Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nivert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nivert. I'm going to be preaching this
morning from Acts chapter 2 on Peter's sermon on the day of
Pentecost. I want to let you know that this
morning is the last service of our Sovereign Grace Bible Conference
that we've had this weekend, and the services begin this morning
at 10 o'clock. You still have time to make it.
If you can, we'd love to see you. Acts chapter 2, I've entitled
this message Pentecostal Preaching. Now, most people, when they think
of Pentecost, they think of when the Holy Spirit enabled people
to start speaking in other languages, and indeed, that is a part of
it. But I want us to consider the
meat of the message that Peter brought. Now, the audience was
the people who killed the Lord Jesus Christ. What an audience. This is Peter preaching. The
same man who just a few weeks earlier had denied that he knew
Christ with oaths and cursing, now he's boldly proclaiming to
these people he's preaching to, the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I think we can learn what true preaching is from this
passage of scripture. But before I look at the meat
of the message, I want us to look at the result of the message. Verse 41 of Acts chapter 2, after
he had finished preaching, then they that gladly received his
word were baptized. And the same day were added unto
them about 3,000 souls. Now remember, these were the
men and women who were crying out, crucify him, crucify him,
give us Barabbas. It was a large crowd. And by
the end of this message, the Lord had saved 3,000 people. And they found this message to
be good news. They gladly received this word. They rejoiced in it. And they
confessed Christ in Believer's Baptism, which is what every
believer is called upon to do, to confess Christ in Believer's
Baptism. Now, let's begin in verse 22. This is where Peter begins, Ye
men of Israel, hear these words. Let me make a couple of comments
about that. Hear these words. This is a command. Here it is
spoken of in the imperative. hear these words. Now I want
us to understand this. The gospel of Christ is not an
offer up for men's acceptance or rejection. It's not an offer. It's a command. God commands
all men everywhere to repent. The gospel comes as a command. That's the divine authority behind
it. It's not an offer, won't you accept Jesus, please? No,
nothing like that. It comes as a command. Hear these words. The second thing I would notice
about that is that the gospel has an actual content, that if
that content is not preached, the gospel is not preached. Here,
these words. There's a definite content. Now,
I know that the Bible is a big book and God uses the whole Bible
to declare his gospel, but there is a content that must be preached
in every message or the gospel is not preached. The gospel has
a definite content. May God teach us what that content
is through this message. Hear these words. Faith cometh by hearing. There's no saving faith. There's
no salvation apart from hearing. Hear these words. I love the next word. of Nazareth. That's right, the
one you crucified, 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 you yourselves also know. Now, Jesus of Nazareth,
the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Son of God, the
Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Great I Am, He is
the Gospel. I love what Simeon said when
he held that eight-day-year-old child in his hands in the temple,
and he said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. When he looked at that infant
he was holding in his hands, he knew that this person was
and is God's salvation. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God. Oh, how he pleased his Father,
the God-man, the Son of God. And he did things that only God
could do. Those miracles and signs and
wonders, he did things only God could do. He brought matter into
existence in the universe that had never been there before when
he fed the 5,000 with five loaves and two small fishes. He brought
matter into existence that was never in the universe before.
Only God can do that. He controlled the physical laws.
