Chardon church of Christ

What Must We Do To Be Saved?

What Must We Do To Be Saved?
Acts 2:37-47

INTRO: This morning we continue in our walk through the book of Acts. The last time we were together we saw how Peter gave powerful arguments concerning the Christ. He quoted from the prophets of old and showed them that they had been fulfilled in Jesus. In his sermon on that day, Peter convicts them of their role in killing the Messiah. Acts 2:36 – “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” I find it hard to imagine just how stunned some in Peter's audience must have been.

Before we get started—a story. A little girl was holding two apples in her hands. Her mother asked with a smile: “Would you give me one of your apples?” The girl looked up and suddenly took a bite out of one apple and then quickly took a bite out of the other.
Her mother felt the smile on her face freeze and she tried hard not to show her disappointment.
Then the little girl handed one of her bitten apples to her mom, and said; “Here mommy. This is the sweeter one.”

I guess the point of the story is just because you think you have something figured out, you can still be wrong.

The Jewish leaders thought that they had heard the last of this Jesus when He was crucified. They were probably thinking; that’s that with Him, the One who wants us to believe He was the Messiah has been dealt with. God had different plans though; God filled Peter with His Spirit and Peter laid it out for them. Think about it, this man whom the Jews recognized as a Galilean and likely viewed him as an uneducated person, had just presented a compelling argument in which he tells them that they murdered the Son of God.

I. Out of all the crimes one could commit, killing the Messiah had to be the worst. Peter’s presentation was so powerful not because he was an intellect, or because he had a good education, but because of the Holy Spirit.

A. The Holy Spirit used undeniable truths to show that Jesus was the Son of God despite the Jews accusations to the contrary. Jesus described the Spirit's work in John 16:8-11, He said, “"And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: "of sin, because they do not believe in Me; "of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; "of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. "

1. Here are the two fundamentals of mankind’s spiritual condition and the two options, or alternatives, open to them. The Spirit convicts of sin, revealing a persons fallen estate and bondage to Satan, and showing their total helplessness to achieve through their own efforts any healing. The Spirit also convicts of righteousness by revealing the mystery of how a person may acquire a righteousness not their own, but the righteousness of Christ, available to all who receive and obey the gospel.
2. Sin ... righteousness ... judgment ..." Over against these three words stands three names: Adam, Christ, and Satan. Through Adam came sin; through Christ came righteousness; and upon Satan the penalty of ultimate judgment shall fall.
3. Calvary was intended by Christ's enemies to be their judgment of him; but God made it the judgment of His enemies, particularly of Satan. The cross indeed bruised the heel of the seed of woman, but it bruised the head of Satan.

a. Christ's death, burial, and resurrection condemned the value-judgments of men. Wicked men, living lives of conformity to the will of their prince (Satan) behold in Christ the rejection by Almighty God of their principles of judgment.
b. The way of Christ was declared by His resurrection to be the right way. The Spirit of God would never cease from Pentecost to convict the world of what righteousness really is. The world's traditional values were set aside by God's judgment at the cross; and the prince of this world has been summarily judged and condemned, and all who follow him shall partake of his destiny.

4. The evidence presented by Peter on Pentecost, as delivered to him by the Holy Spirit, truly convicted many in his audience. It was so powerful, Luke says in, Acts 2:37 - “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?''” What shall we do?
5. Do you remember in Matthew 16:19, what Jesus promised to Peter? Jesus told Peter, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven"
6. Remember Jesus’ words on the cross in Luke 23:34. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Both these passages find the beginning of their fulfillment in Acts 2:38.

B. The Holy Spirit, through Peter, had already identified those in the crowd as those who had used lawless hands to crucify God's Son.

1. Talk about a reason to panic! I have no doubt that they were in great fear after they realized what they had done.
2. They may have expected one of God’s angels to come down and slay them.

C. It is then when some of them realized their situation and asked, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

1. Peter tells them what they must do be saved in Acts 2:38 - "... Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
2. Can we imagine the Jews response to that? Imagine what is going through their minds. They have just killed the Messiah, who was God in the flesh, and Peter is talking about forgiveness! They have just murdered the Creator of the Universe on a cross and He wants to give them a gift!
3. This reminds us of Paul in his letter to the Ephesians chapter 3 which I read in part; Ephesians 3:16-19 - “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

II. Back in Acts, Peter says there are two requirements to receive this forgiveness of sins and the first one is repentance. Repenting involves a change of will, or mind. Jesus says in Matthew 21:28-32 - "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' "He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. "Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. "Which of the two did the will of his father?'' They said to Him, "The first.'' Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”

A. You see, folks, repentance is more than feeling sorry for what you have done. It’s more than feeling sorry for yourself. That’s the way the world repents. They say, ‘oh I’m sorry I won’t do that again’ but then they go out and do it again.

1. That’s why our prisons are overflowing with prisoners who recommitted their crimes. As an aside, the statistics are that 56% of released prisoners are arrested again by the end of the first year, 67% in three years, and 76% in five years.
2. Repentance involves a deep sorrow for our actions. It involves deep sorrow when we realize that we have hurt God with our actions. 2 Corinthians 7:10 - “For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
3. When we genuinely repent of sin we don’t want to go out and commit that sin again because we know that God doesn’t like it and we don’t want to disappoint God. That does not mean we won’t sin again but we truly don’t want to.

B. Then Peter tells them the second requirement to receive forgiveness of sins. He commands them to be baptized. Unlike the baptism of the Holy Spirit which the apostles’ and Cornelius’ household received, they were to be baptized in water. This isn’t what some would call a christening. Baptism is a plunging, immersing, or overwhelming. The Jews had no problems in understanding what baptism was.

1. This is like a funeral service for our sinful being, baptism is a burial. Colossians 2:12 - “Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
2. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3, that baptism is the means of a person calling on God to cleanse them based upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. 1 Peter 3:21 – and I paraphrase - “This water symbolizes baptism that now saves you -not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”[para]

C. Notice also that repentance and baptism were to be done in the Name of Jesus. In other words, they were to be baptized resting on His name, submitting to His authority, depending on Him as Lord and Savior. Hell is not afraid of my name, hell is not afraid of your name, but all of Hell is afraid of the Name of Jesus.

1. Peter was going to remind even more listeners of that a little later in Acts 4. He says in Acts 4:12 - “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
2. The point being, repentance and baptism under the authority of Jesus is how we receive the forgiveness of sins.

III. Peter then follows on and says in Acts 2:38 - " Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

A. Adam and Eve were truly blessed to have God walking with them in the Garden of Eden. The Israelites were truly blessed to have God dwell in the tabernacle. They were truly blessed when He dwelt in Solomon’s temple. Folks, these early Christians were going to be blessed even more.
B. Peter says when a person repents and is then baptized for the forgiveness of their sins; they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. In other words, God was not going to dwell in a tent or a temple anymore; He was going to dwell within the hearts of His people. Acts 2:39 - “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call. "
C. Folks, that promise is not just for the Jews and their children, it is for us and our children too. That was a lesson that Peter had yet to learn. Look in Acts 10 after the events that took place with Cornelius and his household.

1. Peter says in; Acts 10:34 - “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.”
2. The Spirit is ready to give life to anyone who will submit to God. Because when a person submits to the will of God through repentance and baptism, God comes to live in them in the form of the Spirit.

IV. It is then and only then that an individual's body is God’s temple. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” No repentance, no gift of the Holy Spirit. No baptism for the forgiveness of sins, no Holy Spirit.

A. Luke tells us in Acts 2:40-41 - “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

1. That warning and that plea stands just as strong today as when it was first heard from the lips of Peter around 2000 years ago. People need to save themselves from this wicked generation in which we live. We need to remember that when we preach and teach from the word of God we are preaching and teaching the very words of Christ.
2. On that day when Peter preached the very first gospel sermon, he was preaching the words given him by Jesus Himself. You see when 3000 souls accepted Peter’s words and were baptized; they were actually accepting Christ and His words.

B. Remember what Jesus says in; John 13:20 - “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

V. Because they received the Lord's words, they were added to the kingdom. Let me just make a quick point about the kingdom or church. If I wanted to learn karate, I would get a membership and join a karate studio. If I wanted to play baseball, I would join a baseball team.

A. That’s not how it works with the Lord’s church. It does not work like that at all. The Bible says that you don’t join His church, the Bible says that the ‘Lord adds you to His church.’ Acts 2:41 - “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” A few verses down Luke tells us in Acts 2:47 - “... the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved”.

1. You don’t join the Lord’s church, like it’s some sort of association or club. The Lord adds you to His church. You don’t buy a pew. It is so important to realize that the Lord is the one who is responsible for adding people to the church.
2. I’ve heard of many preachers and teachers, taking credit for growth in the church, but blaming others when there is no growth. Even the elders, the shepherds can make that mistake and blame the preacher when there is no growth.
3. I’m reminded of 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 - “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”.

VI. Folks, what Luke records next, is important for us to understand and take note of. These baby Christians, just a few hours old, began to do something which would influence the rest of their Christian lives.

A. Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 - "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ( the baptizing has been completed, then He says) "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.''

B. What we see happening next in Acts 2 is that very thing, the apostles began to teach Jesus’ disciples. Acts 2:42 - “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.” [ASV]

C. Luke tells us in his letter 5 things dominate the life of Christian.

1. We need to sit at the feet of the church’s teachers and learn.
2. We need to be around other Christians as much as we can, not just on Sundays.
3. We need to come together with other saints to partake of the Lord’s Supper every week.
4. We need to be praying.
5. We need to learn to give, and I’m not just talking of money here I’m talking of ourselves, our offering to God of the fruit of our lips, and our service to Him.

D. What was the first fundamental truth they taught them? The apostles taught them the importance of meeting together to learn from God’s word. You start as you mean to go on.

1. I heard of a 17-year-old student at one of the best public schools in the nation saying he knows it's wrong to cheat, but he does it anyway. So do most of his classmates. He explained that he will go to any length to gain an edge, even using an advanced programmable calculator as a cheat sheet. His goal is to get accepted into an Ivy League school. He said, "Grades are so important. I don't want to mess up and be in a hole."
2. Folks, his goal is laudable, but his method is not. We as Christians should have a goal too, not to cheat but to make Christ’s teaching our priority. We can’t just baptize someone and then leave them on their own, we need to teach them. Baptize them and then continue teaching them. Teach them the importance of obeying God’s word.

E. We need to share with them that they can’t be a strong Christian on their own. They need to be around other Christians to give encouragement and to receive encouragement. We also need to let them know that our memories may be pretty poor, but we must never forget what Christ has done for us, by partaking of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week. We need to demonstrate how important communication with the Father is.

VII. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 - says, “pray without ceasing.” That attitude should be the pattern for the rest of our Christian lives. Because when that is our pattern, we are going to love and enjoy being around those people who share in that same pattern.

A. To you and me these things which are happening here may not be a big deal, but put yourself in the place of these Jews. They had the custom of giving a blessing, breaking bread and drinking wine with the Sabbath meal, but had never been involved in the breaking of the bread before in relation to the Lord's Supper.
B. Think about their past prayer life. In Judaism, and indeed in some other religious practices, prayers were offered at stated times of the day. These first Christians offered prayers at any and all times, and in any and all places. Because of this holy example of living,... together with the miracles worked by the apostles, this caused the surrounding community to be in awe.
C. Acts 2:43-45 - “And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need.” [ASV]
D. Notice another important lesson the apostle’s taught them. They enjoyed each other's company and gladly shared their material possessions with anyone who had need. The apostles showed them the importance of giving. Jesus says in Acts 20:35 - “... It is more blessed to give than to receive."
E. I know these days we can not be physically together but thank the Lord, we can be together due to technology, worship together, see our wonderful brothers and sisters and share in praising God.

VIII. Folks, we should be a giving people, I know we are, not just of our lives to God, but also of our riches. It’s not so much the amount we give, but the attitude within our hearts when we do give. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16:2 - “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”

A. Paul says I want you to set aside a sum of money within your income. A little later in 2 Corinthians 9:7 - he says, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” We mention those words sometimes when we are taking up the collection. We may depend on the assembly to distribute alms to the saints and while a good thing, is not the only way we can give. We are personally called to care about those around us.

1. We know God doesn’t want us giving so much that we can’t pay our bills and we end up starving ourselves, but at the same time, if He has blessed us with an income, He does expect us to give to His work.
2. As you go through life you are going to be presented with many opportunities to help others through gifts of money,... or time... or resources. Yes, we are to be a good steward with the blessings that God has given us, and taking that lesson, we need to realize that sharing our blessings is how those blessings grow.

B. Unlike the world today where we all live miles away from each other and we have such busy schedules, these first converts were in the temple daily. They also spent time together on a daily basis, as "breaking bread from house to house" would seem to indicate. Their daily getting together and sharing of food was done out of hearts filled with "extreme joy."

CONCLUSION:
We don’t get together daily like these people did, and in these times we can not, but folks, that’s what should happen when we meet together, physically or virtually, for worship and study. When we get together the result should be the same as those early Christians, extreme joy.

Acts 2:46-47 - “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people...”

When those early Christians praised God for the forgiveness of sins and the community of believers of which He had made them apart, what happened to those who weren’t yet a part of the church? The other folks who lived in Jerusalem found them to be an acceptable group and so Luke goes on to say, in Acts 2:47 - that, “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

When we get together for whatever the occasion, people see us enjoying each other’s company and they can see salvation in our lives, people are going to be attracted to the light. Because today as followers of Jesus Christ, if we give ourselves over to daily study, to sharing, to meeting together and if our hearts are filled with extreme joy and simplicity and if God wills, the results might well be the same, daily conversions as people come to us and ask, ‘What must we do to be saved?”
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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon: Mike Glover

There’s a New King in Town

There’s a New King in Town 
Acts 2:17-36

INTRO:
We are continuing our study of Acts, and today we are in Acts 2:17-36.

Before we start I would like to tell you a story I heard about a preacher who was walking down a street one evening when he saw little Johnny jumping up and down trying to reach a doorbell.

The preacher wanted to help so he walked over and pressed the button for the youngster. After he pressed the doorbell, he asked the young man, "And now what?”, and the little boy said, "Now run!" and he took off.

I guess the point of the story is, although we would like to think good of people, not everyone thinks the same.

The last time we were together we left the Jews in Acts 2 in a state of confusion because the apostles were speaking in the listener’s languages.
Peter immediately set out to end the wild speculations about the cause of the apostles doing this.

First of all he said in Acts 2:15 – “listen, these men are not drunk because it’s only 9:00 in the morning.” [para] We live in a society in which people go on drinking binges and get drunk at all hours of the day. To understand what Peter means we need to think like a Jew of his time. On a festival day like Pentecost, no Jew ever ate or drank anything till after 9:00 am. The Jews should have realized this, and they should have known the apostles were not drunk. They also should have realized that being drunk does not improve a persons communication skills, except perhaps in the thinking of the drunk person.

