WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:02.720 I'm going to invite you this morning to Acts. 00:00:03.240 --> 00:00:05.890 Chapter two is where we're going to be, Acts chapter two. 00:00:06.380 --> 00:00:13.060 And I, in light of you know, we're not well, we're in Acts chapter two, in a series together as a church. 00:00:13.060 --> 00:00:14.320 We're going through the book of Acts. 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:22.160 But in light of recent events that have transpired, really across our country, from a young lady in Charlotte who lost her life, 00:00:22.340 --> 00:00:28.340 tragically, to shootings in Colorado, to the events that transpired at UVU this week. 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:35.700 I imagined as a pastor, I'm thinking to myself, that's probably going to be a pretty full week in our church and maybe a little bit 00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:38.190 heavier in heart as God's people. 00:00:38.480 --> 00:00:44.440 And sometimes we come to moments like this asking all sorts of questions regarding circumstances. 00:00:44.440 --> 00:00:51.480 But I want to remind you, as we kick off today, in light of the tragic events that took place I 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:55.600 want to remind you of some words that the Apostle Peter shared with us. 00:00:56.120 --> 00:01:01.450 And one of the reasons I want to do this is one, it's very timely in what Peter shares in First Peter chapter three. 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:04.300 I want to look at for just a minute before we get to Acts chapter two. 00:01:04.360 --> 00:01:11.600 But the reason I want to focus on Peter is because in Acts chapter two, where we're going to be at together, Peter is preaching the first message 00:01:11.600 --> 00:01:13.520 representing the New Testament church. 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:22.140 And so in light of that, as Peter is carrying himself through what I think would be a very difficult time Peter 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:25.940 reminds us as God's people, I think of an important word, and that's this. 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:32.820 He says this do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. 00:01:32.820 --> 00:01:40.120 For to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing in the midst of the darkness and brokenness 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:40.920 in this world. 00:01:40.960 --> 00:01:43.600 God has called us to be a particular type of people. 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:50.760 But and can I just say, for all of us, tragedy does not determine a message that we share. 00:01:51.820 --> 00:01:54.220 It can amplify it, but it doesn't dictate it. 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:55.510 Does that make sense? 00:01:56.380 --> 00:01:58.060 Like in fact really? 00:01:58.540 --> 00:02:05.580 Circumstances don't determine the message that we carry as God's people, whether we're on the top of the mountains or we're 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:08.560 going through the valley, the message remains the same. 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:15.700 Now, there are certain seasons in life that we might go through that really amplify the message that we share, or it might 00:02:15.700 --> 00:02:20.500 even turn hearts to be more open to listen to what God truly says. 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:28.490 But Peter reminds us in this passage, the way that we're to carry ourselves as God's people, as we walk in this world. 00:02:28.820 --> 00:02:35.120 And no doubt, when Peter writes this particular letter, he's writing to a church that's facing persecution. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:43.240 And when you study Christianity for the first 250 years of Christianity, 125 of those years 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.600 would cost you your life for following Jesus. 00:02:47.440 --> 00:02:54.600 And so there was there was a certainly a price to pay because of their faith in Christ, but that didn't determine the message that they shared, 00:02:55.320 --> 00:02:55.480 right? 00:02:55.700 --> 00:02:57.000 It may have amplified it. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:58.360 In fact, I think it did. 00:02:58.460 --> 00:03:05.460 And there's early church leaders like Tertullian that said the blood of the martyrs was seed, and the way that God's people continued to give 00:03:05.460 --> 00:03:12.560 their lives for the sake of the gospel was like they thought that they couldn't be destroyed, couldn't be defeated, couldn't ultimately be killed. 00:03:12.600 --> 00:03:14.970 Which is true because of the message of the gospel. 00:03:15.540 --> 00:03:18.360 We know our best days are always in front of us because of Jesus. 00:03:19.040 --> 00:03:24.720 Anytime a believer loses their life like those that are left behind, we think, man, this is tragic for us. 00:03:25.160 --> 00:03:31.730 But can I tell you when that person passes away in Christ, that is the best day of their life because of the hope that we have in Christ. 00:03:31.860 --> 00:03:38.960 It doesn't take away from the pain of the moment, but when you think about who God calls me to be in circumstances it's 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:40.840 to represent the beauty of the gospel. 00:03:40.840 --> 00:03:44.360 And this is, this is what Peter is encouraging us to do. 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:50.590 In fact, there's a thought that biblical counsels will carry, which they refer to as the crazy cycle. 00:03:51.640 --> 00:03:54.940 And the encouragement is to not have the crazy cycle in your life. 00:03:54.940 --> 00:04:02.440 We don't want to go through the crazy cycle, but the way it works as people, it tends to go like this, that if something happens to you that makes you feel unloved, then 00:04:02.440 --> 00:04:04.910 you feel the pain of that and the pain of that. 00:04:04.940 --> 00:04:06.080 You respond. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:08.460 You react because of it, right? 00:04:08.460 --> 00:04:11.140 And so when someone's unloving to you, it hurts you. 00:04:11.140 --> 00:04:13.560 And the and the typical cliche in our culture. 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:14.000 Hurt people. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:14.500 Hurt people. 00:04:14.500 --> 00:04:14.660 Right? 00:04:14.660 --> 00:04:17.760 Like when you feel hurt, then you respond in that hurt. 00:04:17.899 --> 00:04:19.940 And then the way that you respond, guess what? 00:04:19.940 --> 00:04:22.430 It impacts other people and you know how they react to that. 00:04:22.520 --> 00:04:23.640 Well, they react hurt. 00:04:23.640 --> 00:04:23.960 Right? 00:04:23.960 --> 00:04:25.170 And so it goes back and forth. 00:04:25.260 --> 00:04:26.540 Someone unloving to you. 00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:27.800 Well then you're unloving back to them. 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:32.000 And then and then because you've been unloving to them while they're unloving, back to you and round and round. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:37.960 The crazy cycle goes until someone in humility is willing to lay their lives down for the benefit of another. 