I've entitled the message for
this morning, The First Resurrection Sermon. It's in Acts chapter two, The
First Resurrection Sermon. Martin Luther said, I preach
the gospel as if Jesus Christ died yesterday. rose today and
is coming again tomorrow and I pray that's what takes place
this morning that we hear the message of the gospel of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ and when the day of Pentecost
was fully come. Acts chapter two, verse one. The word Pentecost means the
50th day. It was one of the three Jewish
feasts. All of the Israelites were commanded
to observe. It was the 50th day after Passover. Passover, 50 days later, the
Feast of Pentecost. And in this feast, you celebrated
what came out of the ground. You celebrated food. that came from the ground that
sprung from the ground. And there's a lot of significance
to that. I want to read a verse of scripture from John chapter
12, verse 23. And Jesus answered them, the
hour has come that the son of man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, accept a corn of wheat, fall into the
ground and die. It abideth alone, but if it die,
it bringeth forth much fruit. The Lord's talking about his
death. Pentecost is actually the celebration
of the resurrection, what comes from the ground. Now, 50 days before this, you'll
notice when the day of Pentecost had fully come, 50 days before
this on the Passover day, Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross. The son of God lived 33 absolutely
perfect years. He never sinned. And on the Passover day, he was
crucified, violently thrown down on a cross driving the nails
in his hands and feet. And he died on that cross. They took down his lifeless corpse
and put it in a tomb. But you know, his body didn't
go through the process of decay like mine and yours does because
of what he accomplished in his death. And three days later,
I love to think about this. Three days later, he's lying
there dead in that tomb. Now, I don't understand how the
son of God could die, but he did. He died. The God-man died. There he lays, three days. All
of a sudden, he breathes. His heart pumps. His eyes open. He gets up. He takes off his
grave clothes. And he walks out of that tomb. He was raised from the dead. I love when he says, I am he
that liveth and was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore. Now the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ is a historical fact. He was seen of 500 witnesses
at once. Somebody says, well, I don't
believe that. That's okay. You can also say you don't believe
George Washington was ever the president of the United States.
You never saw it. It's just because you don't believe
it doesn't mean it's not so. The resurrection of Jesus Christ
is an historical fact. I think of Paul's words to Agrippa,
why should it be thought a thing incredible to you that God should
raise him from the dead? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? Acts chapter one, verse one,
the former treatise have I made O Theophilus of all that Jesus
began both to do and teach. What a summary of the book of
Luke. All that Jesus began both to
do and to teach. That is to be the subject of
our preaching. Every time we preach what he
did, what he taught. And to the day when he was taken
up after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandment
under the apostles whom he'd chosen, to whom also he showed
himself alive after his passion, after his death and resurrection,
by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 40 days and speaking
of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Now, think about
this. After the Lord was raised from
the dead, he walked upon this earth for 40 days. What a time that must have been
when he was giving instruction to his disciples as to what they
were to preach, what they were to do. And verse four, and being
assembled together with him, he commanded them that they should
not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the father,
which saith he, you've heard of me for John truly baptized
with water, but you should be baptized with the Holy ghost.
Not many days hence. Don't go anywhere. Wait for this
to take place. Verse six, when they therefore
were come together, they asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou
this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? You know, even at
this point, they're still looking for a political kingdom. And he said unto them, it's not
for you to know the times or the seasons, which the father
put in his own power. I love the way the Lord says,
it's none of your business what I'm doing. But verse eight, you shall receive
power after that the Holy ghost has come upon you. And you shall
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth. And we'd spoken
these things while they beheld. He was taken up and a cloud received
him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven as he went up." Can you imagine that? I would
be too. Just in amazement watching him go into the clouds. Behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, ye
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come
in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven. Then returned
they unto Jerusalem, and from the map called Olivet, which
is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. So it's been 43 days since the Lord was crucified. He was raised three days later. He was with them 40 days. And
he says, you wait, you wait for the promise of God, the Holy
Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now he's not talking
about regeneration. He's not talking about being waiting till
you're born again. He's talking about this supernatural
gift that was gonna come upon the church where everybody would
be able to hear the gospel, no matter what country you were
from. As a matter of fact, in Acts chapter two, he mentioned
17 different countries where the people heard the gospel in
their own language. That's what the gift of tongues
is. It's not some heavenly gibberish. where your spirit is praying
in some unknown tongue, and you don't know what you're saying,
but you're blessed by it. That's not what the gift of tongues
is. The gift of tongues is the ability
to preach the gospel in other languages. Like if I had the
gift of tongues, I could preach the gospel in Japanese, or Chinese,
or Russian, or French, or Spanish, whoever I was around, I'd be
preaching the gospel, and that's what they would hear. That's
for the spread of the gospel at this time. Now look in chapter
two, and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, that's about
seven days after the Lord was taken back up into heaven and
they were waiting, here's what happened. 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. Now, I've heard when a tornado
hits the ground, it sounds like a freight train. Deafening, the
roar, the sound. Maybe some of you have experienced
it if you've ever heard a tornado. that is what happened at this
time as they're waiting. All of a sudden the Holy Spirit
comes down as a rushing mighty wind, verse 3, and there appeared
unto them cloven tongues like as of a fire as they set upon
each of them and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and began
to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. And as you go on reading, 17
different dialects and languages are mentioned, and they all heard
the gospel in their own language. And can you imagine how amazed
they were by this? Verse 12, and they were all amazed
and were in doubt, saying one to another, what meaneth this?
