If you would, open your Bibles
with me to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2. I want you to remember our brother
Eric Floyd is preaching in Wheelersburg this morning. Also, probably
everyone already knows this, our Lord was pleased to call
our sister Sandy Holbrook home this week, quickly and unexpectedly. The visitation will be Wednesday
from 11 to 1. And the funeral will be at one
o'clock at Steen's Funeral Home on Central Avenue. Todd Nybert
and I will be preaching the funeral. So also after the service, if
some of you men would, we'll clean up the baptistry here.
We need to set up tables here and in the vestibule. We'll be
feeding the family, Sandy's family, after the funeral. So if you
could help with that, I'd greatly appreciate that. And then this
morning we're gonna have a baptismal service for our brothers Alec
Carroll and Riley Cook. The Lord giveth and the Lord
taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Not long after I got off the
phone with Riley, I received the news of Sandy's homecoming.
And that's the verse, the scripture that came to my mind, that we'll
miss Sandy greatly, won't we? And thankful that Lord's called
her out of this place. And we're very thankful for these
two brothers who have come and confessed Christ and believe
in baptism. So I look forward to the day of worship. All right,
Acts chapter two, we'll read the first 21 verses. And when the day of Pentecost
was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing
mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as a fire,
and it sat upon each of them. And they're all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit
gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem
Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. And when
this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and were confounded,
because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another,
Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how hear
we every man in our own tongue wherein we were born? Parthenians,
and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia,
and in Judea, and Cappadocia, and Pontus, and Asia, Virgia,
and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene,
and strangers of Rome, Jews, and proselytes, Greeks, Cretes,
and Arabians. We do hear them speak in our
tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed
and were in doubt, saying one to another, what meaneth this? The others, mocking, said, these
men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the
eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, ye men of Judea
and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken
to my words. For these are not drunken, as
ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But
this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall
come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams. And all my servants and all my
handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and
they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven
above, and signs in earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke,
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood
before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it
shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved. If you wanna mark that in a few
moments, Brother Wayne's gonna pick up. You would please turn with me
back to Acts chapter two. We begin reading in verse 22. 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. being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having
loosed 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. Therefore did my
heart rejoice, and my tongue look glad, Moreover, all my flesh
shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou
hast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full
of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulcher is undone. is with us unto this
day. Therefore, being a prophet, and
knowing that God hath sworn with 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, he, seeing this before, spake 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,
wherefore we are all witness. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see
and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they
heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto
Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall
we do? Then Peter said unto them, 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. For the promise
is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many
other words did he testify and exhort, saying, save yourselves
from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto
them about 3,000 souls. And they counted, and they continued
steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine, in fellowship and in
breaking of bread and in prayers. We'll end our reading there. Let's look to our Lord in prayer. Our great God and our Heavenly
Father, we do thank you for bringing us here this morning. Thankful
for the blessing we heard this morning. We pray that you have
each one of us to be good ground-hearers of the word. Cause our roots
to grow deep. Keep us, keep us anchored and
steadfast on Christ. Thankful for his broken body
and shed blood to atone for sin. Father, cause him to be our only
hope. Let us not look to ourselves
and the talents and abilities you've given us. Know that all
things come from him. Be thankful for him. We pray
for Frank in this time and your other servants, Father, that
stand to preach your word. Be with them and help them to
recall the studies they prepared. Let them speak clearly to us.
And as we sit here in this assembly, let us hear the word. Let us
worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let his work be
exalted. Pray for Those that are continuing
to go through difficult times and troubles, like Sandy's family
and others going through difficult times, be with them. Help them
and comfort them. If only you can. Again, let this be our true worship. Christ be exalted. Let us be
blessed by the preaching of your word. These things we ask and
pray in Christ's name. Keep your Bibles. They're open
to Acts chapter 2. I've titled the message this
morning, What Shall We Do? What are we going to do? As I
said in our lesson this morning, this has been a special time
for our congregation. This will be the third Sunday
in a row baptismal service. And it's just very evident to
me that the Lord is speaking through the preaching of his
word in a very special, unusual way right now. And I hope that
gets our attention. It'll make us take particular
care on how we hear the gospel. While on others thou art calling,
the Lord's calling his people and Lord do not pass me by. This
Feast of Pentecost, the important thing on this day was how you
heard. How you heard. The gospel that
you heard. The Feast of Pentecost was a
feast of the harvest. That was what was going on here.