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.210 And in so doing, that's where true healing begins to take place. 00:04:42.860 --> 00:04:45.180 It doesn't mean that you can't find justice. 00:04:45.280 --> 00:04:50.860 I think that justice is different than what we're talking about in terms in terms of just responding evil to evil. 00:04:50.860 --> 00:04:53.380 Like, I think there's laws in your country for a reason, right? 00:04:53.380 --> 00:04:55.830 In our country, we can obey those laws or we can seek justice. 00:04:56.300 --> 00:05:01.640 And those things are they have a place and they are important, but they understand who God has called us to be as his people. 00:05:02.320 --> 00:05:09.250 I mean, if you think in terms of another passage like this, Romans chapter 12, verse seven, it tells you this abhor what is evil. 00:05:09.520 --> 00:05:09.640 Right. 00:05:09.640 --> 00:05:11.410 It's okay to hate things that are evil. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:13.510 And so abhor what's evil. 00:05:13.680 --> 00:05:18.520 And then it tells you in verse 17 of Romans chapter 12, don't repay evil for evil. 00:05:18.840 --> 00:05:20.400 But in verse 19, vengeance is mine. 00:05:20.400 --> 00:05:21.850 I will repay, saith the Lord. 00:05:22.640 --> 00:05:30.140 So as God's people, it reminds us, maybe I could I could throw in Ephesians chapter six, where it tells us we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities 00:05:30.140 --> 00:05:30.760 and powers. 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:38.600 Meaning people aren't ultimately the enemy, but rather we're called to recognize there's a true enemy at work that's destroying the hearts of people. 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:40.100 And that's the devil. 00:05:40.100 --> 00:05:44.090 It's principalities and powers making itself known in this world that brings darkness. 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:51.380 But thank God that God didn't abandon us here, that he's given us an opportunity to respond in power because of what he's 00:05:51.380 --> 00:05:52.180 done. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:56.410 And this is exactly what we're going to see in Peter's message to us this morning. 00:05:56.600 --> 00:06:00.420 And second Peter, chapter two, verse 14 of the book of Acts. 00:06:00.420 --> 00:06:01.240 He preaches a message. 00:06:01.280 --> 00:06:02.380 It goes all the way to verse 41. 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:09.940 I just want us to look at the way that Peter conducts himself and exactly what Peter shares in 00:06:09.940 --> 00:06:13.960 the midst of this broken culture, knowing exactly what they have just gone through together. 00:06:14.400 --> 00:06:18.700 I mean, they just saw Jesus crucified in the most horrific of ways they had. 00:06:18.940 --> 00:06:22.680 They had such incredible hope in what they thought this Messiah would be, right? 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:24.290 They had spent three years of their lives. 00:06:24.700 --> 00:06:29.160 They had pursued Christ with everything they'd given their lives, thinking, this is it. 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:30.780 He's the one he's going to conquer. 00:06:30.780 --> 00:06:31.330 He's going to rule. 00:06:31.780 --> 00:06:35.470 And then they saw his demise and such terrible situation. 00:06:37.380 --> 00:06:42.800 And then after this, we read in chapter one of Acts that they see the resurrection of Christ, no doubt. 00:06:42.880 --> 00:06:48.400 And Jesus walks this earth for 40 days, and he's preaching to his disciples what he wants them to do. 00:06:48.420 --> 00:06:50.420 He gives us the theme of the book of Acts, right? 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:51.550 Acts chapter one, verse eight. 00:06:51.880 --> 00:06:58.680 You'll, you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth like God has called them on a rescue mission. 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:01.520 He says to them, okay, as now you've seen me resurrected. 00:07:01.520 --> 00:07:04.800 Now that I live, you know that you'll live too. 00:07:04.860 --> 00:07:07.840 That really the force that God has created in this church is unstoppable. 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:14.340 And so what God wants to do in you, he wants to work through you to see the healing hand of the of the Lord known throughout this world. 00:07:14.340 --> 00:07:17.280 And you get to be that messenger in the midst of darkness. 00:07:17.460 --> 00:07:24.540 It doesn't lead us to cower as God's people, but it gives us a place to stand in boldness, to know that no matter what the world might threaten me, you cannot 00:07:24.540 --> 00:07:26.560 truly rob me of what I have in Jesus. 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:33.080 And so the Peter in the midst of this is where he delivers this message for us. 00:07:33.220 --> 00:07:40.660 And I want you to know that even still, seeing the resurrection of Christ, knowing there's victory in that Peter's heart could have carried bitterness. 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:42.480 It could have it could have carried anger. 00:07:42.820 --> 00:07:45.680 It could have been very maligning, aggressive, attacking. 00:07:47.240 --> 00:07:51.600 But regardless, he knows what ultimately is going to change the world. 00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:52.180 Get this. 00:07:52.400 --> 00:07:52.950 It's not politics. 00:07:54.100 --> 00:07:55.780 It's not more even religion. 00:07:57.200 --> 00:08:00.370 It's a heart truly surrendered to Christ. 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:08.660 And the catalyst for representing that in this world are God's people finding their identity truly 00:08:08.660 --> 00:08:15.180 rooted and surrendered to Christ, and then living that gospel light in this world. 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:20.580 Which is why this morning we're talking about the rescue mission of Peter. 00:08:20.660 --> 00:08:21.700 And he starts it like this. 00:08:21.760 --> 00:08:28.060 He says, but Peter, standing with the 11, lifted up his voice and addressed, you see this unified front of the disciples. 00:08:28.080 --> 00:08:35.240 Remember, they ran away as cowards at Jesus's crucifixion, but here they come back with an incredible force, an incredible 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:36.340 force to be reckoned with. 00:08:36.340 --> 00:08:43.350 And he goes on and says, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:49.060 For these people are not drunk as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 00:08:49.260 --> 00:08:53.940 I feel like this type of thought can really just take us off course here for a minute. 00:08:53.940 --> 00:08:55.630 We're going to all of a sudden talk about drunkenness. 00:08:56.160 --> 00:09:02.880 But if you're here last week, we talked about the first 13 verses of chapter two, which Peter was dealing with this. 00:09:02.900 --> 00:09:03.340 Right. 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:10.800 And when the early group of disciples that are preaching this message, remember, we're in Jerusalem 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:16.340 and they have just gone through the Passover 50 days previous, and there's a giant celebration. 