Well, I can tell you what it means. It means you're getting
to hear the gospel in your own language. But what meaneth this? And others
mocking said, these men are full of new wine. They're drunk. That's
the explanation for this. But Peter, standing up with the
11, 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 you suppose, seeing
it's just nine o'clock in the morning. But this is that which
was spoken by the prophet Joel. And he goes on to quote a passage
from the book of Joel. This is what Joel said would
happen. And he quotes Joel by four or
five verses out of the second chapter that ends with verse
21. This is the ending of that passage in Joel. And it shall
come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. I love that verse. What hope? Whosoever. Are you
a whosoever? I'm not asking if you're a believer.
I'm not asking you if you're one of the elect. I'm not asking
you if Jesus Christ died for you. Are you whosoever? I'm in
that group. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. And then he begins this message. And this is the message we're
going to consider. The first resurrection message. Amen of Israel, verse 22. Hear
these words, Jesus of Nazareth, that one,
the one who was born in Nazareth, the one whom you crucified, Jesus
of Nazareth, a man, a man approved of God. I love that. Approved of God
by miracles and wonders and signs. He did only what God can do. God bore witness to him. He created matter. Only God can
do that. He raised the dead. Only God could do that. He was
a man who controlled the weather. Only God can do that. A man approved of God. This man is nobody less than
the God-man. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Verse 23. I doubt that this is
dealt with in the average Easter service this morning. Look where
Peter begins. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. Peter begins where we
ought to always begin. He begins with God. He doesn't
begin with man and man's need and all God's way of blessing
him. He begins with God. This man who was crucified, here's
why he was crucified. He was delivered by the determined
counsel, the preordained purpose of God. Look in Acts chapter
four, across the page, Acts chapter four, verse 27. Well, let's begin in verse 26.
The kings of the earth stood up. Now, this is the prayer of
the early church. These people hadn't been converted
in a few weeks, but look at their understanding. It's because God
gave them this understanding. The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, against
this Christ. For the truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Now the reason he was crucified
is because he is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He was delivered up for this
purpose, God's predetermined counsel and purpose. This all
happened because God willed it. When you were driving the nails
in his hands and his feet, it's because God willed it. Everything
that happened, happened according to God's will. But notice what
else he says. He doesn't say, therefore, you're
off the hook. You just did God's purpose. He doesn't say that
at all, does he? Him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. This doesn't take away from your
responsibility in this. You did this because that's what
you wanted to do. You wanted to nail the Son of God to a cross.
Now understand this. Please hear this. What God has
against me and you, is the fact that we murdered his son. You say, I didn't do it. You
would have. You would have. And this is God's
charge against humanity, against Todd Nobert, against everybody
in this room. You murdered my son. What a charge. Now, this is what
sin is. It's not because you stole something
when you thought you wouldn't get caught. It wasn't because
of some cuss word you said or some bad deed you did. Those
are awful. I'm not in any way excusing those,
but here's the problem. You have been guilty, you have
been guilty of the murder of the Son of God. Now, if somebody
says, no, I'm not, I wasn't around, but the point is you would have.
