Would you turn back to Acts chapter
5? While you're turning there tonight,
I'm going to be preaching from Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3
through 14 on all spiritual blessings. And we're going to observe the
Lord's table together. I'd like to read verse 33 of
Acts chapter 5. When they heard, they were cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. Now this was their response to
this message. They heard what Peter had to
say and they were cut to the heart and were so angry that
they made a murder plot to put him out of business. Now, with
regard to preaching, I fear doing what Paul warned against
when he said, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel, not with wisdom of words. lest the cross of Christ
should be made of none effect. Now, wisdom of words is any attempt
to make the gospel more attractive or less offensive to the natural
man. And I fear doing that. I fear
doing that. And I don't want to do that this
morning. When Peter preached the gospel to these people, the
scripture says they were cut to the heart and took counsel
to slay them. Now, what brought this on? Let's look back in verse 17 of
Acts chapter 5. 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. They were incarcerated for preaching. But verse 19, 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. A miracle was performed so this
could be done. 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 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 where into this would grow, what in the
world has taken place? Verse 25, 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. You
see, the apostles had become popular because they had healed
so many people. And they thought if we take these
men who are healing people through whatever way they're doing it,
they'll stone us. They were afraid, so the captain
and the officers 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? Indeed they had. But what good
did it do? They taught in that name anyway.
And behold, you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine. Would to God that we'd fill Lexington
with our doctrine. You filled Jerusalem with your
doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. And
these are the same people who said, his blood be upon us and
our children. We'll take responsibility for
the death of this man. Now they're not taking responsibility,
are they? They said, you're going to get us in trouble. All of
Jerusalem is going to get on us and you're intending to cause
us to be responsible for all of this. Verse 29, then Peter, And the other apostles answered
and said, and I would have loved to have
heard the way he said this. We ought to obey God rather than
men. We're not concerned about obeying
you and keeping your commandments. That's not even an issue with
us. We ought to obey God rather than men. And then he says in verse 30,
the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged
on a tree. Him, the one you slew and hang
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 witnesses
of these things. And so is also the Holy Ghost
whom God had given to them that obey him. And when they heard,
they were cut to the heart and took counsel. The God of our fathers, the God
of the Old Testament scriptures, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, the God of Jacob, the living God. The God of our fathers
has raised up Jesus. the one whom all this commotion
is about. He raised up Jesus, the very
one whom you slew and nailed him to a tree. Him hath God exalted
with his right hand. Now we must begin our preaching
with the risen Lord. That's where all preaching
must begin with the risen, exalted Lord. Look at Acts chapter two,
look at Peter's preaching. Verse 23, him, the Lord Jesus, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God you have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain whom God hath raised up, having
loose the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it. Look in verse 33 of this same
chapter. Therefore being by the right
hand of God and exalted, And having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which
you now see and hear. For David is not ascended into
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
this same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Look in chapter three. Verse 12. And when Peter saw it, he answered
unto the people, you men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why
look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness
we made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son,
Jesus. whom you delivered up, and denied
him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let
him go. But you denied the Holy One and the just, and desired
a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of
life, whom God raised from the dead. We're witnesses of this. Look in chapter four, verse seven. And when they had set them in
the midst, they asked, by what power, by what name have you
done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy
Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of Israel, and elders of Israel,
if we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent
man, by what means he's made whole, be it known unto you all,
and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand before you whole. This is the
stone which was set at nought of you builders, which has become
the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there's none other name under heaven given among
men, whereby we must be saved." Now, do we see a pattern here?
When the apostles preached the gospel, And they began with the
risen, exalted Christ. That's where we must begin. Notice in our text in verse 31,
him hath God exalted with his right hand. Oh, that's so significant. Him
hath God exalted with his right hand. Now we can't preach him
too high, can we? We cannot preach him too high. Listen to these scriptures regarding
the right hand, the place of power. The Lord said unto my
Lord, sit thou at my right hand. The right hand is the place of
favor. It's the place of power. It's the place of success. It's the place of authority.