But now when you and I hear of Pentecost, what we think of is
the Holy Spirit giving these gifts of miracles the gift to
speak in tongues to the apostles, they could speak in languages
that they never learned. So the people from many different
nations, they all heard the gospel in their own language. When you
hear Pentecost, that's what you think of it. But now the day
of Pentecost is not, is not the Holy Spirit making a show of
himself. The point of Pentecost is not
The Holy Spirit is not seeing the Holy Spirit. It's not seeing
the gifts of the Holy Spirit that were used that day. The
point of Pentecost is the Christ who was preached. That's the
point. Look over back at John chapter
16. I'll show you this. The point
of Pentecost is the preaching of Christ alone. Salvation in
Christ alone. It's not the Spirit. John 16
verse 12. The Lord says, I have yet many
things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. How be
it when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he'll guide you into
all truth, for he shall not speak of himself. He's not gonna make
a show of himself, he's not gonna speak of himself, but whatsoever
he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things
to come. He shall glorify me. The spirit's
not gonna glorify himself, the spirit shall glorify Christ,
for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. See,
the Holy Spirit doesn't speak of himself. The Holy Spirit doesn't
make himself the point. The Holy Spirit doesn't make
himself the issue. So everybody is just in awe and wonder, you
know, what the Spirit is doing. The Holy Spirit makes Christ
the issue. So that God's people hear Christ.
They hear of salvation in Christ. They hear of grace in Christ.
That's the job of the Holy Spirit. And that's what was going on
at Pentecost. And Peter tells the people who
were there at Pentecost, now they were amazed, like they would
wonder, how is this possible that we're all hearing in our
own language? And Peter tells them that don't
pay attention to the miracle of tongues. You pay attention
to the Christ who's preached. He tells them you pay attention
to what I'm saying, not how I'm saying it, not in the language
that I'm saying it. He said, What's happening here
is exactly what the Lord said would happen through the prophet
Joel. And I'm telling you and me the same thing. Let's pay
particular attention to the Christ who's being preached. Because
like I said, it seems to me there's a lot of evidence that the Lord
is speaking in a particular and powerful way to this congregation
right now. And I don't want us to miss who
is being preached. I don't want us to miss the Savior.
Here's the Christ that we preached, that we preach. As Brother Wayne
was reading this, I thought, well, I'm just flat stealing
an outline from Peter, but I've stolen outlines from worse men
before. This is just, I'm stealing Peter's
outline. Let me give it to you briefly. Number one is this. The Savior,
Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Son of God. He's the long-promised
Messiah, the Savior of sinners. In verse 22, back in Acts 2,
Peter says, ye men of Israel, hear these words. Now you listen
to me. 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 know. Now Jesus was a real man, Jesus
of Nazareth, real man. He was a man sent from God, not
by God, from God. He came out from God because
he is God. Nicodemus knew that even before
he was born again. Nicodemus said, no man can do
these miracles that you're doing except God be with him. And Peter
says that God, the Father, he approved of Jesus of Nazareth. He showed us who Jesus of Nazareth
is, that he's God in human flesh. He did miracles that only God
can do. He did miracles that the Old
Testament prophesied the Messiah would do when he gets here. This
man raised people from the dead. This man healed sicknesses that
had no cure, healed them instantly. This man could speak to the wind
and the waves in a raging storm and instantly make everything
still as glass, smooth as glass. And here's a miracle. Here's
a miracle. He preached himself. He preached
salvation by grace, not by your obedience to the law. He preached
himself as the righteousness of his people and sinners believed
him. Now that's a miracle, isn't it? Now it's no small point of doctrine
that Jesus Christ is God in human flesh. It's vitally important
because the only way Jesus of Nazareth can be the savior of
sinful men and women is if he's God Almighty in human flesh. He's got to be both God and man,
the God man. He has to be God. so he's holy,
so that he's righteous, so that he has a righteousness to give
to his people, but he also has to be a man so he can be the
representative of his sinful people. He has to be God who's
holy. He has to be God, but he also
has to be man with perfect blood to shed. He's got to be a man
so he can suffer and die as the sacrifice for the sin of his
people. And that's who Jesus Christ is. He's the God-man. Now he's not 50% God and 50%
man. He's 100% God and 100% man. Now don't try to figure that
out, that's heavenly arithmetic. He's as much God as if he were
not man, and as much man as if he were not God. I bet Scott
Richardson wished he had nickel for every time somebody quoted
him on that, doesn't he? This is the God-man. And that's
the only way he can be the savior of sinful men and women. All
right, number two, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. He fulfilled
the eternal purpose of God in the redemption of his people.