Then, secondly, in Acts 2:16, Peter told the assembled crowd that the things they had seen and heard were the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. Peter wanted the Jews to begin to think the same as the apostles. That’s where we will continue today in our study of Acts.

Let’s start by reading Acts 2:17-21 – “17. 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18. and on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.19. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord. 21. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'”

Peter plainly says the pouring out of the Spirit upon the apostles was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. If the Jews we’re wondering when Joel’s prophecy was going to be fulfilled, this was it. If the Jews were looking for proof that they were now living in the Last Days, this was it.

We do need to remember that not all of Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. Some of his words would be fulfilled a little later. For example; when Joel says that, “God will pour out His Spirit on all people” or “all flesh” as some translations have it, he’s including all nations, even the Gentiles.

It is true that only the apostles received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, but the infusion of the Holy Spirit that became available to mankind on that day was a much more extensive thing than the miraculous demonstration upon the Twelve.

In Acts 2:38 Peter promised that all who would repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, "shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit"; and this also is included in the prophecy. It is in this extended sense that it is "upon all flesh."

We will see this being fulfilled in Acts 10. Acts 10:44-47 – “44. While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. 45. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. 46. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, 47. "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?''”

Furthermore, Joel also prophesied that, “some daughters would prophesy,” this again was fulfilled a little later in Acts 21. Acts 21:8-9 – “On the next day we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.”

It was Moses who first expressed the hope that God's Spirit would be upon all the people, saying, "Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them" (Numbers 11:29). The fulfillment of this desire is seen in the truth that every Christian is endowed with an "earnest" of the Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 1:22)

I. Before we move on I think I need to say something about Acts 2:21, where Joel is quoted, "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Many people claim if you just call on the Name of Jesus, you automatically become a Christian.

A. Oft times they turn to Romans 10:8-10 – “But what does it say? "The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart'' (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.”

1. From verse 8 we see that this contains "doctrine of the gospel". In verse 9 is a pairing of CONFESSION and FAITH as coordinates among the conditions of salvation, that is primary salvation, or pardon from "past sins" (2 Peter 1:9), such as in the conversion to Christ.

2. If this passage stood alone in the New Testament, it might be fairly inferred that these are THE TWO conditions of salvation; but it does not stand alone, for there are other similar pairings of the elementary conditions of primary salvation, as in the case of REPENTANCE and BAPTISM (Acts 2:38), and that of FAITH and BAPTISM (Mark 16:16).

3. There are no legitimate grounds for thinking that any one of these pairings excludes the conditions mentioned in the others. Faith, repentance, confession, and baptism are all divinely imposed conditions of salvation, none of them outranking any of the others.

4. Faith is omitted in one of the pairings and mentioned second in another. Repentance is mentioned in only one, confession in only one, and baptism in two; but all alike are commanded, all alike are necessary; and all alike are prerequisite to justification.

B. Back to verse 21 then. What does ‘Calling on His Name’ mean? Calling on the name of the Lord means a person asking the Lord by the Lord’s authority to set them free from their sins.

1. We know that can only be done by yielding to His will as it was expressed in His commandments. Matthew 7:21 – “Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

2. Scripture also says in Mark 16:16 – “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

C. Calling on His Name needs to be accompanied with obedience to His commandments.

1. In Acts 22 when Paul addresses the crowd, he was giving his testimony and he tells them in Acts 22:12-16 – “12. "Then one, Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, 13. "came to me; and he stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him. 14. "Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. 15. 'For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16. 'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'” Salvation comes through calling on His Name and being obedient to Him in baptism.

2. 1 Peter 3:21 – “There is also an antitype which now saves us, namely baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” There’s none of this, ‘just say a little prayer and ask God into your life’. There’s none of this ‘do I have to be baptized’? It’s simple obedience to the will of God. We have to do what the Bible says. No ifs, buts or maybes.

II. I like to watch ‘CSI’ shows and sometimes I like to watch ‘Agatha Christie’s Poirot’. I just love how they keep you in suspense right up to the very end. You will notice there are all sorts of accusations going around until finally they have enough evidence to bring a case and convict the guilty person.

A. If Poirot was investigating the claims of Jesus Christ, he would have to conclude that Jesus was who He claimed to be. Now back to Peter in Acts 2:22 – “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know ” Not one single Jew could deny that Jesus had worked miracles because they had been done in plain view.

1. It is not like today where someone might say, ‘a man was raised from the dead in some village in the middle of the Amazon.” Most of Jesus’ miracles were performed in public view for a reason.

2. Jesus Himself said in John 5:36 – and I paraphrase; “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me.”

3. When Jesus was talking to the Jews, and they asked Him if He was the Christ, He said to them in John 10:25 – “... I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.”

B. John wrote his gospel to tell us exactly that in John 20:30-31 – “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

1. The Hebrew writer tells us the same thing in Hebrews 2:4 – “God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will.”

2. Those miracles should have inspired awe and wonder in the hearts of those who saw them. The miracles of Jesus should have been a clear sign to the Jews that Jesus was more than God's spokesman. He was God’s Son.

C. Some people recognized these displays of God's power for what they were and believed in the Son.

1. The nobleman in John 4:46-54 whose son was at the point of death came to Jesus asking for help and Jesus sent him on his way and told him his son would live. The Bible says in John 4:51-52 – “And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!'' Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.''”

2. Some of the Jews who had gone to comfort Mary after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead believed in Him. John 11:45 – “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.”

D. Not everybody was convinced. Matthew records an incident where Jesus had just healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. According to Matthew 12:24, the Pharisees said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”

1. The Pharisees weren’t convinced that Jesus was God’s Son and so looking for an excuse to kill Him, they said it was the devil working these miracles through Jesus.

2. We find the same thing happening in Mark 3:1-6 when Jesus heals the man with a shriveled hand, the Jewish leaders refused to believe who He was. Can you imagine the shock on their faces when Peter says in Acts 2:22 – “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know ”

III. We as parents are always warning our kids about things. For example we tell them to be careful when they go outside and not play near the road. They always say “yah, yah we know.” It’s not until they almost get run over that they remember the words we told them.

A. Can you imagine the look on all those Jewish faces when they finally realize that God knew beforehand that they would kill the Christ? Acts 2:23-24 – “This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him”. [para]

1. They should have remembered what God said in Genesis. Genesis 3:15 – “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” If these Jews, who were God’s people, who were so spiritual in their thinking, and who knew and understood God’s word so well; I wonder if they would remember that the Messiah was to be killed and then raised back to life?

2. I wonder if they remembered Isaiah’s words concerning what would happen when the Messiah came? Isaiah 53:6-12 – “6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not his mouth. 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9. And they made His grave with the wicked but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11. He shall see the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. by His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. 12. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

3. I wonder also if they would have remembered David’s words from Psalm 16:8-11 when Peter quoted them in Acts 2:25-28 – “For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh will also rest in hope, because You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; you will make me full of joy in Your presence.” I wonder if they realized that David was speaking about the Messiah.

B. There is no doubt that this passage from the Old Testament, prophesies a resurrection of someone. We know that because it is only by a resurrection that one could descend into the grave and not see decay. Who is David speaking about? We know that Jesus died. We know that His body was laid in a tomb that was given by Joseph of Arimathea.

1. We also know is that His spirit went to paradise. When Jesus was on the cross and the two thieves were at either side of Him, Jesus said to one of them in Luke 23:43-46 – “... "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.'' And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commend My spirit.' '' And having said this, He breathed His last.” It’s plain to see that Jesus trusted the Father to reunite His soul with His resurrected body in a powerful display intended to leave no doubt as to the true identity of Jesus of Nazareth.

2. Peter’s point is that David wasn’t speaking about himself. That’s why he mentions that David’s body saw decay and was still in its grave in the very city of Jerusalem where Peter spoke. Acts 2:29-32 – “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. "Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”

3. Peter is saying, that David knew when he wrote of God's Holy One he was not speaking of himself but, through the voice of prophecy, was speaking of the promised King who would arise from among his offspring. Peter and the eleven who stood with him were witnesses of the very resurrection David had foretold. They had seen Jesus in His resurrected body.

C. If anyone could testify that Jesus Christ was now seated on His throne in heaven it was Peter. How could he testify to this? How could he prove that Jesus is seated at God’s right side? The proof was the Holy Spirit’s arrival. Remember what Jesus said to His disciples in John 16?

1. I’ll paraphrase what He said to them in John 16:5-15 – "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' -- Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”

2. Peter says to those listening; do you want help to understand what has happened here today? Do you remember the great prophet, Joel? Do you remember one of the greatest kings of our history, David?

D. There was a man who was in a championship fight and he was getting beat up pretty good, his eyes were puffy, his lip was cut and his cheeks were swollen. He staggered over to his trainer at the end of the round and said, "throw in the towel man, I'm getting killed out there". His trainer, trying to encourage him said, "Oh, no, you're doing great, that guy is not laying a glove on you." The boxer looked up past his bloody nose and said, "Well, would you keep your eye on the referee then because somebody out there is hitting me."

1. Peter was hitting these Jews from all sides with:
• The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
• The miraculous events of Acts 2:1-11 speaking in different tongues.
• The words of the prophet Joel.
• The words of the king and prophet David.

2. Peter was spelling it out to them and Peter wasn’t finished just yet. He had more to say concerning King David.

3. He says to the Jews, quoting more words of David from Psalm 110:1 in Acts 2:33-35 – “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool. '”

E. In other words the Jews had to realize that there was a new King in town and that this new King was also Lord over David. He too was to rule from a throne, not on earth, but in heaven. Peter says, Jesus is Master and King now.

1. Just in case they thought Peter was the one giving out all this authority, he says in Acts 2:36 – “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

2. Peter put them in their place and cut their legs out from under them. Peter left the Jews speechless.

IV. Folks, that’s a very powerful lesson for us. Whenever you get into a religious discussion with anybody, let the Scriptures speak for themselves. Don’t start talking about the Bible unless you know what you’re talking about. Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.

A. If you’re adding your opinion and you’re not sure what a passage of Scripture means, be honest and tell them that. If you know and fully understand any passage of Scripture then back it up with more Scripture. When you point out Scripture, let the Bible speak for itself and you too will leave those who are arguing or debating with you—speechless.

1. Peter was being a in your face kind of guy when it came to preaching Jesus Christ, the very One they had crucified. He says, This Jesus has now been placed by God in the position of authority.

2. Next Peter is going to tell us that if anyone wishes to come to the Father then they are going to have to yield to Him.

CONCLUSION:
The Jews had no response. Peter had opened up two separate prophecies of David before their very eyes. He has presented the testimony of reliable witnesses who had seen the resurrected Lord. He had called his listeners' attention to the unique events of the day which had to have originated from heaven itself through the workings of God's Spirit.

A woman was visiting her husband’s grave, but when she was walking through the graveyard she saw a tombstone that read: "Here lies John Kelly, a lawyer and an honest man." "How about that!" she exclaimed. "They've got three people buried in one grave."

Peter could look out of the temple area into Jerusalem and say to the Jews, ‘Look there lays King David, a faithful and devout follower of God.’ Dig his grave up and you will find his remains.

However the one reason the Jews couldn’t argue with Peter is because Jesus' tomb no longer contained Jesus' remains. If it had, then surely they would have argued the case. The Jews would have said, ‘you see, this Jesus’ body is still here just like David’s’. They didn’t because they couldn’t. Peter presented very powerful evidence of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Someone once wrote and asked Emily Post, the good manners expert of another generation; "What is the correct procedure when one is invited to the White House but has a previous engagement?" They got a reply saying, "An invitation to dine at the White House is a command, and it automatically cancels any other engagement."

Folks, Jesus is Lord, whether people want to confess that or not. When people receive an invitation to come and join Him in baptism, we need to remember that baptism is a command from the King and that invitation automatically cancels all other engagements.

We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word, believe in Jesus, repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon: Mike Glover

Baptism Of The Holy Spirit

Baptism Of The Holy Spirit
Acts 2:1-16

INTRO: Good morning. In our study of the Books of Acts the last time, we were in Acts 1:4-26, we were talking about the days immediately following the crucifixion. This morning we will be going on to Acts 2 verses 1-16 and in general I will be using the NKJV. First though I’d like to tell a story.

Three religious men of different faiths decided to combine their efforts one day to help their community. Each one made a sign and positioned himself alongside a state highway.

Soon a car came speeding towards them, and the first guy held up his sign for the driver to read, it said, ‘Turn Around, You Are Going the Wrong Way!’ The driver barely glanced at him as he sped on by toward the next person.

The next man raised his sign, which said, ‘The End is Near!’ The driver shouts back, ‘Religious nuts!’ and drove toward the last man who had a sign that said, ‘Give Heed, Lest You Die!’. The driver laughed as he passed and shouted, ‘You guys are too much!’

Suddenly there was the sound of screeching tires on the road, the twisting of metal and then everything went quiet. The three religious men thought about what had happened and agreed that they needed a new sign, which would read, ‘Stop! The bridge has collapsed’.

I. The last time we were together we saw that God, through His prophets had given signs that His kingdom was to be established with the coming of the Messiah. We saw that Jesus said, ‘thy kingdom come’, and today we’re going to see that ‘thy kingdom came’.

A. What was going to be the sign that the kingdom had come? Jesus said in Mark 9:1 – “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” Jesus says they’ll know the kingdom has come because they’ll witness its power. That word ‘power’ is the Greek word ‘dynamis’ (δύναμις) and it means mighty work, miraculous power. In other words, everyone will know His kingdom has come because it will be accompanied by miraculous power.

B. A little later when Jesus is speaking to His disciples, He tells them in Luke 24:49 – “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” Here we see the promise of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Notice again that Jesus told the apostles to wait in the city until they had been clothed with power.

C. As we entered Acts 1, we saw that the apostles are still thinking physically and looking for a physical kingdom. They ask Jesus in Acts 1:6-8 – “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'' And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.''”

1. I notice Jesus says, the kingdom will come with power.
2. Stay in Jerusalem until you’ve been clothed with that power.
3. You will receive that power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.

D. Did that time come?

II. Yes, the event came in a powerful way. Let’s read Acts 2:1-4 – “ Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

A. What do we know about the setting of these verses? Well, the day of Pentecost was a Jewish feast, which was celebrated 50 days after Passover.

1. Pilgrims had come to Jerusalem from all over to celebrate the event.
2. It was a very busy time of the year, so busy in fact that Jewish history records the temple was open 24 hours a day to allow those people who arrived in the early hours of the morning to bring their sacrifices to the Lord.

B. What happened? It was on that day that the apostles, who were filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke in different languages.