00:09:16.900 --> 00:09:20.320 And then because of that, everyone's seeing the crucifixion of Jesus. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:27.380 And now, 50 days later, they're at Pentecost, and all the Jewish people are traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. 00:09:28.380 --> 00:09:33.500 And now they're hearing Peter preach this message, and he's preaching with incredible boldness. 00:09:33.540 --> 00:09:33.820 Right. 00:09:33.900 --> 00:09:38.580 They're seeing the disciples go out in the world, and they're sharing the message of Jesus, and they're doing it with incredibly incredible boldness. 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:44.760 And when they're when the people are trying to wrestle in their mind like, well, how is this possible? 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:45.940 They're thinking in their mind. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:53.020 They've got to be they've got to be drunk, like and I said to you last week and I'll just remind you that when he's talking about being drunk, I 00:09:53.020 --> 00:09:55.500 don't think they're saying, look, these people are out of their mind. 00:09:55.520 --> 00:09:55.780 Nuts. 00:09:55.780 --> 00:09:56.770 We can't even understand them. 00:09:57.540 --> 00:10:04.070 I think the church in this moment has more clarity than they've ever had in the three previous years of following Jesus. 00:10:04.520 --> 00:10:09.330 And the reason for that is everything Jesus has taught them is finally, it all makes sense. 00:10:10.260 --> 00:10:13.380 I mean, for three years they kind of followed Jesus, somewhat clouded in mystery. 00:10:13.420 --> 00:10:13.780 They didn't. 00:10:13.880 --> 00:10:16.600 They didn't fully grasp exactly what Jesus was saying. 00:10:16.800 --> 00:10:19.920 But now, in the resurrection of Christ, it's all coming together. 00:10:20.700 --> 00:10:22.600 So they have more clarity than they've ever had. 00:10:22.640 --> 00:10:26.190 So they're not accusing them of being drunk because, well, we don't understand these people. 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:33.940 I think they're accusing of being drunk because they're coming at the world with such incredible boldness for what they've experienced 00:10:33.940 --> 00:10:36.180 in Christ, and they want everyone to have it. 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:40.980 And there's so much passion and joy in their life, even at the threat of Rome. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:43.660 And these people are aware, like we know what happened to Jesus. 00:10:43.920 --> 00:10:47.940 And here you are out in public again declaring this to the world. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.080 Are you not concerned with what's going to happen to your life? 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:50.980 And here's their answer. 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:53.380 No, we're absolutely not. 00:10:53.860 --> 00:10:59.240 And the reason we're not is because we know how secure we are and what Jesus has done. 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:06.560 And so more than just for us, we're like concerned for you and what you can discover because of who Christ is. 00:11:06.620 --> 00:11:08.770 And so I would say it's the same for us. 00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:15.020 Like in all of our lives this morning, we will never discover the purpose for which we were created until our lives are surrendered to him. 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:18.580 And so they're sharing this rescue mission. 00:11:18.820 --> 00:11:20.870 And let me let me give you point number one then in your notes. 00:11:20.980 --> 00:11:23.260 And actually I'm going to give you the next three points. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:26.090 We're going to read some verses together because I gotta save some time today. 00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:32.980 But number one is this there is no Switzerland in eternity. 00:11:34.040 --> 00:11:35.860 There is no Switzerland in eternity. 00:11:35.960 --> 00:11:37.680 And you can I'm sure you can spell that correctly. 00:11:37.880 --> 00:11:38.960 Switzerland, right. 00:11:39.060 --> 00:11:39.540 But. 00:11:39.880 --> 00:11:44.040 And let me, let me just be careful in what I say about about Switzerland for a minute. 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:45.140 Because I looked this up today. 00:11:45.140 --> 00:11:47.740 I'm like, how many, how many Swiss live in Utah? 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:48.660 And we're right. 00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:51.160 We're like, 1% of our population is Swiss. 00:11:51.160 --> 00:11:58.100 So I want you to know, in saying there is no Switzerland in eternity, I'm not telling you like all Switzerland people are going to hell. 00:11:58.140 --> 00:11:58.580 That's not what. 00:11:58.840 --> 00:11:59.730 That's not what I'm saying. 00:12:00.060 --> 00:12:02.330 Like Switzerland, people, you can be redeemed. 00:12:02.500 --> 00:12:03.060 Swiss people. 00:12:03.060 --> 00:12:03.670 You can be redeemed. 00:12:03.780 --> 00:12:04.080 Every. 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:06.040 Every tribe, tongue and language can be redeemed. 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:10.330 We already know the only Unredeemable people are either Lakers fans or Raiders fans. 00:12:10.580 --> 00:12:11.160 That's it. 00:12:11.160 --> 00:12:12.380 Other than that, everyone else. 00:12:12.680 --> 00:12:15.050 Everyone else can come to know Jesus, right? 00:12:15.140 --> 00:12:15.380 So. 00:12:15.520 --> 00:12:22.880 So when it comes to the idea of why I'm picking on Switzerland, so we know is we 00:12:22.880 --> 00:12:27.540 historically recognize Swiss just they always play the neutral position. 00:12:27.540 --> 00:12:27.720 Right. 00:12:27.740 --> 00:12:29.160 We're indifferent. 00:12:29.270 --> 00:12:30.730 That's kind of where they are. 00:12:30.800 --> 00:12:35.880 But when it comes to the position in Jesus that Jesus didn't give us that place. 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:37.460 Right. 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:40.180 And in fact, the cross of Christ should scream that to us. 00:12:41.920 --> 00:12:46.740 I mean, what Jesus did mattered so much that he was willing to give his life for it. 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:51.660 If all Jesus was wanting to do was to present to you another good idea or religious way of living. 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:53.560 Like he could have just showed up, taught that message. 00:12:53.580 --> 00:13:00.700 But he knew his identity was polarizing to the point it was going to lead to his crucifixion and in fact, that crucifixion was necessary for you and for me. 00:13:01.460 --> 00:13:07.260 So to just be indifferent to what Jesus has done is not healthy for the soul, and you don't find true life in it. 00:13:07.260 --> 00:13:08.460 In fact, when C.S. 00:13:08.460 --> 00:13:13.840 Lewis wrote the book Mere Christianity, he wrote and really he included this major idea. 