Verse 23, him being delivered by the determinant counsel and
foreknowledge of God, you have taken him by wicked hands, have
crucified and slain. Jesus Christ, He died on a cross. He died as a sacrifice for sin,
for the sin of God's elect. Just like God purposed from all
of eternity, He's a lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
and in the fullness of time, He was a lamb slain on the cross.
And Peter tells these who are gathered here together, you men,
you took Him, and you crucified Him. That's what you wanted to
do. You did what you wanted to do.
But you know what you did? Peter said, you did exactly what
God purposed for you to do from all of eternity. Now, only God
could be sovereign over the free actions of men. Here's what I
mean by that. Men do exactly what they want
to do, and God uses it to accomplish his eternal will and purpose.
Now, just figure that out, will you? You can't. It's just everything. Here's what we know. Everything
that happens is happening because God ordained for it to happen
from the foundation of the world. And it was always God's purpose
for his son to die on a cross as a sacrifice for sin. He couldn't
be beheaded like the Romans typically do. He couldn't be stoned like
the Jews typically did. He had to die on a cross because
the cross is the curse of sin. The cross represents the curse
of sin. In Deuteronomy 21 verse 23, the
Lord said, he that's hanged on the tree, on a cross, is accursed
of God. Christ died on a cross to show
that he died bearing the curse of the sin of his people. Christ
bore that curse so his people would never be cursed. He wore
that crown of thorns on his head. I mentioned this in the lesson
this morning. When did thorns start growing on the earth? It's
after man's sin. It was the result of man's sin.
represent the curse of sin. Christ died on the curse tree,
wearing that crown of thorns, picturing the curse of the sin
of his people. Now the cross, the reason that
Almighty God does everything, it's the cross. The reason God
does everything. Do you know why God created this
world? It's for the cross. God created the world as a place
for Christ to come, and show God's redemptive glory by suffering
and dying on a cross for the sins of his people. God purposed
the fall of Adam so that there would be sinners for Christ to
come and save. One day, God made a tree grow
somewhere around this region of Jerusalem. God made a tree
to grow so somebody could cut it down and make a cursed cross
for his son to die on. God put oars iron ore in the
ground so some man could find it and mine it out and melt it
down to make nails to be driven through the hands and the feet
of the Savior. That's why God did that. God
gave some Roman soldiers the strength to mock and to beat,
to use a cat o' nine tails upon the back of his son. Almighty
God gave those soldiers life and the strength and the power
to do that. He gave some more soldiers the strength and the
will to nail the hands and the feet of the Savior to the cross
and lift it up and drop it in the hole. He gave another soldier
the will, the power, the ability to take a spear and just to show
his hatefulness, drive that spear through the side of the Savior
or out would come blood and water. John said, I saw it. The double
cure came out of his side. God did all of that so the body
of his son would be pierced for the sin of his people, just like
God determined from eternity to happen. And now God gives us the message
of the cross to preach. The message of the cross is what
happened at the cross. What happened there? What was
God doing there? What did Christ accomplish there?