1. This signaled the arrival of God’s new kingdom.
2. The kingdom that Daniel prophesied about.

C. When I read these things my active imagination kicks in and I can just imagine being there and witnessing this.

1. Thinking in today’s terms I imagine the local reporters writing articles in the local newspaper. I know, not realistic but this is my imagination.
2. The ‘Jerusalem Times’ has on its front page, ‘apostles drunken house party literally shakes the house.’
3. I can imagine, on the front page of the ‘Temple News’, ‘alcohol-fueled apostles speak languages they’ve never learned or studied’.
4. Imagine the guy at the newspaper stand at the temple gates shouting, ‘Read all about it! Read all about! The drunken apostles claim that God’s kingdom has come!’
5. As I said not realistic or even sensible - but we realize how this must have affected the people there.

D. It’s at this point, when everyone is amazed and perplexed, that Peter explains what’s going on. Acts 2:14-16 – “ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. "For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:” Peter says “no, we’re not drunk.”

1. He says “We all know that on a festival like Pentecost, none of us Jews would ever eat or drink anything until after 9:00 a.m.”
2. Peter tells them, “No, this is exactly what the prophet Joel said would happen when God’s kingdom came. This is the power that Jesus spoke to us about, the power of the Holy Spirit.”

III. Just in case Peter’s audience forgot about whom “Jesus” was, He goes on to remind them and I paraphrase. Acts 2:22-24 – “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

A. We all have read about the many miraculous things Jesus did in the Gospels, whether it be healing the lame, restoring people’s sight, or even raising people from the dead.

1. Peter said, these men had witnessed these things. They know full well what Jesus did. The proof that God was with Him was in those miracles, wonders, and signs.
2. His death on a cross was all a part of God’s plan from the beginning. The good news is, despite being crucified and buried, He rose again because God gave Him the power to do so.

B. Peter in verse 25 reminds them of what David said; - “For David says concerning Him: 'I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh will also rest in hope, because You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”

1. Peter is quoting from Psalm 16 and I paraphrase Psalm 16:8-11 – “I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
2. David prophesied about the resurrection of Jesus, but David died and was buried. Peters says, you want proof that Jesus rose from the dead? Go and visit David’s tomb. It’s still there and if you were to open up his grave you will find his remains.
3. If you go to the place where Jesus was buried, you’ll find no remains. Why? Because He’s risen.
4. In other words, as much as David was still dead, Jesus was still alive.

C. Peter continues and says in Acts 2:36 – “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

1. The name “Jesus” was very common in Biblical times and Peter doesn’t want anyone to think about any other Jesus than ‘this Jesus’.
2. Peter proclaimed that God had made this Jesus, the One whom the Jews had crucified, Lord of all things. He was the anointed One, the Messiah of the Jews. He was the Messiah for which all Israel had been waiting for—for centuries.

D. Can you imagine being told that you murdered the very person your nation has been waiting for? Now I imagine someone hawking a paper in the temple court selling the ‘big issue’ shouting, ‘Read all about it! Read all about! The apostles charge us with murdering our very own Messiah!’

1. Imagine what was going through their minds! We’ve just killed the Messiah! We’ve just murdered this Jesus who was God in the flesh! The Creator and Sustainer of the universe, the Author and Perfector of our faith!
2. We’ve just killed the very person God spoke about as the head crusher in Genesis 3:15! We’ve just murdered the very person the Old Testament prophets spoke about coming!

E. Folks, it is hard for me to think about what was going through their minds. I can believe that panic was setting in because of the reality of what they did. We see their reaction in the next verse.

1. Acts 2:37 – “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?''”
2. Those words, ‘cut to the heart’ is the Greek, ‘katanýssō’, (kat-an-oos'-so) and it means to pierce thoroughly, to agitate violently. (Strong G3572). In other words, when the realization of what they did, thoroughly hit home, they were pained in their hearts, they panicked and asked, “What shall we do?”
3. In effect, they’re asking, what can we do to make things right? How can we be right with God after doing this? I can imagine them thinking there would be thunder and lightning and the earth was going to open up and swallow them. I can imagine them thinking that God Himself was going to appear from the clouds and wipe them off the face of the earth.

IV. We can imagine them nervously asking Peter, “What shall we do?” Acts 2:38-39 – “Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.''”

A. Now imagine the first response to Peter’s words in their minds? Peter, we’ve admitted that we crucified this Jesus. We know we’re guilty of killing the Messiah, we understand that we murdered God in the flesh and you’re talking about forgiveness!

1. How can this be?
2. Are you telling us all we have to do is repent and be baptized in the Name of the very person we crucified to be forgiven?
3. Peter says, yes, it’s that simple, just think differently about your life and turn to Jesus. Just do spiritually what Jesus did physically. Die with Him in baptism. Be buried with Him in baptism and rise again to a new life—with Him.

B. I can imagine them saying, but Peter we crucified the Lord and Messiah and you’re talking about God giving us a gift!

1. Peter describes to them something that seems so simple; when you are baptized God will give you a piece of Himself to help you live a life worthy of being called a follower of Jesus.
2. They might have wondered how is all this possible? All of this is possible because Jesus died for us, He was buried but He rose again.

C. Now again my imagination of the local reporters on the scene, listening to this conversation, and taking pictures. The ‘Jerusalem Times’ on its front page, has a picture of these Jews crying, with the headline, ‘God offers forgiveness to anyone who admits they are sinners and is baptized.’ On the front page of the ‘Temple News’, it reads ‘Jews overcome with joy as God offers a gift to anyone who is baptized’.

D. You see, God’s kingdom came and it came in a powerfully miraculous way. Luke, the writer of Acts, continues in Acts 2:40-41 – “And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation.'' Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”

1. Jesus said, ‘thy kingdom come’.
2. After He died, was buried and rose again, His kingdom came.
a. The church was born and it was made up of people who had been born again.
b. On that day 3000 souls were spiritually born again and added to the spiritual kingdom of God.

E. I was curious about that number 3000. In Exodus 32 when Moses and Joshua were up on the mountain, they came back down to discover that Aaron had organized the building of a golden calf. God was furious, as was Moses and we pick up the story in Exodus 32:25-28 – “25. Now when Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them, to their shame among their enemies), 26. then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, "Whoever is on the Lord's side, come to me.'' And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. 27. And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.' '' 28. So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day.”

1. When the Old Testament law was introduced it immediately brought death, 3000 souls died on that day.
2. When the New Testament law is introduced it brought grace, and 3000 souls were saved that day.
3. That’s why John said in John 1:16-17 – “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

V. I wonder, do you remember the day your sins were forgiven and you received the gift of the Holy Spirit? I remember that day well. It was full of mixed emotions. I felt the guilt in the realization that I was a sinner and Jesus died for my sins. I was also feeling overjoyed and amazed that God would forgive me and offer me a gift despite my past.

A. I went down into the waters of baptism as a sinner, as a nobody... but came up out of those waters of baptism as somebody, a child of God, a Christian.

1. The story is told that Martin Luther when he was depressed or feeling worried about his life would often recall in Latin the words, ‘Baptizatus sum’, which means ‘I have been baptized!’ It was a reminder to himself of who he was and Whose he was.
2. You’re not part of a church named after the day on which the church was born. You’re a part of the church adjectively named after the One who died for His church.

B. Do you realize that you’re a part of the greatest living organism on Earth, where Christ is King and ruler over everything? You’re a Christian, one who is possessed by God and you’re a part of His kingdom.

1. You’re a part of that Kingdom which Daniel and other Old Testament prophets spoke about. You’re a part of that church that Jesus told Peter He would build.
2. I know that life can get tough at times and that enthusiasm we had in the beginning just seems to fade away. I would like to encourage everyone listening who is a Christian to think of your baptism when you’re going through difficult times. Remind yourself of who you are, to Whom you belong, and where you live.

C. Too many times when life gets tough or we go through some trial, we beat ourselves up to the point of thinking that God has abandoned us and we’ve lost our salvation. Nothing is further from the truth. Romans 5:8-10 – “... God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life!”

1. Notice the phrase, ‘much more’, our salvation isn’t based on our ability to be good or better ourselves. Our salvation is based on Jesus and what He did for each of us.
2. We’re not going to heaven because we perform so well here, we’re going to heaven because Jesus performed like no man ever could on Calvary.

VI. Do we believe that God, with the motive of love, He who sent His Son to die for us—would love us less now that we’ve obeyed the Gospel and we’re trying our best to please Him?

A. Ask this, did we do anything to save ourselves? I would suggest the answer is both “yes” and “no”.

1. Yes, because Peter said in Acts 2:40 – “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
2. How did we save ourselves? We go back to the question the Jews asked Peter, in Acts 2:37 – “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” The word ‘do’ implies an action, something to be done.

B. We did do something to save ourselves but at the same time we didn’t do anything to save ourselves because Jesus did it all for us. In other words, because of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, He made it possible for us to save ourselves through obedience. That’s what grace does. Grace opens the door for us to enter so that we can be saved. The hymn says; “He who died, Heaven’s gate to open wide”.

C. If someone were to tell you they had a brand-new house built for you just outside London England, and it’s their gift to you no strings attached, but for you to own it, you must go to the house following their instructions.

1. To get to that house they tell you that you must get on a plane, a train, a bus and a taxi, or they can’t give you this gift.
2. Imagine you accepted their gift and you got on a plane, a train, a bus and a taxi to where the house is located just outside the city of London.
3. Did you earn that gift? No, it was their gift to give. Ah, but did you have to do anything to receive that gift? Of course, you had to get on a plane, a train, a bus and a taxi to reach the meeting place at the house.
4. Would they have given you the gift if you only used a plane, a train, and a taxi? No! Why is that? Because their instructions were for you to use a plane, a train, a bus and a taxi.

D. My point is this, salvation is free but we must do something to receive it.

1. The Bible never says simply believe in Jesus and you’ll be saved.
2. The Bible nowhere teaches that you say the ‘sinner’s prayer’ and you’ll be saved.
3. To receive salvation, we have to follow the instructions God has given us.

a. The Bible says we must have faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
b. We must repent and turn to God.
c. We must acknowledge our faith in Christ Jesus.
d. The Bible says you must be baptized in water to receive the forgiveness of your sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

4. Peter tells them, this is what you need to do to enter God’s kingdom, the church.

CONCLUSION:
If you’re not a Christian this morning, you might be thinking, ‘well I didn’t crucify Jesus’, I wasn’t there.’ There was an unknown hymn writer who asked that very question for everyone, Christian or not to answer for themselves. I’m fairly sure most people here have heard the hymn “Were You There”. You know how it goes;
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
All through this song, there is a series of questions but the answer is never given. It’s never said, but it’s implied with the words, ‘sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.’

It certainly caused those to whom Peter was speaking ‘to tremble, tremble, tremble’ because they asked the question, in Acts 2:37 – “what shall we do?”

If you accept that you’re a sinner, maybe you too will ‘tremble, tremble, tremble’ because you’ll realize that Jesus died for you because of the sins you’ve committed in your life.

The promise of forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit isn’t restricted to just those who were there present on the Day of Pentecost. Peter says in Acts 2:39 – “For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” Forgiveness is still available today because Jesus did die, He was buried and He rose again. The gift of the Holy Spirit is still available today because He did die, He was buried and He rose again.

When we realize and accept that we’re sinners and acknowledge the terrible death Jesus went through for us, it should prompt us to ask the question, what must we do?

Let me sum up Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 with four verses from 1 Corinthians 15.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 – “1. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2. by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. 3. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4. and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”

Peter preached the simple Gospel message, he spoke about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus just as the Old Testament Scriptures foretold. Paul says, if you believe this Gospel and hold onto that good news, you will be saved.

If you’re not a Christian this morning, then please know that you too can become a part of this amazing spiritual kingdom of God. You too can have all your sins forgiven, every evil thought you’ve ever had, every evil deed you’ve ever done will be wiped clean.

God knows how difficult it will be to live the Christian life and so He promises to give you at your baptism a piece of Himself to help you along the way. You simply have to follow the instructions given in God’s Word and when you do, the angels in heaven will write in the ‘Eternal Herald’, ‘Rejoice with us, another sinner has repented and given their life over to this Jesus.’

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

Reference Sermon: Mike Glover

Thy Kingdom Come

Thy Kingdom Come
Acts 1:4-26

INTRO: Good morning. This morning we will continue in our study of the Book of Acts. Last week we discovered that this Book is really about Jesus.

I want to start by telling you a story I heard.
There was a couple who after spending a lovely evening out together came home to their children whom they had left in the care of a babysitter. They had a great night out together and were very pleased to find the kids fast asleep in their own beds.

The babysitter was about to walk out the front door when she said to the proud parents, "By the way, I promised Johnny that if he would stay in bed, you would buy him a pony in the morning."
I guess the point of the story is, don’t promise something you can’t fulfill.

Luke continues with the theme of Jesus, and he is now focusing on the days following Jesus’ resurrection. We know that Jesus appeared to His apostles on several different occasions.

Luke mentions one of those times in Acts 1:4 - “And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which,'' He said, "you have heard from Me;”

Luke tells us of Jesus appearing to some of the disciples in Luke 24:36-43 – “36. Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you.'' 37. But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38. And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39. "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.'' 40. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?'' 42. So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43. And He took it and ate in their presence.”

I. Of course Jesus eating with His disciples isn’t the point I’m trying to make. The point is that Jesus never promises something which He does not intend to fulfill. Luke is telling us that Jesus instructed His disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the Father's promise, about which He had told them, came to be fulfilled.

A. What was that promise? The promise is the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, or Helper. Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:15-18 – “15. "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16. "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, 17. "even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18. "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” I find that I must note here the phrase “another Helper” or as some translations have it “another Comforter”. It is the adjective allos (ä'l-los) meaning “another” which connects the Helper to Christ.

B. In Mark 1:4 we read; “John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.” John goes on and says that the time was coming when they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

1. Mark says in Mark 1:7-8 in speaking of John; “And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. "I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.''”
2. In Acts 1:5 Luke continues quoting Jesus where He says – “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
3. I don’t want to go into too much detail in this sermon about being baptized with the Holy Spirit but I will say this, in Acts 2:1-4 we find the fulfillment of that promise of Jesus that the apostles are baptized with the Holy Spirit.

II. At this time I would like for us to turn our attention to the Kingdom of God.

A. Have you ever been told something when you were a child and it wasn’t until later in your life you found it wasn’t true? For example have you ever heard these sayings?

a. If you break a mirror you will have 7 years bad luck.
b. The Easter bunny hides eggs around your house for you to find.
c. It is bad luck for a black cat to cross your path.
d. If you step on a crack you will break your mothers’ back.
e. If your upper lip itches you are going to kiss a fool.
f. If your nose itches you are about to have a visitor.

B. I don’t know where these concepts originally came from but I do know that many people still believe these things today. In our life we develop many concepts that are sometimes difficult to change. The reason I mention this is because the Jews were much the same in their thinking.

1. Whenever they talked about God’s kingdom they would have a different idea from what God had in mind.
2. In the days of Daniel, God prophesied through him that a kingdom would come. When Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he talks about kings and their kingdoms which are to come. He says in Daniel 2:44 – “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

C. The apostles, like many Jews, thought that Jesus was going to establish a physical kingdom here on earth. They believed it would be an earthly kingdom that would conquer all of its enemies. They were itching to know when this great earthly kingdom was going to be established. When Jesus faced Pilate in John 18, Jesus said to him at verse 36, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” Time and time again Jesus had to tell people that His kingdom was not an earthly kingdom but a spiritual kingdom.

