Sunrise Service 2018

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I want to invite you to take a Bible and to open it to Acts chapter 2,
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Acts chapter 2. What's your favorite holiday?
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Mine? Christmas? Well, I happen to like Thanksgiving. The reason I like Thanksgiving is because we're thankful, but also because it's probably less commercialized.
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You know, you just spend time, if you can avoid the NFL games on Thanksgiving, it's pretty much about being thankful and about spending time with friends and family and just rejoicing in what the
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Lord has done. When we get to Christmas, you know, around September, sorry, it's so commercialized.
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It's so overdone. We, we, broadly speaking,
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Americans, spend so much money on it. It's really kind of a, it, it misses the whole point.
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It's, you know, people say the reason for the season and they'll send little cards that show the baby and everything, but we forget what a glorious event it is, or at least we don't maybe forget, but it's obscured by everything that's going on.
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But today, the day that we celebrate today, Resurrection Sunday, what some call
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Easter and what some call the beginning of spring break or whatever,
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Resurrection Sunday is a day that is being, in my mind, dechristianized.
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As we look around, not only do we see, you know, in the stores, Easter bunnies and Easter eggs and Easter this and that and the other thing, but even at churches, egg drops from helicopters.
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I mean, thankfully they're only dropping eggs. I saw one church out in California here as I was panning through the internet the other day, just a huge festival and fair and everything yesterday, all kinds of slides and fun things for the kids.
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And I thought, that might be fun, but how much does it focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and really what we're celebrating today?
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What we are here today to talk about it really every Sunday, when you think about it, is, is this
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Sunday any different than any other Sunday? No, only in the sense that we're sort of focused on it. But every
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Sunday is a reason to think Jesus is no longer in the tomb. He has risen.
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He has risen indeed. It's okay to talk back to me. This is,
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I think, without question, what we celebrate today is the most important date in all of history.
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Was it important when Jesus came into the world? Yes. But if all he did was get born, we're still in our sins and trespasses.
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We don't have hope. It was great that he did that. It was wonderful that he did that.
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It's amazing that he did that. But being born wasn't enough. Let's turn to Acts 2, an odd passage to preach today, but there are several things
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I want to bring out from it, things I want to add to it. But I just thought this is probably, in my mind, the greatest sermon ever given by a human being.
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So I'm excluding Jesus' sermons here, but I think it's just amazing what he does here because of the setting, because of the boldness, because of many things.
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But Acts chapter 2, and I'm just going to read beginning in verse 22.
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Acts chapter 2, Peter speaking on the day of Pentecost, he says,
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Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
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This Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
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God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
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For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.
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Therefore, my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your holy one see corruption.
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You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.
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Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch, David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day, being therefore a prophet and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne.
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He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
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This Jesus God raised up and of that we are all all our witnesses being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the
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Holy Spirit. He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
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For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the
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Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
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Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this
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Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do?
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And Peter said to them, 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
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Holy Spirit. Now this morning I have several powers that I'm got several things
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I'm going to present to you. But the first is because of the resurrection,
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Peter had the power to preach because of the resurrection. Peter had the power to preach.
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Peter was a man with potential. He's the kind of guy who, you know, if you looked at his resume, you'd say, well, he's got a lot of potential.
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He could really turn into something someday. Often we would see
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Peter acting as a man with great zeal, but maybe without so much knowledge, he often spoke unwisely and then, you know, was either shamed or had to backtrack.
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In fact, I made like a mini list of his greatest hits. This is like his EP, you know, just a few of his greatest hits here.
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You don't have to turn here, but I'm just going to give you a few verses to just kind of illustrate what we pretty much know about Peter, Matthew 16 verses 21 to 23, after his great confession and Jesus saying, upon this rock,
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I will build my church, right? Matthew 16, 21 and 23, he says, or Matthew writes, from that time,
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Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the devil.
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Elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.
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In other words, Matthew, looking back at this, says he began teaching us that he was going to suffer.
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He was going to die and he was going to be raised on the third day. Verse 22, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
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This is he's going to rebuke Jesus and saying, far be it from you,
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Lord, this shall never happen to you. Let me tell you,
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Jesus, all this stuff that you're saying is wrong. That is not going to happen. Why? Because I, Peter, say it's not going to happen.