He sat down because it's the place of the finished work. That's
who we're preaching when we preach the Lord Jesus Christ, the one
who is highly exalted, who is set down at the right hand of
God, the place of power. I love that hymn. All hail the
power of Jesus name. Let angels prosper. Matthew 26, 64, hereafter you
shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power. Mark 16, 14, he was received
up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, having
finished his work. Acts 2, 33, therefore being by
the right hand of God exalted. I think of Stephen's vision right
before he was stoned. We read in Acts 7.55, I see the
glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Romans 8.34, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that's risen again who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Colossians 3.1, if ye
have been risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Hebrews 1.3 says, when he had
by himself purged our sins. I love that scripture. It doesn't
say he purged our sins. That'd be great if that was all
it said. It said when he by himself purged our sins. And that lets
me know that I didn't have a hand in this. This is what he did
by himself with no creature help. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on
high. Hebrews 8.1 says, now the things
which we have spoken, this is the sum, we have such an high
priest who is sat down on the right hand of the throne of the
majesty in the heaven. Hebrews 12, two, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the same,
and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. I'd
like you to read this one with me. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 11, and every priest, talking about
the Levitical priesthood, the Old Testament priest, standeth. They don't sit, they stand. You know one article of furniture
that was not in the tabernacle? A chair. Why? The work was never finished. Every priest standeth daily,
ministering, offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now, the place of exaltation
and honor, the place of power, the place of the finished work
is preaching Christ sat down at the right hand of the majesty
on high. Now, our text says in verse 31,
him hath God exalted. I love this. This is what God
did. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be a prince and a savior. And this is the way
the apostles preached the gospel. They began with the risen, exalted
Christ And they said, him hath God exalted with his right hand
to be these two things. Number one, a prince. Number two, a savior. Now you can't separate these
two. First, he's a prince. And then he is a savior. We're so thankful for those two
things. Now, in Acts chapter three, verse
15, he is called the prince of life. You know what that means? That means if you're going to
have life before God, he's going to have to give it to you. You're
going to have to come to him for it. He gives it. He doesn't offer it, but he does
give it. And if you're going to have life
before God, he's going to have to give it to you, and you're
going to have to come to him for it. And then he's called
in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10, the same word is translated the
captain, the prince, the captain of our salvation. You know what
that means? That means if you're going to be saved, he's going
to have to save you because salvation is in his hands. And if you want
to be saved, you're going to have to come to him for it. He
is the prince of salvation. Salvation is in his hands. In Hebrews chapter 12, verse
22, this same word prince is translated the author, the author
and the finisher of our faith. You know what that means? If
you're going to have faith, he's going to have to be the author
of it. And he's going to have to give it to you. And you're
going to have to come to him for it or you won't have it.
He's the prince. He's the author. He's the captain. Everything is in his hands. He's the prince. He's the king
of kings and the Lord of lords. He's the despot. He's the potentate. And this speaks of his absolute
sovereign will. Now I'm preaching Christ as he
is. He's the Prince. He's the King. He's the Lord. He has a will. He has the power
to make His will come to pass all the time. And that's exactly
what He does. He's the Lord. And you know, you've never worshipped
Him unless you've worshipped him as the prince, as the captain,
as the author, and you're in his hands and he can do with
you whatever he wants to do. Someone says, well, I don't believe
that. I know you don't. He's in control of that. You see, he has complete sovereign
control over the free, uncoerced thoughts and actions of men.
will not have this man to reign over us. Oh, he is reigning. He is reigning. You don't have
any choice. You know, I like saying that. You don't have any
choice. He does reign, thou has given
him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou has given him. Now there are sheep and there
are goats and the sheep are his sheep and the goats are his goats. And he rules and he reigns bringing
his purpose to pass. He's the prince. Now this is
who he is. And when we preach, we preach him as he is. No apologies. He's the absolute sovereign of
the universe. And you right now are in his
hands and you're going to glorify him. You may glorify His justice,
you may glorify His grace, but glorify Him you will, because
He is the Prince. But not only, listen to this,
not only is He the Prince, and that's who He is, He's the Savior. He's the Savior. Real simple question. Do you need to be saved? Now, I did not ask you if you
are saved. But I am asking you this. Do
you need to be saved? Saved from what? Well, first of all, I need to
be saved from God himself. You see my sins against him and
I need to be saved from him because he's a holy righteous God and
he can send me to hell. I need to be saved from God himself. And the only one who can save
me from God is God. I need to be saved from myself.
Not only do I need to be saved from God, I need to be saved
from myself because I am my big problem. What's your biggest
problem? Me. Me. I need to be saved from myself.
Lord, save me from myself. Don't leave me to myself. Don't
let me go my own way. Save me from myself. I take full
responsibility for my sin. I'm the problem. Save me from
myself, and I most especially need to be saved from my sins. Matthew 121, thou shalt call
his name Jesus. for he shall save his people
from their sins. Now, the first question is, do
you need to be saved? You can answer that. I can answer
that right now, yep. I need to be saved. I need to
be saved by God, from God, by God. I need to be saved from
myself, and I need to be saved from my sins. Lord, save me. Save me. And here's my second
real simple question. Are you a sinner? First, do you need to be saved?