D. Have you ever been longing for an event to happen in your life? Perhaps you looked forward to graduation day or your 16th birthday or your 21st birthday? Maybe you’re waiting for a visit from someone you know and love and you just can’t wait until that person arrives. Or maybe you’re waiting for a call from the doctor to tell you the results of some test that you’ve had taken, so that you can get on with the rest of your life.

1. The disciples were the same. They wanted to get on with God’s work. Luke tells us in Acts 1:6-7 – “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?'' And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.” They just did not fully understand yet what God’s plan was.
2. One of the biggest lessons we can learn as Christians is that we are working on God’s timetable—not ours. Maybe some of you are being a taught a lesson from God right now on patience. I know I am.
3. Maybe your longing for the day the congregation grows here at Chardon. Maybe you’re longing for a loved one or friends and family to become Christians. We’re all working on God’s timetable.
4. The Book of Ecclesiastes has a lot to say about God’s timetable. I’m sure we all know these verses. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – “1. To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: 2. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; 3. a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4. a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5. a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6. a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; 7. a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8. a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”

E. The disciples had to learn patience concerning the arrival of God’s kingdom. At the same time, it was also important for them to know and understand what Jesus promised them. They were to receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and it was going to happen in God’s time not theirs. It was only when the Holy Spirit came and they received His guidance that they could get on with the work that God had planned for them to do. They were to be patient but notice Jesus doesn’t leave them in the dark about what is going happen to them.

1. He tells them what they have to do when the Spirit arrives. Acts 1:8 – “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jesus tells them to stay in Jerusalem until “you receive power from on high but once you have that power, I want you to tell people all over Jerusalem about me, go to Judea and go to Samaria and finally I want the gospel of Christ to go all over the world”.
2. That is a real lesson for all of us. We can’t just sit back in our comfort zones expecting God to send people to our meetings. We need to be out there and witnessing for Christ. I know these days we may not be able to be “out there” physically but remember witnessing is not something you do, witnessing is what you are. Every time you open your mouth, every time you speak to your friends and family, every time you’re faced with problems, you are witnessing for Christ.

F. There was a little boy who went to Sunday school for the first time and his mother said, "What was it like? Who was your teacher?" The little boy said, "I don't know. I think it must have been Jesus' grandmother because He’s all she talked about."

1. That’s you folks, that’s me, that’s every one of us. Most people don’t read the Bible. They read our lives.
2. When people look at our lives and listen to us talking we are witnessing for Christ and when people see us living our lives they should see Christ living there.
3. Peter says in 1 Peter 2:21 – “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps”.

III. The disciples should have already been aware of what was going to happen. Time and time again Jesus spoke to them about things which was about to happen... and they were fulfilled.

A. Jesus ascending into heaven is one of those predictions. Acts 1:9-11 – “9. Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11. who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.''”

1. This is the fulfillment of the Lord's own prediction when He asked his disciples in John 6:62 – “What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?”
2. Having issued these final instructions, Jesus began to bless the apostles according to Luke 24:50-51 – “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.”
3. Before Jesus came to earth, He was with the Father in Heaven. The apostles saw Him begin His ascent back to the throne. Can you imagine being there when Jesus was taken up into heaven? I can visualize the apostles standing there with their mouths wide open, looking up into the clouds where they had last seen the Savior. What a sight that must have been!
4. While they were looking, Luke tells us in Acts 1:10-11- “ And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.''”

B. We are not specifically told but most believe these were angels and let me explain why. Just after the resurrection of Jesus, Matthew records in Matthew 28:2-4 – “ And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.”

1. Luke in his gospel records Luke 24:4- “And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.”
2. John in his account of the resurrection says in John 20:10-12 – “ Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” From this it seems very likely the two "men" who Luke says stood by the apostles are angels who appeared in the form of men.

IV. I mentioned earlier about patience and I believe the apostles give us an example of what to do while patiently waiting. Those who had seen Jesus ascend went into the city of Jerusalem. Their time of waiting wasn’t a sorrowful time. It was a time of joy.

A. Straight after Jesus is taken up into heaven Luke tells us in Luke 24:52-53 – “ And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.” This tells me that the time of sorrow following the crucifixion of Jesus was over... and now the apostles realized the events they had witnessed were a reason for rejoicing.

B. Back in Acts 1:12-14 – “12. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. 13. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. 14. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

1. When a woman becomes pregnant, if she goes full term, will carry that baby for about 9 months. What are the parents doing during this time? They don’t just hang around for 9 months and wait for the baby to be born. They get organized. They prepare the nursery; get food and diapers, toys and medicine.
2. What do we do today while we wait for God’s timetable? We do what these eleven did. We do what Mary, the Lord's mother did. We do what Jesus’ brothers did. We do what these other unidentified disciples were constantly found doing.
3. We wait patiently and we prepare. We prepare by presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. We prepare by transforming our minds, learning what is good and acceptable. We prepare by teaching others through our words and our example.
4. The disciples prepared themselves for what was about to happen with prayer as they waited on the promised comforter. We prepare ourselves as we wait for Jesus return.

V. It was sometime during that period of waiting, that Peter addressed a group of about 120 disciples to find a replacement for Judas. Acts 1:15-19 – “15. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, 16. "Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17. "for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.'' 18. (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)”

A. I wondered why Judas had to be replaced. Perhaps it’s simply because Judas had been numbered with them and had a part in the ministry the Lord had given to the apostles.

1. If you ever go to Scotland and mention the Battle of Bannockburn and the name William Wallace people will know exactly what you are talking about and what he did.
2. If you go anywhere in England and mention the year 1066 and the Battle of Hastings and the name King Harold II of England, people will know exactly what you are talking about and what he did.
3. If you go anywhere in the United States and mention Abraham Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address people will know exactly what you are talking about and what he did.
4. During the days of Jesus, if you mentioned the place Field of Blood and the name Judas Iscariot people would know exactly who and what you were talking about. Remember after realizing what he had done, Judas threw the thirty pieces of silver down in the temple and went out and hanged himself.
5. Judas was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. The chief priests did not want to put the blood money in the treasury, so they purchased the field in which to bury strangers as Matthew tells us in Matthew 27:10. Everybody in that group who Peter addresses would have been acquainted with the facts surrounding Judas' death and the purchase of the Field of Blood.

B. Quoting from Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8, Peter told those who were gathered that the Holy Spirit, through David, had said the surroundings of Judas, would become desolate and another would be chosen to take his office.

1. Acts 1:20 – “"For”, said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms: 'Let his habitation be desolate, and let no one live in it'; and, 'Let another take his office.'”
2. To choose someone to take Judas’ place, they couldn’t just choose their best friend or someone who appeared to be spiritually mature.

C. The person they selected had to meet a certain criteria.

1. Acts 1:21-22 – “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
2. Whoever they were going to choose had to have been with the Lord from the time that John baptized Jesus, right up to the ascension of Jesus. They would especially need to have witnessed His resurrection.

D. Luke tells us in Acts 1:23 – “And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.” Folks, here is another important point for us to recognize. Peter sets out the physical requirements for who is going to replace Judas but ultimately it is God who knows best.

1. We can read of this in 2 Chronicles 6:30 – “then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men),”
2. They addressed a prayer to the One who knows people’s hearts better than any of us ever will as we see in Acts 1:24-26 – “ And they prayed and said, "You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.'' And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

E. When we are faced with tough decisions in life, God needs to be our first protocol. When we pray for God to help us with any decision in life, we are doing two things.

1. First of all, you are inviting God to look into your heart and the hearts of others you are praying for because you know that He knows everyone’s hearts better than we do.
2. Second, when you pray, you are expressing complete dependence upon God to help you make the right decision.

F. That’s what these disciples were doing in the upper room. They were acknowledging their own inability to see into the inward thoughts of others and they were expressing complete dependence upon God for making a correct decision.

1. As I think on this I realize that they asked the Ruler of the Universe to guide the selection process so that the right man would be chosen. Matthias was that man. God chose Matthias to do His work at that time like He chose you and me to do His work in this time on earth.
2. That thought reminds me of 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 – “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

CONCLUSION:
Those of you who are not Christians this morning can be assured of this; God is calling you today also.
As the hymn writer Fanny J. Crosby writes, “Jesus is waiting, O come to Him now, waiting today, waiting today, Come with thy sins, at His feet lowly bow, come and no longer delay. Calling today, calling today, Jesus is tenderly calling, is tenderly calling today.”

The stage was set folks and God’s timetable was about to come upon them.
Remember when Jesus taught His disciples how to pray?
He said in Matthew 6:10 – “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We don’t need to rehearse that prayer like some religious groups do today because as we are going to see next time, God’s kingdom has already come.

Jesus’ spiritual kingdom is about to come in Acts 2 and it is going to be established and His promise to His disciples of the Holy Spirit is about to be fulfilled.
May we always go to God in prayer for all the decisions we make in life and may He give us the patience we need to rely on His timetable while we await for answered prayers.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

# 637 – “Will Jesus Find Us Watching”

Reference Sermon: Mike Glover

It’s all about Jesus

It’s all about Jesus
Acts 1:1-3

INTRO: Good morning. What I would like to do this morning is start a walk with you through the Book of Acts. If the Lord is willing we will continue this walk throughout the quarter. I selected Acts because it speaks so much about the beginning of the church. I’m sure we all realize that this will take a number of lessons. We have possibly all read through Acts more then once and probably heard many sermons taken from this wonderful book. There is much to learn here and in a very real sense what we are going to see in looking at the book of Acts are things which are relevant for us today as a small congregation.

I’m going to begin though, by reading Proverbs 4:13 – “Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life.”

In April of 2011, a line of deadly tornadoes ripped across the state of Alabama, leaving some 250 people dead in its wake. Near Wellington, Alabama, the Hardy family realized the storm was coming too late to find a permanent shelter. They considered trying to take shelter in a metal clubhouse, but it had already been turned on its side by the strong winds. So in desperation, they took shelter in a small stand of trees. They tied a rope around the children and huddled around them in the trees as the storm passed. A family member said that while they had been scratched by flying dirt and debris, none suffered any serious injuries.

I want you to imagine how tightly you would cling to the rope in such a situation. Knowing that your life or the life of your child might depend on your grip would give you all the motivation you needed to hang on with every ounce of power you could muster!

Although there are no warning sirens or news alerts, each of us is living in the path of destructive storms. There are temptations and destructive philosophies abounding around us, and if we do not have a secure place of protection, we will be destroyed.
Because the Word of God is so readily available to us, we often take it for granted rather than treasuring it as the precious resource it is. When you view the Bible as a lifeline designed to keep you safe through the storms of life, you begin to take it more seriously. One of the great teaching books in the bible to equip us to face these storms is the Book of Acts.

We’re going to begin by reading Acts 1:1-3 – “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”[NKJV]

I. Most Biblical scholars will agree that the Book of Acts was likely written by Luke.
Luke begins by saying, “In my former Book” as the NIV puts it. In other words, he’s going to get our minds focused back to his gospel account of Jesus Christ.

A. Who is Luke? Luke is a doctor or a physician as some translations have it. We know this because Paul tells us.

1. After writing to the church at Colossae, Paul when he closes his letter to them, tells us in Colossians 4:14 – “Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.”
2. When we read Luke’s gospel account we can see that he had a very special interest in sick people and their diseases. It is Luke who records Jesus’ healing of Simon’s mother-in-law who had a high fever in Luke 4:38-39. It is also Luke who records Jesus’ healing of the man who was covered with leprosy in Luke 5:12. It is Luke who records Jesus’ healing of the man with the shriveled right hand in Luke 6:6.
3. The list could go on and on but the point is that Luke took a special interest in the health of people because he was a physician.

B. We also know that Luke was a great companion of Paul as Paul tells us in Philemon 24 and 2 Timothy 4:9-12 where Paul tells Timothy; “Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica, Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.” Luke is the author of the Book of Acts. He was a doctor and worked very closely with the apostle Paul.

1. Do you remember in Acts 16 after Paul received a vision from God about a man in Macedonia who wanted Paul to go over and help? The Bible says in Acts 16:10 – “10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.” The ‘we’ and the ‘us’ in that verse are referring to Luke and Paul.
2. I don’t want to quote all the scriptures in the Book of Acts which refer to Luke and Paul because I want us to take a look at someone else.

II. When reading any letter we not only need to understand who wrote it but we also should observe to whom it was written, and in Acts 1:1 we find it is written to someone named Theophilus.

A. Who is Theophilus? His name means ‘one who loves God’ but when Luke writes his gospel, Luke addresses him in Luke 1:3 as ‘most excellent Theophilus’.

1. I found this interesting because when we look at other people in the Bible with the title "most excellent," or in some cases translated as “most noble”, they are usually people who are a part of the Roman government.
2. Luke addresses the Roman governor Felix this way in Acts 24:3. When the apostle Paul was standing in front of Festus, giving his testimony, Paul addresses Festus and calls him ‘most excellent Festus’ in Acts 26:25.
3. Since Luke addresses Theophilus as ‘Most excellent’ it suggests that he has a position of high ranking of some sort.

B. I don’t know about you but I still love receiving mail in my mail box. Well letters anyway, bills not so much. When I look at a letter I can tell who it is addressed to and who it is from, but it’s not until I actually read the letter that I find out what it’s about. So far we know it was Luke who wrote this letter and he wrote it to man named Theophilus but we also need to ask ourselves why it was written.

III. Luke begins his Letter by writing in Acts 1:1 – “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,”. The beloved physician, as Paul describes him, seems to have thought of Acts as a continuation of his account of the works and words of Jesus Christ.

A. We live in a society today where many people think that the ‘church’ is a place you go to on Sunday mornings to worship God.

1. Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:24 that the church is the body of Christ. We’re all a part of the body of Christ which is the ‘church’. When Saul of Tarsus was going around persecuting the ‘church’, Jesus asked him in Acts 9:4 - "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" In a very real sense then, the works of the church could be described as the works of Christ.
2. The point is this, Luke wrote the letter of Acts because it gives his readers an overview of the workings of Jesus for the thirty years following His resurrection. In other words the Book of Acts lets us see the fulfillment of Jesus’ coming in the first place.

B. In Luke 19 Jesus tells Zacchaeus (zah-KEE-us) the very reason why He came to earth. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 – "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost". We discover as we go through this letter of Luke’s, a detailed and pictured account of that happening. Let me tell you about two guys who were out walking their dogs one day and one says to the other, “Look at that forest over there.” His friend said, “What forest? I can’t see anything but trees!”