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:20.940 He said, when it comes to people, we have this tendency to just want to look at Jesus and say, well, he was a great moral teacher, and certainly Jesus 00:13:20.940 --> 00:13:22.300 taught some great things. 00:13:22.340 --> 00:13:27.640 But he argues in that book that Jesus didn't leave that place for us to label him that way. 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:33.580 In fact, he makes this argument if you really look at Jesus, he really gave us only three places to think about him. 00:13:33.660 --> 00:13:40.680 Either he was a lunatic out of his mind, he was the devil of hell himself, or he was exactly who he says he is Lord and 00:13:40.680 --> 00:13:41.480 Savior of your life. 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:45.140 Those are the only options Jesus truly gives for you. 00:13:45.220 --> 00:13:48.960 The idea of a of a moral, moral, just good teacher. 00:13:49.060 --> 00:13:56.280 It says if anyone holds a position like that, you have never looked at the truth of what Jesus, what the Bible says about Jesus and what's proclaimed about 00:13:56.280 --> 00:13:57.840 him, right? 00:13:57.920 --> 00:13:59.160 Jesus didn't leave that position. 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:00.600 The reason for that is he. 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:03.880 There is no neutral spot in Christ. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:07.840 And in fact, this is where Peter begins his message. 00:14:07.880 --> 00:14:15.020 He really wants us to awaken us to that idea of the significance of what this moment represents for you and for me, that Jesus would 00:14:15.020 --> 00:14:16.540 give his life for you. 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:20.760 I mean, that should scream at us the urgency of our need to embrace him. 00:14:21.020 --> 00:14:24.060 And so first, Peter or excuse me, Peter says it like this in Acts chapter two. 00:14:24.700 --> 00:14:29.090 He says, verse 16, but this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel. 00:14:29.560 --> 00:14:31.000 And in the last days it shall be. 00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:32.120 God shall be. 00:14:32.180 --> 00:14:39.180 God declares that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall 00:14:39.180 --> 00:14:43.800 see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, even on my male servants and female servants. 00:14:43.800 --> 00:14:46.690 In those days I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy. 00:14:47.780 --> 00:14:48.080 Let me. 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:55.360 I want to explain this, but let me give you the next two notes or points as I get ready to explain this letter A under number one is this you 00:14:55.360 --> 00:15:00.180 can embrace God's grace, or number two, you can embrace God's judgment. 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:05.300 You can embrace God's grace, or you can embrace God's judgment. 00:15:06.400 --> 00:15:07.540 There's no neutral ground. 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:16.040 And Peter's beginning his message by saying this to us, and he and he goes back to Joel chapter two to help us see the significance of 00:15:16.040 --> 00:15:16.580 this moment. 00:15:16.620 --> 00:15:19.620 Now, we talked a little bit about Joel chapter two last week. 00:15:19.640 --> 00:15:22.620 So I don't want to elaborate in the ways that we talked about it. 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:27.880 But I do want you to recognize what Peter is saying here when he's quoting from Joel chapter two. 00:15:27.880 --> 00:15:29.720 He's quoting verse 28 and 29. 00:15:30.620 --> 00:15:37.780 And what Peter is saying here to the Jewish mind, would have been a very scandalous thought for them to even consider, because in the Jewish 00:15:37.780 --> 00:15:44.920 mentality in the Old Testament, if you wanted to get near to God, you were dependent upon someone to be your representative between you 00:15:44.920 --> 00:15:46.500 and God. 00:15:46.920 --> 00:15:50.540 And in some cases, it could be a prophet who was God's mouthpiece to you. 00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:57.620 In other cases, it would be the priest who was your mouthpiece to God, but it always required for you to have someone to be that 00:15:57.620 --> 00:16:00.380 representative between you and the Lord. 00:16:00.520 --> 00:16:03.660 In fact, if you went to the temple to worship, you couldn't even go into the temple. 00:16:04.300 --> 00:16:06.180 That was only a place that a priest could go. 00:16:06.180 --> 00:16:08.880 And that priest had to be a male, and that priest had to be of the tribe of Levi. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:09.700 It was a very exclusive. 00:16:11.680 --> 00:16:18.740 But then all of a sudden, the prophet Joel, Joel is prophesying about a time and a place where we're no longer dependent on someone else to represent us 00:16:18.740 --> 00:16:22.460 before the Lord, but rather we have the intimacy of that relationship in the here and now. 00:16:23.620 --> 00:16:26.360 I mean, that is God's grace being poured out for us. 00:16:26.940 --> 00:16:34.080 In fact, the way that Joel says it, when some people read this passage, they really fixate, especially in our American mentality on 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:35.630 the idea of dreams and visions. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:37.450 Can't wait for dreams and visions. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.160 And they and we kind of look forward to something like that. 00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:47.480 But I want you to know, in a passage like Joel chapter two, he's not highlighting the thought of fixating on dreams and visions, rather from 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:48.760 a from a broad perspective. 00:16:48.940 --> 00:16:49.940 This is what he's saying. 00:16:49.940 --> 00:16:54.100 He's saying, look, ladies, ladies will be connected to the Lord. 00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:56.970 It says, I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy. 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:02.880 It's no longer this exclusive structure to just males and particularly to Levites. 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:06.980 But it's saying women, you get a direct relationship with the Lord. 00:17:07.900 --> 00:17:11.170 And in addition to that, he also talks about servants, which are slaves. 00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:17.579 He's saying it doesn't matter your gender, it doesn't matter your class because of what Jesus has done. 00:17:17.640 --> 00:17:20.119 We all get this relationship with the Lord. 00:17:20.280 --> 00:17:23.260 If we would embrace what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross. 00:17:24.099 --> 00:17:25.250 This is what Peter's saying. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:28.490 It's the grace of God, not not neutrality. 00:17:29.320 --> 00:17:36.480 It's the grace of God embracing your life, and you will not discover the purpose for which you exist until your life is given to the one that created it 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:37.250 for his purposes. