Now, we don't put any religious
significance to the day of Christmas, but I am very thankful for that
day that our Lord was born. Wonderful to think of. He became
flesh and dwelt among us. And I'm thankful. You know, some
people like to get on a crusade against what Christmas is not
Christian. Well, the issue is Christ crucified. That's the only issue. And I
don't want to make an issue of anything but that. Chapter five,
I've had this message on my mind for several weeks. Somebody read
this passage of scripture back in the back and it's just hit
me and I've been thinking about it for several weeks. Let's read
verse 28 together. And when they had 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? And behold, you filled Jerusalem
with your doctrine and intent." Here's what your intent is. to
bring this man's blood upon us. I've entitled this message, Filling
Jerusalem with Your Doctrine. Jerusalem was a big city with no Internet, with no TV
or radio, without the aid of a printing press. with no mass
media whatsoever. They filled Jerusalem with their
doctrine. Now, would to God that he would
use us in the same manner to fill Lexington with our doctrine,
our personal testimony to the truth. Not doctrines. You know, every time you read
the word doctrine in the plural, doctrines, it's always bad. Not
doctrines, but doctrine. The doctrine of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, notice that verse 28, they
had been commanded not to teach in this name, the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let's look at what led to this. We're going to be going over
pretty much everything that happened in the book of Acts to lead us
to this point. Look at Acts chapter 2, verse 23. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, You have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain, whom God raised up, having loose
the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
be holding of it. Look down in verse 36. Therefore,
let all the house of Israel, now before I go on reading, remember
the accusation. You intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
You're saying we're at fault here. Now, let's keep that in
mind as we look at these scriptures that led up to this statement.
Verse 36, Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly
that God hath made the same Jesus whom you have crucified, both
Lord and Christ. Chapter 3, with that environment,
the day of Pentecost, Peter's great sermon on Pentecost,
with that environment where in one sermon 3,000 people were
added to the church. One sermon, 3,000 people. I don't know that any message
has ever been blessed like that, as far as that many people believing.
With that environment, that environment of excitement, we Read about
this event that took place in chapter 3. Now, Peter and John
went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being
the ninth hour, and a certain man lame from his mother's womb
was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple, which
is called beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the
temple. Who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple,
asked their alms, and Peter, his eyes upon him, but John said,
Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting
to receive something of them. Then Peter said, Silver and gold
have I none, but such as I have give I thee in the name," remember
this is the name they commanded him not to preach in, in the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. rise up and walk. And he took
him by the right hand and lifted him up. And immediately his feet
and ankle bones received strength. He wasn't just limping around.
He got up leaping and he stood and walked in with him in the
temple, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people
saw him walking and praising God. And they knew it was he
which for alms, set for alms at the beautiful gate of the
temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement in that which had
happened. And as the lame man which was healed hailed Peter
and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch
that is called Solomon, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw,
he answered unto the people, Ye 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 hath raised
from the dead, whereof we are witnesses in his name, through
faith in his name. hath made this man strong, whom
ye see and know, yea, the faith which is by him hath given him
this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." So we see
it was the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that made this man whole. Now look in chapter four. And
as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of
the temple and the Sadducees came upon them being grieved
that they taught the people and preached through Jesus that name,
the resurrection of the dead. Now look in verse 7 of chapter 4. And when they had set them in
the midst, they asked, By what power or by what name, by what
authority or by what name have you done this? Then Peter, filled
with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people
and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed
done to this impotent man, by what means he is 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
here before you whole. This is the stone which was set,
if not of you builders, which is become the head of the quarter.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved." I looked down at verse 43, the same chapter, and being
let go, they had been arrested. They
were let go. They went to their own company and reported all
that the chief priests and the elders had said unto them. And
when they heard that, they lifted up their voice. This is the early
church. And with one accord they said, Lord, thou art God, which
has made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that in them
is, who by the mouth of thy servant David hath said, Why did the
heathen rage? And the people imagined vain things. The kings
of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together
against the Lord and against His Christ, 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, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before." to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings,
and grant them to thy servants, that with all boldness they may
speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal, and
that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy Holy
Child, Jesus." Now, look at chapter 5, verse 17. Another arrest has
taken place. Then the high priest rose up
And all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees,
and they were filled with indignation. And they laid their hands on
the apostles and put them in the common prison. They were
arrested once again for preaching the gospel. But 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. Now pick up verse 24. Now, when
the high priest and the captain to the temple and the chief priest
heard these things, they doubted of them, whereunto this would
grow. 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, as they should
be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before
the council and the high priest and asked them, saying, Did we
not straightly command you that you should not teach in this
name. And behold, you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine,
and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." Now, we
don't have to guess what this doctrine was that he's speaking
of. There's no room for speculation. Here's the chief priests accusing
him of doing this. You're filling Jerusalem with
your doctrine. And you're declaring in your doctrine, you intend
to bring this man's blood upon us. You're saying that we're
responsible for this. You're saying that we're the
ones guilty of this crime. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ. The one who claimed equality. With the father. And the only
way you can be equal with God. is to be God. The uncreated, eternal Son of
God, the Messiah, the great I Am, who lived a perfect life, none
could convince Him of sin. He never sinned. He was nailed
to a cross. And I love to say He was brutally
murdered because He said, no man takes my life from me. I
have power to lay it down. And I have power to take it up.