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Verse 23, but he, Jesus turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me.
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That's Peter, John 13, verses eight and nine. Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet right after he's
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Jesus is announced. He's going to wash the disciples feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no share with me.
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Simon, Peter backs up. He says to Jesus, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head, just a few verses later in chapter 13.
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Peter said to him, Lord. Why can I not follow you now, I will lay down my life for you,
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Jesus answered, will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.
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And after denying him three times, exactly as the Lord had predicted, what happens during the crucifixion?
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Where is Peter? If you recall the crucifixion scene in the gospel of John, Jesus sees whom?
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John. He sees Mary. He tells John to take care of Mary. We don't see
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Peter there. The day, the morning of the resurrection, John records that he and Peter sort of raced to the tomb.
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And it's interesting that John very humbly notes that he beats Peter to the tomb. Peter finished second there, but he abandoned
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Jesus after Jesus' arrest. Matthew 28, right before the
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Great Commission, verses 16 and 17. Now, the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which
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Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him. Sometime between the arrest, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and then seeing
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Jesus again in Galilee, Peter got it by the grace of God.
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He worshipped Jesus. He spent these three plus years as the de facto leader of the disciples.
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But now, finally, after the resurrection, not only was he their leader, but he was the preacher.
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So that's our first power. The second is the power of the Holy Spirit. If you turn back in Acts 2 to the beginning of the chapter, what we really see here is a fulfillment of what
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Jesus had promised. Acts 2, verses 1 to 4.
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When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place talking about the disciples, the church.
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And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
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And divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
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And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
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The Holy Spirit fell upon the church on that day of Pentecost with a specific reason, not that they might have some ecstatic experience, but that they might testify about the
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Lord Jesus Christ to all these visitors who were in town for Pentecost in their own languages.
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Because for this celebration of Pentecost, also known as the Festival of Weeks, the
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Festival of Bread, it was a time of rejoicing over the spring harvest. People would come from all over, all the
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Jews, the faithful Jews from all over the Roman Empire would come to Jerusalem to celebrate this.
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So there were people who didn't speak Hebrew as their native language, Aramaic.
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And they came in and hear the Holy Spirit fell upon the church. Why? So that people might hear the truth about Jesus Christ, but also to validate the message of the disciples, that they might see this wonder, this miracle, this work of the
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Holy Spirit. Miracles, by definition, are, just for the record, not normal, right?
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It's God intervening in the space -time continuum and doing what only God can do. So these people don't know.
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They're, for the most part, simple fishermen from Galilee. They don't know a bunch of languages that are not sophisticated.
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God, the Holy Spirit, teaches them or grants them this gift. I shouldn't even say teach, grants them this gift that they might miraculously speak and testify about the
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Lord Jesus Christ to show that the disciples were telling the truth and that they were commissioned by God to preach this truth.
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In fact, you think back to John chapter 14, verses 16 and 17,
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Jesus said, and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, the
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Holy Spirit, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.
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You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you. He says to them that the
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Holy Spirit is going to come in a new and fundamentally different way.
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And this is part of that. So the power of the
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Holy Spirit. Now we see the power of Jesus' ministry. Look at verse 22 again, the power of Jesus' ministry.
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Men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst as you yourselves know.
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Peter addresses the crowd in a way that's really reminiscent of when
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Nicodemus comes to Jesus in John chapter three,
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Nicodemus being the teacher of Israel. He approaches him and he says, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs, these supernatural signs, these miracles that you do unless God is with him.
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And so Peter's saying, you know that Jesus was from God. You know that he was a man sent from God.
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How? Because God showed you that by giving him the ability to do these mighty works and wonders should not this should not even be a question.
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He fed the multitudes. He healed. He even brought Lazarus back from the dead.
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And even those because there are so many people in Jerusalem, Jerusalem would be packed at the time of Pentecost.
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And even if some of the people who were there and heard this message had not seen with their own eyes or been there when
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Jesus did some of these miracles, do you think word would get around if somebody brought, say,
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Lazarus back from the dead after three plus days, four days in the tomb after he had started decaying?
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Do you think people would have heard about that? Absolutely. Especially once they came back into Jerusalem shortly after Jesus' death, they certainly would have heard about the works of Jesus.
