Would you turn back to Acts chapter
2? This is the first sermon that we have recorded after the resurrection
and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the speaker is Peter,
someone who just a few weeks earlier denied that he even knew
the Lord Jesus Christ in fear before a little maid. And the
audience are the people who literally crucified Christ and called for
his crucifixion. They're the ones who wanted him
dead. That's interesting, isn't it?
What kind of message is he going to bring to those people? And
I want you to look at verse 41 for just a moment. This was the
reception of a large part of the crowd. Verse 41, then they
that gladly received his word were baptized. And the same day
there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. Now through this message, I don't
know whether this has ever been done before this or after this,
but I hope the same thing in the same spirit takes place today.
Through this message, there were some people who gladly received
it. It came as good news to them. And that same day there was added,
and it was the Lord who did the adding, 3,000 souls. And all these people confessed
Christ in believers' baptism. Now, let's carefully examine
this sermon. And I pray that the Lord would
enable this sermon to be preached in the power of His Spirit this
morning. and that we'll have people gladly
receiving this word. Verse 22 of Acts chapter 2. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words. The gospel comes as a command. This is in the imperative. Hear
these words. This is the authority of God. You know, when you preach, you
don't share. I want to share this with you. I'm not interested
in sharing anything with you. I want to know the truth. I want
to know what God has to say. Hear these words. This is a command from God. Hear these words. Now the gospel is not an offer
up to you to accept or reject. I hate it when I hear somebody
say won't you accept Jesus. That's not the issue. Will he
accept you? That is the issue. The gospel
is not an offer. Here it is. Accept it or reject
it. No, it's a command from God. Hear these words. The gospel has a content. Hear
these words. The gospel has a content that
if that content is not preached, the gospel is not preached. Here, these words, the gospel
is found in these words. Now, with regard to the gospel,
I can't give you a formula to listen for to say, well, it's
a gospel being preached. God uses the whole Bible to preach
the gospel. But there is a definite content.
that if it's not preached, the gospel is not preached. There
was a man that was speaking to me and I told him, you don't
preach the gospel. And no one will be saved by anything
you have to say, because it's the gospel that's the power of
God unto salvation, only the gospel. Paul said in Romans 1
16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it, the gospel, is the power
of God unto salvation. So the gospel has a content,
hear these words. And the words of the gospel are
found in this message. And these words must be heard. There's no salvation without
hearing this. You can't believe something you've
never heard any more than you can come back from a place you've
never been. It's impossible. These words must be heard. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Now, Verse 22, ye men of Israel,
hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, the one born in Nazareth,
the one you crucified. Jesus of Nazareth, he is the
gospel. 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,
Jesus of Nazareth is the gospel. He is the message and God approved. He testified of him because Jesus
of Nazareth, the God-man, did what only God could do. God testified
of him. God proved him by the miracles
and the signs and the wonders which he did. Now I love thinking
about the miracles of Christ. Somebody said, somebody says,
did he really do miracles? Yes, he did. He did what only
God could do. He controlled the weather. I
saw recently where there's some kind of movie coming out about
how they can control the weather. No man can do that, but he did.