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:45.600 You didn't make you and in the opposite of that, then he says in verse 19, I will show wonders in the heavens above, and signs on the earth below, blood 00:17:45.600 --> 00:17:49.760 and fire and vapor of smoke the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon to blood. 00:17:49.760 --> 00:17:52.900 Before the day of the Lord comes the great and magnificent day. 00:17:53.080 --> 00:17:56.590 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:17:57.380 --> 00:18:05.240 So that's the great call at the end of what he wants us to recognize in him that true transformation in this world only 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:12.260 happens by giving our lives to the one who is greater, defining our identity in him to that place of 00:18:12.260 --> 00:18:12.660 surrender. 00:18:12.760 --> 00:18:14.120 This is what he's calling us to. 00:18:14.120 --> 00:18:15.860 So he's recognizing the idea of grace. 00:18:15.860 --> 00:18:18.320 And then in verse 19 and 20, he's talking about the thought of judgment. 00:18:18.820 --> 00:18:25.660 And I want you to know, in terms of this verse, like sometimes people get Uber fixated on aspects of this verse that can become unhealthy. 00:18:25.820 --> 00:18:29.320 Like every time there is, I'll just go ahead and tell you this. 00:18:29.320 --> 00:18:32.840 Like every time there is a blood moon, please know I don't need an email, okay? 00:18:32.840 --> 00:18:33.510 I don't need a text. 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:34.920 I don't need an email. 00:18:35.080 --> 00:18:38.980 Just there are some people that get so focused on, they're like, oh, let's hunker down. 00:18:38.980 --> 00:18:39.490 We're going to die. 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:46.040 Like, they get really fixated on the idea of some of the symbolic thought to this. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:46.420 Right. 00:18:46.420 --> 00:18:49.400 And it's like, let's build a bunker and it's done right. 00:18:49.590 --> 00:18:50.900 That's kind of how it goes. 00:18:51.020 --> 00:18:58.320 But can I tell you, as God's people like that should not worry us because we know how the story ends, right? 00:18:58.320 --> 00:19:01.980 But rather can I can I tell you just a broader picture of what he's saying here? 00:19:03.080 --> 00:19:10.100 And when you read throughout the Old and New Testament, one of the things that you discover is it says to you, for example, in Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of 00:19:10.100 --> 00:19:10.200 God. 00:19:11.320 --> 00:19:18.200 So you look at all of God's creation, especially to the stars, and you just see the handiwork of the Lord, and it just makes you thankful, right? 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:21.480 Like you go to the Grand Canyon, you stand on the precipice of the Grand Canyon. 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:23.940 Nobody goes there to think about how great they are. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:29.570 You go there to be captivated by the glory of creation and your creator who made it all. 00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:37.040 And the Jewish people, they thought so much about this that when they describe the heavens, they often reflected on the stars as being the 00:19:37.040 --> 00:19:38.970 representation of the angels. 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:44.880 In fact, you can find passages throughout the Bible where the stars and angels are almost synonymous, even in the New Testament. 00:19:45.040 --> 00:19:47.320 Like you turn to revelation chapter one, verse 20. 00:19:47.320 --> 00:19:52.050 It refers to the to the stars of the seven churches, which it says are the angels. 00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:58.040 Or in revelation chapter 12, when the great dragon swept his tail across the sky. 00:19:58.180 --> 00:20:04.260 It says, and a third of the angelic hosts fell, which was relating them to a third of the stars. 00:20:04.600 --> 00:20:06.060 The angels. 00:20:06.300 --> 00:20:06.340 Right. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:12.360 And so there is this thought toward the angelic presence being represented as the stars, the heavens. 00:20:13.180 --> 00:20:20.180 And so what it's saying is, when God brings his judgment, the foundation of all of creation, both heaven and earth, will shake in his presence. 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:21.420 Alright. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:28.520 So the idea of the stars and the sun and all this coming to darkness is just showing, showing to you the authority and power of who this 00:20:28.520 --> 00:20:29.290 God is. 00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:31.300 There is no neutral position. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:40.080 It's the grace of God made known in Christ, or the judgment of God made known on us, because we refuse to embrace the forgiveness 00:20:40.080 --> 00:20:42.180 that Christ comes to bring. 00:20:43.140 --> 00:20:45.900 There is no neutral position. 00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:51.810 And Peter is sharing this with us so that people would have the opportunity to see the beauty of Jesus. 00:20:51.840 --> 00:20:56.820 So that gets me to point number two, which is this understand the case for Jesus. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:20:59.980 Understand the case for Jesus. 00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:07.320 And as Peter is sharing this message, he really starts to build this for you to get to the climactic point of proclaiming 00:21:07.320 --> 00:21:08.260 who Christ is. 00:21:08.340 --> 00:21:09.940 As you get to verse 32 and on. 00:21:10.620 --> 00:21:12.240 But he starts off with this. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:14.460 This is letter A under point number two. 00:21:14.660 --> 00:21:16.040 He's historically proven. 00:21:16.080 --> 00:21:19.460 He just he just says, Consider Jesus from that historical basis. 00:21:19.460 --> 00:21:21.860 He says, Men of Israel hear these words. 00:21:22.800 --> 00:21:30.000 Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:31.180 him in your midst. 00:21:31.700 --> 00:21:39.060 As you yourselves know this Jesus delivered up according to the definitive plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and 00:21:39.060 --> 00:21:41.460 killed by the hands of lawless men. 00:21:42.200 --> 00:21:49.400 God raised him up, losing the pains, losing the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 00:21:50.780 --> 00:21:57.860 So he's just saying, just consider historically, what we know has taken place with Jesus, with his death, burial, and resurrection. 00:21:58.120 --> 00:22:05.760 And when Peter is writing this, no doubt this is a painful moment for Peter, because he talks about in verse 23, at 00:22:05.760 --> 00:22:11.960 the very end of verse 23, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 00:22:12.300 --> 00:22:19.220 When Peter is projecting this message, he's when he's doing this at Pentecost. 00:22:19.700 --> 00:22:26.860 This is a very a time where the city is just jam packed, and the very people that were responsible for bringing 00:22:26.860 --> 00:22:34.020 Jesus to the place that led to his crucifixion, those leaders during that time period, they're walking about freely in 00:22:34.020 --> 00:22:39.580 the streets, and no doubt they may even be passing by as Peter is preaching this message. 