You would have. If left to yourself, if left
to your own way, you would have. And that's God's charge against
humanity. You've murdered my son. He said,
you with wicked hands, willful, wicked hands, hands dripping
with the blood of my son, you murdered and slain him. Verse 24. whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death,
because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. Now,
you slew him, you nailed him to a tree, but God raised him
from the dead. And listen to this, it was not
possible, it was beyond the realm of possibility for him to stay
dead. Now why is that? Because of what he accomplished
by his death. Jesus Christ died. He really
did. I find that so mystifying that
the Son of God could die in the first place. I can see why I'd
die. Wouldn't be any problem. I can see why you'd die. He who
knew no sin, he who is God, he died. He was raised from the dead because
of the accomplishments of his death. Luke 9 31 speaks of the
death which he should accomplish. They speak of the decease which
he should accomplish. You see, by his death he accomplished
something. Romans 4.25 says he was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. His death
accomplished salvation for everybody that he died for. Now do you understand that? If
Jesus Christ died for you, your salvation has already been
accomplished. Now, don't I have to believe?
Of course you have to believe. But that's not what saves you.
You believe He saved you. That's what you believe. You
believe that He did it all. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that He did it all? You see, His body, actually we're
going to see this in a minute, His body never went through the
process of decay when He died. Why? Because the moment He died,
complete satisfaction. complete salvation. When He said
it is finished and gave up the ghost, all of the elect, their
salvation was accomplished, signed, sealed, and delivered and it
was not possible that death would hold Him. It was not possible
for Him who lives to stay dead. Now, You see, he satisfied all the
claims of God's holy law, and death had no claim on him. The wages of sin is death. Well,
he paid the wages, paid in full, and he was raised from the dead
as a mighty, victorious, conquering king. You're the thief on the
cross. He said, remember me when you
come back as a mighty king in your kingdom. Remember me. He
knew he wouldn't stay dead. He knew he would be raised from
the dead. Now, when you come back as a mighty king, oh, remember
me. And the only reason for death
is sin. He paid the sin debt of the elect, the reason for
death, hence the resurrection. Verse 25 of our text. For David
speaketh concerning him. Now he's gonna quote a passage
from Psalm 16. David speaketh concerning him. Now if you look in Luke chapter
24, this is after the resurrection. It tells us that he opened their
understanding that they might understand the scripture. When's
a man gonna understand the scripture? When God opens your understanding.
And then you understand the scripture. And all of a sudden, Peter and
the rest of the apostles had an understanding of the scripture
that they did not have before. And so when he quotes this Psalm
16, he begins the key to understanding all scriptures. David spake of
him. That's what he's talking about. He was talking about this
event. David spake of him. You see,
the Lord said, you search the scriptures, in them you think
you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. Every one of them, without exception. David speaketh concerning him. And he's quoting Psalm 16, but
let's read the verses, verse 25. This is from Psalm 16 verses
8 through 11. For David speaketh concerning
him. I foresaw the Lord always before
my face and he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Now, these are the words of Christ
to his father. He tells us that David speak of him. This is Christ
speaking. And he says, I foresaw the Lord
always before my face. And I think that word foresaw
is very interesting. When he said that, he couldn't
see him. He was in darkness. He had been
forsaken, but he still foresaw. He knew exactly what was taking
place. Even though he couldn't see him,
he felt nothing but the awful frown of his father. He was forsaken
by God. He felt absolutely alone bearing
the sins of his people. He couldn't see his father's
smile, but he foresaw exactly what was taking place. He said, 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 was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall
rest in hope even when I'm laying there dead. I have the hope that
He's going to raise me from the dead." The Lord knew everything
that was taking place because He's the one who had ordained
it and purposed it. He knew all of this Verse 27,
because thou will not leave my soul in hell, neither will thou
suffer thy holy one to see corruption. He never went through the process
of decay because of what he accomplished by his death. Thou, verse 28,
thou has made me to know the ways of life and shall make me
full of joy with thy countenance. Now this is talking about the
Lord when he's raised from the dead, he's not the man of sorrows
anymore. He's not acquainted with grief
anymore. He's the reigning Lord of Lords
and King of Kings, raised from the dead. Now, Peter says in
verse 29, men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of patriarch
David, that he's both dead and buried and his sepulcher is with
us into this day. His DNA is still in the dirt. That dirt
that was once his body, it's still in the grave. It had moved
a bit. He was not raised from the dead. Verse 30, therefore being a prophet. and knowing that God had 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 the throne.
He's seen this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ.
He knew exactly what he was doing when he wrote this. He knew this
wasn't speaking of him. As a prophet, he was speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ, even at that time, and he knew it.
Now, those Old Testament prophets, when they were inspired to write
what they wrote, They knew what they were writing. David knew
exactly what he was talking about. He knew he was talking about
the future resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. God wouldn't
suffer him to stay dead, but he'd raise him from the dead.