God gives us the message of the cross so that his people will
be saved. So his people will be called
to him. So his people will find comfort and hope and peace and
rest as they travel through this world below. It's from the preaching
of what Christ accomplished on the cross. You can lay on your deathbed
in complete rest and ease. because of the message of the
cross. God uses that message of the cross to comfort the hearts
of his people. At the time, when you think you
couldn't be comforted at all, he uses the message of the cross
to do it. If you want to see the purpose
of God, people say, what is the purpose of God? Well, I'll tell
you what to do, go to the cross. That's where God's purpose is
being carried, go to the cross. Do you want to see the glory
of God? The glory of God is not making the spirit, making these
men speak in tongues. The glory of God is what happened
at the cross. All of God's attributes are glorified. They're on display at the cross.
You want to see the glory of God, you find out what it is
that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished at the cross. He accomplished
the eternal redemption of his people, just like God purposed
from all of eternity. All right, number three. When Christ died on the cross,
he put away all of the sin of all of his people. He justified
his people forever. Verse 24. Whom God hath raised
up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible
that he should behold another. Now Christ died for sin. Sin demanded his death. The father
made the son sin for his people. He took the sin of his people,
he took it off of them, and put it on his son. And when the son
was made sin, the father slaughtered him for it. Slaughtered him as
a sacrifice for sin. God showed his hatred. He showed
his justice against sin in the way that he slaughtered his son.
His son suffered as no man has ever suffered. And then he died. Because that's what God's justice
demands. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. had to put his son to death because
he was made sin. Men did not put Christ to death. Isn't it something 2,000 years
later, people still are arguing, well, did the Romans put Christ
to death or did the Jews put Christ to death? Neither, the
father did. Now he used men as instruments
to accomplish his will and purpose, but the father put his son to
death. Jesus of Nazareth the son of God this is the Son of
God now remember he's the God man He actually died for sin
He died he gave up the ghost and Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea
went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus Pilate said go
ahead and those two men took a dead body down from the tree
and wrapped them in some sort of linen and spices like they
did. And they went and laid that body in Joseph's tomb. The tomb
Joseph had prepared for himself. They laid a dead body in that
tomb. Christ actually died. But three
days later, the Father raised Him from the dead. Do you know
why? He had to. His justice demanded
that Christ be raised from the dead. See the blood of Christ. paid for all of the sin of all
of God's elect. The Father, if you trust Christ,
the Father put your sin on Christ at Calvary's tree and made Him
guilty of it, and the blood of Christ put it away so that it
does not exist. The Father said, I've cast it
behind my back. Now that's a figurative way to try to make you and me
understand. God's everywhere. God's everywhere. So if He put your sin somewhere,
He can't see it, that means it's gone. Doesn't it? It's gone under
the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ paid the
debt of all the sin of all God's people, washed it away. And where
there is no sin, there can be no death. The sin of God's people
demanded Christ's death. But His blood to put that sin
away demanded He be raised from the dead. Because where there
is no sin, there can't be any death. And when the father raised
his son from the grave, he gave proof to all of creation. The
sacrifice of Christ justified all of his people, made them
without sin. Not just as if they'd never seen,
but made them without sin. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
risen successful savior of sin. and everyone for whom he died
is completely justified. Now, here's the good news of
the cross. If Christ puts your sin away by his sacrifice upon
the tree, the justice of God Almighty demands that you not
be damned, but that you have life. And sooner or later, you
will. Sooner or later, You will, because
Christ puts your sin away for you. All right, here's the fourth
thing. The whole Old Testament was written
to point us to Christ. Verse 25, for David speaketh
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for
he's on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore to my
heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also, my
flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell or in the grave, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one
to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Now, men and brethren, let me
freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. He's both dead
and buried. His body has seen corruption.