They said, what manner of man is this that even the winds and
the sea obey him? He could say to a raging storm,
peace, be still. And there was a great calm. He
controlled the laws of physics. He walked on the water. You try that. How much control
do you have over the laws of physics? He brought matter into
existence in the universe which was not there before. He created,
he brought bread into existence that was not there before. Only
God can create. He raised the dead. Witnesses
saw him do this. He raised the dead. He did what
only God could do. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you. And he says to these people,
you know this, you're without excuse. You saw the things that
he did. He is God manifest in the flesh. Now verse 23, him being delivered. Delivered to what? To be crucified. Him being delivered. Look at Acts chapter 4 verse
27. For the truth against thy holy
child Jesus whom thou has 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. When you nailed him to a cross,
it's because God's hand and God's counsel determined before for
it to be done. Him being delivered to be crucified. But look what Peter says, and
I love the way he opens this message. You know, in true preaching,
most preaching that goes on in our day, it begins with you and
your need and how God can help you and improve your life. No
true preaching begins with men. Begin with God. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God. Miracles and signs and wonders. Him being delivered to be crucified
by what? Look at verse 23 again. Him being
delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
Now, why was he deliberate? There's one reason. The determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. This was God's eternal purpose
and will being done. Never forget, the cross was not
God's response to man's sin. God never responds. Now chew on that. God never responds. He only acts. His will is always
done. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, the fall of man was a part
of God's determinate counsel for the glory of the cross. The
cross is the whole counsel of God The cross is the most glorious
God-like thing God ever did. Him being delivered to be crucified
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. The lamb slain in time is the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now listen real
carefully. is a God of absolute predestination. He works all things after the
counsel of his own will and anything less than a God of absolute predestination
is an idol. A weak, puny God concocted by
man's depraved imagination. That's all it is. The true God
is a God of absolute predestination. And that's where Peter begins.
Somebody says, well, that's for more mature believers. No, Peter
begins right here. In this great message, he begins
him being delivered by the determinant counsel and for knowledge of
God. Now, why was he delivered? Why
was he delivered? Well, first of all, we've already
said it because it's God's will. It's God's purpose. It's God's
eternal purpose. That's why he was delivered.
This has always been God's purpose to deliver up his son to be slain
on a cross. Why was he delivered? Because he was getting exactly
what he deserved. Stay with me. The Lord Jesus Christ did what
only he could do. He took the sins of his elect
and made them his sins. Now, I can't take your sins and
make them my sins. I can't do it. You can't take
my sins and make them your sins. What good would it do? Because
we're both sinners anyway. It wouldn't do either one of
us any good, but Jesus Christ, who never sinned, who lived a
perfect life, who kept God's law perfectly because He's God,
He never sinned, yet He has the authority to take my sins and
make them His own, so He's actually guilty of the commission of it. Now you know and I know that
He never sinned. And when He was made sin, He
never sinned. But He was actually on Calvary's
tree guilty of committing those sins. And that's why God killed
Him. God's just. God's holy. God's
righteous. And the reason He was on the
cross was because He was getting what He deserved. When He took
my sins and my sorrows and made them His very own, they became
His. That's why He died on Calvary's
tree. God's just. God is going to punish
sin. He's not going to just sweep
sin under the carpet. For me to be accepted by God,
for me to be justified before God, I've got to have no sin.
I've got to stand perfect before God. And that's why the Lord
Jesus Christ was delivered to Calvary. And like I said, it's
the most God-like thing God ever did. How God made a way in His
Son to be just and justified. Clear of all guilt. ungodly sinners
like me and you. That's the hope of every believer.
That's why he was delivered. He was delivered because it was
God's will, and he was delivered because he actually was guilty
and was getting exactly what he deserved. Now remember that
righteousness that I talked about, that he never sinned, he kept
God's law perfectly? That now is my righteousness,
and I stand before God without guilt. What a gospel. What would keep somebody from
rejoicing in that? Only one thing, self-righteousness. That's the
only thing that would keep somebody from rejoicing in this, but if
you have no righteousness of your own, oh, this is the gospel,
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Look what it says next.
You have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and flamed. You see, God's absolute predestination
and sovereignty and control of everything and everybody does
not in any way take away from our personal responsibility for
our sins. Somebody says, explain that to
me. I can't. I don't feel a need to. I'm just
telling you the truth. He says, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain them. Now, me and you do
what we want to do all the time, every time. and he is completely
sovereign over the completely free and uncoerced actions of
men. I'm glad it's that way. I don't claim to be able to give
an explanation for this. I'm just stating the fact. It's
true. This is what Peter said. He said he was delivered by the
determined counsel and foreknowledge of God. And you, you're responsible.
You with wicked hands have taken and crucified and slain him.