00:22:40.320 --> 00:22:46.940 And so Peter is seeing the very ones that are responsible for the killing of Jesus leading to his crucifixion. 00:22:48.060 --> 00:22:55.180 And so you look at this for Peter as he's sharing this message, how difficult of a moment it might have been to 00:22:55.180 --> 00:23:02.500 just stand up in the midst of darkness, but and proclaim the beauty of Christ, and to not let his heart be overtaken by bitterness 00:23:02.500 --> 00:23:05.720 or anger, but the freedom that only Jesus can bring. 00:23:06.540 --> 00:23:08.880 And it's the same for us, right? 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:16.880 When we go through difficult things, sometimes the initial thought that wells within our soul, if we just let that out, it's 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.740 not healthy or healing doesn't mean it can't be dealt with. 00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:21.990 Doesn't mean we shouldn't weep. 00:23:22.060 --> 00:23:22.400 It doesn't. 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:24.960 It doesn't mean that we can't acknowledge when things are hard. 00:23:26.620 --> 00:23:29.160 But what brings healing is not the crazy cycle. 00:23:30.800 --> 00:23:32.400 What brings healing is Christ. 00:23:33.580 --> 00:23:40.660 And so in the midst of that, I think the reason that Peter was able to move forward as light in the midst of darkness is actually 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:46.140 found in the in the beginning of verse 23 where he raps this message up for us. 00:23:46.180 --> 00:23:51.520 He says Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. 00:23:52.760 --> 00:23:56.240 Here's what he's saying is none of this darkness took God by surprise. 00:23:57.280 --> 00:23:58.180 He knew it all. 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.920 Now, it doesn't mean that God wanted hearts to be wicked. 00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:09.200 It doesn't mean that God forced hearts to be wicked, but it does mean in the midst of wickedness, the greater light of Christ is known, and Jesus 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:11.340 was always ultimately in control. 00:24:12.300 --> 00:24:17.400 I mean, even when you think about it historically and what the cross represents to the church, right? 00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:24.600 The darkest day in all of history, Jesus crucified becomes the emblem of our celebration because it reminds 00:24:24.600 --> 00:24:29.920 us of the greater hope that Jesus overcame it all sin, Satan, and death. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:36.960 Which is why we as God's people, we carry the cross because it reminds us that in the darkest day of history, as God can turn that as the 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:39.040 anthem for celebration, as God's people. 00:24:39.040 --> 00:24:40.260 Imagine what he can do in your life. 00:24:41.600 --> 00:24:48.600 Imagine when a life is surrendered to him completely, how God brings that healing that even in my life, in the dark things that we might walk through, that none of it 00:24:48.600 --> 00:24:51.270 is out of the sovereign hand of God, that all of it is in his control. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:53.620 And we know how it's going to end. 00:24:54.600 --> 00:24:58.730 We know in his hands we're more than victorious, more than conquerors in Christ. 00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:05.000 So the circumstances of my day do not dictate who I am, but rather my hope in Jesus does. 00:25:06.740 --> 00:25:10.880 And so he wants us to root ourselves in the historical understanding of Christ. 00:25:11.820 --> 00:25:13.480 First, consider him in this way. 00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:20.980 And then point number two in your notes is to consider also the prophetically it's prophetically the blank is foretold, 00:25:21.860 --> 00:25:24.220 prophetically foretold. 00:25:24.600 --> 00:25:27.350 And he goes back and he and he quotes for us. 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:34.540 He gives us a couple quotes that we're not going to look at all this in the sermon, but in this one particular quote, he goes back to Psalm 00:25:34.540 --> 00:25:35.480 chapter 16. 00:25:35.500 --> 00:25:36.650 He says it like this. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:43.890 He says, For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at the right hand that I may not be shaken. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:47.020 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoices. 00:25:47.020 --> 00:25:49.320 My flesh also will dwell in hope. 00:25:49.640 --> 00:25:54.860 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 00:25:55.600 --> 00:25:58.320 And then in order to explain what he's quoting. 00:25:58.340 --> 00:26:02.020 So in Psalm 16, he goes on verse 29 and explains it to the audience. 00:26:02.020 --> 00:26:09.200 He says, brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both he both died and was buried, 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.280 and his tomb is with us to this day. 00:26:11.760 --> 00:26:18.880 Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:26.140 his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh 00:26:26.140 --> 00:26:27.120 see corruption. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:29.250 Let me say a couple of things about this. 00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:36.540 And in terms of Hades, we think of Hades a little bit different today than than even the English word Hades when it was first 00:26:36.540 --> 00:26:39.180 translated in Scripture and the way they thought about it in the Old Testament. 00:26:39.980 --> 00:26:43.280 But the idea of Hades we often think today means hell and it doesn't mean hell. 00:26:44.120 --> 00:26:46.680 The word Hades simply means a place for the dead. 00:26:47.260 --> 00:26:54.040 Now, some people could experience hell, some people could experience heaven, but Hades just simply means a place for the dead. 00:26:55.280 --> 00:26:57.700 And Peter, in this moment, he's quoting from Psalm 16. 00:26:57.760 --> 00:27:03.580 The reason he's doing this is because David wrote about half of the Psalms that you read in the book of Psalms. 00:27:04.540 --> 00:27:11.460 And when David wrote the Psalms, Jewish people would often see that as a messianic foreshadowing of the true Messiah who would ultimately come. 00:27:11.980 --> 00:27:17.480 Meaning David was a representative of Jesus, and he's going back to Psalm 16. 00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:20.490 He's saying, remember when David quoted and said he would never see decay? 00:27:21.260 --> 00:27:24.270 He explains and says, well, David saw decay. 00:27:25.020 --> 00:27:26.750 We know where his tomb is today. 00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:35.040 But rather what David was doing was prophetically declaring to us who the true king would be, who the true Messiah would be, and 00:27:35.040 --> 00:27:36.700 his body would not see decay. 