He could walk on water. Why? No one can do that. You
and I certainly can't, but He can because the physical laws
are His laws. He can cause them to be or suspend
them according to His will. He raised the dead. He controlled the weather. He
could say to a raging storm, peace, be still. And there was
a great calm. He did what only God could do. The Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus
of Nazareth, he's a man approved of God. And Peter says, you all
know this. You've seen what he's done. You
know this. There's no excuse for not believing. And look what he says in verse
23. Him, Jesus of Nazareth, being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and
slain. Him being delivered. Delivered to what? Well, he was
delivered to be crucified. He was delivered to be nailed
to a cross. He was delivered into the hands
of sinful men. But the question I want us to
consider, first of all, is who delivered him? Understand that
the Lord Jesus Christ was not a victim. He demonstrated his
control over this event when they came to arrest him. And he said, Whom seek ye? And
they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. And they were
driven backwards. The reason being, the Lord is
letting them know and us know, I'm not a victim. I'm in control
of this. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to
take it up again, this commandment of I received of my Father. Now,
He was delivered to be crucified, but why was He delivered? Listen
to this language. Him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God. The reason He was delivered
to be crucified is because God determined before for it to be
done. In Acts 4, verse 27, we read,
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. He was delivered
by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God. Now, never
forget this. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ was not God's
response to man's sin. God does not respond. He never has. He never will. He's in absolute control over
everything because He's sovereign. His will is always done. Now, people will always make
objections, how could a good God let this happen, and how
could a benevolent God let that happen? Men are fallen. Men are sinful. Anything that
happens to any man, we deserve. But don't ever think that God
wants things to happen and they don't happen, or His will is
frustrated. No, God determines everything,
and He determined the cross, and the cross was not God's response
to man's sin. God allowed the fall. He allowed
sin for the glory of the cross because the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the most God-like thing God ever did. When He gave
His Son, when His Son gave Himself to glorify God's justice, to
glorify God's grace. You see, Christ is a lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And now what's happening is Him
coming in time to do what God had already decreed. Now, God
is a God of absolute predestination. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will, and anything less than a God of absolute
predestination is an idol. a weak God, a non-existent God
created by man's depraved imagination. The God of the Bible is a God
of absolute sovereign predestination, and the reason that Christ Jesus
was delivered, first of all, was because it was the will of
His Father. That is why He was delivered
to die. Now, why was he crucified? Why
was he delivered over? Well, we've already seen God's
will, but listen to this statement very carefully. He was delivered
over to be crucified because he was getting exactly what he
deserved. Now, what do I mean by that?
He was getting exactly what he deserved. He was getting what
the law of God demanded. How can that be? What do you mean? I thought,
somebody says, I thought he never sinned. He never sinned. You're
right about that. He knew no sin. He did no sin. In him is no sin. He kept God's
law perfectly. Even when he was on the cross
and he was made sin, he never sinned. But he did something
that only he could do. He took my sins. He took the sins of all for whom
He died, all of God's elect. all who will believe. He took
the sins of His people. Remember Matthew 121 says, Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins. He took the sins of His people, and He made them
His very own, so that He actually became guilty of the commission
of those sins. And He owned them as His own. He didn't say Todd's sins which
were imputed to me. He said my sin as a heavy burden. It's too heavy for me. In Psalm
40 when he's speaking as All the Psalms are Christ-speaking,
but this is particularly, in this passage of Scripture, he
said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. That's quoted in Hebrews
10. These are the words of Christ,
and he speaks of his own sins. My sins truly became his sins. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone so that
he became guilty. Oh, he became guilty of all the
sins of all his people, all the moral perversity and the wicked
things that they've done and they thought that was made to
be his. And when God forsook him, it's
because that's exactly what he deserved. The scripture says,
I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging
for bread. On Calvary's tree, Christ, as
the sin-bearing substitute, was guilty of the commission of all
the sins of all of his people, and God's wrath crushed him and
killed him. But you know what? He did something
that no one else could do. He put away those sins. You see, I can't put away your
sins, and you can't put away my sins. If I was punished for
your sins, that wouldn't even be justice being done. But the
Son of God, who perfectly honored God in His life, When the sins
of his people became his, he put them away. He made them to
be no more. He satisfied the wrath of God
so that God says, I'm satisfied, I can ask no more. That's what
he accomplished in that perfect righteousness that he worked
out when he never sinned. That is the personal righteousness
of every believer. Now let's go on reading. HIM
BEING DELIVERED BY THE DETERMINING COUNSEL AND FORKNOWLEDGE OF GOD,
YOU HAVE TAKEN, AND WITH WICKED HANDS HAVE CRUCIFIED AND SLAIN."