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So those listening at either personally seen or had heard of the things that Jesus had done. So the power of his ministry, just the fact that he did what he did would certainly have an effect on this crowd.
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Fourthly, the power of God's plan. Verse 23, this
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Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
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Well, he was delivered up by Judas, right? Judas Iscariot betrayed him.
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But the verse says he was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. Why was
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Judas one of the 12 disciples? Because it was the plan from the beginning that Jesus should be betrayed. It was the plan from the beginning that he would be handed over to the religious leaders who would then turn him over to the
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Romans or use the Romans to arrest him and crucify him. God is sovereign.
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From before the foundation of the world, he had this plan. But men were responsible.
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Men, including maybe some of this crowd that day who had called for a criminal to be released rather than Jesus.
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Men were responsible. The Roman soldiers who seized him, who taunted him, who pierced his side, and certainly the
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Jewish leaders who hated him and had been plotting his arrest and murder for some time. But before the world was created, the father determined that the son should come to earth to redeem a people from their sins for his glory.
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The son agreed and was put to death by those who ignored his innocence.
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Power number five, the power over death, the power over death.
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Look at verse 24. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by by it.
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God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, literally releasing him from the birth pangs of death, from the pain of death, from the experience of death.
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Why? Because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Jesus was not like David, his father, his great, great, great, great, great grandfather.
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He was not like him. David remained in the tomb. Why? Because David was a sinful man.
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Jesus had no sin. Jesus did not belong in the tomb.
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Jesus himself told us he would be raised from the dead. In fact, when he was on trial, this is one of the charges that was brought against him in Matthew 26.
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Verses 59 to 61. Listen to how much hatred the
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Jewish leaders had for for Jesus. Now, the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death.
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But they found none, though many false witnesses came forward at last to came forward and said,
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This man said, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.
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Now, is that what he said? No, it was close, but it wasn't what he said.
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He said if they destroyed his temple, he was referring to his body, he would raise it up in the third day.
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Back to verse 25 for David said or says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken.
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Therefore, my heart was glad. My tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope. This sounds so much like first Corinthians 15 to me, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your holy one see corruption.
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You have made me made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.
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David wrote Psalm 16, from which this is drawn in it, he wrote of his hope, he wrote of not being abandoned to Hades or of experiencing physical corruption, which takes place after three days.
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But we know he did right. The fulfillment of this comes in the Lord Jesus Christ, his descendants.
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In fact, David's descendant fulfilled God's promise to David. Look at verse 29. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch,
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David, that he both died and was buried and his tomb is with us to this day. What's this point?
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His point is Psalm 16 wasn't about David. Psalm 16 is about Jesus. Look, verse 30, being therefore a prophet, seeing into the future and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne.
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He foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
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Not only did Jesus rise from the tomb on the third day, but he also fulfilled the promise
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God made to David to have his descendant beyond the throne of Israel. Power number six, power of testimony.
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And really here we get into the power of the gospel. This Jesus God raised up and of that we are all witnesses.
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Many believers were there on that day, remember, they were all gathered in that house. Verse six tells us that Jesus appeared to more than 500 after his resurrection.
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Notice also that in verse 33, that Jesus is honored, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God.
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Not only is this a statement of his deity, but it shows that Jesus has the highest position of honor.
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Let's turn for just a minute to Ephesians chapter one, Ephesians chapter one, verse three, Ephesians chapter one, and I'm going to read verses 19 to 22, just kind of give us a visual of what's going on here.
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Ephesians chapter one, verses 19 to 22. And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand and in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.
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In other words, beyond any power of this world, beyond any angelic power, demonic power, earthly power, beyond anything and above every name that is named.
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In other words, he has the absolute pinnacle of honors, not only in this age, but also in the one that is to come.
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In other words, eternally, and he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.
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This is. What? He's talking about when he says he is exalted at the right hand of God, the right hand being the very choice, choice, a seat, a choice, a place to be.
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Jesus is exalted over all dominion, over all names, over everything that has ever existed or ever could exist.
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Back to Acts chapter two and look at the second half of verse thirty three,
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Jesus is also vindicated, his words are fulfilled here in Acts chapter two and having received from the father the promise of the
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Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
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Jesus said he would ask the father. He said he would ask the father to send another helper, another of the same or of a different kind, and that would be the
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Holy Spirit that he would send that helper, that he would send that advocates, that he would send his disciples, the
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Holy Spirit. Well, here we have the fulfillment of that.