And if you want to know how bad you are, look at the cross. I'm not asking you to look at
your actions or your attitudes or your thoughts. If you want
to know how bad you really are before God, Look at the cross. I wasn't there then. Yeah, you
were. Yeah, you were. You were there
in Adam when he rebelled against God and you were there with those
people. Understand that if God left you
to yourself, you would do the precise same things they did. You would, and that's the truth
regarding me and you. If God left us to ourselves,
we would have been the brutal murderers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 24, whom God hath raised
up, having loose the pains of death, because it was not possible. It was not possible. You know,
there are things that are not possible. It was not possible
for him to stay dead. Yes, he was crucified. Yes, he
was slain, maliciously murdered, but God raised him from the dead
and it was not possible for him to stay dead. God raised him
from the dead because he did what no man like me or you could
ever do. He, by his death, completely
satisfied God, so that God could ask no more. What do you mean,
He completely satisfied God? Does that mean God, some kind
of malicious person, could only be satisfied with violence and
death and so on? No. God's God's perfect. God's absolutely just. He cannot
let sin go unpunished. If He let sin go unpunished,
He would not be a holy God. He would not be a just God. What
would you think of a human judge who would let crimes go unpunished? I forgive you. Go on. You don't
need to go to jail. A judge like that would be a
monster. If God lets sin go unpunished, God would be a monster. He would
be unjust, he'd be evil like you and I are, but he's not.
God is holy. God must punish sin because he's
just. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Whatever he does is right and
just. Now when Christ died on Calvary's
tree, all of the demands of God's justice were satisfied. Sin was punished. Sin was put away. And God said,
I can ask for no more. And now God can look at somebody
like me and you, everybody for whom Christ died, and he can
say, I'm completely satisfied with that one. There isn't anything
about them that's not perfect. I can't look for anything else. It's called justification. That's
what Christ accomplished on Calvary's tree. He made it to where God's
satisfied with me. God looks at me and says, you're
perfect. You're glorious. You're just
like my son. You have no sin. What a glorious
gospel. That's what Christ accomplished.
That's why death couldn't hold him because he offered complete
satisfaction to God. And God had to raise him from
the dead because he was satisfied. I wish I could say this the way
it ought to be said, but God is satisfied with his people.
You look at yourself and you think, how could he be satisfied
with me? I can answer that question because he's satisfied with Christ.
Whatever he looks to Christ for everything he expects from you,
and you are to do the same thing, to look only to Christ. Verse 24, whom God hath raised
from the dead, having loose the pains of death because it was
not possible that he should be holding of it. And what is his
appeal to this glorious, glorious truth? His appeal is to the scriptures. Now he goes on to quote three
different psalms. Psalm 16, Psalm 132, and Psalm
110. And do you remember in Luke chapter
24 how the Lord opened their understanding that they might
understand the Scriptures? And He is demonstrating this.
The appeal for what He's saying that Christ was delivered by
the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, and you have slain him,
and you're responsible for doing it, but God raised him from the
dead, and it was not possible for him to stay dead. His entire
appeal was not logic or philosophy, it was the scriptures. It was
the scriptures. Now let me remind you, this book
is God-breathed. It has no error. It has no error. God wrote this
book. How do you expect me to believe
that? I don't expect you to believe it, but I believe it because
I know it so. And I don't have a hard time
believing that God can inspire a book and keep it preserved
because God didn't have a hard time creating the universe, did
he? And if he can create the universe, he can certainly do
that. And Peter's only appeal is scripture for these things. People never heard anything like
this. We just crucified him. He was, remember, he's speaking
to the people who crucified him. We just crucified him. But it
was God who determined for this to be done by his sovereign will. And yet we're held responsible.
And yet God raised him from the dead. It was not possible for
him to stay dead. How do you expect us to believe
something like that? That's what the scripture says.