This commandment have I received of my father. He wasn't murdered.
You see, he was in control of that situation. When the Roman
soldiers nailed the nails in his hands and feet, he was the
one giving the strength at that very time to do it. He was in
control of the situation. But he's nailed to that cross. When Pilate said, don't you know
that I have power to crucify you and I have power to release
you, he replied, thou couldst have no power at all over me,
except it be given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered
me to thee hath the greater sin." Now, the Son of God, here's what
they said. They said, you're accusing us
of killing him. You're saying we're responsible
for this. The murder If you want to call it that, the brutal putting
to death of the Son of God, you're saying we're responsible for
this. Well, they were. It's amazing how men can lie
to themselves. They were the very fellows that
were crying for his blood. They said, give us Barabbas,
let him be put to death. These same people who are standing
there saying, why are you accusing of this? They did it. Let me
show you this in Scripture. Well, look at Acts chapter four,
verse six. Who speaks? And Annas, the high priest, and
Caiaphas, and John and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred
of the high priest, were gathered together in Jerusalem. Now, these
are the same fellows that sit crucified. Let me show you that
in Scripture. Remember those names. Look in John chapter 18. Verse 12, Then the band of the
captains and the officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound
him, and led him away to Annas first. For he was the father-in-law
to Caiaphas, which was the high priest the same year. Now Caiaphas
was he which gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient
that one man should die for the people." So we see these are
the very people that the Lord was brought to and they tried
him and found him guilty. Look in verse 19 of the same
chapter. The high priest then asked Jesus
of his disciples and his doctrine. Look in verse 24. Now Annas had
sent him in Babylon to Caiaphas, the high priest. Verse 28. Then
they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the hall of judgment. You
see, all this is is what Caiaphas and the high priest. I mean,
they were literally actually guilty of calling on the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They hated him. They wanted him
to be put to death. They didn't want to have anything
to do with him. Let me show you one other scripture on this.
Luke 23, verse 24. And Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required. Annas and Caiaphas and the high
priests and all these fellows, this is what they required. And
he released them. unto them him that for sedition
and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired. But he
delivered Jesus to what? To their will. Now, this is what
these men wanted. They wanted the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They were envious of him. They
hated him. They wanted him to be put to death. And they hated
him freely. Now, here's my question. Do you believe that you are any
different than these men? Now, I want you to cook on that
for a moment. Do you believe that you are any
different than these men who murdered the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, here is the truth regarding
you and I. And this was Peter's intention. Remember they said, you intend
to bring this man's blood on us. Yes, he does. This is where I want every one
of us to be brought to this place where we see that we really are
guilty of the precise same thing these fellows were. That we with
wicked hands have crucified and slain them. This is what you
and I are guilty of. Now, here's the truth regarding
you and I. We're so evil that if God took away the restraints
and let us do what we really wanted to do, we would nail his
son to a cross because in our hearts we hate him and we hate
him freely. They hated me, our Lord said,
without a cause. Somebody said, I've never hated
Christ. I've never hated Jesus Christ. Well, you've not hated
that idol that you concocted and that you can control and
call him Jesus. No, you've not hated him, but
we've hated the Christ of Scripture. Every one of us have been guilty
of that. You know, you never really know how bad a man is
until he hears the gospel. That's when you find out what
he's really like. He may seem like a real nice guy. Let him hear
the gospel, the gospel of God, the gospel of the scriptures,
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of grace, free grace. Let him hear that. And then you'll
find out what's really in his heart. Now, do you love the Jesus
who is God? Do you love the Jesus who is
sovereign? We just read, we just heard that
song, he's my sovereign savior. You know what it means if he's
sovereign? If he's sovereign, that means you are in his hands
and your eternal destiny is utterly up to him and you have absolutely
no control. Do you love that, Jesus? The
one who, if he's pleased, he can save you. Or if he's pleased,
He can pass you by and let you go to hell, and it would glorify
His justice. It would bring glory to His name
in sending somebody like you to hell. Do you love that, Jesus? Do you love the Jesus Christ
who came for His people? That's why I call His name Jesus,
for He should save His people from their sins. And He did save
His people from their sins. Do you love that, Jesus? The
one who, when he said, it is finished, that meant the salvation
of everybody that he represented was accomplished, signed, sealed,
and delivered. Do you love that Jesus? To not love this Jesus is to
hate him. Now, do you understand that?