1. We can’t read through the Book of Acts and not see Jesus saving people. We can’t miss seeing some people choosing to remain lost in their sins. On the Day of Pentecost for example we read in Acts 2:41 that Jesus saved 3000 souls from their sins. In Acts 2:47 we read about even more souls being saved by Jesus.
2. These figures also tell us that many more people decided to remain dead in their sins. We are not told how many but the language implies there were more souls who rejected Peter’s message and chose to remain in sin.
3. Another example is found in Acts 4:1-4 - “The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.” [para]
4. 5000 souls were added to the Lord’s church that day but how many chose to remain in their sins? We just don’t know.

C. The Book of Acts not only shows us many people choosing to reject the gospel and so remain in their sins, but the Book also shows us many people responding in humble obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What we see is a picture of Jesus seeking and saving the lost by the Holy Spirit’s working through the apostles.

IV. I wonder, do you notice anything significant about Acts 1:1? He says, “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” Luke begins by telling us about the things which Jesus did first, and then he mentions the things that Jesus said. It is significant to me that he would mention actions first, and then words.

A. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:21-22 – “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: "Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth'';” Unlike those of us who sin, Jesus' actions were consistent with His preaching. Not only were they consistent with His preaching they underlined His teachings. In other words, Jesus preached what He practiced. His actions and His words were completed on the day He ascended into the heavens to be seated on the right hand of the Father. What Luke is doing here following the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is setting the stage for the rest of the Book of Acts.

1. Many people have computers today. Anyone who has ever used a spell checker on a computer or smart phone has seen some of the insane recommendations a spell checker will make for seemingly common words that, for some reason, were not included in the checker's dictionary.
2. Let me give an example. A Lutheran Bishop, James Rave, was writing a column focusing on the need to lift up the name of Jesus in the marketplace. When he had finished typing the words into his word processor, he ran a spell check. The program stopped at the word "Jesus" with the comment, "Does not exist." This prompted a later column in which the bishop reminded his readers "Jesus does not exist in anybody's vocabulary, including a spell-checker's, until you intentionally insert it."

B. We cannot truly understand the Book of Acts until we understand just exactly who Jesus Christ is. Many people do not believe that Jesus Christ existed. Even more importantly some people, who do believe He existed, don’t truly understand just exactly who He is.

1. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He was there in the beginning of creation. Remember in Genesis 1 after God created everything in the universe? He created everything and said, “It was good.” He said in Genesis 1:26 - "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."[para] Jesus Christ was there in the beginning.
2. If we fast forward a few thousand years we will see that He was also present among us.

C. In John 1:1-4 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” The same God who created the heavens and the earth also walked among the men He created, on the earth He created. John says the Word was God and all things were made through him.

1. When we look at John 1:14, John says that, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus was God in the flesh.
2. When Luke refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, he’s referring to the same Lord Jesus Christ who was there at the very start of all things. 74 times the name Jesus is found throughout the Book of Acts. 24 times the name Christ is mentioned throughout the Book of Acts. 102 times the name Lord in reference to Jesus Christ is mentioned throughout the Book of Acts.
3. I don’t often look at frequency of occurrence but I find this something to consider. If our Lord Jesus Christ is Luke’s favorite topic, then we should consider the question, why.

V. If we know that Jesus was there in the beginning and we know He became human and walked among us, we also need to understand that He is going to be the One who will meet us when we die. Hebrews 9:27 – “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”[para]

A. Paul said concerning Jesus in Philippians 2:9-11 - “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”[NKJV]

1. There is a time coming when everyone on this planet past and present, every demon in hell is going to acknowledge that Jesus Christ was there in the beginning and Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, who walked among us.
2. There is something else that every human being and demon in hell is going to do. All are going to say 4 little words. All are going to confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord”. It’s not a question of ‘if’ it’s a question of ‘when.’

B. In Acts 1 when everyone was mesmerized with Jesus going back to heaven, two men stood by them in white apparel and said in Acts 1:11 - "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." There is a promise that Jesus Christ is coming back.

C. When Paul was speaking with the philosophers in Athens in Acts 17. He references their altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”. Paul says to them in Acts 17:29-31 - "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

1. A time has been set when Jesus will return and He will judge us, everyone... past and present. Folks, there is something else; you don’t want to wait until judgment day to confess Him as Lord. You need to confess Him as Lord of your life before the judgment. You also need to know that calling Him Lord doesn’t mean anything unless that confession affects your life.
2. Who’s your lord? Is it money? Is it your husband or wife? Maybe it’s your job! I mean who or what has control over your life?

VI. Paul says in Galatians 5:16-21 - “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

A. When you confess Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you’re confessing that Jesus Christ has first place in your life. You’re confessing that He is in control of your life.

B. We need to show the world that He is in control of our lives. How do we show the world that He is in control?

1. Following on in Galatians 5:22-26 - “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other”.
2. If Jesus Christ hasn’t got complete control of your life, then the parts which are not under His control you need to eliminate and give Jesus total control.

C. Just like the apostles, we rely on the Spirit to help us live by the Spirit. It’s by the power of that same Spirit that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Listen to how Paul begins his letter to the Lord’s church in Rome. Romans 1:1-4 - “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”

D. Luke also tells us that Jesus gave His disciples instructions through the Holy Spirit. Again in Acts 1:1-2 - “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.”

1. The apostles were the ones who received those instructions from the Christ. Why the apostles? It’s certainly not because they were more intelligent than anyone else. It wasn’t because they were stronger in the faith or better in debate than anyone else or not even because they had seen Him alive after His death and burial. A lot of people saw Jesus alive after His resurrection.
2. Paul tells us that in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 - “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born”.
3. There were hundreds of witnesses who saw Jesus after His resurrection. The reason Jesus chose these men was because they had spent a lot of time with Jesus while His work was being done here on earth. What was Jesus doing with them during their time together? He was teaching them the truth concerning His kingdom.
4. In Acts 1:3 - “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” [para] For forty days, the resurrected King taught His chosen apostles important truths concerning the kingdom of God. In other words He was teaching them about the church.

E. When Jesus is speaking to His disciples before His death, He says to them in John 16:12-13 - "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come”. Jesus spoke to His apostles through the promised Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION:
A man named Anton Radevsky created a series of pop up books, one of which has famous buildings inside which pop up when you open the pages. He has a pop up of the famous Tashmahal and Roman coliseums etc. and it is just amazing seeing these things pop up. When I was younger I used to love pop-up books which told a story itself. You would turn one page and find a huge mountain with birds flying over it. You could turn another page and see dinosaurs roaming around some remote island.

The Book of Acts reminds me of that in a way. Every page you turn to, Jesus Christ just pops-up and hits you right between the eyes. In the truest sense, we can honestly see in the Book of Acts, the acts of Jesus Christ, as seen in the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles.

You see folks, the Book of Acts really is all about Jesus.
Will you say ‘Yes’ to Jesus today and call Him ‘Lord’ of your life?
Will you be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins like those we read about in the Book of Acts did?
You see when you do these things you will not only receive the forgiveness of your sins, but you will also receive what Peter tells us in Acts 2:38 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
You cannot live by the Spirit until you possess the Spirit.
God bless and thank you for taking the time to grow with me in our understanding of God’s Word.

Invitation: ???

Reference Sermon: Mike Glover

 

Are We Willing To Get Out Of The Boat?

Are We Willing To Get Out Of The Boat?  
Matthew 14: 22 – 33

Once there was a tourist who was taking a tour of biblical sites, when he came to a beach on the Sea of Galilee, he saw a boat and a sign advertising, “FREE BOAT RIDE TO THE EXACT PLACE WHERE JESUS AND PETER WALKED ON WATER!!!”

He boarded the boat and enjoyed the ride to the middle of the lake where the boat captain stopped the boat and announced that this was the spot where they had walked on the water.
After spending a few minutes at that spot, the tourist said to the boat captain, “Ok, I’ve seen enough, I’m ready to back to shore.”

The boat captain pointing to the sign, said, “The boat ride to the exact place where Jesus and Peter walked on the water was free, but the ride back to shore is not free, it will cost you $50 for the ride back to shore.”
The tourist, shocked by the charge, exclaimed, “No wonder Peter got out and walked!”

Today we are going to examine this moment in Peter’s life when he walked on the water.
We all know that he didn’t walk on the water because the boat captain was going to charge him too much for the trip back to shore.
But why did he walk on the water? And, how did he walk on the water?
And most importantly, what did he learn from the experience and what can we learn from it?

Interestingly enough, Matthew’s is the only Gospel that tells the story of Peter walking on the water.
The Gospels of Mark and John both tell the story of Jesus walking on the water, but neither of them mention Peter’s stroll.
All of the Gospels record what happened right before this incident.
Let’s give a little bit of background for the story.
Jesus had compassion on the crowds and healed their sick and fed them – the Bible tells us there were 5000 men, not counting women and children, so the crowd may have been 10 to 15 thousand strong.

Amazed by all that Jesus had done and was doing, the crowd wanted to make him their king.
They wanted Jesus to be their great political hero.
They believed that the Messiah would come and do what Moses had done, bring them bread from heaven and free them from bondage.

But Jesus knew better and had better plans.
Let’s pick up the story in our text for this morning’s lesson Matthew 14: 22 – 33
Starting in verse 22 we read
22 Immediately Jesus [a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.

Here we see Jesus spending time in prayer.
Jesus loved to pray and Jesus needed to pray – and somehow we think we can get by without it!
So the disciples did what Jesus had told them to do – they got in a boat and began to cross the lake, but then things took a turn for the worse.

The Bible tells us in 24 thru 25
When evening came, he was there alone, 24 But the boat was now [b]in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

The Sea of Galilee was notorious for how quickly the storms could come and go.
But the storm that the disciples found themselves in would not subside.
The disciples had been struggling against the wind and the rain many exhausting hours and were still stuck in the middle of the lake, drenched, weary, chilled to the bone, and wondering if they would make it to shore alive.

Before we move on in the story, let’s camp here for a moment and consider a few important truths about the storms in our lives.
Let’s start with this question: Were the disciples “in the will of God, or out of the will of God” when they encountered this storm?

Did the storm take the disciples by surprise? Absolutely! (They didn’t have a weather app)
Did the storm take Jesus by surprise? Absolutely Not.
So, why did Jesus tell them to get in a boat and cross the lake when He knew a storm was coming?

Do you think there were some lessons they needed to learn that could only be learned in the midst of a storm?
Sometimes the storms we face are the result of our disobedience and God’s correction and discipline.
Other times, the storms we face come not because we have been disobedient or are out of God’s will, but because we have been obedient and we are in God’s will.

Another thing to keep in mind about the storms we face have to do with God’s knowledge.
While Jesus was in prayer on the mountain, do you think He was aware of what the disciples were experiencing in the storm?
I believe Jesus knew and could see exactly where they were and what they were going through.

But,If Jesus knew, then why didn’t He come to their rescue sooner?
I trust that Jesus came to their rescue at precisely the very best time and not a moment before.
Even though we can’t always see God in the midst of our storms, we can trust that God sees us and that God has a plan for our rescue.

Let’s turn our attention back to the story.
Let’s see what happened when Jesus showed up.
Verses 25 – 27 of our text tell us :
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
Put yourself in the boat with the disciples, experiencing what they were experiencing.
How do you think you would have responded when you saw a figure walking on the water in the midst of a storm in the middle of the lake and in the middle of the night?
Do you think you might cry out in fear saying, “It’s a ghost!”?
Obviously, the disciples were wrong in their assessment, but it wasn’t a bad guess.
Had any of them ever seen a person walk on water, whether the water was calm or stormy? I doubt it.

I doubt that any one of us, had we been there, would have said, “What’s the matter with you guys, it’s not a ghost, it’s none other than Jesus walking on the water.”
Jesus then immediately said to them, “Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.”
The phrase, “Do not fear,” in various combinations, occurs in the Bible at least 64 times.

And the words are always delivered by God or God’s representative to people who are facing hard times or are about to be asked to do something beyond their abilities.
Would you have felt better once you knew it was Jesus who was miraculously walking on the water toward you?
I would have felt much better – I would have immediately thought, “Praise God, Jesus is here to rescue us!  We are going to live! What a relief!  Thank you, Lord!”
The very last thing I would have been thinking is what Peter must have been thinking.

When Peter realized it was Jesus, he immediately saw an incredible opportunity.
Verses 28 and 29 of our text tell us :
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

When Peter said, “Lord, if it is you” the Greek could also be translated, “Lord, since it is you.”
There was no doubt in Peter’s mind who it was that was walking on the water.
Peter was declaring, “Since it is You, Lord, then give me permission to come to you on the water. Speak the Word, Lord, and I’ll do what You’re doing.”

Did you notice that none of the other disciples said, “Yeah, Jesus, if it is you, then I want to walk on water with you and Peter?”
Amazingly, Jesus agreed to Peter’s request and uttered the single command, “Come,” and so, Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water.
In that moment, Peter experienced the suspending of all the laws of physics which state the impossibility of a human being walking on the water – because of the rules of weight and displacement – and stuff like that.

And so for a moment or two, there were two people, Jesus and Peter, who were walking on the water!
Peter got to do the amazing thing that Jesus was doing.
And as far as we know, there has never been anyone else who ever walked on the water – unless they knew where the rocks and stumps were.

Over the years, some people have criticized Peter and reacted negatively to what Peter did.
Some have said that Peter was conceited and was trying to be a show off – “Hey look at me, Mom, no hands!”
Others have criticized Peter saying he was impulsive and headstrong and foolish for even wanting to walk on water.
But it is important for us to notice that there is nothing in the text that even remotely suggests that Peter was wrong for wanting to walk on the water.

And on this occasion, Peter was not being impulsive, reckless or disrespectful.
Had Peter just hopped out of the boat without asking for permission, then we might conclude he had been impulsive, reckless and rude, and even foolish.
But Peter asked for permission and then waited for permission to be granted.

If Jesus had said, “No,” then I’m sure Peter would have stayed in the boat.
But Jesus didn’t say, “No,” rather, Jesus said, “Come on.”
At that moment, the smartest thing Peter could do was get out of the boat.
Once Jesus commanded that Peter come, then he had better obey, and he did obey.

And so, Peter got out of the boat - how can anyone criticize him for that?
In some respects, I wish the story ended right there...Peter walked on the water, period!
But the story doesn’t end there – we all know what happened next.
The Bible says in verse of our text: 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
Peter was fully walking on the water...walking away from the boat...walking toward Jesus.
Everything was going great, then came the “but” – “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid.”

Everything went just fine until Peter took his focus off Jesus, and began to focus on the storm.
How long did it take for Peter to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus? Only a second!
Keep in mind that the storm never stopped raging while Peter walked on the water.
The wind was still blowing and the waves were tossing the boat about and the rain was coming down in sheets.

Many old time ministers define faith as “concentration on Jesus.”
That is a great definition – how easy is it for us to be distracted by life and the storms and challenges of life, and when we do our faith can waver.
But when, through faith, we concentrate on Jesus and focus on Him, then we can have peace and power, even when the storm rages around us.