That's why. And look in verse 25. 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 was glad. This
is from Psalm 16, verses 8 through 11. Moreover, also my flesh shall
rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to seek corruption. You know,
the Lord never even went through the process of decay. Because
the moment he died, satisfaction was made. Salvation was accomplished. He said, you won't even let me
suffer to see corruption. Verse 28, thou hast made known
to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. I love the language of the Lord
there. I love that scripture, looking unto Jesus who for the
joy that was set before him. The joy of doing his Father's
will. The joy of putting away my sin,
the joy of making it to where I'd be with him forever. What
joy was said before? I mean, looking at his father's
countenance, there's fullness of joy. You know, the gospel
we preach is a thing of joy. I rejoice in what I'm saying. The kingdom of heaven is not
meat and drink. It's not do's and don'ts and
rules and regulations. It's righteousness and peace. The peace he wrought and joy
in the Holy Ghost. Oh the Lord got such joy in what
he did and I get joy in it too. You know the fruit of the Spirit
is love joy. peace, and how he rejoiced before
his father. No, you can't imagine, I realize
that, but can you imagine the joy he experienced when he was
raised from the dead? His work finished, the full glorification
of his father, seeing his father's face. He had been, in some respects,
taken away from his father for 33 years. I mean, he had spent
eternity, it's always before him, and now he's ready to go
back, having finished the work the father gave him to do. Verse
29, men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he's both dead and buried, and his sepulchre
is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, 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 his
flesh did see corruption." Now, somebody says, well, did the
prophets know what they were talking about? Yes, they did.
Yes, they did. David knew he wasn't talking
about himself. He knew he was talking about
the Christ who would never see corruption, who would be raised
from the dead. David knew exactly what he's
saying. You see, David believed the same gospel many do. He believed
the same gospel Abel did. He believed the same gospel Paul
did. Every believer believed the same things. David knew this. Now look what he says in verse
32. This Jesus, hath God raised up, whereof we
are all witnesses." Now, the gospel is preached as a witness. Somebody says, I don't believe
what you're saying. It's OK. I'm speaking as a witness. My job is not to get you to believe
anything. Now, I want you to believe. I
want you to believe the gospel. But all I'm doing is declaring
the truth as a witness. And if someone doesn't believe
it, that's not in my power to do one thing about it. I'm just
declaring the truth as a witness. And that's what Peter's doing
at this time. He's declaring as a witness.
You know, I can't help but say, when people are trained to be
witnesses, how to more effectively witness the gospel, that's corrupt
on the very Surface. Trained to be a witness? Trained
how to? No. You're a witness when you
got something to say that you've seen. And that's what all gospel
preaching is. You're preaching as a witness.
I'm training people to be a witness. That's corrupt. That's deceitful. That means you're trying to get
people to say something in such a way as to help people believe
it. That's not gospel preaching. This Jesus hath God raised up
where we are all witnesses. Therefore, verse 33, being by
the right hand of God exalted, we preach an exalted Savior. He is at the right hand of God,
even as I speak right now, exalted. God hath exalted him, and given
him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, things in earth, and
things under the earth, and that every mouth should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Oh, the exaltation
of Christ. You know, it's Jesus of Nazareth
who is that high and lofty one who inhabits eternity. That's Jesus of Nazareth. You
can't preach Him high enough, can you? He's exalted. preach this as it ought to be
preached. And I realize I can't and I'm
OK with that because I'm not OK with it. But I just got to
face it. I can't exalt him high enough. But oh, how the father
has exalted him. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God, I love this right hand of God. When he had by himself
purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand. the majesty
on high." Now He did it by Himself to let us know that He did it
all and it doesn't have anything to do with what we did. It doesn't
just say He purged our sins, it says He did it by Himself.
That means with no contribution from you, without your anything. He did it by Himself. The reason
He sat down is because His work was finished. He sat down by
the right hand of God, being exalted 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 you now see in here.
Now the reason a believer has the Holy Ghost is because Christ
died for him. No other reason. The reason you're
born again is because Christ died for you if you're born again.