To not love this Jesus is to hate this Jesus. Now, here's God's charge against
us, murderers and haters of His Son. Now, here's my question. What's your plea? When God looks into your heart,
does He find somebody who says, guilty as charged? Or does he see someone who just
lets this go over their head? Or someone who really doesn't
believe that they're that bad? Or do you say before God, guilty
as charged? What's your plea? Come on now.
Have you ever stood guilty? Guilty before God? Let every mouth be stopped and
all the world stand guilty. guilty as charged. Now, Peter wanted them to come
to that conclusion, didn't he? And you know, in my preaching,
I'm doing the same thing Peter's doing, by the grace of God. Here's
where I want me and you to be brought to. The fact that we
really are what the Bible says we are. I'm not asking you to
see Look within your own heart to see how bad you are, because
you'll never get the truth. I'm asking you to see what God's
Word says concerning you and I. And this is the fact of the
matter. You and I. I'm talking about
me. I'm talking about you. If God
left me to myself, I'd put he who is altogether lovely, I'd
put him to death. Is it really that bad? Yes, it
is. Yes, it is. And this was Peter's intention.
He wanted these people to be brought to this place. And all
I pray, God, that everybody in this room will see that this
is exactly what they're guilty of. How do you play? This is not theory. This is not
theology. This is the truth. Regarding me and regarding you. But I have no doubt that this
was not Peter's only intent, just to get them to plead guilty.
That wasn't his only intent at all. Turn with me for a moment
to Matthew chapter 27. Now, remember, they said, you
intend to bring this man's blood on us. This is what you're trying
to do. Look at Matthew chapter 27. Verse
20. But the chief priests and the
elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas
and destroy Jesus. The governor asked and said unto
them, whether of the flame will ye that I release unto you? They
said, Barabbas. Pilate said unto them, what shall
I do with him? Then with Jesus, which is called Christ. And they
all say unto him, let him be crucified. And the governor said,
why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out for more.
saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could
prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water,
and he washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent
of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Then answered all
the people and said, Let blood be on us and on our children. We want to be held guilty. It
doesn't bother us a bit. Let His blood be upon us. Let
us be charged with the guilt of it. And let it be in our children.
We want them to be charged with it. That's how much they hated
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's flip this around. If you believe that you're guilty,
here's what your prayer is. Let His blood be upon us and
upon our children. Oh, may his blood wash away that
awful guilt. Let his blood be upon me. Ladies, let let his blood make
me clean. It's the same thing that the
publican prayed. He was in the temple. And he cried out. God be merciful, the word is
literally propitious. God be propitious. Let your blood
remove the reason for your wrath. That was his prayer. And listen
to me. I believe that I'm guilty of
exactly. I'm ashamed that it's true. I'm
guilty of this. And the only plea I have is let
your blood be on me. Let your blood be upon my children.
I wouldn't dare come any other way. Now, everybody who believes
they're guilty. This prayer is their prayer.
