectation of
eternal life if Christ is your Savior. Christ is your deliverer,
you have every right to expect this eternal life because Christ
delivered you from death. If Christ is your savior, you
have, I mean, I know it sounds like prideful, but it's not.
If Christ is your savior, you have every right to have an expectation
of not being condemned and being taken to glory with Christ and
be made just like him. because Christ is your deliverer.
He's delivered you from condemnation. He's delivered you from the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. If you trust
Christ, you can expect to receive every promise of this book that
God has for his people. You can expect it. Then 2 Timothy
1 verse 10, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our savior,
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. You know how we have this life?
It's by seeing Christ. By seeing Christ preached, by
somebody telling us who he is. He's the savior. He's the deliverer. He's the prince. He's the ruler
of everything. Salvation is up to him. Mercy
is up to him. All sin is against God. Isn't
that right? Even our sin against each other
is still sin against God. Well, the only one who has the
right to forgive it and show us mercy is God. The one who
has the right to show mercy and to deliver is this prince and
savior. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. Now I tell you, you bow to him. You bow to him. He's the prince. I'm the penniless
beggar. I'm the one with the empty hand.
I'm gonna beg him. I'm going to beg Him to have
mercy on me. He's the Savior. He's the one
that I've sinned against. I'm the sinner who sinned against
Him. I'm going to beg Him to forgive my sin and have mercy
upon me. It's just logical, isn't it?
Are you a guilty sinner? Are you? Are you a sinner that
needs somebody else to do all the saving for you? If you are,
I've got good news for you. I can tell you who the prince
and the savior is. Now you come bow to him and beg
him for mercy. With this confidence, what's
your right to come and beg God for mercy? He commanded you to. What's your right to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ to do all the saving for you? God commanded
you to believe him. Now you come beg him for mercy.
I promise you this. You will not be the first sinner
that God's ever cast away, begging for mercy. He'll show you mercy
because he's the one that brought you to his feet, begging for
mercy. But this thing of a savior and a prince is very important.
Christ must be both. If you would be saved from your
sin, Christ must be your prince. He must first be your king. He
must first be your ruler, then he'll be your savior. And if
your savior is your prince, you're gonna follow him, aren't you?
You're gonna follow him. You're gonna walk in his ways
and your life will be his to use as he will, as he will. If Christ is your prince, if
he's your king, You'll readily say with Isaiah, here am I, send
me. I'm yours to use as you will,
because you're my prince. You're my deliverer and my prince. That's who gives this life. And fourthly, this life is a
gift. It's a gift of God. Verse 31
in our text says, him hath God exalted with his right hand to
be a prince and a savior for to give, repentance to Israel
and to give the forgiveness of sins. Now here's another non-negotiable. You cannot have eternal life
until you repent. And repent doesn't mean be sorry
for your sin, because who can ever be sorry enough for our
sin? We don't even know all of our sin. We can't be sorry enough
for our sin. Repentance is a turning. It's a turning away from what
you used to trust in Turning to trust Christ. That's what
repentance is. No one will be saved until they repent. Non-negotiable. But you and I cannot repent.
We can't. A dead man cannot turn over in
his casket. I've never seen one do it and
never will. A dead man can't do anything.
If we would repent, God the Holy Spirit has to give us the gift
of repentance. For to give, not because we decided
to do it, but to be given. And this repentance, it's a radical
thing. It's radical. It's not just part
way. It's not straddling the fence.
It's a 180 degree turn away from what you used to trust in. It's
radical. You love what you once hated
and you hate what you once loved. It's radical. And you can only
Repent if you've been given the gift of repentance. See, you
don't repent and then be saved. You don't repent and then get
this life. God gives you life and then you repent. Repentance
is an evidence. God's already given you life.
It's not a condition to get this life. Repentance is, is the evidence
God's given you this gift. Now, do you trust Christ? I mean,
honestly, can you think back to something that you used to
trust in? I mean, you staked your soul
on it, whatever it is. And then you heard Christ preached.