The reason you have the Holy Spirit is because of what Christ
did for you. He's the gift of the Father because
of what Christ died. Therefore being, verse 33, 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
you do now see in here. For David is not ascended into
heavens, his sepulchre still with us, but he saith himself,
the Lord, there is quoting Psalm 110, the Lord said unto my Lord,
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." Have you ever heard preacher
say, won't you make Jesus the Lord of your life? Ever heard
that? Sure you have. If you make him Lord, that makes
you the Lord maker. You can't make him Lord. Now
listen real carefully. He is your Lord. right now. And your eternal destiny in hell
or in heaven is up to Him. Everybody in this room, let me
tell you, He is your Lord, whether you like it or not. He is your
Lord. And if you're in heaven or if
you're in hell, is up to Him. You have no control. What do you think about that? And there's some people who won't
like this, and there's some people who would love it. You see, because He's Lord, He
can will your salvation. Remember how that leper came
to him, Lord, if you will, Lord, he knew he's Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. Everybody who can't make themselves
clean, everybody who can't save themselves, everybody who's a
sinner, their only hope is that he is Lord and he will will their
salvation. And somebody who has something
of their own, so they think, they won't like this. But understand
this, He is Lord. You can't make Him Lord. God
made Him Lord. And He is Lord. He's Lord of
creation. He's the one that created the
universe. He's Lord of providence. He controls everything that takes
place. And most especially, He's Lord of salvation. God hath made
the same Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. He's the Lord's Christ. He's
God's prophet. He's the word of God. He's God's
priest. He's the priest of God's providing. If he represents you
to the father, you must be saved. He's God's king. He rules and
he reigns and he can cause you to come to Christ because the
king's with the word of the king. There's power. Whatever he wills
must come to pass. He is the Lord. He is the Christ. Now, look the way Peter says
this in verse 6 that 36. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus
whom you've crucified." He was speaking to the people
who had a hand in the crucifixion of Christ. The same people who
said, give us Barabbas. The same people. God has made
this same Jesus whom you crucified. both Lord and Christ. 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? We're in trouble. What are we supposed to do? This
is the exact same question that the Philippian jailer asked when
he said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? What am I supposed
to do? I mean, I'm guilty of crucifying
Christ. He's the Lord. He's in control. He can send me to hell. He can
save me. I can't be saved by something
I do. What? What shall I do? Now, I think this is interesting.
Peter didn't say, well, there's nothing you can do. That's why
maybe some of us would answer, well, you can't be saved by anything
you do. You ought to know that. That's why probably I would have
answered, but not Peter. He said, repent and be baptized, every one of
you, everybody I'm preaching to in the name of Jesus Christ,
for the remission of sins, for the promises unto you. This promise
of salvation, it's to you and to your children and to all that
are far off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Now notice the wideness of this.
It's to you, but the limitation of it, even as many as the Lord
our God shall call. He said both. And what wisdom
there is in that. But first, this thing of repentance. What shall we do? Repentance means change your
mind. Change your mind about your thoughts
of God. Quit being God's judge. Quit
being God's critic. That's someplace you don't want
to go. Understand that God is glorious and holiness, majestic. Whatever he does is right. He's
altogether lovely. He's right and you're wrong.
Change your mind about God. Change your mind about His sovereignty.
You think, I don't like the thought that God's sovereign. Change
your mind. Be glad He is. Be happy He is. Rejoice. Rejoice
in His holiness. Rejoice in His justice. Change
your mind about God. Change your mind about yourself.
Stop these high thoughts you have of yourself because they're
wrong. You're seeing You're nothing but sin. And if God sent you
to hell, if He sent me to hell, just and holy is His name, He's
God. Stop these ridiculous thoughts
you have about yourself. Repent of the thoughts that you
have of salvation. Repent of anything that's contrary
to Christ being everything in salvation. Repent of it. Repent. Change your mind. Now, most people,
when they think of repentance, they think, well, if you repent,
that means you're sorry and you quit doing it. Well, how sorry
is sorry? How sorry do you need to be?
And what sin have you ever actually stopped and you don't commit
that sin in your heart anymore? That's not what repentance is.