He's dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this
day. Therefore, being a prophet, knowing
that God has sworn with 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. He, seeing this before, spake
of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in
hell, not left in the grave. Neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus, that God raised up,
whereof we are all witnesses. Now the Lord, you remember he
was talking to the Pharisees and he said, Moses wrote of me.
If you believe Moses, you wouldn't believe me, because Moses wrote
of me. Peter said, you know what? David did the same thing. David
wrote of Christ. David did not write of himself.
I know these things were David's experience, but David knew he
was not writing of himself. He was writing of his son to
come, the son of David. All the Old Testament prophets
did the same thing. They all wrote of Christ. David, he wrote of Christ being
the successful, ruling, reigning, risen savior before Christ even
came into flesh. Before Christ ever died on the
cross, David wrote of his resurrection. Just like our brother Job. Before
Christ ever came the first time, Job is already looking forward
to the second coming of Christ. These prophets wrote of Christ. David, the sweet psalmist of
Israel. His hope of salvation was this.
That Christ had put his sin away. The sweet psalmist of Israel. Now you get a hold of this. If
you trust Christ right now, you're not more saved. David's not more
saved than you are. Isn't that something? You're
just as saved. You're just as righteous as David,
the sweet psalmist of Israel. David, Savior came through his
loins. You are just as righteous and
just as saved as he is because your hope is the same hope. It's
Christ, the risen Savior. Christ the risen Savior. We preach
the same gospel. We preach the same salvation
that David preached. Isn't that something? Only God
could do that. David lived and he preached Christ
before Christ ever came the first time. We preach Christ after
he came the first time. It's the same gospel, same hope,
same Savior. All right, here's the fifth thing.
Right now, Jesus Christ is ruling at the right hand of God as the
intercessor of his people and the judge of all men. Verse 33. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which ye now see and
hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Now the father raised his son
to sit on the throne at the father's right hand. Christ suffered. He died. He was raised again.
And for 40 days, he walked the earth. Many of the brethren saw
him teaching and preparing them for his ascension back into glory. And then he ascended back to
glory. Can you imagine the homecoming,
that day. Can you say that day, that moment
in time? Even though he never left the
Father, I can't explain all that, I just know that he ascended
up into the clouds from the earth and went back to glory and the
Father said, sit here on my right hand. God make your enemies your
footstool. And there he sits right now,
right this very moment. making intercession for the sins
of his people. He's the only mediator between
God and me. He's the only one who can make
intercession for sinners. He's the only one who can make
intercession because he's the only one got anything to offer.
He's the only one that's got a sacrifice to offer that would
please his father. He's the only one that's got
blood that would please his father. And when Christ makes intercession
for his people, he's always successful. because
he always pleads his sacrifice, his righteousness, his obedience,
his blood, his death, his burial, and his resurrection. If you
trust Christ, I mean, you want some comfort for your heart.
Now you think of this. Right at this very moment, the Savior
sits on the right hand of the Father making intercession for
you. And this is comfort too. He's
not pleading. Well, Father, you know, right
now they're in church. I mean, they're in a church service
and look at them. You should forgive them. You
should be merciful. You should bless them. He never
says, Father, look at them. They're trying their best or
they didn't do this. He never says that. His intercession
is always the scars in his body that bear witness he was sacrificed
for the sin of his people. And the Father always says, that's
enough. Your acceptance with the Father
is never based on how well you're doing. It's always based on Christ. That's a relief, isn't it? And
Christ is the judge. He sits on the Father's right
hand as the judge of all men. The Father's given all judgment
to the hand of the Son. Christ is the standard by which
all men and women will be judged. I hope this is not true, but
there's someone here that wants to come to God by your religious
works, by your morality, by your knowledge of scripture, by your
knowledge of doctrine. The scary thing is God will let
you do it. He surely will. God will meet you on the ground
that you want to approach him on. So you be mighty careful. If you want to meet God on the
ground of mercy and grace and the blood of Christ, God will
meet you there. Oh, he'll meet you there in mercy. He'll meet
you there in life. But if you want to meet God on the grounds
of your works, you just be mighty careful. Because if you would
be accepted, your righteousness, your morality, your obedience,
all those good things, everything about you, all your thoughts,
all your words, all your actions, has to be as perfect as Christ
himself, or you'll be damned. That's why Christ must be the
righteousness of his people. And he sits right now, the Father's
right hand, as the righteousness of his people. We're accepted
in him. All right, that's who the Savior is. That's who the
Lord Jesus Christ is. Now Peter tells us who we are.