You can pray this from the very depths of your heart, Lord. Let
your blood be upon me. Now, this was Peter's intention. He wanted everybody there to
cry out, let your blood be upon us, let that be the cleansing
of our souls, washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see. There's something about his blood. That makes a murderer
of Christ. Not guilty. And they can pray
with such emphasis, let your blood be upon me. Let me show
you what the blood of Christ does. Turn with me to Romans
chapter five. Verse nine. Much more than being now justified. Justified by his blood. Now, that's better than forgiven. That's a lot better than forgiven.
And here's why it's better than forgiven. I know that if you dove me wrong,
I'll forgive you. But it will be impossible for
me to forgive it. I'll still think about it. I
shouldn't. I understand that. I shouldn't. But you do me wrong,
I'm going to remember. And you will too. Particularly
you women. But Christ makes it to where there's nothing there
to remember. I'm justified before God. The reason he doesn't remember
my sins is because there's nothing there to remember. That's what
his blood does. His blood justifies. Isn't that glorious? Makes me clean and pure. There's
nothing there for God to remember against me. Now, this takes somebody
who's actually guilty of the murder of the Lord Jesus Christ,
somebody that's that bad. Yet the Lord said they hated
me without a cause. You want to talk about somebody
that's evil? Somebody who through pure maliciousness and wickedness
would hate Christ as He is? And you and I have been guilty
of that. And yet His blood makes everybody who trusts Him justified
before God. Look in verse 10. For if when
we were enemies, we were reconciled. Now, do you hear that? Reconciled. No reason for anger. That's what
reconciliation is, the problems removed. For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. So,
Lord, let Your blood be on me. Let Your blood be on my children.
That's my prayer. Look in Colossians chapter 1. Here's what His blood does, verse
20, and having made peace through the blood of His cross by Him,
to reconcile all things unto Himself by Him, I say, whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were
sometimes or before times alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body this flesh through
death the shedding of His blood to prevent you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. Lord, let Your blood be upon
me. Let Your blood be upon my children.
Now, that was Peter's doctrine. That was Peter's intent, his
doctrine. This is the doctrine of every
believer. It really is very simple. Men are so bad. They let to themselves
they'll kill the Lord Jesus Christ. Guilty of hating Him freely.
And everybody who sees their guilt in this thing, they're
going to cry out, let His blood be upon us and upon our children. You cry that out. Now this was
his intent. He wanted people to hear those
two things. You're guilty. I'm guilty of the body and blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. with wicked hands, crucified
and slain. Believe this, because God says
it. I'm not asking you to feel it. Believe it. And believe that
His blood actually cleanses us from all sin. Now, that is the
doctrine we want to spread everywhere. Now, let's look back
at Acts chapter 5. That's chapter 5, verse 28. Did not we straightly command
you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you
filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's
blood upon us? Now let's look at Peter's response. Then Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than man. Isn't
that a self-evident truth? We ought to obey God rather than
man. So he repeats his accusation. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. had God exalted with his right
hand to be a prince and a savior. That word prince is to be an
author, to be the captain, to be the ruler. It's another way
of saying a sovereign and a savior. Him had God exalted to be a sovereign
and a savior. Now, what that means is if you're
going to be saved, you're going to have to go to him. The only
one who can do anything for you is him. The Prince, the Sovereign
Savior. That's who God has exalted with
His right hand, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be a Prince, a Captain,
a Ruler, the absolute Sovereign of the universe, and a Savior. Boy, I love those two words together.
Sovereign Savior. Leper understood something about
that when he said, Lord, if you will, if you will, you can make
me clean. Now look what it says next. Him
hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a prince and a Savior,
and here's his work as a prince and a Savior, for to give repentance
to Israel. That's his work in you. And the
forgiveness of sins. That's his work for you. That
represents his work in you. To give repentance. Repentance
to Israel. A change of mind. A change of
mind principally regarding the forgiveness of sins. A change
of mind regarding the remission of sins. That word forgiveness
is quite often translated remission. Well, I'm interested in having
my sins forgiven and remitted, aren't you? Now, he gives repentance. Now, a couple of things I want
to say about repentance. First, repentance is the gift of God. You cannot repent unless God
gives you the grace to repent. That's just so. And you won't
be saved and I won't be saved if we don't repent. Now, God
commands all men everywhere to repent. There's your responsibility.
You're responsible to repent. God commands everybody to repent.
And we will not repent unless he gives us this repentance. And it's principally a change
of mind regarding the remission or the forgiveness of sins. And
here's what I mean by that. Here's what we naturally believe.