Just because we focus on Christ does not mean that the wind and waves are going to stop.
Peter began to sink into the water, but when it happened, he immediately cried out for Jesus to help him.
Do you think Peter was a swimmer?
I’m sure Peter was a pretty good swimmer, he had spent his life around or on the water, but isn’t it interesting that he didn’t attempt to swim.
His first thought wasn’t, “I can handle this, or do it on my own,” rather his first thought was to pray and ask for help.

Peter prayed one of the shortest prayers in the Bible, “Lord, save me.”
Sometimes there isn’t time for a long prayer – like when you are about to drown.
Prayers don’t need to be long or detailed – they just need to be sincere and specific.

No sooner than the words were spoken, Jesus’ help arrived.
Verses 31 – 33 of our text
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 Then those who were in the boat [f]came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Jesus didn’t rebuke Peter because he wanted to walk on the water, but He did rebuke him for his lack of faith.
Peter had the faith to get out of the boat, but then didn’t have the faith to sustain him.

There’s a difference between short faith and long faith, or shallow faith and deep faith.
But in spite of Peter’s lack of faith, Jesus was willing to help him.
While Jesus continued to stand on the water, He took hold of Peter and pulled him back up on top of the water and together they walked over and got into the boat.

Jesus used this teachable moment with Peter and the other disciples.
And the moment they were back in the boat the wind and rain subsided and those in the boat worshiped Jesus.
Those who had been in the boat had watched the whole scene unfold, and we can only imagine how they watched with their jaws dropped and their eyes as big as saucers.
They had never seen anything like this before, and they knew that Jesus was like no other – He truly was the Son of God.

As we bring this sermon to a close, I want to focus our attention on two lessons to put into practice.
The first lesson is: To Walk on Water, You Must Get Out of the Boat
This is a simple and obvious lesson, but one we often overlook – You will never walk on water as long as you stay in the boat.

A person can’t be in the boat and out of the boat at the same time – a choice must be made.
It was Helen Keller who said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”
Those words would ring true coming from anyone, but they are especially meaningful coming from Helen Keller.
Born blind and deaf, she somehow found a way out of her darkness into the world around her.
Her story is one of the most inspiring of the 20th century.

Let’s apply her statement to our spiritual walk with God – [Spiritual] “life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”
To walk with God is to walk by faith – and to walk by faith requires risk and stepping into the unknown.

When we look at the men and women of faith in the Bible, we see that faith required them to be risk-takers who weren’t afraid to lay it all on the line for God.
Think of the steps of faith that were required by God’s faithful ones:
By faith, Abraham stepped on the journey to Canaan, and much later lifted the knife to sacrifice Isaac.

By faith, Moses stood before Pharoah, and Esther stood unannounced before the king.

By faith, David accepted the challenge from Goliath the giant.

By faith, Daniel refused to defile himself with the king’s food.
None of those folks would have been able to be used by God if they had not by faith stepped out of the boat, so to speak.
We must give credit to Peter for being willing to do what no one else was willing to do.

Today’s story was not about Bartholomew walking on water, because he stayed in the boat
It was not the story of Matthew walking on the water, because Matthew stayed in the boat.
It was not the story of John, or James walking on the water, they stayed in the boat.
As long as we stay in the boat, we will never sink, but we will also never walk on the water.

What aspect of the Christian life have you lacked the faith to be able to step out of the boat and try?
If we are never willing to take a chance and step out of the boat, then we will never walk on water and discover what living by faith is all about.

The second lesson is: To Continue to Walk on Water, You Must Stay Connected to the Lord
Once we allow faith to cause us to step out of the boat, we must allow faith to keep us connected to the Lord.
We can’t walk on water by our own wisdom or power, rather we can only do so by God’s wisdom and power.

The same is true with the Christian life, we cannot continue to do God’s will without God’s wisdom and power.
The second we take our eyes off of Jesus and begin to focus on the world around us, or on our own thinking and strength within us, we will sink.

The only way to keep our eyes on Jesus and to remain connected to the Lord is through a day by day walk with God in Scripture, prayer, fellowship and worship.
A good way to illustrate this is to consider why so many small planes crash compared to so many big ones.
The reason isn’t bad equipment, rather it is inexperienced or undisciplined pilots.
Inexperienced and undisciplined pilots refuse to trust in and obey their instruments.
When they fail to trust in and obey their instruments, then they are in trouble.
They may think the altitude of the plane is increasing, even though their instruments say otherwise.
They may believe the plane is actually turning (banking), when the instruments say it’s not.

A pilot explained, “You wouldn’t have nearly as many small planes crash if those pilots blindly and faithfully believed their instrument panel rather than accepting information that is coming to them through their senses.”

Think of all the Christians who have crashed because they stopped trusting the Lord.
We wouldn’t have nearly as many crashes spiritually if we stopped accepting information from our senses and from the wind and the waves of circumstances and from the world.

If we simply ignored all other input except the input from our instrument panel – The Word of God and the Spirit of God, then we will safely make it through the storms and challenges of life and ministry and be able to do things that otherwise seem impossible.

So, let’s live the adventure.
Let’s step out of the boat, obeying the command to walk by faith.
Let’s not play it safe like the disciples who stayed in the boat, but let’s be like Peter who took a risk and walked on water and 2000 years later we are still talking about it.

But unlike Peter, we don’t have to sink, if we will keep walking by faith, keeping our eyes on the Lord.
I pray that we will be great risk-takers for the kingdom of God.
I pray that God will help us shake ourselves loose from the security of staying in the boat.
And I pray that God will help us continue to walk on the waters of faith because we trust in God’s power and wisdom to uphold us.

Sermon Contributor
David Owens

How Can We Know The Way?

How Can We Know the Way
John 14: 1-6

OPEN: Back in 1950s & 60s, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra played for NY Yankees and became close friends. One day, Yogi Berra invited Mickey Mantle to his apartment, but Mantle... got lost.
He stopped at a pay phone and called Yogi and said, “I'm trying to find your apartment, where is it?”
Yogi said, “Where are you now?”
Mantle replied, “I'm at the corner of 5th and Main.”
Yogi got excited and said, “Well, that’s GREAT...YOU ARE ALMOST HERE! you keep coming in this direction” and then... he HUNG UP.

Now, how helpful were those directions? Well, not very!
But why not? Why weren’t they helpful?
Well - because Mickey Mantle still didn’t KNOW THE WAY.
And until he knew the way he was still going to be lost.

The text for this morning’s lesson is John 14: 1 – 6
What I find interesting about this story in John, is that I think Jesus set this conversation up. I think he primed the pump so that Thomas would ask Him: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (John 14:5)

Because THAT’S the question... that Jesus wanted to answer: “How, can we know the way?” Until you know the answer to that question... you’re always going to be lost.
So today’s title is “HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?”

James Thurber once said: “All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.”
What a powerful point.
Until you know WHY you’re here and
WHERE you’re going... you’ll always be lost.
so Thomas will ask the most important question
“How can we know the way?”
Now the conversation actually began much earlier when Jesus said these words: “Let not your hearts be troubled...” John 14:1

ILLUS: Have you ever been on a trip, and gotten lost? When you were lost... did you get troubled?

There is a story told of a young boy, around the age of eight, who lived in Alaska with his parents. His dad was the Boy Scout leader of the area. The troop of the young boy decided to go mountain climbing up a two mile high mountain called Bald Eagle.

The boy loved to climb and made a competition with the other boys to see who could climb the quickest to the top.
The boy went further and further up, losing sight of the troop and his father, but did not slow down because did not want the other boys to catch him. As he climbed he learned it was easier to climb at a diagonal. Spiraling up, he finally reached the summit. It was lonely and cold as the wind blew across the hard rock surface of the mountain.

Time passed as he waited for the troop. Fear began to take hold of his mind. "What if I’m on the wrong mountain? Maybe I crossed over to another mountain and I’m lost!"
Two hikers seemed to appear from nowhere and asked the boy if he was okay. "Yeah," he said, trying to muster courage in his voice. "My Boy Scout troop is coming up."

The men left and the young boy was again alone. With nowhere to sit securely, as time passed the fear and doubt began to creep in again, "What if a bear comes up here?" The boy thought of descending to find his father but was unsure the way as he had spiraled up to reach the top.

Looking down from the peak, he saw a small farm with a pond in the valley below. He decided to venture there.
He came to an old dry mud road and followed until he stopped at a fork. "Which way?" He thought. He took the left. Finally, the road opened to the farm. He ran to the cottage and peered through the screen door to find a family eating at a table.
A woman came out and asked about the situation. She pointed to the mountain and gave the boy binoculars. "Look for your father up there."
The boy watched intensely for any sign of life at the top of the mountain. Nothing. Were they there?
Suddenly, the boy saw possible movement ....
"Dad!" The boy cried out in tears. "I’m down here!"

Though the boy could not hear a response he recognized the outline of his own father. The tiny figure quickly began to move down the mountainside. And, After what seemed like forever, the father ran from the forest and with tears, embraced his young son, glad that he had found his lost son.

And that is how many people look at their lives. They feel lost, they feel uncertain, and... they are TROUBLED.
It’s the uncertainty of life that drives us nuts. For example, take our present crisis over this virus.

ILLUS: I recently read an article that said this: “As the present PANDEMIC continues to spread, more countries and states order lockdowns, and the prospective slope of financial recovery steepens by the day. Many are facing tremendous uncertainty. Questions swirl in our heads.

What if I -- or someone I love -- gets the virus?
Am I still going to have a job tomorrow?
Will I EVER be able to retire now?
What if I lose the house?
Will life ever be the same?
Everything in our lives can be stripped away in a moment...
by disease, economic collapse, and most inevitably by death.

But I want to remind you that money and health never were a sure thing”
And that’s what Jesus said. He said nothing on this earth is a sure thing. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
BUT, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

Let me repeat: NOTHING on this earth is a sure thing... and that’s what drives us nuts! If we just knew which WAY to go; if we just knew ... what TRUTH to trust; if we just could be assured that LIFE would turn out alright - then, maybe, we might be able to hold on.

And Jesus said: if you’re looking for the WAY to go... that’s me.
If you’re looking for TRUTH you can trust... that’s me.
If you’re looking for assurance LIFE will turn out all right... that’s me. You Trust in God? Trust also in me.
I am the way, the truth and the life.

But, what is it about Jesus that makes Him the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE?
There’s a bumper sticker that reads: “Don’t Follow Me...I’m Lost!” In the religious world, there are lots of folks out there who say “Follow me, I know where I’m going!”

You can’t take Jesus out of our faith and still have Christianity. Everything hinges on HIM. That’s why Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes unto the Father except through me.”

Paul put it this way “... NO ONE can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11

EVERYTHING HINGES ON JESUS! Without Jesus, we’ve got nothing!
But, why should make any difference to us. What is it about Jesus being the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE that would help me deal with my Doubts, Distress and Discouragement?

Well, let’s take it one step at a time

1st - JESUS IS THE WAY. I hate getting lost. It happens to me wayyyy too often. That’s why I love GPS so much.

ILLUS: I read the true story of a couple who’d gotten lost on a backroad in Ireland. They spotted a farmer leading his cow to pasture and they stopped him.
"Excuse me. Could you direct us to Mohill? We're lost.

"And the man smiled at them, and said “Ah, you're not lost at all. For y'see, you've found me. And I know the way.”
When you’ve found Jesus, you’re not lost anymore... FOR HE IS THE WAY!

You see, there are a lot of people who are afraid that their lives will end up at a dead end. They’ve made the wrong choices, they’ve gone down the wrong roads of life, and when it’s all said and done... they suspect that their lives are pretty empty.
But, you don’t have to worry about that with Jesus.
Once you turn your life over to Him, He fixes all that.

In fact, Ephesians 2:10 says “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared in advance for us to do.” When Jesus re-creates our lives, He gives us things to do (good works He prepared in advance for us).

And when that happens, we have a promise from
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that IN THE LORD your labor is NOT IN VAIN.”

Our promise is, that if we labor for Jesus, our labor is NOT in vain. Jesus will take our efforts for Him and make them count for something. It doesn’t matter if you’ve made wrong choices in your life; it doesn’t matter if you’ve gone down the wrong road.

When Jesus is THE WAY for you, you’ll arrive at a good destination. Because Jesus is the way!

2ndly - JESUS IS THE TRUTH
ILLUS: In my utility room I have a tape measure. It’s just like 1000s of other tape measures in the US.
I use it to do measurements around the house and it tells me the truth about how long an inch and a foot and a yard is.
But my tape measure is not “the truth.” It merely tells me truth. The “truth” of that accurate measurement is found in Washington D.C. in a building called the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In that building they store perfect samples or “prototypes” of weights and measurements.

For example, they have a “Meter Standard.” It’s a reinforced bar of platinum alloyed with exactly 10% iridium. When they want to know the exact measurement of a “meter” they cool this bar down to 0 degrees Celsius at a sea level of 45 degrees latitude and that gives them the exact measurement of a meter.

Our measurements of Inches and Feet and Yards... are based on that prototype. So, when you use that “truth” as the basis of measurement, you don’t have to worry if your tape measure is accurate. That platinum bar IS THE TRUTH, and it is the measure of TRUTH.

In the same way, Jesus is THE TRUTH. He is the reality against which everything else in our world is measured.
For example – do you know how valuable you are?

All you have to do is look at John 3:16 “For God so loved the world (YOU) that He gave His only begotten Son...” You were so valuable to God, that Jesus came to die on the cross just for you.

That truth tells us all we need to know about how much God cares for us; and about God’s love and mercy,
and about how we can be forgiven of things that embarrass us and cause us to be ashamed. And that truth is more important than anything else this world can offer you. Because Jesus is the truth!!!!

LASTLY, JESUS IS THE LIFE. Do you know what the GOSPEL is? The Greek word we translate as “Gospel” literally means “good news”!
And do you know what God’s “good news” – His Gospel - is?

Paul wrote: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the GOSPEL I preached to you... For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that CHRIST DIED for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that HE WAS BURIED, that he was RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY in accordance with the Scriptures...” 1 Corinthians 15:1 & 3-4

The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus died for our sins; He was buried; and that He rose from the dead! It’s that simple. And it’s through that gospel that we have LIFE in Jesus Christ. That’s why Baptism is the last thing sinners do before they become Christians.

I say the “last thing” because before baptism sinners must “believe” that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; they must “repent” of their sins and determine not to live like that anymore;
they must “confess” that Jesus is now their master and owner.

When they’ve made those decisions, they then allow themselves to be buried in a watery grave of baptism.
Baptism is where we DIE TO OUR SINS, and we are BURIED (with Christ) in a watery grave; and then we RISE (with Him) to walk in newness of LIFE.

That’s what Romans 6:3-4 says “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his DEATH (you died)? We were therefore BURIED with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was RAISED from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

To be saved, we copy what Jesus did to bring us LIFE!
Because it is in Jesus – our way, truth and life – that we lay hold of what is truly life.