He shows us the guilt of our sin. Verse 36. Therefore, let
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made that
same Jesus whom you've crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, I
just bet you, as Peter preached, those people who were there hearing
him that day, I'm just sure of this, they quit thinking about
the miracle of tongues. Because as Peter preached, the
longer he went, the more they realized, I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. They were guilty
of hating and murdering the Son of God without a cause. Now if you want to see the guilt
of our sin, here's where you see it. It's what think ye of
Christ. Our sin is seen most clearly
in this, that we hate God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's
how I know we hate him, we refuse to believe on him. If you're
here this morning, you think, I'm not gonna have that. I'm
not gonna have that. I don't believe that, I'm not
gonna have it. You know why you think that? It's because you
hate Christ. You hate Jesus Christ, and that's
just so. And brethren, we're in a mess.
We're in a mess. We're in a world of hurt, just
like these brethren of old. Some of these men Peter was preaching
to were the very ones who plotted to crucify Christ. They were
the very ones who arranged his mock trial. Some of these ones
in this crowd, they were the very ones willing to lie on.
Remember how they had to go find witnesses who would lie? Some
of these very ones, they were willing to lie on a son of God. Knowing he didn't do it, they
accused him of knowing he, they wanted to lie on him. How would
you feel about somebody knowingly lying on one of your children? Some of these ones here in this
audience spit in the precious face of Jesus Christ. They spit in his face. They beat
him with their fist. They whipped his back with a
cat of nine tails and reveled in it. Some of these ones in this crowd
were the very ones crying, give us Barabbas and crucify Jesus. Some of these could have been
the ones driving the nails in his hands and his feet. Some
of them undoubtedly were the ones walking by his cross and
mocking him as he died. Well, he said he's the son of
God. Let's see if God will have him now. Let's just watch and
see. Will God have him now? If you'll come down from the
cross, we'll believe you. Mocking him as he died. And Peter tells
them, this one that you treated this way is the son of God and
the fathers put him on the throne with all authority over you. Now that's terrifying. God will
not let us get away with despising his only son like that. I don't miss this. Are you listening
to me? You and I are more guilty than
those men were that Peter was preaching to. More guilty, more
vile. We've sinned against greater
life. We've sinned against the completed Word of God. We haven't
believed on Christ and we heard the person of Christ preach when
he heard his finished work. We don't just have the types
and pictures and shadows of the Old Testament. We do. We also
have the fulfillment of them in the New Testament and we still
refuse to believe. Our guilt is worse because we've
sinned against greater life. I'll let that sink in. All right, here's the seventh
thing. Here's a sinner's reaction to hearing the gospel. Verse
37. Now when they heard this, they
were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and to the rest
of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? I told you in the lesson this
morning, we need to hear the gospel as a sinner. The good
news of the gospel is for sinners. And if I hear the gospel as a
sinner, the cry of my heart is gonna be the same cry as these
men who heard Peter preach that day. What am I gonna do? I'm in trouble. What am I gonna
do? I've sinned against God. I'm
guilty. I deserve for God to send me
down. I see my sin. I see my depravity. Everyone else is not the problem.
I used to think everybody else was the problem. Now I know this,
I'm the problem. I'm the sinner. Preacher, what
am I going to do? I'm in trouble. I'm in trouble. Well, Peter tells us what we
can do. Verse 38. Then Peter said unto the Amorites
to 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. 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. And with many other words that
he testifies and exhorts, saying, save yourselves from this untoward
generation. Now these men, they're in trouble.