If I do this, if I quit that, if I start this, I'll have the
forgiveness of sins. And the Bible blows that out
of the water. Salvation doesn't end with the forgiveness of sins,
beloved. It begins with the forgiveness, the full, frank, free forgiveness
of sins. And when the Lord gives you faith,
you don't find out you will be forgiven. You find out you've
been forgiven. You've been forgiven of all your
sins. A repentance, change of mind regarding the remission
of sins. I used to believe that I would
be forgiven if I I used to believe that. I've changed my mind. I've repented. And I'm repenting
right now. I'm always having to repent of
that kind of thinking. A change of mind regarding the
full, free remission of sins. He's exalted as a Prince and
a Savior for to give repentance and to give the remission of
sins. Turn with me for a moment. Mark, Chapter 2. Mark, Chapter 2, verse 1, And again he entered into Capernaum
after some days, and it was noise that he was in the house. And
straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there
was no room to receive them, not so much as about the door.
And he preached the word unto them. Wouldn't you like to hear
that sermon? We're getting to hear a little
bit of it. He preached the word unto them. Boy, I want to hear
the word preached, don't you? And they come unto him, bringing
one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. And when they
couldn't come nigh unto him, to the press, They uncovered
the roof, they got up on the roof, they knocked a hole in
the ceiling, they uncovered the roof where it was, and when they'd
broken it up, they let down the bed where the sick or the palsy
was laid. Now wouldn't that be interesting to see here? I'm
preaching, all of a sudden a hole comes in. That'd be something. I'm sure people were thinking,
what in the world's going on here? When Jesus saw their faith, now
what was their faith? Their faith was they knew that
the only hope this fellow had was if they'd get him to him.
That's it. When Jesus saw their faith, He
said unto the sick of Paul, He said, Son, thy sins be forgiven
thee. How would you like to have the
Lord say that to you? He's the only one who would do
it. What if I said your sins are forgiven? Wouldn't do you
any good? How do you know? You don't have the ability to
confer that. I know I don't. The only one who can say this,
God. sins, be forgiven thee." But
there were certain of the scribes sitting there, reasoning in their
hearts, why did this man speak blasphemies? Who can forgive
sins but God only? That's right, isn't it? Only
God can forgive sins. And immediately, when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reasoned with themselves, He said unto
them, Why reason ye these things in your heart? Whether is it
easier to say to the sick of palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee,
or to say, Arise, take up your bed and walk? Now, what's easier
to say? Thy sins be forgiven thee? Or
get up and walk? It's easier to say your sins
are forgiven, because it might be if I say, Rise, get up and
walk. You can't do it. I'm proved to
failure. You see what he's saying? It's
easier to say, Thy sins forgive thee. Now let's look at what
it says next. But that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power, hath authority on earth to forgive sins. He
saith to the sick of Paul, Thee I say unto thee, Arise, take
up your bed, and go your way to your house. And immediately
he arose and took up his bed. and went forth before them all,
in so much that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying,
We never saw it in such a fashion. Now, our Lord says, I have the
authority to say, Get up and walk, and you walk. And with
the same authority, I say, Your sins are forgiven, and they're
forgiven. Now, He's a Prince and a Savior,
a sovereign Savior, and He has the authority to give repentance
And he has the authority to give the remission of sins. Now, let's
close. Back to our text. Acts chapter 5. Verse 32. And we are his witnesses of these
things, and so is also the Holy Ghost. whom God hath given to
them that obey him. We're witnesses of these things,
that we're guilty of the body and blood of Christ. We're witnesses
that in Christ there's forgiveness, there's cleansing, there's salvation.
Now, verse 33, here's their response. When they heard, they were cut. Notice, to the
heart is in italics. If they were truly cut to the
heart, They would be like those fellows in Acts chapter 2, who
when they were pricked in their heart, cried out, men and brethren,
what shall we do? They were cut to anger. Now,
when you hear this, what's your response? This is a summary of
our doctrine, and this is what we're called upon to spread Lexington
everywhere we can with this doctrine, that men are guilty of the body
and blood of Christ, guilty of murdering the Son of God. That's
my problem. And my only plea is His blood. Let His blood be upon us. That
covers everything we preach. What's your response? I'll tell
you what mine is. Lord, let Your blood be upon
me, and let Your blood be upon my children. Let's pray together.