I want to close with a powerful statement by Thomas à Kempis: “Without the Way there is no going;
without the Truth there is no knowing;
without the Life there is no living.”

At this time we will sing the song of invitation

sermon contributor
Jeff Strite

The Reality of Jesus

The Reality of Jesus 

Luke 21:1-12

Let me start out with a riddle ~~

A man lives on the 10th floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator down to the ground floor in order to leave the building. When he returns home he takes the elevator to the 6th floor and walks up the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth floor. He does this everyday, unless it’s raining. If it rains, he rides the elevator all the way to the 10th floor. Why does he do this? (the reason the man would only go the 6th floor on his return home, was because that was the highest button he could reach on the elevator control panel. He was a short man. On days that it rained, he had his umbrella with him, so he could use the umbrella to punch the button that indicated his floor.)

OR, A man rode into town on Friday. He stayed for three nights and then left on Friday. How is that possible? (The man’s horse was called Friday.)

Mr. Black asks for tea and gets $5,000. Then he asks for eyes, but Mrs. White can’t give him any. Who is Mr. Black and what is Mr. Black doing? (Mr. Black is a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune.)

Did you ever play those kind of mind games. Some of you will sit and contemplate possibilities for hours in order to figure them out, others will simply wonder who thought this up. It is called “Lateral Thinking.”

Let’s try one more. On Friday night, a man dies. He’s buried that same night. On Sunday morning, His friends arrive at the grave, only to discover His body is gone. What happened?

One of the problems of Jesus’ resurrection, is that some people try to make sense out of everything that happened. They try to understand exactly how Jesus could die and then come back to life again.

Does it make sense that a man can be dead for 3 days and come back to life? No, it doesn’t make any sense.

But, let me ask you, how much of life makes sense? Look at the headlines over the past months and how our “regular DAILY ROUTINES” have dramatically CHANGED.

Do you wonder, where is God in all of this? What’s His will? What do we, who claim to confront death with a different heart, a Christ-centered heart, think and more importantly, what is it we do?

What do we make of it all?

Lots of questions, and sometimes, not a lot of answers.

Yet, there is one answer I do have for you. It is the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

All over the world people are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, alive forevermore!

This is something we do EVERY Sunday as we gather around the Lord's Table. Every time we take the bread & drink the cup, we proclaim, “I know, I know that Redeemer Lives, I know I know Eternal Life he gives.”

So we serve a risen Savior, & we look forward to that day when we shall stand with Him in a glorious heavenly home which He has prepared for all who have loved & served Him.

We treasure the words of the Apostle Paul who wrote, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day ... and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

You know, as much as I love life, I too, long for the day when we shall see Him, & be with Him, & with all those people of God who have gone on before.

In preparing this sermon, as I remembered some of the people & events of the past, for some reason my thoughts went back to a time when my family was on vacation in Disneyworld.

I can also remember thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice if time could stand still - if we could stay exactly as we are & remain as happy as we are right now?"

But, of course, that didn't happen. In fact, it would be useless even to wish for that, because we can't stop the inevitable.

The chief priests & Pharisees found that out. After they had crucified Jesus they came to Pilate, & Matthew 27:63-66 tells us, 'Sir' they said, 'We remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After 3 days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.

'Otherwise, his disciples may come & steal the body & tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.'

'Take a guard,’ Pilate answered, ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So they went & made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone & posting the guard.

I don't know if you see the humor in that, but I think God did. Can't you just see the hosts of heaven looking down, watching the priests & Pharisees issuing orders, & those soldiers grunting & straining to roll the stone into place, putting the seal of Rome on it, & then standing guard to make sure that nothing happened?

It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’

It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!

Can you imagine the God who put the sun into space being thwarted by a mere stone in front of a tomb? Can you imagine the God who created the power of the atom being stopped by a few Roman soldiers armed with swords & spears?

Matthew 28:2-4 says, "There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven &, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone & sat on it.

“His appearance was like lightning, & his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook & became like dead men."

What a scene! God spoke, & instantly an angel descends, the earth shakes, the stone rolls away, & the soldiers are paralyzed with fear.

The stone was only rolled away so that those coming could see in not for Jesus to get out. He was no longer in there anyway.

You see, the chief priest & Pharisees were trying to seal up the Son of God. But there was no way that they could succeed in doing that.

But sometimes it almost seems as if we, too, are trying to seal up Jesus. We put Him in a little corner of our life & say, "Lord, you're welcome to stay, but please don't try to change the way I think or act or speak. Just stay in your corner & everything will be fine."

PROP. But we dare not forget that this life is a preparation for eternity - an eternity in which we will be among the saved or the lost forever.

THE RESURRECTION PROCLAIMS THE POWER OF GOD

The message of this Sunday is that soldiers & seals & stones can never stop the plan of God. God marches on & His plan will be accomplished. We believe that because the tomb is empty & because Jesus Christ is alive.

I wasn't there. I didn't see what happened. But I believe in the resurrection with all my heart.

ILL. I wasn't there when the Germans surrendered in WW 2 either. But I believe we won & I have two good reasons for believing that.

First of all, through the years I have seen & heard the testimony of those who were there. They fought the battles. They won the victory, & they passed the good news on. But I also believe because I realize that if we had not won that war our world would be greatly different today. We would not be a free country. Our nation would be vastly different if Germany had won.

I wasn't there when Jesus rose from the dead. But I believe it with all my heart, & I have two good reasons for believing that He arose.

First of all, I believe in the resurrection because eyewitnesses have told us that it is true.

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 the Apostle Paul wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you... that Christ died for our sins ..., that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day ..., & that He appeared to Peter & then to the Twelve.

“After that He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time. . . Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, & last of all He appeared to me also....”

I believe it because the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:1-2, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim. . .”

In other words, the apostle John is saying, "I want to tell you what we saw, what we felt, what we experienced. I want to tell you about Jesus."

SUM: I believe that Jesus rose from the dead because reliable people who saw what happened passed it on.

But maybe more important than that, I believe it because our world is greatly different because Jesus is alive.

In 1 Corinthians 15:14 Paul wrote, "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

ILL. Did you ever see the cartoon of two Roman soldiers standing by the empty tomb? The stone was rolled away & one soldier was looking very worried because they had failed in their responsibility. But the other one shrugged & said, "Don't worry about it. A hundred years from now, no one will remember."

But a hundred years went by & people still remembered. And now, some 2,000 years later, God's people still gather & remember. And if the Lord tarries another 2,000 years, God's people will still be meeting to remember, because Jesus is alive!

And in the lives of those who belong to Him, sin & death have been conquered & the victory has been won. Our world is different because Jesus is alive!

THE RESURRECTION CHANGES THE WAY WE LOOK AT LIFE & DEATH

The resurrection also changes the way we look at life & death. When God talks about death in the Scripture He uses different words than we normally use.

Jesus talked about death as being like a wedding.

ILL. I've been to a lot of weddings & so have many of you. We have seen beautiful brides coming down the aisle. In fact, in all my years of performing wedding ceremonies I have never seen an ugly bride.

Jesus told us that the church is like a bride waiting for the coming of the bridegroom & that glorious moment when she will be with Him for ever & ever.

He also tells us that death is like sitting down to a banquet with God. God has invited us to His banquet. It will be a time of joy & happiness & fellowship. Jesus also says, "Death is like going home."

At the end of a busy day it is wonderful to be able to say, "I’m going home." It is wonderful to be able to go home & relax, to feel the love & warmth of home, & to know that you have a share in all that happens there.

Death is also like a graduation.

ILL. I recall my graduation from Kent State University many years ago. It was a hot May afternoon & I remember walking up on the stage & receiving my diploma from the president. I remember that, "He shook my hand & looked into my eyes & said, 'Now go out and teach the world.'"

"I will never forget that, & I remember walking off the stage, clutching my diploma & thinking, 'This really represents a lot of papers that were written & a lot of tests that were taken. Years & years of study were represented in this one little piece of paper.'"

"I looked at my diploma & just kept looking at it. 'There in the center of it was my name. I graduated. I did it!' Then I turned to the person next to me & said, “WOW ... we DID IT!”

"He opened up his folder & it was empty. I asked, 'Where is your diploma?' He said, 'Well, I’m not really graduating today. I am just going through the motions. I haven't handed in all my papers, or taken all my tests.

'The school is giving me a few extra weeks. Then, if I have all my papers in, & if I have passed all my tests, I will receive a diploma. But today I’m not really graduating.'"

This caused me to think to himself, "We studied together, we spent time together, & one graduates & the other one doesn't."

You see, some people graduate & some do not. Some homes are peaceful, while others are not. Some marriages succeed, but others do not. Some banquets are occasions of joy, but some are not. Even at Calvary while Jesus was hanging on the cross ... one thief was saved and the other was not.

In the same way, while the cross is a blessing for those who come & accept Jesus’ sacrifice, it is a curse for those who turn away & never acknowledge Who is there.

The empty tomb is the greatest source of joy for those who know Jesus and follow his example. But it is also the greatest source of judgment & condemnation for those who do not follow Him.

No, you can't stop God. Not with stones in front of tombs or soldiers. You can't stop what God is doing in our world because God will be victorious & you will either be on His winning side or you won't.

That is the message today. God is preparing us for something much better.

Just as He prepares a tiny little fetus inside the womb of a mother. Just as He knits together bones & flesh ? just as He makes eyes to see & ears to hear & a mouth to speak ? preparing that little body to be born into a new world, He's preparing us for a new world - a better world, a greater world.

INVITATION: So we offer His invitation, realizing that maybe there is someone here who has never been baptized . We plead with you not to let this moment escape - not to let this moment pass by.

If you are without Jesus in your life, then please call one of us and let us know of your need.

We can pray for you, study with you, and/or arrange for baptism for the remission of your sins and then to arise to walk in the newness of life. God's invitation is offered to you.

At this time let us sing our song of INVITATION!

That's All I Want

That’s All I Want
Psalms 23 ; Philippians 4: 11 – 12

For those of us who grew up in the country... we probably knew of someone who raised sheep. One large rancher of sheep once said that there are three levels of stupidity in this world. There’s dumb. There’s dumber. And then there’s sheep. He then said that if someone says that sheep are as dumb as a brick, they are actually insulting the brick!

Jesus often refers to people – to us – as sheep.
In John 21, Jesus tells Simon Peter to feed His sheep.
In Matthew chapter 9, it says that when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
When Jesus compares us to sheep, He’s not exactly giving us a compliment. He’s saying that we are helpless, we are foolish, we are stubborn, we are disagreeable. We need constant supervision. Because a sheep without a shepherd cannot take care of itself.
Sheep without a shepherd will die.

God comes near to us by revealing Himself to us, but we must look for the Lord. Hebrews 11:6 says that we should "sincerely try to find Him."
Jeremiah 29:13 states that "when you search for the LORD with all your heart, you will find Him."
It is our sin that has alienated us from God... and so it is necessary, therefore, that we turn from our sin and look back to God for salvation.
We need to stop looking to the world for answers and turn back to GOD for understanding and guidance.

James 4:8 promises that if we come near to God He will come near to us. Let us draw near to God and live.
For nearly 30 centuries the 23rd Psalm has been one of the best known & most beloved passages in the Bible.

A Sunday school teacher who asked her group of children if any of them could quote the entire 23rd Psalm. A little 4½-year-old girl raised her hand. A bit skeptical, the teacher asked if she could really quote the entire psalm.
The little girl nodded her head, came to the front of the room, curtsied, & said: "The Lord is my shepherd, & that’s all I want." She then curtsied again & sat down.
So, the title of our lesson this morning is THAT’s ALL I WANT!

Like the little girl, we may not be able to quote it completely, but we do treasure it, & often read it in times of stress or sorrow... because it speaks to the heart.

An old time minister once stated that "This Psalm has flown like a bird up & down the earth, singing the sweetest song ever heard. It has charmed more griefs to rest than all the philosophers of the world.
"It will go on singing to your children, & to my children, & to their children till the end of time. And when its work is done, it will fly back to the bosom of God, fold its wings & sing on forever in the happy chorus of those it had helped to bring there." Wow!

There are only about 115 words in this well-known Psalm. Yet these 115 words reach to the very depths of our being & sustain us in hours of difficulty & trial like we are currently experiencing. You may feel like my grandsons who just the other day stated to me that this current reality is like a weird dream and they are waiting to wake up from it at any time.

I would like us to look at this psalm this morning to see 3 great reasons to be thankful to God.
The Psalm begins with these familiar words, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want."
When someone says, "I shall not be in want," we need to sit up & take notice because this is an age of discontentment and concern.
Yesterday I saw a quote that read... “Stay individually apart and move closer to God” and currently the motto of the nation is
#IN THIS TOGETHER!

Listen to the Apostle Paul from Philippians 4 verses 11 – 13 ,
11Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content.
12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

How can we experience contentment in spite of our surroundings? A good place to begin is not by complaining about what we don't have, but by always being thankful for what we do have.
There should be a spirit of thankfulness in us that brands us as belonging to Him.

So with the 23rd Psalm in mind, notice 3 great reasons to be thankful.

I. IN THIS LIFE THE GOOD SHEPHERD GIVES US ALL WE NEED
The first one is this: "We can be thankful because in this life the Good Shepherd gives us all we need."

One overriding principle of the 23rd Psalm is that sheep can't make it without a shepherd. And the only reason that David could say, "I shall not be in want," is because David could first say, "The Lord is my Shepherd."

B. Now let's look at what David says the Good Shepherd does for his sheep.

Vs. 2 tells us that "He makes me lie down in green pastures." The good shepherd leads his sheep to a lush pasture where they have plenty to eat & their stomachs are soon full.
Here is a picture of sheep so completely satisfied that there isn't the least desire for anything more. They are so content they lie down in green pastures.

The Lord has provided us with plenty, also. There are few of us who ever go hungry. In fact, we have so much to eat that dieting is a constant discipline or, maybe more accurately, a constant discussion.

But did you notice the wording? David said, "He makes me lie down." Sheep sometimes have to be forced to lie down.
I have read that in order for sheep to lie down 4 things are required:
1. First of all, they have to be full. Hungry sheep stay on their feet searching for another mouthful of food.
2. Secondly, they must be unafraid. They will not lie down if they're fearful. The least suspicion of wolves or bears & they stand ready to flee.
3. Thirdly, they must be content. If flies or fleas are bothering them they will not lie down. They must be comfortable before they will lie down.
4. Finally, sheep will not lie down unless there is harmony in the flock. If there is friction over the butting order among them, then they simply cannot relax & lie down.

There are times that God also makes us lie down. We rush about, trying to meet this engagement & fulfill that obligation. And in our hurry & scurry we tend to miss the things that are most important.
So once in a while God has to say, "You need to lie down," by allowing an illness, or heartbreak, to make us stop & reevaluate our priorities.