And second, are you a sinner? Turn to first Timothy chapter
one. Just hold your place there. I
want to give some definition of terms when I ask the question,
are you a sinner? If you're a sinner, that means,
listen real carefully, you cannot not sin. That's what a sinner is. If you're a sinner, that means
that all you do is sin. If you really believe you're
a sinner, you don't feel like you have the ability to set in
judgment upon anybody on anything because you really believe that
you're the worst man to ever live or the worst woman to ever
live if you really believe you're a sinner. If you really believe
you're a sinner, you know you have no claims on God. You know
that if he left you to yourself and let you go to hell, all of
creation would praise him for his glorious justice. That's
what you got coming to you. If you believe you're a sinner,
that's what you believe about yourself. You believe you cannot
not sin. Somebody says, well, I can keep
from sin. Well, then you're not a sinner. You believe that all
you do is sin. You really believe that you can't
set immoral judgment on anybody for anything. And you believe
God would be absolutely just if he passed you by. Now that's
what a sinner is. Now listen to this scripture
in verse 15 of 1 Timothy chapter 1. is a faithful saving and worthy
of all acceptation. Everybody in the world ought
to receive this as the best thing they've ever heard, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of whom Paul says, I am the chief. Now, one of the things that I'm
so thankful for in this verse of Scripture, there's no adjective
before the word sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
believing sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
repentant sinners. It doesn't say he came to save,
and I've said this before, I think this is the silliest term, sensible
sinners. I thought sinners didn't have any sins. Well, you know
what, sensible sinners? It just says he came to save
sinners. Are you in that group? If you are, I can guarantee He
came to save you, and that's exactly what He did. And you're
called upon by Him to trust Him right now as your salvation.
If you're a sinner, He came to save you. You look to Him right
now. You've got every reason to. Christ
died for you if you're a sinner. Now, somebody says, well, I don't
think I'm like that. Well, I can't give you any hope
that Christ died for you because He came to save sinners. That's
it. That's it. He's a prince and He is a Savior. And if you're not saved, it's
not your sin that keeps you from Him. It's your righteousness. It's
your goodness. It's the things that you think
recommend you to Him. That's what keeps you from Him. Go back to Acts chapter 5. Verse 30. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Now, why did they
slay him? Well, they hated him. They didn't
want anything to do with him. They hated what he said. And
when they got the opportunity, what did they do? They killed
him. Why did they slay? Well, because that's what they
wanted to do. But let's take a step back. We can ask chapter
two, verse 23, him being delivered
by the determinant counsel and for knowledge of God, you have
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. You know
why you by your wicked hands crucified him and flew him? Because
it was according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. That's why you did this. Look
at Acts chapter 4, verse 27. For of a 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.
That's everybody, isn't it? That's everybody. Everybody was
gathered together. For what reason? For to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. That's the
same word generally translated, predestinated. You see, Christ
is the Lamb slain from the very foundation of the world. And God made the universe for
this purpose. His Son coming and being slain
as the Savior of sinners for His glory. Now back to Acts chapter
5. Verse 30, the God of our fathers
raised up Jesus. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished what the Father gave Him to do. He raised Him
up because He made complete satisfaction and put away the sin of everybody
He died for. And He justified everybody He
died for. And God raised Him up because
God said, I can ask no more. He raised Him up. Now, listen. God exalted with His right hand
to be a Prince and a Savior for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Now this Prince and Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, He's been exalted to give repentance to
Israel, to give the forgiveness of sins. Now here are two things
I desperately need. I need repentance and I need
him to give me repentance. And I need the forgiveness of
sins. And I need Him to give me the
forgiveness of sins. Now, when we're talking about
repentance and the forgiveness of sins, here are two things
that always go together. If you're going to have forgiveness,
you're going to enter into this thing of repentance. And if you
ever really have this thing of repentance, you're going to have
the forgiveness of sins. And God has exalted Christ to
be the giver of these things. Understand, this is no offer. God offers you forgiveness. That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. God doesn't offer anything. God
offers you his mercy. God offers you forgiveness. He
wants to forgive you, but you gotta accept it. You know, we
never speak that way in the real world, do we? If you hit me in
the face and say, I'm gonna offer to let you forgive me. No thanks. No thanks. That's not the way
things work in the real world. Yet we think that's something
that's foolish about God. No forgiveness is His gift. It's
not His offer. Repentance is His gift. It's
not Him offering. It's His gift. Repentance. Now,
what is repentance? I know this. I won't have it
unless He gives it to me. But thank God as Prince and Savior,
He does give repentance. Aren't you thankful for that?