00:27:38.060 --> 00:27:45.080 And he's reminding us, then, of what Jesus has accomplished in his resurrection, that the true King and the true Messiah is 00:27:45.080 --> 00:27:45.360 here. 00:27:46.600 --> 00:27:53.640 And in fact, by highlighting this, Peter is not only saying, and you have this one verse in the Bible, Peter is saying, really, 00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:56.700 just consider all the prophetic statements about the Messiah. 00:27:57.360 --> 00:27:57.880 It is powerful. 00:27:58.980 --> 00:28:06.160 I mean, there's nothing in all, of, all of religion that can compare to this, the way that Jesus has spoken about through Scripture and what 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:08.680 he's going to fulfill for you and for me. 00:28:09.340 --> 00:28:12.550 From Genesis to Zechariah. 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:19.800 I mean, you think about the prophecies that Jesus gives to us, about his coming from the writing of a donkey in Zechariah to 00:28:19.800 --> 00:28:22.220 Genesis chapter three, verse 15. 00:28:22.800 --> 00:28:30.000 It tells you about the coming of the Messiah, how he would crush the head of the serpent and would suffer a heel wound in return, 00:28:30.280 --> 00:28:33.100 that he would be born from the seed of a woman, the virgin birth. 00:28:33.900 --> 00:28:35.840 I mean the very first book of the Bible. 00:28:35.840 --> 00:28:40.300 Within the first few chapters you have the promise of a deliverer because of sin. 00:28:41.360 --> 00:28:43.580 It is profoundly incredible. 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:47.020 And what Jesus has accomplished for us. 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:52.580 And Peter is saying, look, consider historically, consider it prophetically. 00:28:53.160 --> 00:29:00.320 I mean, consider, however, you need to consider it to think about the magnitude of being able to connect to God in a relationship, that you could find 00:29:00.320 --> 00:29:06.760 freedom in him and the purpose for which you were created in him, and live life for something greater than anything this world could have to offer. 00:29:06.820 --> 00:29:10.540 To know that no matter what happens in this world, what you have in Jesus endures forever. 00:29:12.900 --> 00:29:14.530 So that we could get to number three. 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:18.360 Decide how you will respond. 00:29:20.780 --> 00:29:22.920 Decide how you will respond. 00:29:25.320 --> 00:29:26.580 Verse 36. 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:30.810 And just give us for a moment how Peter begins. 00:29:31.080 --> 00:29:38.740 This next section ends verse 32 to verse 36 carries a similar thought, and he really encapsulates 00:29:38.740 --> 00:29:39.920 it in verse 36. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:42.820 And for time's sake, I just want you to see how he encapsulates. 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:50.500 He says it like this let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him 00:29:50.500 --> 00:29:55.300 both Lord and Christ, that Jesus whom you crucified. 00:29:56.960 --> 00:30:01.200 In case we didn't know, this, Christ is not his name. 00:30:02.260 --> 00:30:03.010 It's his title. 00:30:05.020 --> 00:30:08.120 Jesus Christ is the saving anointed one. 00:30:08.120 --> 00:30:12.720 It's a representation of really what Jesus accomplishes for us. 00:30:13.060 --> 00:30:20.240 And he gives us these two titles for Jesus, both Lord and Christ, or the Anointed One, the messianic hope, 00:30:20.280 --> 00:30:24.640 the promised deliverer, this Lord in Christ for you and for me. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:27.200 And it's significant to see Jesus as both. 00:30:28.500 --> 00:30:33.860 What does that mean for our lives in terms of rescue, in terms of the Christ? 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:39.010 It's saying to us, look, no matter how much religion you want to pour on your life. 00:30:39.800 --> 00:30:45.460 No matter how much good you may do in this world, it's never going to take away the wrong things that you've done. 00:30:46.180 --> 00:30:49.020 And before a holy God, there's judgment in that. 00:30:49.980 --> 00:30:52.580 And so what you need is a rescue. 00:30:53.460 --> 00:30:55.110 And look, you're not your deliverer. 00:30:56.180 --> 00:30:57.680 A greater deliverer has come. 00:30:58.360 --> 00:31:00.910 One who stood in your place and lived a perfect life. 00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:05.300 That the idea of Christ is representative of that for us. 00:31:05.960 --> 00:31:09.580 That someone loved me and pursued me and gave his life for me. 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:17.580 And the best thought is it was God that God would become flesh and offer his life that 00:31:17.580 --> 00:31:18.810 I could find freedom. 00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:22.800 That is this idea of this anointed one, this importance of seeing. 00:31:23.120 --> 00:31:26.740 And more than that, he's not just he's not just a Savior, he's also Lord. 00:31:27.600 --> 00:31:33.180 Meaning he begs the question, who sits on the throne of your life to determine how you live your life? 00:31:33.820 --> 00:31:37.660 Because you need to awaken to the fact that you didn't make you so. 00:31:37.900 --> 00:31:45.000 So therefore surrendering to you is if you are Lord of your life makes no sense in who you are, and you'll never discover the purpose for which you were created, until 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:47.310 your life is given over the one who created you for him. 00:31:48.260 --> 00:31:55.480 And so Lord and Savior is significant in recognizing the centrality of who Jesus is to your life, that you would be surrendered to 00:31:55.480 --> 00:32:01.940 him and not just in your own understanding, but to recognize that this world will never find true healing until their lives are surrendered in that way. 00:32:03.040 --> 00:32:09.060 And so when our lives become surrendered to Christ, then we become that mouthpiece, that catalyst for the movement of God happening in this world. 00:32:09.060 --> 00:32:13.040 That true transformation and healing can happen in the lives of people around us. 00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:16.280 Jesus is what changes hearts. 00:32:17.260 --> 00:32:20.000 It's not me putting my thumb on you to force you to do anything. 00:32:20.980 --> 00:32:24.400 It's you understanding the beauty of who Christ is and your life given over to him. 00:32:24.460 --> 00:32:26.830 Because no one has loved you the way that Christ has loved you. 00:32:28.580 --> 00:32:32.220 And so Paul is calling us to this understanding that he is both Lord and Christ. 00:32:32.260 --> 00:32:39.900 And he says this in verse 40, and with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from the crooked generation 00:32:41.660 --> 00:32:43.220 to realize that the world is broken. 00:32:43.420 --> 00:32:45.000 So he paints this picture for us. 00:32:45.120 --> 00:32:46.160 What does that look like? 00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:48.000 Well, he describes it in verse 37. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:53.990 He says, now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, what should we do to be saved? 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:58.310 And they realized that they were they were a part of what was broken. 