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He obtained or he received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and now that's what they are seeing as they see this.
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Outbreak of languages, as it were, Jesus is also the fulfillment of prophecy here in verse thirty four, for David did not ascend into the heavens, who did his descendant
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Jesus did. But he himself said, the Lord said to my to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.
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Again, just as David applied Psalm 16 to the resurrection, so now he applies
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Psalm 110 to the ascension of Jesus. Notice also in verse thirty six that Jesus is identified as we're talking about how do you preach the gospel of people?
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You tell them about Jesus, who he is, what he's done. Verse thirty six, let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both
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Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified, you implied, thought he was worthy of scorn and death.
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That's what you did to him. And yet throughout his ministry, Jesus made clear that he was what he was, the
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Christ, he was the Messiah, he was the anointed one. The father did not promote him here in Acts chapter two.
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He already held these offices of Lord and Christ. But Peter is declaring that the glory now granted him after the resurrection, and he's pointing to their greatest sin, rejecting their
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Lord and Savior. You rejected him. You put him to death. But look at the response.
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Verse thirty seven. Now, when they heard this, that they had put to death their
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Messiah, their Savior, their Lord and their God, when they heard this, they were cut to the hearts.
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They were pierced. They had godly sorrow leading to repentance. And said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do?
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This is every evangelist's dream to preach the gospel to somebody and have them say, what shall we do?
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What do we do now? What should our response be? Peter said to them, repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
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And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repent.
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What do you think's already happening if they've got that godly sorrow, they are already understand that they were wrong about Jesus.
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We look back on. Chapter two, what has Peter done, he has preached the gospel and the power of the gospel is such that it is enough.
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He told them about Jesus. He told them that he was truly man, a man attested to you by God with mighty works, that he was truly
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God, that he was the fulfillment of prophecy, that they had wrongly put him to death, and that he was raised from the dead and reigning.
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He also told them of their sin. He also told them that they had fallen short of the glory of God by putting
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Jesus to death. They didn't need to know.
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Certainly implied that God was holy, they knew these things, they knew about God, generally, they knew the
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Old Testament well, that's why he's not giving them references, he can just say
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David said, and David did this and David, because they know the Psalms, they know the scriptures.
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You say, well, Acts two is kind of an odd place to go on Resurrection Sunday.
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Well, it is, except it follows right after, right? Forty days or so after the resurrection and the impact of it on the church and on these men and on these people is immeasurable.
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We see here the hope that we have, right? Let's turn to just close in First Corinthians, chapter 15.
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Just think about the counterfactual that Jesus is not raised.
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What would cause Peter to do this? What would cause him to literally risk his life, right?
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If Jesus was put to death for claiming to be the Christ, the Messiah, to be
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God in the flesh, then what do you suppose might happen to somebody who then proclaimed the same message, obviously put to death, but it didn't matter to them?
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Why? Because of the truthfulness of First Corinthians 15.
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Let me read beginning in verse 14. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.
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We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised
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Christ, who he did not raise, if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even
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Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, listen, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
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Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. In other words, they're not coming back.
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If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
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Verse 20. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
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Just as with the apostles, just as with the early church, because he lives, because he is risen from the dead, we have hope.
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And it's not just some wistful kind of wishing. It is a sure hope based on the historical fact that he lives.
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And because he lives, we shall be as he is because we shall see him face to face.
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This is the power of the resurrection. Let's pray. Father in heaven, as we consider the glorious truth that Jesus Christ is raised from the dead, how wonderful this is to know that by raising him from the dead, you affirm the fact that his death paid the price for our sins, that his sacrifice was accepted, that your wrath has been assuaged, that we might approach you boldly.
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Why? Not because we are sinless, but because we are in the sinless one.
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Such things are too glorious for us to fully comprehend, but we delight in them.
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We worship you because of them. We cling to you because of them.
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Father, for anyone here who doesn't know you today. May this be the day when you grant them hope, when you grant them a sure knowledge of forgiveness of sins and of eternal life in the presence of Christ Jesus, the
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Messiah, the holy one of Israel. The Lord, our