What are we gonna do? And I love this. Peter didn't
say, well, nothing you can do. You know, if God didn't elect
you, nothing you can do. If God, you know, if Christ didn't
die for you, you know, nothing, nothing. Peter didn't say there's
nothing you can do. Now, it is true. There's nothing we can do to
save ourselves. That's absolutely right. There's
nothing we can do to get God to save us. I can't do something
so that God has to save me. If that were possible, if I could
do something that would make it where God has to save me,
that would make God the debtor to me. Now, Brady, that just
can't be. I mean, that just cannot be. There's nothing we can do to
save ourselves. But that doesn't mean there's
nothing we can do. You know what you can do? You can beg God for
mercy. I've just told you, the blood
of Christ washed all of the sin of all of His people away forever.
Now, you've heard that. Today isn't the first time you
ever heard it. You can beg God to wash you in the blood. Can't
you? You know what you can do? You're
afraid. God's going to strike me down.
That's exactly what I deserve. God's going to strike me down.
God's going to send me to hell. I've been a rebel against Him
for so long. You know what you can do? You can ask God to forgive
your sin and to forgive it for Christ's sake. You can do that. Lord, would you forgive me on
account of Christ's sacrifice? Lord, would you accept me in
Him? You can cry like Peter did. Remember, Peter was walking on
the water. They saw the Lord in that storm
walking on the water. And Peter was the one bold enough
to say, Lord, bid me to walk to you on the water. The Lord
said, come on. Come on. And the man got out of that ship
and started walking on the water. And then he started looking around
at the wind and the waves. He took his eyes off the Savior
and started to sing. And what did Peter say? Lord,
save me. And immediately the scripture
says, the Lord taught him. Put him in the boat. You can
ask God to forgive your sin. You can cry, Lord, save me. It's
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. Tell you what I'd do, I'd make
it my business to be here every time these doors are open to
hear God's word preached. He'll be pleased to say if he's
gonna do it, he's gonna save me, he's gonna do it by the preaching
of the gospel. Believe I'm gonna avail myself to it. How about
you? Peter didn't say there's nothing you can do. He said you
can repent. Now repent, it doesn't mean that,
oh, I'm sorry, and I won't do that again. Because listen, what
sin have you ever done? And you're sorry about it, I
know. I mean, I'm not saying we love our sin, we hate our
sin. I'm sorry I ever did that. But what sin have you ever done
that you never did again. Not one. Not one. Repent doesn't
mean just being sorry. It means a change of mind. You
change your mind about what you trust the salvation of your soul
to. Turn away from what you used to trust. Turn away from that
idol of your imagination. Turn away from trusting in all
your works of righteousness and your goodness and trust Christ
and Christ alone. Now, I know you can't repent
on your own. You cannot make yourself change
your mind. But you know what you can do?
You can ask God to grant you repentance. Lord, I can't repent,
but would you give it to me? Paul said in 2 Timothy 2, verse
25, he said, Timothy, here's how we preach. We preach in meekness,
instructing those that oppose themselves. Those that oppose
themselves are those that refuse to believe on Christ. We preach
them in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves.
If peradventure, God will give them repentance and an acknowledging
of the truth. You can ask God to give you repentance.
And I promise you this, if God gives you a new mind in the new
birth, you're going to change your mind and you're going to
trust Christ. And then Peter says you can be
baptized. Now, Don't you be baptized in
order to be saved. Don't you do that. Baptism does
not save. I love what Brother Henry said,
if you're baptized trying to be saved, trying to get yourself
saved by these waters of baptism, when you get in and out of this
pool, all we're gonna have is a wet center. Baptism doesn't save anybody.
But what baptism represents sure does save folks, doesn't it?
Baptism is a public confession. This is how God saved me. It's
all by Christ. When Christ died, he died for
my sin. And when he died, I died, because I was in him when he
died. When Christ was buried, I was buried in him. God's law
and God's justice are done with me, just like they're done with
Christ, because I was buried in him. And when Christ arose,
because he put my sin away, I arose in him. I arose to new spiritual
life in him. And I know this. I know Christ's
death, His burial, His resurrection saved a multitude that no man
can number. I know that. I delight in that.