He, verse 31, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of
Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh
did seek corruption. This Jesus, verse 32, the one
you crucified, This Jesus has God raised up
where of we are all witnesses. Remember, they said they were
to be witnesses of the resurrection. Do you know what? Every believer
is a witness of the resurrection. Every believer knows something
of the power of his resurrection and what it accomplished. I'm
talking about somebody I know. I know the Lord. He knows me.
I'm speaking as a witness and I'm not talking about some kind
of, I'm some kind of special witness that not other, every
believer is a witness of the resurrection because the Lord
has revealed himself to you. You believe the gospel. He says,
we're witnesses. We saw him. He walked upon this
earth 40 days and we saw him as witnesses of the resurrection. Therefore, verse 33. being by
the right hand of God exalted. That's where he is right now. You see, when he had by himself,
with no help from me or you, purged our sins, he sat down
at the right hand of God. What's he doing there? Sitting. Not pacing back and forth, worried
and frustrated because his will's not being done. Sitting in absolute
regal authority and splendor as the savior of sinners, as
the God-man, seated at the right hand of God, ruling and reigning.
Where's the Lord? Where he's always been, sitting
on the throne, controlling everything and every event. Therefore, being
by the right hand of God," verse 33, "'exalted, and having received
of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth
this which you now see and hear.'" You hear the gospel in your own
language. I mean, you think about this. When Peter was preaching,
there was a bunch of people that didn't know Hebrew. They were
there in some way for the Passover, that's why they had been there.
And they were there with, from different countries, different
languages. They were all hearing the gospel in their own language.
This is what you're hearing right now. How, I mean, what's the
gift of tongues all about? So you can hear the gospel. That's
it. Please understand this thing
of people speaking some kind of gibberish, that's foolishness. It's dishonoring to God. That's
not what speaking in tongues is. It's this here where you
can hear the gospel in your own language. Verse 34, four. David is not
ascended into the heavens. No, he's still a pile of dirt
as far as his body goes. His DNA is still here in the
grave, wherever it was they bore. He's not ascended into the heavens,
but he saith himself, and he quotes Psalm 110, the Lord said
unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes
thy footstool. You see, they understood the
scriptures all of a sudden. This is speaking of the Lord. He's
the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And David says to his
son, he's the Lord. The Lord said, how is it that
David could call him Lord when he's his son? Because he's the
Lord of Lords and King of Kings. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit
down my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstools. Verse
36, therefore, now here's his conclusion. Therefore, let all
the house of Israel, even the murderers of Jesus Christ, which
is everybody, listen up. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same Jesus,
whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Have you ever heard a preacher
say, won't you make Jesus the Lord of your life? You can't
do that. He is the Lord of your life. Whether you recognize it or not,
you are in His hand. He is the sovereign dictator,
the controller of all things. You are in His hand right now. What do you think of that? Do
you like it? Do you resent it? Well, whatever
you feel, it's the truth. He is the Lord. He's the dictator. He's the absolute sovereign.
And your salvation is not up to you. It's up to him. You have
no control over him. You hear that? You have no control
over Him. He has all control. He's the
Lord. And God made Him that way. You
can't make Him Lord of your life. God made Him Lord. But not only did God make Him
Lord, God made Him Christ. That has to do with His offices
in salvation. Not only is He the Lord, He's
the Savior. He's God's Christ. He's God's anointed prophet. He himself is the Word of God. He's God's priest. If he represents
you, you must be saved because of who he is. Like no earthly
priest, he brings his own blood, not the blood of an animal, but
his own blood he brings into the very presence of God. Here's
why you're going to forgive this person. Here's why you're gonna
save this person because of my blood. He's a king like no other
king. Every other king has borrowed
authority. Really, they don't have any authority.