I want to have this thing of repentance. I want him to give
it to me. What is repentance? Now, the way religion presents
repentance is here's what you need to do. You need to repent
of your sins and you need to stop sinning. Stop committing
those sins you're repenting of. And if you keep on committing
them, you aren't really sincere. You aren't really real. But if
you stop committing those sins and don't return to them, then
you'll have as payment the forgiveness of sins. But you've got to repeat
first. And you've got to do this. Then
you'll have forgiveness. That is salvation by works. That's all that is. That is not what repentance is. Now understand, understand there
is never a reason or an excuse for sin in your life or mine
on any level. If you have repentance, you know
that. Sin's evil. But here's what repentance is,
it's a change of mind. It's a change of mind regarding
the character of God, my own character, and how God saves
sinners by Christ. There's a change of mind. Do
you know I used to dislike God's sovereignty and I felt like it
was unfair? I used to didn't like the fact that God elected
a people and there's nothing that I could do to save myself.
I used to think it was really unfair for Christ to die only
for His people and to put their sent their sin away. And He didn't
do it for everybody. I used to think it was unfair.
Just fill in the blank. But you know, I don't think that
anymore. I've repented. By the grace of God, He's granted
me repentance. And what I used to hate, I now
love. That's repentance. I used to
think that under certain conditions, perhaps, if all my Stuff was
in order that I could do what I needed to do. I don't think
that anymore. I've repented of thinking of
anything about myself, but I'm nothing but sin. And I see, oh,
I've repented of thinking I could be saved by my works in any way.
I look to Christ only as everything in salvation. Now that is repentance. And listen to me real carefully.
God has never turned down anybody who asked him for repentance,
who truly did. If you ask him to give you repentance,
he'll give you this repentance, this change of mind that comes
from a change of masters that will always result, I like what
Brother Mahan said, in a change of motives. and a change of manners. Repentance, the gift of God. And what else is he exalted by
God to give? The forgiveness of sins. He's exalted as a prince and
a savior to give forgiveness of sins. Now, we do not. Let me repeat this because I
think it's so ridiculous the way religion makes forgiveness
an offer that it's up to you to accept or reject. God wants
to forgive you if you'll just accept his forgiveness. That's
offensive. It's offensive to the character
of God. It's offensive to common sense. It doesn't work that way.
God's forgiveness is his gift for Christ's sake. And God can
forgive you. of all your sins for Christ's
sake. But understand this, it's up
to him. It's not up to you. Now, you can complain about this
or you can say, forgive me for Christ's sake. You can complain
about it if you want. You can say it's not fair. Go
for it. It's not going to do you any
good. But you can say, Lord, would you be pleased to forgive
me of my sins and cause them to be blotted out? Give me this
glorious gift of the forgiveness, the complete forgiveness of sins
for Christ's sake. You see, him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be Prince and Savior. That's who he is. And as Prince and Savior, He
gives repentance. Lord, give it to me for Christ's
sake. He gives the forgiveness of sins. Lord, give this to me for Christ's
sake. Give me this change of mind.
and give me the forgiveness of sins. And notice how it says,
him hath God exalted with a right hand to be a prince and a savior
for to give repentance to Israel. Who's Israel? Well, it's not
talking about that nation of Israel. You know, there's Israel
after the flesh, there is, there's Israel after the flesh. But Israel
is all of God's people, all of God's elect. the true Israel,
they which are the children of the promise. And if he is exalted
to give something, he gives it. And if you don't receive it,
he never gave it. When he gives, you receive, and
it's yours. He's exalted to give repentance
to Israel, the forgiveness of sins. In verse 38, And we are
his witnesses of these things. Now, what I am preaching to you,
I'm bearing witness as the very truth of God that he has taught
me from his word. Now, what I've given you is in
the scriptures. It's the teaching of scripture. And I'm bearing witness. And
if someone doesn't believe my witness, there's nothing I can
do about that, but it doesn't take away from the truthfulness
of it. Because when we preach, we're actually bearing witness
of what we have seen and what we have heard. Somebody says,
well, I don't believe what you say, but that's okay. I've still
seen it. And I've still heard it. And I hope when I'm saying
this, this is not any, I want everybody in this room to believe.
I want you to believe the gospel. I want God to grant you repentance.
I want God to grant you the forgiveness of sins. I want you to know what
it is to enter into the joy and the peace of believing. Believing
that God has exalted him with his right hand to be a prince
and a savior. Now, we are his witnesses of
these things, verse 32, and so also is the Holy Ghost. whom
God hath given to them that obey him. You know one of the things
I love about preaching is I don't need to talk anybody into anything. I know God the Holy Spirit works. And he's the one who causes this
to be. When they heard that, they were
cut to the heart and took counsel to slay them. They didn't like
what they heard. But you know what? I do. I do. Hope you do too. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you've
exalted that dear son with your right hand to be Prince and Savior
for to give repentance and remission of sins to Israel. And Lord,
I'm asking in his holy, righteous name that you would give each
man, woman, boy and girl in this room true repentance and the forgiveness, the complete
remission of all our sins through him who is Prince and Savior. Lord, bless this message for
your glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.