Now, the fact that God was sovereign in all this doesn't in any way
take away from our personal responsibility. How can that be that God determined
this and yet I'm held responsible for it? Well, I don't know exactly
how to explain that, and I don't need to. It's just so. God is
completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of
men. And the men who crucified him,
they did it because they wanted to. They did it with wicked hands.
That's the way Peter uses the language. You with wicked hands
have crucified and slain. We do what we want to do, and
we're responsible for our own sin. We can't blame God's sovereignty.
We can't say, well, God determined this. How can he hold me responsible?
No, we are completely responsible before this sovereign God. Now,
I know people will debate that, but be that as it may, it's still
true. God is absolutely sovereign,
and men are responsible for their own sins. Now, he says in verse
24, whom God hath raised up, having loose
the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holden of it, that one that we maliciously murdered and nailed
to a tree, God raised him from the dead, because it was not
possible for him to stay dead. Now why is that? Well, because
of who he is. This is not a mere man dying.
This is the God-man. And because of what he did, he
rendered complete satisfaction to God so that God was totally
satisfied with what he did. His justice was honored. His law was honored. God was
satisfied by the death of his son. Now, I realize a lot of
people say, well, what kind of God wants to see suffering? If
you think something like that, what you prove by that is you
don't really know the character of God or your own character.
You're making God way too human and you're having too high an
opinion of yourself. God is holy. God is just. He must punish sin
or he'd cease to be God. He would no longer be just. What
would we think of a human judge who just Somebody committed a
crime and they say, well, I'm going to forgive you. Go on back
out into society. Well, we'd get rid of a judge
like that because it wouldn't be just. Shall not the judge
of the earth do right? God always does right. And in
the death of his son, all of the claims of God's law against
sin and the punishment against sin were answered. And Christ,
by his death, completely satisfied God to the point that God said,
I can ask no more. And the sin was put away, it
was made not to be, and that's why God raised him from the dead. It was not possible for him to
stay dead because of what he accomplished. Now, let's go on
reading. Now, the way Peter proves all this is the Scriptures. He
makes an appeal to the Scriptures. And in my preaching, all I ask
you to do is see if this is what the Bible actually teaches. His
only appeal was the Word of God, and he quoted three different
psalms to show what he was teaching. I think in Luke 24 it was where
the Lord opened their understanding that they might understand the
scriptures. And now Peter is demonstrating his understanding
of the scriptures by quoting these three different psalms.
In verse 25 he says, 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. This is a quotation from Psalm
16. Therefore did 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. Neither
wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. This is Christ
speaking. Thou hast made me to know the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance."
Christ didn't even see decay. The moment He died, complete
satisfaction was made and He said, I'm going to be raised
from the dead and oh, the joy I'm going to experience beholding
Your countenance. Oh, how he rejoiced in his father.
Verse 29, Peter says, Men and brethren, let me freely speak
unto you of the patriarch David, that he's both dead and buried,
and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. He saw corruption.
His dust is still in his grave. 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 his throne. He, seeing this before, spake
of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in
hell, neither did his flesh see corruption." David knew exactly
what he was saying. He believed the same gospel that
Abel believed. He believed the same gospel Paul
believed. Believers all believe the same
thing. They believe they're saved by who Christ is and what He
did. And we understand that when God
raised Christ from the dead, it's because He accepted what
He did. If He would have stayed dead,
that means He would be still under God's wrath. But God accepted
the payment of Christ, and He raised Him from the dead. And
David understood this. David understood the only way
he could be accepted is through the blood of that coming Lamb
of God. Abel believed the same gospel.
There's always only been one gospel, and every believer believes
the same gospel. Now, verse 32, this Jesus hath
God raised up. We're all witnesses. We're witnesses
of this. You preach as a witness. If I'm
preaching the truth, I'm preaching of that which I've seen in the
word which God has revealed to me, and I'm speaking as a witness.