00:32:59.180 --> 00:33:00.930 And that brokenness was in them. 00:33:01.800 --> 00:33:03.980 And what they needed more than anything was Christ in their life. 00:33:04.060 --> 00:33:05.520 And so Peter says it like this. 00:33:05.620 --> 00:33:11.980 He said, Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins. 00:33:12.100 --> 00:33:13.810 And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 00:33:14.000 --> 00:33:18.480 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off. 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:21.480 Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. 00:33:22.100 --> 00:33:27.440 And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from the crooked generation. 00:33:28.060 --> 00:33:34.030 So those who receive him who were baptized, and they were added that day about 3000 souls. 00:33:35.900 --> 00:33:39.420 You know, when Peter's giving this message, he's saying, this is what it looks like. 00:33:39.420 --> 00:33:40.660 He gives four thoughts, right? 00:33:40.660 --> 00:33:41.280 Repent. 00:33:41.280 --> 00:33:42.100 Be baptized. 00:33:42.100 --> 00:33:44.420 Forgiveness of sins, be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. 00:33:44.580 --> 00:33:45.500 Receive the Holy Spirit. 00:33:46.520 --> 00:33:50.740 And can I tell you really, those are those are four different ways of looking at the thought of salvation. 00:33:51.800 --> 00:33:53.060 What does it mean to be saved in Jesus? 00:33:53.160 --> 00:33:53.920 It's like this. 00:33:54.700 --> 00:33:57.140 If someone said to you, do you remember your wedding? 00:33:57.820 --> 00:33:59.160 Do you remember the day you got married? 00:34:00.280 --> 00:34:02.060 And I could describe it in all sorts of ways. 00:34:02.060 --> 00:34:05.420 Like I said, yeah, I can remember when my bride walked down the aisle, I remember that. 00:34:06.580 --> 00:34:07.790 Or I could say, yeah, I remember. 00:34:07.860 --> 00:34:15.380 I remember when the minister gave us our vows to recite to one another or I said, yeah, yeah, I remember, I remember when I signed, I signed the marriage document 00:34:15.380 --> 00:34:22.460 at the courthouse, to legalize that thing before the government or I remember, I remember the consummation of our marriage, like 00:34:22.460 --> 00:34:28.139 there's all kinds of things that you could describe to talk about that wedding day and what it represented. 00:34:28.420 --> 00:34:29.580 But it's all about the wedding day. 00:34:31.120 --> 00:34:33.929 And it's the same for what Peter's talking about in terms of salvation. 00:34:34.139 --> 00:34:41.219 He's what he's describing is it is this place of repentance, this place of realizing in all the ways you could find your 00:34:41.219 --> 00:34:47.340 hope in this world, you finally surrender and say, but you, Jesus, it's you. 00:34:48.699 --> 00:34:49.420 God, forgive me. 00:34:49.780 --> 00:34:54.219 As Peter says here of my sins, God, fill me with your presence. 00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:57.400 God, give me new life in you. 00:34:58.340 --> 00:35:00.660 You know the idea of baptism here is this thought of immersion. 00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:05.830 When the early church, when they would come to know Jesus, they would immediately look for water to be baptized. 00:35:06.900 --> 00:35:11.350 Because baptism was this way of publicly proclaiming what they have received in Christ. 00:35:11.520 --> 00:35:18.680 It wasn't physical baptism that saves you, but it was a representation of that union of standing before people and 00:35:18.680 --> 00:35:22.120 saying, in a covenant relationship, I belong to Jesus. 00:35:23.040 --> 00:35:30.440 So this idea of repentance, this idea of baptism, this idea of forgiveness, even this coming of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God indwells 00:35:30.440 --> 00:35:31.220 the people of God. 00:35:31.240 --> 00:35:35.940 The moment you trust in Jesus, the Bible promises you are indwelt by the Spirit of God. 00:35:36.080 --> 00:35:38.190 That is your seal for the day of redemption. 00:35:38.300 --> 00:35:39.760 It says in Ephesians chapter one. 00:35:40.280 --> 00:35:41.950 You belong to Jesus forever. 00:35:44.160 --> 00:35:46.940 Peter could have responded any way in his culture. 00:35:48.200 --> 00:35:55.360 He could have been filled with such bitterness and anger, hatred to what people did to Jesus and just ignored them. 00:35:57.020 --> 00:36:02.540 But he knew what would bring true hope to people and transformation in his culture. 00:36:04.100 --> 00:36:05.070 It wasn't more politics. 00:36:06.560 --> 00:36:09.840 It wasn't getting on social media and maligning people. 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:13.040 Believe it or not, it's Christ alone. 00:36:14.500 --> 00:36:17.900 It's not until your hearts are given over to him that true transformation is found. 00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:21.980 It's important for us on a personal basis to discover that. 00:36:22.940 --> 00:36:27.760 It's important for us as a church to recognize that, to not lose sight of that. 00:36:28.660 --> 00:36:35.100 Circumstances do not change our message, but rather we can use those circumstances to amplify it. 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:43.020 Because as God's people, we don't run away from darkness, but rather we're called to be a great light for Christ in the midst of darkness, 00:36:43.240 --> 00:36:50.450 because we know no matter what the circumstances bring in life, our lives can never be robbed of the hope that we have in Jesus. 00:36:52.340 --> 00:36:54.900 I'll close with this in 1944. 00:36:54.900 --> 00:36:55.580 June 6th. 00:36:55.640 --> 00:37:03.750 In fact, 1944, one of the greatest moments in all of history, really, that determined the future of mankind was D-Day. 00:37:05.200 --> 00:37:13.380 One 150,000 troops from multiple different nations stormed the beaches of Normandy to bring liberation to Western Europe so 00:37:13.380 --> 00:37:15.320 that the Nazi regime would fall. 00:37:16.120 --> 00:37:18.130 And little less than a year later, it did. 00:37:19.120 --> 00:37:26.240 And you look at this day of history and you think, what brave, incredible individuals in the midst of darkness were willing to offer their lives up so 00:37:26.240 --> 00:37:28.890 that the rest of the world could be liberated into freedom. 00:37:30.340 --> 00:37:33.810 And we look at this as an important moment in history, and it certainly is. 00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:39.380 And at least in the last century, for sure, if not in all of history. 00:37:40.700 --> 00:37:44.820 But guys, can I just tell you not to take away from those brave men and women that did that? 00:37:46.220 --> 00:37:53.150 The message of Jesus is one that makes not only a difference in this world, but in what's to come. 00:37:54.280 --> 00:38:01.240 And I can't think of a greater hope for you to carry in lives of people around you than the beauty of what Christ means for you and for me. 00:38:02.380 --> 00:38:06.320 Because my hope for us as a church is for us, even gathered here this morning. 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:13.360 If you don't know Jesus as that, our lives would be surrendered to that, but our lives would be so empowered by that no matter what 00:38:13.360 --> 00:38:18.720 life would bring to us, the grace of God would pour from us.