That thrills my soul. That glorifies the Savior. But
I'm here to confess Christ did that for me. If I was the only
sinner, Christ came to say He still had to do this. His death,
His burial, His resurrection. And I'm such a vile sinner, that's
the only way I can be saved. It's by God in the flesh. suffering
and dying, and rising again for me. Now here's the last thing. Here's
what a believer's gonna do when we hear the gospel of Christ.
Verse 41. Then they that gladly received
his word were baptized. That same day there were added
unto them about 3,000 souls, and they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of
bread, and in prayers. If you trust this Christ that
Peter's preached this morning, I've robbed his outline, I've
preached it, Peter preached it first. If you trust this Christ,
I'll tell you what to do. You arise and be baptized, confessing
Him. That's the Lord's commandment
to us. All those that believe, be baptized. And His commandments
are not grievous, are they? It's a joy. Isn't it a joy to
be able to confess Christ this way? This is how He saved me. And that's what our brothers,
Alec and Riley, are gonna do here in a few moments. Sean,
you come lead us in a hymn, if you would, and the men will get
to change and ready for baptism. Okay, if you would, turn in your
hymnal to song number 256. 256, and stand as we sing, It Is Well
With My Soul. When peace like a river attendeth
my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever, my Lord,
Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Though Satan should bop it, though
trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control, That
Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed his own
blood for my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious
thought! My sin not in part, but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord,
praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. And Lord, haste the day when
my faith shall be sighed. The clouds be rolled back as
a scroll. The trump shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend, even so it is. ? With my soul ? It is well ? With
my soul ? It is well, it is well with my soul As I do often, I'm gonna quote
Brother Henry. I remember him saying one time,
he said, sometimes our young ladies are our best missionaries.
And I'm mighty glad that Lindy brought Alec our way. He's been
such a blessing to us. I promise you this, he's been
a blessing to this pastor. He's a joy to preach to. Alec told me this week that when
he was a boy, he was baptized. But he said it was the ceremony
without being born again into the new family of God, like we
talked about in the lesson last week. And he said, I've been
born again into that family. And Christ revealed himself to
him a good while ago. He'd been wondering about this
thing of baptism. And after this week, he said,
it just got to the point, this is something I have to do. Then that's when you should be
baptized. I thank God for him and thank God for his mercies
to Allie. Allie Carroll, upon your profession
of faith in Christ our Savior, in obedience to his divine commandment,
I baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father, of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Our brother Riley's been coming
here for a good while, listening very intently to the gospel. It's very easy to preach to people
who listen so intently. He listens on Sermon Audio when
he's away at school. I don't believe he misses a message
on Sermon Audio. And he called me this week, and
he's been, like so many of us do, debating this issue of baptism
for some time. And he said, I'm just sure I
should be baptized. And I told him, we rejoice with
you. I said, how about Sunday? He
said, that would be good. And then he laughed, and he said,
oh, it's such a joy, it's such a relief to say it out loud.
And I told him, I said, you'll probably be like me, and like
others that I know, after you're baptized, you say, I wish I'd
done that a long time ago. But now, Riley, you can't worry
about that. This is the time that the Lord's ordained for
you, and we thank God for you, and we rejoice with you. So Riley
Cook, upon your profession of faith in Christ our Savior, in
obedience to his divine command, I baptize you, my brother, in
the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for this message you've brought us this morning. And we thank
you, Lord, for this testimony that we've witnessed. Sinners owning Christ, His death, His
burial, His resurrection for our salvation. Father, we're
so thankful for these and others recently who've become baptized
Pray, Lord, that you would continue to have your spirit work in the
hearts of your children, that you might bring others. That's
our fervent prayer, Lord. We pray that you would give a
word to our pastor to feed your children, and that you might
apply that word to their hearts, that they might know their need
and run to Christ. We thank you for these, our brothers.
And it's in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that we pray these
things.