And now you wouldn't go back to that pigsty, that manure,
what you used to believe in for anything. Now you believe Christ
and you won't go back. If you can honestly say that,
you've been given this life. That repentance is an evidence
God's given you life. And you can't have life until
your sin is forgiven. And this word forgiveness means
the remission of the penalty of sin. The sin of God's elect
is forgiven because Christ paid the penalty. He suffered, he
died, he shed his blood to put away the sin of his people so
they're free. They're free from the bondage
of sin. They're free from the penalty
of sin. This word also means the pardon of sins, letting them
go as if they'd never been committed. Now that's the Strong's definition
of that. And I hate this phrase, as if. God forgives the sin of his people,
not because it's as if their sin's gone. God forgives the
sin of his people because the blood of Christ made the sin
of his people to not exist anymore. Now the forgiveness of sins is
an act of pure mercy, not because we did anything to deserve it.
It's pure mercy. And here's how I know that the
only way God can forgive my sin is if he slaughtered his son
as my substitute. Can you think of anybody you'd
slaughter one of your children for so they could live? I can't. I mean, I love y'all, but I'm
sorry. I can't. God slaughtered his son so that
his people would have their sin forgiven as pure mercy, pure
mercy. And the only way we can be given
that pure mercy is if God's pleased to give it to us, even though
we don't deserve it. that my advice to you and to me is beg
God to be merciful to us for Christ's sake. Not because I'm
sorry and I won't do it again. Not because I'll do better in
the future. Not because I'll start having better habits. Have
mercy on me for Christ's sake because his blood washed my sin
away. And then here's the last thing
quickly. Every believer can bear witness of this life. Verse 32
says, and we're his witnesses of these things. And so is also
the Holy Ghost, whom God has given to them that obey him.
Now, if God has given you this life, you bear witness of it. You bear witness of it. Not because
God's made you a preacher. Well, not because God's made
you a preacher. and maybe you can be glad of
that. You don't have the burden of
that. But every believer is a witness
of this life. I was dead and now I have life. I used to not be able to believe
on Christ, now I can't quit believing him. I used to not see him, now
I see him everywhere because God gave me this life. I don't
know everything there is to know about God, but I do know this.
I know how God saved sinners. I know how he saved me, that
I was dead, and he gave me this life. And I'm able to tell you
about it because the Holy Ghost is in me. He showed me the Lord
Jesus Christ. He revealed Christ to me. He
shows me the things of Christ. And I might not be the most eloquent
speaker ever was, but I can tell you this. I was dead and Christ
gave me life. He earned it for me and gave
it to me even though I didn't deserve it. That's a witness
of this life, isn't it? Is that something you can bear
witness to? If it is, God's already given you this life and we're
thankful, aren't we? All right, let's bow together. Our Father, we're thankful to,
by your mercy and grace by the power of your spirit to be able
to look into your word and one more time this morning, see the
glory of Christ our savior. And father, we thank you. There
are not words that can begin to express our thanksgiving and
our awe and our wonder that someone as glorious as your son would
suffer so much would humble himself so deeply, would suffer untold
agony at your hand to save sinful men and women like we are. Father,
we're thankful. We're thankful that we were dead
and now we have life in Christ. Father, I pray that you would
bless this message to the hearts of each one of us here. Father,
give us this faith. in the Lord Jesus Christ, cause
us to turn to Christ and believe him. Father, be merciful to us. Forgive our sin for Christ's
sake, because of his bloody sacrifice as our substitute. Father, see
us and hear us only in our Lord Jesus Christ. It's for his sake,
his namesake, his glory we pray. Amen. All right. Shawn, come
lead us in a closing hymn, if you would. If you would, turn in your hymnals
to song number 127. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Stand as we sing. Man of sorrows, what a name for
the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood, Sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
Spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement Can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior! Lifted up was He to die, It is
finished was his cry. Now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah! What a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song we'll sing,
Hallelujah! What a Savior!