C. David then says, "He leads me beside quiet waters." (vs. 2) Sheep are frightened by swiftly moving water. They're poor swimmers, & get bogged down with their heavy wool just as we would if we tried to swim wearing wool overcoats.
So when the shepherd comes to a flowing stream, a good shepherd builds a dam & makes a quiet little pool where his sheep can drink from still waters.

David said the same thing in the 32nd Psalm, "Surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach me. You are my hiding place, you will protect me from trouble & surround me with songs of deliverance" (Psalms 32:6-7).
We must remember this promise of “quiet waters” is for those who are following where He is leading.

D. Back in the 23rd Psalm David goes on to say, "He restores my soul." (vs. 3) A lost sheep cannot find its way home, so the shepherd has to restore the sheep that have strayed away or it is lost forever.

There is a story told of a little boy who worked in his parent's carpentry shop in Jerusalem. The boy begrudges his job which is to assist in building crosses. The parents insist that he help because Rome has given them a contract for construction of crosses.
One day the boy is weeping. "What is wrong?" his parents ask. He tells them that he went to the market place & there he saw Jesus of Nazareth, & Jesus was carrying MY cross! The soldiers took Jesus to Golgotha & nailed Him to MY cross."

The parents insist, "Oh no, son, that wasn't our cross. Other people in Jerusalem build crosses. That wasn't our cross."
"Oh yes, it was! When you weren't looking, I carved my name on the cross that we were making. When Jesus was carrying His cross, He stumbled right beside me, & I looked, & my name was on His cross!"

And as we reflect on the scenes of Calvary we can also see our name written on that cross. BECAUSE, Jesus died in our place. He went to the cross to restore our souls.
That is why the Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2 verses 24 & 25,
"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins & live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.
“For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd & Overseer of your souls"

E. David continues on in Psalm 23:3, "He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake."
The Bible clearly teaches that there are 2 paths we can take. One leads to destruction, & Satan tries to lead us along that path. It is such a broad & smooth road. It often seems like the logical way to go.

The other is the path of righteousness that leads to the glory that God is preparing for us. Sometimes this way is narrow & difficult & filled with obstacles. But the good Shepherd knows which way His sheep are to go, & He leads them on that path of righteousness.

SUM. So here is something for us to be thankful for. Thank God that in this life He provides us with everything we really need!

II. IN THE FACE OF DEATH THE GOOD SHEPHERD PROTECTS US FROM EVIL
Secondly, David says, "Be thankful, because in the face of death the Good Shepherd protects us from evil."
A. Listen to David as he says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." (Psalm 23:4) The fear of death can really disturb us.

Hebrews 2:15 speaks of people who "all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."
The Bible clearly states that death is Satan's weapon, the last enemy to be defeated. But David said, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Why? Because "You are with me."

ILL. A 1st grader stood in front of his classroom to tell about "What I want to be when I grow up." He said, "I'm going to be a lion tamer & have lots of fierce lions. I'll walk into the cage & they will roar."
He paused for a moment thinking through what he had just said, & then added, "But of course, I'll have my mommy with me."

I'm convinced that when death roars its worst at us, we need not fear, for our Savior is with us. Whether we brush the edge of the valley of death or actually walk through it, He promises, "I'll be there with you."

B. In fact, David goes on to say, "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies." (Psalm 23:5)

Not only is that a promise of peace & protection while we are alive, it is also a promise that at the moment Satan is doing his worst to you in death, God is preparing a welcoming feast for you in Heaven! What a picture of victory & joy!

SUM. So when you pause to think about what to be thankful for, thank God that in the face of death the Good Shepherd promises protection from evil.

III. AT THE JUDGMENT, THE GOOD SHEPHERD PROMISES ETERNAL LIFE
A. Finally, listen to this, "You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness & love will follow me all the days of my life, & I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (Psalm 23:5-6)
What a picture! When we stand before God on Judgment Day, His mercy will be there. If God gave us justice, we'd be punished for our disobedience. But because of Jesus we have confidence in His mercy.

ILL. There is a touching story about a famous actor who was the guest of honor at a prestigious social gathering. During the evening he received many requests to recite favorite excerpts from a variety of literary masterpieces. Which he gladly did.
Then an old preacher who happened to be among the guests asked the actor to recite the 23rd Psalm. The actor agreed to do so on the condition that the old preacher would recite it also.

The actor began his oration of the famous Psalm, & it was everything you could expect from such a polished performer.
The phrases were elegant, his voice rose & fell to give each thought it's proper dramatic emphasis. And when he finished, the crowd broke into a lengthy applause.

Then, as had been requested, the old preacher rose. His voice was rough & broken from many years of preaching, & his enunciation was anything but polished. But when he finished there was not a dry eye in the room.
Later, when someone asked the actor what made the difference, he replied, "I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd."

CONCL. This morning, if the Lord is not your Shepherd, then I want you to know that He has come looking for lost sheep today.
And if you can't find your way home, He'll lead you back & He'll redeem you from all your sins. He'll put you on the path of righteousness. He'll cause your cup to overflow, & goodness & mercy will follow you all the days of your life.

And one day... maybe not too far away I think, we will "dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Are you ready for that?

If you're not ready, then I urge you to contact one of the church members so we can pray with you and/or baptize you for the remission of your sins. I pray that we look for the LORD before it is too late.. and that we call on him now, while he is near. — Isaiah 55:6

Sermon Contributor
Jeff Strite

I'm Doing Fine

I’m Doing Fine
Luke 22: 31 – 34

In light of how we are living daily as our “current reality” due to the world wide statistics related to the Coronavirus and how those statistics have affected our daily routines.
I am sure there a number of people who ask, “How are you feeling?” And most of the time we answer, “I’m feeling fine.” In fact, I sometimes say, “I’m feeling great!”
Forgetting our aches & pains, we as Christians try rejoicing with the happy poet who looked at the beautiful flowers & listened to the singing birds, & then ended his poem with the words, “All is right with the world.”
But wait a minute, all is not right with the world. With all the confusion about the coronavirus, & the political turmoil going on in our nation, how can any of us say, “All is right with the world”?

ILL. I may have told you this story a few years ago, but it fits so well with this message that I’m going to tell it again. You see, I’m afraid that too many of us tend to be like the fellow who showed up for a court hearing about an accident in which he had been involved.
His arm was in a cast, there were bandages all over him, & the exposed parts of his body were clearly bruised & scratched.
Looking rather surprised, the judge asked about his injuries. He replied, "Judge, I'm not doing very well. I have cuts & stitches all over me, & I'm feeling awful."
The judge said, "I don't understand. The accident report filed by the Officer says that at the time of the accident you told him you were just fine."
"Well Judge, I know that is what I said, but let me explain. I was driving my pickup & pulling a trailer.
In the back of the pickup was my old dog Shep,
& my mule was in the trailer.
All of a sudden an 18 wheeler sideswiped me, knocking me off the road."
"My pickup & trailer rolled over & over, & we ended up at the bottom of a big embankment. The next thing I remember, a police officer was picking his way through the wreckage. I saw him stop & examine my mule, then he pulled out his pistol & shot my mule between the eyes."
"Next, he got to where Shep was lying, & after examining him, he shot old Shep, too. Then he walked over to me & asked, "How are you?" And I said, "I'm doing just fine."
We may think that is a ridiculous story, & it is, & we may understand why someone says, “I’m doing fine” even while experiencing physical aches & pains.

But when it comes to our spiritual life, most of us would probably assume we’re “doing fine,” when in reality we’re not doing so well. We’re finding it difficult to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Our text for this morning is found in Luke 22: 31 – 34
31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

What if we had a test that could measure the level of our commitment to Christ, & of our discipleship?
Well, John 13: 31 – 38 gives us some characteristics to live by.
when we begin in vs. 31 of John 13, Jesus begins to talk about what it means to be His disciple. And he mentions 3 characteristics of what it takes to follow Him.

I. A DESIRE TO GLORIFY GOD
A. First of all, Jesus tells them that a mark of discipleship is a desire to glorify God. Listen to vs. 31: "After Judas had left, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified & God is glorified in Him.’"
Jesus is saying, "I’m going to be glorified," & it is evident that He is talking about His own crucifixion. But how can any glory come out of that? How can glory come out of the Son of God hanging on an old rugged, bloody cross? How can glory come out of suffering & death?
There is just one way. On the cross Jesus defeated Satan. On the cross He became the sacrifice to redeem us from all the sins that separate us from God. On the cross He built a bridge between man & God so that we could be together again.

B. "I am going to be glorified," He said. "But there is more. God will also be glorified through Me." What a strange statement! How could God be glorified through Jesus Christ? Well again, the answer is found in the cross.
On the cross Jesus reveals once again what God is really like. On the cross we see the love & mercy of God, the grace & justice of God. On the cross we see the righteousness, the holiness, & the power of God. It is all displayed there, & Jesus willingly gave Himself upon the cross so that we may see all that.
Jesus is telling us, "Whenever we show the world the love & mercy & grace of God in our lives, then God is being glorified through us."
We need to Live in a Way That Glorifies God
For us older ones of the congregation you may remember that Dan Blocker played the character, Hoss, on the TV series Bonanza. When he died unexpectedly in real life, the character Hoss died also. The producers knew they could not replace him. The story was that woman was caught in a flood. Hoss held her above the water with one hand and held a branch with the other to keep them from being washed away. He drowned in the flood, but he never let go. He died, but she lived.
Fans mourned for the fictional character, and many they agreed it was a fitting way for Hoss to die.
What is the soil of your heart like? Is it growing and producing fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven – are you using your life for eternity?

1. Quote: “I will not waste my life! I will finish my course and finish it well. I will display the Gospel of the grace of God in all I do. I will run my race to the end.” - Paul”
2. “God created me—and you—to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion—namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life.”
3. “You get one pass at life. That’s all. Only one. And the lasting measure of that life is Jesus Christ.”
APPL. So how are we doing? Are we busy trying to glorify ourselves, or are we trying to glorify God? That is the first test.

II. AN UNFAILING LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER
The 2nd mark of discipleship is found in vs. 34. Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
God's Word says that the world will know we are Christians by our love, not by the amount of money we have given, or by our knowledge of God’s Word. Christ wants His followers to be known for their love, by how they minister to one another.
Maybe it's helping people in your life know about God & His Son... and the importance of reading and following the Bible.
Or, maybe it's in comforting someone who is hurting from the loss of a loved one,
or helping those who are struggling with our current situation!
Let's get back to the place where people can truly say about us, "Behold those Christians, how they care for and love one another!"

III. AN UNSWERVING LOYALTY TO JESUS
So the 1st mark of discipleship is a desire to glorify God, & the 2nd mark is an unfailing love for one another. The 3rd one is an unswerving loyalty to Jesus.
Look with me at vs's 36-38: "Simon Peter asked Him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus replied, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.’ Peter asked, ‘Why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’
"Then Jesus answered, ‘Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!’"

A. How loyal are we? Do we have an steadfast loyalty to Jesus?
You see, there is a difference between proclaiming your loyalty & practicing it. Peter was always proclaiming his loyalty, but not always willing to practice it. And I think we’re very much like he was.
"You're going to die, Lord?" he asks.
"Well, if you die, I'll die with you."
It is easy to say, "I would die for the Lord."
But when they are getting out the nails to drive through your hands & feet, it's a whole different situation.
"Are you really willing to die for Me, Peter? Let me show you how loyal you are. Before morning comes, you will deny Me not once, but 3 different times."
"Going to be loyal to Me?" the Lord asks. "Okay, Peter, watch & pray with Me,” as they’re entering the Garden of Gethsemane. “I'm going to go a little further into the Garden to pray. Watch & pray." But Peter, along with the rest of the apostles, quickly fell fast asleep.
"Going to be loyal to Me, Peter? Then how close will you follow Me?" Luke tells us that when the soldiers arrested Jesus & took Him out of the Garden of Gethsemane that Peter followed at a distance.
Well, I’m not surprised. I have a feeling that if I had been there I would have been exactly like Peter. And maybe you, too.
He followed at a distance. And when you follow Jesus at a distance you usually end up in the wrong crowd. That is exactly what happened to Peter. He ended up that night in the High Priest's courtyard just outside where Jesus was being put on trial.

Now, the Apostle John was in the courtroom with Jesus, but Peter was out in the courtyard with all those who had a part in arresting Jesus. One of them asked him, "You're one of the Nazarene's followers, aren't you?" "Not me," Peter said.
SUM. Three times he was asked. And three times he denied even knowing Jesus. Peter found out that it was a lot easier to proclaim his loyalty than to practice it!

ILL. A mother wrote, “My 3-yr-old was on my heels everywhere I went. And whenever I stopped to do something & then turned back around, I’d almost trip over him. Time & again I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied.
"But he simply smiled an innocent smile & said, ‘Oh that's all right, Mommy. I'd rather be in here with you.’ Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me. After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose patience.
"When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up with sweet green eyes & said, ‘Well, Mommy, my Sunday school teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps. But I can't see Him, so I'm walking in yours.’"
CONCL. This morning, are you walking in the footsteps of Jesus? Is your life - is my life, one that brings glory to God? Is your life one that is filled with love for the family of God, for His people? Is your life one of unswerving loyalty to Jesus?
It doesn't make any difference how many crosses we may wear, how many bumper stickers we have on our car. What really matters is our commitment to follow Jesus. Yet, like Peter, all too often we fall short in this.
Do you remember what happened that night? After the third time that Peter denied Jesus the rooster crowed, just as Jesus said it would. I suppose when that rooster crowed, suddenly Peter realized exactly what he had done.
He had so boldly proclaimed, “I’ll die with you.” But when he was confronted with danger he denied Jesus again & again. Then he ran out of the courtyard & wept.
Sometimes I’m afraid that’s the way we react, too. We have fallen short. We’ve not always been what we ought to be - & we realize it. We’ve been so bold & so open in some ways. Then suddenly we see ourselves as we really are.
In fact, the Bible says, “All have sinned & fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) There are none perfect, no, not one – with the exception of Jesus.
But you see, we know a lot more about Peter than just that. We know that he became a leader of the church as it began in Jerusalem & spread throughout the world. We hear a great deal more about Peter & his life - & about Paul, too.
Paul? Yes, the great persecutor of Christians who became one of the greatest Christians of all time. Why? Well, because Jesus gave Paul a second chance, too.
And how Jesus treated Peter & Paul He now offers to treat us. Just because you fell short doesn't mean that He has stopped loving you. That's the whole idea behind the cross. We can start all over & begin anew.
Are you willing to start again? That is what Jesus is asking. And it’s my decision to make - & it's your decision, too.

INVITATION - So He invites & He waits. "Do you want to be My disciple? Here are the marks. Are you willing to display them so that the world can know that you are My disciple?" I pray this morning that you will decide for Jesus. If you have a desire to be baptized or for the prayers of the congregation you can contact us at (440)667-8626 or (440)729-3039.

Sermon Contributor
Melvin Newland