Repentance is changing your mind. And the only way you'll change
your mind is if God changes your mind. If he changes your mind,
your mind will be changed. 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 and be baptized for the remission
of sins. I think it's interesting a whole
denomination the Church of Christ is built around this first remission
of sins comes through baptism. You're baptized you are immersed
in your sins will be remitted and taken away. That's foolishness to think that
the act of baptism actually washes away sins. It's what baptism
represents that washes away sins. When Christ lived and kept the
law, I was in him and I kept the law. That's my only hope. When Christ died, he died for
my sins. I was in him. My sins were washed
away by what he did. When he was raised from the dead,
my sins were remitted. They were canceled, they were
blot out, they were put away. Now baptism represents the gospel. Now why would someone not want
to be baptized? With what baptism says, the complete
remission of sins through what Jesus Christ did. Repent and
be baptized. If you haven't been baptized
and confessed Christ in believers baptism, why? Why? Give me a reason. What's wrong
with you? That's what believers do. They repent and are baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Is baptism
safe? No, it doesn't save. Do believers confess Christ in
baptism? Yes, they do. Yes, they do. Does your faith save you? Christ
saves you. Do you believe? Yes, you do.
Yes, you do. Don't ever take away from the
importance of baptism. What shall we do? Well, repent.
Repent. Change your mind. And confess
Christ in believer's baptism that represents how sins are
remitted. And you do it in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Now, you repent and you believe. It's because God the Holy Spirit
caused you to. And God the Holy Spirit, you have him in repenting
and believing. The Holy Spirit has to come first,
logically. Regeneration comes first, logically. But chronologically, they come
at the same time. You repent, you believe, you
have the Holy Spirit. Four, verse 39. The promise. And understand this, salvation
is the promise of God. It's God's promise. God always
keeps his promise. For the promise of salvation
for Christ's sake is unto you and to your children and to all
that are afar off at a wide scope. And here's the
limitation, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. That's who's going to believe,
that's who's going to repent, that's who's going to confess
Christ in believer's baptism, as many as the Lord our God shall
call. Acts chapter 13, verse 48. This is the conclusion of Paul's
message. We've been looking at Peter's
message. This is Paul's first message, verse 48. And when the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad and they glorified the word
of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life, believed. Who believed? As many as were
ordained to eternal life. Who's going to call upon His
name? As many as the Lord our God shall call. Back to our text,
verse 40. And with many other words, in
other words, we don't have the whole of His message. You can
read this in about probably three or four minutes if you read it.
And we don't have everything he had to say. But with many
other words, did he testify and exhort saying, save yourselves
from this untoward, this perverse, this wrong generation. Verse
41, then they that gladly received his
word." They did repent. They changed their mind. It's because God changed their
mind, but they changed their mind. They that gladly received
his word were baptized and the same day They were added into
them about 3,000 souls. Now, would this describe me? Would this describe you when
you hear this message? And remember, this is not my
message. I've just given what Peter gave on the day of Pentecost.
This is not the opinion of Todd Nybert of the doctrine of the
Tod's Road Grace Church. We don't even care about any
of that. This is God's message. How is it to be received? Gladly. May the Lord enable everybody
in this room to fit this description of those who gladly received
his word. Let's pray. Lord, would you add us to that as many as that gladly receive your word
and believe your gospel? Lord, how we thank you that you
delivered your son by your determinant counsel and foreknowledge to
be crucified as the sinner's substitute. And Lord, we confess
our sin that we have with wicked hands. Oh, Lord, our hands are
so wicked. And Lord, our sin is all of our
fault. But Lord, how we thank you for the resurrection of Christ,
that it was not possible for him to stay dead. And Lord, we
ask that we might be found in him. And Lord, we're so thankful
that you have made thy son both Lord and Christ. And Lord, by
your grace, we bow willingly to his lordship. And Lord, oh
Christ, save us. Be God's word to us. Lord, be the priest that represents
us before your father. And Lord, be our king to rule
and reign over us and cause us to believe your gospel. Lord,
grant us repentance and faith for Christ's sake. In his name
we pray, amen.