He has inherent authority because of who he is. God hath made this
same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, verse 37, now, When they heard this, when they
heard, notice the word this is in italics, when they heard,
they actually heard what was being said. They heard the implications
of what was being said. They heard. I hope somebody hears
this morning. I hope somebody hears what the
hearing ears that God gives. When they heard, they were pricked,
they were stabbed in their heart. and said unto Peter and to the
rest of the apostles, Men, brethren, what shall we do? We're in trouble. This one we crucified, we now
know who he is. He's the absolute Lord, and there's
nothing we can do to change what we've done, and we don't know
what to do. I mean, we're in a place We're helpless. We're going to hell. Tell us
what to do. What shall we do? That's the
same thing as the Philippian jailer. Sirs, what must I do
to be saved? He didn't say, what must I do
to save myself? But what must I do to be saved? It's what Paul
said, Lord, what will you have me to do? This is what he's. We don't know the answer. Boy's
a blessing when somebody is there. We don't know. What are we to
do? Peter answers. Repent. And be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. and
you shall receive the gift. Notice the gift, not the Holy
Spirit, but the gift of the Holy Spirit. You will be able to have
this supernatural gift that you've seen to preach the gospel. But
here's the point. What shall we do? Repent. Repent. Now what do you think
of when you think of that word? I know the word we all naturally
think, reform. As a matter of fact, there's
a lot of versions that translate it like that. Reform. Straighten
up. Clean up. Stop living like this. Repent. I need to clean up my
life. The word means change your mind. Everything you think is wrong. Everything you think concerning
God, you think He's like you are, and He's not. He's altogether
other. He is who He says He is in His
Word. Repent! Change your mind about
the dishonoring thoughts you have with regard to God. Quit
sitting in judgment on Him. Quit thinking, well, this is
not fair. If he does this, or if he, how can the, no, repent. Change your mind, whatever God
does is right because of who he is. You repent of anything
that's contrary to what he reveals concerning himself in his word.
Repent, change your mind about yourself. Now, I know that only
God can enable us to do that, but realize you are so bad. that you would kill the son of
God if God took his restraints off of you. That's how bad you
are. Believe that. Repent with regard
to salvation. Don't think salvation is something
you need to do in order to be saved. Repent of that. Look at
salvation as altogether the work of Jesus Christ. What he accomplished
on Calvary's tree. Bow to who God says He is in
His Word. Take your place before Him as
a sinner and renounce all hopes of self-salvation and look to
Christ only. Repent and be baptized, every one of
you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Now,
Two words that go together quite often in the scripture is repentance
and the remission of sins. As a matter of fact, turn back
to Luke chapter 24 when the Lord, this is part of his message to
them after his resurrection. Verse 44, Luke chapter 24, verse
44. And he said unto them, these
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled. which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. And he said unto them, thus it's written and thus
it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead from the
third day." Now look at this, that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem. And you're witnesses of these
things. Now take these two words. Remember he said, be baptized.
repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins. Every lost individual that has
never understood the gospel believes that the forgiveness of sins
is the end of salvation. If I do this, if I stop doing
that, if I believe this, if I stop believing that, If I become this
way, then I'll have the forgiveness of sins. Salvation does not end with the
forgiveness of sins. Salvation begins with the full,
complete, absolute blotting out and forgiveness of sins before
you do anything to get it. Remember when the Lord said to
that man, In the, it was a paralytic, he said, son, be of good cheer.
Thy sins be forgiven thee. You know when my sins were forgiven? Before I was ever born. As a
matter of fact, they were forgiven in the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. They were forgiven when he said, it is finished.
And you find out in believing the gospel, you've been forgiven.
Repentance. A change of mind regarding the
forgiveness of sins. Be baptized. Be baptized. That
means you believe what baptism depicts. That your salvation
is this. When Christ lived, I was in Him
and I lived. When He died, I was in Him. I died. My sins were
forgiven. paid for then when He was raised. I was in Him.
I was raised with Him. That's the whole gospel just
in this thing of baptism. It's not saying your sins are
omitted because you're baptized physically, but what baptism
depicts. What baptism depicts is my salvation
was wholly accomplished by what the Lord Jesus did. That's my
confession. Verse 39, for the promise is
unto you. I love this. Who's the promise
to? You, and your children, and all
that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Who's it for? I love the wideness of this.
It's for you, and your children, and everybody that's way off. And then he puts this limitation
on it. Even as many as the Lord our God shall call. as many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. Verse 40, and with many other
words, did he testify and exhort saying, save yourselves from
this untoward perverse generation. Be saved from this perverse untoward
generation. Then they that gladly received
his word. Are you somebody like that? Do
you gladly receive this? Is this something you rejoice in? The
gospel of his life, death, burial and resurrection and the accomplishments
of it. Oh, this is something to be gladly
received. This is great. Then they that gladly received
his words, were baptized, and the same day they were added
unto them." About 3,000 souls. Who did this adding? The Lord
did. The Lord did. I pray that he adds every one
of us just like he did then. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
gospel of thy son, that You gave Him, that He willingly came,
that He came to die and put away sin
and glorify You and save His people. And when He was raised
from the dead, He put away sin. He glorified You and He did it
for all His people. And Lord, we confess by your
grace that he is all, all in all, all in our salvation. Lord,
bless this message to our understanding, to our hearts, for your glory
and our good. In Christ's name we pray.