I think it's interesting churches try to train people to witness. That's corrupt on the very surface,
to train somebody to witness. If you've seen something, you're
going to bear witness to it. You don't need to be trained
to do that. You just tell what you've seen. This Jesus hath
God raised up where we're all witnesses, therefore being by
the right hand of God exalted. Christ is exalted at God's right
hand. Hebrews 1.3 says, When He had
by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high, the place of glory and exaltation. And
the reason He sat is because His work was finished. There
was nothing left for Him to do. 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 you now see
and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith
himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, this is a quotation from
Psalm 110, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy
footstool. Verse 36, Therefore let all the
house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." Now, how did
these people feel when they heard that? God has made this same
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. God has made Him Lord. Have you
ever heard a preacher say, won't you make Jesus the Lord of your
life? My dear friend, if you can make Him the Lord of your
life, that means you're the Lord maker. That is not so. He is your Lord. Whether you know it or not, whether
you acknowledge it or not, He is your Lord, and your eternal
destiny is in His hands. It's up to Him as to what's going
to happen to you. It's up to Him whether you be
in heaven or whether you be in hell. He is Lord. He's both Lord, thank God He's
Christ. He's God's Christ. He's God's
promised Messiah. Now, the fact that He is Lord
shouldn't discourage anybody, ought to give you hope. He delights
in mercy. He delights in saving sinners.
And He's God's prophet. He is the Word of God. He's God's
priest. If He brings you into God's presence,
you're going to be accepted. He's God's King. He rules and
reigns, and His will's always going to be done. He can will
your salvation. You know, the leper understood
that when he said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.
He said, I will be thou clean. He's both Lord and Christ. Verse 37. Now, when they heard
this, they were pricked in their heart. They were scared to death. We are in trouble. This one we
crucified is nobody less than the son of God, whom God has
made both Lord and Christ. We are in trouble. Now, when
they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts and said unto
Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what
shall we do? This is the same thing. The Philippian
jailer said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? What shall
we do? Well, Peter gives them direction. 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 you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Repent. Now what's that word
mean? It means change your mind. All
these thoughts you've had of God are wrong. Change your mind.
You humanized Him. You made Him somebody like you.
Change your mind about the high thoughts you have of yourself
and see that you're nothing but a sinner in need of His mercy.
Change your thoughts about salvation and the forgiveness of sins.
Men naturally think, I need to do this, this, and this, and
this in order to receive the forgiveness of sins. And you
don't realize that salvation begins with the full, complete
forgiveness of sins. Change your mind about the wrong
thoughts you've had of salvation and be baptized. for the remission
of sins. Now, that doesn't mean that the
act of baptism remits sins. I know there's some people who
think going into the water is what saves you. You go under
the water, and your sins are washed away. No, that's just
not so. You could be baptized a million
times, and that would never wash away one sin. But what baptism
signifies is what brings on the remission of sins. You see, when
I'm baptized, I'm confessing that my only hope is that when
Christ lived, I was in Him, and I lived. And when He kept the
law, I kept the law. And when I go under the water,
that represents the death of Christ. When Christ died, I died. When He was punished for sin,
I was punished for sin. And when I come up out of the
water, that represents the resurrection of Christ. When He was raised
from the dead, I was raised from the dead. When He was accepted
by the Father, I was accepted by the Father. All of salvation
is seen in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Verse 39, for the promise is
unto you and to your children and to all that are far off.
This is for you. Yet he puts this limitation,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call. That is who this
promise is for. It's for you, for your children,
everybody that's way off. And if you're way out there,
this is for you. Yet the limitation is this, even as many as the
Lord our God shall call. Now we have this message on CD
and DVD, and if you would call the church, we'll send you a
copy. But as I said at the beginning, this is the last service of our
Sovereign Grace Bible Conference. It begins at 10 o'clock this
morning, and we'd love to have you come out and hear the gospel.
This is Todd Knight, praying that God will be pleased in His
mercy to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.